q is 2, part 2

For those who aren't on Facebook, check out the awesome pics we had taken by my favorite photographer, and friend, Adrea. You can check out her blog on the right under "Friends and Fun", Bright Waters Photography.

http://brightwatersphotography.smugmug.com/Family/Adrea-Q-is-TWO/12373178_iFKeS#P-1-12

I think this might be my current favorite....though they are all so great it's really hard to pick!

Now the dilemma is which to print and hang up.....

q is 2!

Hooray! We're officially in the "Terrible Twos".

Clearly they're not so terrible in the Q house so I think I'm going to rename them the Terrific Twos. We've been super busy and having a blast but I don't have very many pictures to show for it. Here are a few clips of this week:

James playing with his water table (definitely pre-haircut). Thanks Karen and Jason!

And my personal favorite.......

That's all for now!

Whoops! I forgot the all important Stats.

Height: 34 3/4"

Weight: 26 lbs

Head Circumference: 49cm

Thanks for reminding me Jeanne :)

Toy of the Year

When we were in Minnesota visiting Jeanne we went to the Minneapolis Children's Museum one afternoon. They had a HUGE room dedicated to one year's "Toy of the Year".....the BOX! It was literally a giant room full of cardboard boxes of all shapes and sizes.

I remembered this, and how much fun the kids were having, the other day when one of our vendors came by with my latest project (a foam-core standee) in a GIANT box with a handle. Once we were done editing the project he asked where he could take the box to throw it away. At that point I couldn't resist and I told him that I was hoping to take it home so that it could be a "Fort" for James. Luckily he has 2 kids himself and just laughed and thought that was a great idea. So, the box sat in my cubicle for a week while I figured out how to take it home. In that time 2 other people I work with asked about it and also wanted to take it home for THEIR kids. Apparently, I was on to something with this idea.

So, today I brought the box home. I got it inside and James instantly yelled "BOX" and tried to climb inside. I sent him out into the yard to play while I had a little fun with a sharpie and an exacto knife. You'll see the results below. It was definitely a hit.

The BOX: (4 feet high, 2 1/2 feet square)

The FORT (house) click on the pictures to see the whole thing:

I even added a little light inside! That didn't photograph very well with my phone though so you can't really see it.

James having fun with the mail (you'll have to click on the photos to see the whole thing):

Just Because

This is a picture that my aunt sent me (Thanks Kathy!) of my parents in high school. Aren't they cute? And they're still together and happily married, plus best friends. Does it get any better than that? I don't think so.

Thanks for being such great role models Mom and Dad!

ps. I know I'm going to get yelled at for putting this picture up, but I'm doing it anyway :-P Hopefully they won't notice too soon so people see it before I get told I have to take it down. Hehehehehehehehe

Snapshots from the last week

We went to Korean BBQ last week on Tuesday and q insisted on using chopsticks just like Q and I. He didn't quite understand but he still managed to eat some salad that way. The rest of the salad he decided would be better as "soup" so he poured his water in the bowl, picked it up, and drank it. All the while yelling "SOUP" at the top of his lungs.

I also relented and started allowing q to watch movies. His current favorites are Nemo (aka "Momo") and Lilo and Stitch. This is a picture of him watching "Momo" with the doggies. Every 10 minutes all through the movie he says Momo and Movie and claps with excitement.

Last night I was making dinner for Q, Mindy, Sawyer, Cheyenne, q and myself and q decided he wanted to help. He pulled on my pant leg and said "cook" then went to try to get the stool himself. So, we got out the apron he got for Christmas and he climbed up to the counter. The next think I knew he was eating all the broccoli before I had a chance to get it in the oven. I did manage to get him to say "cheese" around this bite though.

We transitioned q to a toddler bed this weekend by replacing the tall rail of his crib with a short one. He was starting to pretend his crib was a trampoline and getting pretty high with the jumping so we decided it was probably better to let him out in the mornings before we're up rather than having him crack his head open (for a second time).

This morning we went in there to wake him since Q wanted to get to the gym early and we discovered that Murray had jumped over the baby gates and crawled THROUGH all the barriers in q's closet to join him in bed. It was so cute I had to take a picture but it's definitely frustrating because I have NO IDEA how I am going to keep Murray out of there now.

James in Abuelita's Glasses

An Afternoon with the Cooks

Yesterday, our friend Karen offered to watch James for the afternoon while I was at work. This conveniently made hanging out with her and Jason MUCH easier on Friday night. The Cooks have an adorable little Bishon/Poodle mix named Mochi that James just adores. He spent the whole afternoon trying to hug and kiss him.

After that we went to a Japanese Ramen restaurant in Irvine that was really, really good. I always find people's reactions to what James is willing to eat hysterical. It's one of the most entertaining parts of taking him out to dinner. A young couple on a date sat at that table next to us. When they sat down they immediately said hi to James (and of course he said hi back). Then they kept watching him as he ate an entire bowl of corn, demanded more and more bites of my noodles (and would only eat them off my chopsticks) and then proceeded to eat a HUGE cube of crispy fried tofu. Below is a picture of James next to the fabulously Japanese decor. They had a HUGE anime girl holding a bowl of ramen right inside the entrance.