Category Archives: Mommy Adventures
Happy 5th & 8th Birthday Leo & Lily!
Happy milestone 5th birthday to my little prince Leo and happy golden 8th birthday to my princess Lily!! Lily measures about 48 inches tall and weighs about 42 pounds. Leo stretches about 44 inches and weighs in at 37 pounds. This year we had to experience the unfortunately worldwide pandemic of covid-19 and so the kids this year celebrated their birthday at home through zoom. I made a balloon garland and blew up a ton of golden and different blue color balloons to decorate the house as well and made them each a display cake that had all their current favorite things on it. I also made a read strawberry cake for Lily with whipped cream cheese frosting on it and got Leo a cheesecake since he cannot have eggs. The morning of their birthdays, I surprised them with a bunch of blue balloons all over the floor of their bedrooms, so that was very fun to watch them wake up to that! I had a bunch of candied bacon for their dessert as well and ordered Olive Garden (Lily’s favorite) delivered for lunch and invited friends to wish the kids a happy birthday! It wasn’t as extravagant as I planned for earlier this year but it was still perfect because the kids had so much fun and felt all the love from everyone, and that’s all that matters.
Lily learned how to ride her bike this past year and nailed it really quickly, within 30 minutes! I’m so proud of her dedication and willingness to learn, even if it may seem scary at first. She also learned how to swim, and can even do the forward stroke decently. She can float and play in the pool all on her own with no floaties, what a big girl now! Lily really likes to cook and bake still, she’s my little sous chef! She also likes to practice origami and her favorite thing to fold right now are boxes, cubes boxes where you blow into it and it puffs up into a box! She is a very social person and so staying quarantined these last few months have been quite challenging, as I’m sure is the case for everyone else right now. She does facetime with her classmates and so that helps a bit. She likes to go and ride her bike outside or go swimming or play on the splash pad to cool off and burn off some energy. Her favorite shows are The Last Airbender and The Legend of Kora. He favorite movie was Sonic the hedgehog and she loves playing Arms and Animal Crossing on the Nintendo switch. She also really likes playing with slime and watching a bunch of YouTube videos, especially of Collin Keys and he craziness haha. Lily also likes reading a variety of books, and reading to Leo as well. What a great sister Lily! Lily also donated her give jar to her 2nd grade teacher Mrs. Barnes because she said she loves Mrs. Barnes and she had so much fun in her class and wants to donate her money so Mrs. Barnes can get more things to help teach more kids. Lily, you have such a sweet and amazing heart, you impress me everyday with your kindness and generosity, I love you so much!!
Leo loves Chuck E Cheese right now and I would say it’s pretty accurate to say that Chuck E Cheese is his best friend haha. I got him a Chuck E Cheese doll for his birthday and he brings him everywhere he goes. It’s so cute to him so attached to him, and he’ll even pretend to give Chuck E Cheese his milk, and share his snacks with him as well. He also likes watching Peppa Pig, GooGoo GaGa on YouTube, Pixar’s Bao, Float, Birds and Moana. He likes to sing a lot more now and will try to sing along to random songs on the radio, but he favorite is the Happy Birthday song. He can sing almost the entire song pretty well!! Leo loves dancing to music, or even when there’s no music, and he loves to follow along to the Chuck E Cheese Cha Cha dance video. He memorizes all the words and moves and will shout along periodically the words! I love to watch his excitement when he plays the dance video, he has to stop what he’s doing and dance along! It’s super cute! Leo is also increasingly more affectionate and loving as well, it just truly melts my heart. He’ll come over and randomly gives me hugs and kisses. Sometimes he’ll ask me to give him a piggy back ride going down the stairs as well. He needs to remember to not let go sometimes but he knows to hold on for the most part! Leo really likes to climb, run around, play with swords, and baby dolls. His vocabulary is increasing and he’s able to put 5 words together in a sentence recently too! He blows my mind with how smart he is and how much he’s learning and able to achieve. He’s also able to eat pretty much everything now too, except for soupy things, he’s still working on that. He can eat rice dishes, noodle dishes, all kinds of seafood, chicken, tacos, any kind of sandwiches, he is such a great eater now! He also still loves fruits, strawberries, blackberries, grapes, cherries, apples, oranges, pears, everything! I am constantly so proud of him! The zoom sessions for therapy and school has been challenging but I’m so glad he continues to make movement in his accomplishments. You’re so incredibly amazing my petite prince Leo, I love you oh so much, and you light up my life!
Happy special milestone birthdays Lily and Leo!! I hope you both had an amazing birthday this year. This year has definitely been a challenging and different experience for birthdays, and any kind of social celebrations, but I’m glad that it doesn’t take much to make your guys happy. I’m glad that you both appreciate the little things that just feeling my love for you is enough, and that I can make you happy with what I have. You guys are my everything and I’m definitely going to take you guys on a big vacation next year when things are safe. Can’t wait for more adventures with you Lily and Leo, I love you both so much!! Your hearts, smile, laughter, hugs and kisses makes me the luckiest and happiest mom in the world. Happy golden 8th birthday Lily!!!!!!! Happy milestone 5th birthday Leo!!!!!
Here are Leo and Lily’s birthday videos, Lily riding her bike with no training wheels, and Leo’s video of his 5 word sentence! ENJOY!
Reasons to Celebrate
It’s been awhile since the last update, so there’s a lot to share about the kiddoes! Leo is 31.4 lbs and stretches 38inches tall! Lily weighs in at 39lbs and stretches 46inches tall! Leo got glasses and looks so cute and handsome in them. It was quite an easy process to get him to wear his glasses. When he was getting them fitted, he stood still and let the optician put it on him and adjust them and he didn’t even try to take it off. Later when he did start wearing them, he would only take it off once in awhile, but I would just say “glasses on!” and he would stand there and let me put it on and then go about playing. I’m so lucky he’s so easy going! I’m sure it must be nice to see better too but the professionals say that kids don’t really care or notice much haha. Lily started first grade in the fall and is in Mrs. Penticoff’s class. She also lost her first two teeth, with a week of each other and was super excited to give her teeth to the tooth fairy and receive her special surprise the next morning! She did ask if I was the tooth fairy since I made her some acrylic necklaces and she saw some of the glitter and materials on my desk and said that looks like what the tooth fairy would use to make her necklace…what an observant smart girl…haha. She lost another tooth last month and has a loose tooth right now. All of these teeth are on the bottom room of teeth haha.
In September we took a mini weekend trip to Seattle for Kelsey’s wedding, but we took the kids and they got to enjoy a plane ride again and loved it! Lily loved packing up her M&M suitcase with snacks and stuff animals and Leo was so chill and slept on the plane ride and enjoyed the sites! The kids had a blast at the hotel and they even got to have a playdate with Kristin, Hisami, and Kristin’s cousins and their kids! Lily and the two other kids, Nathan and Kylie, got to play at a the park and then on a little magic show for us back at their house! We visited the space needle, went to Pike’s Place and visited the market and the first Starbucks. We also had a layover in Vegas on the way back home and I got to grab a quick drink with Alvina at the airport as well! It was a very quick trip but also fun and Lily is eager to go on another trip, especially one where you get to ride on an airplane!
At the end of October, my handsome boy started preschool at Sumner Danbury Elementary school!!! I felt confidant that these last several months of assessments, planning and meetings have definitely paid off to set Leo up in an environment that will cater to his needs and strive for success! He is such a strong amazing boy and he ability to adapt and learn never cease to amaze me! He is beyond special; he is my Leo! Leo gets to take a bus to school and then a bus to his daycare at Walnut Valley Preschool afterwards and he adjusted really well to going to school! He started to cry when I took him to the bus on the third day, but by the end of the following week, he walked onto the bus himself and was all smiles again! 
He enjoys the bus ride and the staff and teachers at Danbury are so wonderful and friendly and I just feel so appreciate for that program. Leo gets physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, adaptive PE, and sometimes swimming lessons when the weather permits, right on the school campus! 
They have all the therapy clinics there so it’s super convenient. They help him explore eating (trying to eat) different foods, it mostly ends up on his close but he’s starts to lick different textures of foods so that is progress! He is signing a lot more and he’s met a lot of his therapy goals and they have to adjust and give him new ones at the 30 day progress meeting I had with his team at Danbury. Right now some of the physical goals Leo is working on is walking up and down the stairs, catching a ball, fine motor skills, and exploring foods. All his teachers say he is so happy and such a joy to have in class, and that just makes me so proud and happy that he is happy at school. I’m super grateful and appreciative of this opportunity for Leo.
Leo had a small surgery in November. He had to be put under anesthesia so that a camera can go in through his nose to see if there’s any obstruction or anything with the blood vessels in his nose that may be causing his frequent nose bleeds and he also had to get all the wax cleaned out of his ears that may be causing his failed hearing tests. The nurse gave Leo some medication to help relax him and calm him down, but instead Leo totally got hyper and kept laughing. It was so funny and cute, it seemed like he was high on life and was just being so silly! 
I’m glad that he was so happy though so that the experience wouldn’t be too bad while I was waiting for his procedure to be over. Turns out there wasn’t anything wrong inside his nose and Dr. Ahuja said that it’s probably just from Leo rubbing his nose too much/hard but they did cauterized the left side of his nose to help it from bleeding so often. It’s not a permanent fix, just a temporary one though. They also cleaned out a whole bunch of wax in his ears and they had to drill through one of his ear drums because the canal was too small for them to get through. There was a lot of wax jammed pack in there. Leo later took a hearing test and it came out normal!!! What great news!! Leo didn’t wake up from the anesthesia very well and the doctor said that usually kids have a tough time waking up smoothly after head surgeries, so Leo was really uncomfortable and out it and cried a lot. That was the most crying I’ve ever seen him do and it wasn’t until his two hour nap when we got home that he was back to his happy usual self! I’m so thankful that his operation went well and that he is healthy and happy!
In November Lily got awarded Student of the Month and was honored for the character trait of kindness! Lily had her first piano recital back in August and then her second one in January. Here is a video of her 2nd recital on January 15, 2019 below! She did great and got nervous during her second song and forgot how the song started and started to panic and cried a little bit and said she forgot, but I went up there and told her it’s ok and to just start with the right hand by itself and her teacher encouraged her as well and reminded her the beginning notes. Lily then remembered the song and played it well but you can see the tears and disappointment on her poor little face. She gave me a huge long hug afterwards and was happy for the rest of the recital. I’m very proud of her for not giving up and for trying her best. She still had fun in the end and that’s all that matters! I’m so proud of you my Lily pad!!
For Halloween the kids dressed up as Cinderella and the Petite Prince! This year I made is easier on myself and bought Lily’s costume online on the amazing Amazon haha, but I couldn’t find anything that I liked for Leo’s costume so I made his costume myself. Lily also was super excited to wear my tiara as well and she had fun spinning around in her dress. Leo seems quite comfortable in his costume too and I bought the fox from Amazon and the red rose from Michaels. I took the kids to Brea mall this year for trick or treating since it’s a change in scenery and I figured it’ll be much safer too. Leo had a blast this year, even though he doesn’t quite understand the concept of trick or treating yet, but he loved sitting in the stroller and just gnawing on all the candy with the wrappers on…haha. He was in heaven, it was so cute!
Lily enjoyed trick or treating as usually and we were going to donate most of their candy to CHOC, but they don’t accept candy anymore so we donated a bunch to US Veterans and their families! I used a website pickupplease.org and they donate all donations to the vets and their families, and the convenient part is they come and pick up bags of donations from your house! I’m glad that Lily is always so willing and enthusiastic about giving what she has to help others! Great job my Lilypad! Lily got to wear her costume to school for her school parade and Leo got to sit in a wagon and go trick or treating at Danbury as well! His class was the only class that got to go to the school office for trick or treating, how special is that? They played halloween kid friendly music and all the faculty members dressed up and passed out candy to him and his classmates as their wagons came by. How fun! I’m so grateful again for Leo to be taken so cared of at this school!!
The holidays just zoomed by this past year. The kids enjoyed eating lots of good food, well Lily did, Leo is still learning to explore new foods. They got to see all the bright fun Christmas lights at the Mission Inn in Riverside and the Chinese Lantern lights at the LA Fairplex. Lily loved the hot chocolate in Riverside, probably because it was also freezing outside, but she had a blast either way. Lily also hose to donate all the contents in her “give jar” to her first grade teacher Mrs. Penticoff! It was very sweet of her to choose her teacher because she looks up to her and is grateful to have a teacher that loves and cares so much about her students and makes learning fun and exciting! I’m so proud of you Lily, you are growing up more and more amazing each day! I know I say it all the time but I really and proud and feel so lucky to be your mommy!! Also, this year for Tết, Lily practiced a lot on how to say chúc mừng năm mới and her inflections are quite spot on! She loves going to Phước Lộc Thọ (the Asian Garden Mall) and eating all the Vietnamese food and checking out the flowers at the flower festival and picking out her áo dài! This year she’s very into the color blue! She got to wear it to school as well as the family gathering and also wanted to sleep in it because she said it’s so comfortable haha! Happy year of the pig everyone, oink oink!!
Some last updates are that Leo has to wear an eye patch for 2 hours a day. His left eye tends to dominate his right eye and so he doesn’t “look” out of his right eye much, so patching up his left eye will force him to use his right eye and strengthen it. Leo is pretty good at leaving the eye patch on and now messing with it. It was kind of cute when he first started wearing it because his depth perception would be off and his balance would get thrown off and he would bump into things a lot, but he just got right back up and kept on moving. He’s so resilient and strong and amazing, he can adapt to anything! Eventually his eye got stronger and you don’t see him wobble as much anymore! Hopefully at his follow up with the Ophthalmologist in March, he won’t need the patches anymore. Lily is currently doing Robotics Jr., piano, Fun with Science, and tennis after school. She loves it all and I’m glad she gets the opportunity to do all (except piano) those programs at her school! She also got awarded with a certificate of Kindness award for completing the Kindness Challenge at her after school Fun Club, where they had a month long challenge to complete various kindness activities! She said that only 5 other students in her class got the certificate, great job Lily!!
I’m so happy with how much the kids are growing and learning and developing each day. Leo currently likes to close doors, knock on doors and walls, look and point and photos, dance with his arms waving up and down, lots of sweets like lollipops and chocolate pudding, and recently likes YouTube kids. He watched and learned how to navigate through the app from Lily and can even skip the ads sometimes too! I think he really likes the interactive aspect of it, but he also likes to watch the nursery songs and alphabet singing videos! He also now sleeps in a transitioned toddler bed and the transition was so smooth it was so unbelievable haha. He knows routines very well and I think he is striving so well with structure, something that I think his school at Danbury helped him learn. Lily loves watching movies and YouTube shows as well. She likes to watch kids making arts and crafts and family YouTube channels that have babies and kids who go out and do fun games and activities. Lily currently likes to watch Hotel Transylvania 3, the Chihuahua movies on Netflix, and other random movies, mix of live action and animation. Both kids love going to the movies as well and Leo’s able to stay focus and engaged during the entire movie as well and even dances at some musical numbers in Mary Poppins Returns! Lily really likes to draw and has a very eccentric fashion style haha. Both kids are quite silly and happy little kids, and I count my blessing every day and am so grateful and humble to be their mommy!! I love you my Lily pad and petite prince Leo!! Enjoy these videos of the kiddoes!
Spring Update
Leo weighs in at 26.89lbs and stretches 38inches tall! Leo is getting better at eating with a spoon and is licking the puree off the spoon less, although the urge to do so is quite strong in him still haha. He is still very picky on what purees he will eat. He won’t be picky when it’s in the bottle but just by looking at the color and smelling the food, he will push the food aside and fight you if it’s not his typical plain applesauce. He is walking so much better, and he can finally get up to standing all by himself without having to hold onto something! He can also climb down the stairs very proficiently now as well! Soon he’ll be running and jumping all over the place! I already have the bandaids ice packs ready haha. Leo is starting to understand signing more and is better at signing “thank you” and “all done” as well. Sometimes I’ll blow him a kiss and he will do it back to me! I have been taking ASL classes to in hopes of furthering along Leo’s communication abilities with signing. I printed out cheat sheets and taped them on the walls to encourage and motivate Lily to learn with me and so we all can sign together as a family! I’ll often see Leo looking at his fingers and he will try to move them and make different shapes with his fingers and wave them around as if trying to communicate with me, so I really feel like signing will be his primary language as he’s trying to learn to speak verbally. He still hasn’t said any words with purpose or intention yet, although he likes to say “ball” a lot but he says that for everything so I doesn’t really count haha.
Overall, Leo remains happy and sweet as always! He loves giving hugs and he’s finally not needing a bib anymore from all the drooling in the past! He is getting so tall that his pants needs to be size 3T, but his waist is so small his pants sometimes slips down haha. Leo still likes to put all his toys and Lily’s toys in his mouth, and he’s still so amazed with zipper tags and likes to just flick them back and forth. He would lay on the couch and just play with that all day long! He loves being thrown in the air, he’s a dare devil. He likes swings and slides as well. He still doesn’t like when things/places get really loud. He is still an amazing sleeper and has such a calm and sweet demeanor about him. Since he’s walking now, he can enjoy so many more things when we go out! I took the kids to the Museum of Illusions, Candytopia, and game places like Neofun and Round One and he loves exploring and checking everything out! He is always a super cute bright ball of joy!!
Lily is getting smarter and sweeter each day, she’s growing up way too fast! Lily weighs 35lbs and is 44inches tall! She has a very big appetite and loves to eat veggies (spinach, cabbage, carrots, and broccoli) and tofu, and a bunch of crackers and snacks, yet she burns off all the calories in a flash! She has a very happy spirit about her and is so intuitive and thoughtful, I cannot be more proud of my baby girl. She is also now super good at showering by herself. She’s also able to make her own bed every morning and is starting to learn to vacuum the house as well! She’s been taking piano lessons for the last month. She’s definitely trying really hard, some of the concepts aren’t as naturally easy for her to grasp, but she’s trying and with some extra practice at home, she’s getting more and more confident with it. I’m very proud of her for not once wanting to give up, and her determination to keep focusing and trying. She also loves her gymnastics lessons which she has twice a week. She has so much fun and has been selected gymnast of the day 3 times now! She gets a nice little ribbon and gets to ring the bell at the end of class to announce her achievement to the whole gym! She’s almost ready to move on up to the next level once she gets more comfortable with doing hand stands and cartwheels! She also had her first jog-a-thon at school and did 26 laps!! She had so much fun jogging around and was cheering on her friends to come and go go go! She also forgot to get her lap marked off a couple times too haha. She knew that the more laps she did, the more money she would raise for her school for better supplies and opportunities. So she knew she was jogging for a cause and she tried her very best not just to have fun, but to help as well. I’m so proud of her and her great big ball of athletic energy!
Lily is learning to read really well and can read a lot of books all by herself now! She’s really good at sounding out the letters and putting the sounds together to form the word. Her favorite subject in school is still math, but I’m glad that even though writing and reading isn’t her strongest, she’s still enthusiastic about it. She really like Dr. Seuss, Elephant and Piggie, and Pete the Cat books! Her favorite shows to watch is currently Sofia the First and Pokemon! She likes to play with slime, dolls, and do lots of arts and crafts. Lily loves to help me cook and her teachers and aftercare teachers tells me she’s always such a great helper at school as well! Lily really likes the movie The Greatest Showman right now, and loves most of the songs from the movie. She has a mature taste in theater, it’s nice to be able to share common interests with her like this. Lily still has her happy go lucky spirit and is such a kind and sweet little girl. I love it when she would just randomly come up to me and give me a big hug and kiss and tell me she loves me, she melts my heart! She’s always thinking about others and I makes me really proud that she’s such a loving positive force in this world. 
Enjoy of of these videos of the kiddoes!!
Gratitude
Gratitude, it’s not happiness that brings us gratitude, it’s gratitude that brings us happiness – Unknown.
It’s been awhile since I’ve updated this blog so this will be a very long one…so brace yourselves haha. For Halloween I made Lily a Wonder Woman dress along with the leggings, arm bracelets, and a shield! Lily likes wearing her dress to school and going out and just for any ordinary day and it makes me happy that she loves it so much! She tells her teachers and that I made her dress for her and she just has such a big smile on her face too, it makes me feel happy that she’s so proud of my work for her. I made a cape for Leo to be Captain Underpants but it was way too cold for that costume, so He was a last minute Batman Pumpkinpants haha. Lily loved her costume and I bought her some Wonder Woman books before hand and so she loves the story of the amazing amazonian princess and brought the book while wearing her costume for her literary parade at school! Lily also had her first field trip at Quail Summit to the Santa Ana Zoo. She loved seeing all the animals and she said her favorite were the butterflies and monkeys. Lily really likes going to school, morning care and after care (aka Fun Club) and she’ll complain sometimes that I pick her up too early (5pm isn’t really that early…). I’m glad she gets so stimulated at school and is making friends with kids of all ages! Every time I come to pick her up, all the big kids know her name and always run to give her a hug before we leave. That’s so sweet and heart warming!
I had the honor of having our family photos taken by the super amazingly talented, and kind soul, Lisa Holloway. Here are some of the many favorites from that session. I will cherish these memories and I am so grateful to have these beautiful kids to call mine.
Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it. – William Arthur Ward
Lily really enjoys all her extracurricular activities after school. She has Jazz Dance, Baton Twirlin & Pom Pom, and Tennis. Her absolute favorite is tennis and she always ask if she can do it everyday! At least she gets to do it twice a week whereas all the other classes are just once a week. I’m more burnt out taking Lily to all those classes than Lily is haha! I’m very impressed with Lily on how quickly she learns and picks up choreography as well. She only attending 3 classes to learn her choreography for her Jazz Dance Recital, her normal weekly classes are just for learning techniques of dance. From just those 3 classes alone and lots of practice, she was able to dance through the whole routine for the recital and wasn’t even one bit stage fright or nervous!! She’s so great and better than I’ll ever be!! =) She also remembered her entire routine for her baton twirling parade and did so amazing well too! I’m so proud of her and all of her accomplishments! Leo is getting better at eating purees but he will still have days where he just doesn’t want to eat. He expresses lots of interest in music. He really likes the piano and likes playing with my keyboard and banging on drums. He has a special technique where he uses his mouth to play the keys at the same time as his cute little fingers too. The look of focus and concentration on his face when he plays the keys are just too cute and priceless. Every time I try to play on the piano, he usually comes zooming over and pushes me aside and takes over haha. He is signing more and more each day. He’s really good at clapping his hands for “good job”, he knows “open” and “close” really well, and understands “more” and “head/hat” as well. He’s getting better at waving bye more consistently too. He is a super fast crawler, and he loves to climb all over the place now. He likes to climb and sit on top of the kid’s table, on top of the couch, on top of anything he can climb onto really. He loves stairs and even though he doesn’t know how to climb down, he is fearless. He is able to take 3-4 steps on his own when you prop him up, and he is getting really good at walking while holding 1 of his hand. I really feel that the hippotherapy is helping him a great deal with his core strength and balance and over confidence in himself and his physical abilities.
It was so windy! This was the best selfie I can get of the three of us!!
Thankful for my two joys of my life!
Christmas blessings with my loves! Lily is understanding more the joys of Christmas and really enjoys getting into the holiday spirit. Lily got to go shopping at her school Santa’s Workshop for a whole week and she had a blast buying fun little toys for herself and Leo and even aunty Leilani! She has a lot of fun picking out gifts for her teachers and friends and she even said she forgot to buy me something and has the saddest look on her face. I told her it’s sweet of her to want to get me something but I told her all I need is her and Leo =). Leo loves playing with Leo and he seeing her playing the iPad and would like to imitate her tapping on the screen. He’ll see me working on my laptop and would come over and tap on the keyboard too. He’s so cute and is trying to imitate us and it’s great to see him observing and developing mentally like that. Leo is always so super happy, and Lily is the best person to make him laugh. He loves being thrown in the air, looking at silly faces, and is strangely amused with the window blinds haha. He also likes crawling into tunnels and small enclosed spaces, maybe it’s just safe and cozy in there for him, but he likes sitting in closets and the princess tent as well. He doesn’t like wearing socks for some reason so they don’t stay on his feet very long, the only way to keep them on is to put shoes on him. Apparently, he feels that socks should go in his mouth, not on his feet… Leo is super social and loves being held by anyone and everyone! Leo recently had a hearing test again and they couldn’t get any concrete readings on his hearing, but they did say both ear drums weren’t responsive, so we will have to take him to an ENT for further investigation. He also had a GI appt at Choc and for now, we just have to keep trying to feed him solids, there’s not much else we can do except continuing with therapy. He’s gained 1 pound in the last 3 months so at least he’s still growing and that’s the important thing. Lily loves to be a helper when Leo’s teachers come over for his therapy sessions, and she really pays attention to everything Leo can do, and likes to tell me all his developments with such pride! I’m so happy to see them together and so happy. My heart is and full and warm because of them. I’m so grateful for my greatest gifts in the world, I would not be the person I am without them. I try to give them the best love and care I possible can give them, to show them how much they mean to me, and I hope the feel my heart. I love you Lily, Leo and my angels!!! Can’t wait to see what 2018 adventures awaits us!
Gratitude is not only the greatest virtues, but the parent of all others. – Cicero.
Enjoy these videos of the kiddies!! They are growing up so fast, I’m glad I’m able to have these videos to look back on and relive those memories!!
Lily Starts Kindergarten!
Lily had a great first month of Kindergarten at her new school in Diamond at Quail Summit Elementary School! She is in Ms Edward’s class and she is also in the morning and after school Fun Club since my work schedule doesn’t allow me to drop her off and pick her up during normal school hours. Lily is doing some extracurricular activities that’s offered by her school (Robotics, Programming, and Mad Science), and she’s doing some activities that I signed her up for through the community center (Jazz Dance, Pom Pom/Baton Twirlin, and Tennis). I wasn’t sure if all those activities would be too much for her, but at LePort, she did about 3 activities after school each week and so I figured if any of this is too much, or if she doesn’t like any of it, then I won’t sign her up for it in the next session. So far, she loves all of the classes!!! Her favorite is tennis! When she first came to the tennis court for her first lesson, she was super excited because I got her a new tennis racket and balls, but then once the class started, she froze and started to cry and didn’t want to do it. I think she was probably intimidated by the tennis court and everything looking so unfamiliar to her. I decided to do the warm ups with her and held her hand and jogged with her around the tennis court. Then she stood in line and once she swung the racket for the very first time, she had the biggest smile on her face and she instantly loved it! She had so much fun and was running to get the balls and even asked me if she can play till night time! Haha! I’m so proud of Lily for trying new things and giving tennis and chance and now fulling embracing the sport!
Lily is doing so well in class too! On the first day of school, Lily received two stones to put in the classroom jar, and you get the stones by doing something good or behaving in class, etc. Once the jar gets filled up, then the class gets a popsicle party! She also received a Quail Coin on campus for helping another student and listening to the rules. The Quail Coins go into a big jar at the school office and once that fills up, the whole school gets a party! Lily was so excited to get homework too, that she even made up her own homework assignment at school on the first day haha. I told her that I put all her color pencils, markers, pens, erasers, etc in a box in her backpack so that she can work on her homework in after care if she has any. She was so excited that during recess, she just asked the teacher for a piece of paper, wrote her name on it and drew pictures and put stickers on it and said that’s her homework. She’s so cute! She didn’t have any homework the first week of school, but once she did start getting homework, she’ll do it right away when we get home and she’ll finish the whole week’s assignment in one day! So the other days we just practice reading because she insists that we do homework! That’s my girl! haha.
Lily also got selected to be the first Star Student in her class! She kept telling me that she needed pictures for her poster, like the one her teacher has in class, so I gave her some photos but all week she said they didn’t have time to work on their posters. That Friday when I picked her up, I saw the poster in her cubby and saw she was chosen to be Star Student! Her teacher told me that Lily’s a joy to have in class and that she chose Lily to be the first Star Student because she felt that Lily would be a good example to the class for being Star Student. So all of that week, she gets to be line leader, help serve lunch, pick the book to read aloud in class, and get first choice for other activities! Lily also got chosen to be the first Student of the Month in her class as well! She will be presented with an award this coming Monday, and it’s a surprise at the first school assembly too, so I can’t wait to go see Lily get her first award! I’m so proud of Lily, she is transitioning so well to kindergarten and all the new activities! She’s making lots of friends, and knows all the teachers names that she interacts with. She even wanted to make a birthday card for one of the after school care teachers because she heard it was her birthday soon! She’s such a sweetheart! Lily even told me not to pick her up so early because she was about to do her homework and that she was going to play soon too haha. I love her spirit and her desire to learn!
Right now Lily loves to help me cook dinner and she can almost do everything herself! She can chop and crack eggs, she can even turn on the stove and everything! She’s very enthusiastic about serving the food when we’re all done too! I also took the kids to the Museum of Ice Cream and she had a blast exploring the exhibits and trying all the different ice cream and candy samples! She’s very happy spirited and has a very kind heart. She’s always looking out for Leo and always telling everyone how much she loves her baby brother! Everytime I bring Leo to drop her off or pick her up from school, or even bring Leo to her after school classes, she always point Leo out to her friends and teachers haha. She’ll take a break in her tennis class to come over and give Leo a kiss! I fills my heart seeing how much she loves him! I love you so much Lily, I’m so proud of you!
Leo is growing up so much! He’s definitely getting taller and he’s moving really fast too. Leo is getting much better at eating purees from the spoon. Sometimes he’ll fight it and not want the spoon in his mouth, but he’s improving and he’ll stick his tongue out to lick the puree when it’s on the high chair tray too. He’s getting better at closing his mouth around the spoon too, it’s not completely sealed when he closes his mouth but it’s definitely an improvement! Leo enjoys watching his big sister Lily play tennis and is fascinated with her baton twirlin class too haha. He likes being outside and getting pushed in his trike. He also loves the water! He will see the bathtub and instantly try to climb inside. Leo is also doing really well with speech therapy. He still isn’t purposefully talking yet, and the only audible word he really says is “ball”, but he says “ball” for everything… He is trying to make more sounds though, and he’s trying to use his hands to sign and communicate with us! He’s sometime signs “more” and “dog” and “all done”! He will tap his head when you ask where his head is too! We are still working on the rest of his body parts but this is huge progress! I’m so proud of Leo and I really feel like sign language will be super helpful for him. I’ve been watching youtube tutorials on signing as well so I can really use it as a primitive language for Leo.
Leo loves playing with toys that makes sounds, especially drums, the xylophone, and banging toy pots and pans together. He really likes playing with the door jam and making it going “boing” all the time. He still loves the mirror and would just sit in front of the mirror laughing and squealing at himself. He is his own entertainment haha. He also likes to chew on nerf gun bullets and keep it in his mouth and crawl around the house with it. He is still drooling but it’s improved a lot! He also is getting pretty good at listening, when I tell him no and not to do something, he will stop and go do something else. He’s clever though and will sometimes try to hide and figured that if he can’t see me, then I can’t see him haha. He doesn’t know any other directions for the most part but he’s learning and slowly understanding! He had a recent OT evaluation and they said that he mostly ranks at a 10-11 month old in terms of physical and mental development. He scored at normal age range for some skills, but the lack of certain skills pulls him down a bit. It’s sad to hear, but I just see how much he’s growing and improving and I cannot be more proud of my little man! 
Leo will soon be starting Hippotherapy where he’ll get physical therapy through horse back riding lessons! It’s a great way to increase core strength and gain balance and coordination! I really hope Leo will enjoy it and hope that this can eventually be a great hobby for him! Leo is always so happy and easy going. He is very chill and super fun to hug and squeeze and kiss! When it’s time to brush his teeth, he opens his mouth now and is really good and not biting the toothbrush too much, and doesn’t resist me brushing his teeth anymore. He also loves books and music. His favorite song is still Twinkle Twinkle Little Star! He really likes stuff animals, mostly so he can chew on their tail or their nose haha. He likes to sleep with a blanket and hold onto it while sucking his thumb and then falling asleep that way. He also is getting really good at cruising now. He can climb up the stairs and couch very easily now and he knows how to safely climb off the couch now too. No more diving head first into the ground from the couch haha! It’s really cute when Leo crawls really fast, he would tuck his head down and then dart off! That’s when you know he’s determined to get somewhere fast. Whenever the baby gate at the stairs is open, he’ll see it and climb up the step and sit one step behind the gate and sit there and chill and see the room from a higher view point haha. He’s so funny! He’s getting better at taking steps and walking with assistance. Sometimes he can just hold only one of my hand and take a few steps too. He’s definitely getting close to walking on his own, maybe he will be able to by Christmas! Leo is so sweet and happy-go-lucky boy. I love you so much Leo!!
Happy 5th Birthday Lily!
Happy 5th birthday my precious princess Lily! Lily is 33 pounds and is 43 inches tall! She is a super happy go lucky kid and is very sweet and compassionate and kind! Lily loves to draw, paint, and write. She loves working with puzzles and mazes and counting up to 100 too! She also enjoys singing, especially the songs she learns from school, and she really enjoys her extracurricular activities like Tajik Karate, yoga and now Gym/Dance. She was doing hula, which she really enjoyed too but they don’t offer it in the summer. She likes running around and playing in the water and sand at the beach. She also likes to cook and bake and she has a very big imagination too. She’s super creative and anything is possible in her eyes; that’s one of the many things I love that about her. Lily is very thoughtful and really thinks about others. The other weekend, Alvina was over for lunch but she was upstairs putting Chloe to bed, and Lily wanted to bring Alvina some water in case she’s thirsty up there! How nice of her to think of Alvina! She also had her first trip to Hawaii as my birthday gift to her for her milestone 5th birthday, and on the plane, she used her airplane blanket to cover my arm and said “so you don’t get cold.” She’s such a sweetheart! She also got a hair cut and chopped off about 7 inches of hair, and has a matching hair cut like me! She told all her friends and teachers at school how she’s donating her hair again and even told me that there are kids who can’t grow hair, as a response to why she’s donating her hair. She’s so sweet and I love that she takes pride in helping others!
Lily also graduated from preschool on her actual birthday as well. She didn’t get to go up and get a “diploma/certificate” though because at LePort, you have to complete 3 years of primary class to “graduate,” but that 3rd year is equivalent to kindergarten. Since Lily will not be going to kindergarten at LePort, I considered it her graduation regardless haha. She still got to participate in the song they performed at the ceremony. It’s nice to see her come out of her shell a little bit. She gets really shy and doesn’t like to be the center of attention, so in a group setting, she tends to do better! I also got her a lei and folded her a butterfly out of money, which she thought was very cute!
On the trip to Hawaii, Lily already knew about leis and kept asking for one when we landed! So I went to a local flower shop and got her a nice real orchid lei and a tea leaf one for Leo! Lily got to go to the Dole Plantation, the Polynesian Cultural Center to see a luau and show, and participate in the Dolphin Quest where she got to feed, pet, and interact with the dolphin! She wanted to dress up like Moana in Hawaii so I made her a Moana dress and necklace with the heart of Tafiti and she wore it on multiple days during the trip! I’m glad she loves my handmade things! =) She loved the beach and shopping there as well, and said she wanted to stay in Hawaii forever! She kept saying “aloha” and when I returned the car rental, she said “bye hula car!” haha. She’s the cutest! She is super easy to travel with, she always kept her hand on the stroller while walking outside, and she never wandered off and listened very well! She ate really well too and had no trouble adjusting to the time difference either. She loved the hotel and got to sleep in a queen size mattress all by herself too. She had a blast for sure! Lily is so good at sleeping as well, she still takes a nap when she’s home and she can almost give herself a bath all by herself too. I just make sure she’s completely clean but she does pretty well for the most part!
I can’t believe my baby girl is 5 years old now, time definitely flies by. I threw her (and Leo) a birthday party at home and made it a unicorn theme since she loves unicorns and rainbows right now. I went all out for her milestone celebration and got a bounce house, balloon twister/face painter, and a photobooth! She had such a blast and gave all the guests a big hug when they showed up and a big hug good bye! She saw me working on the cake for a few days, and she was so excited and really wanted to eat it! She was majorly bummed when I told her she couldn’t and that it’s not real…She didn’t quite understand but she eventually got over it haha. I’m so grateful and humbled by the person she’s becoming and my heart is overflowed with love for her. She is very generous, thoughtful, silly, funny, and oh so happy! She is also very clumsy and tends to fall and hurt herself (and others by accident) a lot, but I’m afraid that’s my quality that got passed down to her…haha. She’s just so excited about everything that she can’t contain it in her tiny little body haha. I’m so happy to have such a beautiful little girl both inside and out as my daughter. I love you so much my Lily pad, happy 5th birthday!!! Can’t wait for more adventures and memories to come!
Click HERE are more photos from Lily and Leo’s Hawaiian vacation! Enjoy these videos of Lily!
Happy 2nd Birthday Leo!
Happy 2nd birthday to my amazing prince Leo! Leo weighs in at 25 pounds (~11 percentile) and stretches 34 inches tall (~50 percentile)! Leo is getting really good at pulling himself up to stand and is cruising a lot more and very easily now too! He’s starting to imitate me more like when I blow raspberries, he will try to do the same. He is making lots more sounds and it sounds like he tries to say “bottle” when it’s meal time too. Leo is getting stronger in his core and is able to keep his head up when he falls down so that he doesn’t smack his head into the ground, and he is crawling up the stairs and the couch now. He’s trying to climb up almost everything so that’s good he’s learning to explore more and be curious. A huge milestone that Leo is coming upon is that he is finally allowing the straw in his mouth for the first time! I’ve tried many times in the past and he would just fight me and not let me put any milk in his mouth from the straw. This is called Mr. Juice Bear that was created by therapists for children who have trouble learning to drink from straws. You can find it HERE, and the best part is that it’s spill proof too! The bear is soft and the straw is durable but soft as well, and you just squeeze the bear for the milk to come up so that Leo doesn’t have to suck it up. Eventually, he will learn how to suck and I won’t need to squeeze the bottle for him anymore! This was a huge success and step forward for Leo! He actually put the straw in his mouth and tried to get milk from it! He doesn’t know how to suck up the milk yet, but simply having the straw in his mouth and drinking some milk from it is huge progress!!! I’m so proud of you Leo!!!
Leo also had his first plane ride when I took him and Lily to Oahu, Hawaii for vacation to celebrate their birthdays! He was very restless on the flight there and only napped for about an hour, but on the flight home he did awesome and slept for about 3 hours and was calm the rest of the time. He did great in hawaii and adjusted to the time difference just fine and loved all the sight seeing! He also didn’t like the sand at first from the beach, he would hold his hands up in the air like “what is this I’m sitting on?!” but he eventually warmed up to it and even tried to lick the sand! Haha! He also got to pet a dolphin and went to his first luau too! He’s already a little adventurer! Let also got a shot at his 2 year old check up and cried from the shock of it but quickly settled down, he didn’t even flinch for the blood prick on his finger though, what a brave boy! I realize I’m ending every sentence with an exclamation mark but I’m really that proud and happy for my little prince haha! Leo is such a happy easy going little boy and he is developing and improving each day. He has the brightest smile and I feel so blessed and lucky to be his mommy. Happy 2nd birthday my baby boy, here’s to many more adventures to come! I love you Leo!!
Click HERE are more photos from Lily and Leo’s Hawaiian vacation! Enjoy these videos of Leo!
Happy 20 Months Leo!
Happy 20 months old my little prince Leo! Leo weighs in at about 23 pounds and stretches about 33.5 inches long. Leo recently had an Electroencephalogram (EEG) scan (where they send tiny electrical impulses to brain to measure brain wave patterns, activity and responses) to see if it’s functioning like how a child his age should function and respond. I won’t get the results until another week or so, so stay tuned! Leo is getting much better at crawling and can go greater distances before falling onto his belly. He is also getting much quicker and stronger at climbing up to his knees. Leo still hasn’t made much progress when it comes to eating solids but he sure is putting almost everything into his mouth, everything except FOOD! I try to trick him and put some puffs on his high chair tray along with some toys and he’ll play but will lick everything else except for the puffs! What a clever little boy. He’s gonna be trouble later on! He’s getting bigger though, drinking about 7-8oz of formula each feeding, 4 times a day. He is making lots more different sounds with voice and loves (really loves) to squeal high pitched noises of excitement when he’s happy! He likes to blow raspberries and get drool EVERYWHERE too. I feel like he’s starting to purposely drop things now too because he’ll drop something and then look at me to see my reaction. Also, whenever someone asks Leo where mommy is, he’ll look at me! Yay, my baby boy knows who I am! =) I love you so much, happy 20 months, keep on shining and growing strong!!
Also, I am participating in a virtual run on April 29th called the Chromosome 18 Starfish Dash for my Leo and created a team page for him. Help me support Leo’s journey with Tetrasomy 18p and the Chromosome 18 Organization and Society! If you would like to participate and donate, click HERE. If you can’t donate at this time, then please help me by spreading the word!! Thank you so much for all your love and support for my precious Leo!
Lily gets more and more amazing each day. She recently had her progress report at LePort and here’s what her teachers had to say about Lily, “Lily is blooming this year with her bright smiles and animated conversations with her teachers and peers. She is making new friends of different ages, both younger and older. Her interest in engaging socially seems to be great importance to her and yet it sometimes inhibits her concentration and makes working on her own a challenge. However, when Lily is engaged in something she enjoys, usually in the company of a classmate, she can work with concentration. She has now started to seek out new lessons with enthusiasm and takes pride in developing skills such as writing! Once Lily has mastered a lesson, it is wonderful to see her enjoy repeating it, and some activities she revisits daily. Recently she has consistently been verbalizing her thoughts and feelings with confidence and is working diligently toward refining her penmanship, using the Metal Insets and taking her time to write correctly formed letters and numbers. Lily also continues to trace the Sandpaper Letters carefully, revealing a greater retention and knowledge of the shape, sound, and lowercase cursive symbol for all the letters of the alphabet. We look forward to seeing her long-term recall of letter sounds so we can work more in-depth with her on the Moveable Alphabet, an important work highlighting sound blending. We are thrilled to see Lily gain openness to taking on some new and challenging tasks. Well done Lily!” It’s so wonderful to hear all the great things about Lily and how she’s learning and growing into a beautiful smart lady! She even impressed me by pointing our some states on the map like Texas and California, and even all the countries on earth, except she couldn’t remember the name “Australia” but that’s pretty difficult to pronounce at first. I cannot be more proud of my Lily pad!! I love you so much Lily!!
Here’s some video fun of the kiddos!
Happy 19 Months Leo!
Happy 19 months my little prince Leo! Leo weighs in at 22.4 lbs and stretchs about 33 inches long. Leo is now drinking about 6-7oz of Pediasure Grow and Gain with Fiber 4 times a day so he can gain more weight. He is still taking his medications twice a day and taking a medication to help increase his appetite right before bed since it makes him drowsy. He had his hearing test and he woke up when they tried to put the probes on his head so all they can find out is that both ear drums work, so that’s good, he just has to go back in April to see how much hearing he has. He also had a speech evaluation and his speech and understanding skills are mostly at a 3-6 months and some 6-9 month old range, but since it closely matches his physical development, they’re not recommending speech therapy for now. He has to come back for a follow up in 3-4 months, and if he is not showing any improvement, then he will probably need therapy. Overall, he is still always a happy playful and cheerful personality. He likes to play peek a boo and clap his hands, and he really likes interactive toys. He is doing so much better at drinking from his bottle by himself. He’ll drop the bottle sometimes and will need help near the end but he is doing so much better. He can also sit up now all by himself, yay!! He is crawling more and even pulled himself up to his knees in his crib too! He is making great progress and I cannot be more proud of him! He is still not eating solids, but he is starting to lick objects and discover the world through that sense and that is a huge milestone. I’m hoping he will eat solids soon now that he’s ok with licking things, it’s a great sign! Leo is also making lots of new sounds and loves to squeal with excitement, sometimes a little bit too loud…haha. Leo also had his first trip to see the snow and had a lot of fun and was very curious about the snow too! Happy 19 months old me sweet petite prince! I love you so much!!
Lily is always so silly, goofy, smart and sweet! She loves to dance and watch music videos and listen to music. She currently loves the movies Troll and Sing! She can play those songs and videos on repeat all day long if she could haha. She also is really enjoying karate more at school! Lily’s appetite has been increasing too and loves to snack on strawberries, raspberries, and cookies. She eats but then burns it all off so quick! She really likes to sing more now too and I’m very impressed with how well she can memorize songs after hearing them a few times. She likes a lot of modern songs on the radio but also school songs that she learns at school. She gets really proud and excited to show me what she knows but she’ll get shy if put on the spot. Lily is very into all sorts of toys right now, Shopkins, Num Noms, Legos, Princess Elena, shooting “alligators” (shooting nerf guns from upstairs down at imaginary alligators), and lots of arts and crafts. She also is getting much better and faster at riding her tricycle and balance bike too! Lily also had a blast in the mountains and loves sledding. She wanted to go with my first just to get a feel for it again and then she was all on her own non stop! She loves to get her nails painted and sometimes I’ll let her do it herself. She likes to brush her own hair now too and brush mine and try to tie my hair as well. She also loves watering plants in the garden still and cuttign some flowers to bring them inside to put in a little small vase that I have for her! She really loves her teachers at school and a couple of them left to work at other schools. She told me about it and told me that she’ll miss them a lot. She’s so sweet! She then told me she got new teachers and that she went up to them by herself to say hi and tell them her name, I’m so proud of her! You’re my giant ball of sunshine my Lily pad, I love you to pieces!
Here’s some video fun!
Happy 16 Months Leo!
Happy sweet 16 months to my sweet little prince Leo (sorry for posting this so late Leo!)! Leo weighs in at 20lbs and stretches about 31 inches long. Leo is getting so much stronger each day and constantly making progress in his developments. He had his GI appointment and the doctor prescribed him some medication to help with his chronic constipation. She said that he needs to clean out his colon and he has to be on this medication everyday for about a year to get his system use to going number two once a day. His colon is probably enlarged due to the constipation and holding it in for days at a time, so he needs to allow himself a lot of time to get his colon back down to a normal size. She thinks that maybe if he poops more regularly, maybe he won’t have a tummy ache (even though he doesn’t see to be fussy about it, maybe his tummy has been aching) and maybe this will cause him to want to eat and try solids. Overall, the medication is working and he’s still not taking solids, but it’s going to be a process. The OT said she’s never met any non g-tube that’s be this orally defensive before. I hope you start to learn to eat solids soon Leo because food is SO enjoyable haha! Leo did have a great accomplishment though and that he’s starting to hold his own bottle during feedings! He’s not confident yet, it’s more like me propping his hands up and holding his hands in place, but it sets the motion and he would hold it for a minute or two by himself, and sometimes he’ll even tip the bottle up himself to get the last of the milk as well! He is also tucking his legs under him more when he’s on the floor on his tummy, and he’ll rock back and forth sometimes in that position too. It seems like he’s really wanting to crawl soon, fingers crossed!! He’s also getting stronger at standing. Sometimes he’ll pull himself upright but he still needs a lot of assistance and support when standing, and he’s still pretty stiff, but he’s improved a lot just in this last month. The two PT sessions a week now really helps! He also does this ridiculously cute thing where he’ll put his arm up and his hand on his forehead whenever he’s tired or doesn’t like something, and if he really doesn’t like something then he’ll pout, but it’s just so super cute I cannot resist his doe eyes when he does it! All his baby steps are huge leaps in my eyes and I cannot be more proud of my petite prince Leo!
Lily just so bright and sweet as ever! Lily is learning a lot at LePort and even though her Spanish class isn’t offered this quarter, she is still reciting numbers and words she learned and is very proud of it! She is always super silly and likes to use her giant imagination and create lots of elaborate stories during playtime. She is very loving and sweet to Leo still and still continues to give him lots of hugs and kisses and is still so good at making him laugh and smile. She also had a recent school field to Zoomars Petting Zoo in San Juan Capistrano for the first time and she had such a blast! She loves riding the school bus and she really enjoyed all the animals! She liked feeding all the guinea pigs, goats, and pigs, and she even got to brush a goat’s fur. She also conquered her fear of horses/ponies and rode on a horse with no tears at all! I am so proud of her and she even had so much fun and waves hello to me several times during the ride. There was giant corn kernel pit at the zoo too and she loved making corn angels in it haha. Lily really likes songs on the radio and is singing along to them more, I love her sweet soft little voice! She still has a slight accent when she says certain words, it’s pretty cute and unique haha. I don’t know where she gets it from…but it’s cute regardless! She’s so silly and always bursting with so much sunshine and happiness, you just help but smile and love her even more. I love you so much my precious princess, my Lily pad! Keep on shining oh so bright!!
Angel2’s 2nd Birthday
(PC: Google Images Joakim Kremer)
My dearest Angel2 Baby,
You would have been 2 years old yesterday…I’m sorry I’m a day late, I did not forget, I never would and I never will. I think about you all the time, not just on special days like yesterday. I’ve been thinking about what wish to give you all day long, but I couldn’t get myself to come up of something that’s good enough for you. I am trying my best to be happy and positive for you, but I find it very hard because I find myself engulfed in the sadness of losing you. As your birthday approaches, I keep telling myself that I’ll be fine this time, and that I’ll be ok. Yet I end up thinking about you, what you never got to be, what I never got to have with you, and it makes me cry. I think about the moment I lost you, because that’s my last moments with you, and the pain instantly floods my heart. Some people are naive and ignorant by thinking I can’t miss someone who was never even here, but for a couple months, you were here, with me, in my womb. All those happy feelings and love that I have for you, that you gave me, that was real and that is what I miss. I miss what I never got to experience with you, I miss all the all the hopes and dreams that I once had for you, I miss you my angel2. It pains me not to be able to celebrate your life you never had a chance to live with you, and it saddens me that my tears are what makes me feel closest to you. However, your love lives inside my heart and I will always feel your love knowing that you are watching over me. I’ll never stop missing you, the pain will never go away, until I finally meet you one day. Until then, I’ll keep missing you, and thinking of you, and loving you. Happy 2nd Birthday my precious angel2.
Love always and forever,
Your Mommy
Lily & 360 Hair
I cannot be more proud of my Lily pad! The other night I told Lily that I’m going to give her a hair cut, like I’ve done every year since she was 2 years old. One of the first things Lily said after saying “ok” to me giving her a haircut was “It’s just hair, it will grow back!” That made me happy to hear because I didn’t want her to be too attached to her hair and be shallow or something. It was funny though because after I chopped off a chunk of her hair, she said “that’s enough mommy” haha. But she was totally fine and just watched her show on her Ipad while it straightened out her cut. She was very cooperative and sat still and everything! So after I finished her haircut, I told her that we will be donating her hair and said she has a lot of hair, and so we will give it to someone who doesn’t have hair and needs it. I wasn’t sure if she fully understood the concept, but kids are like sponges and they soak up every information you throw at them, so I figured I’ll just tell her and if she gets it, then cool, if not, then maybe she will later. So after I told her this, she seemed to be excited and said she wanted to give her hair to “them” (people who need it), and I said we have to mail it, but she insisted she wanted to go to their house and give it to them, haha, so sweet. I told her she can put it in the mail box with me and that was a compromise that seemed to pleased her.
So the next day at school, we walked past the reception desk and the reception commented on how cute Lily’s new haircut looked and she had a big smile and said thank you very sweetly. Then I asked her what we are doing with her hair and she said “anate it”, which I translated to “donate it” for the receptionist haha. The receptionist said that’s very special and so nice of her and lily skipped off to her class all excited. When she got inside her class, she had the biggest open mouth wide eyed smile on her face, waiting for people to notice her haircut! It was so cute to see her so happy. When I picked her up from school later that day, her teacher told me that Lily went up to her and said she’s “anating” her hair. So her teacher asked “what do you mean anate?” Lily said “I’m giving it to people who don’t have hair.” So her teacher asked her “who doesn’t have hair?” Lily says “sick people and old people” (I didn’t even tell her that part, she just got that all on her own!) and her teacher told me she got all emotional to hear Lily tell her that story! Then she said all day she was telling all her friends about how she’s “anating” her hair and all the other kids said they want to grow out their hair long so they can “anate” their hair too! That story just made me so teary eyed and so super proud of my baby girl. She just turned 4 years old and now she’s already inspiring others to be generous, kind, and help others.
When I wanted to be a mom, I always had visions of what kind of human beings I wanted my kids to be; kind, generous, smart, thoughtful, active, nice, caring etc. Then when I actually became a mom, I always tried to be very conscious of how to raise Lily and Leo to be that, and try to find opportunities where ever I can to teach her how to be kind to others, share, be caring, helpful, etc. Little did I know that Lily was all that and more! It’s a continuous learning process and I don’t know if what I’m doing would do much or if it’ll make a difference or not, but I just keep trying and hoping for the best. All these years I’ve been so delighted and grateful to watch Lily grow into this compassionate little person, and she’s just been more and more impressive to me that I feel so humbled to call her mine. I have so much joy in knowing that she is my baby girl, and that story about her haircut just filled me up with so much pride. It’s encouragement to myself to keep doing what I’m doing, and see how she’s growing so beautifully. It makes me feel really good as a parent and person. Lily’s pure innocence and caring heart just boosted my belief in the beauty and preciousness of life. Here is the LINK to 360 Hair with info on how to donate hair, and the minimum length needed is only 6 inches! I cut off about 7 inches of Lily’s hair. Sometimes, it doesn’t take much to make a big difference. I’m so super proud of my Lily, and I can’t wait to see what other amazing things she’ll do. I love you to pieces my precious Lily pad!
