The Rest of May...

Tribeca Film Festival-Family Day

We've always enjoyed going to this annual event since there are always something for Devin to do there. This is Serena's first time, and she seem to like it as much as Devin did.

Devin & the fire truck dials...

With one of the friendly fire fighter...

And another friendly fire fighter...

Devin playing street hockey, courtesy of the NHL.

Jog-a-Thon

Devin's school had a fundraiser, but the parents were told the wrong time. By the parents showed up, the event was over. To make up this error, the school had the parents stayed for a couple of hours for a Parents/Kids Day. So we did arts & craft, the class read books & sang to the parents. But I really wished we saw the kids ran. Devin was disappointed too because he reminded us that very morning to come & cheer him on. Regardless, he did very well. He ran 27 laps around the school gym and came in third place. Thank you so much to everyone that have sponsored him!

Even Serena enjoyed the Parents/Kids Day.

A certificate for participating in the Jog-a-Thon.

This certificate was a surprise-unbeknownst to the parents, the school had a ceremony presenting the Jog-a-Thon awards. Devin was so funny when I asked him how his day was, he said nonchalantly, "Oh-we had gym, chapel and then I went up to the stage to get my Jog-a-Thon award."

Mother's Day

For Mother's Day, my brother Hon took all of us out for dinner since all his sisters are Mommies too. It's always nice to have all of us together & have a meal, no matter how chaotic it feels at times. Actually, it didn't feel chaotic this time.

My brother Hon & Mom.

My siblings & my Mom, but missing my sister Connie who lives in VA so we let Serena sneak into the photo. I didn't realize how badly I was slouching in this picture until I loaded this picture up. Yikes!

Meeting Curious George!

The Jewish Museum had an exhibit on the authors, Margret & H.A. Rey, of all the Curious George books. They were Jewish & it was Curious George's 35th Anniversary. Devin actually met Curious George AND the man with the Yellow Hat when he was 6 months old in Boston, but too young to remember it.

The last weekend of the exhibit was Kids' Day. They had a band, The Funky Monkeys (or something) performing for the kids.

Arts & crafts: Devin was in the process of making a book.

Curious George and the Lopez's! Serena was so excited to meet George, we went back in line so she could give George a hug.

Reading Curious George books that were scattered around in the "Book Room".

Surprise, Surprise: Serena immediately went to get Curious George (stuffed toy) off the shelf when we got home. It's really Devin's so there was a little fighting over George after this picture was taken.

Meeting Curious George and the Man with the Yellow Hat when Devin was 6 months in Boston.

Devin trying to reach for George. I don't have the picture digitally (it was made into a button) but I had the Man with the Yellow Hat holding Devin. Maybe I'll try to take a picture of it & post it here someday. Don't hold your breath though.

Stitches

Devin got 4 stitches on his left eyelid last month (4/22 to be exact). He was playing & fell onto the head board of his bed, right on the edge. He was hysterical. It was towards the early evening so Andrew took him to the ER for examination (our doctor's office was closed by then). And the ER doctor decided to give him stitches since it would leave less of a scar (would've healed fine without stitches too but the scar might be more visible).

They were at the ER for 5 hours. Serena & I went there at 9pm to bring them dinner because they couldn't leave in case they were called. Two hours later, he was called in. This began Andrew's hardest task to-date as a parent. He basically had to hold Devin down (after he was wrapped in a large sheet to prevent him from thrashing about). It broke Andrew's heart. What broke my heart was when they came home, Devin simply had no words for me when I asked if he was ok. He gave me a look & just fell into my arms & weep silently. It was midnight. He was spent. I wish I could undo everything that happened to him that night. But he bounced back pretty quickly the next day. He was happy again & daddy told him he was the bravest son in the world. And Andrew got him a trophy to prove it.

Five days later, the stitches came off. It was almost as horrible an experience as when he was getting the stitches. Again, Andrew restraining him...the doctor had to use a scalpel to remove 2 of the stitches because it was so tightly sutured. Andrew just prayed for the doctor to have steady hands with the scalpel so close to Devin's eye. Thankfully, everything went well.

Devin, tired & spent, for the second time in a week, got his stitches removed.

On a side note, since Devin was receiving so much attention from us, the first day or two, Serena would point to her eyelid and say, "boo boo" and begins to fake cry (and she does that very well).

Oh boy, I think we have two comedians on our hands.

April Happenings...

Legends of Aerospace at the Intrepid

Ok-this happened in March but I didn't get a chance to post it & way too exciting(to our family) not to mention it. As we all know, Devin is a HUGE fan of NASA/space shuttles & rockets, planes & jets, etc. So when I found out Neil Armstrong (along with other great legends) was going to be at the Intrepid, we jumped at the chance to go since Mr. Armstrong doesn't make a lot of public appearances. We went despite NYC was enveloped in a torrential rain storm. As it turned out, the guests couldn't get to NY because of the rain. So the event was moved to the following day which we went back. However, Mr. Armstrong didn't talk about his moon landing experience at all. Slight bit disappointing and meanwhile, Devin turned to me and asked, "Where is Buzz Aldrin? Is he gonna come?"

L to R: David Hartman (moderator-retired USAF officer), Neil Armstrong, Steve Ritchie (the last AF Pilot ACE-meaning have shot down 5 or more enemy jets during aerial combat) & Bob Gilliland (SR-71 Blackbird chief test pilot). Scheduled to show but missing due to date changed: Gene Cernan (last man to step on the moon) & Jim Lovell (Commander of Apollo 13 which Tom Hanks portrayed in the movie).

Grainy picture of Neil Armstrong & Steve Ritchie: I couldn't get close...

Now the followings REALLY happened in April:

Andrew gave himself a day off and we went to the CP zoo...

then to FAO (Serena's first time, not counting in utero)

At the Hall of Science, trying to build a molecular structure...

At cousin AJ's birthday bash-what a fun party. It was a "mobile gaming" party. A van pulls up with video games (wii) set up inside, seats 12 kids. And a rock band video game up which was a huge hit with Devin & Serena.

Serena playing the drums while cousin Elizabeth singing, "You belong with meeeeeeeeeeee..."

Devin's turn to sing & Elizabeth playing the drums.

Devin playing the guitar with mommy's help...Uncle Mike looking a bit perplexed in the foreground.

Another day at the zoo, this time in the Bronx. Serena loved the bug carousel, she rode it twice!

At the zoo's butterfly garden, Devin pretending to be one of his favorite character.

And yes, we celebrated Easter but took pictures with our camera phones. Someday, I will consolidate all our photos...someday.

More Birthday Pictures!

Almost forgot to post my "famous" birthday pictures! Enjoy!

Happy Birthday Devin!

Devin is 5! How time flies. He was so excited for his birthday, he was making plans & letting us know what he wanted to do. He told us he wanted to have a pizza birthday party at his school with all his school friends. Then go to Chuck E. Cheese at night. And that's exactly what we did and we even made a pit stop at Toys R Us!

Opening his birthday presents at the crack of dawn with Serena looking on!

In Devin's classroom: a birthday board!

Devin's date is under the dog, on the left side, 2nd row.

Getting ready to blow out the candles-I thought I placed 5 candles on his cupcake but it baffles me that it looked like there were only 3 in the picture!

Picture with Daddy.

Serena fits herself right in. Seriously, she walked in and sat herself down. She took someone else's seat & the teacher was kind enough to let her stayed there & moved the other kid some where else.

Devin's classroom. The 2 aides standing were brought in as extra help. (They usually have one teacher & 2 aides).

Devin goofing with his best-friend-of-the-moment: Derek.

Toys R Us: Birthday crown & balloon.

The big rat aka Chuck-Serena was mesmerized but Devin was more interested in his prize.

Catching up! (Updated with Photos Finally!)

OK-I've been MIA for the last month with this blog. What happened-I have no idea. February kinda just came & went. I have pictures but was just procrastinating with posting. Then when I did have time, I couldn't find the camera cable to download the pictures. Devin likes to use that cable as a "leash". He would hold onto one end & have Serena hold onto the other end and "walk" her around (like a puppy). Serena would happily obliged since Devin actually engaged her in his play. Anyway, back to the camera cable: I'm usually pretty good about taking the cable back from Devin after they're done playing. But this last time (almost 2 weeks ago), I couldn't find it. Devin has no idea where he left it. So, I'm hoping I'll find it one of these days. Some of the pictures I took with my camera phone, I have posted them on my facebook page. When I do find the cable, I'll update this post with pictures from the camera. Stay tuned.

Wearing Daddy's shoes!

Devin's turn wearing Daddy's shoes.

Kids' Day at the Intrepid Museum.

At the Intrepid Museum-one of Devin's favorite places.

Devin & I signed the petition below! (somewhere in there)

Happy New Year!

This is officially the first posting for 2010. After the nice, long Christmas/New Year break, Devin had to get back into the swing of things...doing homework 4 days a week. Albeit the homework are no more than 10 minutes, he is not a big fan. On the other hand, Serena likes to sit down & "do homework" along side with Devin. Go figure!

Devin doing homework.

Serena "doing homework". Notice I give her a similar type of homework as Devin.

For Christmas, we gave Devin these "grow" in the water toys. I didn't think the size would be much different but check these before & after photo.

This the sting ray at its original size:

One week later...and you can leave it in the water for weeks and it would keep growing. It kinda creep me out so I had it taken out. Then it went back to its original size in a couple of days.