Another belated blog entry: on February 25, Tobin and Bruno took little Sasha to the Brooklyn Children’s Museum for a day chock-full of exploration, running, and food. The colorful facade is always a great place for a lineup. The kids tired themselves out to capacity, but on the ride back only Sasha took a real nap…

Sung took the kids to Baltimore for a few days over Mid-Winter Break* to see their grandparents … and great-grandmother. They don’t even know how lucky they are to have great-grandmothers on both sides of the family, but most importantly, everybody had a fantastic time. Mika especially loved getting to know the dog a little better…

* Feb 20-22

The world of a four-year-old can change literally overnight: Tobin went to bed in good spirits, but developed a 103°F fever overnight, along with a pesky cough. Probably a more severe version of the (no fever) pesky cough Mika and i had recently. Hopefully, he will transition to having a plain old “bad cold” tomorrow … fever went down at the end of the day already, which is a good sign.

Last weekend, Tobin learned to ride … but not how to start on his own or stop safely (he was still dragging both feet on the ground to slow down). This weekend, we set out for his next lesson: starting with one leg on the ground/one leg on the upper pedal – and stopping with a kick back. Starting didn’t take him long to figure out, but he was afraid to kick back hard enough to stop. When i told him that he could make cool skid marks like Mika, he overcame his fears and went for it. Now he can start and stop anywhere, anytime.

On my birthday, two milestones happened: Mika lost another, particularly stubborn tooth, and Tobin learned how to ride his bike. For good. Totally made my day!

Mika made origami heart necklaces for her Valentines’ gifts this year. Her teacher, who is currently pregnant, got a big heart with a little one tucked into the folds for “baby”. This was the first year she did all of it by herself – planning and execution. Tobin had fun melting pink and red chocolate, and making marbled chocolate hearts for his friends at school. Of course, there had to be thorough quality checks before any treats left the house…

We returned to BAMkids Film Festival for our third season. This year, we had a German/Austrian all-girl outing with Mika, Luna, Lily, and the moms. Fun movies, free balloons, and fresh burgers for lunch. Tobin and Sung went to see a different shorts lineup during Mika’s swim class (not pictured).

Dickkopf (Big Head) was one of my all time favorite stuffed animals growing up. He was a gift from my grandmother, and i still remember how he arrived: in a shipping tube, only white paws visible after i popped open the lid. When i pulled the paws, long blue arms extended … for a while … until his big head emerged with an audible “plop”. We were inseparable for a few years, and he earned his spot in the exclusive club of retired (but not discarded) childhood toys at my parents’ house. Last spring, i decided to move him to New York and Mika instantly fell in love with him. She is convinced that he keeps her nightmares away, and has kept him in her bed ever since. Unfortunately, his material is a few decades old and the main body section started to fall apart beyond repair. Mood to the rescue, i was able to find a fabric that closely matched his original pattern, and sewed him a brand new midsection. He hasn’t looked this young in a while…

Dear Halmoni,
We wish you a very happy Birthday and lots of love, good health, and prosperity for the next year. Have a great day and talk to you on the phone!

xoxo
Mika, Ninja, Tobin, and Sung

After swimming, we happened to come across a get-together of OMG NYC (Origami Meetup Group NYC) in a local bagel store/cafe. Mika, who is very much into origami, was fascinated by all the busy hands and beautiful paper sculptures covering the tables. Particularly, a little dragon had caught her eye. She summoned all of her courage and asked the leader of the group, Talo, to teach her how to fold this dragon. He generously showed her, step-by-step, using double-sized paper for easier handling. This is by far the most complicated figure she has done … and she got to keep the little master dragon as well.

Two new milestones in Mika’s swim lesson: the first time she swam freestyle, and the first time she swam a whole lane. Both with flippers, bot no flotation aids.

Tobin started building his own action figures with Lego. Today’s creation: a folding airplane that can double in length!