2006: A start of a new journey

Both Tabitha and I have been blessed with the birth of our wonderful, sweet, adorable (the list goes on and on) son, on April 9. It has been an amazing year and it never seizes to amaze us of what our life was before he got here. We should have done this much sooner – when we had a lot more energy. It just an awesome time – watching him smile at you – just puts a lot of things into a different perspective viewing the world through the eyes of my son.





To all my dearest family and friends (from Bhutan, India, Sweden - from all over the States from Columbia.....) thanks for sharing in this amazing adventure with us – thanks for the love and well wishes… Best Wishes for the New Year.

10 Reasons Why Erik Loves His Daddy

10. Daddy blows raspberries on his tummy and makes him giggle out loud!

9. He takes Erik out to the Zoo and shows him all the different animals!

8. Daddy plays hide-and-seek with him all over the house!

7. Daddy lets Erik play past his bedtime!

6. He gives him lots of kisses and affection!

5. Daddy lets Erik eat lots of different flavor cuisines!

4. He is always thinking of him and thinking of activities for them to do!

3. He rocks Erik to sleep and holds him when he needs Daddy the most (like 3 AM!)

2. Daddy makes yummy water popsicles for Erik to chew to ease the teething process!

1. Daddy loves Erik...and Erik loves his Daddy!

I think there's really a lot more reasons than just 10 but for now, I'm just posting a nice short list :o).

For the past few weeks, Erik has been extremely fussy, as in waking up almost every 2 hours, if not every hour. More teething and not feeling well is to blame on this one. Usually Mommy is the one that tends to Erik during the wee night hours but with this constant wake up, it was too hard for just one person to tend to. As a result, Daddy was called in to report to late-night duty. It's been great to have an extra pair of hands, especially when the other one is literally exhausted!

With the constant coughing and nasal drippings, Erik now sleeps in one of our arms for most of the night or on an elevated pillow. Most of all, he really just want to be close to one of us to feel warm and safe. So with Daddy lending an extra hand/arm, Erik can get by through the night a bit easier and so does Mommy :o). hee hee

Christmas Dinner @ Austin's!

We visited our friends' Sherry & Oliver for Christmas Dinner this year since they were so kind enough to host! They not only invited us but two other couples plus their babies also! It was a semi-potluck but each couple brought a different course to it. They provided the main entrees, which were absolutely delicious, Grilled Salmon, Prime Rib, and Ham, plus some side entrees too, Sweet Potato Casserole, Green Bean Casserole, Rice! We signed up for appetizers (Homemade crabcakes) and salad! Other couples brought other yummy dishes such as Garlic Mash Potatoes and Tiramisu!! Absolutely delicious!

It was an actual sit-down dinner, including the babies! It was so great!! All the kiddies lasted about 20 minutes of the meal. Erik actually sampled adult food including the Salmon, Garlic Mash Potato, AND Sweet Potato Casserole! (I hope he's going to be okay with all those rich flavors!) Plus he also had a couple spoons of his own baby food and some baby puffs! We're so proud of him that he could last that long sitting down to a dinner. Quite well-behaved!

Afterwards, it was back to the baby fun time! Babies crawling all over the place and exploring their new environments! We see how they all interact with each other! Erik somehow was able to make all 3 boys cry (mind you, they were all older than Erik by about 4+ months!). Erik took away one of the plastic balls from Jason (just turned 1) and he cried! Erik then also tried to push Austin aside from his own Christmas present while cruising and that hurt Austin's feelings and made him cried! Erik also made Jeremy cried by wanting to play with Auntie Joannie (Jeremy's mom) and Jeremey got jealous! SIGH! Our son is a little rascal here...causing ruckus! ;o) hahaha

In short, Christmas 2006 was a blast for all three of us! We got to spend time with our families (okay, Mommy's family), spend time by ourselves (Xmas Morning), and also spend time with friends! We wish all of you had a fabulous holiday and may you all have a wonderful New Year!

Baby's First Christmas

We woke up bright and early this morning....well, it was not really early but still somewhat of a morning, actually at 10:30am! We had a very rough night since Erik is currently teething, still having his cough, and now a bad runny nose plus fever from the teething. So Daddy and Mummy didn't really get a lot of sleep or rest and neither did our poor little Erik!

However, Erik still woke up with a nice big smile on his face! He's such a content little baby! Daddy rushed down to get the video camera ready and his digital camera ready to "capture" the moment! Daddy even put away all of Erik's old toys and cleaned up the living room so that its not so cluttered for his new toys! Mummy and Erik descended down the stairs with all the Christmas lights lit and and ready to open presents!!

We plopped down near the tree and at first Erik didn't know what to do with those funky wrapped "containers". Mummy had to show him how to tear the wrapping papers and then show him what's the REAL gift! Erik, of course, preferred the wrapping papers instead but after the mummy opened up his gift, he totally loved it! It was just a small toy of 12 stacking plastic cups! At the day care center, they had lots of cups lying around and we saw Erik like playing with those plus he can also play it during bathtime! :o) hee hee

After the next couple of gifts, Erik got the hang of it and knew exactly what to do when we put a present in front of him. He'd reach for the "seams" and try to tear it away!! He's such a fast learner! Our gift opening event took us 1.5 hours worth! No, we didn't get him a million toys, we only got him 10 toys total, big and small, and a few are from our very dear friends and family! It took so long because we wanted Erik to be able to open his own gifts and get a chance to play with each of them for a little bit.

So what did he like best?! He loved the Tigger Airplane that he can sit and ride on. Erik also loved the Parents' walker blocks because he can cruise and semi-walk with it! Of course, he also liked the Leap Frog learning table!! (Thanks Anne!) He also liked his first mobile phone with voice recording capability (Thanks Carol!!)

By the time all the presents were opened, Erik was absolutely exhuasted! He didn't even eat his lunch, he just wanted to take a nap instead!! So all in all, it was a fabulous Christmas! It made Chhimi and I feel like we were kids again! Daddy absolutely loved one of the Parents' building kits (Lego like) and built a "SLR camera" with it, including flash! Mummy loves the fact that Daddy has so much creativity and imagination in him. Mummy also loved playing with the V. Smile Learning system (aka Erik's first video game! LOL!) It's definitely a memorable holiday for us this year! We've been good all these years and we are now blessed with a wonderful son!! How great is life?!

Christmas Eve Celebration With Family

Christmas Eve

Since Christmas was on a Monday this year, Mummy decided to do a Christmas Eve late-lunch with her family instead, which included Grandpa Tik, Grandma Wai, Grand Aunt Jeanne, and Erik's older cousin, Alyssa. We hosted a lovely hot pot luncheon, basically its kind of like a fondu but used with good quality homemade soup stock (such as chicken, beef, pork, etc). We put out plates and plates of good yummy food such as RAW marinated meats, seafood, tofu, veggies, different kind of noodles. People just put whatever they want into the pot and when its done, we use lots of very delicious dipping sauces!

Everybody else enjoyed the good food! Of course, Daddy wishes that his parents and brother were also here to join in the festivities! SIGH! It was Erik's first Hot Pot! We basically served him bits of tofu boiled in stock but he didn't like it too much. Maybe its because the tofu was extra firm OR its because he's now teething either his molars or canine teeths and have a lost of appetite OR just from the sheer exhaustion from the company. Either way, he didn't eat much :o(.



Erik & Grandpa Tik "dosing off" after a big meal!


However, Erik was able to "bully" his older cousin, Alyssa, who's 3 years old! Basically, Alyssa was playing with Erik's toys and maybe Erik wanted to play with her OR was jealous that she's playing with his stuff. He pulled on her hair hard and Alyssa let out a big wail! Awwww!!! Poor thing! But no worries, kids forget quickly and after lunch it was off to the park on a cold Xmas Eve day!



Erik Trying to take a "walk" in the park!


There, Erik enjoyed the bucket swing as usual while Alyssa enjoyed leading her grandparents around the slides and climbing all over the place. However, while Erik was swinging away, right next to him was a 5 year old boy commanding his dad "Daddy! When I say something, you do it!". ...and then another "Daddy! Stop touching my butt...eewwwww!". We couldn't help but laugh (nervously) and think....will Erik become like that one day?! YIKES! We hope not!

Adoptive parents better than biological ones in child rearing? Ms Tomb Raider thinks so.

OK – this just irks me – I really try hard to be positive on Erik’s blog – but whenever I read something like this – it really pisses me off.

Angelina Jolie believes adoptive parents better than biological ones in child rearing. "It should be hard to be a parent period. I go through many things to adopt. I'm finger-printed, I'm checked, I go through home studies. I have to prove I'm a decent citizen; a good human being." "That didn't happen to me when I gave birth, so it's interesting that there's no background check when you bring a child into your home in that way," she added.

Does this woman actually believe this bull crap? Ok let’s analyze the positive roles she puts forward to table as being a better parent than say us poor biological sods.

• Kisses her grown up brother a giant smacker right on national tv.


• Gets married to groom number 1 Jonny Lee Miller and then leaves Billy Bob – keeps his blood in little vials – I wonder what the message is out here.


• Steals someone else’s husband. OK she may have not caused all of that to you women – but hey she was part of the equation
• She has one awesome relationship with her Dad (being sarcastic out here)
• Then adopts a child from Cambodia (Maddox), a baby from Ethiopia and names her Zahara and then has a baby Shilloh with Pitt

Seriously – this woman is busy flying around the world, making a crap load of money – has time to do UN work – wow she must be an amazing mother. Now I just have Erik – both Tabitha and I (and all our countless friends) all over the world are doing the best as biological parents – you know the type – work hard to make a living (you know real work – unfortunately we don’t have the time to work miracles with the UN) – come home and take care of the kids and try and spend every godly hours making sure our babies are getting all the care and attention that is humanely possible. Worry about his future – his education his well being and whether or not we are doing enough for our dearest son. Now – with one baby we have our hands pretty full. Work, take care of baby (feeding, bathing, playing – reading) through it all.

This woman says that an adoptive parent is better than a biological parent… I seriously beg to differ. I am sorry I don’t have a gazillion dollars to have nannies around the clock taking care of my son – but I do take him to day care and believe me I hate leaving him there – if we had the means (this includes all the families I know) we would give up work in a heartbeat and spend our times with our babies. We cannot be like Ms Jolie who says "Brad and I talk a lot about who's going to work and when and making sure we don't miss this time in our life with our kids. I worked maybe two months in the last two years and I'm fine with it."

Well there is one thing we agree upon – but hey we don’t have the means so I guess that makes her a better parent.

I guess in the end we will see if we are better parents or Ms Jolie. But seriously who give a rat patootie. – the judge as to who is a better parents will be our children – and whether we gave them the best life possible filled with love and care to the best of our ability.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

This year - I wanted to do something a little different - and when I couldn't figure out which one to send out - my brother came up with this idea of sending them all out randomly - like a trading card of sorts. I had a blast as you can see. So which card did you get?

Well every year I have been a sort of grumpy person (aka the Grinch) - but this year you could say that I have become a "Born Again Christian" - I never realized that I new that many Christmas tunes to the surprise of Tabitha... In all I am having a great Christmas - and the only gift we treated our selves to was the gift of Erik.... he is really making an impact of sorts on our lives. We also ended up with plenty of toys for him.

More on that tomorrow. In the meantime - Erik update -- he gets around pretty darn good from crawling a bit to -- "Oh Crap" got to baby proof the house. He walks with the help of furniture - some how managed to chip his tooth... still has a fever of sorts because he is teething again.

On a bright note - the Chhimi family is headed back to Bhutan in February... WooHoo... Merry Christmas y'all and have a safe and happy holiday with the ones you love...

Thanks For The Holiday Visits!

On Sunday, a few of our close friends came over at different times just to drop off some gifts for Erik, since its his first Christmas! It's great to have company over and to see how Erik reacts to them. Somehow, Erik just loooooves the extra attention!

Connie & Ed
Erik was showing off how he can cruise with Connie! He loved sitting in her lap and holding his Auntie "Kani" close by. Erik smiled brightly with Edward and loved touching his beard! It's just too cute! We basically enjoyed a informal coffee and h'ordeuves (got the recipe for stuffed mushrooms from Miz Paula Deen of Food Network and had to try it out) and tried to catch up with each other as much as we could they take off to the South Carolina and Columbia!

On one of our visits to their home previously, Erik was playing with their kids' Legos, stacking them, chewing on them :o) LOL! So Auntie Kani and Uncle Edwah got Erik some legos that fit his age! Totally loved it!

Chhimi built a "rocket" and Erik basically loved pulling the blocks apart and being "Godzilla". LOL! Now we have to go download some cool patterns to build! Mummy built a puppy and of course with it but was also knocked over by Erik! Hee hee!

Lianne, Sean, and Kallie
Alright, we're bad friends, we had to double-up our friends later that night for a very casual pizza and salad evening. This was where the fun starts. Erik joined us for dinner and showed our friends how he can behave nicely at the table and make "conversations" as in "De de de". He also showed them that he's a big boy by chewing the yummy pizza crust (** don't worry, there weren't any actual tomato sauce or flavoring, at least we didn't think so **).

Afterwards, it was "Show-Off" time for Erik. He showed Uncle Sean, Aunty Kallie, and Aunty Lianne how he can crawl when he's motivated :o) hahaha. Sean basically held out a stuffed toy (It's a turquoise squid from IKEA) with a cute Santa Hat on and Erik was just crawling from one end to another and then stopping and clapping! He would look around and say come on, I just performed! Now clap with me! :o).

Opening presents. Erik loved the wrapping and tissue paper more than anything! However, he also received a cute Santa Hat and Xmas socks from Auntie Kallie and Uncle Sean! Plus Mummy and Daddy received beautiful live poinsetta and some baby-friendly snowflake ornaments for our tree! Yay! Thank you Auntie Kallie and Uncle Sean!!

After that, it was off to Auntie Lianne's shiny bag of present! Again, it was the tissue and gift bag that grabbed his attention more than anything else! However, Erik also received a very cute doggie outfit with the whole doggie hat and cute pants that comes with footsie coverings! Then for Mummy and Daddy we got a lovely fragrant candle...Mmmm! Mango and Papaya smelling!

Thank You
Just wanted to say a big THANK YOU to our friends for the wonderful gifts for Erik and us! It's truly not the fact that you guys got gifts but the fact that you thought of us during the holidays and just stopping by, especially Miz Lianne who drove 1 hour after work to come hang out with us!! These visits alone really just warms our heart to know what wonderful friends we have in our lives!!

Milestone Report: Taking A Scenic Route

Crawling

On December 14, 2006, Erik officially knows how to crawl!! So exciting to see!! For the past two months, Erik has been somewhat mobile in his own way. Mummy likes to say that Erik is just taking a scenic route to his destination instead ;o). Instead of crawling, Erik would scoot on his bottom, then lay on his stomach to stretch out, after that, it would be rolling from side to side, and then some how some way, he would get to where he wants to go. So really, he's not a point A to point B type of guy. He likes to go from point A, to point D, to point C, ...sometimes back to point A but somehow, he always manages to go to point B ;o) hahahaha

However, last night was totally different! Erik crawled straight for his target! We have one of those Japanese fortune cat that constant waves its arms on top of the fireplace. It had always made Erik curious what it was so we brought it down and placed it just far enough out of reach to see if he would go for it. And he DID! It was just amazing on how focus he was to get that cat! LOL! I guess he's been wanting to play with it for a while.

Although he doesn't crawl the conventional way yet, Erik has pretty much discover mobility for himself! Erik crawls with his right leg while his left leg is just kinda tucked underneath his butt. It is the cutest thing!! It's a half-sit, half-crawl. LOL! We're so proud of you our darling little baby boy!

Cruising

For the past month, Erik can also pull himself up to be in a standing position. Whether it is our couch or our bed (we've lowered our bed by not putting the bed rail in), he loves to stand! However, for the last week, Erik has also discovered how to CRUISE along as he holds himself up. He takes a step or two all by himself along the couch or bed and totally loves it! Erik also impressed his favorite teacher "Christy" on how he can hold and walk around the bookshelf at school!

Sometimes when Daddy or Mummy is holding Erik's hands, he gets so excited that he wants to start walking / running! It's just amazing how he has figured how to do all these things. It's simple to us adults but to a baby its not that simple. The act of pulling yourself up takes lots of muscles and then the act of letting yourself plop down on the floor without hurting yourself takes a lot of balance and effort too!

Way to go Erik!!! YAY Erik! You did it! You thought it through and figured out be mobile in your own schedule and time!

Signing

Mummy have been diligently signing to Erik ever since we brought him home from the hospital. Erik still doesn't really sign yet but he definitely knows what the signs mean when we show him. Daddy has been also signing to him so it helps a lot to be consistent.

So far, we can tell that Erik understands the following for sure because he shows us emotionally that he expects it:

• Milk - sometimes I think Erik does sign this but I can't say for sure yet!
• Up (we say Up Up when we carry him)
• Eat
• Water
• Daddy
• Where/What

It's great sometimes to sign to Erik so he knows what to expect and not be too "surprised" when we give it to him. For example, when he's playing and we want to pick him up, we sign "Up" and sometimes he'll ignore us cuz he wants to continue playing, which is fine. Other times, he is sooo excited as if saying "why didn't you say so sooner?" that he'll raise his arms high in the air ready to be picked-up.

We've been doing the following now but we don't think Erik really knows it yet:

• Mommy
• More
• All Done
• Bath
• Play
• Duck
• Book

Mummy and Daddy are going to continue with the signing and see if Erik will respond back. From what we understand, it may take up to 12-18 months before Erik starts signing back so we'll see!

How Our Lives Have Changed

Weekends pre-Erik was pretty mellow and slow at times. We are not the sort of people to go out clubbing or do some hard-core partying. Never done that in high school nor college and don't really plan on doing it now, especially when we are parents! Of course, don't get us wrong, we're not as straight-laced as we sound either. We're just pretty much go with the flow and content with just being ourselves and enjoy going out for hikes, movies, day-trips to the city, biking, kayaking, etc.

However, after-Erik, our weekends are fast-paced as ever with its baby and kid-filled events! We still enjoy the occasional hikes as you can see on some of the pictures from previous posts but the hikes are much shorter now and only on fair weather days. Somehow our calendars are now filled with double events if not triple at times. I guess we're more popular with our friends now that we have Erik. Sheesh! ;o) hahaha With Mummy's pondering and blabbing, we basically spent a weekend with babies!

On Sunday, we attended one of our friend's birthday party (Happy Birthday, Tracy!). Erik got to see Aydin, who is only 6 days older than Erik. Aydin is already crawling all over the place! We didn't get a chance to see them for a whole 6+ weeks already so it was nice to see how they have both grown. The birthday party was pretty relaxing and laid back, plus we even got treated to a Karaoke Singing act by the birthday girl herself! LOL! Absolutely loved the idea but Mummy and Daddy were not brave enough to sing though!

After the party, we babysat Austin, Erik's buddy (aka big bro Austin). It was Austin's parents 11th year wedding anniversary, so they definitely deserve a night out to themselves (Happy Anniversary, Oliver and Sherry!). That's when Erik's "new" temperment emerged. He was holding his ground on the toys with Austin. Erik grabbing stuff away from Austin, who is 1 year old already! Sigh! Then, Erik wouldn't eat his dinner and had a melt down from all the excitement of the day. On the other hand, Austin was just the cutie pie and couldn't wait to sample our homemade baby food. He was opening his mouth eagerly for it! As a result, Daddy coined Austin as his "long-lost son" because Austin is a "Foodie" already ;o) hahahaha Erik also showed us his jealous side and wanted to cling to Mummy or Daddy as soon as we picked up Austin! Erik would hold Daddy's leg and look at him longingly as if saying "What about me, Daddy?!" Definitely a different side of our little angel is the fact that he was a bit "rougher", Erik actually grabbed Austin's collar and grabbing whatever Austin had in his hands to play with. We were like, wow! is this what Erik is like during school? Is he going to be a little bully?! .... ok ok, we're just over-analyzing but its a bit of a reality check for us that Erik does behave differently in different situations.

Not Skipping Christmas This Year! No Bah Humbug Either!

Okay, for those who knows us, we are really not into the whole Christmas celebration. Not because we're not religious (well, we're not Christian or Catholic but that's totally for a different blog) nor its because we don't have the Christmas spirit in us. It's because Christmas in the States are highly over-rated and have become way to materialistic and commercialized to our liking. We see mobs of people rushing out the door for early-weekend shopping sprees to only spend money that they may not have and put lots of unnecessary materialistic stuff on their credit cards only to be in debt at the start of the year. Why would anybody in their right minds do that?!

So prior to having Erik, we didn't do the Christmas celebration. We'd usually opt for the whole "skipping" Christmas scene and travel away on our vacation instead since Daddy's family is in Bhutan and Mummy's family doesn't celebrate Christmas either.

However, for some odd reason, this year, with Erik, we are not "skipping" Christmas, maybe its because of "Baby's First Christmas" or its because maybe we can hope for something different and teach our son that Christmas is about getting together with family, loved ones, and friends.

Visiting Santa Claus at the North Pole

Daddy - This was daddy's and Erik's first visit to Santa. Later that night Tabitha asked me if I was scared sitting by Santa. Isn't that the scarriest Snowman you have ever seen - that didn't seem to phase Erik one bit.

On Saturday, we took Erik to see Santa Claus. It was his first time and it was also Daddy's first time "sitting" with Santa too! :o) hahahaha Mummy's work organized a Santa Claus event for all the families and it was great. The babies and kids got cookies and juice and lots of craft ideas. The event was free which is even better :o) hahaha. Way better than visiting the mall santas!

We organized the visit with 4 of Erik's buddies: Austin, Gabriel, Jason, and Jeremy. The babies all go to the same "school", aka day care. Daddy was planning to do the whole studio shot with strobe lights, flash, etc but Mummy's company denied the request due to the overwhelming participation from families. We had to wait for a good 1 - 2 hour because of the crowd! Thank goodness our friends were there and the babies were playing and napping!

Afterwards, we decided to go out for a very late lunch to the local mongolian grill. There, it was a mad dash to the food line and then take turns holding each others' babies while the others finish eating. It justs shows us that raising a child doesn't take only two parents, it takes a village. For Daddy and Mummy, we are lucky enough to know some good friends that all just had babies too so we all get to take care of each others. Even though the parents were tired and babies were cranky, and we basically filled 1/3 of the dining room with our party, we had a great time! We just chatted and caught up with each other's lives.

Daddy Decorated The House!

As if a full-day of babies and kids was not exhuasting enough, Daddy found his Christmas spirit from within and initiated "Project Decorate House". He pulled all the boxes he could find that had our Christmas decorations in it and assembled our fake tree. Yes, we opted for the fake tree because of two reasons. 1. It helps the environment by not taking down a perfectly good healthy tree for the sake of decoration. 2. It was way cheaper! :o) hahahaha

Daddy then hung all the lights and beads on the tree. He also wrapped lit garlands around our staircase and hung our snowman wreath outside the doorway. Daddy also cleaned up all the living room mess with the numerous toys that Erik goes through with his discovery on a daily basis and vacuumed up everything.

As if this was not enough, Daddy had the foresight of not using glass ornaments this year, because ...well, one of them broke and cut Mummy's finger! Yikes! So he made a late night dash to get some safer wooden ornaments instead! So by the time Daddy stepped into bed, it was well into the "am". Sigh!

By the time Sunday morning rolled around, it was a great surprise for Erik and Mummy! The house was filled with Christmas spirit!! Yay!! Erik loved the lights and wanted to touch and feel the Christmas tree. :o) hee hee. Daddy you're the best!!

Erik-Home DIY Studio - Shot with Alien Bees

Hide-and-Seek + Chasing = Family Fun

Erik loves to "chase" us! We purchased a baby walker for Erik a few months back since we saw it at Gabriel's house and he seemed to be interested in it. Yes, we know that walkers are deemed as "unsafe" in many parents magazines and articles. However, Erik is in the walker and we are there to supervise him. So back to the "chasing" portion, Chhimi and I have been playing peek-a-boo with Erik for weeks already and now, we've expanded it into our kitchen and living room.

Daddy would "hide" in a place and then Mummy would sign and say "Where's Daddy?" in Chinese. Erik would look around and then "walk" with his walker to find Daddy. When he finds Daddy, Erik is the happiest boy ever! He would literally pitter-patter all the way from one corner to another just to be with his Daddy. Then it would be off to the mad chase. Daddy running around the kitchen, Erik giggling away and starts chasing Daddy, Mummy running around the kitchen, Erik still giggling away and starts chasing Mummy, and we repeat the whole process again. Erik really gets a good workout and shares some good laughs with us!

It's great for Mummy and Daddy too...to be kids again after a day at the office! Quite therapeutic! You guys should try it...with or with kids ;-) hahaha!

By the way, Erik even found a way to "walk" with walker onto our carpet. It takes tremendous strength on those baby legs of his to maneuver not just his own body but also the contraption! Even though he only takes a few steps into the carpet with it, it is still an accomplishment!

Does Erik Really Prefer Blondes?

Okay, the running joke for a long time is that Erik "prefers blondes". Don't remember when or why we started that but Erik usually tends to look more intense at blondes than at brunettes. But now, Mummy and Daddy are thinking this really may be a fact and not a joke any more.

Whenever we take Erik to our friends, who are blondes, he absolutely adores them, even if he has never met them before or doesn't see them on a regular basis. Erik would just give his brightest smile and just babble all-day long with them (** of course, that only happens IF Erik got a good nap or else all bets are off **).

So yesterday, when Mummy picked Erik up at Day Care, as she walked through the room scanning for Erik, where does Mummy find him? All cuddled up with his blonde teacher, Miss Kristy, in the rocking chair. When Erik realized it was me, he only gave me a half-hearted smile! WAH!! WAH!! SIGH!

And then this morning, Erik was fast asleep as Mummy was carrying him to his classroom. But as soon as he heard Miss Kristy's voice (she even whispered!), his eyes were wide awake and gave her a big smile!! Hmmmm? Hmmmm?!

Erik either prefers blondes or he is just a big flirt! Don't know which yet. Maybe Mummy and Daddy should start tracking it with an excel spreadsheet or something? :o) hahahah....just joking, we would never do that.....or would we?!

PS: Is daddy to blame if Erik likes blondes?

Future Marathon Runner & Pianist?

Future Marathon Runner??

Erik-12-03-06 (Team Brenda)

This Sunday, we took Erik out bright and early...alright, not THAT early! It was more like 10am :o) hee hee to cheer his Auntie Brenda in her first marathon! Daddy and Erik even made a sign saying "Go Brenda! You Rock!!" We arrived at the finish line and Erik was so excited in seeing all the spectators and runners wrapped in "foil blankets". It was the most amazing thing for him!

Of course, he also had a restless night due to teething. We think his other teeth are coming in! Sigh! Two nights in a row with fever and restlessness! So Erik dosed off in Daddy's Kelty pack while waiting for his Auntie B to cross the finish line.

However, it was quite exciting for Daddy and Mommy! It absolutely inspired us to want to participate in the 26.2 miles marathon, which Auntie B did in 4 Hours 17 Minutes. For a first timer, that is just absolutely amazing! WAY TO GO, Brenda! Of course, after careful consideration, Mommy and Daddy may just start with a more scheduled workout instead. :o) hahahaha

Future Pianist??
Daddy and Mommy also visited their friends, Emily & Herson a nice relaxing Sunday lunch at their house. Basically we just grabbed chinese take-out and chilled at their place. :o) hahaha. It was for Erik to get a little exposure to the piano.

Yes, we know, its probably too early for Erik to play the piano but at the Saturday program, he really enjoys "playing" the 18-key toy piano. We have an electronic 5 key piano at home and Erik loves playing with it too. Then, there's the fact that Erik really likes listening to music and would stop whatever he was doing just to listen to it. As a result, it was off to Auntie Emily's place for a little piano exposure.

It was great for Mommy & Daddy! With these visits of not being baby-oriented, we felt like ourselves again, pre-baby times. We got some good conversations going and just hung out with friends, like we used to do! As for little Erik, well, he was pretty much playing on their hardwood floors and looking at himself in their gigantic mirror! :o) hahahaha! Then Aunty Emily also played a song for Erik and that caught his attention and he wanted to bang away on the keys. Definitely have piano lessons on the list for future education ;o) hahaha!

Keep The Curry Coming!

Well, Erik is officially an Indo-Chinese baby! He had his first "Indian" meal this evening! Mummy and Daddy were out shopping in the late afternoon / early evening and decided to visit one of our favorite Indian restaurants around town. Since Erik is into chunky food already, Mummy and Daddy decided to see if Erik would take some Indian food such as Nan (clay-oven flat bread), Masala Dosa (Indian crepe), and also some Dosa Stuffing: Aloo with Haldi (Potato with Tumeric).

Erik totally enjoyed his first Indian food! He was grabbing the nan all by himself and biting little pieces at it! He just kept chomping and chomping on them as if they were the best thing since sliced bread....well, I guess for him, it really was! :o) hahahah!

He also thoroughly enjoyed the dosa and the stuffing instead. Perhaps its because it had some extra flavoring besides the baby food we've been feeding him. Of course, we also had a jar Gerber food (stage 3) for him as 'take-out' and Erik also ate it too! Then Daddy also wanted Erik to try bits of paneer (Indian cheese) but since it was made with cottage cheese, Mummy voted against it since it was made with dairy products. No supposed to have dairy products until age 1 or after.

We've finally realized that Erik doesn't like to be "forced" into eating. He wants to be independent and do it himself. As a result, Mummy and Daddy sometimes have to show an item to Erik first, put it in his hand, and then sometimes, he'll try to feed himself or allow us to pull little morsels off and feed him.

Anyways, we're just happy that he likes Indian food! Yay!

Erik Attended Austin's Birthday Bash

Erik's buddy, Austin, just turned 1 on Nov. 29 and his parents threw him a big bash this past Saturday! So of course, we just had to attend too! It turned out to be a big giant play date for babies...and toddlers too! Prior to the party, Mommy was busy wrapping birthday presents and Erik was ever-so-curious on what Mommy was doing. As a result, I used one of his existing toys and wrapped it up for him too...you know, as practice for Christmas!! Hahahah!

Austin 1st Birthday

Erik didn't know what to do about it! He picked it up and shook it. Noticed that it made a sound and was just content with leaving it the wrapper! SIGH! Then Mommy showed him that he can actually rip the paper apart and Erik attempted to chew at it instead. :o) hee hee. So basically we unwrap the toy to show him! Well, he'll get lots of practice on Christmas morning! ;o) hahaha

Anyways, birthday party was a blast for Erik. Lots of babies to play with. Erik even got a very nice hug from Jules, a 14-month girl! WhooHoo! He was also playing with lots of baby girls, Karalyn and Audrey, which he met in his new school and seemed to be getting along very well with Karalyn already! Erik is such a flirt ;o) hahaha! Or maybe Mommy is just paranoid?!

The party pretty much tired Erik out a lot. He fell fast asleep once we were in the car.