Leelee in Texas

This wasn't all he did in San Antonio, but Christian did spend a good majority of our downtime finding and placing random articles from the hotel into a receptacle - in this case the hotel ice bucket.

We loved San Antonio and I have a feeling that Christian enjoyed himself. He got a 4 day pass from his healthy lifestyle back in Portland and ate Tex-Mex every single meal (including breakfast of leftover Tex-Mex). I think he was in hog heaven. One of our favorite restaurants, Boudro's, happened to be on one of our favorite parts of San Antonio, the famous Riverwalk. Christian and I jogged (alternating walking of course) along the Riverwalk every morning while Dae was at conference.

The beautiful Riverwalk

Lunch

At Boudro's. He loves when we place something on his head (like a Boudro's coaster)

Everything is bigger in Texas, so they say, but the one thing which was definitely smaller than expected was the Alamo. I will admit I knew almost nil about the Alamo. Dae, who isn't even a native American, had to explain "Remember the Alamo" even after I referenced trusty Wikipedia. Anyway, it was pretty cool to see, but it was tiny! Christian - unimpressed.

I doubt he will "remember the Alamo" - haha!

It was my personal mission to cram in as much Mexican food as humanly possible. Mexican food is not high on Dae's food chain and I knew, with the Mexican-food monopoly in San Antonio, that this would be my one chance to eat it with minimal whining. It worked! Ha! (And now we are thoroughly tex-mexed out. The minute we got to Portland we threw a load of laundry in and rushed over to the closest sushi joint in our neighborhood!)

At La Margarita in Market Square, home to the most delicious flour tortillas I have ever had in my life. Dae agreed.

Practiced walking while waiting for our table. Funny story, while we were waiting, we heard "Party of 8 for Longoria" being called and "Party of 2 for Parker" being called. I strained my eyes for a star sighting, but to no avail.

Hotel pic. Leelee loved this brown log pillow. He was rolling around and laughing up a storm!

Miscellaneous photos from this past week:

Yes, Hipstamatic is back! Christian and toothpaste (which he loathes, by the way. Biggggg sigh.). And yes, he is wearing his Christmas Hanna Andersson pajamas that probably fit him well at about 3 months of age. We are running a little low on the PJ's and are awaiting our next shipment courtesy of Didi Robertson.

Manning his rig at HMart. Look at that sheer concentration!

Forgot to mention that he is now a master of saying "baby", "mama", "dada", "eeeee" and "Jabba". He loves talking. Strangers always tell us how much he talks (for example, on flights, in cars, on shuttles). We don't really know where this comes from, because although I am (by a longshot) the more talkative of the two of us, it's not like I can just deliver a monologue on the fly! Christian, on the other hand, talks so much, and it usually starts with "Jabba" this and "jabba" that. I've deduced that Christian must hear me talking (nagging) Dae all the time so he is learning all my lovely ways!

Other very random musings:

1) We can't decide whether to cut his hair or not. It is getting a little wild, but it's fun to see how curly it will be.
2) I am majorly waffling back and forth between cloth vs. disposable diapers. I can't even bring up the topic to Dae...he refuses to believe I might actually implement cloth diapers and that he might have to deal with poop (on a much more intimate level!)
3) I finally taught Christian something that was 100% me (and not nanny!). I taught him how to pump his fist when I say "choo choo". Such gratification!
4) Christian loves "itsy bitsy spider" and everytime we are almost finished singing the song he begins to do his air clapping, as if to say "yay!". It's really cute.

Saturday Potluck

I met with my mom's group today for our Potluck. Today it was Indian fare and it was delicious! Christian is still the smallest one of the bunch by a few pounds, but he seems to have caught up as far as feeding himself and standing. There's only one in the group who is walking, Olivia.

This green adirondack chair was a big hit among the kids

Everytime Christian found somewhere to stand he would stay there, crying, until I went to fetch him. Poor guy still doesn't know how to get himself down.

Today I noticed the first signs of possessiveness when he was playing (I wondered when it would surface!). Up until now he didn't care if someone grabbed something from him. Today, when another baby had a toy (in this case it was a wooden spoon) that Christian wanted, he would grab it. If the other baby didn't let go, Christian would start yelling. I am sure this is just the beginning...I have a feeling I am going to have to crack open my Discipline book by Dr. Sears very soon!

Bean Sprouts and Dawn's Fifth Photo Shoot

Among the many food items I shy away from, bean sprouts rank among the highest (along with mushrooms, those detested fungi!). Today, Dae snuck a few raw bean sprouts onto Leelee's tray and he gobbled them up like they were candy! Hooray for a new healthy find that he actually likes!


Also today, Dawn came up with Elisa to photograph Christian for the fifth time (!!!). I was counting up the number of sessions today and couldn't believe she had been out that many times. She and Elisa came over and helped us make pizzas and then we drove to Grant Park for the photo shoot. As usual, she sent a sneak peek by e-mail which we loved. I can't wait to post! Thank you so much Dawn!

Lastly, Christian's food storing has become a real problem, and this is why:

1) Sometimes, if we don't clean out his mouth after eating, he stores food through a nap. When waking from his nap, we will find food in his crib, in his hair, etc. You get the (unpleasant) picture.
2) I am convinced that I got cavities because I also was an avid food storer. (It couldn't possibly have had anything to do with the large volumes of sugar I was consuming!) Anyway, even though we brush his teeth and floss religiously, there's nothing we can do about the food that is physically in his mouth for long periods of time. A dentist's nightmare!
3) What we have resorted to: After dinner, Dae leans him over the toilet and I finger swipe him 5-10 times to get out all the pieces of leftover dinner. Just terrible. I'm sure it's a lovely picture! We tried to swipe his mouth at the table into a napkin, but he seriously hated that. Now that he can see the food go into the toilet, he loves it, just as he loves dropping anything onto the floor and looking to see where it lands.

So, that's where we stand with that. This is one trait I wished he had not inherited from me!

Quick Trip to Richland

My Grandma, Ni-Ni, fell last week and broke her hip, so we drove home to Richland Friday evening to spend the weekend with her at the hospital. She had hip replacement surgery Saturday morning and was as perky as ever at 88 years old!

Post-op

Mal's hospital bed. A pillowcase as a sleeping bag!

Surgery waiting area which we transformed into a dining room

First noodles.

Waiting room games

Much longer? I'm tired and rubbing both eyes.

Fun with Gong-Gong

Mal holding Christian's hand in the car

Fortunately the surgery went well and Ni-Ni seems to be in good spirits with little pain. We're thinking about her!

Trouble

Christian actually crawled into the cupboards today. I caught him mid-action.

Christian's Bag of Tricks

This video is about as good as it gets; the whole enchilada as far as Christian's tricks go. He was in a particularly cooperative mood tonight at dinner. The only trick I couldn't get him to do was squeeze his eyes shut when I say "Yen-Jing". Also, the nanny taught him a new trick today which I think is so cute. When saying "welcome" in Chinese he puts both his hands up and flicks them back and forth.



Following are an assortment of Easter photos. We tagged along with Ev's group for a Saturday Easter Egg hunt at Grant Park. It was wet and windy but Christian was equipped in hand-me-down REI rain gear and was able to score 3 eggs, complete with chocolate inside that was quickly gobbled down by yours truly (not even sure Dae got a chance to see what was inside those guys!).