Car Shopping

Today was Round 1 of car shopping for Anh. The lease on his Wrangler is up in a couple of months, and he's not really sure what he wants to get next. Everything is up in the air. Should he lease again or buy? Should he be practical or go for the luxury? Nothing is decided.

I had to put my car in the shop today for routine maintenance, and as it turns out, that is the perfect excuse for Anh to start shopping for a new vehicle. So, we loaded Baylor into the loaner car and set out to take some test drives. Since it was a school day for Jax, he missed out on the excitement. It's a shame too because he LOVES car dealerships, and today, we went to some good ones. We figured we should start the hunt with a bang and spent the day looking at luxury SUVs.

First stop was Mercedes-Benz. We checked out the showroom options, and decided that while the 2-seater hard-top convertible was beautiful, the room for 7 GL-450 was a more "practical" choice for us. I use the word "practical" very loosely because none of the SUVs we looked at today were really practical thanks to their big sticker prices. BUT, somebody has got to keep this economy going, right? I'm just not sure it should be us!

Baylor seemed to approve of the Mercedes. He was Mr. Chatty as we glided down the interstate and seemed slightly disappointed when we pulled back into the dealership and unloaded him. Truthfully, I was a little disappointed too. I would have been happy to continue driving. It was that nice. We thanked the salesman for his time, but let him know that he was only the 1st stop of our journey.

Next stop, BMW. Again, we were initially drawn to the convertibles. However, after seeing the limited trunk space, we quickly ruled them out. We checked out their new crossover vehicle, the X6. It was nice, but not right for us. The black on black X5 on the showroom floor beckoned for us to take a closer look, but it was the silver on black loaded one outside that really won us over. Baylor and I sat out the test drive, but Anh had only positive things to say when he returned. I think we might have driven off the lot with Anh's new car except we weren't prepared to write the check that surely would have lead to a stroke and/or heart attack after we realized what we had done after getting caught up in the moment.

No, we showed some restraint and moved along to Porsche. Anh was like a kid in a candy store at this stop. We were greeted by the same salesman that Anh spoke with at the Rolex 24 a few months ago. Coincidentally, this dealership's car ended up winning that race and the car was there on display along with a few others that Jax had fallen in love with during the event. I know Jax would have loved to see them again, but truth be told, I'm pretty relieved he wasn't there today. They had quite a few historic models on display, and it would have been tough to keep a car-loving 4-year old away from them.

Much to their disappointment, Anh's and the salesman's attempts to convince me that a 911 Turbo convertible was a practical option for a family with 2 young boys were unsuccessful, but we did decide to consider the Cayenne SUV. It's pretty much a sports car on steroids. Baylor either felt right at home or wanted to make sure that we knew just how much he disliked this option by making a stinky present while checking out the backseat. After a quick diaper change, we were off for a test drive.

I actually think it would have been better for Baylor and me to sit this one out too. The salesman wanted to demonstrate exactly what this vehicle is capable of doing. As soon as we were on the entrance ramp to the interstate, he punched it and from there he didn't touch the brake until it was time to put the car in park to let Anh have a turn. Then, Anh did his best to test my imaginary backseat braking abilities. The car is impressive, but I'm not sure my nerves could handle that sort of experience on a daily basis. It's not the car. It's the driver!

After thanking the salesman for "holding back" because the baby was in the car (his words, not ours), we headed back to Land Rover to pick up my car and test drive the Range Rover. We've actually driven it a before, back when we were debating whether it would be a better choice than the LR3 I ended up buying. Since the salesman said there weren't too many changes in 2009, Baylor and I decided to stay behind and check out the kids' playroom instead. Anh once again only had good things to say when he returned.

So, four test drives later, I'm not sure he's really any closer to making a decision. Next time, we'll explore some nice options that won't cause us to break out in stress-induced hives should we decide to take the plunge and make a purchase. However, something tells me that Anh just won't be as impressed!

Flashing His Pearly Whites

We decided to start the week off right and make a trip to our local "Pinkberry-esque" frozen yogurt shop. Jax shocked me on this visit by choosing a different topping. He ALWAYS chooses brownie bits, but this time went with the mini M&Ms.

During today's visit, we also introduced Baylor to the yummy goodness. As expected, he's now a fan too! In fact, he's such a huge fan, that he would start to squeal in protest if you skipped him in the 1 for me-1 for you rotation. Sometimes he would protest if you were simply savoring your bite too long and not feeding him his fast enough. Seriously!

Then, you should have seen his little face when he realized that Mommy's, Daddy's, and Aunt Nguyen's was all gone. He knew big brother wasn't going to share any of his. So what did Baylor do you might ask? Well, he fussed to be put down. Once on the floor, he strolled over to the next table and proceeded to flirt with the 2 girls enjoying their yogurt. He was actually checking out their bowls and smiling at them, showing off his 1 tooth. It was beyond ridiculous! We could see right through his show and knew what he was after. He even took his spoon over with him! I'd say he's hooked!

Birthday Party - Take 2

Today there was a gang of pirates waiting for Jax at the park. What a relief! I'm not sure Jax would have been able to handle disappointment 2 days in a row. Jax was even more thrilled to be the center of attention thanks to his spiffy pirate attire. Only one of his buddies actually came dressed as a pirate, even the birthday boy, "B", was only wearing a skull & crossbones t-shirt. It's okay though. Jax and his buddy "A" were more than happy to steal the show with their outfits.

The kids spent the majority of the time running around torturing each other with hard plastic swords supplied by B's mom as party favors. More than a few tears were shed by the various little injured pirates. Luckily, no major damage was done. Eventually, the kids discovered their plastic daggers and pistols in the goody bags and moved on to playing with them...less destructive, but with equivalent level of violence. Much better!

Anh socialized with the parents, and discovered after talking to A's parents that the boys have been plotting a get-together for quite some time. Jax has been periodically asking whether A can come over to the house and play, and it turns out that A has been telling his parents that he's going to Jax's house to play and spend the night. Well, A, I think we can easily schedule a play date, but we'd better hold off on the over-nighters for now. Maybe in a few years...maybe. In the meantime, we did agree to have A and Jax join the same sports teams. So there's something for the boys to look forward to.

Sadly, we also discovered that Jax still isn't really playing with "C", the boy that A told Jax not to be friends with. C was there, and Jax did play with him a little, but only when A wasn't around. C's parents shared with us that C doesn't like A because he plays too rough. We have never had that problem with A. He's very nice to Jax, but have witnessed his roughness with other kids. He's not necessarily mean. He just doesn't seem to realize that he's so much bigger/stronger than the other kids. Then again, maybe he is aware because like I said he's never rough with Jax, his best friend. So, Jax is clearly caught in the middle of this triangle. I'm sure they'll find a way to work it out.

As the party wound down, the kids were all hopped on pizza, cake, and candy. Obviously, none were eager to let the good times come to an end. A few "I don't want to leave" tantrums were thrown, but luckily, Jax wasn't one of those kids. We live here so he plays at the park all the time. Plus, he was eager to come home and show off his new toys to little brother, Baylor, who is not under any circumstances allowed to touch his goodies. Ah, I can tell the fun will continue for the next few days, until the novelty wears off. Yippee!

Birthday Party

Jax was invited to a pirate-themed birthday party for his buddy, "B", at our neighborhood's pirate ship playground. The invitations instructed the kids to come dressed in pirate attire. So, we decked him out in his pirate gear and set out to have a jolly ol' time.

BUT, it turns out that we were a bit early...as in a whole day early! I knew something was off as we strolled up to the picnic pavilion that was decorated with Disney Cars balloons. I mean, something tells me that B's mom wouldn't have changed the theme at the last minute like that. When I realized that the playground was packed with toddlers and parents that I didn't recognize from school, I reached into my purse, pulled out the invitation, and sure enough it said the party is Sunday. Nice job, Mommy!

Jax stood there holding his wrapped present staring at the strange group of kids that was staring back at him with "why the heck is that kid dressed up as a pirate" expressions. I knelt down and explained to Jax that Mommy had goofed and the party is actually tomorrow. We would have to go home and come back the next day to meet up with his buddies and play like pirates. Poor Jax was completely confused.

We ended up playing for a while anyway, minus the pirate garb. I guess we'll consider today our practice run for tomorrow, and as proof that I need to invest in a day planner or something to keep our hectic schedule straight in my mind.

A Glimpse Into Jax's Mind

Sometimes Jax says the funniest things. Here are a few examples.

• The other day as I was driving down the street with both boys buckled in the back, Jax blurts out, "You might want to NOT hit those cars." Gee...thanks for the tip!
• Last night as we were heading home, there were 2 motorcyclists riding in front of us. Jax suddenly says, "They better not fall off!" Yeah, that would probably be a bad thing.
• As we were walking into a store the other day, a red pick-up truck with HUGE mud tires drove by, and Jax said, "Ooooooo, we need to buy that truck!" Anh laughed and reminded Jax, "Buddy, I thought you wanted to buy the blue race car that we saw the other day?" Without missing a beat, Jax responded, "Yeah, and we need to buy the green motorcycle too! We'll buy all of them!" Ummmmm...did we win the lottery and nobody told me?
• While waiting on Dr. N in the exam room, Jax was staring off into space. So, I asked him, "What's wrong, Jax?" He snapped back to reality and said, "Nothing. I was just thinking about something." Anh asked, "What?" With a big smile, Jax said, "Monster trucks and race cars." Go figure!

Are you starting to get the picture of what dominates Jax's thoughts?

2 for 1 Check-ups

Technically, it really wasn't 2 for 1 because I had to pay both co-pays, but we did drag both boys in for a check-up today. Jax was over due for his 4-year old appointment, but we were right on time for Baylor's 9 month check-up.

First, everyone's favorite info: the stats. Baylor weighs 24. 5 lbs which means he has maintained his spot in the 97th percentile for weight. However, he ranks slightly higher when it comes to his height. At 31 inches, he's actually off the growth chart, but we'll say that he's in the 100th percentile! Oh, and I can't remember his head circumference, but he was off the charts there, as well. Dr. N concluded that Baylor could thank his father for the big head. I had to agree!

Baylor also showed off his new physical abilities. Dr. N asked us whether Baylor was sitting on his own. In response, Anh put Baylor down on the floor. Baylor fussed as Anh lowered him down, but once he was in contact with the floor, he took off. Dr. N was clearly amazed that Baylor was walking. She asked us, "Would you say he takes about 4 or 5 steps?" We laughed, and I told her, "Oh no. He can walk from one end of the room to the other, at least 25 - 30 feet!" She just looked at us like we were making it up.

Jax is at the other end of the spectrum. He actually lost a pound since his last check-up and now weighs in at 32 lbs. Thankfully, he did gain some inches though because he's now 38 inches tall. The bad news is that for both stats he's somewhere between the 5th and 10th percentile. Dr. N has instructed us to give him 2 Pediasure shakes a day to help boost his growth.

We also discovered that both boys have a ear infections, but you'd never know it by their chipper dispositions. Even Dr. N was shocked by the discovery. She said, "I have never seen such happy children with ear infections." I'm still surprised that Jax never complained, not because he's a complainer, but because he's old enough that I would think that he'd say something. I guess he just decided to suffer through it. Dr. N prescribed antibiotics for both, and even joked that they could almost take the same dosage because there's only a 7-lb weight difference!

The ear infection was the only negative finding for Baylor, but Dr. N was able to once again easily detect Jax's heart murmur. The murmur is something that she first detected during his first appointment with her back when he was only 2 years old. At his 3-year old check-up, she said it was barely audible and dismissed it as a normal childhood murmur that should not be considered serious and would probably disappear all together by the age of 8.

Now that Dr. N can easily hear it again, she has referred us to a pediatric cardiologist who will be able to make a better assessment of whether it's anything to be concerned about. I'll call his office tomorrow to get an appointment, and we'll just have to keep our fingers crossed that it really is nothing.

Jax also received 2 vaccination shots today, and as always, he handled it like a champ...no tears, no drama. Baylor just looked on with a smug little expression that I interpreted as him saying, "See! It's no fun is it?!" With that, we scheduled our follow-up visits for the ear infections and weight check, and we hit the road. Now, we're just crossing our fingers that no one contracted any of the vile illnesses that the folks in the waiting room were clearly contaminated with. Miracles can happen, right?

School Yard Drama

It seems like trouble is brewing on the playground, and Jax is part of the problem. It's not really his fault though. Jax is a good kid. He's polite. He plays well with others, and he's almost always happy unless it's close to bedtime, and he skipped his nap that day. Then, Jax is anything but a delight to be around! I can only assume it is Jax's laid back, fun-loving attitude that makes him so popular. Yes, I said popular, and I am shocked that popularity is already an issue in preschool.

But, it is. Jax is undoubtedly the most popular kid in his class, and this is not necessarily a good thing. Don't get me wrong. I'm thrilled that kids like him, and I pray that the trend continues through grade school and high school. Then, I won't have to worry about him being tortured by some evil school bully because everyone knows that kids can be downright cruel.

So far, Jax has been very lucky. He has 3 "best" guy friends plus 2 "best" girl friends, and they all come running over to greet him when he walks into the classroom each morning. Then, the boys fight over who will sit next him on the rug or at the table. Today, one of his buddies raced over and sat down on one side, and then the other 2 duked it out over the remaining chair. Anh said the smaller of the 2 boys actually got to the chair first, but since the other boy was bigger, the little guy was shoved to the ground and then erupted in tears not because he was hurt, but because he wasn't going to be able to sit by Jax.

After school, Jax told me that the same boy started crying later in the day too. When I asked Jax why, he told me, "He cried because I told him that he wasn't my friend." I was completely confused because I know that Jax actually really likes this boy. We've even had him over to the house to play. I asked Jax, "Buddy, why did you tell ____ that? You like him don't you?" Jax nodded, and then explained that the other friend told him to say that.

I did my best to explain to Jax that he can't let others tell him who to like, that it's okay to have lots of different friends, and that he should just keep playing with everyone like he did before. I honestly can't believe we're already dealing with issues like popularity and bullying. I knew the day would come, but I didn't expect it so soon. It's sad that kids have to deal with things like this at such a young age. Shoot! It's sad that they have to deal with it at all!