When I last left you, we were on the edge of a new year. We celebrated the coming of the year in regular Reese fashion, with dangerous gunpowder. John was excited, then suddenly scared. Here you can see him retreating to the safety of my parents' home.
Tommy continues to grow and now sits in a high chair.
Notes from John's chicken nuggets.
A Tommy grin.
John met Chewie for the first time ever. I had to coach him not to tell that his favorite Star Wars character is Boba Fett. He did well.
John's other idol, Lightning McQueen. I often make of silly variations, much to John's dismay. He very much is a purist.
That's not our son behind me. He's to my right and my phone doesn't have a wide enough angle.
"Faster, Dad!"
Entering the psychedelic world of Mary Blair.
I had never entered Small World during its Christmas conversion. It's kind of nice, actually.
John turned 4, if you can believe it. We had a party in an Azusan park, which required us to use an acquaintance as our middleman in reserving the place. Whatever works, I guess, as the fee is nearly triple for nonresidents. It was a superhero party.
Tommy watches TV like his brother.
John watches TV even when everyone else is asleep.
A "Daddy and Me" day at John's preschool. I'd have taken more photographs, but I was too often directly involved, whether I was being "shaved" or "hogtied." The pony ride was pretty fun.
Alison turned something years old. I'm not counting, although she's just a few months behind me. We went to the LA Opera to watch Kelsey Grammer perform Candide. Very good show, and more "muscial"y than your average opera. Apparently, it was originally a Leonard Bernstein production (yes, the West Side Story guy), and a critical flop in its premiere. I think the revival was quite good, however.
Shortly after Alison's birthday, Tommy's breathing became more labored. He had some kind of respiratory virus, and we were advised to take him to the ER to get oxygen. The hospital decided to admit him afterward. We spent 3 lovely days in West Covina as a result.
Burger Street was one of the perks. Peanut Butter and Jelly burger. Don't knock it 'til you've tried it.
Here's Tommy looking super sick in his hospital bed.
The family waited and waited to see if the hospital would finally let him come home.
They did. The pulmonologist said he had asthma and gave us medicine to gas him with every 4 hours. Like, literally every 4 hours, even at night.
That lasted about 2 days. We complained to our regular pediatrician, who said that every 12 hours was enough.
He still wheezes a bit, but the doctor says he's not getting much more benefit from the medication and told us to discontinue administration. He seems fine to us.
Disney had enjoyed a sizable percentage of our income for the past couple of years. We decided that it was enough, so we made one last trip to Disneyland before our passes expired. Mercifully, it rained this day, meaning that the park was awesome.
Some friends invited us to a Korean BBQ joint. I took this picture of the establishment so that I wouldn't have to remember the name, because I don't think I could memorize it if I tried. It was really good. Temple City is an interesting area.
Tommy is starting to learn to crawl. He can only mostly go backward, but he is good at extending himself.
Here John shared his preschool commitment with his class. He promised to pick up his toys and put on his shoes. I try to remind of him this daily. He might get it one day.
We visited the Children's Museum of La Habra. It's a pretty nice place built in what appears to be a former train station. There was a Chinese New Years' celebration which I didn't photograph because I was on Tommy duty.
Life in Southern California can be fun, but it is awfully expensive. With our second child, we are pretty well stretched thin. I'm hoping we can buckle down and make it through the next year so we can get John into public school. It's a difficult position, as we both like our jobs and feel that it would be a mistake to leave. I still feel like it is where we need to be for the moment, so we will do our best to keep moving forward. I guess that means fewer nights on the town...
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