New tricycle

As you can see, Benji is very happy about his new tricycle and helmet.

Old glasses

A few nights ago Shearn Yoong and I had dinner alone (the boys went over to Nona's for dinner), so I used our fine china and nice glasses since any meal alone is romantic in one sense or another. The next morning the two glasses were on the counter still waiting to be put away. Since Benji has memorized ever item in our house, any new thing immediately stands out. He immediately pointed to the two glasses and questioned me about them. I told them they were very old glasses, passed down from my grandmother. He repeated old and then asked if we should throw them away. Yes, we do throw away many old things (food, clothes, etc.) but not antique glasses from your great-grandmother. Old vs. antique - a tough concept to explain!

Happy Chinese New Year!

Happy Chinese New Year from all of us! We were sick over the weekend so we missed the party, but we still had our own miniature sick-party with Benji in appropriate attire and yummy food provided by Mama. Blessings for the new year!

A good prayer for a king ... or a parent

I just finished reading Solomon's prayer in 1 Kings 3. God tells Solomon to ask for whatever he wants. Instead of asking for riches or power, this is his prayer: "Now, O Lord my God, You have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. Your servant is here among the people You have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?" (v. 7-9)

Any parent who is honest admits to sometimes feeling like "a little child." There are days when it seems that there is no one able to govern "the great people." And though we only have two kids, sometimes I feel like they are too numerous to count or number!

My prayer as a mother is for wisdom. It is my greatest need. Thankfully, God has promised to provide. " If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him." (James 1:5)

Hello

I have no recent photos worth sharing so I thought I'd write a short update. Both boys are sleeping, so I'm able to type with both hands. :)

Benji has been sick since late last week and as a result has been a very fussy boy lately. Yesterday my patience just about ran out. But today he seems to be in better spirits, and we just finished a sweet nap time routine (the opposite of yesterday's nap time). Thank You God for a better day.

Only bad piece of news for today is that I have two (small) cavities. I went to the dentist this morning and was able to get x-rays, which are late because it seems like every time I need x-rays, I'm pregnant. I'm glad we kept our dental insurance. :)

Zac is doing well - thankfully, he didn't catch Benji's cold. He had eczema (mainly on his cheeks and thumb) and so far nothing has helped but I got a few more hints which I have yet to try out. Though he doesn't seem to be in pain, it makes the rest of us sad to see his red, cracked cheeks.

Thankfully Benji hasn't asked to nurse again since Zac was born. Tandem nursing seems like a bit much to me. However, today he asked me to nurse his stuffed bunny. And he nursed his stuffed giraffe. I was going to explain how boys can't nurse but then I thought, "Why burst his bubble?" So he went to sleep at nap time nursing Mr. Giraffe. It was a cute sight to behold. We'll work on gender issues another year. :)

Hope you all are doing well.

Sledding