Saturday with Friends

Our mom's group met today and it was my turn to host. Christian and I readied the house for our guests and were very excited to see his friends.

Quinn hangin'

Christian showing off Da-Wa-Wa


Blocks for lunch with Ronan

Olivia surfing on Quinn

Clapping Hands

He'll be Comin' Around the Corner

I love putting Christian down, going behind a corner where he can't see me, and waiting for him to crawl over to where I am. I can always hear him coming a mile off with his panting and grunting (he's not the most graceful crawler yet). Whenever he peeks his head around the corner he always smiles.



This second video showcases Christian and the fact that he might just be a one-trick pony. He is onto the latest trick, Da-wa-wa, exclusively, and has all but forgotten how to clap his hands.

Our Growing Boy

Our boy is growing up right before our eyes. It seems like in the past 2 weeks particularly there have been lots of changes and he has morphed from a baby into a non-baby. Sad, yet exciting at the same time!

What we've noticed:

1) Crawling: He doesn't move terribly fast but about a week ago he was barely pulling himself forward with his arms and now he can actually move halfway across a room with just a minimum of grunting and straining! He mostly crawls using his right leg as his 'engine'. His left leg just goes along for the ride.

2) Da-wa-wa and Yen-jing and Pai Pai Sho: Well, I'll admit sometimes I will say "pai pai sho" and he instead will "da-wa-wa". But he's getting the hang of it, and his new trick is to close his eyes when we say "yen-jing" (Chinese for eyes). Still have not captured a good video...gotta get that guy to cooperate.

3) Yelping/Begging for food. He used to be completely indifferent to food and milk. Now he makes it known that he is ready for a meal with a series of yelping sounds (bad to say, it kind of sounds like a dog!). He's eating lots and still seems to take most everything we give him as long as it's not too dry.

4) Cheerios: We finally gave him some Cheerios to eat. (We were probably behind the curve a bit on this one.) He hasn't quite developed the skill of feeding himself yet. He will handle the Cheerio and gaze intently, but does not put it into his mouth. Go figure, he puts everything else into his mouth!

5) Talking in bed: Now when we put him down to sleep or when he wakes up in the morning he will spend some time talking and babbling contently to himself in his crib. He still cries, mind you, but about half the time he will babble rather than cry. Sidenote: He does not like sleeping with us. He is probably the only baby in the history of babies to not enjoy the warmth and comfort of a queen-sized bed with people in it! He'll wake up in his crib, we'll bring him over to feed, and when he's done, give or take 30 minutes, he will rouse us from our slumber to let us know he is ready to go back to his room now, thank you very much. Independent little thing.

6) Golf Ball: Given the choice of a variety of toys, he mostly goes for the golf ball. Any surprise there?

Crawling?

Hidden Gems

Dae and I came across these never-before-been-published photos of Christian from his 4-month photo session with Dawn and were laughing like crazy. You might be able to see why these didn't quite make the cut the first time around! (We also, unbelievably, did not notice his baldness at the time, even after the pediatrician noted that 'male pattern baldness' was normal in the first few months. Totally oblivious!)

Da Wa Wa

I just taught Christian how to "Da wa wa"! It's where you put your hand to your mouth and say "wa wa wa" and it echoes. I am quite proud that I actually had a hand in teaching him this trick vs. the nanny!

Earlier today I had a suspicion that Leelee didn't truly know how to clap his hands on command. I thought that if I just said any command, he would clap his hands. Well, he does know! I told him to clap his hands, he did it, then I paused, then I told him to "da wa wa" and he did it. Yay! Video to come..once Dae gets home of course.

My Only Day Off

I'm back up to 4 day work weeks. Boohoo! I know I have no reason to complain, and my commute is now 2 minutes, but it's just so difficult to go back up in days (and so very easy to go down!). So today is my one day off and I am trying to take full advantage. Here are some random musings and happenings this week:

I got to go to the Blazers game (4 rows up!) with Ev last week courtesy of Jeff and his client. Dae sent me off with a special request for a Brandon Roy blazer for Leelee. I was quick to oblige, as Brandon Roy was a former Husky (Go Dawgs!). 2T was the smallest they had, but that just means he will be able to wear it for a few seasons :)

A couple days ago I wandered into the family room and saw the boys sprawling and identical...


In the foreground you can see our special Whole Foods soup container that is doubling as Christian's new toy. I am running an experiment on how long we can hold off buying new toys and see if we can make do with household 'junk', of which we have lots.

In other news, Christian has just begun to cut his second tooth, so we can no longer brush his one tooth anymore. Darn. We just loved talking about brushing his tooth! (i.e. "we brushed his tooth for the photo shoot with Dawn", "Did you brush his tooth yet?" "Nope I haven't brushed the tooth") I guess we got all the mileage we could out of that tooth.

In yet other news, I have ordered the French channel from Comcast in an ongoing effort to get better at French. Dae is convinced I will never watch it so to prove him wrong I have since had it on 24/7...Christian keeps glancing back at the TV, perhaps wondering why we are trying to teach him yet another language!

"Six Month" (Nine Month) Photos by Dawn!

We love these photos Dawn took last Friday. The intention was to take 6-month photos, when Christian was sitting up unassisted. Since 6 months came and went without a proper sitter, we had to take a raincheck on the session. I wanted to post all of them but thought 30 some photos might be a bit much...so without further ado, here they are!!! (Mom and Dad I will send hard copies as well).

Well I guess I ended up posting about half of them anyway. Just couldn't contain myself! (And I just thought his expression in this last photo was hilarious.) Anyway, as always, many many many thanks to Dawn, otherwise known as the contributer of all non-blurry, focused and well-exposed photos on this blog. Hahaha!

(Side Note: In hindsight, we realized he looks a little 'mature' in his sweater vest and comb-over, which was beginning to resemble a toupe. Today Dae gave him a considerable trim and we think he is looking much more hip.)