Around 3 pm I received a call from Cu Dao’s teacher reporting that he vomited again after taking 5 oz of milk. She also said that his temperature was about 100.4F. I had to come pick him up and he won’t be able to return to class until Thursday.

I took him home and he seemed fine. We had some mango salsa with peach, which is Cu Dao’s favorite snack. We measured his temperature again and it was dropped to 99F. We fed him and sent him off to bed. Tomorrow he’ll spend time at home with grandma.

Around 4pm, Duke’s evening teacher called because he threw up. Dana took him him around 4:30. When I got home from work, he was too busy catching up with grandma that he didn’t even noticed that I was there.

Duke didn’t eat much and refused to take milk while he was at the daycare. He did sleep and enjoyed the ride outside. I dropped him off this morning and he started to cry as soon as I placed him on the floor. The teacher picked him up and tried to sooth him while I was stocking his food and filling out the form. I said goodbye to him and walked out. I could hear him screamed outside the door.

Last night I was so bummed out that I immediately went to catch a nap right after dinner. Dana gave him a bath, fed him and put him to bed. I got back up around ten to do some work and I was very productive.

Dana and I were up past midnight packing things and preparing foods for Cu Dao’s first day away from grandma. The anxiety of sending him off to daycare caused me not to sleep so well. I got up around 6 and went through the checklist one more time to see if we had everything covered. I came back to the room around 7 and Duke was still sleeping. I had to wake him up to get him ready to go. I am responsible for dropping him off and Dana is responsible for picking him up, but we both went since it was his first day. It turned out to be much less frightening than what I had imagine. The teachers seemed to be very nice and caring. He did cried when we left, but we just let him go. I am sure he will be alright.

Update: Duke is still crying. Poor little guy!

In two weeks my boy will turn one. It still feels like yesterday that we welcomed him into this world. Not a single day went by that I don’t look forward to spend time with him. I still can’t get over the fact that the tiny guy in a big car seat (the day we took him home from the hospital) is now can hardly fit in it anymore. I put him back into that old car seat the other day and he made the car seat looks tiny. His feet were sticking out and I could hardly buckled him up. If a year feels like yesterday, 18 years will be a breeze as well. Before I know it, he will be his own man.

In preparing for Duke’s first birthday, we’re trying to gather things for him to pick. I am not sure if it is the Vietnamese tradition, but on the child’s first birthday he gets to choose a bunch of things like stethoscope, mic, comb, scissors and so on. If he picks the stethoscope, he would end up being a doctor. Dana, in particular, would really want Duke to be a doctor. What parents wouldn’t? For me, whatever makes him happy. I will be supportive of him for whatever he choose to do in life.

Dana and I had been debating about this topic on many occasions. Her argument is not to force him to be a doctor, but to encourage him. If he could be a doctor, that’s great. If not, it’s fine. I understand her view completely, but I don’t want to set an expectation for him. I don’t want him to feel disappointed if he can’t make my expectation. I want him to do what he wants to do for himself and not for me. As long as he has the passion and works hard toward his goal, I will be behind him one hundred percent.

Anyway, we’ll see how he will turn out. I can’t predict anything from the future, but I am filled with joy to have him. Here are some of his latest snapshots.

When I got home from work yesterday, the wind was picking up and the sky was about to rain; therefore, I couldn’t take Cu Dao to the playground. I decided to give him a haircut instead. Duke loved the sound of the clipper. He sat still for about fifteen minutes, which as long enough for me to buzz off his thin hair, before he got bored and moved around. He actually looks pretty cute with a bald cut although I didn’t shave all the way this time. Of course, I gave myself a buzz as well. Every time we’re together, the complement I always get is, “he looks just like you, especially his head.” Like father, like son.

I am not looking forward to go home this evening. I hate to disappoint Duke that we can’t go to the playground today because of the rain. The beautiful weather last week allowed us to spend time at the elementary school’s playground a block from our house.

Everyday last week whenever I stepped in the door, Duke expected me to take him to the playground and his corporation was a proof. He would stay still for me to change his diaper and to put on some warm clothes. I let him sat on my shoulder and off we went.

Duke met quite a few friends at the playground. Last Friday, he met a Spanish boy at his age. They sat on the ground and stared at each other. Last Thursday, he met three Vietnamese girls (3, 3.5 and 5 years old). The three year-old girl was so cute and she spoke great Vietnamese. She greeted me, “Con ten la Gina. Con 3 tuoi.” Later she said, “Con o trong bung me con luc con la baby.” I talked to them and did some sliding with Cu Dao on my lap. I really felt like a kid again. When it was almost time to go home, she said, “Ngay mai chu den som hon mot ti. Hom nay chu den tre qua.” Isn’t that just adorable?

Cu Dao is still too little to play at the playground so I had to be with him the whole time. We slide, climbed, and swung together. I enjoyed every precious moment together. It also gave me a moment to breathe and revive after a long working day. When Dana got home from work, she also joined us for a brief moment before we headed home and finished up the night.

Before moving to Cali last year, our friends passed down to us their Playtex Diaper Genie, which still looks new because it has been sitting in their garage the whole time. I left it the shed and didn’t get to use it until last weekend. I decided to give it a try since our master bathroom is getting some odor with Duke’s dirty diapers. I took it out, cleaned it up with disinfecting wipes, but couldn’t get the parts to assemble correctly. If I had to waste half an hour and can’t get the damn thing to work, it’s a design problem. I went online to search for the manual and could only find one for something similar. The instructions were so poorly written that I didn’t get it at all. I gave up and handed over to Dana, the instructional engineer and she couldn’t put the pieces together either. The glass cutter doesn’t seem to sit right with the filter. The product must be so bad that Playtex had discontinued the product and created something else like Diaper Genie II and Diaper Genie Twistaway Pail. Whoever designed this product obviously didn’t think about usability.

The Sassy Seat Doorway Jumper on the other hand is a great product design with progressive enhancement. The Sassy Seat could be adaptable for growth. At four months, Duke bounced and laughed it it every day for 15-30 minutes. Now at 10 months, Dana raised the rope higher and use it at a swing. Everyday I come home from work, I let him swing for 10-20 minutes and he totally loves it. I can see the joy in his face as I pushed him on the swing. He bounces up and down and twirls around in the air and enjoyed every moment of it. We love this jumper and highly recommended it. Thanks Jerry for this wonderful gift.

We took Duke back to the pediatrician today to monitor his weight. Last month he dropped out of the curve on the chart. This morning he weighed 16 pounds and 7 ounces. He gained 8 ounces in a month. The doctor said that he is doing fine as long as he’s growing at his own term.

Cu Dao has been eating well and drinking milk regularly. He loves to try out new food so we give him whatever we feel it is safe for him to eat. We’re also planning on introducing him to whole milk very soon and hope that he’ll like it as much as the smoothie I made for him and myself after dinner.

Last weekend, we signed him up for the third-level Gymboree class. On Saturday, he didn’t come up to other kids nor tried to head-butt them. He was more like observing the whole time. On Sunday, we tried out a music class and he was not engaged at all. He was just in his own world. We hope that he will participate more in the future classes.

Over the weekend, we took Cu Dao to Gymboree classes for a tryout. On Saturday afternoon, we went to a level-2 class, which is for kids from 6 to 10 months. He was doing fine until he puts on his usual move trying to kiss and head butt an eight-month girl. I pulled him away as soon as he attempted to head butt her. He cried and didn’t want to participate in any of the activities. He just clung to his mom the whole time. We managed to calm him down, but he still didn’t want to do much.

Sunday morning, we attended a third-level class, which is for kids from 10 to 16 months. He was the only guy in the class who couldn’t walk yet, but he managed to do fine. He did tried to make his move again, but I jumped ahead and gave him a light head butt instead of pulling him back. He didn’t give me a kiss though. What’s up with that?

Mommy stood out and observed did participate in some of the class activities with daddy and enjoyed the session. Next week, we’ll let him try out the music class before signing up for membership. It was a joyful hour spending with him and other kids his age. I am definitely looking forward to next weekend.

I also managed to snap up some photos of Cu Dao over the weekend. It’s for you, Hoang. Damn, I miss you already after spending a whole night together.

I am excited that Duke will go to our first-choice daycare, which is the Jewish Community Center of Northern Virginia, in the second week of April. It feels as if he has been accepted to Harvard. I’ve been checking on them almost everyday for an available spot. I hope Cu Dao will be happy there with other kids and teachers.

I haven’t been adding new photos of Cu Dao lately. It’s hard to take a good shot of him nowadays. He would rush over as soon as I pull out the camera and start to grab it. Not just the camera, he would dash from the living room to the kitchen as soon as one of us open the dishwasher or the refrigerator. One of his favorite toy is obviously the stereo system. Like a DJ, he switches records from jazz to Vietnamese to hip-hop every three seconds.

A hilarious moment happened Last week when we were driving back to New Jersey for Vietnamese New Year. Duke was sleeping for about two hours to soft music. Suddenly the CD player changed to Thanh Thao’s remixed album. He swung his feet as soon as the bass kicked it while his eyes still closed. I was just rolling and wished I have captured that on film.