Halloween Party

Nancy's friend invited us to her house for a Halloween Party and costumes were mandatory. Nancy is dressed as Pocahontas, Justin is Buzz Lightyear, Dylan is a cow, and I am a soldier. Justin definitely enjoys this whole Halloween thing and he definitely enjoyed the party. Notice that Justin is wearing the hoodie for his outfit...this is a BIG BIG thing because Justin never wears hats or likes anything on his head.

The girl sitting next to Nancy is her friend Rosanna. She is supposed to be a tiger.

The little lion is Rosanna's son Custo. One of Rosanna's friend let Custo and Justin play with light sabers. I was nervous the whole time because each light saber costs a $100. It was really cute to watch them sword fight though. The sword fight was YouTube.com worthy.

Could Justin possibly have a chance to be in Star Wars XX. Will Hollywood allow an Asian male to be a lead in a major motion film? Not that I would want Justin to be an actor like me...plus Nancy would kill me if he did...I just hope that when he is older he has better choices than I do as an actor if he chooses to.

And the battle is over. Actually, the mother was trying to take back the saber and the lion put up a stand by lying on the ground with a relentless grip on the saber. I don't think I have to tell you who won the battle. We just have to get through Halloween night and the sugar highs.

Bath Time

Here is a Dylan posing for Playgirl...he still hasn't perfected his Blue Steel look down yet. It's amazing how quickly children grow. Dylan is now 11 pounds 1 ounce. He started at 7 pounds 4 ounces. Dylan really enjoys his bath times though it doesn't appear that way in the pics.

Even Justin has grown significantly. Most people are surprised to hear that he is only 3 years old...they assume he is 4. He is constantly talking, asking, and challenging away these days. I just hope he'll learn his Chinese and Korean, but at this point it doesn't look too good.
I keep telling myself to enjoy every moment with my kids because one day before I know it they will be BIG and I will have missed something. It's hard though...life sucks you in and tries to consume you...we are all trying to get someplace instead of trying to stay in one place...that's how people get lost or never get found.

Justin's First Pumpkin Patch

This past Sunday the family went out to a pumpkin patch so that Justin could pick out his very first pumpkin. The sad thing is the pumpkin patch was inside Santa Monica Mall. I guess we are living in LA. Either way...it doesn't matter. Justin enjoyed himself and it was opportunity for all of us to spend time as a family and get out of the apartment. I've gained some lazy ass, I've become a father of two, and sympathy weight gain with pregnant wife weight. I REALLY need to get my butt to the gym before this becomes permanent damage. That's Dylan in the Baby Bjorn. He is facing my chest. I enjoy carrying him in the baby bjorn...it's something I wish I was given the opportunity to do more with Justin. Here is my first pumpkin carved as a father. It's supposed to be a skull if you couldn't figure out. Justin couldn't wait so I had to carve it a week early. I don't think it's going to last till Halloween. Justin is dressing up as Buzz Light Year and Dylan is dressing up as a cow. I will either dress up as a doctor or a soldier. Nancy is supposed to dress up as a princess, but we'll see if she is able to put it together.

Lightening Strikes Again

Here is our 2nd son Dylan at birth and a very tired Nancy. Poor guy...such a traumatic way to start life. It's funny...I always thought the first time I would see my son born it would bring tears of joy to my eyes and it would be this totally emotional thing, but it wasn't. Don't get me wrong...it was still very special and Justin's birth is one of the greatest events in my life, but it didn't get me the way I thought it would. I suppose in hindsight it had to do with the fact I had no idea what to expect with birth and raising a child. I was probably preoccupied with a lot of things. So I thought the birth of my second would be no different. Everything up to birth was pretty standard. I was calm and collected. I pretty much knew what to expect.

Dylan came out and I cut his umbilical cord. They passed Dylan into my arms and as I held him for the first time listening to him cry with helplessness and innocence I suddenly felt a frog grow in my throat and my eyes watered up and I wanted to cry because I felt his sadness...I truly felt connected to this little one on a primal level. For those of you who have never cut an umbilical cord...it's not as easy as you might think. Getting back...I felt very emotional...honestly I'm not sure where it was coming from, but it was coming from somewhere. Gosh...I think I would be a complete sap if Nancy and I were to ever have a girl. Make note that this of course will not happen. I am personally satisfied and feel fulfilled with having 2 sons. I would love to have a daughter, but a girl is something I have no desire to stress about...especially when she becomes a teenager.

I'm happy and grateful to God for blessing me again with another beautiful healthy child. I hope that Justin doesn't read this and thinks that his birth was any less monumental because he shouldn't. Justin is my 1st born and I love him more than he can imagine. The first pic is of Dylan about a little less than 3 weeks old. The 2nd pic is of Justin having a sherbert ice cream at a store somewhere on Venice Beach. We had a father and son day. Nancy and I thought that Justin needed a day to feel extra special and that he should get some individual attention instead of having to compete with his newborn brother. We had a great time.

My Pride and My Joy.

God has truly blessed Nancy and I. We are honored to be bestowed by God to be stewards to these two little boys.

First Blog

I guess I have the first honor of blogging between Nancy and I. Like many...we too have started a blog so that our friends and family can keep up to date with our lives. It's funny that we can find time to blog, upload pictures, and just do internet or computer stuff...yet we seem to lack the time to make a phone call or even more archaic...write a letter. Yes, I understand that by blogging we can via satellite to many people and places, thus killing many birds with one stone, but I do have to admit that I miss that personal touch. Hopefully, inadvertently I will learn something about myself, my wife, my children, and life through the outward process of writing out ones thoughts. Maybe even you...our family and friends who have known us either all our lives or just a moment will learn something about us that you never knew.

Oh! You are probably wondering why this blog is titled Tiger Meets Panda. Well Tiger refers to me...Korean John...and Panda refers to Chinese Nancy...and one of the constant revolving challenges is the meeting and effort to meld these two cultures together. I am such a white washed Korean...prior to getting married I thought there wouldn't be that much of a difference between Nancy and I because we are both Asian....boy was I wrong...soooo different. So, I'm sure these things will be an aspect in these blogs as well. Thanks for being a part of our lives so that we even needed to create a blog.