You Know What They Say About Good Intentions

Well I really did mean to at least get monthly updates out here on the blog, but those seem to have fallen by the wayside for the past...*cough*...year. Oops.

I signed on to post a video as requested by NaoNao, and I was startled to find I haven't posted anything since January. Do I get partial credit for the half-dozen drafts I had saved with bits and pieces of thoughts and updates? I'll go through them and finish up what I can remember. It shouldn't take more than another year ;)

More Beach! More Wawa!

Woohoo, WeiJ's TWO!

HAPPY 2nd BIRTHDAY, WEI J!!

So...I'm not quite sure if I'm going to find all the words I want to find today. I'm a little jumbled and overflowing with so much that I can't really describe it. I'll start with the easy stuff, recapping our weekend and see where it goes from there.

On Saturday, WeiJ and I went to Ayi's graduation - I was hoping I could start planting some of those summa cum laude seeds but he only held out through the Masters' degree announcements before he crashed sound asleep on my lap. But boy, did he cheer those first dozen or so with gusto! He clapped and cheered for each one, silly boy! Even when he was asleep, at one point he managed to jerk upright and clap -- without waking up! He slept right on through to the end of the ceremony and woke in time to wave at Ayi as she filed out. We headed to eat afterwards, and all told he was fairly confined for about 6 hours or so but held up like a trooper. Makes me think we might survive a long flight we're going to take in July...knock wood!

The Brainiac Pose

I didn't plan anything big for his birthday today, just a series of things I knew he'd love. I blew up balloons last night so he could wake up to a bunch of them on the floor in his room. (Lesson learned: leave a path for him in case he wakes up crying in the middle of the night so he doesn't fall with a THUNK when he gets out of bed. Sorry, kiddo!) He did love throwing the balloons around this morning though! I made him a breakfast of mini blueberry muffins and blackberries on the side. It was a pretty plate, that's for sure! I think the swinging legs and mmmmmm meant that he enjoyed them a little bit. :) Then after breakfast I gave him his gifts - the coolest trike I've ever seen, and a set of new books. He's pretty obsessed with both, so I think I chose well. He helped me put sprinkles on the cupcakes, then we went to go read his new books - twice each. I went to get dressed, leaving him on the couch flipping through the books. It was such an eventful morning that he fell asleep sitting right there, at 11:30. Once we were ready to go an hour later, I was afraid I'd wake a cranky boy. But all I had to do was softly say,"Are you ready to go see some ducks?" and he was wide awake and ready to go! We went to lunch first, at WeiJ's favorite bbq place (ok, so I haven't taken him to THAT many, but still) and he was pretty much beside himself with giddy joy. Seven adults, all attention on him - he was in his element and clearly a happy boy!

Basking in Happiness

We made it to the park and he finally got to see that "duck wawa" that he's been asking for every single time we get in the car. We fed the ducks a couple loaves of bread, and he managed to not fall in the wawa. Oh, and yes he actually gave ALL the bread to the ducks this time instead of hording it for himself. After we finished the bread, it was time to open presents. Such thoughtful gifts & he loved them all!

Big boy with his first backpack!

And no doubt about it, I can't imagine anything better than seeing this face for Mother's Day:

Happy Easter!

All's Quiet But For the Snoring

What does a morning at the park with Auntie L do to WeiJ?



He fell sound asleep in his high chair -- mid-chew, his hand still gripping his cup maybe 10 minutes after I sat him down to eat. I hadn't even finished making my lunch when I realized how quiet he was. I reclined the back of his chair to let him sleep and within minutes he was snoring - and not softly, either.

Then when he woke up - three and a half hours later - he had a surprise from LaoLao waiting for him.

Yep, it was a pretty good Friday in WeiJ's world.

Yay! Photos!

So it seems it's been a while since I've done a photo post. Most of these are from today, but I also wanted to share a couple from last month that made me smile.

This first photo was taken last month. For a while he was in a phase where he got a huge kick out of me getting his hair wet and giving him what we called "dink!" hair. I don't know how it started, but with all the spikes I would touch my fingertip to a spike and say "dink!" For dayyys he kept coming to me, pointing to his head and asking for "wawa" or "dink."

This one was last month also, from a trip to the park with ShuShu. It's hard to tell -- but I *think* he enjoys the swings. :)

And the rest are from today. I had already dressed him in his Longhorn t-shirt when he spied my visor and was clamoring for it. I adjusted the band as small as it could possibly go, then let him wear it however he wanted. He started off with it fairly straight and pulled off an almost preppy look I think...
...then decided that sporting it backwards was more his speed.

And just like his Mama used to do, here he is completely engrossed in some imaginary play with animals. He loves this Noah's Ark set and over and over and over again he'll put all of the animals in one by one whether it's by opening the gate or the ramp or shoving them through the windows on the other side...then take them all back out again one by one. I can't wait till he has the words for me to eavesdrop on the dialog that I'm sure must be going on in there.

Teaser, Part II

OK, major changes happening at work so I'm going to be swamped for the forseeable future. I will keep trying to write as often as I can, but my guess is they might be short and sweet for a while.

I still haven't been able to dig in and edit all of the photos from Friday, but here are a few of me with the squirmer. The rest will probably be on the next slideshow ... which I will somehow magically compile in the next week.

Coming soon...

Photos from a sitting - er, squirming - session with GongGong!

Wei J's hit the 2's....kind of

WeiJ is 20 months old today!
Here's this month's edition of his life in pictures: *slideshow*

Sea World Photos

OK I finally made myself sit down and grab a couple photos from Sea World to share. There are lots more that I will probably include in the next slide show, but here are a few for a quick fix....

I love this look of dude, did I really just see that?

Mesmerized by the sea lion show

WeiJ spent much of the day in this pose

By the time we got to Shamu, you could see he had taken in about as much as he could process. Look at those eyes!

What better way to end the show than with a ball and a big fish?

Photo Overload

Well last Saturday was so much fun and provided such great photos (said ever so humbly, honestly!) that I decided to try another photo session today. Besides, it was *ahem* suggested that the bulky layers of clothes may have added a few pounds to WeiJ's appearance so I felt compelled to let him show his properly proportioned build. :)

Ornaments seem to have a prominent symbolic role this year. I love this photo - WeiJ reaching out to an ornament that LaoLao bought from the Tianjin orphanage, handcrafted by the kids as part of their annual fundraiser. We have three hanging on the tree, and each time I see one it's a little bittersweet. I can't help but think of all those sweet faces so proud to show off their work...and in my heart hoping that they'll all find families of their own to cherish them.

I wanted to buy a special ornament this year to commemorate our first year together. Could it get more perfect than this Willow Tree, called Angel's Embrace? The tagline that goes along with it is "Hold close that which you hold dear."
OK I promise that's the last of the sentimental sap for today. Here are a few of my favorite shots from today....

And no, our beebo obsession hasn't quite faded yet...
By the end of the session, it was pretty clear that WeiJ thought he was looking pretty good. Here's Mr. GQ Smooth working his modeling repertoire:

*sigh* Is that a handsome kid or what?? Love that outfit too - it's like a glimpse of FutureWeiJ. He looks so grown up!

Sharing My Joy

I'm not sure mornings get any better than this...

Weekend Catchup

Today was (another) one of those days when I've kicked myself all day for missing a photo op. This afternoon I took WeiJ outside with me so I could get the trash and recycling all set for tomorrow. This boy *loves* being outside - day or night, hot or cold...and yes, probably rainy or dry if I gave him that option! I finished my trash duty and then told WeiJ it was time to go inside and get something to eat. He came willingly until it was time to set foot through the door - that's when the tantrum started. So this is the photo op I missed: my little guy in his jeans and long-sleeved onesie that says "100% Boy"... standing there in his little defiant posture with both thumbs hooked on his belt loops, head thrown back and a completely melted face in an all-out tantrum cry. Yeah, 100% boy. :)

Oh, but does he ever make me smile! This weekend we spent a good amount of time outside - with WeiJ leading the way and setting the pace. That could mean running down the sidewalk, planting himself on the grass to examine leaves, running back and forth over a particularly fun/bumpy/uneven/textured section of the sidewalk... or for brief moments, actually holding my hand. I get a kick out of watching him stop and close his eyes to feel the wind in his hair...then stand there and wait for the wind to blow again (while he gestures at me for more like I can make that happen!). We listened to the sound of flags whipping in the wind, and even got to watch a kite flying around the corner.

On Saturday morning he walked almost the entire way to the park and back - I think it's about a third of a mile. And yes, that's almost to the park and not almost all the way back...we got distracted! It's as if his inner monologue was something along the lines of treebirddogtreeleavesbird...running... treeflowerdogtruck... running...truck... treedoorlonghornflagtreeflower... hey wait.... He did a 180 and came running back up the sidewalk to study a flag with the Longhorn logo on it and was excitedly pointing it out and saying his word for Longhorn. (Yes, he actually has a word for the logo and points it out every time he sees it!) After all that he just kept going that direction and I just followed. Who needs to stop at the swings when you have so much more to discover? Fun things like dragging the string of a balloon around the house for the kitty, or accidentally whistling when you inhale, or chasing bubbles on the front lawn... yep, he had a terribly boring weekend. ;)

We go to the doctor again on Wednesday - not for an exam, just shots. I should be able to get updated height and weight though. And whatever pound threshhold he just crossed feels like a big one. Either I suddenly got weaker overnight, or he became more solid! Must be all that running around, packing on muscle. Seriously, that lumberjack comment last week might just fit!

My little prize fighter in training - check out those paws!

Two Months

Today marks two months as a family! In those two months his progress has been exponential - besides a couple of pounds, a couple of inches, a couple new teeth and a couple dozen words in his English vocabulary, the biggest change is he has gone from baby to toddler. A toddler with a mind as hungry as his little belly, a toddler with his own opinions and personality. A toddler who accepts me as his mama and gives his affection right back. Today I heard him making kissy sounds at the photo book I sent to China. Usually that's his cue to me to "read" the book so I can kiss on and fuss over the photos of him. But when I turned around, he was kissing my photo. *sniff*

We had a musical afternoon today - it seems he enjoys jazz so I shuffled through my itunes library to find some. Cleaning the kitchen is so much nicer when I get to watch him spinning around and doing his "music hands" to Billie Holiday, Miles Davis and Wynton Marsalis! He also bounced on his toes to Rihanna and some of my 80s music too, but it seems that jazz grabs his attention even during commercials or cartoons. He's a cultured dude, this one. :)

Today I've had the Rascal Flatts song "The Day Before You" running through my head. Out of thousands of choices it happened to be one of the songs that came on during the random shuffle of songs...and it was perfect for today. I had to fight hard not to let him see me cry!

In your eyes I see forever

It makes me wish that my life never knew the day before you

But Heaven knows those years without you

Were shaping my heart for the day that I found you

If you're the reason for all that I've been through

Then I'm thankful for the day before you.

Happy Halloween!

Up, up & awayyyyy...

On a lighter note

OK, enough mush. We now return to our regular scheduled programming...

With the weather change we've been spending more time outdoors - much to Wei J's delight of course. Today we toured parts of the neighborhood we haven't been to lately in a quest for the coolest Halloween decorations. No, I don't even have a pumpkin out front. Slacker mama, I know. Anyway, he kicked his legs and "EHH!"ed constantly to make sure I was aware of every pumpkin in the neighborhood. (Kind of like he announced "ball!" to pretty much each individual basketball, soccerball and football on the aisle at the store.)

This week Wei J has either just discovered or just taken a new interest in his shadow. It may take us forever to walk to the mailbox on the corner, but our trip just wouldn't be complete without stopping every few steps to wave and flutter our fingers! Today he was leaning over the side of the stroller to watch his shadow keeping us company. It was a little bit cute. :)

Wei J hasn't busted out with any new words in the last couple of days - that I know of. But lately I've noticed he is abandoning the sign language as a baby thing he doesn't need anymore as he expresses himself more verbally. I think the only time he uses it anymore is to reinforce what he is trying to say if I'm not catching on. Well, I think we're finished with the sign for finished or all done. Today at lunch, he said "more"...and then shook his head no. As in, no more! I asked if he was finished and he enthusiastically nodded his head. Good grief. Finished is too hard to say yet, but he came up with a different way to say it with the tools he already has. Amazing. Even more amazing is probably that he hasn't started saying No yet. The two's are coming though...I'm sure I'll hear it PLENTY and I'm in no hurry to start!

After bath tonight, I didn't want him walking around with a damp head with allll that hair he has now so I tried to see if he'd wear one of the little winter hats I bought ages ago. I call this series the O.G. in Panda PJ's. ;)

Not too sure what to think of it at first

Until I asked if it's the kind of hat his ShuShu wears.
Wearing his hats off to the side already, trying to give panda PJ's and a rocking horse hat a bit more edge. That's just how he rolls.