You’ve got mail. From your sweet new toddler teacher, Ms. Ester:

Hello.

Just wanted to know how Dao is doing.
We missed him very much during the day, he is really adorable
Hope he gets better soon.
Send him my love
Have a great evening
Ester

What were you doing yesterday? You had a bit of breakfast at Panera Bread and then you and mom took me to work. After that you spent the beautiful day with mommy roaming free around the Monument. I joined you for lunch before you headed home and slept in the car. Mom and you came back to pick me up so I didn’t have to be jammed into the train ride.

Isn’t it great to hang out with mommy all day? But then again, you get to learn and interact with others while you’re at school. You’re very popular at the school and everyone knows that you scream the loudest in the morning for about five minutes, but the become one of the sweetest boys for the rest of the day who wave, dance and blow kisses to everyone. Thanks for being such a awesome kid.

You got sent home on your second day in the toddler class. Your teacher called me and said you had diarrhea. I came to pick you up. I peaked inside the little glass window on the door and saw you we were playing by yourself. You caught me and immediately dropped everything and rushed to the door. What a great feeling that was.

You slept in the car when we were home so I had to carry you and the car seat inside the house. Your mom and I logged back to work while you were sleeping. I got some work done before you got up. You continued to play around the house while we were working. For being such a good boy, we took you out to the playground and had a fun, relaxing evening. One lady said that you have a face that could be kiss all day. I agreed all the way. Not just all day but all night too. I love kissing those soft cheeks of yours.

After the playground, we took home some Pho and you enjoyed it. You went straight to bed at 8:30. The play time must have worn you out. I don’t think you had diarrhea. We fed you milk, cereal and yogurt in the morning and the combination might have caused the liquidity. In any rate, you’ll get to spend the whole day with mom tomorrow. Lucky boy!

You sure know how to put on a scene if things don’t go your way. When you were about six months, you tried to bang your head on the floor when we don’t give you what you want. As a protective parent, I couldn’t let you do that to yourself. I stopped you and tried to calm you down. In return you took it for granted. One time I just let you bang your forehead on the hardwood floor and you immediately realized that your head is not as solid as the floor. You learned your lesson and stopped using that trick.

Lately you had found a new one. If you don’t like something, you would slide on the floor and kick your feet. You don’t just slide on any floor though. You run to the rug or carpet to do it. You figured it would be less painful to do it on something soft. We just got a kick of of you whenever you try to pull that off. It’s quite hilarious. We just laughed and you laughed back and forgot the whole misbehavior attitude. You’re quite a character, son.

Watching you eat Canh Kho Hoa (bitter gourd soup) today was quite a pleasure. Your aunt can’t take the bitterness of it, yet you just scoop it up and slurp it down. Now that is my boy. You also begin to be interested in books. You like me to read Dr. Seuss to you. Your current favorite book is Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb. You like it when I make the “ditty dum dum” sound. You also have a great sense of rhythm and you could dance to any beat including Le Quyen’s version of “Han Mac Tu” and Thanh Ha’s version of “Tinh La Soi To.”

Everyday you came home from daycare, you got food all over your clothes and even some stain on your face too. Seeing you holding the spoon feeding yourself, I could imagine how it all happened.

You’re showing your independence by not letting us spoon feed you anymore. You rather do it yourself even though most of the food makes on instead of inside your belly. Watching you focusing on getting the food from the bowl to your mouth is a real joy. You scoop up a little at a time and sometimes nothing in your spoon at all. With frustration, you just dump the bowl onto your face like you did today with Bun Bo Hue. It was also hilarious they way you torn up the pig thigh after watching me struggling with it myself.

In addition of feeding yourself, you also like to brush your teeth all by yourself. You got mad when I tried to help you out. I am liking the independent attitude of yours. Keep that up, son. Keep being independent. Keep smiling. Keep blow kisses. Keep weaving. Keep walking freely and explore anything that you find intriguing. Seeing you grow and enjoying your life are all that I could ever ask for from a father.

Grandparents will arrive later today to stay with you for a week. Mom was in the kitchen making bun bo hue and I was cleaning up the house. You chose to hang around me. My guess was that you were intrigued by the vacuum. For whatever reason, thanks for keeping me companied. You sure are a fast learner. You already figured out where the power button after watching me turned it on once. You pressed the button and ran toward me. I guess the sound was not that pleasant.

Spending time cleaning up the house with you reminded me of my father. When I was a kid, my dad was not around often. He would only come home about a couple days a month; therefore, all the time we spent together I could remember clearly. One time he was home before Lunar New Year so he was cleaning up the house and I was also hanging around him. He was sweeping and singing to me a song that I could only remember a few lines, “Co loi khong nhan loi la hen / co loi ma nhan loi la ngoan.” Basically what the song trying to tell you is that if you do something wrong and you don’t admit it then you’re a coward. But if you could admit it than you’re good. He told me to repeat the song. So I did, but I changed the words a bit: “Co loi khong nhan loi la khon / Co loi ma nhan loi la ngu” (If you do something wrong and you don’t admitted then you’re smart / If you do something wrong, but you admitted than you’re a fool.”

Obviously my dad was furious. I could still remember the reaction on his face. He almost whipped my ass, but it was closed to New Year so he let me off the hook. I could see the little naughty in you just like me. Like father like son.

Today is your last day being a baby bear. You’ll be off tomorrow and get to stay with grandparents for an entire week before join the growing giraffes. Snapshots of you were posted on the front door this morning and you weren’t crying when I dropped you off. This is a good sign and I hope that you’ll enjoy your new class and get to meet new friends.

Yesterday your teacher took our family photo (mommy, me and you) off the bulletin board in your class. The reason was that every time you looked at that photo you started to cry. What made you cry my dear? Did you miss us or something? We miss you just as much my dear and we always think of you when we’re not around you.

What puzzled me though was that last week you teacher told us that you proudly showed off the same photo of our family to other parents every time they come to pick up their kids. That was really sweet of you. I really love that photo because you worn a really cute red Vietnamese traditional ao dai aunty Tram made for you.

Speaking of photos, we took some pictures of you showing off your bad-ass haircut. Mommy thought you look like a punk and had lost your cuteness so she made me chopped it off. I like your bald cut too and she’s right you look very cute that way. Thank you for letting me play with your hair. Baby Miles is one of my favorite photos of you. You looked beyond cool. I made a big print last night. I hope that it will turn out right so I can frame it and post it on our wall.

Sixteen months, you’re at the age of learning and discovering. You learn to do things by watching us, like you know that before you brush your teeth, you have to water the toothbrush and put on the toothpaste. You also learn to be very passionate. I showed you how to kiss once and you picked it up. If I ask you to give me a kiss, you would put your lips on mine, then you turn to mommy and give her one as well. You also know how to blow a kiss when I blow one at you.

When I take you out, you would wave to anyone you see. You gave people a cute smile when they waved back at you. You look at bit disappointed when you waved at people and they don’t wave back at you, not because they are ignoring you, but they simply just don’t see you. Life will be like that when you grow older. You don’t always get what you want, but don’t let that get you down my dear. Things don’t always go your way, but don’t give up.

Keep on head up and keep your hands high. Be kind and be friendly. Keep your spirit up and you’ll live a much happier life. You’re a very charming boy and we’re very proud of you.

I dropped you off at daycare this morning. Not only you weren’t crying, but you were also smiling. It must be the new haircut I gave you last Friday and the teachers complimented you on it. I didn’t cut your hair really short this time, but gave you a spike on top. Your mom thought it makes you look kind of a badass and she wants to go back to the cute cut. I am still debating about it.

Last Friday, you made me proud. You almost stopped crying when I dropped you off at daycare. When I handed you over to Ms. Meaghan, you scream out twice. She teased you saying that you cried simply because that’s the thing you do in your daily routine. I hope you enjoy your time there.

Ms. Meaghan also told me that you were dancing, clapping and enjoying yourself at the pep rally during school. I could just see in my mind the delightful spirit of yours. I hope you will keep that wonderful joy for the rest of your live. Keep up your lively spirit and be yourself.

You might be small (according to a stranger who complimented that you’re the smallest walking person she had ever seen), but you’re doing really well. I love the way you just wondering around the mall and trying to touch everything you’re curious about. When you grow older, you’ll probably will run into those comments. So be yourself and don’t let anything get into your head.

I don’t have too much experience with kids since you’re my first; therefore, I just go along with what my instinct tells me. I am so happy that you’re actually making my life easier by being curious and willing to try anything. I try to give you any food that you might enjoy and you response by tasting it. Most of the time, you’ll like it. It’s food to try different flavors, my son. You’ll appreciate the richness of food when you get older so continue to to be adventurous.

I apology if I make you listen too much of Miles Davis. I hope you enjoy listening to him as much as I do since you don’t seem to complain. Sometimes you uttered the words mimicking the trumpet lines as if you could pick up Miles’s playing. At time you hold the bottle of milk in your hands like you’re holding a horn. How cool is that?

Well son, it’s one in the morning so I better catch some sleep. I will write more for you next time. Love you more and more each day.