amusement at the museum.

(okay, i know that title is a bit much, but i couldn't help myself!)



the best thing about (most of) the DC museums is that they're free! and because we're only about 25 minutes outside of the city, taking a spontaneous trip with an hour left before closing time is NBD.

in fact, it turns out it was the perfect time to visit with a busy two-year old. most people were leaving, so we found rockstar parking (holla!), and by the time we got into the museum, it wasn't too crowded considering it was a saturday. the hubs had to work, so one of my closest friends, choi boy's beloved auntie rina, joined us for some fun at the museum of natural history.


i've always loved this elephant that greets visitors at the entrance.

cb did, too. :)


we headed straight to the hall of mammals -- an awesome exhibit that displays all sorts of animals separated by continent.


it's a little freaky when you pause to consider that all they animals are real and stuffed, but it's amazing how close you can get to them.





cb was totally impressed and in complete awe.






we saw so many cool displays, but these two stood out the most:

look at that fashion foward orangutan with its dolman sleeves!

and my absolute favorite:

it was entitled, "busy toddler in action"
:)

we decided to be brave and let the busy toddler out of his stroller...


and, of course, all he wanted to do was push buttons.


he's very good at pushing buttons.

we stopped for a bit at the ocean life exhibit,

hello, dory!

and then headed to the second reason for our visit...


dino-mite!

cb was a little confused as to why the dinosaurs were just made of bones, but went with it anyway.




cb made himself very comfy in the dinosaur wing.

we even got to watch a scientist(? artist?) working on a dinosaur rendering based on some photos of bones.

very cool.

with our remaining time, we headed upstairs where we initially intended to go check out the hope diamond (and all the other pretty sparklies rina and i like to see...), but were instead greeted by this:

how serendipitous! i had no idea this gallery was here on loan!





choi boy loved checking out all the cool things from "keeya!" especially these cool little statues.
i loved seeing all the cool artifacts, too, but i love my cool little guy from "keeya" the most.
:)

finally, we reluctantly headed to the insect zoo...

(anyone else find it ironic that the insect zoo is sponsered by orkin?)

...where i sucked it up, pretended to be above my fears, and got up close and personal with the live insect displays so my little boy could check out some bugs.
that is called sacrifice, my friends.

for reals, yo.

cb loved playing and hanging out in the large ant hill and even met a cute little pal who was playing hide and seek with her big brother.


how stinkin' cute is that exchange?! adorbs!


we checked out the butterfly garden on our way out and bid adieu to the museum.

but, not to worry, cb, we will surely be back soon...


...after all, it really measured up!

(i know, i know...i can't help it with the puns!)

sporadic crafting.

remember that etsy shop i opened up shortly before cb came home? and remember how i joked that i was nuts to be opening up shop just before bringing home a toddler? i totally was.

just as soon as my little corner of etsy opened, it went on vacation. :) no regrets, of course. i was just a tad busy hanging out with my little rockstar.

anyway, since then, i've painted some name signs here and there for different friends and their sweet little bebes. and i thought i'd share them since i just finished something for cb and for our new little niece.

would you mind indulging me for a moment? k, thanks. :)


for a co-worker's sister (who is now also a co-worker!) and her sweet little boy.


for a co-worker's baby girl.


for sweet little ezekiel! i also made a larger version for our favorite little g-man.


little birdies for a co-worker's friend's daughter (um, yes, my co-workers have been super sweet about asking me to do some paintings for them -- so fun!)

and, for our sweet little niece, molly's little sister, who was born last week:

a cupcake again, because i can't help but think of sweet little yummies when i think of the name reese. love it. :) (oh, and E, if you're reading this, you should have this in your hands soon!)

finally, here's one i just finished for choi boy's room...it's larger than the others (16x20, i think) and was a way to display one of the hubs' favorite bible verses:

such powerful truth in there. :)

but. i'm so mad at myself because the "you" is so squished in the first line. you see, when i was sketching it out, i forgot the word "not" and didn't realize it until i was painting the words! gah! curse you, exhaustion and delirium! oh well. if those pesky little squares didn't take forever, i'd fix it. but for now, it shall remain as is. ;)

i did love doing this one, though. not just because it's so special and for cb, but because i love writing. i don't mean the craft of writing (though i do like that quite a bit, too.), i mean actually forming letters and writing them. when i doodle, i just make letters and write words, so it was so fun to just write out the verse in varying fonts.

you know, i think one of my dream jobs would be to write those signs at trader joe's or wegmans. i could create those signs that say, "fresh shrimp by the pound!" and "local honey" or "stock up on vitamin c!" how fun would that be?! no, really!

except, i have a feeling it just wouldn't be as fulfilling as teaching.

i dunno, just a hunch. ;)


p.s. i am taking custom orders for paintings even though nothing is listed in the shop! :)

word up, baby.

i don't like that choi boy is becoming more boy than baby. but if he has to grow up (and i supposed he must), the language development sure sweetens the deal. it is seriously amazing to watch toddlers develop their language and literally double their vocabulary overnight!

cb continues to learn new words almost daily, but recently, he has also started to clear up some of his articulation. just recently, cb learned how to "correctly" pronounce his name as well as our pup's name. he used to drop the first consonant, making the names sound like this:

ahkin = his name

ahpuh = piper

he's found those first consonants, but his 'r's are still a bit muddled. and i love it. :)

another word he's cleared up? firetruck. which i'm kind of sad about because he used to call them "wee-ooh-wee-ooh trucks," imidating the siren. it was awesome.

and on that note, here are some words that he still mispronounces that i hope stay this way for at least a little while longer...

tippy eemo = tiffany eemo (my sister actually wants to be called tippy forever. i love that.)

gamote = remote (this reminds me of a certain little dude and his "gaboons")

b00bies = blueberries (this was is hilarious and adorable, albeit embarassing in public.)

cue me = excuse me (oh my gosh, this one melts my heart every time i hear it! although. the fact that it's usually after a burp or fart makes me giggle. a lot.)

teef = teeth (this boy loves to brush his teef!)


oh, and the other part of language development i love? the little misunderstandings and mash-ups that happen in their brains...it's like you get a peek into their thinking! my favorite examples?

when cb is reaching for something and it's too far, he says, "too reach!" which, in his 2 year-old brain makes perfect sense. :)

and an example that adds a smile to an otherwise sad ending to the packers' season...here's the conversation that took place after the pack lost in the first round of the playoffs:

me: oh no, buddy, the packers lost!
cb: mommy, go find it!

word.

i wish i could, buddy, i wish i could. :)


and a little video bonus. i tried to capture some video of cb being chatty, but it was after nap and he was much more interested in mooching off tippy eemo's snack and just gave me some little one word responses here and there. however, i did manage to capture cb singing his own original mash-up of the ABC song and "twinkle twinkle little star." it goes something like this, "A B C D star. how i baby star. how i baby star..." yup, "baby star" being another mix up for "little star". and hey, he might not have any of the words right, but at least he realizes (or doesn't realize?) the tune is the same in both songs! ;) oh, and you also get to see him try and ham it up with the cute to try and get some more snacks...

"you will not win!" and other fun adventures in discipline.

two is a super fun age.

no, really! i mean that with all sincerity. i love how two year-olds are like little sponges, soaking up everything around them and exploding in their knowledge and abilities. it's absolutely amazing to watch!

but.

along with all those new cognitive abilities also comes that infamous fight for autonomy.

you know what i mean.

"i do it!"

"my turn!"

"miiine!!"

or, if you're choi boy and still mixing up your pronouns, it sounds like this:

"you do it!"

"your turn!"

"yoooours!!"

he sounds so very generous, but really, the sentiment is very much the same.

and of course, we also get our shares of "no!" and "no want it!"

yup. super fun.

don't get me wrong, most of the day, cb is as sweet as can be.


but, there are definitely pockets of the day when we see a cb that thinks he is way too cool for his lame old 'rents.


we get the bargaining,

"mommy do it? mommy clean up?"

the running away,

this is the one time in my life that i will be faster than cb, so it actually cracks me up as i run after him. for now.

and the trying to get out of it by being cute.

that one works more than i'd like to admit. :)

oh, but my favorite?

the epic tantrum.

mmmhmmm. 15 plus minutes of screaming and crying and pure stubbornness. they are farther and fewer between than the other behaviors, but they are present. the whys of the tantrums vary but we try and keep our reaction to it consistent. we *try* to remain calm, ride it out with cb and when he's ready, "debrief" with him and continue on with whatever caused the tantrum without giving in to his demands. of course, there may have been a time or two when i proclaimed in frustration, "you will not win!" but that's another story...;)


two-year old cb, know that you will not win in these situations. because i love you too much to let you win. right now, appa and i know better than you, though we fully admit there will be a day when you know better than us! we want what is best for you. we want to keep you safe and we want to help you become a kind and respectful human.

so, though you might be stubborn now, i am more stubborn. and i'll continue to be that stubborn so i can help you work through these tantrums in order to teach you how to take all those new skills and knowledge that you are acquiring daily and use them to become even more awesome than you already are.


i love you, baby. i love you something fierce.

our first family day.

i finished it. our one year slideshow is complete. and *before* my extended deadline, too. because, you see, one month ago tuesday, we celebrated our first family day. so, without further ado, here's how the celebrating went down.

on december 17, 2010, choi boy was placed in our arms forever. though we didn't come home and land on US soil until december 20, the day our agency considers our placement date, we will always recognize december 17 as the day we became a family.

so, on december 17, 2011, we proudly celebrated our one year milestone! 365 days of familyness. :)

we decided to make the day all about cb and his loves.

we started the morning with some cinnamon rolls (*not* homemade, thankyouverymuch). cb thought i had lost my mind and asked me, wide-eyed, "umma, eat cake??!" yes, baby, you can have cake for breakfast on family day. ;)

after "cake," we moved on to our main activity for the day. if you couldn't already tell, choi boy has been quite interested in and excited about trains lately. because our family day falls during christmas season, there was no shortage of train shows we could attend. we chose one close by and cb had a blast looking at and watching all the trains.


we even got to chat with a certain man in red. :)


but, not for long, because there were trains! to! see!







child was mesmerized.

and seeing cb so excited made us *so* happy.


after coloring some pictures of trains (what else?),


we headed off to grab some of cb's favorite food for lunch. we contemplated going to a korean restaurant, but our little boy LOVES soup -- pasta e fagioli, in particular. :) so, we set off our local pizza shop that happens to make *the best* pasta e fagioli!


someone was very excited as we waited.


and though the pizza is amazing,


nothing beats that soup!


the rest of our day was pretty lowkey, but the best part was just being *together*.

we are so blessed.

happy one year home, cb! we are so grateful to be your umma and appa!

and to celebrate, here is a slideshow of our journey to choi boy and our first year together...

please note, it is LONG. like, nearly as long as a sitcom long. i know, i'm crazy! but, i'm so glad to have everything documented in one slideshow to show cb now and as he grows up. don't feel the need to watch all (or any) of it (it's mostly for his sappy momma family anyway), but around 12:30, you might recognize some familiar faces. :)

p.s. i just realized this is my 300th post!! how appropriate that it is so celebratory! :)