Backpack Blessing

Today was the first day of Sunday School for Annika, Ingrid and Erik and the first day of Confirmation class for Morgan.  In a new tradition that is becoming common in the U.S., the church did a backpack blessing for the students for the new school year as part of the worship service.  Holy Trinity's kids lined up and came in to the sanctuary for the blessing.

Today is also Erik's first day of Sunday school.  We introduced him to his class about fifteen minutes prior to the blessing.  He smiled as he arrived to the classroom, placed his backpack on his chair and was able to answer questions about his name and his favorite activity.  He looked so cute!

For the backpack blessing, Erik marched in next his teacher but took his own seat in the middle of the sanctuary in the middle of the group of kids.  The Youth Director took the group picture from the center aisle during the blessing.  She sent me a copy.  Erik sat so confidently throughout.  Morgan was in the back with the seventh graders.  You can see her underneath the banner word "Read".  How appropriate.  Ingrid wasn't far from Erik but is too short to be seen in the picture.  Annika is standing with the fourth graders on the right, off camera.  After the short dedication, the kids went back to continue their Sunday School classes.

Woody and I now attend worship without crayons, tiny dinosaurs and wiggly kids.

Blessings of the Backpacks

Heading in to church

Erik's teacher adds a blessing tag to Erik's backpack

Preschool Update

Yes, he finally likes it!  Our smart, sweet boy.

No Words

60 year old antique matchbox car in the hands of a three year old versus 8 month old 64" plasma TV.  The truck won.  It's been a sad afternoon at the Chung house.  Erik was watching an exciting Wii boxing match between Annika and Ingrid (who had the Wii remotes firmly in hand with straps attached).  Erik got a little excited and let go of the little metal truck imitating one of Annika's moves.  The fatal "punch" felt like slow motion.  I was talking to my dad on the phone when it happened.  It really didn't quite register for a few seconds as the TV went blank.  I quickly said goodbye to see what happened up close, all the while saying to myself, it can't be cracked.  Sure enough, it's done.  So sad.

Perhaps it was the tiredness of the weekend, or the past two hours we spent in the kitchen prepping vegetables to be used in stir fry dinner and others to be frozen for future meals, but Woody and I were rather quiet about the TV.  We put it in perspective later on this evening - somewhere, two parents just like us are spending the day hearing devastating news about their child, be it illness or even death and coming to grips with that.  We merely have a broken TV  -  and a healthy family.  We'll count our blessings and worry less.

Fireman to the Rescue

It started like a normal Saturday of play.  Erik bouncing around in the living room, working up a sweat.  Erik on the carpet with his trucks.  Erik running to the toy area behind the bar and picking out a firetruck.  It was there he paused and spotted his fire hat.  Honestly, he doesn't wear it often since his 2nd birthday over a year ago.  But today, it seemed like the appropriate accessory.  Then he popped into the library where I was working on Halloween costumes (shhh!  I know it's early) and asked for his boots.  I got them and he seemed so happy to have his rubber boots.  They finally are a size where they are only a "bit" big compared with the crazy oversized floppy clown looking rubber boots when he kept trying them a year ago.  He'd fall over from the boots large size - sort of like wearing flippers and trying to walk forward, all while being a two year old.
Anyway, he beamed and went off to play.  Then he said, "where's my jacket?"  I knew what he really meant but still asked him to explain.  "Fire jacket"  I couldn't believe he remembered he had a little fire shirt I got on clearance after Halloween last year.  It's a size 4-5 so it was ultra-big.  But for $2, I knew he'd like it someday.  Today must be the day.  I ran up to his room and brought down the "jacket".  Now his smile grew and he agreed to pose for a few pictures - Ingrid style, his idea - complete with runway style walking.  I wonder where he saw that?  You are so funny, Erik.  Thanks for the laughs.
After that it was back to his trucks.  The whole ensemble stayed on for awhile.  If you're wondering, this won't be his official Halloween outfit.  That's under wraps until the 31st.

1st Day Preschool, Elementary School and Junior High

Here's the forecast - sunny, hot, and muggy - and it's still July.  But that doesn't change the fact that the Chung Family has four (OK, three) new Santan Stormers today.  Morgan, Annika and Ingrid started school this morning at their new school.  It took us about three minutes to stroll over to the school and stand in the sweltering heat and humidity to watch our two middle children head off to a new elementary school.  We quickly walked back and watched Morgan leave fifteen minutes later for Junior High.  It's the same campus, but the junior high starts a half hour after the elementary school.  The girls were nervous, which was to be expected, as new students.  We put letters in their lunchbox, like we do every year, wishing them all the best on their new year of learning.

Erik officially starts preschool next week.  We'll take more pictures at his preschool when he starts.

Poor Baby

The Halloween festivities were a little harsh for buddy boy's lungs.  He's coughing today with a wheezy sound.  We broke out the humidifier and SVN machine for the first time this year.  Erik first saw the "breathing apparatus" and was pointing to it saying, "Fire truck.  Fire truck", because it looked like the oxygen masks.  That boy knows EVERY detail of Mighty Machine's At the Fire Station episode.  After we "hooked him up" to the SVN, the novelty wore off.  You Tube videos got him through the 10 minute treatment this time.  Hopefully it'll clear up tonight and we won't have to repeat one tomorrow.  And hopefully he won't have to head into urgent care, either.

Feel Better Buddy-boy!!!

They're New

We're still working on training, but I couldn't help but look at how grown up my little guy looks in his new briefs.

Gnarly Slumbers, Dude

This is the way he rolls...errr slumbers.  Funky glasses, extra.

Saturday night, Erik fell asleep and somehow got himself in this position.  I swear we could sell picture books of the strange positions our children render themselves while sleeping.  We added the glasses and took the picture.  Sweet dreams, Erik.

The Cuts

Four kids haircuts - $50.00

Erik got a haircut this evening along with his three sisters.  As the only boy, I was having difficulty describing what I wanted.  "What size clippers?" she asked.  "Huh??", I replied.  I tried describing my ideal haircut for a little boy, sounding more fumbled as I "guessed" stylist terms which really weren't stylist terms.

And then I thought, bingo.  I'll just show a picture of what I want.  She said that would be much easier.  Erik was oblivious to this conversation as he played happily in the toy car barber chair.  Smartphone in hand, I clicked on the blog and showed her a picture of my dad.  I want a cut like this, I told her, short for the summer.

She called it a 50's cut, with a cute model.

Here's what we got.  Erik with his grandfather's haircut.

Summer reading is not for *everyone* in the family.  Here's all I have to say about this.  Boys are WAY more difficult than girls.  At least right now.

Beautiful Boy

Happy Birthday to my dear sweet Erik B.  You're so beautiful.  We hope you enjoyed your "Fire truck" birthday celebrations.

Do Red Heads Have More Fun?

Does anyone have the answer to this enigmatic question besides our son?  It seems anything and everything is now fun to our nearly two year old.  He was a bundle of energy this evening, not falling asleep until nearly 11 PM and only after I went on a one mile walk with him in the stroller in the dark.  Thank goodness the weather is perfect at night - cool breeze and clear skies.

So where did this need for more fun come from?  Perhaps it was this little patch of red hair that we saw on Erik today.  No one could figure it out.  It wasn't like he got a bit of sun and his hair somehow became lighter.  (This did happen to Annika who was a redheaded child from around 11 months to around 17 months.  Bizarre.  I'll have to post a picture to prove it.)  This patch of red seemed, well, more red.  We couldn't figure it out, even on a quick close up exam.

Finally this evening, it was all revealed in the bathtub.  Take a peak:

And this picture only shows part of it.  It goes all across the back.  Erik colored his scalp with a red Sharpie marker sometime today.

That explains the whole-lotta fun today.  Red-heads do have more fun.

Big Boy Bed

I'm a little sad.  The crib has been packed away.  Our little guy is growing and growing.  Now nearly 18 months old, he started sleeping in a big boy bed today.  He's still our little Erik.  Can you tell by his grin that he likes the bed?

Erik's First Haircut

Here's our big announcement we mentioned last week.  Our son is no longer a newborn, nor an infant, and definitely not a baby according to his sisters.  He's now a "hanmson" looking brother.

Erik got his first cut this evening at Kid Cuts in Chandler.  Scotty did a great job and Erik was a FANTASTIC customer.  He was almost enjoying himself in the haircut car.  Here's a bit of a photo essay:

Checking in for the haircut.

Getting ready to cut the baby locks.

The first snip.

Enjoying the movies.

Oblivious to what's going on at the back - the car is way more fun.

The first haircut is taking shape.

No problem with the trimmers - nice straight lines around the ears.

Checking out my new hairstyle in the mirror.

All done - some of the first pieces - now stuck to his shorts.

12 Month Checkup

Erik had his 12 month check up at Dr. McKenna's office today.   He was in a fantastic mood and had no problem with the examination.  He enjoyed showing off his walking skills.  His vitals are good.  He weighs 20 lbs, 12 ounces which is the 20th percentile.  He's 31 inches tall, which is the 80th percentile.

Erik has six teeth now - four on the top which came in during the first week of June.

His prize for a great visit to the doctor's?  A squeaky frog and five shots.  Bummer for buddy boy.

In the evening, he definitely was feeling the effects of the immunizations - we've never seen him fall asleep during a meal.  Especially in a position like this.  We snapped the picture and then made him more comfortable.

Happy Birthday to our darling Boy

Happy Birthday Erik - celebrating your first birthday traveling home to Arizona.

Erik's Dol

Erik celebrated his Dol (1st Birthday) today at Harmony and Harabagee's house in Los Angeles.  After a day of preparations, the guests started arriving at 5 PM.  The party was decidedly casual - the girls wore their S.Korea World Cup soccer jerseys.  The catering was amazing and we were very happy with our quick decorating.

I had a banner made for Erik's birthday with extra numbers - I can use it for future birthdays.  Woody and I used the coloring from the banner and bought more paper to make Chut-Chuck-Dol banner to match.  The cupcake toppers were ordered through Etsy to match the banner - the cute boy with the hanbok.

Erik's hanbok was sent by his great uncle in honor of his birthday.  The girls hanboks came from Emo, who arrived from Korea  with the hand-delivered dresses to be here for the party.  She also bought Erik's gold panji ring.  Erik was in a great mood for the party - smiling and laughing.  The girls were the perfect hostess, especially Ingrid, entertaining the crowds with their stories.

The party lasted until after 11 PM when a few guests helped Erik and the girls open his birthday presents.  It started to look like Santa's workshop as Uncle Andy's friends helped put together some of the Little Tyke toys!

It was a great day and a great party.  Thank you everyone!!!