babyChhimi-banner.gif

Sunday, July 29, 2007

Our Weekend: Started Out Great Ended Up Bad

Well, as you can tell with our title, something happened but let at least share the good stuff first because let's face it. We all need something "Happy" to read on Monday. :o)

Friday Early-Evening: Ice Cream Social and Mummy & Son Date
Daddy and Mummy attended to Erik's school ice cream social. The school holds it once a year for all the parents but since it was right in the middle of summer, lots of parents and kiddies are on vacation (all 3 of our friends from the playgroup). It's still nice though. Daddy took "vacation time" in order to attend it and play with Erik at school. Its really special for Daddy to make the long 30-45 minute drive in rush hour so its always appreciated.

Then, for the next few weeks, Mummy will become a "single" mom on Friday evenings. Daddy has decided to take up a studio photography class. To be honest, I was really looking forward to this opportunity to be with my son. I don't have to share him with anybody. I don't have any distractions (i.e. work) on a Friday night so 100% of my attention is for him.

Erik was a treat! He is into the whiny "MINE" toddler stage. SIGH! However, when he chooses to be cute and cuddly, Mummy just melts. We got to read books when we rested a little bit at home. Then Mummy got to take him to the water park all by herself. We played chase around the water park. It was just wonderful!

Then, Mummy was a bit of a dare-devil (eh, in parenting terms at least). Mummy decided that she and Erik shall go out on a Mummy & Son date. Never too early to start such a tradition, right?! It was just Erik and Mummy, table for 2 at the local chain american restaurant. Erik behaved like a complete gentlemen. He scribbled his way with colors, shared the crayons (of course, he also yanked it out of Mummy's hands and said "MINE" "MINE" "MINE"), patient enough to wait for his food (i.e. 5 minutes).

We had great Mummy and Son conversations, like "where do you see a duck?" and Erik would point to a poster of Donald Duck LOL. Oh the mental connection was deep, the next topic was "where is a dog?" and Erik would point to a poster with 101 dalmations 2 tables behind us Hahhaah! We shared a Grilled Cheese Sandwich, French Fries, and even Parmesean Tilapia. This is one of the rare times where Erik was on an eating frenzy and was stuffing himself almost 1/2 basket of fries (YIKES! Junky Fastfood, I know!) but he also ate Tilapia (one of his preferred foods)...so its all about balance. We had a great Friday night!


Saturday: Visiting Our Blog Stalkers
This Saturday was one of the nice relaxing ones that Mummy and Daddy yearn for. Its not that we didn't do anything, quite the contrare, but the fact that it was spent with good company was well worth it. We shall title our Saturday as "Visits with our Blog Stalkers". You know who you are ;o) Hahahaha

Early Saturday morning, after feeding Erik, of courseDaddy had to pack up our 2 very old CRT monitors (you know, the ones that take up all your desk and is not as sleek nor cool as the flat panels you'd see in the latest gadget stores) for recycling. Mummy's work hosted a great electronic recycle day so we took that opportunity to get rid of "junk".

Afterwards, we headed out to the local BK (oh yeah, the greatest and trendiest hang outs for parents)...aka Burger King with a Playplace! Yeah, while we sipped on our BK Cup of Joe, Erik was head over heels in their outdoor play area. The signed distinctly said for children 48" and under but um...well, Mummy and Daddy followed Erik into the play area anyways Hahahah! Well, our excuse was he's a toddler...not a little kid yet..so we have to be safe!

Erik played in the blue plastic tunnel slide and in a little padded area with padded lightweight poles hanging on top of the very short ceiling. Mummy had to get in there and Erik was going crazy and wild. He'd touched every single pole and proclaimed that it was his. Sheesh! He'd "swing" from one pole to another thinking he was a monkey. He even pounded on the mesh fence when Daddy peered in from the outside LOL! Then it was Daddy's turn, Daddy did a chase inside the tunnel with Erik! Picture this please a 200+ lb guy of about 68-69" tall in a plastic playstructure! Daddy really was testing its weight limit! They even made it to the SECOND floor! YIKES! But Daddy and Erik had a blast!

Then, it was on our 30 minute drive to one of our oldest friends. It's Mummy's friends from way back in the college hay days. We shall call them "Blog Stalker Couple #1": Irma and Alonzo. We have not seen them for quite a while and they were one of the first set of friends to greet and meet Erik when he was born. Quite precious for Erik to visit all his fans, now, right?! We shared a lovely luncheon, caught up with our exciting lives, and Erik was pretty much wrecking their whole house. YIKES!

Erik would run from one sitting room to another. Mummy and Daddy's house doesn't have that much space (cuz of Erik's toys!) so Erik was exploring this new environment called "Organized Home" or "Clean Home" or "Extra Clean Home" LOL! It was great! Tio Alonzo had to run after Erik many times, including playing chase around and around the dining table. Erik actually got frustrated that he couldn't catch up to his more than 6' tall Tio...so Tia Irma had to tell Alonzo to stop and let Erik catch him. Hahahah! Afterwards, it was a round of High 5's for a job well done. :o) He was really lapping into all this attention he got. Tia Irma even washed strawberries and grapes for Erik to munch on!!

Then, it was off to the local IKEA store to check out some neat stuff for Erik. Basically play things for our already over-crowded living room. SIGH! There, Erik was running around even more in the children's section and we ran into another pair of our friends (non-stalkers). Their little girl of 10 months wanted to play with Erik, so cute! He checked on all the little beds and pretended to sleep in them. Erik even sat on their toddler version of an armchair. Erik ran in and out of the plastic strip "tunnel" thinking it was the greatest thing he ever saw. He was just full of energy still, can't believe it! Of course, after 20 minutes of "extreme" toddler play, Erik crashed and slept in Daddy's arms for the rest of the way.

As if our day hasn't done enough visits, Mummy and Daddy decided to visit our friends, we'll call them "Blog Stalker #2": Shelby, Russ and their little girl Makena. Daddy had taken up some family portraits of them the other day and wanted to drop some prints off for them. Erik got to see Fins their little pup...just the cutest. The pup was locked in the sunroom and Erik was in the kitchen window peering out and he'd sign and say "DOG". He was a little scared but after warming up a bit, he'd run up to the window a little smooch on it, as if giving Fins a kiss LOL! Too Cute!

He was really making himself at home in their kitchen. Grabbing all the ride toys, standing up on them, pushing the walking cart here and there. Makena woke up from her nap and she smiled at Erik with those bright blue eyes and lovely blond curls! BUT what does our son do?! Nothing?! Not even a single flirt to offer her the toys he was playing on. Sheesh! Of course, then our son signed for "Food", as if we did not feed him! How embarrassing ;o) We do feed him, he ate so well that Mummy and Daddy couldn't believe it for the past 2 days! However, Shelby immediately offered Erik one of his all-time favorite treat: Banana! Mmmmm! Yummy!

Finally, after a whole day outside, we arrived home. Think we were going to rest?! Oh no, not at all. Mummy's parents came over for a visit! Grandma Wai and Grandpa Tik decided that they want to visit Erik and see how he is. They even made delicous home-made soup for our Erik, which he just lapped up of more than 2/3 cup, plus dinner! WOW! DOUBLE-WOW! Erik melted Grandma Wai's heart by calling her "Po Po" in Cantonese, which means Maternal Grandma :o) hee hee. Of course, Grandpa Tik had another motive for visiting, he dugged out one of our winter melon plants to take it home GASP! Must report to Grandpa Tom on this act!! Anyways, Erik really enjoyed their company, so much that when it was time for them to leave, Erik cried and didn't want to let go of Grandma Wai, he had to go outside the door and to see them off. Mummy had to explain that his grandparnets had to sit in the car and to drive home. He waved bye-bye to them and it was finally off to bed!! :o)

Sunday: Freak Accident On The Stairs
Alright, this is the BAD part of the weekend! Erik woke up way early on a Sunday morning around 7:00am. Daddy did all the usual morning routine with Erik like sitting on the "magic potty", brushing his teeth, washing Erik's face, etc. Then, Mummy was on her way with Erik downstairs for breakfast time. As if we were in a complete cartoon where the victim slips on a banana peel and ends up in a horrible tumble. Well, there were NO banana peel and Mummy still doesn't know what the hell happened!

We bounded down the stairs and in mid-way, Mummy just slipped!! Holding onto Erik tightly in her right hand, it was all downhill from there. No stopping! Mummy literally bounced 4-5 times before landing hard on her tailbone in our tile entry way! Erik screaming his head off in agony. Mummy didn't land on top of him but something was wrong. He didn't hit his head on the rails but still, something was wrong. Daddy immediately came running and found Mummy and Erik down. SIGH! It was horrible. Mummy tried nursing Erik but he wouldn't stop crying. We tried to console him and still not crying. After a good 30 minutes of just holding him, he had calm down. We ran down the list of areas that we Erik would've gotten hurt on and asked and signed, "where are you hurt?" "Does your head hurt?" "Does your neck hurt?" Nothing! Erik just wanted a lot of holding, of course, that's more logical.

Then, we tried to place him on his feet and Daddy saw it. It was Erik's left leg. He couldn't put any weight on it :o( WAH! WAH! Every time he did, he would cry in agony. Oh God! Horrible thoughts rushed through us...really Parenting is full of worries but its also full of PANICKING as well! We immediately drove Erik to his doctor's office since they had an after-hours/weekend on-call pediatrician.

We were hoping that by some miracle, Erik's leg would be okay by the time we got there but no such luck! The pediatrican examined him and found that his left leg/shin/ankle was a bit swollen and that he needed X-Rays of his entire left hip and downwards. Off to the next door hospital (where Erik was born) to their X-Ray lab. Got the X-Rays and waited for a dreadful 20 minutes for a Bone Doctor to read the charts to see if there were any broken bones or fractures! Mummy at this time feels like $#!T and guilt and like "WHAT the #@%! happened that made Mummy slip and fall?! Daddy was freaking emotional and worried to death about Erik. CALM was definitely NOT the word to describe us. The results came back NEGATIVE. WHEW! No broken bones!

However, Erik still can't put any pressure on his left leg yet! Called the pediatrician again, and basically Erik will have be on Motrin round the clock and let him guide his own activities. Don't even know where to ice him down. Is it a sprain?! Not even 16 months old yet, and he gets a sprain because of Mummy's clumsiness WAH!!!! WAH!!!! One of Daddy's friend was supposed to come visit and stay for part of the week, Tia Emily, but Daddy had to call and delay her arrival since our focus was all about Erik at that point.

For the rest of the Sunday, it was pretty much crappy! As an active toddler, he really wanted to walk and run and do all his boy stuff. But he couldn't. Every time he tried, he would wince in agony. Daddy would then move stuff in front of him and then Erik just wanted to sit down on big couch and watch TV instead. SIGH! We then tried to do "water therapy" by going to our friend's house to swim in their pool to see if that would brighten Erik up a little bit to be mobile yet not put any weight on his left leg. Pretty much the crappiest Sundays ever!! Mummy will be taking Erik into the doctor's office again for a 24-hour follow-up to see what else we can do or whether they need more XRays on the feet area instead.

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Ay Wa U

On Monday, Erik was busy staying awake late into the night and spending some extra loving minutes with his grandparents before they leave for New York to visit Erik's Uncle Jo. When Erik couldn't take it anymore...being so tired from his day's of work at school (hey, being a toddler is hard work!), he'd rubbed his eyes and run (screaming) for Mommy (Translation: I want to nurse to sleep N.O.W!)

As Mommy, Erik, and Daddy lay in bed to try to sleep. Erik made the mental connection that "Ba Ba" (Chinese) means Daddy. He'd turned to Daddy and say "Ba Ba (pause) Daddy" and smiled LOL! Our little smartie pants! So, Mommy asked Erik to say "I Love You, Daddy" to his best friend, Daddy, of course!. Well, it came out to be "Ay Wa U, Daddy" but that was enough to send Daddy the mushiest feeling ever and a round of great big hugs and squeezes to our darling son!

SIGH! "Ay Wa U" is a beautiful thing!

Monday, July 23, 2007

Singing & Dancing To His Own Tune

Our little Erik has been experimenting with his vocals lately. He loves hearing songs and definitely loves dancing to any tune. Erik's teachers would comment on how he would be the only one in class applauding his "music teacher" after every single song with his jaws opened in awe of what had just happened. :o) Our little guy loves music!

Well, for the past few weeks, it probably started in July, Erik has been singing consistently to himself. We'll be changing his diapers and then Erik would bellow out his version of "itsy bitsy spider" with all the hand movements and such. We'll be sitting down and brushing our teeth (**because its never safe to run around with a toothbrush**), and Erik would take the toothbrush out of his mouth and start singing "Happy Birthday" (comes out kinda like hoppy biifday) but the tune was definitely there!

The latest weekend song Erik learned was "More than I can say" by Leo Sayer, thanks to Daddy! Daddy would sing the first verse only "Whoa Whoa Yea Yea...I love you more than I can say....I'll love you twice as much tomorrow...Whoa Whoa love you more than I can say". Erik just LOVES this one...he started singing it all by himself (at least the first line of lyric) when he was in the bathtub. We were just so surprised...so then it became a spontaneous Family Karaoke Bath Night LOL! Daddy would sing and then point to Erik...and he'd finish (well, he'd add in the "Yea Yea" part). Mommy would go and then point to Erik...and gain he'd sing "whoa whoa yea yea" Too darn cute!

Now is Erik going to be the next American Idol?! No clue! But America...start your Erik Ma fan-club now ;o) Hahahah!

**Reminder to Mummy and Daddy: Must get DV tape tonight to record Erik's singing sensation **

Saturday, July 21, 2007

Saturday Weekend with Mom & Dad

I guess Daddy his found his medium to communicate on this blog :D

Thursday, July 19, 2007

Some of Erik buddies from the photo-shoot more to come



Labels:

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Baby Photo Shoot

One of the latest pictures of Erik that Mummy just adores.



Daddy just held a toddler photo shoot this past Sunday at one of our friend's place and brought over all his photography equipment. Erik wasn't really into the photo taking so not a lot of pics of Erik but the above photo makes up for it!

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

A Wonderful Birthday!

Amidst all the chaos in life, my lovely husband and son could somehow instill such happiness for me...at least on my birthday :o), and along with the help of my wonderful in-laws.

Daddy surprised Mummy with a lovely breakfast with brewed coffee! Yay! Simple but yet unexpected, especially since Mummy is just extremely stressed over her upcoming final exam in Financial Management. Juggling a toddler, full-time work, hubby, and school along with non-profit volunteer work is nearly freaking impossible...but that's a whole different blog entry and for another blog! Anyways, the morning was just lovely and then Daddy brings another surprised with a custom made calendar filled with photos of our little family! Gosh, it was very nice! As if that wasn't enough, my talented graphic designer of a hubby made magazine cover shoots for me as well, which was posted in the previous blog entry! Such a crazy wacky guy!!

After that, it was a dash off to school with Erik and work for Mummy. However, Mummy finds a nice little surprise package in the car. This time, its from Grandma Katy and Grandpa Tom! A sweet box of chocolates with a special red envelope attached! Red envelopes are also known as "Lucky Money" or in Cantonese its called "Lai See". Very thoughtful of my in-laws!!

The day was progressing just fine. No big deal. Work is work. Mummy went out with one of her girlfriends to the local Italian eatery for lunch. That's it. Nothing out of the ordinary. Coming home was the grand finale to the their conjured surprise.

Grandma Katy and Grandpa Tom whipped out a whole bunch of different Indian-type snack food including homemade Samosas, Singharas, potato cakes, naans, Mmmmmm! They even baked a sponge cake for Mummy! Very sweet!!! As if all that hard homemade work wasn't enough, after dinner, Daddy whipped out a very beautiful yet quirky birthday cake...as our dear Erik gleefully shouted "Bifdee keek"..."Bifdee keek", as in Birthday Cake!! The birthday song was sung, photos were taken...and my little Erik asked for more and more cake! LOL! Daddy even showed Erik how to lick the dessert plate clean. Sheesh!

It was a grand birthday celebration!! Thanks a lot Daddy, Erik, Grandma Katy, and Grandpa Tom for such a festive birthday! It was all very very kind and thoughtful!

Happy Birthday Mommy


Labels:

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Stealing this from Parenting Magazine Website

Monday, July 09, 2007

Another Milestone - Erik's 1st Visit to the Dentist



I am sure Mummy will have a lot to say.

Sweet Little Toddler Milestones

Our sweet son is growing up so fast and learning at an exponential rate that is quite amazing for us to witness! Daddy and Mommy is just proud of our little guy. Yet at the same time, we are sadden to know he's not a baby any more but already into his toddler stage. Sometimes Erik would like to cuddle but other times, he just wants to play by himself. SIGH!

Anyways, here's a list of things Erik can do. It's for us to remember his little milestones.

  • Loves to sing and be sung to
    Mommy would sing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" in Cantonese (a made-up translated version) and at different verses, Erik would chime in with a word here and there. He can also sing to "Row Row Row Your Boat", and a Sesame Nummy Nummy Song. Daddy loves to do Old Macdonald with Erik and Daddy will do a slight pause on "and Old Macdonald had a...." and Erik will finish with some of his favorite animals like "Duck, Dog, Horse, Sheep, etc". LOL!

  • Knows His Bodyparts

    Thanks to singing, Erik also knows "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes" in both English and a made-up translated Cantonese version for his body parts! It's just amazing that Erik knows exactly where his body parts are at when asked. Sometimes he'll even sing along and especially loves it when Daddy gets goofy with the knees and toes part! Plus Daddy has been teaching him toes since he was a small baby thanks to "Mimi's bath" from Baby Einstein. Then with the added help of Grandpa Tom and Grandma Katy always asking Erik his body parts! hee hee


  • Can Say Many Words - Adding to the previous list

    Banana in English
    Backpack in English (thanks to Dora Dora the Explorer)
    Map in English (again, Dora Dora)
    Carte in French (Dora Dora again)
    Flower in Cantonese
    Pig in Cantonese
    Food in Cantonese (as in eat mum-mum...Erik says mum-mum)
    Tree in Cantonese
    Cheese in Cantonese/English (they sound the same!)
    Mine in English (sigh! the toddler age of "everything is mine!")


  • Likes To Be A Little Helper

    Mummy is proud of this one but Daddy says it hinders Erik's creativity. SIGH! Anyways, Erik can put his shoes in place in the little red wagon near the door steps (Thanks Connie & Ed, this one really cool for storage!). He'll also put his dirty clothes in his IKEA snake mesh hamper before bath (as long as Mummy shows him. He'll also put away toys to proper places and throws away his trash (as long as Mummy shows him). Plus he will also take things to Grandpa and Grandma when asked, like a bottle of water. Erik just likes to help out ...hee hee...for now at least!


  • Does Animal Sounds

    At school and at home, we like to do animal sounds. Chinese sounds are similar yet different than american sounds but Erik can still get them. Erik can do cock-a-doodle doo for rooster. It's very cute hearing him say it! He can also do sheep, dog, cat, horse sounds.


  • Sign Language

    He's at the point of combining signs now, which is awesome! Erik will specifically asked for "more milk" by signing and saying. He has also picked up on verbs instead of just nouns or objects. For example, he knows "Eating", "Going to Toilet", "Sitting". Mummy and Daddy will have to research some more to teach and sign to Erik! We've been adding more signs for Erik and he picks it up so fast that Mummy and Daddy can't keep up at times! SIGH! Our brain is old!


  • Imaginative Play

    Erik loves to pick up the phone and pretend he's talking to somebody. So mummy and daddy sometimes join in on the fun! We'll have conversations with our son over the telephone even though we're face to face! Hahaha! BTW, telephone could be our remote control or even our light & fan control too! Hahaha!

    Erik also likes to hop on his "Dora Dora pirate ship" and wave bye bye to us as he "sails away"....and then greets us again as he "docks". He'll do this consecutively and loves it when we welcome him home with hugs and kisses! Hee hee!
  • Sunday, July 08, 2007

    We Hate Bees!


    Friday is a day that Mommy and Daddy look forward to every week! Its the end of the week and we know that we get to spend the next 48+ hours with Erik! We love spending time with our son! However, this past Friday was one of the worst evenings!!

    Our "weekend" was progressing just fine especially since Erik was eating so nicely at dinner (if you didn't know already, our son is a very picky eater and rarely eats 3 good meals...as the Doctor says, our goal for him is to eat one good meal a day). At the dinner table, Erik ate almost whole chicken drumstick all by himself...he was really having a good time with it too!

    After dinner, Daddy decided that we can fill up our new toddler inflatable pool (its a froggie pool with sprinkling waters) for Erik to play in. While Daddy, Mummy, and Grandpa Tom were doing that, Grandma Katy and Erik were playing near the sand/water table. Grandma Katy was busy looking at somewhere else for just a few seconds. Well, it was literally less than 15 seconds for Mummy to notice that Erik was about to eat something and then asked him to "LET GO" of his hands. As soon as he did, in the mere split seconds of a glance, I heard a big wail from Erik! His face was red in agony!! Then we saw a bee fly itself away...(not too far though...since it was critically injured from losing its stinger!)

    Mummy immediately held Erik for dear life and asked him where he was hurting. He signs the word "pain" pretty well so Mummy asked whether his ears were hurting, were his neck hurting, and ran down a short list. Mummy inspected Erik on his face, neck, but couldn't find anything that resembled a stinger. So we thought maybe Erik just got spooked and continued on with our toddler pool adventure.

    After playing in the pool for about 5-10 minutes, Mummy looked at Erik again...and our poor baby's lip were swollen to twice its size!! OMG! Mummy broke down from there and was pretty much in panic mode. All Mummy could think of was allergic reaction to the bee venom and whether or not Erik would be okay, especially when his lips were getting more swollen by the second!! We immediately got inside the house, changed Erik and was on our way the the pediatrician's office. UGH! Not a Friday evening we imagined of having! It would've been to the ER if Mummy had it her way but Daddy was the calm one and he even looked up bee stings and such online to see any remedies. Mummy spotted the tiny stinger but there wasn't a lead for her to take it out.

    By the time we arrived at the Doctor's office, Erik was fast asleep and his upper lip has gone down in size. The doctor inspected it and said there was nothing she could do but to let the body takes its natural process. She couldn't even spot the stinger and Mummy and Daddy had to point it out UGH!...but doctor said that since Erik's reaction hasn't worsten but gotten better within 20 minutes (during the drive), then she's not worried that he's allergic to the bee venom and it won't get worse from here. Eh, good to know!! Mummy hasn't had a bee sting before so this was crazy! Then to get the so-called stinger out, the body itself should be able to push it out instead of trying to pick at it when there's no lead to catch onto. UGH! What a Friday night! Thus, we hate bees!!

    **Side Note**

    Thinking back of the incident of Erik holding the bee. We doubt he was going to "eat" the bee per se. However, Erik is very affectionate and has been giving kisses to a lot of things. In addition, at school, its Bug & Insect Month, and the teachers have commented that when Erik was coloring a Preying Mantis, he actually gave it a kiss. So, we think Erik caught the bee in his hand (have NO clue how?!) and was trying to give his little newfound bug friend a kiss...SIGH!

    Friday, July 06, 2007

    What Grandparents Wouldn't Do For Their Grandson!

    This month at Erik's school is BUG & INSECT month! In Erik's classroom, all parents are encouraged to bring in bugs to show to the toddlers! Well, upon hearing this request, Daddy was super excited since he really is the "master of bugs & insects"...at least as a child!

    For the 4th of July, the homework for the family was to catch bugs! LOL! Grandma Katy caught a household fly first! Captured it into an old smucker's jelly jar. Daddy even gave the fly a little piece of apple to hold out its hunger?! Hahahah! See, how compassionate we are?! LOL!

    Then, Grandpa Tom was outback (basically in our backyard) and found a praying mantis. All of a sudden, the fly was let go and the praying mantis was captured! Daddy brought the praying mantis in the next morning and all the kids loved it! The teachers were happy and even let the bug crawl all over them to show the toddlers that some bugs are not harmful (umm....but still gross for mommy!).

    This Friday morning, Mommy found a tiny spider (since we got a request from the head teacher) but Daddy accidently...um...sent it to spider heaven! Thus Grandpa Tom and Grandma Katy started a backyard scavenger hunt, this morning, just right after breakfast. So instead, Erik got to bring in a tiny little moth instead! Hahahah!

    SIGH! Erik is pretty lucky not just to have involved parents but to also have involved grandparents as well! I think he knows this as well since he gave Grandpa Tom an extra squeeze hug and kiss this morning before going to school.

    Thursday, July 05, 2007

    well nothing babychhimi related of sorts -- more like daddy was missing his creativeness



    Tuesday, July 03, 2007

    Towel

    Smilin Away