Saturday, we treated my sister-in-law and her husband to Korshi for dinner for helping us with the vegetable garden in the backyard. After a whole day of digging, shoveling, tilling, soiling and manuring, we needed a big dinner; therefore, a sushi and Korean BBQ buffet seemed like a good choice.

The only problem was that kid and buffet didn’t go well together. The table behind us was smart. They brought their kid a portable DVD player so the kid was watching “Tom & Jerry” while the parents enjoyed snow crab legs.

At our table, Dao refused to sit on a high chair. He just wanted to sit on his mama’s lap. I went to get the food for them. They couldn’t finished the plate so I had to finished the cold food; therefore, I couldn’t tell if the play was good or bad. About half an hour into the meal, he was already bored out of his mind. I gave him my iPod Touch so he could be occupied like the kid behind us, but there was no Internet connection. The restaurant wouldn’t let us use its network.

So the dining experience didn’t turn out so well at all for $30 a head. Oh well.

On Sunday, we were finally made it to National Zoo. Dao could pointed out most of the animals he knew. We spent about two hours before Dao decided to push his stroller. He did for about half an hour until his energy ran out. He fell asleep so we took him to Costco and then home.

The weekend went by so fast. Now we’re back to our regular weekday schedule.

Dao’s new word: “too.”
“Me an keo, too.”
“Ba cat co, too.”
“Dao rua tay, too.”
“Dao an pho, too.”

Despite our morning and night wrestlings trying to brush his teeth, Dao ended up with eight cavities. The dentist knew that working Dao’s teeth while he’s awaked wasn’t go to fly; therefore, he tried to sedate him. After half an hour of taking the medication, which cost $300, Dao didn’t fall asleep yet, but he determined to worked on him any way. The dentist’s assistant took him right out of my arms while Dao was still holding on to his train. They didn’t let us in.

About forty five minutes later, the dentist came out and gave us the story of how the filling went down. He needed two assistants to hold him down because Dao still didn’t fall asleep. He bit his on his lip once and bit on the dentist’s tool as well. The dentist said, “Wow, he is a strong boy.” I told him, “You only have to deal with him once. I deal with him twice a day.” I came in to pick him up. He was all sweaty and his face was all red, but he was still holding on to his train.

The receptionist told me that after our insurance coverage, we’ll be responsible for about $800. That’s $1,100 for one visit, ouch! Took him home and he has been sleeping for almost five hours already. I am getting work done, but poor lil fellow haven’t eaten anything all day.

I wish I had written down all the things Dao has said. Sometimes he sounds so hilarious. Here is a list of things I could recall:

• “Daddy, bowling nga roi [fall down].”
• “Daddy giup [help] Dao dung [set up] bowling.”
• “Daddy choi voi [play with] Dao please.”
• “Daddy dat [take] Dao di vong vong [go around].”
• “Daddy, di cat co [mow the lawn].”
• “Daddy, doc sach cho [read for] Dao.”
• “Daddy, Thomas go in the tunnel.”
• “Daddy, thay bin [change battery] Thomas.”
• “Daddy, Thomas bi xuoc” [Say what? He must have learned that word from grandparents. I am not even sure how to translate that into English].

I almost forget what today is until we headed to Pho 75 this morning. The joint was closed to commemorate April 30 (the fall of Saigon). We drove to Eden around 10:30am and they were setting up the stage for the event titled “Ky Niem Quoc Han.” We had some noodle soup and headed to Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum.

The museum is located in Baltimore so it took us an hour to get there. The good thing was that Dao fell asleep for 45 minutes. When we arrived, he woke up and fully charged. We wanted to take him on the “Day Out With Thomas” ride, but the tickets sold out weeks ago. Even though we didn’t get to ride the train, Dao had a fantastic time at the table train with older kids and enjoyed the beautiful weather outside.

We took him out to the station so he could see the big Thomas Train. As Thomas departed he wanted to be on the train as well. He cried when I held him back and tried to tell him that Thomas would come back. A few minutes later he calmed down and told me, “Thomas di roi. Dao khoc” (Thomas already left. Dao cries). He sounded as if a girl just broke his heart.

Four hours later, we headed back home, but with some extra time, we headed to Costco. He felt asleep again from Costco to our house, but woke up when got home and changed him. He remembered that I promised him that we would mow the lawn when we get home so he was all excited. We spent an hour and a half to mow the lawn. I used to hate doing this this, but with him next to me, I didn’t mind at all. Love spending time with him and Dana.

We’re planning on taking him to the National Zoo tomorrow. I am sure, he’ll love seeing the animals. At the age, he has many curiosity and so we’ll let him expose and try out new things. The other day, he tried snail and kept asking for more.

I was up late last night finishing up laundry so we can spend the weekend out. While waiting for the clothes to dry to put in another load, I spent time on Facebook rather than reading an exciting book on Miles Davis Quintet. I wasted two hours checking people I knew from high school. Some became doctors; some guys went back to Vietnam to married and some are still playing with cocks. Cockfighting never seems old to some people.

I went to bed around 12:30, which was about 15 minutes later than usual. I got up early this morning and got ready for work. Today Dao has doctor’s appointment for two years check up so I didn’t have to wake him up and brush his teeth. After getting all dressed up, I went back into bed saw him and his mom all cuddling up together. He loves to sleep in Dana’s arm. He took over my favorite spot. Dana needed a bathroom break so I lay down next to him. He got up but his eyes still closed so I quickly grabbed him and pulled him into my chest with his cheek rested next to my cheek. What a soft, smooth cheek on his face. He felt back into sleep and I just held on him tight. The weather was a bit chilly today and he felt so warm. I closed my eyes and enjoyed half an hour that I will never forget.

For some odd reasons, he always gets up early and jumps all over us when the weekend comes. Let’s hope that he won’t up early tomorrow and Sunday so we could have more cuddle time like that. Priceless.

By the way, here’s a video of Dao playing Chuggington Bowling. Pretty creative idea, huh?

You turn two today my boy. What a wonderful joy seeing you being thrilled. Love the look on your face when we sang the birthday song for you and your eagerness to blow out the candle on the beautiful Thomas Train cake Bac Tram made for you. Love the excitement you displayed when you opened up the presents. Love to see you interacted with other kids and participated in egg-hunting activity and painting. Love to see you ran on spare battery until 6pm without an afternoon nap.

Son, it’s still unreal that you are two. Seeing you progress has been one of the greatest joys of being a dad. When folks asked me what do I do for fun and I would tell them “raising my son.” At first, it is just an excuse to hide the boring side of me, but being with you makes my life exciting. You’re my aspiration. Before you came into my life, I thought that being a parent is all about taking care of his kid, but you have proved me wrong. You have been there for me when I need you the most. I feel rejuvenated just being with you. The smile on your face always brights up my day. You’re the little pillow I hug on to at night. You’re the little fellow that could magically lift me up whenever I felt down.

Thank you for everything you have given me so far. I can’t wait to see what you’ll have next for me in the years to come. Happy birthday, dear Dao. I love you.

In her latest post, “Kids Want to be Heard!,” Jen Karin writes:

And so, I learned valuable parenting lesson #2,362,580: kids just want to be heard. In fact, they are dying to be heard. In fact, shut up and let them talk, already!

Reading her blog reminds me of my own almost-two-year-old boy who wants to be heard. At night he would choose the same book, Hooper Humperdink…? Not Him, but he wants to read to me instead. The first time I tried to read to him, he cut me off. Dao is not yet interested in the text. He’s more into the illustrations, but with his own interpretation. For instance, when he points to the house, he would say, “Nha Bac Tram” (Aunty Tram’s house). When he points to the bridge, he would say, “cau… i” (bridge… taking a dump). You have to be Vietnamese to get that joke. He learned that from me. What they say is true. You tell the kids once, they remember forever. When he points to the airplane with people inside at the dinning table, he would say, “bay bay (airplane)… eat your food.”

I can’t hardly wait until he becomes an independent reader to find out what stories he would tell me. That day will come pretty soon. He’s turning two in just three days. I can’t believe it’s two years already. If time goes by this fast, being parent isn’t so bad at all. In another sixteen years, I could probably head back to the club and get my groove on again.

Last Thursday we took our boy to ER when his temperature skyrocketed to 105.6F. After about half an hour waiting (pretty short for an ER patient), a strong, African-American nurse took us in. The first she did was giving him acetaminophen and ibuprofen.

As we tried to get him to cooperate, she knew that we were new parents. She showed Dana how to hold him down by placing one of his arm under hers so she can squeeze the medication into his mouth. Dao knows how to make himself throw up when he doesn’t want to take something, so the trick was to point the syringe to one side of his mouth near his cheek.

After the nurse gave him the medication, she told us that she has two boys and it is perfectly ok to force him to take the medication. Babies are stronger than we think so using a bit of strength is ok. She stressed the important of giving him medication in order to prevent him from getting seizure.

At times I felt horrible for holding him down, locking his feet with my leg and stick a toothbrush into his mouth to brush his teeth, something he really hates. Even though he likes to do it himself, he doesn’t know how to do it correctly yet, but he wouldn’t let us help him. So every time I brushed his teeth, it looked as if we were wrestling. He would scream his lung out, but when I finished and let him go, he would get up and complimented himself, “Dao gioi” (Dao’s good). I don’t know about that, but it’s kind of hilarious.

So now I don’t feel so bad anymore after what the nurse has told me. As long as I am doing good things for him, a little force is perfectly fine. The funny thing was yesterday he figured out how to get his arm around Dana’s arm and tried to yank the syringe away as I pumped medication into his mouth.

One of the good things about Dao is that he thinks before he speaks. I have to learn that from him as well. For instance when he hit his head against the door, he paused a little, said “dau dau” (head hurts), and then let out a big scream. So when he pointed at something, he would pause for a second to find the word before he would say it. So what I have been doing is that if I could sense that he was about to say something in English, I would cut him off first in Vietnamese. So let say that he was pointing to the keys and before he could say the word, I would cut in and say “chia khoa.” So he would begins with “k…” for keys, but quickly switch to “chia khoa.”

I do that with the words that he already knew in English. The drawback is that he might think it’s ok to cut someone off simply because daddy does it. I remember my grandma used to tell me, “khong co duoc an com hot,” which means “do not scoop the top layer of the rice” or cutting somebody off. Hopefully, I could straighten up his manner later on. I have to say, I really enjoy hearing him speaks Vietnamese. For instance, when he farted, he would say “Dao dich” with the “ch” pronounced at the end.

At 23 months, Dao is very picky about his taste. He would try something in small amount first before he decided to like or dislike. The other day, I let him taste Naked juice through a straw. He took a sip, nodded his head lightly and said, “Nice.” Dana and I were very surprised. How did he come up with that? Naked juice tastes “nice?” He finished a 10-oz bottle after that and Naked juice has become one of his favorite drinks. His compliment now stuck with me. Every time I look at a bottle of Naked juice, “nice” is the first word that comes to mind. If Naked juice were to run this commercial, I am sure it would stuck in viewers’ mind as well.