Warning: Technical Difficulties Ahead

Technical Difficulties Ahead -- to all our dear readers out there -- we will be experiencing a few technical glitches the next week or so - as we are trying to redo stuff and get babychhimi printed (www.blurb.com) for Erik.

Wave Bye-Bye

Well, the 5 days of visit from Uncle Penjo went by so quickly! On Sunday, we prepared Erik that his Uncle Jo was leaving by repeatedly saying and signing "Uncle Sit Airplane", "Uncle Bye-Bye", "Uncle Go Home". Then when his Uncle Jo said "Bye Bye" and preparing to pack his luggage in the guest room, Erik was quite concerned and walked solo from our living room, down the hallway, made a right turn, and into the guest room....all by himself!!! He wanted to spend time with his Uncle Jo!!

For the past few days, Erik got lots of 1:1 attention from his Uncle Jo! Either by playing, reading, or just plain ole' watching TV programs together! He even got fed and entertained by his uncle! It gave a nice break to Daddy and Mummy of course. Daddy finally got the opportunity to clean the kitchen and living room!! Mummy and Daddy got to watch a movie together ....okay, it was on DVD but still, uninterrupted, it was great! However, the bad part is that we all got a very bad cold, including poor Uncle Jo visiting from NYC! SIGH!

Anyhow, last night we decided that Erik and Mummy will drop Uncle Jo to the airport even though its way late and past Erik's bedtime. Still, we saw Erik's concerned look. Thus arriving at the airport, Erik was all bundled up and loving the bright lights and such. His uncle was already in line waiting for his bags to check-in. We asked Erik "Where is Uncle?"...and Erik's eyes scanned and scanned the crowd....and BINGO! He found his Uncle Jo!! All bright smile and such...he wanted to walk towards him but feeling perhaps a little shy! Erik would walk a few steps...then smile...and wave Bye-Bye! SO CUTE!

Afterwards, it was time to say Good-Bye. As the last kisses and hugs were given, Erik's face turned into concerned. His Uncle Jo gave one last squeeze and hug to Erik and walked towards to escalator to his gate. As his uncle was leaving, Erik gave him a flying kiss and waved bye-bye...but at the same time, Erik called out for his uncle ever so soft! Our poor little guy is missing his uncle already!! SIGH! Thus one last flying kisses all around...and uncle was off to NYC and we are a family of 3 again and Erik fell asleep in the car on the way home.

Me and My Uncle "Jo"

Chhimi's little brother, Penjo (aka "Jo"), arrived late night Tuesday from NYC. We've been preparing Erik verbally the week prior that his uncle is coming for a visit. Thus in the middle of Erik's dinner, in walks Daddy and then a "strange man" behind him. He didn't know what to think of this "stranger" and really just gawked at his uncle Jo for a very long time.

However, within an hour, Erik felt at ease and wanted to play with his Uncle! He wanted to show him all of his favorite things like Books (of course!). Erik showed him his favorite Dora Dora book and started signing all the things he knows. Uncle Jo was pretty much taken by surprised that a 1 year old could communicate so effectively and so well...and had to brag to his friends back in NYC about his smart little nephew. Hahahaha! Too funny! Especially when some of his friends are also expecting parents too!

It was already past 10pm at this time...way past Erik's bedtime but Erik was way too excited and wanted to play with his Uncle Jo. They went upstairs and Erik showed him his room and all the animals on the wall! Too cute! Then Erik wanted to play "Peek-A-Boo" with his Uncle. It's just too adorable to see our son being so open, especially when he hasn't seen his uncle since he was about 1-2 months old!! They bonded pretty quickly!

Milestone – Proud Papa & Mama – My Son can do it

If you have been reading along about our ups and downs with our son – then you must have known that we (Grandma) have been teaching Erik to poop since he was a week old. (See old post) There have been some lapses in time where we were just too tired or we let him poop in the diaper. (Flying – driving to Canada and days where both our backs are too tired to hold Erik and train him to poop)

Well lately it has been a little tiring for both of us to hold Erik up while he poops so we have been placing him on his potty the first two days Erik just went number 1 – But today our dearest son went Number 2 all by himself – after going through 4 books (Erik likes to read his book while he poops). We will see if this continues on... Stay tuned for more awesome poopy stories about our son.For potty recomendations - we don't recommend the one we have no matter how you think that this is the lucky potty - I recommend getting the one with a tall pee splash guard thingie (Check out Baby Bjorn) - especially if you have a boy (PS on that note -- your little guy will now have "total-access" to his weewee)

Whew! Celebrating a one-year old is hard work!

Mummy and Daddy wanted to celebrate Erik's first birthday in a special way. So Mummy stayed up into the wee hours baking infant/toddler friendly banana cupcake (basically, stripping out all the sugar and oil from the recipes and substituting with apple sauce instead). Both Mummy and Daddy took the day off from work to celebrate our little guy's special day.

Celebration @ School
We let Erik sleep in a bit more than usual and really just took our morning leisurely. Afterwards, it was off to a mid-morning / afternoon cupcake celebration at Erik's school. We brought in our homemade cupcakes and had Erik settle into the Toddler Room (where majority of his buddies are at). All the teachers helped out by serving the cupcakes, in 1/2, for each of the toddlers. Soooo cute!!

Erik wasn't really into the cupcake eating BUT all his buddies were! Some of them even ate more than their own 1/2! Hahahaha! Afterwards, it was out to the playgrounds again and Erik got to play with the toddlers, of course, with mommy and daddy in a safe distance. He felt comfortable and wanted to run and play with the other kids!

Birthday Shopping
After the 1 hour play time at school, it was off to a little birthday shopping. Mummy and Daddy felt that Erik needed some new tennis shoes since his current white ones were pretty much worn out (seriously, Erik put some mileage in those shoes!). So we got to hit a couple of kiddie stores such as Stride Rite, Osh Kosh, Carter's, etc.

Lunch with Mummy and Daddy
Then it was off to a local chinese restaurant for some grub! This is where our little Erik just conked out and slept for a whole hour to rest his energy up. He woke up about 3/4 way of our meal demanding for some noodles. Thus, we waited until he ate his share of yummy greasy noodles and had some egg drop soup too.

Off to the Zoo!
We went straight our local nearby attraction where its a toddler-kid park where the theme is based off of Mother Goose' nursery rhyme. Kind of interesting but a lot of the things were too big for Erik to try. But it didn't stop him! He went on a few slides, like Jack and the Bean Stalk slide, or Jack & Jill went up the hill slide, etc ...which he just LOVES!

He crawled a few tunnels and smiled at his parents lovingly. SIGH! Absolutely melted our hearts! He also got to see lots of farm animals like "The Three Little Pigs" (really, they weren't little at all!), some ducks swimming in the makeshift "river", Billy Goats, etc. Erik was pretty excited about that.

As if that didn't make Erik's parents tired enough, it was off to the zoo too! He got to see the pink flamingos and the new penguins! Of course, the main attraction wasn't really the animals...but it was the yellow toy truck that Erik LOVES to ride in. We finally got some change from a fellow zoo visiter and Erik got to ride his first truck all by himself!!

Now that makes a wonderful first birthday! Time with friends, teachers, and most important, parents! :o) hahahah!

Erik's First Birthday

Happy 1st Birthday, My Darling Son!!!

Happy 1st Birthday to my little Erik!!! Mummy cannot believe that it was exactly 1 year ago that you were born and both Mummy and Daddy got to hold you for the very first time. We love you so much!!!

For the past couple of nights, it hasn't been easy as Erik is now teething again. He is drooling like mad and has been waking up every 1/2 hour during the night. Usually, nursing him calms him down and he drifts back asleep happy and content. However, teething this time around is especially hard on him and he doesn't even want to nurse! The one secret weapon that mummy and daddy uses...and nope...doesn't want anything to do with it! So basically, Mummy and Daddy rotates on who gets to carry him and rock him back to sleep. SIGH! We're exhausted!

However, it doesn't stop us from celebrating. Mummy and Daddy are taking the day off to spend time with Erik. Mummy is staying up in the wee-hours to bake infant-toddler friendly cupcakes to bring to Erik's school to share with all his buddies. Daddy has been cleaning up the house like mad (THANKS DADDY!). We ordered a couple of gifts for Erik but that will have to come next week since Mummy and Daddy didn't finalize our gifts until this weekend! Hahaha!

So a little bit of reflection from Mummy's side.

The first year journey has been an amazing one. Erik makes Daddy and Mummy so happy most of the time (~98%), especially when he smiles. He also makes us sad at times, like when he had his first accident of falling on the floor, twice in one day. Mummy bawled like a river! He also makes us have more patience on things, as in taking time out to actually eat instead of just stuffing our faces within 5 minutes and call it a meal. Erik makes Daddy cook home-cooked food like mad and Daddy absolutely loves it! We love our "Baby Chhimi" aka Erik!!

Happy 1st Birthday, our darling son!!! Thanks for coming into our lives and showing us unconditional love!

Milk & Cookies...Anyone?

Mummy thought the cutest thing happened so she must blog about it! Usually dropping Erik off to day care is pretty hectic and Erik doesn't like it because he's going through separation anxiety. It breaks both Daddy and Mummy's heart to see him cry :o(.

Today was no different. He was very clingy, didn't want to be put on the floor, didn't want to stand by himself next to the dining table (where all of his little buddies were eating and munching away), didn't want to do anything except be held. Even then, sometimes, hix anxiety is so overwhelming for Erik that it gets the best of him.

Anyhow, in order to comfort Erik, Mummy gave him one of those organic vanilla cookies but it still didn't comfort our little guy. SIGH! Mummy tried everything else...distractions with his little buddies, books, toys, etc. Nothing worked. Last resort...the boob! Erik was nursing fine...then he remembered he still had a cookie in his hand and pulled away...put the whole cookie in his mouth. Mummy thought ...okay, Erik's done with nursing....but OH NO! he wasn't. It was munch munch (still with crumbled cookie in his mouth)...and then signing milk milk". Thus Erik had his first experience of Cookies & Milk today!! Hahahah!!! Mummy thought it was so cute!

Milestone Updates: Approaching the 1 Year mark!

Daddy and Mummy are quite excited about Erik turning 1 pretty soon, exactly 7 days to go. It has absolutely been a beautiful journey growing with our son this year. We really couldn't ask for anything more, to be able to look at his smiling (and sometimes crying) face every day and to tell him that we love him "yesterday, today, and tomorrow, too". SIGH!!

Well, this is just an update on some milestones that Erik has achieved. Mummy tries to "document" as much as possible since short-term memory gap sometimes fade away so fast. It's not so much bragging as in absolute amazement on what a toddler mind can do! Within 1 year of coming into this chaotic world of ours, Erik demonstrates on a daily basis on how much he has learned. Mummy and Daddy wondered if we ever did something like this too?!

NOTE TO SELF: Take more pictures and more videos!

Climbing
On April Fool's Day, Erik figured out how to climb. He's been climbing the stairs for a long time already, since January 2007 (thanks to his little buddy Ryan with an imprompu stair racing). However, tonight, Erik figured out how to climb the ottoman, which is over 1/2 of his height. He applied the concept of climbing stairs with holding onto the edge...and Voila!..he's on top of the world...eh, we mean Ottoman and Erik is just smiling his little mischievous smile and clapping his hands! Hahaha!

This scared the living #@%! out of Mummy and Daddy. As one minute we were happily watching TV and letting our son explore the entire "blocked off" living room...and the next, he has found an escape from the enclosement!!

More Signing
Mummy has been busily signing whatever she could to Erik and Erik really has taken off with the signing bit! He loves animals and just loves his Animal-Themed room (Thanks Daddy!!). As a result, Mummy took those opportunities of play-time into also learning time.

Erik can sign the following now:

• Fish - He's been doing this but now the sign is much more distinct
• Dog - Again, he's been doing it but much more meaningful now...plus he says "DOG" too
• Monkey - This is a new sign as he loves looking into his room and seeing the monkey swinging in the tree, also in his bathroom curtain, and also "Boots" from Dora Dora
• Bear - He does the sign but he insists by saying "Dog"--so Mummy needs to work on this one
• Duck - He used to say "Jer Jer", which means bird in Cantonese; however, now he has come the conclusion that all fowl must be ducks...thus signing and saying "DUCK"
• Turtle - Mummy is very proud of this one because Turtle is quite hard to do because it takes both hands and into a certain gesture but he figured it out on the first try! Erik definitely thinks a lot, which is good. At the same time, Erik also mixes this sign up with Frog...guess its because of the green! Hahaha!
• More - Mummy did more for many many months but it wasn't until Mummy changed it to the modified version that Erik picked it up. Guess it was much easier since he already knew "round and round the garden" and it looked the same to him.

Although he doesn't do the signs back to Mummy or Daddy yet but he does know them when we sign it: Daddy, Mummy, Where, Water, Eat, and Bath. We're trying to introduce more signs to him like Lion, Elephant, Giraffe, Frog, Alligator (basically all the animals in his bedroom), and also things like Cookie, Thank You, Toilet (this one is quite important)..instead of saying the sign in English, we say it in Cantonese....but sometimes, Erik also picks up the English a lot easier...SIGH!

Playing Peek-A-Boo

This one, Erik initiates the play! It is a social achiement that we could be proud of. Once Erik smiles at us with a little hint of twinkle in those eyes...he makes a mad dash to his favorite "hiding place"...the mesh bed side boarder, presses his face to the mesh until his nose is almost flat with his eyes shut...then he'd open those beautiful eyes of his...and expects a "Boo" from either Mummy or Daddy. Oh we had lots of fun playing Peek-A-Boo! Mummy would hide on the side of the bed, and Erik would cruise over to the hiding spot and just smile as if "Haha, I got ya! Now my turn!" He would then do another mad dash to his hiding spot!

Of course, Peak-A-Boo is not limited to just the bedroom and running around. No way! Erik figured out that he can put almost anything over his head (i.e. blanket, towel, ...even a plastic see through plate ...yes...with food in it!) and the game continues!

Playing in the Park

Erik loves the park. He loves walking on the grass and sometimes, he would just sit and explore the grassy meadows. At least he can appreciate nature! Erik also loves swinging in the bucket swing. He's been doing this since about 4-5 months old (with a lovely pillow in the back supporting him). However for the last couple of weeks, Mummy and Daddy have slowly taken the pillow away and Erik figured out how to grab the chains for support! WhooHoo! Again, just amazing how resourceful our little guy can be!

Erik also loves going onto the slides, he goes on this stomach. Sometimes head first coming down or sometimes feet first. We love seeing that toothy grin of his as if filled with amazement at what gravity could do! Hahaha!

Reading

Our son absolutely loves to "read". He loves looking at books and following his tiny fingers over the words. We really hope this behavior follows him through as he grows older since Mummy and Daddy (mostly Daddy) loves to read! Books are really Erik's favorite toys! At times, he'd wake up bright-eyed in the morning signing every word he knows...and to only crawl to his favorite animal book to sit and flip the pages to "read". Really, nothing calms him down more than a good book!