Potty Training and Black Eyes
Again, it's been awhile since there has been an entry on the site. I have no excuses except for work has been very busy and the 2 boys are keeping us tired. I used to think that we went to sleep early because we couldn't make it past 10:30 pm. Now, it seems I can't make it past 10:00 or even 9:30 some nights. Here's the latest happenings in Chicago.
IT'S FREEZING! Poor Brendan is trapped inside all day at daycare are and at home. We try to get him outside when it's possible but on days like today (single digit temps) there is no way. We're lucky if he doesn't get frost bite just from the house to the car to daycare. We've started the process of TRYING to Potty Train. It's going very very slow. He's a little young and don't want to push too hard. From the pictures above, we're still trying to get him to also read the paper while sitting on the potty and not while we are changing his diaper. B is loving daycare and all his new friends. Pablo is one of his pals from daycare and we must hear his name about 50 times a day on the weekends. Pablo's Mom also said that she hears Brendan's name at their house on the weekend but it's only when Pablo has gotten into trouble and he's trying to blame it on Brendan. Ha... True friendship. The last bit of B news is that yesterday morning he crawled out of his crib. He has a small shiner to prove it. I guess it's time to move Patrick into the crib and Brendan into a toddler bed.
Speaking of Patrick. He's doing great. I think he's looking more and more like Brendan but Claire thinks not so much. We're very blessed that he has the same cheerful big smile personality that Brendan has. We're working on getting him on more of a sleep schedule during the day and going a little longer at night. Right now, he usually wakes up once during the night which is not too bad. He's rolled over a few times already and is starting to realize that he controls those two things (hands) that flop around in front of him and land in his mouth occasionally.
Claire is busy with school and can't wait to be done. She truly amazes me everyday that she juggles everything well (being a great Mom, school, and putting up with me) and on limited sleep. The next few months are going to be crazy as we get ready to move back East to be closer to friends and family. New pictures are posted in the photos section and I'm going to try to put up .mov or .avi files of the YouTube videos. I know some can't view the YouTube stuff because it's blocked at work. Well, back to work for me. Bye for now.
We had an ultrasound today for Baby Zen and were thrown a little curve ball. Have you figured out what's wrong with the ultrasound picture we posted yet? If not, I'll give you a hint... Baby Zen will be wearing a lot more blue then pink growing up. That's right. As most of you know, we wanted to be surprised with the sex of our baby. However, we accidently found out the sex of the baby during our last ultrasound. We still got surprised! Today, I was joking with the ultrasound tech and asked... "There is still only 1 girl in there?" The tech responded with a sort of soft "ummm no" For a split second, I thought the tech was being cheeky. Then the tech said.. "See this big circle? That is one of the testicles." Claire and I were in shock and could do nothing but laugh. Well, I guess we sort of got surprised about the sex of our baby.
As you may recall when we were expectig Brendan we did not want to know the sex of the baby. At our 13 week ultasound we didn't think they could even determine the sex so we didn't bother to let the tech know we wanted the gender to be a surprise. After a few minutes of staring at the fuzzy blobs on screen the tech made some comment referring to the fact that the baby was a boy and then back-tracked with "You wanted to find out the sex right?"
I wish I could take B the way he is now and bottle him up. Keep him this age forever. I'm having the time of my life with B. He's got his own personality. We're buddies. We hang out. We watch a little ESPN, the Chicago BEARS, wrestle, and all that other good stuff that Dad's do with a son his age. I'm sure once the weather gets nicer we'll go cruise the Lake Front for chicks too. Well, B will cruise and I'll be his wing man and push his stroller. Even though he can't talk yet, B still communicates with smiles, giggles, hands clapping in excitement, grunts, and the many different types of cries, screams, and whines. The only four letter words out his mouth right now are Mama and Dada. I'm sure the other four letter words will be flying out of his mouth before we know it. This sort of thing is the reason I wish I could prevent him from growing up. B's also getting better at walking every day. However, he still sometimes walks like a drunken sailor and will take a good plop on his bottom. I love watching him try to figure out everything and comprehend the World around him. I don't think it could get any better then it is right now.
We didn't get it on video but Mommy and Auntie Jennifer got to see it. B took his first step yesterday, one day after he started to really stand on his own. What can we say? He's a quick study... lol. This picture was taken later that day at the Aviation Museum in Long Island. We were there with my cousin Marilyn and her children. It was a good time.
We took B to see The Old Fat Man... a.k.a. Santa on Friday. Santa gave him a little beanie baby but I'm sure all B was asking for was Cheerios. These days that's all that B seems to want. We took him to a place called 
I came across this 
We knew this day would come. Brendan is now full on crawling. The care-free days of putting him down and knowing he wasn't moving from that spot are completely gone. We now spend a good portion of our days trying to make sure he's staying in baby-friendly areas of the loft....and suddenly we're realizing how very baby-unfriendly our place is- the sharp corners, the uncapped outlets, and did I mention the WIRES?
1 year ago today is when we found out that we were going to have a little Buddha. I forgot all about it but Claire reminded me in the way that wives do. "Do you know what tomorrow is?". My heart started racing. My mind started going a mile a minute trying to figure out if I had forgottena date that I should be able to produce before she finishes her sentence. I was drawing blanks and getting real nervous. She just smiled and reminded me. I don't know how I could forget the date that took the World as I knew it and turned it upside down.
Well as most of you know, Brendan was hospitalized two weekends ago. This week we went in for his 2 month checkup and shots. They gave us the results of all the tests they took and basically don't know what happened. As of late, he has been a little more fussy than normal and constantly wants to be held. At first, we thought this was because of all the trauma he has been through with the hospital visits, getting shots, and blood being drawn. With no real answers, we turned to the internet. Even with the vast knowledge of the internet, it was hard to narrow it down to something. Earlier this week, Claire was talking to her Mom who had explained our situation to one of her friends (Lisa) who has kids of her own. Lisa had said the same thing happend with her kids and knew exactly what it was. She is not a doctor but diagnosed him with HoldMyAssitis. She said it was nothing serious but could develop into something very serious and contagious... PainInOurAssitis. Claire and I are happy to know what is wrong with Brendan and glad that it should go away on it's own with no medical treatment. Thanks Lisa for helping us diagnose Brendan.
I have determined that staring at your newborn child (doesn't matter if his eyes are open or closed) is one of the best things in the World. It's better than any movie you could watch. It's amazing at all the things you think about when you're looking at him. Here are some of the things I think about...
Today, Brendan had one of his many to come firsts. He had his first play date (with an older women) and first walk today. Nic brought over Ava Grace (who just turned 1 last week) to visit Brendan and Mommy. The day was so nice here in Chicago so he had another first. We took him on his first walk. Not nearly as stressful as I thought it might be. We did take a few precautions like crossing the main street in the cross walk and at the light. Normally, we just sprint accross the 4 lane road. I think those days are over. More pics have been posted to the 1 month photo album. 
SOME PICTURES HAVE BEEN POSTED. Click on "Photos" link in the menu bar at the top or 
Claire gave birth to Brendan Lum Toon at 4:20 am this morning. He was 6 lbs. 14 oz. and 19.5" long. Claire did a fabulous job and delivered without any pain medication. More details to come. Keep checking back.
I tried my best to convince Buddha that it would be really cool to have his birthday on St. Patrick's Day, but apparently he didn't buy that argument because I'm still pregnant. I guess he's more Asian than Irish. My classmates even have a pool going to predict when he'll be born. For the past week when I walk into school in the morning, at least one person will say, "Damn, you're still pregnant. I'm out of the pool" and about 20 others will ask me to hold off till a certain date to be closer to the date and time they predicted. Sorry, guys, but when he's ready, I'm ready.
Today my Mom and sister threw a beautiful baby shower for Buddha and me. They made tons of delicious food and the entire house was decorated for Christmas so it was very festive. So many people were very generous and brought beautiful gifts for Baby Buddha- toys, books, clothes to last till he's ready for kindergarten, and a "What Would Buddha Do?" bumper sticker. The best part of the day was just seeing everyone that came, especially my friends from college Liz and Megs. We all had fun showing off our buddha bellys (even if they had to cheat and add pillows to theirs). I want to say thank you to everyone who helped prepare and everyone who came to celebrate with us from the bottom of my belly.
Our first major pieces of baby equipment came last week. I started to put them together, scratched my head, cursed a little bit at the directions, and then continued. No wonder they tell you to figure out the car seat before you go to the hospital. We got the stroller and car seat working with each other. I should say INFANT car seat because I am finding out everything you buy for a baby needs to be replaced 6 months to a year later. I thought the wedding business was a money maker. It doesn't come close to the baby business. I am very impressed with the Zippy and how well it fits with the Graco car seat. For those of you who have not looked at baby stuff before, just ignore the last sentence. Claire practiced strapping Lamby (childhood stuffed animal) into the car seat and I practiced doing 360's with Lamby in the stroller. Good thing Lamby has a strong stomach. 
A couple of days ago, I had my first real interation with Buddha. Just about every night since Claire first felt the baby move, I put my hand on her belly and wait for him to kick. Usually, Claire tells me when he is kicking and I place my hand there. Sometimes I feel him kick and other times I don't. A few days ago I decided I was going to take matters in my own hands. I didn't want to wait for Claire to feel him kick. So, I got real close to her belly and spoke through my hand like a megaphone... "Daddy to Buddha.. Come in please." Sure enough he kicked my hand. "Say again Buddha. Over." Another kick. This went on for a couple of minutes with him kicking back after I said something. It was one of the coolest things to happen so far. Of course, this is nothing new for Claire. She feels Buddha moving around and kicking her all day and all night. But for me, it was an unreal experience.
This past weekend we got our Christmas tree. I know it's not even Thanksgiving yet. Since we are going to be away forThanksgiving and two weeks for Christmas this year, we wanted to be able to enjoy our tree. Tonight we got the lights and ornament up and the house smells great.
Some of you already know that we already have a name for the baby while it's growing inside Claire. We refer to the baby as Buddha (for obvious reasons). Yesterday, we breathed a sigh of relief when we found out at our 20 week ultrasound that Buddha was a boy. We didn't consider that if Buddha was a girl, she probably would not be pleased that we referred to her as Buddha while she was growing. My experience with the opposite sex is that they don't like being called fat or anything that might imply that they are fat.
This was a big week on the belly front. Claire felt the baby move for the first time this weekend. We have two theories on why this is.... 1) After dressing up like a pregnant nun this weekend and having to pad the belly to make it look bigger, the baby was afraid it was in danger of being replaced if it didn't start moving more. 2) Claire felt the baby move all night after having Coke with pizza for dinner. She has not been drinking much caffeine during the pregnancy and the baby could have been all hopped up on caffeine. Here is this week's belly picture... Week 19. This week we go in for the 20 week ultrasound. We can't wait.
It's official. Claire has taken the lead in the belly contest. Her belly is officially bigger than my beer/pasta baby that I've been growing the past couple of years. Even when I stick my belly out as far as it can go, I don't stand a chance. In case you couldn't figure it out, Claire's week 18 belly picture is on the left..
I guess there are a lot of you out there who check every week for these pictures. Several people have inquired about this week's picture. So here it is... week 17 belly picture.
Here's week 16 belly picture.
Here's week 15 belly picture. Claire is hardly showing at all. We are not too surprised. Her mother said she didn't start showing until about the 5th month or so. 
We are going to start posting weekly pictures of Claire's belly. Watch it grow! 
