Tet

Tet is the Vietnamese name for the celebration around the lunar new year, a time for family, food, drink, fireworks, red envelopes, and gambling. Stanley Kubrik aptly describes it as "New Year's, Christmas, and the Fourth of July all rolled into one."  Today, here, it's not the crown jewel of holidays like it was when I was a kid, but we try to make a big deal of it. Who in their right mind would want fewer reasons to get together with family to eat and gamble?

Like many holidays, it's also a marking of time. Though thankfully we seem to age only gradually, the kids just explode year to year. This time last year rang in the Year of the Snake (my birth sign), and it brought us a handsome son. Looking  forward to what the Year of the Horse has in store to try and top that. 

More pics will come when I'm able to get them off my camera....

Way Back in 2013 Part 2- HBD edition

Ok, so it's been longer between installments than I had planned, but my excuse is that a many of my pics are tied up on a jard drive that I can't access right now. Hopefully I'll get that sorted out soon and be able to post some pics from the holidays. 

For now though, Here are some pics from my phone in a attempt to get caught up. 

Huelan's birthday is just two days afer Christmas, so we're going to be challenged to find a way to celebrate it every year when most everyone we know is partied out. Grandma set up a family party during dessert at the Lee Christmas gathering, so she was able to have cake, ice cream, and all the BD festivities. 

On her actual birthday, I took the day off from work and we went on an SF adventure. First, Bart to downtown, where we went to the big mall to see the snowflake show on the dome and hit up the Disney Store (Dec 27 sale was pretty good). Shared a pretzel on the way up to Union Square where she jumped off tons of stairs and we took in the giant tree. She got into a taxi for the first time and we went to pick up Mom at work. A full afternoon concluded with a long nap. Not a bad birthday. 

Then of course a few days later Anh, Patty, and BiBi came with more cake and presents. And I forgot to mention the cupcake party at school. No less than FOUR seperate celebrations for a four-year-old, tacked on to an extended Christmas season. January is the season for recovery. Thank goodness Vansen's birthday isn't til July....

Way Back in 2013, Part 1

 

I owe some posts from a wayz back, so I think I'll just dive in this week and try to be caught up by next week.  I'll start with what I can remember from Thanksgiving. We started the road trip Thursday morning, Thanksgiving, and I'll be darned if it wasn't pretty painless. Huelan is a practiced roadtripper now, and with Nhuanh and Vansen in the backseat with her, she rode like a champ. DVDs and headphones didn't hurt either.  This was Vansen's second trip south, and he did even better this time.  With casual stops (lunch at Denny's, the only place open on Thanksgiving in Bakersfield), I think it was about 8 hours.  No sweat.

We showed up with a little time to spare before dinner and proceeded to stuff our faces. 

And then did it again the next day at Mike and Caroline's new pad in LA-ish (technically Hawthorne).  Friendsgiving was another success, and kicked off 5-6 weeks of festive gatherings of friends and family.  

Catching up with so many people in a relatively short period of time is a reminder that nothing ever stays the same. I'll do my best to relay that over the next few posts.  

For now, here are some pics from the end of November.

Deliverance

Often, one of the first things a mom will ask a new mom is to tell the delivery story. First time moms have the best stories- everyone goes about it differently, and things rarely go according to plan, so it's part harrowing thriller and part ridiculous comedy. 

There are always some crazy details; from fainting husbands to loony nurses, something's always goes a bit wacky. 

I'm waxing on this because we've got a sudden influx newish babies and have heard some classic stories. One of the most recent radiant mothers to share her story with us was Bo. She and Ray went to the hospital earlier than anticipated, and brought home little Rylan. As with most good stories, it's all in the delivery. 

Baked

I hope that this cookie party becomes a tradition. Just pick any Sunday in December- I'll hang with Vansen and watch football, maybe walk around Telegraph Ave if it's sunny, and you guys bring home some sweet treats fresh from Grandma's oven. 

Yup, sounds good. 

Sit-ups

So we inherited this chair from Kainoa. I've seen them around, but we never used one with Huelan so I'm not sure if we're doing it wrong or he's just top heavy. 

Probably both. 

Mirror Mirror

Like many kids, both of ours just love the mirror.  Huelan uses any reflective surface and we'll frequently catch her scoping herself out dancing and posing in our mirrored cabinets, sliding glass doors, even the glass window in the oven door.  Vansen so far is the same- he just lights up when he sees himself in the mirror (though to be fair, he has no conception of his own reflection... yet).  We've supplied him with some kiddie mirrors he plays with, and if we want him to be in a good mood, we know that putting him in front of a mirror is a great way to do it- the vid above is a good case in point.  It's also captures his weird reverse-laugh.

We didn't use the baby carrier a lot with Huelan- one of us could be with her and free the other one up to do something.  But with two kids we've been using the carrier more, since Vansen's heft makes it so that neither of us can carry him in our arms very long.  The carrier frees up both hands, allowing us to at least clear the dinner table and tidy up around the house while holding him, so it will probably get a lot of use.  Thankfully, he seems to dig it, especially the occasional dance jam.

Multi-Lingual

Since about Thanksgiving, Vansen's definitely showed that he wants to join the party. Tons of social smiling and giggles galore. He doesn't quite have the laughing thing down yet- he makes most of the laugh noise on the inhale. Either that or we've been doting on his baby asthma....

The other new thing is this tongue- he  rarely has it in his mouth. He's just flapping it all around. Flat, pointy, up, down. The only constant is the drool. 

Logan James

Sunday we also got to stop in to meet Vansen's new little buddy Logan James, who was just three days old- THREE DAYS OLD!  He wasn't too interested in meeting us, but since we invited ourselves over he didn't have much of a choice. 

We popped in on Vivien, Jason, & Stella just in time to watch the last two minutes of the 49er game- the last game Jason will watch in its entirety for a while. 

HBD

With the two kids and the holidays, which feel a little more compressed this year because of the short time between Thanksgiving and Christmas, we feel like we've been hustlin a little bit lately. But we were able to celebrate Liz turning thirtysomething with a rich chocolate cake, a couple of scoops of eggnog icecream, dinner out, and a movie in a theater (thanks Grandma, Papa, and Sophia!). It's the little things....

We followed that up on Sunday with our first family trip to a Christmas tree farm. We bundled up the kids (it's been chilly here- like ice in the driveway chilly) packed up the car, bolted on the roof rack, and made our way to Sebastapol. It's kind of out of the way, but we thought it'd be fun. 

Not only did we cut down our own tree, but Huelan got a tractor hay ride, a pony ride, and a candy cane from Mrs. Claus. At the end of the day, when I asked her what her favorite thing was, she considered cafefully and answered, "I think all of it."  Yup worth the drive. 

One Track

The kid has just one thing on his mind. He knows when we're at the counter where I make his bottles. He'll hear me prepping up the formula and crane his head around to spot it. Once he does, he's locked in.

I'll lean him back, then let him reach his little overstuffed sausage link arms out to grab the bottle. He'll guide it, shakily like he's got the DT, to his pre-pursed lips then go to town. 

Ding Ding Ding A Ding A Ding Ding

Whatever it is the fox is saying, Vansen is digging it. 

Roadie

8.5 hours was just 30 mins longer than my projection, so I'd say we did alright. For the most part it was painless, even the Denny's lunch stop, which was the only place open on Thanksgiving. The five of us ate a sit down meal for only $21- it might become a regular spot for us....

At Ba Noi's now, post dinner living room lounging. A little more settling then we're going in on the pies. 

High Roller

Fun couple of weeks culminated in David's 50th birthday/retirement party.  Too tired to caption this pic, so give it your best shot in the comments.

Some more pics here

1-2-3

Him on her lap, her on my lap- she calls it the Triplestack. The combination of his chubby heft and her bony bottom is going to make this difficult to do much longer.