My new baby brother & last day of toddler class

A week ago today on August 19th, my new baby brother finally came out of Mommy's tummy! At first, I didn't know what to make of him and just looked at him and declared that he was crying, but now, I like to hold him every night and pat his tummy and touch his nose. (Unfortunately, today, I also fell down the stairs and got a boo boo on my face and mouth. I think my tooth might be wiggling a little bit.)

From 8/26/11

Today was also my last day in my toddler classroom! After a week of vacation, I official start pre-school in September.

Diaper Free!

No more diapers for me! I'm officially potty-trained as of last Sunday night - August 1st was my first full day of no diapers. Yay!

Potty Training: Day 2

- Went to potty successfully 8 times total (1.5 poops)
- 3 successful potties outside the house!
- 1 pair of Thomas underwear
- 0 accidents - yay!! :)

Look - An Orange!

I peeled my first orange (well, actually a clementine) by myself today! Mommy helped me start it, but then I took all the peel off and took apart all the slices.

New School

Yesterday was my first day at "new school." :) Mommy and Daddy signed me up for a longer 3 day program which consists of a little more structure and lots of new friends. When I got to my classroom, I was so excited! There were new toys and new friends everywhere and I couldn't help but run off and play. Then, when it was snack time, and my teacher asked me to wash my hands, I realized that she meant that I could step up and use the sink all by myself with no help from adults!!! (There's a little sink for kids in the room.) That really made me happy, because Mommy and Daddy never let me do that at home with the big sinks. Later, I got to play with trains and have circle time and read and sing and dance with my new friends, and we even went out to the playground! :) I had a little trouble sleeping in a room with all these people, but after I got settled with Owl, I was alright and just went right to sleep. When Mommy came back to pick me up, all I could say was "new school, cracker", and "fish, elevator." (Mommy wants you to know that I got to eat graham crackers for snack at school and that I found a new toy fish named Nemo that I put in the toy parking garage elevator. I really love elevators!) I really didn't want to leave, but Mommy asked me to get ready, so finally I helped Mommy open the door and walked through. I can't wait to go back!

Potty!

This morning, I shocked Mommy and Daddy by peeing into my little green potty!! They were so proud of me! Yay!

A Conversation

Mommy keeps telling people how amazed she is by how much I've changed these past two months. She says I'm truly a little boy now. I think she's mostly surprised by how much conversation I can understand and how I can respond to her simple questions. Mommy and Daddy tell me that I give them so much joy and that makes me happy!

Yesterday, when Mommy got home, I heard her ask Daddy to help her bring in a Trader Joe's bag from the car. I got really really excited, ran to the front door and asked Mommy:

Me: "Tradah Jos?"
Mommy: "No, Ming Ming, we're not going to Trader Joe's"
Me: "Cos-soh?"
Mommy: "Sorry, Ming Ming, we're not going to Costco either"
Me: "Mall?"
Mommy: "Sorry, buddy, we're not going to the mall either today."

I was pretty disappointed! Obviously, Mommy's been taking me to these three places too much. :p Daddy couldn't stop laughing afterward!

An Update - 20.5 Months

Wow, I can't believe it's already been 2 months since my last update! Things have been really hectic around here, as we flew to Seattle again over Memorial Day weekend for Auntie Karen & Uncle Sam's wedding. Yay! Seeing Gong Gong, Po Po, Er Ai Yi, Uncle Same, and Xiao Ai Yi is always lots of fun. I got to run around a lot and sleep in the same room with Mommy and Daddy which I love. :)

Unfortunately, over the last 2.5 months (since April 8th), I developed two boo boos on my neck. These turned out to be swollen lymph nodes and the last couple months have been filled with doctor appointments to figure out what's going on and what to do about it. Thankfully, all the doctors seem to agree on the diagnose and are now planning to do surgery on them to remove them sometime this summer/fall. I don't totally understand what's going on, but I know the doctors are helping me and I'm still happy to see them. Thankfully, these boo boos don't cause me much pain, but one of them is leaking, so I wear a band-aid most of the time. Mommy and Daddy always say that I'm still a happy boy despite everything!

Here's a picture of me riding a tricycle at my friend's birthday party this past Saturday. :) (Thanks Auntie Julia for taking the picture!) I also learned how to say "hap-py birth-day" that day.

More Words

Hello! It's been another fun week for me. :) I was really lucky this weekend, because Daddy was home for 3 days and I got to play with him lots. He always helps me build really really tall structures with my blocks and lets me knock them down. Unfortunately for Daddy, he was home because he was sick. :( I've finally learned how to say Ming Ming, although it sounds a bit muffled. I learned how to leave my fork behind while I run around after a snack instead of running around with the fork. (Mommy and Daddy are glad!)

Also, I've been talking lots and lots! Some new words:

• duc-gee (Ducky)
• dad-dee (Daddy or Zachy or Mommy or other things I don't know the names of)
• dis (this - when I point to things because Mommy used to point to things and say "this")
• bye-bye dad-dee (Bye Bye)
• say-see (Gracie - my friend from daycare)
• ah-lee (Allie - my friend from church)
• ale-son (Allison - my friend from church)
• elbo (Elmo)
• fuz-zy (Fuzzy - Mommy's panda bear)
• tees (teeth or when I want my toothbrush)
• uh-oh
• yay
• hooray
• ai-ya
• whoooahh
• hap-pee (happy)
  

Mommy made me repeat a few more new words for you.

Hi! Bye!

I'm officially 18 months now! I just went to my checkup and my doctor told me that I'm 75% weight, 90% height, and 90% head. :) At least I'm close to proportionate. :p I've been growing so quickly, and Mommy & Daddy wish that I could just stay like this for a little while. But nope - I just want to learn more and more. This past weekend, I even took two steps downstairs by myself! Mommy wanted to hold my hand, but I wouldn't let her.

Here's a video that Mommy took of me saying some of my clearest words. :) (Notice all the new teeth I have!)

I can catch!

Hi everyone! Wow, it's been a long time since I posted, I'm almost 18 months now! Since November, I've been very very busy... I can run, climb up things like couches and chairs, I can walk up and down small steps, go down slides by myself, and I can say at least 6 distinct clear words. (My favorite is "outseeede" for outside and "bye bye daddy" for when daddy goes to work.)

This week alone, I finally figured out how to open doors that swing open by twisting the door knob and pulling! (Mommy is not so happy about that trick, since it means I can escape out of rooms more easily.)

Today, I finally learned how to catch consistently!!! Daddy's been practicing with me alot, but everytime I caught it before, it almost seemed like an accident.

Here's a video of my accomplishment - as you can tell, Mommy is super excited. :)

Eating with Utensils

Walking isn't the only thing I've been working on this month - I've learned lots of new tricks! I learned how to sign "please" (well, kind of - I just stick my finger in my mouth.) I learned how to bounce on the bed, push the doorbell, set the alarm off in Mommy's car, flick the light switches on and off, open all the kitchen drawers and cabinet doors, and pull magnets off the fridge to name a few.

One of the things I'm proudest of is learning how to eat with utensils! I won't eat a meal until I have my own utensil and now I can even get it consistently in my mouth. :) Here are two videos showing how I use a fork.

One Year Old!!!

Today, I am 1 year old!!! Mommy and Daddy keep saying "Happy Birthday" to me, but I don't really understand what it's all about. :) Mommy also made a big deal on Tuesday, because she said I took my first step. Plus, she thinks I just dropped my morning nap, since I haven't taken it since Sunday!

Here's a picture of me and my cake. The candle looks so pretty!

Mommy and Daddy let me eat some of it! I've never tasted something so good!

Month 5 & 6 (February/March)

Hello! Mommy keeps promising that she'll help me post these updates, but she just noticed it's already been 6+ months! Daddy and Mommy can't believe how big I'm getting, they keeps saying it's going by too fast... Here's a recap of month 5 & 6.

On the first of February, En Na left to go back home to Dallas. I missed her very much! Mommy had negotiated part time work, and tried to work at home for a couple days, but soon realized that it was too hard to split time between working and taking care of me. Mommy asked Po Po to come from California to watch me while she looked for day cares for me and went back into work. Mommy took me to a few day cares and they all seemed fine, but I preferred to stay home and play with Po Po and Mommy. Mommy actually dropped me off at day care twice, but I cried most of the time that I was there, and Mommy decided that she wanted to stay home with me full time instead. Yay!

Some highlights from Month 5:

• I love to play in my exersaucer!
• Starting cutting back on night time feedings
• Learned how to grab everything and put it into my mouth
• Daddy taught me how to ride on his shoulders (I especially like eating Daddy's hair!)
• I love to touch new things and feel them
• Enjoyed my first Super Bowl and played the piano
• Rolled from front to back on my right on February 5th
• Celebrated Chinese New Year with lots of friends
• Had my first bite of solid food, rice cereal, on Feburary 10th
• Went to my first ICF Retreat in New Hampshire

In March, Mommy worked out a deal with her work that she could stay home with me full time and work 10.5 hours at home. I was so happy to have her finally be at home with me! (She tells me that she was really happy too! She was starting to feel sad that she was missing so much of my babyhood.) Daddy and Mommy also decided it was time for me to learn how to soothe myself to sleep, so they started "ferberizing" me. The first night, I cried for 45 minutes, but the second night, I only cried for 20 minutes, and on the third night, I only cried for 5 minutes! Unfortunately, this month, I also developed ezcema on my face. I'm still not sure what causes it, but when it gets really dry and I get really hot, it gets much worse and sometimes it bleeds. :( Mommy and Daddy have been trying to wash all my clothes with extra sensitive detergent and double rinse everything. They also have been trying to keep me cool and trim my nails to try to stop me from scratching! At the end of the month, I took my first plane ride to California to visit Gong Gong and Po Po. It was fun to play with them! Gong Gong fed me food and gave me lots of baths and Po Po took me outside to play everyday and played lots of mirror games with me. The weather was so nice and I saw lots of green and flowers for the first time! It was so sunny, I was amazed since I never get to see sun in Boston. Daddy left early to go back to work in Boston, so it was also the first time I was away from Daddy overnight. :( More on California in next month's update! Oh yes, and at my 6 Month pediatrician visit, I found out my new stats: 20lbs 2 oz (90th percentile), 27 inches, and a head circumference of 44 1/2 cm.

Some highlights from Month 6:

• Got my first haircut from Mommy (Too many people thought I was a girl!)
• another cold!
  
• ate oatmeal for the first time.. except I think I may be allergic!
• I eat everything I can get my hands on
  
• learned how to play with my new jumperoo
• learned how to sit up by myself on March 2nd!
• Auntie Teresa, Uncle Mark, and Uncle Jeff came to visit me
  
• went to my first birthday party for Jaden and John
  
• touched my mobile on 3/20
• ate sweet potato on 3/25 (yum!)
  
• pulled down mobile on 3/26!!!! (see video below for evidence!)
  
• first plane ride to California on 3/27
• had a bbq with lots of new friends on 3/28
• my first cut on my finger with band-aid

To see the full web albums, click here:

Month 5 & 6

California

Daddy is so funny!

Tonight, while daddy was changing me, my onesie tickled me a little bit and I started laughing for the first time! Laughing is a lot of fun and it looked like Daddy was getting a big kick out of it too! I'll have to try it again sometime, maybe when Mommy is around. Oh, and totally unrelated, but Mommy took the picture above of me earlier during one of my happier moments.