Finger Lickin' Good

We went to the Hawaiian Festival at Esther Short Park in Vancouver today (hard to believe I actually ventured to Vancouver on a non-work related activity). The lines for Hawaiian food were too long, so Dae and I set up a blanket and ate corndogs and Kazakh/Uzbek food from the Farmer's Market....Leelee ate his fist, which is his food of choice lately.

Notice his "Aloha" shirt for the occasion

This morning, Dae, inexplicably, decided to take Leelee to his vascular conference from 8-10am at the hospital. He said he was a dream and "slept through the whole seminar...like father, like son" (just terrible). He took a picture on his phone to document Christian's first educational seminar.

Swim Lessons, Part II

I'd like to say we've made some progress in his second swim lesson, however the pictures below speak for themselves!

I think he's getting there. Even took a dip underwater by the end of the session and did spectacularly!

Dawn and Elisa came by this morning to take more photographs of Christian (hooray!). I can't wait to see more of her work. Considering, for the most part the only photos we have thus far for him to look back on are of the quality posted here on this blog, Dawn has been a real gem!

25 Hours at Bandon Dunes

For Christmas of 2006 (yes, 2006) I got Dae a gift certificate to be used at Bandon Dunes. I had read it was a one-of-a-kind golf course and thought he would enjoy it. Fast forward nearly 3 years plus a baby later, and we finally got around to making a reservation for a night and a round of golf for Dae. All systems were a go on Saturday morning and we left at 7:30am, not too much later than our estimated time of departure between 6-7am. As we were pulling out of our garage, Dae asks me to "just check to make sure the gift certificate is actually in the envelope". I take a peek, nervously, and sure enough, NO gift certificate. So, after a quick scour of the house, mingled with some choice words regarding Dae's lack of organization, we decided to give up on our search and hope that Bandon had record of our gift certificate.

Tripadvisor.com had cautioned that the drive was some 5+ hours from Portland. With Dae's driving (and me turning a blind eye) we made it there under 4. We played our new children's CD, sang songs along the ride and Christian did just great!

Bandon Dunes was definitely geared toward the golfer, with no-frills accommodations and truly nothing else to do besides golf. They were nice enough to allow me and a Stinky guy to walk along with Dae, so we joined him for the first seven holes (which were more than enough) and got some beautiful views along the Pacific Ocean. I wish the pictures did it justice. Besides the wind, which was pretty fierce, the weather hovered at just under 70 degrees and the sun made some cameo appearances. To prepare Stinky for the wind/cold and sun combo, we slathered him with titanium dioxide as well as his winter hat!


So, did Bandon have record of our gift certificate? They did - Hooray! (Dae narrowly escaped that one). Anyway, Stinky kindly woke us up at 3:45am this morning to let us know he was bored and tired of hotel living. So, in reference to my blog title, 25 hours in Bandon Dunes, we checked out of the hotel at 4:30 am, Dae put his driver's hat on and drove us home! We figured, we were both awake, Christian was probably going to be fussy and wake everybody else up in the hotel at some point, and it would be great to get home nice and early and have a day to rest before work again on Monday. So we arrived home to sunny Portland at 8:30am!

Lastly, Christian has yet another inanimate friend...Seahorse. Seahorse was a gift from Bill at work and has a lovely illumated stomach while playing songs with a soothing bubble sound. Seahorse now comes on all trips with us and sleeps with Christian most evenings.

Swimming Lessons Begin

We had our first swimming lesson yesterday! I was in the pool with Christian so there are no picture posts, but I will be sure to post pictures in the future. I think, all in all, he did very well. We started by dipping legs and toes in the pool (big people's pool, no kids' stuff for this guy!) and by the end of the 30 minute session he was floating on his back with assistance! He was absolutely hilarious: for the majority of the lesson his eyes were squeezed shut and he was sucking on the pacifier as if his life depended on it. However, he only cried for small increments of time and by the end his entire body was submerged in the water. The 90 degree weather definitely helped so that he was not too cold, and his teacher, Ryan, was very patient and very kind. Big thanks to Dawn who clued me in on starting him at 4 months and introduced us to the swim teacher!

15 Week Update

Christian had a pediatrician appointment today and weighed in at 14 pounds, 5 ounces. We thought he would be at least 15 pounds, but he had had a blowout of epic proportions just prior to his appointment, so we blame the lower weight on his major bowel movement. Anyhow, he measured at 50% again for weight, 75% for height, and about 70% for head size. The pediatrician noted that he started showing a bit of asymmetry in the leg 'rolls', as I like to call them. She said this could be a sign of developmental hip dysplasia, so we are being referred to an orthopedic physician for an evaluation. While this sends me into minor anxiety, Dae, as always, says it is nothing (must be a doctor thing?). The pediatrician did not seem very worried either. She said that the treatment is basically keeping the hips in an outward fashion, holding him in a carrier with his hips out, etc. Who would have thought? The guy who loves sleeping spread eagle! He also had round #2 of vaccines. I think he did very well; there were the requisite cries, but he was pretty mild tonight and even managed a round of laughing and smiling!

Today was the first of two days off in a row (woohoo!). Christian and I went to Grant Park to meet up with Minah and Emma (who had fastened no less than 4 barrettes in her hair herself - so cute) for lunch. Minah, generous as ever, packed her little Acura with all sorts of goodies for Stinky including an inflatable flotation device and a highchair. So nice! Here are a couple of cute shots of Minah and Emma...


I am afraid to admit I have a new obsession: couponing. I can thank Kelly for getting me into this. Poor Dae: every night he gets home from work I am bursting at the seams, just waiting to tell him my latest deal. So today I dragged Christian to Walgreen's and Safeway (twice) for some bargains and was so excited about my couponing I failed to notice a remnant of plastic Walgreen's bag until I looked down...

Poor little guy. All he wanted was a nap and was instead subjected to mom's couponing madness!

Planes, Trains, Automobiles and a Meltdown

(Reader beware: Lots of photos in this post!)

Leelee journeyed to San Francisco this weekend and traveled by plane, train and automobile (bus).

The jet-setter

Zonked before take-off


Happy as a clam on BART (the train)


Been there, done that. Public transportation was getting old by the time the Muni rolled around (the bus)

I am happy to report he did very well on the plane! Only one 'incident' involving a 5 minute wailing session right before landing. All things considered, we'll take it!

We arrived Friday and checked into our hotel downtown, the Intercontinental (love that Hotwire). After some minor confusion regarding our hotel room, we were upgraded to a corner King! Stinky loved the King sized bed and put in a request for one in his room.

Getting super-excited when Dad plays with him

Upon arrival, we immediately headed out by bus for some Shanghai dumplings at Shanghai Dumpling King in Outer Richmond - recommendation courtesy of Sylvia. Dae and I became huge fans of these soup dumplings after sampling them at Joe's Shanghai in New York City. Shanghai Dumpling King comes in at a very, very close second!

Leelee got a taste of some of his ancestor's foods!

We then traveled back to our hotel via bus, decompressed, and ventured out to Walgreen's for "dinner". Seeing as how our lunch was around 4pm, we opted for a light and nutritious dinner...

I am known for my sweet-tooth and Dae for his "fast-tooth" (fast food tooth). I hope Stinks inherits neither.

Saturday morning we woke up around 6am and I managed to convince Dae to walk the 1.5 miles to Chinatown. I conveniently forgot to mention the notorious San Francisco hills, as I was sure that would be a dealbreaker. Regardless, both Dae and Christian were good sports.

Entrance to Chinatown


Onesie and bib purchased in Chinatown to celebrate the year of Christian's birth

Love at Union Square!

The purpose of our trip was to attend the wedding of my good friend from college, Jodi and her husband Shane. It was at Kohl Mansion, just south of San Francisco, and it was beautiful, as was Jodi...

Christian was very well-behaved during the ceremony and we had high hopes for the reception. Little did we know it was the calm before the storm. The storm came with a vengeance and Christian was inconsolable about 15 minutes into the reception. The delicious truffle soup went cold as dad was out and about attempting to pacify. Milk offered no consolation. Swaddling offered no consolation. Finally, Dae retreated to the car and attempted to let Christian cry it out. After sitting at the reception for about 10 minutes alone, I called Dae, heard Christian wailing in the background and decided to pull the plug. I was so disappointed that I had only talked to Jodi for about 5 minutes. Dae, on the other hand, was terribly disappointed about missing out on the short ribs he had scouted out on the menu. (Big sigh.)

So, in lieu of truffle soup, short ribs, red velvet cake and tearing up the dance floor, we hit In 'N Out burger on the way home. And, naturally, Stinky was smiling and laughing up a storm the entire ride home :)

No complaints...I do love In 'N Out

All in all, a successful and fun-filled San Francisco journey. We will be back!

Cheers to good times in San Francisco!

Christian is 100 Days Old!

Koreans (and a few select Chinese) mark the 100th day after a child's birth with a small feast in order to celebrate, historically, the child's having survived this difficult period.

In honor of Leelee's 100th, Dad brought home our "small feast" of take-out Thai food and an Oreo ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins! Baskin Robbins cakes were a must at every Bian celebration so we are starting that tradition early.

Just as this evening's festivities were about to commence, Christian began shouting up a storm so we brought out the cake, snapped a hurried picture and swaddled the guy for bed! So, Christian was not able to partake in his 100-day cake, but we had no problem eating his share...

Happy 4th of July!

Today is the 4th of July! We've been running about like crazy people this past week so we decided to celebrate low-key by bringing Christian to Grant Park for his first picnic in the sun. Well, partially in the sun. Dae is a major sun-avoider and has a tendency to get 'black' at even a whisper of sun exposure...I, on the otherhand, am a major sun-worshipper and will seek it at all costs (and despite this major setback, we have somehow managed to forge ahead with our relationship!). Therefore, we set up two "camps" and let Christian chill in the cooler of the two (Dae's place).

Camp Dae. Christian is wearing his patriotic outfit.


Any room in there for a big guy?

Camp Mel (Camp Dae in background)

Feeding Leelee in the tent at Camp Dae

Trena and I made ambitious plans to drive up to Bellingham and back in less then 48 hours, so I picked her up at 7:30am on Thursday morning. By about 7:45am we had nixed our plans, picked up Starbucks and decided to hang out at my house for the day instead! The thought of a 5 1/2 hour road trip with two kids less then 2 years old for a sub-2 day trip sounded less and less enticing as the minutes wore on (what was I thinking in the first place? We had really wanted to see Jessica but I suppose it will unfortunately have to wait). Instead, we made the much more reasonable 2 hour drive to Tacoma on Friday to visit with Terra and her family at their dreamy house on the lake.

Gracie, Trena, Terra, me, Christian

All were welcome to hang out on the deck - even Stinky guys


We had lunch on the patio - truly dreamy


Terra, Trena, Christian

Besides Christian deciding to blow-out through his onesie AND pants for the first time at Terra's parents house, the day went without a hitch...a beautiful day with wonderful people! (Even worth the 11pm arrival time back home last night!)

Finally, a few new developments this week and a photo of Christian in his new sunhat, ready for the summer season. We expect to get lots of use out of it!

1) Laughing! Trena got him to laugh in his swing last week and boy was it cute. I can't wait to hear more.
2) Spread-eagle: His position of choice while sleeping is, for lack of a better word, spread eagle. Whether it be crib or chair, those legs are usually at or near a good 180 degrees! An example below:

Demonstrating my favorite leg positioning while sleeping