Dan visited the allergist yesterday and unfortunately the result is not so good. He needs to avoid peanut, milk, egg, sesame and shell fish. His mom who is still nursing him needs to avoid those as well. Poor babes.

Dao went to the clinic last Friday and he’s still highly allergic to peanut and cashew. Speaking of Dao, he said some funny things today. When he was done eating, he said, “Đạo xong ăn.” He literally translated from English to Vietnamese.

The last few nights, he prefers one-piece pajama. The only problem is that when he needs to poop he has to unzip the entire suite. Last night when he needed to go, he called me, “Daddy, I need to go poo-poo. The poops wake up.” Really, the poops wake up?

Seeing his mom coming home from work, Dao opened the door and greeted, “Hello mommy! I miss you very much.” He went on, “Do you have something special for me?”

As we walked to our car yesterday from the daycare another Asian kid, probably a bit younger than Dao, was screaming while walking with his mom. I asked Dao, “Why is he screaming?” He replied, “Because he’s not listening. Bạn hông có ngoan.”

At dinner time last night, Dan fell and hit the chair. he had a deep cut in his upper eye right above his upper eyelid like he has a blepharoplasty. We knew that he was alright when he took toys from Dao and ran toward me. It’s always painful to see your kids getting hurt. The playground accident with Dao still haunts me. The good thing is that Dao’s head is very hard. My mother compares his head to a coconut.

I know I always whine about how hard it is to have kids, but they do changed my life. I am thankful everyday to see them play and grow.

I started blogging in 2004 to improve my English and it has turned into my longest hobby yet. Somehow the ability to write anything and publish immediately have been so gratifying to me. I spent an incredible amount of time, energy and gut feelings on this blog. For nine years, I always feel the urge to write about subjects that I am passionate about. Lately they have been mostly about my kids.

While many have moved to social networks like Facebook and Twitter, I still prefer having my own blog. At the end of the day, the blog is more of what I am identified with. I have complete control of every aspect of the site and every design decision. I probably feel different if I am not a web designer, but this is my territory.

Late last year a friend and a reader asked me why I disbanded the comment section and I gave him several reasons:

1. Spams were simply a pain to deal with.
2. I constantly got suck into checking for new comments.
3. I always felt obligated to response to comments, especially the negative ones.
4. Comment trolls were also pain to deal with.
5. Conversations had moved to social networks.

Without the comment section my traffic has dropped tremendously, but then it also allow me to be more focused. Initially, I was just going to shut down the comment section for a month to see how things went and it turned well so I haven’t turned it back on.

So yes I’ll continue to blog or find time to blog as long as I still maintain this site.

An album like Snakeoil from altoist and composer Tim Berne makes the modern jazz scene so damn intriguing. It’s inventive, unconventional and hauntingly hypnotizing. With the superb, engaging support of Matt Mitchell on piano, Oscar Noriega on clarinets and Ches Smith on drums, Tim Berne unveils the dissonant beauty in thought-provoking lyricism and angular melodic interaction. From the opening “Simple City” to closing “Spectacle,” this terrific set encourages closed attention for a rewarding listening experience.

In her debut, Our Version of Events, Emeli Sandé channels her soul into pop ballads with her clear, strong, pitch-perfect voice. Standout moments are when she effortlessly maneuvers her way around various breakbeats. “Heaven” brings back that good old, drum ’n’ bass vibe and “Maybe” sports a thumbing, electric backdrop that lets her tells straightforward story: “When we first moved in together / Couldn’t keep hands off each other / Now we’re lying back to back / And silence in the black.”

Carrying on the Coltrane’s legacy is a daunting responsibility. Yet Ravi Coltrane, the second son of John Coltrane, has proven that he has what it takes to do so on Spirit Fiction, his impressive Blue Note debut. Whether offering his own post-bop originals or reinterpreting Ornette Coleman’s “Check Out Time” or Paul Motian’s “Fantasm,” Ravi defines his artistic statement through clear, delicate and confident improvisations. From “Roads Cross” to “Cross Roads,” Ravi’s demonstrates the clever concept of interaction between tempo and pulse. The two bands, with pianist Geri in one and Luis Perdomo in the other, helped pushing Ravi into stepping up his game.

I am no scientist nor psychologist, but being a father who witnesses his kids grow everyday allows me to conclude that kids are born with personality. What do I mean by that? Let’s get back to the beginning.

When my wife and I were married, we knew we wanted to have kids, but not right away. We want to enjoy our time before diving into the parent thing. At the same time, we had no obligation not to. Well, Dao didn’t let us wait. He didn’t let us decide when he should be born. He decided to come out on his own term. We were a bit unexpected, but very joyful nevertheless. So now everything he wants to do, he does it on his own. One day he decided to sleep overnight. One day he suddenly decided to walk. No matter how many times we tried to get him off his diaper, one day he just did it on his own. We fought everyday trying to brush his teeth. Now he just does it all by himself. The hardest part about this personality is that he is very hard to control.

With Dan, we had a clearer plan because we knew that we wanted a younger sibling that is close enough for Dao to play with. As a result, Dan is much more cooperative (at least for now). He doesn’t fight back when I brush his teeth. He just bites my finger. He doesn’t refuse food when we feed him. He doesn’t demand much like his older brother, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t a badass. Still I predict that we won’t have as much time with Dan than Dao. Let’s see when he reaches his terrible-two stage.

We finally figured out Dan’s first love. When he was grumpy and sleepy, he wouldn’t take milk, water nor snack. The only thing that would calm him down was Thanh Thao’s Nonstop. As soon as he heard the music, he would not only stop crying, but also go to sleep. Not sure how he found the club beat to be so soothing. He was actually sleeping with his right foot still tapping. Unbelievable.

We went to the mall today and grandma told us to swing by my sister-in-law’s house for dinner. Her house is about 10 minutes from the mall. I put on the album a bit loud to jam on our way over. By the time we arrived, he was also knocked out. So I stayed in the car catching up my reading while he was sleeping.

When we first arrived to the mall, Dao took a nap so I waited in the car and read. Before that we went to the grocery and Dan was sleeping. So I stayed in the car and read. It’s always a good idea to bring a book along when traveling with kids. It’s a waste of gas to keep the car running, but it’s definitely worth it.

Mấy bữa nay khao khác thèm đọc sánh. Sáng thì phải trông hai thằng nhỏ. Tối khi nó đi ngủ thì tôi cũng mệt mỏi. Cầm quyển sách Mastering Type mà mắt mở không lên. Những tháng ngày tự do thong thả đã qua.

After being forced to brush his teeth, Dao complained: “Daddy, I don’t like that. You’re not nice. You’re not listening. That’s why I am not your best friend. You will be alone… all yourself.” Wow, five sentences at once. I was a bit shocked, but then realized that if he fails at whatever he pursues in his career, he could always make a decent living at the fish market.

As we walked upstairs to go to bed, he slammed the safety gate and woke up Dan. I ordered him to go into his room and I went into Dan’s room to sooth him back to sleep. Then I heard him cried in the other room shouting, “I want my mommy. I want my best friend.” He ran out to the gate and creamed, “Mommy, please come up here with me.” He didn’t hear any response so he peaked into our room. I felt bad so I told him to come and join us. He ran in, lied next to me and said, “Daddy, I lost my best friend.” All I could do was holding him tight and said, “Your best friend will be up soon.” This little guy is a heartbreaker.