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Sunday, May 31, 2026

J 1yo

 6/21/25 almost 13 mo

We finally see a little tooth on the bottom about to come out!

Still not walking, but perpetually seems like hes gonna walk. He will take a few steps when we prep him, but otherwise crawling is his way.


6/27/25 almost 13 mo

Wow Jasper is really walking! He will walk from one furniture to another on his own volition. Only a about 5 steps, but much improved from before! He will also pretend to be a duck and say "ah ah," wave bye, and dance to old Mcdonald snd other music. So cute! Sometimes a "hi" that's more like "ah."



7/12/25 13.5mo

J started clapping!

7/16/25 Can go down slide by himself (turn around, tummy down, feet first). He lives woodchips! So fun putting it from one place to another (onto slide or onto sidewalk). Silly j!

8/10/25 14 months

Jasper is very proficient in walking now! He really learned on our Seattle trip (7/12 to 28). Now he will primarily walk and doesnt eat too many things off the ground. Sometimes when hes tired, he will still lut his face on the ground if its soft. 

He will say uh-oh, and mama, no no no. He likes it when I pretend my hand is an alligator and try to chomp his hands and feet. We are glad he's still able to sleep at grandparent's place even though its a new place. He likes watching cars outside the windows. He will copy our signs for more and all done. 

J and w's naps are staggered right now, so its hard to get no-kid time on the weekends. We would each handle one child for bed time.


8/29/25

Still no teeth! And already 15 months! Yet he eats everything (small pieces). He is making more sounds. It seems like recently he discovered his voice. We tried consolidating to 1 nap, but it seems like he isn't quite ready. He gets fussy, and doesn't sleep the desired 3 hours. But when we gave 2 naps, he has a lot of trouble falling asleep during the 2nd nap even 4 hours later. But overall, he is pretty chill even when he doesn't sleep well. 

He loves clothing tags. Used to just smell them, but now he likes to put them in his mouth and chew on it. 

It's interesting how dark he is. Everyone comments on how tan he is, especially next to W. I need to do a better job of sunscreen and covering him when we go outside. 


9/14/25 almost 16mo

Wow, almost 16 mo, and I finally see a little tiny bit of white poking out from the top gum on the left. What a funny kiddo. When we say no bc hes swiping food or dropping food, he gets this frown and immediately knows we are talking about him, then starts slowly crying. He does imitate some words like nom nom. Says Abu Abu. Gaga. And er duo (ear). He will stick his tongue out at us bc of the book of body parts. He also waddles around quite efficiently now. 


10/23/25 almost 17 mo

J finally has 2 more upper teeth coming. But not the right middle one. So weird. 

Also he recently has been able to tell us when he pooped. He will point to his diaper and cry. When I told him we are going outside and to put on his shoes, he will go and try to put on his shoes unsuccessfully and get me my shoes. 


11/30/25 18mo

Hes saying: Baba. Mama, Abu (grandma), roar, mao mao (cat), miao miao, ruff ruff, gou gou (dog), uh oh, nai nai (milk), lan Mei (blue berry), ball, Dada (big), oh no, o (for cheerio), poopoo, ), tick tick (clock), baobao (pick up). 

He naps 2 to 3 hours 12p to 3p, then night sleep 8p to 730a. 


12/17/25 

J says a few more words: wa wa (water), bubble and paopao, gege (big brother). He can stack 5 blocks, and can put in quite a bit of shapes in the shape box. J can scribble quite a bit. He especially likes taking the cap off markers and throwing them on the ground (sighs). 


2/26/26 21mo

J will try to follow along in some songs like wheels the bus: beep beep, hand motion for door open/shut by covering face, shhhhh, baby wah wah (pretending cry)... 

I think i finally see a 7th teeth coming out on the bottom! Been forever with just 6 teeth but eating everything! 

Im glad he's willing to eat some more veggies: broccoli crown, green beans, asparagus. But only small pieces. 

He is very attached to his blanket/tag ("beibei").


3/2/26 21 month

Annoying thing about J's eating: when there are too many things on the table, he will point at something, but we can't tell what it is and he gets too frustrated. Ab remembers W being the same way around 22 months. And I remember W being like that when we went to an Ethiopian restaurant with my brother after swimming one day and we couldn't figure out what he wanted and he had a melt down. 


4/8/26 22 months

J has certain words he refuses to say. Instead of water, he only says "Wa wa." Instead of car, he says "beep beep." Instead of airplane, he says "hooooo." Instead of train, he says, "choo choo" but he can't really make the ch sound, so it ends up being "hoo hoo." He does put some two words together like "ball please" (more like ball peas) or "wo yao" or "jie ge ge" (pick up brother). He's learning little by little. 

He loves cheese and rice, very constipating foods, so we are always trying to figure out ways to get him to eat veggies and fruit. So far, there isn't really one fruit he will for certain eat, which makes it hard. But he does like apple sauce pouches. He will occasionally eat mushrooms and nappa cabbage now, so that helps. And sometimes he likes green beans and corn, but it's still hard to tell. He used to eat sweet potato fries, but not so much lately. Maybe the ones I make aren't crispy enough? I thought he liked chips, but he didn't eat much of his crispy taco. Hm...always a mystery what he will eat. 

We tried going to the beach with them Good Friday with some friends. The beach itself was much better this time because he could walk around and play and not always always be watching him and we didn't have to bring too much because there were so many people going so everyone split up stuff to bring. But on the way back, he only slept 30 min in the car and woke up before we were even off the freeway. Why??? Don't know... so he was clingy and kind of accident prone the rest of the day. Fortunately, he was still able to get back to his routine of napping 2.5-3hrs. I don't know how comfortable AB will be messing with his nap for now...probably not until a long ways from now... 


4/11/26 22 mo

Man, I feel bad... I got so angry at J today for fussing/crying during lunch. Looking back, it was probably because he was tired... and he probably just didn't want me giving him spoonfuls of rice mixed with other things, and instead just wanted rice, but he kept on crying even if I offered him other things. So I hit the table, I yelled at him. It was a bad moment. Thank goodness AB came downstairs and took over. I was also probably frustrated that I was busy cooking and feeling J and Ab and W were playing games upstairs and made J cry also he wanted to go play too. Anyhow, need to learn from W's book to calm down before things escalate. Maybe say how I'm feeling. Unfortunately J doesn't really understand these words of expression well yet. 


Funny moments:

Ab: fumbling bumbling baby J 

W repeats: fumbling bumbling baby J


Whenever I vacuum, J uses his popper toy and pretends to vacuum too. 


We sang happy bday to jiu jiu and J says "too you!" Then continues to pretend to blow candles for a long time (with a lot of spit coming out).


4/25/26 23 mo

When I showed pictures of Little W to J, and asked him "who is this?" J responded, "di di" (little brother, or himself). 😆 


5/21/26

Point to his mosquito bite with sad face: "booboo bee!" (Imstead of bumble bee)


5/25/26 (almost 2)

J finally has 2 molars showing. He still only has 6 teeth in front (4 top, 2 bottom), so it's funny he's skipping some lower and upper front teeth. What happened to his canines? It must have been 6 months since his last teeth came out! 

Now he's talking quite a lot...sometimes too much when we are trying to do other things. 


Divorce Sermon

 Mark 10:1-12


Look for ways to stay in a marriage rather than ways to get out of it.


 Pray: 

God alone can soften hearts, give counsel from a friend...


Cru family life weekend to remember retreat: 

Keeping your marriage a priority.

Pray together daily (in addition to meals). How can I pray for you?

Grow together spiritually: reading Bible together, talk about sermon, study


Meaningful conversations: Funniest memories of dating days? Greatest need in season? When feel most loved? 







Saturday, February 21, 2026

Screens in a digital age


2/17/26

Frontal lobe doesn't fully develop until 25, so helps to delay screens

Easy now, harder later. Hard now, easy later.

Videogames is a dopamine rush more than anything in reality. (Slow up down dopamine see friend, fell, yummy food, not yummy food). Vs videogame: huuuuge dopamine rush, so much that reality is not as interesting.


Social Skils

1 Affection Give & recieve love

2. Appreciation

3. Anger Management

4. Apology 

5 Atention


Affection

body, eye contact

online: not synchronous, disembodied

need to touch

kids are not getting their, love tank filled

TOUCH, WORDS

Time w/o Phone


gratitude

APPReciaTion

eve contact: Thank you-say name.

Entitled, don't have to Wait. they get whatever they want, can only choose what they want 

WAIT

Write someone a note of thanks


ANGER Management 

What happenod to make them mad 

good anger and bad anger. 

Bad Anger: I didn't get my way


APOLOGY: 5 languages

Regret,  repentance, responsibility, ask forgiveness, Restitution ( What can I do to)


Be ReaDy "Already know the worst thing they will do"


ATTenTion Aways thinking of something else.  your brain is somewhere else.   About half the people are somewhere else

We need to be PRESENT

pro 4:23 keep your haant


Start with dumb phone: text, group chat, pictures, GPS, clean music. Doesnt connect to internet. Example: Gabb phone: 

"Arlene" give discount. 

Important game can't be online and access strangers. 

But even when kids go on away games, trips, most others have phones, so they can ask friend to text to parent and check in. 


Things check all the time: put on computer. Add friction. 

Pick a plan: 

Platinum: delay smartphone, social media, video games until 12th grade or later. Making kids be bored so they can develop abilities and skills.

Gold: Delay smartphone, social media, video games, until 16

Silver: 9 hours sleep, 1 hour exercise, 2 hours or less digital candy. 

Bronze:

daily meal without phone

using both hands

-no device in bedroom

-phone free activity

- digital sabbath & Challenges


All with humility.


16 when drive, often ppl give phone, but its ironic bc so much distraction on phone (texting and driving). There are basic phones that have gps and texting. But encourage know where going and put phone in back.

Bill gates: no iPad till 14, many silicon Valley ppl say no ipad/phone till many years later. 


Rules: 

Daily meals w/o phones

No devices in bedrooms

Do phone free activities

Digital Sabathia and challenges (rest from YouTube, social media)


Spaces that are protected: but has boundaries. Everything away by 8, or Sunday no YouTube, and insist on it. 

"Parents Rising": how to lead in the home. 

Challenge: who can last longest without... or 1 month detox. 


Example: 

Son was so addicted to videogame, knew it was problem when son asked for $3 videogame and dad refused, the son said if you give it to me, I won't ask for anything else the rest of my life. Also having panic attacks everywhere. Required 1 month of detox (literal using body to block from videogame).

Kid has videogame access high school, and then flanking out of 1st semester college. Look like om drugs: scrawny, pale, zombie like 


Also easy accress to porn. 98% young adult male seen porn recently. 

Ask questions: does this give strangers access to my child? Is it addictive? Is it helpful? What problem does it solve? 

"Atomic Habits" book. Make habit obvious. At 8p, no screens unless together. Make it easy and pleasurable. Eg 1 month no screens and after can go on 2 day trip. Think how to make it fun? 


Benefits of limit screen: relational

Most likely online is digital Babylon (not digital Jerusalem). 

Dark green (bad), light green (good) online.


Do hard things now, and they will show how healthy they are later.  


Luke 12:4. Dont fear those who kill the body and can do no more. Fear those who after death can cast into he'll. Fear God. 


If 2036, what do I want my family to look like: 

Wesley 14yo, Jasper 11 yo. Family goes on vacation together twice a year. Both kids doing a sport they both love. No phones or ipads. We continue go to church together weekly and smaller group. Continue to be friends with current church friends. Brothers love each other. 

What plan moving forward: 

No smart phone till 18. But occasionally play videogames together starting ?high school on weekends with 1 hour limit. Not alone.





Friday, January 9, 2026

2025

-Largest snowfall in Houston

-AB continue teaching 6th graders at church

-I continued allergy shots (started Sept 2024)

-W continued in soccer shots (R)

-AB and I played church flag football -difficult juggling naps.

-W was featured on the Rockets jumbotron

-Seattle to visit family but also hike Mt. Rainier Sunrise side. Left kids with parents in Seattle and went to AT and L's wedding in San Francisco Bay Area. 

-South Carolina trip for AB's conference at the Montage at Palmetto Bluff (we learned where Justin Bieber got married)

-Cancun for ZJ and MW's wedding (beautiful, all inclusive resort), parents came too 

-Los Angeles for PL and JP's wedding (beautiful and funny) and visit friends


This year started off with a big bang aka, largest snowfall in Houston in years! W is having a blast in preK 4 with his best friend NM. W loves trains, boardgames, and asking why. He's learning how to read and do simple math. He still understands Chinese, but he only speaks English now (as expected). YW is working per diem 1-2 days a week, so getting to spend a lot of time with J. We have a nanny for days when YW is working (she is so helpful - cooking and cleaning when she is here!). J is saying a few words here and there, but primarily no no no. AB is going strong into 14th year at an insurance company. Trips this year: Mount Rainier hike, San Francisco/Fremont, South Carolina work conference at Palmetto Bluff, Cancun, Los Angeles


Goal for 2026: better listener... when listening to others, try to be more curious, ask if I got it correct how they are feeling. 



Tuesday, January 6, 2026

2025 Christmas Holidays

 At the beginning of the holidays, it felt daunting to be at home with the 2 kids for 17 days.  The kids get tired and hungry at different times, so we have to schedule naps and lunches separately.  And Jasper can not participate in many activities that are fun for Wesley.  Also the stress of finding Christmas gifts.


In the mornings, we did the zoo (2x), children's museum, natural science museum, tennis, arboretum, woodlands (4 days), hermann park carousel/playground, church (3x), home depot craft and bday parties.  After afternoon naps, we saw Christmas lights, rode bikes, did grocery shopping, baked a pie, went to parks, took baths, did mini golf, had friends visit and played board games (azul).  

The first week was tiring as we tried to find a good routine.  The Woodlands visit was a nice change of scenery (seeing AB brother's family, different playgrounds and playing disc golf).  But it was still difficult, as everyone was sleeping in different beds, and AB parents try to keep their house very clean.  AB parents were also tired from having so many kids there for many days.  The second week was smoother, as we found a good routine: J eating a packed lunch at 11AM during our morning activity, then all returning home together.  At noon, J would start nap, while everyone else would eat lunch.  Then Wes would nap from 1:30PM to 3PM.  With both napping, we would get a chance to recharge, prepare dinner or play a game (Skyteam or Dead Cells).  So by the end of the holidays, we felt OK.  Nice memories are: Wesley getting his first hole-in-one at mini golf, playing Azul together (listed as a game for 8 year olds), seeing Christmas lights (Jasper saying "wow" and learning other words), Jasper's belly laugh and happy personality.