Born to be loved

I remember I was sick almost every month in the first year when HG was born, especially after he started going to daycare presumably catching all those micro biologic things from other infants etc. As he got used to it over time, so did I. Now that our 2nd kid started going to school, I'm afraid we're in the same routine. The past 2 weeks our family has been plagued; it started off from mom having stomach issue. As usual she was quick to recover and never took off of her work. But then the baby, Achan had fever, soaring quickly up to over 40C (104+F) so that mom had to take him to ER and spent a night there. He also quickly recovered and the 2nd day after the first symptom he already went back to daycare with no fever. He was diagnosed as some kind of viral infection, and started showing a mild post-viral rash. We thought the war was over at this point, but it wasn't... Next week, Achan kept coughing at night, and mom insisted she heard him wheezy while I couldn't tell

HG has been through his terrible twos and now going onto his terrible threes. This current maternity leave stay in Japan has been stressful but has brought some important revelations. Let me first start with a bit about HG. He is a very bright but very stubborn kid with very particular likes/dislikes. He loves what he likes and obsesses over his current fads (dinosaurs for now). I can already see a little OCD trait in him. He will listen to the same song or youtube video over and over and over, memorizing it and re-enacting it. Like many toddlers, he throws tantrums when he doesn't get his way. And he will seriously let you know when something does not happen exactly to his liking. I was deep down very anxious before the 2nd son AK was born, afraid of the possible negative reactions that HG may have. I was also worried he may even get a little physical (hitting and such). But to our greatest surprise and relief, HG has been a splendid older brother. So gentle, wanting to help w

Our second son was born this summer, and due to my limited time off, we decided again to travel to Japan 3 weeks postpartum to spend time with family. As I didn't record  how I (with great painstaking effort) had managed to get a passport for Hugo during his infant Japan trip, I will note how we did it for A-chan, with some notable differences. There are multiple requirements, some being more difficult to secure than others, to obtain an expedited passport (Expedited as in for travel within 2 weeks) for a newborn. 1) The most difficult requirement: proof of citizenship in the form of a certified birth certificate. You need the actual formal birth certificate document, not the temporary ones they provide at the hospital after the baby's birth. At UCDMC in Sacramento, parents will fill out the birth certificate information at the hospital, and the paperwork is mailed out every day (supposedly) to the county Vital Records office. The hospital and Vital Records office will

We're in both maternity & paternity leave and came to Japan to see grand parents on both sides. Tomorrow we're flying to a southern island in Japan where m's grand parents (our kids' great grand parents) used to live. Great grandma and m's middle sister, her friend from east coast are joining. How exciting! We're taking an LCC (Low Cost Carrier`. Most popular LCC is probably Southwest) with a toddler and an infant. So did some research so that we won't get in any last minute trouble (which we have had a lot..). Luggage Each person can check-in for free up to 20 kg . We decided to check-in: - Stroller - Suitcase - Car seat Also, (I can't find its English page though) this page says that a stroller can be checked in, exempted for the weight limit. More waiting line might be possible Being LCC means cheaper, potentially leading to less convenience. We should bring into flight plenty of kids distraction (with our infant Ak, we're pr

Was the first night run for HG. HG's little brother is almost coming. Then we'll soon likely have to switch to double jogger stroller (well, not that soon as we'll need to wait for the baby's neck fixes). That said, Davis Moo-nlight Race may or may have not been the last run event with a single jogger for awhile. Dad won his age group even pushing the stroller ( race results ) (*´∀｀*). Mom couldn't make it but HG's aunt and Jojo ran together. Aaaand, HG completed his half-miler! So amazing to see a kid under 3-year old runs that much of a distance (I can't remember when was the first time I ran more than a half mile but definitely after I turned like...5 or so).

HG and our sister's dog talking to a stray cat regularly visiting.   As with anyone else' case, July is an eventful month for the family. On July 4th my wife m invites her co-workers over for the BBQ and spa. Then her and our son HG's birthday. Thankfully this year we're likely to add another birthday to the list - 2nd son! Hosting parties at home gives us a chance to clean the backyard. 3-year old HG wants to "help" us a lot in that, or at least give it a shot of what the parents are doing. And there's already a few things that he can actually do well without adult's intervention, such as clearing pool skimmer's net, picking up leaves from the pool etc. This is nothing but amazing as I can't imagine me having done ANY household chores when I was before turning 3. Truly impressive. The last weekend we spent a good amount of time in the backyard to get ready for July 4th. I cut dozens of tree branches that had blooming flowers, a lot o

As has been a topic a few times (e.g. this ), we use a jogger stroller a lot to take HG to daycare and pickup. In winter in Sacramento morning gets chilly as ranging from 30F's to 50F's while in the evening it'll be warmer. While I still prefer going on a run in the morning to start a day afresh, in fear of a kid gets cold facing the wind, these days I tend to run with stroller only in the evening to pick up HG. Sun sets early so that I need to setup some lighting. So far I've never felt any danger due to being darker. I do find the traffic in the evening kind of dangerous though - more cars, in a rush. This leads me to pay extra attention and go slower than I want to. Recently with HG, two and half, while on the way back from the daycare on the stroller that I noticed he seems to know which direction on a certain corner we need to turn to to get home. There is a small bridge along the canal that we go along on the way to and back to the daycare. Every time these day