Our Miracle Is Three Years Old Today!!!!!!

And just like that our beautiful baby boy is three. An official toddler. This morning Joe and I dropped Jay off at his new preschool near our house where he will be going until Kindergarten. I was so worried about how he would do. He had his brand new little Elmo back pack all ready to go. And when we got there it was a quick goodbye and off he went with the two teacher's aides to his new classroom. Walking in the middle, holding both of their hands. I absorbed the moment for a minute, and then the tears started pouring. Poor Joe thought that he was going to have to deal with Jay crying, but it was me he was left comforting :)

I always get emotional around Jay's birthday. Thinking back to this day three years ago and how afraid I was, my beautiful son being born so very early.
Jayan... Daddy and Mama love you so very much. Thank you for making our lives complete. We are having such a wonderful time watching you grow, explore, talk, and just be a regular toddler. We thank God everyday for you being here in our lives. HAPPY BIRTHDAY SON!!!!!!

Halloween 2010

I'm still questioning whether this kid is Joe's and mine. He really doesn't seem to like chocolates and candy yet. How can that be?? His parents have already put a nice dent into his Halloween loot. :)

I decided to surprise our family this year and show up on their doorsteps with my little Elmo. Joe stayed back to give out candy to the kids in our neighborhood.

Elmo in the car

At Aunty Dharshi and Uncle Yoga's house (note the paparazzi standing at the door)

And then we went to visit Yaso Pati

And finally we went to see Grandpa Louis

When we got back Joe took Jay to our neighbor's house.

And we thought he was actually going to eat a piece of candy but he took a bite and dumped the rest on the ground. Don't worry it wasn't wasted. Joe and I ate it! :) Next year Joe says he's dressing up as a French maid. :) Stay tuned!!

The Crib Conversion

The little monkey learned how to crawl out of his crib last week. So this last weekend Joe worked on converting the crib. He basically took one side off making it more like a day bed.
So far the transition is going very well. I was very nervous about this I wasn't prepared to take Jay out of a crib type setting until well after his 3rd birthday. But as I'm learning you can't plan everything :)

The above pic is Jay taking his afternoon nap on Sunday. We have pillows below him but so far to our knowledge he's been just fine.

Labor Day Weekend 2010

This weekend we packed up the car and headed to Tehachapi, CA. It's a place in the Mojave desert that I found when I was living in Lancaster. It's up in the mountains away from everyone. But still a little city with all the conveniences like restaurants and hotels. (Starbucks for Joe) I love getting out and being one with nature but at night I like to be in a comfy bed. I dread the day Jay will want to camp in a tent.

Jay was a trooper on the hike. We started him off in the hiking back pack but he really wanted to walk it himself. So we only used it for the steeper parts. And we also took advantage of the winds and did a little kite flying. It was so nice to be out in the fresh air, you couldn't hear any noise other than the trees blowing in the wind, and the skies could not have been any prettier.



All in all it was a really wonderful weekend and a great way to end the summer. Today Jay moved up in class at the Preschool. He will now be with the bigger kids, sitting at tables to eat (not high chairs) and taking naps in beds (not cribs) I'm sure this is going to take some time to adjust for him, and the director of the school will help facilitate this transition for us. Today I also have a meeting at a preschool that is part of the IUSD (Irvine Unified School District) because on Jay's 3rd birthday (December 7th) he will start the Preschool program with the school district to prepare him for Kindergarten. It will be a big change for our little guy but all steps forward.
We also got Jay a big boy table and chair set from IKEA for him. So far he really likes it.

More Summer Fun

Once again, I don't know where this year is going. It's true what they say, the older you get the faster the years go by. And I find myself wanting to treasure this bit of time while my little boy is still young and innocent. I know before I know it he will be grown and independent. Not needing mommy and daddy.

If I haven't mentioned it before I'll mention it now... Having Dora the Explorer and Elmo episodes on my iPhone has made eating out a much better experience for all of us. On Monday night we went out to dinner with my family and it was one of the best meals Joe and I have had with Jay as a toddler. *knocks on wood*
My Dad, the man who refused to let me have a TV in my room growing up immediately went out and bought his two and a half year old grandchild a portable DVD player. Why? Because he doesn't want him straining his eyes on the iPhone when we're out and about.

Jay's speech has really come around. He tries to let us know what he wants "juice" "crackers" etc etc. He still gets frustrated but we are working on it day by day. He is a very curious child and loves to see how things work. When I pick him up from preschool every afternoon he comes running up to me saying "Mama" and I would be lying if I told you this didn't put the warmest feeling in my heart on a daily basis.

With Jay being a little older now it's been easier for me to get out more and I have really been enjoying that. This has been a full summer and I have truly enjoyed spending time with my friends once again.


Cooookie



Emily is my friend Sharon's daughter. She is one of my oldest friends from college. We met in the dorms at 18 and I find it crazy that 18 years later we have these two.


And these two going in for a kiss Y



Del Mar with my friends for our yearly trip.


And I had another special evening out with the girls to celebrate my friend Claire's birthday. We went to a wonderful restaurant called Vine in San Clemente. It was truly a night filled with laughter. Much needed by a bunch of moms.

Summer Is Officially Here!!

As far as I am concerned we as Southern Californians have been pretty lucky this year with a late summer. I was running my space heater at work just last week. But this week, it's plain HOT. This makes me happy for one reason. I don't have to worry about the water in the pool being too cold for Jay!

Yesterday I took him to the pool for the first time on my own without Joe. We did pretty good just hanging out in the kiddie pool. We were joined by a few others. It was quite a nice day to be outside enjoying the sun.
























You can't really tell but he's saying "pooooooool".

We had some friends over for the 4th of July. It's become a bit of a tradition for us because we can view the fireworks from Heritage Park (Irvine High) right from the street by the side of our house. It's always a wonderful evening and even better to be joined by the best of friends.

Enjoying his third year of festivities.
Being silly with Daddy
College Besties
Mrs. Anguis making sure Mr. Anguis doesn't cheat at Taboo
The always competitive Mr. Schmetzer. We were playing guys against girls and they just couldn't take losing to us. :)
And it just wouldn't be the 4th of July in our house w/o Guitar Hero! Sean and Big Jay.

The biggest change in our house is Jay's effort to repeat words we ask him to say. He may not always say it perfect but he's trying. And it's wonderful!! The other day I was cleaning and I heard the fridge door open. I automatically ran over getting ready to scold a certain two and a half year old, but I found him sitting on the kitchen floor with his crackers that he grabbed out of the fridge. So instead of squaking at me to tell me he's hungry he just solved the problem himself. :) That's my clever, independent little boy. We love him so much.

Da-ddy

That's how our boy says it. And one of these days I am really going to need to get that on video so I can share it. We had a great Father's Day. My Dad was out of town so we'll have to have a belated celebration with him. But we had my inlaws over and we BBQ'd. Joe didn't have to lift a finger on his day but he was kind enough to BBQ for us because I'm useless in that department. (But I was in charge of marinating) :)

We've been spending lots of time in the pool. We're lucky enough to have two pools in our association and one of them has a baby pool that's only one and a half feet deep. This is really nice for someone Jay's age.

We are preparing for Jay's transition to IUSD (Irvine Unified School District) this will happen when he is three years old. At that time there will be some changes but we are anxious for them and think they will all be steps forward as always.

A few bath time pics!

Our Boy's Growing Up

Mother's Day was wonderful and I truly felt blessed to celebrate it. We went out for a nice breakfast and enjoyed the sun outside. And we spent the evening with the Osterman's/Wilson's who were nice enough to have us all over for a delicious dinner.

My Dad was in Sri Lanka for Mother's Day so we had a belated brunch for him and Aunty Laurina on Saturday this last weekend. We headed to Newport and it was a really nice day out. Getting Jay to stay in his high chair is still a challenge for us. The boy just wants to move.


On Sunday Jay watched his third Indy 500 Race at Uncle Tom's house.
And this weekend our child discovered french fries! Normally I wouldn't be thrilled about my child eating junk food, but with all the difficulties we have had with feeding it was actually joyous to watch him shove them in his mouth one by one. :)
He knows the keys go in the door.
And he loves watching his videos on the computer. Dora and Baby Genius.

Speach Therapy and Occuaptional Therapy are going well and we truly see progress. Our next big challenge will be potty training. As parents, we don't even know where to start so this should be fun.

All Kinds of Firsts!

Well we have been having quite an enjoyable spring in our house. Joe and Jay enjoy frequent adventrues to the park. 

Last weekend we took Jay to the Santa Ana Zoo. It's a cute little zoo about 10 minutes from our house and it is very affordable. Jay is still not that facinated with the animals. But will go around collecting sticks, rocks, and leaves like crazy. :)

In the middle of the foliage where he is his happiest. I think he gets that from my Dad.

But we got on the little train that goes around the park and he was in heaven. He has never been on a train of any kind before. And although this was just a small one I think he truly enjoyed it.

I aslo got a very sweet video of him going down this slide all on his own. We're so proud!

Our other big first would have to be that we finally took Jay to the pool!! Aunty Laurina had bought his Nemo swim disk last year and we're all excited for the use it will get this summer. Jay absolutely loved being in the water.


And last but not least Jay's first Vaddai a snack from our side of the world. At his Uncle Yoga's 50th b'day bash!

Bye Bye Bottle!

As of the weekend of March 13th Jay is officially off a bottle. Finding the right sippy cup was such a challenge. I have tried everything. He would get frustrated and just throw them down. Finally he was offered an apple juice box and took a small amount of juice through a straw. Over time he got better and better and then finally I found these:

They are made by Nuby and are BPA free no spill sippy cups with a straw!
So for a little over two weeks now Jayan gets his milk and juice from this and he has truly mastered it! All baby bottles have been thrown away. Hooray!!!!

We're claiming today as Jay's first word day!!!

Although he has mimicked sounds, today Jayan pointed at Joe and said "Daddy" in the sweetest voice I have ever heard. Needless to say his Daddy was indeed beaming! Previously he's pointed to Joe's picture and said Dada but today we are sure he knew what he was saying. We are so proud. :)

It's the Little Things

On Saturday Jay went for his first big boy hair cut. I had a feeling he was going to get a little squirmy in the chair and sure enough I think we had tears through the whole ordeal. But his Aunt Steph got him a gift certificate to an awesome kid's haircut place and they were very nice and patient with us. I would definitely go back there!


Although weaning Jay off his bottle isn't going as fast as we'd like today he took many sips from an apple juice box through a straw! This is huge and hopefully if this keeps up we can get him on a sippy cup!


Joe aslo told me that today Jay went down the big kid slide all by himself. This scares me a little but I know Joe's there with him. I have a feeling if I went with them to the park poor Jay would never get to do anything because I worry too much. So today I celebrate all the little milestones in our world. We may be behind in some places but when you look at the big picture my little boy has come so far. He is a true fighter and I have no doubt we'll get over these little bumps that are holding him back a bit for now. I want to thank everyone who gives us support constantly you have no idea how much it means to all three of us.


Eating Noodles

The little house at the haircut place that he really enjoyed playing in...

A little unsure about the whole haircut process

His new haircut and his official certificate! :)

Rain and Stir Crazy Children (and their parents)

It has been raining in Southern California since Sunday night (it's now Friday). If it was days of drizzle that would be one thing. But this has been hard, heavy, flood your streets, thunder and lightening rain.

So needless to say at preschool, all the kids are stuck inside. At home, Jay can't take his daily sojourn with his Dad that I know he looks so forward to. This makes for a child with all kinds of energy. So we've had to get very creative. Thank God for husbands who can tire out little people indoors!!!

I don't know how people deal with rain or for that matter, snow, on a daily basis. I give you all credit and kudos. This island girl needs the SUN!

Jay on the move!

And eating crackers. I found these savory small crackers at Trader Joe's and he seems to love them. (not as much as he loves the chocolate his Pata (Grandpa) brought back from London though)

And the rainbow I saw on my way to work today. It's back to pouring outside now but it was pretty while it lasted.

Where did our baby go?

Happy New Year!!! And so begins another year with new beginnings. As usual we've made some resolutions per the norm. My treadmill was making weird noises and lucky me, Joe fixed it this weekend. So my excuses have run out and I'm now back on the evil machine for a minimum of 40 minutes a day. The holidays were wonderful for all of us and my bottomless pit tummy. :-

This year I really enjoyed Jay with his Christmas gifts. He had a ball unwrapping his gifts. He got lots of wonderful toys but I think his two favorites would have two be his two big Tonka trunks. One from his Uncle Dan and one from Aunty Yvette and Uncle Sean.

He may wear diapers and we may still hand feed him but we officially have a toddler in our home. Most days this is no biggie but on the occasional tantrum days when there is a meltdown because he couldn't get the lid on a toy closed, you would think the world was coming to an end.

Now I know what everyone was talking about.

Jay still gets Occupational Therapy twice a week and Speech Therapy twice a week. I think both are going really well. We are so grateful for the services we have been receiving and the fact that they are in our home is a bonus.

Eating has become a little less of a struggle. I'm not 100% satisfied but the improvement has been extremely visible. And the fact that he's hand feeding himself several items makes me very happy!

His RockStar Adidas Sweat Pants

His Christmas PJ's (note no ornaments at the bottom)

Jay and Emily

Who doesn't love Mr. Potato Head??

Fridge Phonics (we only took out 4 letters and we are already missing 2 of 4. *sigh*