Getting some boba tea after lunch.

Fun in the Sun...

My aunt Paulina and her family was in so.Cal from Texas so they threw a birthday party for two of their kids, Vincent and Victoria. This allowed the extended family to all congregate to Dana Point harbor to celebrate.

After everyone was fed, all the kids including Terrence went down to the designated swim area for some Summer time fun. Here is Terrence getting down and dirty with the sand for the first time. He had an absolute blast in the sand as well as in the water as you shall see. Here are some shots from the day.

Susan taking Terrence in to test the water. She doesn't know this boy loves water!

Aunt Mai's two adorable daughters

Look how happy Terrence is. Susan is getting a kick out of seeing how gleeful he is in the water. Wet from head to toe.

I think this is after he got over the shock of falling face forward in the water

And any attempt to take him out of the water...

This is Vic...his uncle only managed to bury him 1/3 of the way. Vic easily got out of it.

Awwww...baby Calvin

My uncle and baby Calvin

I only wanted my dad, mom and Terrence. But noooo...superstition said you can not photograph 3 people in a group...so I couldn't take the picture I originally envisioned

A couple of close up's of baby Cal

Climbing down stairs...

A few days ago, Terrence figured out to climb down the stairs safely. In the beginning, he would get close to the stairs and his mom would have a heart attack. I knew from being home with him that he does have the common sense to know that stairs are dangerous. On more daring days, he would test the limits by getting up to the edge of the stairs...enough to hang his little toes over the steps. But he would never attempt to go down himself. I figured rather than have an aneurysm each time he gets near the stairs, simply teach him to go down the stairs himself. At first, he likes to go down the stairs the normal way. As long as he holds one of my hand, he was fine. After a couple of days, he was pretty good at it.

But his mom figured it was safer for him to learn to come down backwards. So she taught him to do that. It seems as he caught on to the technique overnight and is now a mad climbing machine. He seems to get a sense of accomplishment once he reaches the end. It's so funny to watch.

The hurdle. In the beginning, Terrence would break more than a sweat when he goes downstairs.

But eventually, it became a piece of cake.

Of course mom is never too far to ensure her son's safety.

Offering words of encouragement.

See you later dad!

Potty Training Time

A couple of weeks ago, Julie and I started training Terrence to go poo on the toilet. The whole experience was foreign to him of course but in the beginning it's more trying to get him used to sitting on the toilet seat more than anything else.

This is another one of those exercises as parents that can really test your patience. Often times, we give up and put the diaper back on him, only to have him go poo in it a few minutes later. However, the training is starting to pay off as he is more willing to sit on the toilet and are more consistent in getting him to go in it when we catch him at the right time. For Terrence, this is usually after his morning meal.

These snaps were taken on day two of potty training. We're lucky we have a second toilet in our bedroom so we have it dedicated to training Terrence.

The trouble with boys...

Actually, no trouble at all. Boys are the best and I am not bias either. ;) But here's a hint of what's to come as boys get more curious as they grow to become toddlers and teens. This was happening behind me and I only heard the slightest of murmurs from him as he ask for help. Every once in a while, I hear him go "eh." Because he wasn't actually crying or showing distress, I figured he was content in playing with his stuff animal that usually sits behind me.

Once he repeated the soft "eh" a few more times, I turn around to see what's up and saw that he was stuck in the following position. He looks at me like he was embarrassed he got himself there and not be able to get out and has to ask for my help. :)

I immediately thought to remove him from his predicament until the photographer dad side of me overrode the desire to do what's proper to run to the other room to grab the camera instead. You should have seen the look on his face as I turn around and ran off. Hopefully he remembers for next time, but judging by his attempt to crawl back under the stool this morning, perhaps it takes a few more distress and soft calls for help before he learns his lesson.