Tough time with Piano today

Today QuocNam had a hard time with a Piano lesson, and couldn't thru the first line for a long time. He must be tired. I tried to get him thru with it, but he seems to shutdown and want to go bed. I was so mad and told QuocNam that I'm going to donate the ipad so he won't be able to play and not doing homework or practice piano. QuocNam did cry and told mom to give him breakfast every morning so he can be smart and learn the lesson better... Btw, yesterday we came over to Williams's house for Noel's dinner. When leaving, thang Liem told QuocNam to reveal his secret, but QN didn't tell him so thang Liem got mad. They struggled and little bit and thang Liem got a yell from his dad and he cried too. next morning, he texted Thao and said: he didn't want QuocNam to come to his house, and he won't want to come hear and see QN any more...Thao did say sorry for the misunderstanding but thang Liem still said "no way"...

pijama day For Quoc Nam

Hôm nay Quoc Nam có pijama day at school and he was very excited . Mom was busy So mẹ asked him to pack snack and drink by himself And he did it.

Reach for the stars award

Quocnam got this first award in November.   Teacher said Quocnam is a happy little boy. :-)

November Reach the star award

Congratulations to Quocnam
:-)

One bad scary moment

A couple days after the Pittsburgh trip, QN was going regularly to the bathroom. On Tuesday, QN was inside the bathroom and he locked the door to ddi i. After a while Dad when and checked and heard nothing. Knocked on door and called for QN but heard nothing. It started to get strange. Even grandpa called and no answer. Dad was so concern, so dad took some knight and tried to pry to door open, but couldn't do it. At last everyone so worry and dad called out the last time, if QN don't open the door, dad would call 911 and police to come and break the door...at this time we heard the door openned and QN stood with the unfinished work in the bathroom. He was scared at last. Dad was so angry about his behavior, but ask QN to finish with the bathroom then come out and hear dad talked to him. After asking and explained to QN what might have happened if police come, QN buon va khoc... Next day, when dad when home, mom told me that QN went to the bathroom with wide open door. Mom told him to close it, but don't lock. He did take this lesson seriously. What a scary moment that was !!!

Big achievement over the Pittsburgh trip

One of the big achievement over the trip was that QuocNam was able to i. 4 times in one week stay in Pittsburgh. That was the record. Normally QN hold for one week and he was bo'n when going to the bathroom. Another factor is when going to a different place QN is shy from going. This time, with the help from grandma, co Ut to feed veggies and fruits and also QN started to take Prune juice and that made the big difference. Now mom is happy to hear that. When coming back home, QN is going more regularly now. He was able to go in a day or two of course with regular intake of Prune juice. Hope QN can keep it up !!!

Trip to Pittsburgh for Thanksgiving

Quocnam, daddy, co tu, Vi, co UT, Dustin, chu bang were going to Pittsburgh for   Thanksgiving. This is the first time for Quocnam and he was crying the night before. However dad was able to convince both mom and  Quocnam it  was a good thing to go and they did. We went on Saturday 11/23 and Quocnam had a good time during the whole trip. Mostly Bao an were talking funny the whole trip.
We went to  visit grandpa in the  nursing home the next day and grandpa was happy to see all the  children. The kids were singing to grandpa and mua vo very funny. Baoan was talking alot and in a smart way.   He was fighting with Quocnam for toys and sometimes said Chia xe do choi with anh Quocnam.

Waiting for mom to come home from work

Mom was working late one night, and when she came home QuocNam was still awake at grandpa's room. He ran out and greeted me. with excitement. QuocNam noi me ve som di de Nam nhay ca` tu*ng

Red Sox parade

What QuocNam said on 10/22

Yesterday, when mom picked up QN from school and asked "Nam co i trong quan khg", Nam said many time "xin loi me, Nam i. trong quan", cho Nam ve nha di i. duoc khg? It's so funny according to Mom when he said that one after the other. At night, when mom allowed QN to watch Ninja turtle on the laptop, mom asked that he finished the last episode and then goto bed. Mom felt asleep, and when woke up, she saw QN shutdown and not watching any more show. He lang nghe loi me and made mom happy.

Qn 6 birthday

QuocNam, Williams, and Nathan went to ChuckeChese Sunday, we had cake and a few kids were having fun qn make face of ninja turtle and he thought it was funny and asked mom and dad to laugh with him We then played monster Lego helicopter was delivered ontime Dad, Will, and QN spent the whole afternoon and evening to build the lego and it was a fine finished product. qn really enjoyed it.

On QN 6th birthday 10/9

On Wednesday 10/9, dad sangs the birthday song to qn in Vietnamese and he liked it. He couldn't wait until the weekend to enjoy: riding the train, then go to Chucke Cheeze with friends. QN asked many words and asked to be translated into Vietnamese: Tornado la gi vay, Hurricane la gi vay, Thunderstorm la gi vay, track, garage, truck, bushes, etc. Dad translated them and hope he still remember. I did ask the piano teacher how to play the Happy Birthday song and will try to play it this weekend. I did order a helicopter lego from amazon and ship it up to Quincy. Should be delivered on Saturday.

Funny moments

Hoi Qn ai la Nguyen Thi Ngoc Ngheo, Qn chi me. Ai la Nguyen Thi Ngoc Giau, QN chi Ba When watching TV and see Lam Nhat Tien singing, QN said it's Ba

Cali trip August 2013

We took a Cali trip in August before QuocNam is going back to school. Started the trip from Boston to Atlanta to Orange County on Monday 8/19. Arrived at Lemon Tree hotel in the evening. We went out to eat late around 9pm and picked a new restaurant on Bolsa called com tam Thanh Huong. The dishes were good and we saw Phan Dai Nam there so it must be good... Lemon Tree is an old fashion hotel and setting like old Europe. Here we met a Japanese group and had a good time with them. We chatted with Mashiro Kawasaki and she is a visitng teacher from Japan. Her son is Noah and very cute. He was nice and friendly and hung around QN

During our stay in Orange county for 4 days, we met Thao's friends Phuc, Quang Lam, Hoai Phuong and their kids: Mi and Sean. We had dinner at a Chinese Buffet and then went to QL rented home. It was nice a spacious. Oh...we also visited ba Hai and had dinner at Bo de Tinh Tam chai...this restaurant has nice settings and the food was good too...btw they take credit card. Next day, we went to Knott Berry Farms. It was a hot day and many rides require a taller kid...We were able to take the train, and the water log trip (this is a fun one) and a few other kiddy rides...we watched a few shows too and the best one of all is the late show called Boom Town. This show had many performers with acrobic moves and jumps and it was fun to watch...

On Friday, we checked out Lemon Tree...Mashiro and Noah was checking out too...and we said farewell and exchanged emails for future contact

Went to Pho Nguyen Hue at Bolsa and enjoyed pho ga before our journey north to San Jose. We took Highway 1 along the coast to enjoy the scenery and many available beaches...On our route, we stopped at Santa Monica beach (fun at the moment) and play in the water for a couple hours...water was a little cold but QN did enjoy it when jumping on waves

After a couple hours at SM beach, we continued our journey North but somehow Highwway 1 stopped for a little bit and i kept going straight into deep into the farmlands and valley...when realize I went too far...i decided to take a shortcut to route 23 at Simmey Valley north...This is a scary ride on this route as it curve like snakes and valley on one side and car came on the opposite...I was numb holding on the wheel to keep a firm control. We finally made it to Morgan Hill and checked in Quality Inn at 1am Saturday. This is a dirty and broken down hotel. I accidently booked a smoking room and it was unpleasant with a dirty bathroom. In the morning, we checked out Quality Inn and then drive to San Jose to see Hanh and Dat...we then took a trip to Santa Cruz and enjoy another fun day at the beach and boardwalk. QN enjoyed the water there too

We checked in at Fairmont hotel. This is rated 4 stars and it was nice. The room is spacious and luxury and everything setup well. Especially the marble bath room, with separate toilet. One complaint is it doesn't have parking and everything is extra (internet, water).

Sunday was fun time with Thao's friends Ngoc Anh, Kim Lan, and Minh Hang. We met for lunch at a dim sum restautant in SF. Then drove to Pier 39 and took some pics at the pier. We then went back to San Jose for dinner at Bun bo Hue An Nam restaurant.

Monday, we went to shop for food and goodies to bring back and I mean a lot, but the food are good and worth it. We then drove to Golden Bridge and took some pics there. When coming back across the bridge, we almost got a big ticket for 'reckless driving' since there was no toll booth available to take our money. We were then told that they would take a pic and send you the toll bill.

Finally we met for dinner together at Nha Trang restaurant and thanks everyone for their time. QuocNam had fun with anh Duy (big brother) and Nhan and Thien. Together it was a quality time in San Jose. We flew back next day to Boston and was exhauted. Overall it was a good vacation and QN love it...Good bye

Missing the first tooth

Quocnam is missing his first tooth and he was worry about it

Play time at Neponset park

Quocnam and liem had fun at the playground and then head to the water fountain for some wet fun

July 4 celebration

We spent time together for the July 4th long weekend. On Thursday (7/4), we planned to take the Boston Duck tour together. We took the subway from Wolaston and stopped at Hynes Convention Center. We then walked to Prudential Center mall to get to the ticket booth. Unfortunately, all tickets were sold out for the day. We were a little disappointed and QuocNam wasn't happy at all. He asked to go to the Duck tour tomorrow. We convinced him to go on Saturday, since mom has to work on Friday. At the mean time, we took the T again and went to Quincy market for some festivity. Once in Quincy market, we walked around and enjoyed some freebies, giveway like: popsicles, soda tastes, smart bear fruits & nuts. We then watched street performers along Fenuil hall. Amazing that they were doing tumbling and juggling in such a hot weather. Dad also took picture with a living statue. QN wanted some tatoo, and he picked iron man. It costs $12 and the vendor said it would last for about 2 weeks, but sadly only a couple days, and it started to peel. QN also had some cartoon drawing of himself, and it came out nice in color. It was worth $20 spent for this. At the

end of the day, we all went home tired. On Saturday, dad book a tour online to avoid the sold out situation. We booked to Super Duck tour at 2pm instead, since this tour would spend more time in the water (boston harbor). There were some delays in the subway transit, and we showed up a littomele late again. Luckily, we were able to ask for a later trip at 3:30pm. The tour was packed with people, and it was hot sitting on the duck. We were shown around Boston North End, downtown and was told exciting history of different landmarks. Then we took the tour into the water of Boston Harbor. It was exciting see how the Duck went from land to water and made a plash. We stayed in the water for about 45min, and it was cooling off a little bit. Everyone was given a duck whistle and had a good time.

Family gathering in Pittsburgh May 2013

It was that time again for a family gathering for the Le family (grandparents, sons & daughters, grand kids) in Pittsburgh. This time we have visitors from co tam and chu Ut from VietNam, and Phuc Lien their kids and duong Ba. They all made this special trips to visit ong noi QN in the nursing home. We had good time with Dustin Bao An. He's a fun guy who's talking alot and aloud. Few high light of Dustin: Said things like: di choi thay banh vo^ lo^~ (after the trip to Wildwood with rides, arcades and mini golf courses). Like to go to Chub cheese (that what he said for Chucke Cheese) I nove u, nai xe ky` zay, duong na`y wa' nho? nuo^n, tam mua no so*. In the wildwood trip, QuocNam likes to play golf and carried his old stick from site to site. Dad and Quocnam also had a good time driving Go Kart and bump boat and soaked wet. QuocNam also bonded with chu Bang and hung out with uncle at many event and arcade games. We visited ong Noi Nam almost daily while in Pittsburgh. QuocNam massaged ong noi and made him feel good. Went to Tanger outlet and bought QN a new pair of Crocs shoe. It's a little bit on the large size but QN loves it and he wore it all the time. Went to Wave Pool. QN was a little bold. Walked like a robot into the deep side and lost his control in the deep water and was a little bit shaken, but luckily dad was around to pull him back up. He likes to sit on the draft and caught the waves. QN gained a few pounds with good food provided by ba Noi. On the way back to Connecticut, we stopped at Imperial Buffet for dinner. QN fist asked for BK, but when seeing he food inside the restaurant he gave the thumb up here. He had some big plates and went around sampled others people drinks. He copied Vi for the deserts and ice cream and finally dropped a big one at the restaurant. Overall acting very funny. Every time, when we were ready to leave Pittsburgh or NJ, QN always said "muon o la.i day"

Graduating from K1 ...Hooray

Today QN is graduating from K1 at QCA. We came to his school at 9:30 to celebrate his first achievement. QN dressed up in gray suit orange polo shirt. He looks formal compared to the group, I guess it's good for pics and memory. They sat in front of the auditorium and sang songs, then watch slide shows of all activities thru out the year. Finally, each came up and was awarded with a bucket of toys and a certificate. I'm proud of you son :)

Father and Son time

QuocNam played for 3 hrs with ipad, but when daddy asked him to do homework, he tried a few and felt asleep after about 10min. On Sunday pm, I took QN to Sears to return some tools and QN wanted to come to Apple store to play minecraft. Then we went for some pretzels at Autie Aunt at closing for some discounts. QN then wanted to have some ice cream next door. They were kind of expensive for an ice cream cone with sprinkles ($4.25) yike...I rather have yogurt at Pinkberry. Monday night when I started to leave Quincy home (almost 2am), QN walked out with sleepy eyes and gave daddy a big hug. I then asked QN to be good and go back to bed. Even when I went down to the car, QN still looked out from bed and wave. I was in the car for a while and when pulling out of the parking lot, I saw QN at the windows and waved again. I felt like loving my son an missed him a little bit.

Journey of Corduroy…Welcome to my home 

I had the pleasure to bring Corduroy home this week and am trying to make him feel happy and comfortable as a visitor. On Saturday 3/30, my cousin Williams came to visit and I introduced him to Corduroy. Williams said…he’s your new friend? Will he be playing Power Ranger with us? I said…Corduroy is a little shy and he just wanted to hang out and watch. It was a nice Saturday afternoon; I huddled around Corduroy on the couch and took in some warm from the sun. Corduroy was crying a little…maybe he was missing his mom so I tried to cuddle him. We then went to the Park in Quincy to play. First I played a little soccer to warm up, then headed to the playground. It was fun since I had a chance to play outside in a nice day like today. I took a few trips on the slides with Corduroy and he seemed to enjoy it. I took some pictures with Corduroy too. I also introduced a new friend named Toto to Corduroy. They were instantly connected (see the pictures). Toto favorite sport is Soccer as he was proudly wearing a US National team Jersey. Toto also showed off a few ball handling skills (heading the balls in the air for a number of times). Toto asked: Do you like it?” Corduroy said yes…you’re so good at soccer…I wish I could play like you. Toto said, everything needs a passion and practices to achieve this level, so can you. Sunday, I went to Easter celebration at the Church and took Corduroy with me. At the end, the church gave out goodies, snacks and coffee. I took some for my grandpa and daddy. Then I have lunch at home. My mom cooked my favorite dish called “Pho”. It’s a beef noodle soup and is very popular with Vietnamese and also know to some American. Corduroy was a little hesitant to try it first, but after I insisted and he tried and he said “oh wow, delicious Benjamin…can I have more?” In the afternoon, took Corduroy to my Aunt’s nail salon for a pedicure. His feet were a little dirty while playing outside at the Park yesterday and need some foot treatment. At bed time, I took Corduroy and Toto in bed and read them some good stories. It was fun having Corduroy over the weekend. We had a great time together, and Corduroy was so happy with his new friend Toto.

QuocNam & William together

QN is now playing a very good game of Granny Smith on iPad. He showed his cousin Willi to play too. They are good together and didn't even think about Mom & Dad. QN had some hard time writing letters a, e, n in lower case so we trained him. Willi had some good writing and motivated Nam to do the sam

New year celebration 2013

We stayed home for the most part. In the evening, we ordered pizza and cake for QN's grandpa birthday. William (anh Dung's son) is coming over to play and sleepover with QN. We were watching tv and cound down with the kid saying: 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 and...Happy NEW YEAR !!! Giovanni also came up and had a few beers while we were watching TV for New Year celebration.