My Life as a Dad

Random thoughts & feelings about things that happen in my life.

[leohlee-blog]

Chicken breast and okra

[leohlee-blog]

Crabbie patty

Cooking what the kids call crabby patty tonight. Pork, shrimp, cilantro, garlic and soy sauce. Fried up and served with rice.

[leohlee-blog]

May 28th, 2014

Wife and I are in the 2nd month of our trial separation. Things are improving in our relationship. I see the kids less, which makes me a little sad, but i'm getting a lot more time with myself and with my friends. 

It seems to be helping our relationship a little bit by making our occasional encounters more meaningful and passionate. I'm hoping this ends soon and things get back on track.

My mom's health is getting worse. Her doctor said she has about 12 months left before her kidneys fail. We are currently researching dialysis options. Lots of pressure on me to set everything up and keep my whole family in the loop about it.

Kids are doing well. Alexis is wrapping up her 3 year playing softball and she's clearly the best player on the field of ANY team. She's also excelling in her studies, as predicted. She's still hard on herself when she fails, but that's something we're working on her with.

Marcus is talking like a full adult now. A few words are still pronounced wrong, but not many. He seems to understand counting to 3 now. But ABC's are still a mystery to him. 

We've been looking for a daycare place, but they are fucking expensive. The cheaper ones are too messy and dirty to send him to. We both agree that we want him to learn while he's there, but we're afraid for him since he hasn't been left alone before.

[leohlee-blog]

Feb 24, 2014

So close to my 36th birthday, I write this as my daughter is in bed early because of school tomorrow and my son is in the bath playing with his toys. My mind reflects to the thought of my mortality as another year passes. I can’t help but think of all the good things in my life. I’m happy my kids are happy. My marriage needs a little work, but we are both trying and that makes me feel good. I’m happy I work for a non profit and like to think it makes a difference in the community. My parents health aren’t great, but we’ve been spending lots of time with them and I find peace with the fact they are seeing their grandchildren grow. I’m also glad for all the experiences I’ve had in my life and realize that when I reflect in regards to my happiness, I don’t reflect to material items like a new car, or new clothes…I like to think I understand and appreciate that those things are superficial & doesn’t mean anything to my loved ones. Overall, I’m just grateful for my life.

[leohlee-blog]

October 30th, 2013

Installed new spark plugs last night on my 07' bmw 335i. Took me 2.5 hours. Taking everything to get to the plugs was time consuming since it was my first time. Then getting the coils out took a little research....brute force! After that, the special socket i purchased kept losing the rubber washer inside of it that grips the plug, so that was wasting even more time. All in all, it got done and the car is driving better.

[leohlee-blog]

October 29th, 2013

Alexis has been doing well in school. I had a conference with her teacher last week and her reading/spelling skills are off the charts! She needs to work on her subtraction though, so I bought an ipad app to help with that. It's the same one they use at her school. 

Her swimming seems to be progressing as well. She's in her 3rd class of level 2 lessons, so hopefully she gets the "side breathing" down and can advance.

Marcus is cuter than ever. He's talking very well and everyone notices how advanced his vocab is. Although some words are still unclear at times, he still tries. He had croup 3 weeks ago, which lasted 2-3 days. His cough literally sounded like a seal's bark. Then last week, he had a 102.4 fever, but that was because of teething...which involved a ton of drooling.

His potty training is going well. He's peeing everytime we put him on the toilet, but he isn't telling us he needs to go. I think that if we left his diaper off, he would be more inclined to tell us. Past instances and accidents have proven this to be true.

Anyways, everything else is ok. Work needs to pay me more, car needs to get fixed, still working on my fitness.

[leohlee-blog]

September 23rd, 2013

Had a nice relaxing weekend. Had a movie night Friday with the family. Watched the latest Justice League movie, but it might have been a little too bloody for Alexis. Gotta check the ratings next time. Saturday spent a lot of time alone and caught up on movies and shows. Also got a run in and some cleaning done. Sunday fixed my BMW's angel eyes. Swapped out both lights and upgraded from the dim yellow to a bright white. Bulbs cost me $40 for two of them and time-wise, my buddy and I spent 90 minutes. BMW wanted to charge me $260 to swap out 1 single light! Ripoff alert!

[leohlee-blog]

September 13th, 2013

Feeling down lately, not sure why. Maybe it's because i've been slammed at work with projects. Maybe it's because my wife has been going out a lot lately and i'm feeling jealous of that. 

Yesterday we got into an argument about my lack of generous splurging and her need to be pampered. I apologized this morning for my behavior and told her of my depression as of late. She suggested I go out more with my friends.

Anyways, about the kids...

Alexis started public school in 2nd grade and her first week seemed great. She knew another kid from her old school and they hung out during lunch and recess. The 2nd week, her friend made new friends and Alexis told us she played by herself on some days. She also made a couple of guy friends that she has played with for the past couple of lunches. Its still early in the school year, but we're both worried about her lack of social willingness. I'm sure it's normal and she'll get along just fine as the year progresses. It's just sad to hear when your child tells you that they played alone :-(

As far as schoolwork and her teacher, she seems to enjoy them both. Her class has 26 students, so not too big. Everybody dreads the big 3-0!

Marcus has been speaking 6-7 word sentences. Her vocab has surpassed my expectations at this point and I have no doubt in his intellect. He could use a little work on his pronounciation, but who couldn't, am i right? Hahaha.

He's been extra cute as of late with his talkative personality and he asks a ton of questions. He also eats everything we throw at him, so I'm hoping he won't be a picky eating when he's older. He still loves garbage trucks and firetrucks, but i think he's fascinated with tools now as well. 

He went to the dentist recently and did an awesome job of sitting in the chair with her mouth open while getting a cleaning. No crying or whimpering at all.

His cuteness makes me want another baby. Perhaps that adds to some of the reason I've been down.

[leohlee-blog]

I like when Marcus talks in his sleep. Tonight he said "i go swimming"...he must be having a good dream.

[leohlee-blog]

August 9th, 2013

Alexis has been going to grandmas house all week in lieu of daycare and she's happy that at least she gets to sleep in a little bit. Next week we start YMCA again, so she'll have to get used to sleeping earlier and waking up earlier.

Yesterday when i went to pick her up from grandmas, i noticed a mess, so i asked her to clean up before we leave. Two minutes later, she's standing there ready to leave and hasn't picked up a thing. So i repeated myself and asked her again to clean up. She started crying and acting very bratty so I sent her to wall for timeout. Then she started crying even harder! Eventually, she calmed down and cleaned up the mess. Grandmas doesn't like seeing her get in trouble, so she let Alexis out early. Anyways, we went outside to the car and had a little chat about it. I explained the situation and she agreed she threw a tantrum and shouldn't have. I think she understood and learned her lesson. But i understand too that in the heat of the moment, it's hard to control your emotions, especially when you're 7.

Marcus has twice now put on his own pajamas. He also has taken off his clothes on many occasions without help.

We're getting ready for a camping trip this weekend, so we're hoping for good weather and warm nights.

[leohlee-blog]

Hainanese chicken rice - Boiled chicken with ginger and green onion. Made with with ginger, garlic and chicken broth.

[leohlee-blog]

July 31st, 2013

We just got back from a week in Canada. I've never stayed longer than 2-3 days, so it was nice to spend some "un-rushed" time there. We visited Victoria, Vancouver and Richmond. We did most of the sight seeing activities. To summarize, Canada is beautiful and the food is fucking awesome. 

Alexis had a great time. She got to do a lot of swimming, especially since we stopped at Great Wolf the first night and she loved all the water slides. Although we waited 15 minutes for the fastest slide only to be denied entry due to her height. She was about 1/2 inch too short :-(

She spent a lot of time with Grandma and got ice cream almost everyday. Overall, she was a really well behaved 7 yr old.

Marcus had been talking up a storm! He knows how to use the word "too" in a sentence, which really surprised me when he said "Daddy take bath too" when i asked if he wanted to bathe alone. 

The other day, while we were in the shower together, i asked him to draw a circle on the glass door and he did! Feeling very proud of him. I think he's showing a lot of signs that he has an above average IQ.

He also loves eating with chopsticks, probably because he see's me using them all the time and he always tries to mimic me.

He's still really into trucks and firetrucks and garbage. 

Alexis is currently doing Chinese academy for the week and swimming lessons. Marcus still has dance lessons, but since he's a boy, he doesn't like it. He mostly just wants to play with toys and run around rather than dance and pay attention.

[leohlee-blog]

July 10th, 2013 - PC Build

I've decided to write down some basic instructions to build a pc. This is not a detailed step-by-step guide, just a quick introduction of the process.

Components:

cpu

motherboard

case

hard drive

memory

video card

dvd/cd drive

power supply

heatsink/fan

Steps:

Install the cpu onto the motherboard

Install the heatsink/fan onto the cpu

install the memory

screw down the motherboard into the case

install the power supply into the case

connect the power cables from the power supply to the motherboard

connect the case cables to the motherboard

install the hard drive into the case and connect the cables to the motherboard

install the cd drive into the case and connect the cables to the mohterboard

install the video card and connect power cables from the power supply

make sure you give power to any fans that came installed with your case

That's basically it. After you connect the power cord, monitor, keyboard and mouse, you should be ready to install your OS.

[leohlee-blog]

July 8th, 2013

4th of july weekend is over and the kids had a blast. On the 4th, we went hiking at Silver falls. Alexis walked the whole time and Marcus sat in the stroller. Alexis had no trouble completing the 5.5 mile hike...no even any complaining. Mid-way through the hike, we ate lunch along the trail. Marcus also pissed in the river. He's been such a trooper when it comes to potty training. He's holding his piss and rarely has a wet diaper now. I don't trust him just yet, but so far he's doing great. After the hike, we played in the water for a little bit. My knee was acting up pretty bad, so soaking it in the ice cold water felt great. I need to remember to find out what's wrong with my knee.Seems to hurt after using it for walking a long period or jogging. But only hurts when i walk.

Anyways, Alexis is enjoying art camp. She doesn't seem to have a problem fitting in wherever she goes. She had a couple nightmares last night that had her screaming for mommy. Then she was standing in the middle of her room talking normally. Sort of strange. Maybe it was from all the total drama cartoon show she watched...her brain might be confusing her on what's real while she's in dreamland.

Marcus has been talking and communicating very well. He had a fever last week and was irritable, but other than that, he's been great. He's speaking skills continue to improve. He knows "upstairs" & "downstairs" now. He asked for "more" and actually spoke the number of chicken nuggets he wanted. He definitely likes to do things himself. He's at a stage right now where he's hitting though when something upsets him. He's also throwing the occasional tantrum. Sending him to timeout is becoming a little less effective. For some reason, he's allowing himself to leave the timeout space. It takes me yelling to make sure he stays there and that he knows the severity of the situation.

[leohlee-blog]

June 3rd, 2013

Alexis is almost finished with 1st grade at St. Anthony. She keeps excelling at school and sports. We played tennis the other day and she has gotten a lot better. Her swing has improved, but she still needs to work on aim. Her last baseball game is this week and we'll be partying at Godfather's (lame).

Marcus has been talking alot lately and is becoming more independant. He's eating pretty well now and chewing better than ever. Yesterday he ate hamburger meat and mango slices by himself.

[leohlee-blog]

May 8th, 2013

Today is Marcus's 2nd birthday. We have a dual bday party planned this weekend for both him and Alexis's 7th bday. It's going to be crazy busy Saturday.

Alexis has been accepted to transfer to Mary Woodward next year, so she'll be starting 2nd grade at a whole new school. She seems okay with it. I think  we're more worried for her, since she'll have to make all new friends.

Marcus is talking a lot more now, but it's mostly unclear what he's saying. Just found out yesterday that a garbage truck video will hold his attention for a VERY long time. Typical boy is mesmorized by big trucks.

I entered into the rugged maniac race. Gotta start training for it. I haven't ran since the Shamrock run last March...so my legs are feeling very weak right now.

[leohlee-blog]

April 23rd, 2013 - Caribbean Vacation

We just got back from a 7 day western caribbean cruise on the Carnival Glory. It was awesome. The weather was bright & sunny all week and nobody got too burned. Alexis & Marcus both had a great time. The only mishap was when Marcus fell off the bed on our last day and had a big gash in his forehead. Hopefully it doesn't leave a big scar. 

Here's our trip:

Day 1 - Fun day at Sea - Stayed on the boat and relaxed by the pool

Day 2 - Cozumel - Dolphin encounter. Our whole family got to get in the water with the dolphins and pet/kiss them.

Day 3 - Belize - Private island. 

Day 4 - Roatan - We just played at the beach and soaked up more sun.

Day 5 - Grand Cayman - Stingrays & Turtle Farm. Stingrays was very cool. Intimidating at first, but you get used to them after awhile. 

Day 6 - Fun day at Sea - another day by the pool, relaxing and packing up. We also got to watch the "Motor City" singing/dance show. The kids seemed to like it.

Day 7 - Breakfast and waiting forever to exit the ship. Then went to stay at our Miami hotel.