Thursday, September 24, 2015

Buy Buy Baby

Dear Connor,

You told me today, "I love my baby brother so much. Thank you for buying him!"

Love,
Mom

Tuesday, September 22, 2015

School Fatigue

Dear Connor,

When I told you to get ready for school this morning, you asked me, "Can I go tomorrow and take a break today?" Ha, no. If you're tired of school already, it's going to be a looooong year.

Love,
Mom

Wednesday, September 16, 2015

First Homework

Dear Connor,

Today's milestone: Your very first homework assignment!


By the way, I spent more than $100 on pencils, erasers and other school supplies and sent them in with you on the first day of school but didn't remember to keep any pencils and erasers at home for you to do your homework with. After several minutes of searching through boxes and wondering if it would look bad if you did your homework in crayon, I found two pencils in a goody bag you got at a friend's birthday party, whew!

Love,
Mom

Wednesday, September 9, 2015

Monday, September 7, 2015

You're Five Years Old!

Dear Connor,

Two weeks ago, you, MuiMui, Uncle Tony and I went out to dinner at a nearby Greek restaurant. When the four of us sat down at a table, the waiter automatically took away MuiMui's glass cup of water and replaced it with a plastic one with a lid. However, he let you keep your glass cup. No more plastic cups at restaurants--you are officially a big kid! :-)

I can't believe that you are 5 years old. Or that you are starting kindergarten in two days. And that I've already been a mom for half a decade! I still remember the exact moment I found out that I was pregnant with you, when you were just a microscopic speck in my belly. And now you are this 4-foot-tall walking, talking person who embodies so many wonderful qualities. You are incredibly playful and love to laugh. You are curious and inquisitive about everything and instead of taking things at face value, you constantly question why they are the way they are. You are helpful and often ask me if you can assist me with tasks like folding laundry and putting away groceries.


You are funny and always crack me up with the things you say. When you heard two women on the street speaking Mandarin, you asked me, "What English are they speaking?" I told you that the language they were speaking was Mandarin and you replied, "Oh. I speak New York." A few days ago, you said to me, "My butt itches. Can you scratch it?" Haha! But no.

You are so sweet. The other day, you said to me, "I love my baby brother so much. He will be in my heart forever." You are compassionate and thoughtful toward others. When DiDi is crying in his crib, you run over to him and try to soothe him. When PoiPoi and I got into a bad argument a couple weeks ago and I started crying, you came over to me and asked me, "Do you need a hug?" This morning, Sawyer was wearing a jumper that had little open gaps between the buttons. You stuffed a small toy blanket from one of your Lego Duplo sets into one of the gaps and told me, "I fixed DiDi's shirt."

Happy birthday, big guy! I love you now and forever.

Love,
Mom

Sunday, September 6, 2015

Party On

Dear Connor,

When I was a kid and GongGong and PoiPoi threw birthday parties for me, they just tied a few balloons to the fence in our backyard, set out chips and soda, bought a birthday cake from Giant Eagle and invited the neighborhood kids over the week of--or sometimes even the day of--the party. I vaguely remember a game of Pin the Tail on the Donkey one year. Overall, my birthday parties were simple affairs.

Now I am throwing birthday parties for my own kids and they are definitely not so casual. The popular birthday party venues book up months in advance, so I have to start thinking about where to have your September party in May and secure a location. I like to have a theme and choose whatever character or show you're currently into (this year, it was Blaze and the Monster Machines). Then I find invitations, decorations and favors that are related to the theme and bake and design a related cake (for the first time, though, I cheated and ordered your Blaze birthday cake this year since we just moved into our new house and are in the midst of an cleaning and unpacking tornado). There are a ton of things to keep track of for the party and it's a lot of work.

And your birthday party today was that much more stressful because it was at an amusement park inside of a really popular city park near the site of the US Open during a holiday weekend, meaning parking was a NIGHTMARE. We arrived half an hour early to set up and 30 minutes later, we were still circling the jam-packed parking lot and adjacent blocks looking for a spot. We couldn't find anywhere to park, PoiPoi and Uncle Tony in their car couldn't find anywhere to park . . . and where were our 30+ guests going to find anywhere to park?! Miraculously, we did eventually get a spot, as did almost all of our guests (unfortunately, PoiPoi and Uncle Tony and Aunt Irene and your cousins Madison and Zoey couldn't find a spot and had to admit defeat and go home), so we were able to make it to your own party, albeit a little late. The party organizers were actually kind enough to extend your party by an extra half an hour for free--and you and your friends made the most of it! You all had so much fun on the rides and after we'd had pizza and cake and we were walking back to the car, you sighed contently and said, "That was the best." And that single sentiment is what makes all of the work, sweat and time I put into your birthday parties completely worth it.




Love,
Mom

Wednesday, September 2, 2015

Moving Out

Dear Connor,

We just moved into our brand new house but I told you that you are eventually going to move out when you get older. You disagreed and told me, "I'm going to live here forever." Ha, not if Daddy has anything to say about that!

Love,
Mom