A whole conversation

The most special thing happened this evening while we put Gage to sleep. With it being my last week at UTMB, my coworkers threw me a team happy hour, so I got home right at Gage's bedtime. As we layed down together, Gage turned around and looked at me and had the following conversation.

Gage: Hi Daddy.

Me: Hey Gagey. How are you?

Gage: Fine. Went to playground

Me: Oh really, with Mom

Gage: No, with Popo (grandma in Vietnamese)

Me: Wow, did you have fun?

Gage: Uh huh, with popo.

This doesn't seem like much, until you realize that he's a 2 year old that couldn't even control most of his body parts, much less anything else, a year ago. Tonight, he just had a mini conversation with me, and this blows my mind!

This coupled with the fact that yesterday, he asked for the stethescope laying my dresser, and said "doctor" - I'm thinking early retirement may not be just another distant dream...

New Bedroom Furniture

Xuan, Gage, my mom, and I went furniture shopping for the little man this past weekend. It's been about 5 months since we've moved into the new house and it's way past that time for Gage to get used to his new room. Currently, he's still in our room, either in his crib or in our bed. A queen size bed doesn't get any smaller, especially with Gage sleeping on our pillows or sideways on the bed. It doesn't get any better having to wake up with the little mans but right up against your face.

However, after having hit Pottery Barn for Kids, IKEA, Babies R Us, and Fingers Furniture, we realized children's furniture is either expensive or unbelievably cheap. There is hardly anything in between, unless you want to buy theme based furniture, which is cheaply built but highly priced (damn licensing fees), and doesn't really grow with the kiddo. Oh, we also found out that there's another word for particle board these days - engineered wood. Simply put, pressed wood is pressed wood, regardless of the method used to press it.

Anyway, stay tuned...

New Words

Gage has gotten to a point in his life where he just about absorbs everything thrown at him. I've noticed that he will actually sit still for a minute or two and take in whatever stimuli has interested him at that point which is somewhat new. Prior to this, he never sat in one spot for longer than 5 seconds before something else grabbed his attention.

While this gives us old folk a breather, I've realized that we have to be more careful about what shows he watches and even with the language the wife and I use on a daily basis. We've gone from watching CSI and the Sopranos to the Food Network, HGTV, and PBS Sprout (Alton Brown scares the little man - go figure. But he loves Emeril, Rachel Ray, and Giada de Laurentiis). While I actually enjoy Curios George, I can't seem to get that theme song from Caillou out of my head. I even caught myself humming it a couple of nights ago. If it wasn't for the invention of the DVR, I would be hating life.

There are a million stories about the embarrasing things that kids will say and I have a couple to add to that list. It's my job to take the little man to and from my parents house on a daily basis and so we get to share a lot of car time and unfortunately, I've let a few words slip from my mouth in that time. Although I've cleaned up my language around Gage, he still throws out the F-bomb on occassion and has repeated those words in public. The last time we went to the Olive Garden (which by the way puts all of the families with younger children in one room like we have the plague or something), I had to rush Gage out because he decided to start screaming out the F-word.

He also has the bad habit of pointing out women (and some men) who are dressed in tight fitting clothes (or as we walk past Victoria's Secret) and says "Booobies" and then breaks out in laughter. Now, as good parents, we aren't supposed to laugh, but his use of this word turns me into a 12 year old. Usually, Xuanie shoots us a dirty look and I get "the talk" which tends to settle us down.

Anyway, this week has been really tough for me at work. With it being my last week at UTMB, I can't seem to find the motivation to do much of anything. The only thing that keeps me going are all of the various luncheons and happy hours planned for me. I guess I can't complain.

Let me leave you all with this - be forewarned - once you start...

http://www.addictinggames.com/kittencannon.html

What a week!!!

Well, it's been a very hectic week in the Makan household. First, I happened to land a job with Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston and will be starting at the end of the month. I've been with UTMB in Galveston for over 6 years and it's going to be hard leaving it behind. I have made so many friends in my time on the rock.

The second, and most important milestone, is that Gage went to his first dentist visit. I chose a pediatric dentist because I just knew that Gage wasn't about sit on a chair while some stranger probed his grill. Based on a recommendation from a coworker, I setup an appointment and was quite happy with the result.

The forms that you have to initially complete, before the first exam, freaked me out. I had to consent to various forms of tortu... uh, restraint that may be used to properly exam the kiddo. I could just imagine myself having to hold down the kiddo.... Anyway, the place looked like a Toys R Us exploded in a dentist office. They initially took the little man aside and distracted him with a toy, while the dentist explained what they were going to do to prep both him and me. They had an elmo doll lying on top of the chair and demonstrated to Gage how the light has to shine into his mouth because it's dark inside. They explained the mirror to him and how they have to look inside into his mouth with it. Gage fell for it and actually got into the chair without a struggle and even laughed and tried to talk as the dentist examined his mouth. After about a couple of minutes of probing, the examine ended and the assitant took Gage back to the playroom so that the dentist could discuss the exam with me. As far as I can remember, this was the most uneventful visit to the doctors in a long time. Dr. Taylor - consider me a lifetime customer.

By the way, it's amazing how parenthood transforms us into creatures that are able to withstand vast amounts of snot and stinky poo. Gage has had a runny nose for the last several days and it seemed like he was just getting over it. While I was completing the forms, Gage sat patiently next to me (which is a first) and then all of the sudden he sneezed. The next thing I know, there's along string of snot hanging down from his nose and stretching all the way down to his knee. I've never seen so much snot before in my life, all at one time. Since we were not alone, in the waiting room, I immediately scooped the snot into my hand and started to look around for something to wipe my hand. Luckily, the dentists office is prepared for snotty kids and had a box (with a trash can next to it) sitting right by the receptionists window. I must have used half the box before I was able to clean all of the snot of my hand...