Endless Possibilities

During our vacation, Sydney acquired a new skill. He figured out how to crawl! At first, he was just scooting along the dirty carpet, dragging his whole body along the floor. Then, I looked away, and suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I saw something moving... It was Sydney, on all fours, crawling across the room. So, what this really means for Sydney is that he does not have to rely on us to supply him with fun stuff. Now, if he sees remote controls, or electrical cords, he can crawl his way to them and get them himself!!!

Roadtrip

Recently, we hit another milestone. Family roadtrip! And it doesn't seem like all that long ago I was the one in the back of the car, whining, "Are we there yet? I'm bored. Drive faster" All of a sudden, I'm the adult? Whoa, how exactly did that happen? I dunno. But nonetheless, we packed the minivan, loaded the kids, and set off for No. Cal. The plan was to drive from Los Angeles to Carmel. Normally, its a 5-6 hour drive, but... Apparently, with kids, it takes longer. We had a stop in Santa Barbara, ate some pizza and stretched out our legs. There is a park smack in the middle of Isla Vista, complete with a children's jungle gym. Surprise, surprise. I lived in that town for, well, a long time.. and I never knew there was a kids park. 2.5 hours later, we were back in the van, continuing up north. We finally arrived at our destination, about 10 hours after we departed. The kids did great on the road, with minimal fussing. I was pleasantly surprised. We checked into our hotel. Real nice place, one of the few we could find that had suites, which we needed to house all of us. It was pretty late, and we needed food ASAP. There was one of those 'upscale' markets across the street. There I got food to go, including $9 a pound mac & cheese! Call it what you want, organic, artesian, etc... its still pasta and cheese.. people, please... That said, Casey did eat that stuff like it was crack...

Each morning started with a trip downstairs to the breakfast room. It was sort of like a B&B, with provided breakfast. And each morning, I would prepare a bagel with cream cheese to bring back to the room for Casey. For other meals, we found it much better to bring food back to the room, as opposed to eating out. Kids fared much better that way. And if the kids are doing good, we are all doing good.

A couple of the highlights were the Dennis the Menace children's park. The kids had a blast there. The Monterey Bay Aquarium was a hit. We also rented a giant bicycle that sat 6 adults and 3 children, and pedaled along the waterfront.

Da boys on the giant roller slide at the Dennis the Menace Park, Monterey, CA



Daddy and Casey at the touch pool at the Monterey Bay Aquarium


Daddy and Sydney

I Got Class

Sydney's free ride is done. For the next 18+ years, it's gonna be all about school. It starts out easy enough. Right now, 'class' consists of one hour a week. Its titled 'Family Fun Time'. We sing songs, and expose the kids to different senses. Last week, they focused on the hearing sense. They had multiple instruments, and encouraged the kids to play the instruments and create different sounds. Another portion of the class is free play... In a giant room full of age appropriate toys: ball pit, climbing structures, tunnels, tents, etc.

Deer in the headlights look on Sydney's first day of class


Star student, paying close attention to the teacher!


In the ball pit

Happy Baby

So what if I got snot running out of my nose... and likely into my mouth.. I got so much drool, the snot gets diluted anyway... I'm a happy baby!!


Check out my big smile...



And ignore the food particles on my chin, and the food smeared on my cheek.... and check out.... MY TEETH!!!

Your turn

Fact of life kid. Your hair is gonna grow. You're gonna need to get it cut. In what has now become a Wang tradition, we apparently have to humiliate you during your first haircut.

Big Bro experienced it

Since we already had a template on how this is done, we set Sydney out and wet his hair. Having been thru the wars once, we kinda knew what to expect... Or so we thought. Sydney's hair posed unique challenges. Hard to describe, but it grows naturally like a mohawk. The sides and back don't grow much at all, but the top grows like wildfire. 'Cept its really thin. This made it really hard to cut, especially cut straight. Sydney didn't squirm much, likely cause he didn't have access to a mirror to see what we were doing to him!

Before: Happy, but he doesn't know what's coming...


Natural Mohawk style


Tradition!




Cute kid, jacked up haircut!

Football Season

Fall is here, and that means football season. Sydney's first. We had the USC game on the big screen, and Sydney got in the spirit!


When his big bro wasnt looking, Sydney jacked his favorite dog.

What's the difference?

Sydney has been introduced to solid foods. Normally, Mommy takes care of the feedings. Under certain circumstance, such as when Mommy was gone for the day, Daddy has attempted to take care of the feedings. For some reason, Sydney does not care to eat off Daddy's spoon. So, today, Mommy was feeding him some oatmeal. He was opening his mouth wide, and Mommy was shoveling the food down the hatch. Then came a voluntary shift change: Daddy took over feeding duty. And suddenly, Sydney wouldn't eat, rather he cried and cried. So, Mommy took over again... and voila, he ate the whole bowl...

If you look close at this photo, you will see remnants of tears under his left eye. (From when Daddy was attempting to feed him) Notice the wide open mouth, and the spoon full of oatmeal about to enter the mouth (Mommy is currently feeding him)

When Mommy does it, it isn't very messy!