Jasmine said "Shoe" instead of "Shuh".? We were watching a bartender contest, and she really enjoyed it when they juggled, so much that she started to move her hands like a juggler!? (of course, I couldn't get it on the camcorder)? She also imitated her dad and brother, and held her hands up like "I'm gonna get you" and walked slowly toward me, then tickled me "ti - ti - ti!"? She insists on feeding herself, which she is getting better at, but she'll hold the bowl upright to get into it with a spoon while the rest of it drips onto her lap.? She likes to sit next to me in the bathroom and hold the brushes.?
Alex is getting clever, and also asking the tougher questions. He fixated on the Shel Silverstein poem where the guy picked his nose, and no matter what I said, he kept asking me why the guy picked his nose.? ("Uh, I don't know, he's gross."? "Uh, I guess he had something in it.")? Now I think Alex may think there really is a sharp toothed snail inside our noses.? He can sing most of "Santa Claus is coming to town."? He loves to sing into the microphone.?
I got my hair chopped off.? I mean CHOPPED off.? It's so nice!? I LOVE washing it.? It still takes some finesse to fix it, though.?
Leon is out fishing again.? He and his friends had to go fishing during the hurricane!!? Okay, it was really a disappointing drizzle after all, but it did bring a lot of allergies!?

Okay, so Mom and Dad are finally going to europe - actually in just a few weeks!? They'll be in Amsterdam for a couple of extra days, so I thought I would do some research on what ELSE you can do in Amsterdam, other than the notorious acts.? The word "Oklahoma" jumped out at me, and it looks like it's old people's homes.? I said, "look, Oklahoma" (to Alex), and he says "Where's Uncle Homa?"?

The kids were entertaining themselves by climbing up the footrest of the lounger, over me, to the other side, slide down, and repeat.? OVER and OVER!?

Jasmine is braver in the water than Alex.? She'll put her face down in the water.? Alex is starting to lay down on his back, though!

Jazzy says "Boo" instead of "Buh" and tried to say "Backpack."?

Alex is helping us cook, and wants to wash dishes!? (Oh, I wish he could!)

My, how time flies.? We are in Houston for Conrad and Debbie's wedding reception.? So far so hot.? The kids have proven that their schedules are in charge of this trip, but except for a rough dinner with Jasmine all is going well.? So, I want to note some of the kids updates.?
We got Alex's hair cut, and he flipped out so much, all we got was the extra on the ears and back of the neck, so he officially has a shag now.? (I still say it looks a LOT better than before.)
Alex is definitely trying to control his world (terrible three's), and I don't know what hit me.
Jasmine, on the other hand, is starting early.? She can be so sweet, but MAN she will tell you when she is not happy with you.
Alex is starting to read some simple words.? He knows what all the letters say all by themselves.? He is blowing bubbles in the water now (big breakthrough in getting to swim), especially with the goggles on.? He doesn't yet have the control to understand that you don't breath in while under the water.? He has a "sturprise" for us when we get home, and likes to pretend it's our birthdays.? I swear he grew another two inches and two years before I realized it.? He's such a big boy now.? Potty trained when he's awake.? (We haven't tried naptime and bedtime yet.)
Jasmine is starting to talk.? She very clearly says "up" when she wants us to pick her up.? She can pull the ponytail holders out of her hair (the tighter ones), and she loves shoes.? (Where did that come from???)?
Got to take advantage of a little quiet time.? I'll try to update more often.

Last Friday, June 13 (should've known), Jasmine had her first fever.? Just a low fever, 99-100F, but she was cranky (achy) until Sunday night.? We KNEW her fever broke for good, because she had such a burst of energy, and was feeling SO good, she ran back and forth between me and my dad for about 20 minutes, virtually non-stop, talking all the time.? Monday was great, and then Tuesday she broke out in a rash.? She was no longer contagious, but she had Roseola Virus, which ends in a rash.? It's all gone now, and luckily she didn't seem to itch much at all.

Alex potty training is going so well, we're going to really go for the underwear tomorrow!?

Today was a Swedish holiday, the middle of summer.? Frida made us some great meatballs, mashed potatoes, and cookies!? It was a great meal!

Here are some stories from the Taiwan trip:

On the long 13 hour flight, Alex did really well. The flight wasn't very full at all and so Dad, Alex, and I were in a 5 person row all by ourselves. Conrad shared a 5 person row with a mom and her 2yr 9 mo son.? Alex really liked playing with Conrad in his row.? He also played with little boy a few times (traded toys).? He really was a much better behaved boy than the other kid.? On that flight, I was able to get him a nap around his normal nap time and he slept for about 2 1/2-3 hours. By the time we were approaching Japan, it was past his bedtime but I couldn't get him to sleep then. When we landed in Japan it was midday there and very bright in the airport. I tried to get him to lie down and nap (that was the picture I sent of him and Conrad) but he just didn't sleep.? He fell asleep on the airplane before we even took off while I was holding him.? At that point it was like 2 or 3 in the morning Dallas time and so he was pretty tired.? He woke up 1 1/2 hours later and was fussy (as to be expected).? But he was only upset for a few minutes. After 30-45 min, he fell back asleep for the rest of the flight.? We got through the airport and security without much incident.

We got to the hotel around 8:30 pm local time.? We all went over to the Sida area (where we would go for breakfast) where we had some really good chinese food (the flat bread things that are like green onion cakes). We walked around for quite a while. Then we came back and took a shower and we got to bed around 12:30 local time.? He slept till 6ish (we all did) then we got up and went over to breakfast around 7:30 am.? He doesn't like taxis for some reason. He gets upset everytime we get into a taxi and then calms down a few minutes later.? We had the usual yummy breakfast and got back to the hotel.? We then took a cab over to Grandpa/grandmas. Alex is shy around grandma and the aunts.? He is still not sure what to make of them. Conrad and I took turns watching Alex at the grandparents house while the other would go to visit grandpa in the hospital.? Alex is really doing great for me.? He's playing and eating well.

A couple of funny things he said/did during the trip:
At one point on the airplane he says "Dad, May I jump out?" I ask him" Jump out of the airplane ?" He says " YES, jump out and SKYDIVE!" I tell him no and that he has to be 18 before he can jump out.

I think he still has some residual memories of the last time he was here.? He asked where Santa Clause is (remember the giant inflatable
Santa last time) and he keeps looking for christmas lights.

He loves the shower with the handheld spout.? It's like a water game for him and it was easy to give him a shower.

Alex continues to do really well over here.? He's a little tired and it throws him off at times, but overall he is doing well.?

He takes after you in that he hogs the entire bed.? I woke up several times to find this tiny not-yet-three year old has parked himself right in the middle of the bed and is spread eagle so I have very little room on the bed.? Then I'm scared to move him so I perch on the edge and hope I don't roll off.? He woke me up this morning by putting his nose right on my nose and his eyes as wide open as he could, then when I opened my eyes, he giggled maniacally.? He then did this over and over again. (btw right now it's 1:24 and he's sitting in bed watching tv. He actually said to me "Dad, I'm a little tired" and "Dad, may I take a nap please?")

For some reason he really doesn't like taxis and he's asking to be carried a lot more than usual.? The new places and experiences are a little overwhelming I think.? He's pretty shy around the aunts but he gave grandma a hug today when he saw her.

Alex is quite the hit with the young ladies around here.? He alwaysdraws attention and is instantly being waved at.? He hasn't had a melt down yet.? He's just had a couple of times where he was little upset mostly because he was just tired.?

He had 5 whole shiao long baos this morning (the type of breakfast meat pockets that I like). He's eating pretty well, the buns often have vegetable and meat fillings and he's eaten the whole thing.?

He watched Conrad do some pushups this morning and asked him what he was doing. Conrad told him "I'm doing pushups you want to do some?"... Alex said "No, I want to do this" and then proceeded to do his little Alex dance.? It was pretty funny.

So, I'm hoping to use this Blog to help tell Leon how the days are going while he's gone.

Today we sent the boys off to Taiwan.? Jasmine seemed to be picking up on my sadness, because she cried a really low, sad cry.? When we got home, and she got fed, she was happy again.? Leon called while I was on my way home to tell me that I forgot to give him back the wet wipes for his carry on (then I found the other pack at home too), but then Alex told me he's having fun.? That really made me feel good.
Frida and I went shopping, took my mind off things for a while.? Then I took a short nap with Jasmine and went out again.? I got Leon some clothes (made me feel good).?
It's really sad to look around the house and see things that Alex won't be using for a while, but It's Only A Week.?
I'm loading new pictures to the webpage.? Alex went to his first kids' fishing tournament, and he caught his first fish!? (and second, and third).? For a while, he had the smallest fish.? It was great to see him excited about it, and able to handle reeling in the big fish!? It was a great day!

Yesterday, while I was?taking pictures of Jasmine, she took her first step!? Later she did it again, and later she was standing, and got so excited, she started stomping both feet.? Won't be long before that one step becomes a whole series.

http://kao-family.com/gallery/March-2008/2008_Mar_16_Studio_018_FIRST_STEP

Alex-ism:? "I can't buweeve it!"? (believe it)?
I finally updated the family picture.? (boy, that took a while!)?
He sat here next to me, and typed "ALEX," "MOM," "DAD," "EGG," AND "HAM" from just remembering how to spell the words, and he actually spelled them, instead of holding the keys down until he gets two lines of "H."?
I've been trying to catch up with friends, but all I've done is read their blogs.? (Hence the new links on our website.)? Now I just want to make that french soup recipe on Anna's page.
Alex pretends to cook, acts out TV shows he sees, and he asked Jasmine to play drums with him.? Now I'm going to cook his wonderful soup!

Yesterday Jasmine actually fell over laughing!? It was adorable!?

Alex was in the car, we were out during his nap time, so Dad (Leon) says, "Why don't you close your eyes for a little bit?"? Alex said, "ok," closed his eyes, then opened them, and then said, "there."

Well, to catch up, Jasmine got her 2nd tooth 2 days later, and was really crawling the next day.? Busy week!?

I have to capture some Alex-isms.?

The other day, he got bumped in the nose (okay, I did it.? We were playing catch with a small, foam football).? He was a little stunned, then he said he was sad, and wanted to "be alone", and walked away.? Later, he joyfully stated, "I'm okay!!"? (Okay, that doesn't sound like a big deal, but he's getting more dramatic and inventive every day.? We were all stunned, and asking each other, "do you say that?")? It ended with, "Mommy threw the football and I got an owie, but I wanted to be alone, but now I'm okay!"

Common phrases:

I can't believe it! But ..

But (anything)

We have to (we haff to) save ...

I also love the smile he gave me when we looked at a book together and I would say, "is it red?? is it purple?? is it yellow?"? When I got it right, he raised his eyebrows and closed mouth smile, and in a "great job, mommy" look, he nodded yes.

Last night after a time-out, when he did lay down for a diaper change, he kept saying how he was a good boy, and he got a time out, but he's a good boy!

Speaking of diapers, if this kid can continue to play?in a dirty diaper to the point where carpet shampoo is needed, and not be bothered, I don't think he's ready to be fully potty trained.? I'm not that bothered by diapers anyway, and it'll happen someday!

Words he can spell:? (He holds up the fingers on his hand, one for each letter)

Alex, Mom, Dad, Antje, Baby, Cat, Dog,?Cereal, and a couple of others written down at home.?