Saturday Morning With The Kids

It's that time of year again... WWDC. That means that on most weekends, Daddy will be working either from home or in the office, which means that I will be taking care of the kids and taking them to all their activities by myself. This Saturday marked the first of that. Although tiring, I would have to say that this year is a lot more manageable than last year. Mainly because Char is older, doesn't need that morning nap, can be calmed by stuffing food in her mouth, and likes to play and explore. 

We started off by going to Petsmart and TJ Maxx to kill some time before soccer class. There were dogs outside for adoption. Char was very interested in going closer to the dogs, but Lucas was more hesitant (he's afraid of big dogs right now). Instead, we decided to do our usual "say hi to all the animals" routine inside the store.

 Hi birds!

Char can spend hours staring at the dogs (wo wo)

 Newly stocked books @ TJ Maxx

We only have three (?) weeks of soccer left. For the past couple weeks, it looked like Lucas had no interest in soccer. Imagine your stereotypical Asian kid (non athletic) who is kicking and "running" with the ball at a snail's pace. He's so slow his just-learned-how-to-walk little sister can go faster than him! However, whenever I ask him how soccer was, he always says he had fun. Today... well, today was something else! For the first half of practice, he was really into it! He was even kicking and running with the ball fast enough to make Mama proud! 

Good bye stereotypical non-athletic Asian boy

Really into this morning's activity

Weeeee

And now, I'm beat! Maybe it was being out in the sun for soccer. Or maybe it's because I know it's Saturday. Usually I'm pretty okay when it comes to taking the kids out every morning.

Fifteen

Has it already been three months since little sissy poo turned one?! Although she's 15 months old, she still looks like a 9 month old. 

Char is mastering the art of walking now. Whenever she tries to go faster than her legs can currently take her, she ends up falling. She's slowly starting to catch up with all the stuff big bro is doing. And being that she's the little sis who adores big bro, she doesn't mind that Lucas bosses her around every day. 

Now that she's older, she understands maybe 50% of what I'm saying to her (or should I give her more credit?). She also knows enough phrases to get by in life - "ma ma" (Mom), "po po" (carry me), "bao bao" (bread), "nai nai" (milk), "ge ge" (Lucas), "da da" (Dad), "hi" (hi), "ROARRRR" (roar), "wuo wuo" (dog), "teeky teeky" (tickle tickle). 

 What happens when you let her eat a strawberry in the car

 Stopping and looking at flowers

 All ready for school!

 Conquering walking

 Riding a "roller coaster" for the first time

Help from Lucas

Playing with Play Doh for the first time

What happens when all the snacks are gone

Playful. Silly. Bipolar. Sassy. That's our 15 month old princess.

Mother's Day 2014

First of all, why do teachers get an entire week of love (Teacher's Appreciation Week) as opposed to mothers, who only get one day?! I know teachers work hard and all, but mothers work even harder! Anyway, this weekend was fun. We started off Saturday with a cake for breakfast as well as a new coffee mug (apparently my old mug was too gnarly, according to someone who shall remain unnamed).

 "One Fine Lady" from 85c

 Lucas wouldn't look up because he was too mesmerized with the cake

 Both kids made a potted plant for Mommy

 Mommy forcing them to show off their work of art

 Late night snack: garlic-butter (just murdered) lobster

I love Mother's Day! And even more so since I've become one. This is one of the only weekends where Daddy will do all the dishes and clean the house without me unsubtly telling him to do so. It's also a great day to reflect back on how wonderful mothers are. Being a mother is truly the world's toughest job. And although I love Mother's Day, a part of me will always be sad because I was never able to celebrate Mother's Day with my own mother after becoming a mother. 

Well, hope all the mom's out there had a great day!

Third Wheelin' Mother

And it's Friday! This was definitely a LONG week! Actually, long Friday morning. Today started at 5:55. Lucas woke up crying due to a nightmare and wanted me to sleep in bed with him. Later on that morning, he used Purell and massaged it all over his hair. He also unscrewed my sweetened ice tea bottle and poured it all over the carpet right before we were leaving the house. Lastly, he temporarily got lost at the library because he ran off somewhere. Where's my drink?! 

Like I mentioned before, the Shinn kids are great when they're getting along and playing together. Sometimes I feel like I'm getting kicked out of their secret clubhouse meetings. Lucas has been very exclusive with his partner-in-crime, Charlotte, while they're doing who knows what in his room. Since he's extremely loud, I can hear him reading to her, jumping on the bed with her, and of course, ripping his room apart.

I know when I'm not wanted...

 Cramped up watching Barney

 Showing off goodies on the couch

 Mommy trying to be cool and joining the cool kids

 Walking with sissy poo to the library

Good-bye infant tub! Hello "shower with Char" time

Sometimes I just feel like I'm third wheeling them. I'm like the kid in school who tries too hard to belong or something. They only want me around when 1) they're hungry, 2) they're fighting with each other, or 3) sometimes they just want to hang out with their mother. I hear a lot of "Mommy, go outside", "Mommy, go downstairs and make dinner" (hey, it's still 9am buddy!), "Mommy, go clean!".

And because I feel like an outcast now, here's what I do to retaliate:

ROAR!!!!!

Shinn Kiddies

"Hey Lucas, can you help Mommy take care of Char while I cook?" 90% of the time, Lucas complies and helps me out. When Char seems to be having a hissy fit (and she has TONS of those!), Lucas does the best he can to stop it. He'll give her a book, a toy, or say "Charlotte, let's go upstairs". And the other 10% of the time, he just ignores me. And her.

 Inseparable

 Tagging along with big bro

 Loves cars like big bro, too

 Enjoying a JJ in front of the Apple store

"Hey Char, lie down"

Char's learning new tricks left and right nowadays

Weekend Shinnanigans

Our Saturdays have become very "family" like. What exactly does that mean? We have a semi lazy/slow breakfast together, kill some time at home, Lucas has soccer practice (so we alternate staying with him) while Char plays at the park, we have lunch somewhere close by and BAM! it's nap time! I can foresee many more years of this - with one kid having one activity while the other has a different one. Yup, guess this is our life now.

 Paper and crayons - best way to keep kids busy at a restaurant

I LOL-ed watching this video for a while... 

I asked Lucas numerous times, before paying for his soccer lessons, "are you SURE you want to play soccer?". He replied yes every single time. However, when the time came, he looks anything but enthused to play. The kid enjoys running... but running with a ball that slows you down? No thank you. Plus he never sees us watch soccer on TV or play soccer at home... so I don't blame the fellow. I can see him playing basketball more since we currently own 3 hoops and WAS watching the playoffs (till now). Oh well. Our way of thinking is we'll let him try out different activities and he can decide what he like and not like. As for now, it looks like soccer will be over for us in mid-June.

Just not that into soccer...

Most active he's been playing soccer 

 His happy soccer face = sitting on the ball

 More into watching Daddy build him an X-wing

 What his happy face looks like

 Char's happy face

And speaking of the little lady, someone decided it was time to start walking for good this Saturday!

 Father/son twinsie pic (both had SW shirt underneath, too!)

Me with my walking crazies

We went to get ice cream after lunch on Saturday and the worker was saying how we had "a perfect little family (a boy and a girl)". That was a nice thing to say. And that was our weekend.

It Takes Two

Troublemakers. That's what these two are. While I was upstairs cleaning out old baby stuff (bibs, receiving blankets, etc.), I was wondering why the two rugrats were so quiet downstairs. After bathing them and putting them down for their nap, I figured out why. The two rascals were quietly watching videos on my iPad when I clearly told them "no iPad!". These slicksters weren't that slick though since they left Barney running the entire time we were upstairs. 

Little homegirl has become so much more fun. Her sassy personality is starting to show more and more, but she makes up for it by being fun! And it looks like her crawling days are close to over, so I feel more comfortable taking her wherever now.

 At the playground while big bro has soccer practice

 Future SOA?

Swinging her non-existent troubles away 

Loves cars like big bro

Loves Target like big bro (and Mommy)

Sometimes I wonder if Char is gonna become a total tomboy. If you look at the toys she plays with, they're mostly all boy stuff. She also plays rough like a boy. 

Ms. No Fear

 Copying big bro at CDM

 Beating the early summer heat

 Lucas requested to eat outside for dinner

My nanny: iPad 2nd gen (need upgrade, hint hint)

I don't use my nanny all the time... only when I'm cooking or need someone to stop bugging me. Usually these troublemakers find ways to entertain each other. Lately, one of them would be holding on to the string of a yo-yo and the other would chase after it while both screaming with glee. Other times, they like to sit together on the SAME chair (usually Charlotte's) and do something weird together.

Like this

Oh children...