Merry Christmas

Christmas in the Park

photos taken on 12/12/10

19 Months

It's a challenging time at 19 months. Joshua's molar teeth are coming. He is irritating and hasn't been eating well lately. Brushing teeth is a battle. Josh also started running nose and coughing last night. He has been waking up at nighttime due to teething or congestion. Out of nowhere he got sick. Poor Josh should have caught a cold when being taken to the car at the carport early in the morning. Mommy usually bundles Josh up when taking him to por por on weekday mornings. But the wind has been strong lately... *sigh*

Mommy has been stressed out at work. FDA picked this time of the year to come in and it is expected they will stay for a month. Everyone has to standby. Holiday mood has been suppressed by extra workload. According to Murphy's Law, mommy had a neck sprain and pain in the heel onset on the same day. Trips were made to the chinese chiropractor on top of the hectic schedule. Cupping therapy was applied on mommy's neck and shoulder that left visible marks... mommy just hoped the marks will fade away soon...

And the HK trip is coming in two weeks... packing should be started soon.... mommy has to be in good condition physically to get Joshua around in the kids-unfriendly city.

And mommy hasn't started Christmas shopping yet...

Fire Engine coming to town!

At Nicholas' 3rd Birthday Party, a real (retired) Fire Engine was called for the kids, who were all excited hovering around the big engine. The kids even got a chance to spray water as a Firefighter. The mothers/fathers were equally excited as the kids too...

First Snow Trip

This Thanksgiving, Joshua experienced a below freezing temperature and snow in Reno. The long drive was easier than expected. The journey started after dinner and the boys fell asleep easily when approaching bedtime. The only incident happened 1 hour away from our hotel. Uncle Alex hit a deer on the freeway! It was out of nowhere and happened too fast that the deer was killed by Alex's rental car and rolled over by our car. Luckily, no one got hurt and the damaged car was still drivable. Finally we made it to the destination before midnight. The next day we stayed at the hotel after buffet brunch. The boys went to the bowling alley and played among the adults. Auntie Neslie and Auntie Sam headed to Raymond Lam's concert while mommy and the rest of the family had dinner and watched the boys. The long day ended at Circus Circus. Next day, we headed to the snow park and the boys were having fun in the snow before heading back to the bay area. Joshua was ok sleeping in the hotel crib.

18 months 1 day

Finally another routine check up. Joshua is 23.7 lbs and 32.75 in. Per Dr. Ali everything has been well and Josh is growing steadily and healthily. Despite his refusal to eat certain foods, his weight gain is good; milk intake is good. Mommy's concern is teeth brushing. After the oral examination, mommy could see molars and more teeth are finally sprouting!!! More shots were given to Josh and he cried out while taking it. Por por joined mommy in the end and Josh behaved exceptionally well for the rest of the day.

Joshua stopped using bottle for a while and he is using sippy cup and straw Thermo daily. He's been adjusting well. He was also transferred to a mattress from the crib lately. A lot of changes taken place!!! He is picking up more words and he understands a lot when adults are talking. More climbing and drawers opening. Discipline is put in place. He continues to challenge the rules although he knows exactly what is not allowed. Mommy keeps mentioning "wee wee" to him and Josh knows that it means toileting. He is yet to signal upon it happening. Not ready for potty training.

Mommy finally resumed exercising with Auntie Neslie starting in October. A Zumba class every Wednesday night. It's a modern fitness dance class, mixing cardio exercise, Latin/salsa/hip-hop steps with music. It has been great so far!

Scary Moment

This morning mommy followed the routine to feed and change Josh, who was then placed back to the crib while mommy started brushing teeth. All of a sudden, the door swung open and there little Josh walked in happily and said MaMa!!! Mommy was shocked and almost choked by the toothbrush. "How did you get down?" was the first question. Then mommy thought she forgot to bring up the fence... Grabbing Josh and headed to the bedroom, the fence was in a proper upright position. Mommy then put Josh in the crib... he immediately demonstrated how he got down the crib seamlessly. It was time to change bed!!! It took a while for mommy to settle the stunned feeling. Joshua never attempted to climb out and it was lucky that his first attempt was successful that caught by mommy. The rest of the day was hectic due to clean up, rearranging furniture, getting new bed sheet... Finally a Twin-sized mattress was arranged with Thomas the Train bedsheet and throw mommy picked up for Joshua. He was thrilled to see the train print and new bed. He jumped excitingly on the mattress. All extra furniture was pulled out from the room. The real challenge came when mommy put Josh down for a nap after explaining to him that he would be sleeping in the new bed from now on. The door was closed and mommy listened. It was all quiet. After 20 minutes, mommy checked on Josh and he already slept in. Mommy just hoped the practice would continue...

Go Giants!

Congratulations to the Giants!!! Finally a Championship for a bay area team. World Series Champ!!! Daddy's been Giants' fan since 1989 and he finally witnessed his team win along with little Josh! Unlike 2002, we did not watch a WS Game at Pac Bell Park, but mommy was having fun watching the games and cheering with daddy and Josh at home.

貪吃的恐龍和長頸鹿

Pumpkin Patch

Halloween Events

Thanks Auntie Neslie for getting the boys costume this year. Cute little dragon and giraffe!!! It was a perfect fit. There were many events scheduled over the Halloween weekend. We were having so much fun! Also daddy won a second place in a Costume contest at work. He put on a wig, fake teeth, , crooked glasses, and dressed himself in a lab coat with a hunchback, holding a wrench in his hand. It made a perfect mad scientist.