Monticello Holiday Program!

Dear Logan,

We finally got to see your brother's first performance yesterday at his preschool's holiday program.  He's been practicing singing "Jingle Bell Rock", "Frosty The Snowman" and "My Two Front Teeth" for the whole month.  I was very surprised he knew the lyrics to all three songs, because I surely don't!

Daddy and Mommy got off work early to get to the gymnasium at the other campus half an hour early to find a seat.  Well, we're not the only parents who wanted good seats.  When we got there, the seats were 3/4 full already.  We were deciding to either sit towards the left of the stage, or towards the back but in the middle of the stage.  We opted for the left side.  Luckily, your brother was standing close to us!  Phew!  When we got there, we saw several tripods with video cameras already set up.  All family members either had their digital cameras or video cameras ready to snap and record the performance.  Mommy was in charge of taking videos with my camera, and Daddy was in charge of taking pictures with his phone.  Too bad we didn't have a decent video camera, as it was a little difficult to zoom when Aidan was standing towards the right of the stage during the big group song at the end of the performance. I think it's time to invest on a good video camera.  We actually bought a video camera 5 years ago when your brother was born, but never really used it.

The performances from all classes were great!  The older kids, 4- year olds like your brother, all knew the lyrics to the songs.  I was surprised the younger ones were singing super well, too.  Only two crying 2-year olds were on stage, but they were just super cute.  No one minded their crying at all.  There were four classes, and each class performed 3 songs.  At the end, the whole school, teachers and students, went on stage to sing the school song, "Monticello School".  It was a lovely performance.  I'm looking forward to many more of these performances, now that your brother is old enough.  It was a lovely occasion to kick off the holiday season.

Here are the videos I took with my small digital camera.  They are not of the best quality, but you can still see Aidan.  For some reason, the first song, Frosty the Snowman, was not recorded.  Weird!

Love,
Mommy

Holiday Cards...

Hi Logan,

This year, we finally did the cheesy thing. We sent out holiday cards with our picture on it. Yes, we did the unspeakable!

Ever since the birth of your brother, I've been wanting to do that. But I never did, thinking it was a little too cheesy to do that. Then last year, I finally wanted to do it, especially, since we have added you to our family. But then, I said, I'll wait for another year, because we didn't know when you would be out of the NICU. And by the time you were discharged, you still had your feeding tube and nasal cannula, so I canceled the thought again. I said to myself, I could do it next year when we could have a nice family picture. Year after year, I wanted to do it, but I didn't.

This year, after a minor internal struggle, I decided to finally take a family picture in front of our Christmas tree, and take that family picture. I felt guilty for doing it, because you weren't here. But then, I couldn't feel guilty every year, and kept on not doing things and not moving on, right?

Even though you're not in the picture, you're definitely in our hearts. Your spirit continues to live among us, and also in the special ornament that I purchased for you last year.


Miss you,
Mommy

Independence Day!

Dear Logan,

It's July 4th, Independence Day! We spent the day on a playdate with The Cheung's at the San Jose Children's Discovery Museum. It was a fun day, and we spent almost 5 hours there! There were so much to see and to play for your big brother. There were a few clear favorites, such as, the traffic lights, WaterWays section (playing with balls and water), elevator doors and big square blocks at the Curious George area, and more balls at the Wonder Cabinet area. Basically, he played with many balls today! You can check out the pictures to see all the fun that we had.



Mommy initially wanted to take your brother to see some fireworks at night. But we were worried that after a long day at the museum, he would be too tired to stay up late for that. We thought about attending the San Jose Giants game (Minor League Baseball) and then watch the fireworks after the game. But instead, we headed home after the museum, thinking your brother would probably fall asleep in the car. Mommy was wrong. Your brother didn't fall asleep in the car, and he didn't nap after he got home. Because he refused to nap, I didn't let him play the Wii. He ended going to bed at 8 p.m. because he was so tired.

Daddy and Mommy got to spend some quiet time tonight after your brother went to sleep early. While Mommy was watching tv in the living room, I noticed mycomputer screensaver was on in the office. I had pictures of you and your brother as my screensaver. For some reason, I was really sad when I saw your pictures. I don't know why it hit me particularly hard just now, as I've always had your pictures there. Maybe because today is supposed to be a holiday, and I know that I won't be able to celebrate any of them with you. I know Mommy would be particularly sad on Christmas, even though Christmas is my favorite holiday. Last year, you spent Christmas with us, and I was so happy that you were able to come home from the NICU in time. This year, it would just remind me that you're not here. It's going to be hard. Don't worry, Mommy is doing fine. It's just little things sadden me sometimes.


Miss you,
Mommy

Party Party Party!!

When you had 3 Holiday parties in one weekend, you knew it's definitely that time of the year. What a busy weekend!

Last Friday was mommy's work holiday party. As usual, it was held at work. It wasn't too crowded this year and I think we arrived right on time. Aidan, of course, was busy running around, playing with cabinet doors, going up and down the stairs, and occasionally throwing a tantrum here and there. Overall, he behaved ok, didn't scream or cry. Mommy and daddy just had to keep him in the general area and not grabbing food, or daddy's beer.

Saturday was mommy's friend's holiday party at her house. We got there a little late because we had to wait till Aidan woke up from his nap. We actually had to wake him up coz it's getting late and daddy and mommy were starving. We're saving our stomach to gulf down some delicious Filipino food. Aidan was busy hanging out in the kitchen and playing with cabinet doors. Nothing new in that area! Lola's grandson wanted to 'race' and play. So I got Aidan to run around with Allen. However, Allen got a little too excited at one point, and accidentally pulled Aidan too hard that Aidan hit his face to the door frame. No serious injury. Just a bruise and he was being a trooper. Mommy hugged and he's fine within a few seconds. Aidan had also taken a liking to tortilla chips. There was a plate on the coffee table and he kept stuffing himself! He definitely liked that salty taste!

Sunday, we were invited by Grandma to the TerraBay Holiday Party. As usual, we arrived right before food was served. Now this time, Aidan was being a good boy. He sat down for a whole hour and a half, didn't fuss at all. Aidan arrived and saw Grandma helping out with checking-in people, and he immediately went around the group in front of us, and wanted to say Hi to Grandma. Aww... wasn't he the cutest! I was happy to see that Aidan recognized Grandma, and actually liked being with her.

Unfortunately, mommy was busy feeding and chasing after Aidan that she didn't take any party pictures the whole weekend. Grr... sux...