Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Liar

We live in a fallen world full of sin. I will repent right now for having lied before- I said I wasn't gonna talk about poop again, but you know what? I am a sinner and a liar, so here we go again.

Topher went ELEVEN DAYS without pooing! I know what you're thinking- what kind of self-respecting mother would let her child go eleven days without pooing? Well, the last time he pooed was on Thursday the 17th. That was Jeehon's birthday so it was easy to remember. Then the next Thursday came and went with no poo, and sadly- that was normal. Then Friday came and went with no poo. Then Saturday. And that's when I started to get antsy. But by the time I was ready to call for help, it was Saturday night and no one was in office to help me, and of course the next day was Sunday. Day 10.

So finally I called our pediatrician on Monday morning, and the triage nurse told me not to let my kid go six days without pooping. Ooops.... She told me to buy some infant glycerin suppositories, cut it in half, lubricate my finger, and shove the suppository and my finger up my poor baby's unsuspecting bottom. But just up to the first knuckle. And then hold his butt cheeks together so that he doesn't expel the suppository before it has time to disolve. Apparently he is supposed to have a movement within fifteen minutes to an hour. She told me to call as soon we saw some action.

Yesterday was my day with all three kids, so I wasn't able to go until Jeehon came home on her break at five. So all day I told/threatened Topher that mama was going to shove something up his heinie if he didn't poop on his own. He just smiled and cooed at me. So cute. And so foolish! Kids these days. So I finally got to Walgreens at five, came home, and got ready for action.

We put the big kids in Lily's crib. Containment was key. We had no idea what to expect. I put Topher on the changing table and got ready for the unthinkable. I opened his onesie and BLAMO! Poop! I scared the crap outta him again! Yes! Thank you Jesus! So I threw out the suppository (sure I coulda kept it, but I felt like I needed some closure. It was very therapeutic for us all.) and whistled as I changed Topher's very messy bottom.

I told Chris about our day when we were unwinding to go to bed and he was very happy to hear that his son had not been violated. He says he is going to take his son to get a tattoo that says 'Exit only' with an arrow pointing to his butt. Oh Christopher (Sr. and Jr.).

So, Topher pooed again today, and we are just hoping that this is TRULY the beginning of something new and wonderful for him. And I apologize for talking about poo again, but you know what? This is my life- full of poop. Or at least full of prayers for more of it.

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Pavlov's Babies...

It would be so much easier to raise kids living in a cave. Sometimes I really despise hearing about other kids and how smart they are, or how quickly they are developing physically. As Chris would say, we have a tendancy to parent retroactively. Someone with a child that is younger than ours will say 'oh my kid just started using a spoon to feed himself.' Then we will realize it's time to get Lily to start using a spoon to feed herself.

I thoroughly enjoy hearing how cute my kids are, but nothing tickles my fancy more than hearing that someone thinks my kids (well, Lily for now) are smart. Lily has the appearance of being smart (no, not cause she is half-Asian. Although later in life people may assume she is good at math. Tis a burden I will carry until I die.) because we have taught her a lot of tricks. The smarts come in simply at the fact that she 'performs' her tricks on command. More or less. So here's a list of some of her best 'tricks':

-She says 'See Ya!' at the end of the 'Backyardigans' when they say 'Bye!' and 'See ya!'

-She can point to her belly button when you ask her where her belly button (or 'behkob' in Korean)

-She just learned to point to her nose and say 'Ko', which is Korean for nose. This trick, along with the previous one is interchangeable. They don't always work on the same day.

-She says something that has the same syllables as 'one, two, three, jump!' (it sounds like 'uhn, oo, ein, uh.' She's a genius people!)

-She puts her hands together when you say 'Pray' (or 'Guido' which is prayer in Korean. That's a hard 'g', not 'Gweedo' like some Italian guy)

I was telling my friend Cassie the other day ago that I need to teach Lily more 'skills' and less 'tricks'. She is a kindergarten teacher and so she promptly told me that Lily clasping her hands to pray is a great example of her fine motor skills being as sharp as can be. Bless your heart Cassie!

The pediatrician often says that you shouldn't worry about when your baby starts walking, or gets potty trained or whatever have you, because in all likelihood by the time they are graduating high school- they will be able to walk to pick up their diploma whilst not soiling themselves all the while. In the moment it all seems like such a big deal, but in the grand scheme of things, whether they do things earlier or later than the 'average baby', it doesn't really matter. And this is what I must repeat to myself over and over again every day.

Monday, July 21, 2008

Access Denied...

For those of you who read my post yesterday and felt like reprimanding me for my being racist against my own kind- no worries, Chris Watson has already done it. Though part of me was joking, obviously part of me wasn't. I don't hate Korean men. I love my dad and my three brothers and my old school Korean buddies back in the tdot. And I don't disrespect all young Korean-American professionals, just the pompous ones. At any rate, my lovely husband reminded me that we are parents and that our kids are constantly watching us and will take on our behaviours, whether we like it or not, whether we are joking or not. Point well taken Mr. Watson. Thanks...

Anyhoo, remember I mentioned I have been trying to 'access my uncrazy side' more? Dang. It is getting harder and harder to do! This morning I had a bunch of work to get done, and I was planning to go to the office as soon as Topher woke up. The problem was that Jeehon had to take Sungu to a doctor's appointment (his one year well check up) at 9, and Chris had to leave at 10 for work. I almost blew a gasket trying not to blow a gasket. I still managed to get a lot of the work done at home. It shouldn't have been a big deal. But it felt like everything was falling apart.

On Friday we went to dinner at the Vogts (Jeff and Mary Beth's). They live in Queen Creek. We ALMOST moved there. Thank Jesus we didn't! We took Ellesworth Rd down, which I don't normally do, but I have heard that it is 'faster'. No one mentioned that it was the slower alternative during rush hour though. So we were stuck in traffic for quite some time and of course Topher decided it was a good time to start crying. Then Sungu and Lily took turns fussing too. Fortunately they took turns, but that meant there were constantly two kids crying. For over twenty minutes. I tried to make a detour and called Chris to ask him about it (he was with Jeff.) Man, I was snapping at him left right and center. It wasn't his fault that I had made a detour into a dead end. It wasn't his fault that the kids were crying. But boy did I make him feel like it was! And he rose above. He knows my crazy voice now. He's so good to me.

So here I am. It's 9:30pm. All the kids are sleeping. Jeehon is still at school and Chris is still at work. Today was my day alone with the kids and they were awesome. But my day started off hectic, and I refuse to let it end that way- even though my connection to my work computer really sucks and I almost threw the monitor through the window twice already. I am drinking some decaf coffee. And writing in a calm and leasurely manner, even though I have a ginormous headache in the back of my head. I still have work to do and I am going to do it right now. I just needed to write for a second so that I could try to find my uncrazy side and let it loose.

Monday, July 14, 2008

Day One of Nine

Jeehon is back from Toronto! At long last. She and Sungu were back in Canada for Father's day, Sungu's 1st birthday, and a friend's wedding. They were gone for three days short of a month. Now they are back which is perfect timing cause WE GOT A NEW HOUSE! Well, 'new' for us. If anyone out there is contemplating buying a house in this 'short sale/foreclosure' market I have two pieces of advice for you- 1. give yourself at least 3 months before you need to move out of your house. 2. call Jeehon! She should have her realtor's licence in... a month or two.

Jeehon is taking the realtor's course so that she can get licenced to sell houses. I am supposed to do the same in a few weeks. So while she is gone- I get to watch the kids. All three of them. She is doing a bit of a speed course- it's three times a week for the next three weeks. So Monday, Tuesday and Thursday from 1:00 to 10:30, Jeehon is unavailable. Tuesdays are the best cause Chris is with me all day. Thursdays are ok cause Chris is with me till 4:30, then he has class himself. Mondays suck cause I am alone the whole time.

So today was the first day and in all honesty- it wasn't near as bad as I thought it was going to be! It definitely helped that Sungu and Lily went down for a nap right as Jeehon was leaving. Actually, so did Topher. The big kids slept for three hours! It was awesome. I started packing a little bit while they were down. Something that's going to happen everytime those kids sleep (speaking of which- I should be packing right now too, but I am taking a well deserved break from everything!) Topher woke up from his nap first. That was perfect cause then I got to play with him and have some quality time with my little guy. I would also like to take this time to toot his little horn and say that he has been sleeping for about 8 hours straight at night. I am so proud of him!

Sungu was next to get up. By the time Lily woke up I had already changed and fed Sungu. I realized today that we don't have much in terms of educational toys. We have lots of toys that sing and stuff, but nothing to sharpen the minds and skills of the little ones, so that is probably something Chris and I will work on getting tomorrow. Everything was fine, and I even got a little cocky for a second before bedtime. I was thinking that this really wasn't hard at all and that I could watch three kids no problem. And then Sungu accidentally pushed Lily. Lily fell and cried, Sungu felt really bad so he started crying, and then Topher woke up and needed some loving (his binky) and so he started crying too. Amazingness. I hear that children can smell fear, so I tried to remain as calm as possible. I gave Topher his bink (he is so easy!), then I picked both Lily and Sungu up and hugged the crap outta them. We watched a little Baby Einstein before bed, said some prayers of thanks to the good Lord for getting us through the day, and I am now enjoying some peace and quiet! One down, eight to go...

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Learning To Be Girly



Chris is good at so many things- being a dad, a husband, a brother, a son, a cop, a friend, etc. Topher is very lucky to have Chris as a daddy because Chris can basically do it all. He is a man's man. Something that he needs a little work on is being girly though. Sure he appreciates musicals and romances like any good woman, but there are a few things that he has never done before having a daughter that he now needs to learn.

Such as styling hair. Lily's hair is finally long enough to put into little pigtails up at the top of her head. It's Chris' favorite of Lily's hairstyles. One day Chris mentioned that he wanted to learn how to do make the little piggies too. (What a good daddy!) Well, today was the day! It started off kinda rough but the man finally got the hang of it. We will let you know how it goes when he finally tries it on Lily...

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Old Rice

Sometimes motherhood is filled with such mundanity that I think I am becoming duller by the minute because of it. My day is filled with cooking, playing, cleaning, and diaper changes. Therefore my conversations are filled with the same. So I am resigned to talk about more interesting things besides what's in my kids' diapers. Right after this one last blog on it...

So my baby Topher is a new man. Pooped on Friday, then again on Saturday, and again yesterday. You'd think he learned to recite the alphabet the way I was carrying on when I saw that he had another poop. Three in one week- that's a mini-miracle for my mini-man!

His poop on Friday smelled kinda funny. Like rice that had been left too long in an unplugged rice cooker. Basically- old rice. As I happily changed his diaper I thought back to whether I ate any old rice. I had eaten rice earlier that day, so maybe that was the smell of twice-processed rice (once to become breast milk, the second to be in Topher's diaper). But I couldn't remember any of Lily's diapers smelling like this. Then on Saturday- same thing. Old rice smell. I pondered this some more but couldn't put my finger on it.

I started taking these new prenatal pills (no i am not pregnant again- breastfeeding women are supposed to keep taking these) last week. As I took one before going to bed, something tickled my nostril. There it was, the old rice smell. Mystery solved! As I smiled to myself, I threw the old pill down the hatch and my smile quickly faded. Quick side note- I wouldn't drink apple juice when I was a little kid cause it looked and smelled too much like urine. I had no idea what urine tasted like, but I could only imagine that it would be akin to apple juice. So now, the pill that I had been taking all week without thought now suddely had some seriously stinky ties. The once tasteless pill now had the flavour of... Topher's brand of old rice...

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Baik il

Saturday was Topher's 100 day birthday. In Korea it's a pretty big deal. I guess back in the day a lot of babies didn't make it to their 100th day, so they still celebrate it now. Jeehon threw Sungu a pretty big 'baik il' party (baik is 100 in Korean, and 'il' is day) because she knew he wasn't going to have a very big 1st birthday party. She had it at a hotel reception hall. All my relatives were there (this was when she was still in Seoul) and all of hers and James' friends. It was a pretty nice shindig. Lily's baik il party went by in a blur. I don't remember it at all. But we went all out for Topher... we went to church in the evening. Then we got some KFC because Chris says that Saturday is my sabbath day and I shouldn't have to cook (I LOVE SAturdays!). We ate it at home as a little family. We stuck a candle in a KFC bread roll and sang to our little guy. It was pretty special all in all.

But Topher is already developing into a respectable little man of his words. Remember he said he would try to poo more often? He did it! He pooed again on Saturday- after having already pooed once this week when he went on Friday! Hopefully he has turned over a new leaf. Only time will tell, but for now I am so proud of my baby. Two poos in a week! Super!

So, we just got home from small group, and I am tired. Last night Topher freaked out momentarily at about seven, so I fed him and he fell asleep in his swing. He woke up to eat again at about 9, but I knew we would not be getting much sleep. Topher woke me up at 3, then 5, then at 7:30, at which point I was already awake because of Lily. It's kinda been a long day. I had my permanent porcelain crown put in , then I went to the office and worked for about 4 hours. I came home to a pretty tired Chris Watson who spent the day with a non-napping Lily. I honestly think she was so excited to be home with her dad that she just did not want to miss a moment without him, so she went down for two naps, but only slept for a total of about an hour. So of course she was not in a very good mood, and when the babysitter that she had never met before showed up at the door, Lily went into super-pissed mode. Man that girl can cry! Chris and I literally ran out of the house. I came home to find out that Lily fell asleep at 6:40. Five minutes after Chris and I left. I am glad that she was not a problem for the babysitter, but now she's going to wake up before six. Y.I.K.E.S. It's already quarter to eleven. That gives me... not a lot of time... fortunately it's Chris' turn to wake up with Lily.

Saturday, July 5, 2008

My 1st 4th of July



by Topher Watson


Here's a picture of my sister and I in our 4th of July outfits. My mom really likes dressing us in matching festive gear. I'm not your little toy doll mom! Anyway, yesterday was my first official swimming party. And I never even got to go in the water because my mom is lame and didn't want to change into her swim suit. Thanks for nothing mom.

We were over at the Dezagos for a Happy 4th of July/Goodbye Gagnons BBQ. I had a great pork chop via breast milk- delicious! Other people who were not lame played water volleyball, like my dad. He is so cool. But he left early cause he had to go to work early this morning. He took Lily noona (that's older sister in Korean. My mom gets mad when I just call her 'Lily', apparently that is not proper in Korean culture) with him so it was just me and my mom. Sometimes I like not having to share her with my noona. (Sorry I said all those mean things about you in previous paragraph mom. I don't know what got into me.)

While the cool people swam, I sat (was lying down) inside with my friends (the other picture is of my awesome cousin Gabe, me, Cambry, and Grady) and their moms. They were talking about how I only poo once a week- I nearly DIED of embarrassment! C'mon mom! Some people thought it wasn't a healthy practice. One lady even suggested that I get some pills shoved up my butt. Someone else even had the audacity to suggest my mom stick her finger or a stick up my butt to get things 'going'. That literally scared the crap out of me, so I filled my diaper. Are you happy now mom? Geez louise. I guess I will try to have more frequent bowel movements. But I can't help it, my mom makes Grade A breastmilk and there's not much waste in there.

Oh yeah, my new buddy Zach Branton had open heart surgery on the 3rd. He's only a month and a half older than me. His blog is listed on the side of this blog, if you haven't already- you should check it out. Zach and his parents are AMAZING. and the God we serve is the one who enables them to be so amazing.


So back to the party, after all the swimming everyone came in to say nice things about Marc and Karah who are moving back to Massachusetts (did I spell that right?) to be with their families. I don't know them that well- I mean I have only been alive for three month people- but my parents have been friends with these nice folks for almost three years. Everyone at the party met through their small group at church. They've done lots of things together in the last three years- karaoking, watching Marc and Mike race, baking holiday cookies, having all sorts of parties, and pretty much finding any excuse to gather together to eat and hang out. Thanks to the miracle of the internet, text messaging, and being able to fly (I've heard about it, but I won't believe it till I see it)- these friendships will not be lost.


So, that was my first fourth of July. Pretty fun. Maybe next year I will be able to partake in some of the activities instead of being subjected to lying on a blanket and listening to my mom talk about my poops.


Friday, July 4, 2008

Next on the LPGA Tour: Not Me

I would have posted a picture of myself and my golf bag, but I am not nearly as cute as Lily- early in the morning, nor late at night.

Well, this was supposed to be a crazy week filled with very little Chris Watson time. He works on Friday through Monday. Then on Tuesday he was going to play golf with some guys from work, then he picked up an overtime shift on Wednesday, and so Thursday was going to be our only day together as a family. But his older brother Justin had his 30th birthday on Tuesday and wanted to go golfing. Being all about family and birthdays, there was no way I could not let Chris go. Fortunately, my husband is awesome and he made the golf foursome for Thursday for him, Justin, his other brother Robert, and me! What a doll.

The only problem was getting a babysitter. I used to worry about getting a babysitter for just Lily back in the day. But getting a sitter for two little guys- that sucks. I really hate putting people out, and I feel like leaving two infants with anyone is a serious imposition. But I forget sometimes just how much our family loves me, and Lily and Topher. As always, Grandma Kim and Aunt Bre were both available and excited to watch the kids. Thank the good Lord for family! And thank Jesus cause Chris' golf buddies cancelled for Tuesday, so we were able to hang out as a family, and then his overtime shift on Wednesday ended up only being half the day! So we (especially the kids) got to see much more of Chris' mug than we originally thought.

So, we dropped the kids off at their grandparents' at 9:30am. Our tee time was for 10:07. Being in Arizona is amazing cause you can golf 365 days if you wanted to. In theory. I think the high yesterday was 114 degrees. What the crap were we thinking?!?!? But the higher the temperature highs, the lower the price of a round. Ugh! The price we pay to save some bucks sometimes.

Anyway, we played best ball, which is pretty much the only way to play golf when you are not very good. It was Chris and I against Robert and Justin. This essentially means it was Chris versus his brothers. But Chris likes playing with me cause when my short game is good- it's pretty good. And that gives him license to be super agressive and make some pretty crazy shots.
I love golfing with Chris cause I get to see my strong, athletic husband in action. Sure, golfing doesn't look like it requires much athleticism or strength, but it does! Some of the ladies' tee boxes were about 100- 150 yards in front of the men's tee boxes, and we still used over 90 % of Chris' drives. We lost the front 9 cause, well, we both kinda sucked. I would like to use the fact that I haven't golfed since my birthday (6 months ago) as an excuse for my suckyness. And it takes me a while to get readjusted to playing without my belly sticking out in front (cause I was six and a half months prego last time I went).

Things went a lot better on the back 9, possibly cause my skills kicked back in, but probably cause there were fewer water hazards. (It's a rule that I lose anywhere from 1 - 4 balls a round to those strategically placed, greedy, man-made lakes and ponds. ) But even in my not doing well, Chris was so patient and even encouraging. Man I love my hubby! He is very competitive, and takes his sports very, very seriously (you do not want to be around him when the Suns lose a game or two), but he manages to keep his cool, even when I am clearly bringing our team down.

After 5 hours of heated (literally) competition, we all walked away as winners. Which again, was only possible thanks to best-ball play. And the general consensus was that from now on, we will only celebrate Justin's birthday with bowling, or any other indoor activity. Oh, who are we kidding? For twenty bucks a round, we will be doing this again next year.