20 Months and Counting

Dear Trevor,

These entries are becoming less “monthly” as it has become increasingly difficult to find some time to sit down and share my thoughts on paper. I wish I had more time in the day to do all that I need to do, but I am thankful for the time that I have with you and your brother, Grayson.

Since my last entry, I have left my job at Netflix, which was simultaneously a difficult and easy thing to do. It was hard to leave after nearly seven years there and the friendships I have developed, but at the same time, I was ready to go given how things had transpired over the last four months. It was no longer a nurturing or even particularly, friendly environment and it was time to leave. Lucky for me, I was given quite a generous severance package so that I could spend some quality time as a stay-at-home-Mom (SAHM) to you and Grayson. It's been something Ba-Ba and I have considered even before you were born but financially, it just didn't seem to be feasible. So, in some respects, I have to thank Netflix for the opportunity that this ugly situation has afforded our family.

As a result, I got to spend a whole month with you before your brother arrived, which was truly a blessing. We got to enjoy the nice February weather by taking many trips to the park and mall. You enjoyed pushing your stroller around almost as much as you enjoyed sliding down the slide and being pushed on the swings. I hope in some ways you'll remember those last few days of your “only child” arrangement.

We welcomed Grayson on March 20^th at 11:05 a.m. His labor was a lot shorter than yours (9 hours compared to your 22 hours), even though he was a larger baby (8 lbs 15 oz vs your 8 lbs 6 oz). Ba-Ba brought you and Yee-Po to visit me each day and you enjoyed running around the hospital room and sharing my hospital snacks. You were equal parts fascinated by and indifferent to Grayson. We brought him home a couple days later and you adjusted very well to him. And even though there are a lot more frantic cries of “Gentle!” in our house now, we couldn't imagine our life without the two of you. You ask to hold him and we set the Boppy on your lap and place Grayson on the Boppy. Usually this only holds your attention for five minutes, but it's just long enough for Mommy to snap some pics. You also like to give Lo-Lo (what we call Grayson) unsolicited kisses, which is really sweet.

You haven't exhibited any jealous tendencies, but there have been a few more middle of the night wakings lately that may or may not be attributed to this change in dynamic in our household. Ba-Ba and I hope that it's a passing phase.

You are so energetic now and everyday, you seem to learn something new. You're really into mimicking people, such as crossing your arms when you see someone else do it. My favorite is when you cross your legs and lean one hand against the wall. The other week you discovered pockets in your pants and you would pose with one hand in your pocket and cross your legs and we call it your “GQ Pose.” It's simply adorable.

You're also much more vocal now and in the past month and a half, you have learned to say:

Car – you pronounce it with a Boston accent – Caaahhhr – which we just love but can't quite figure out where you picked that up

Poe-poe – you say it in such a sweet, pouty way when we put you to bed and you don't want to go to sleep that I have a really hard time resisting you

Please – pronounced without the L

Duk – Chinese word for “can do” or “yes”

Oi – Chinese word for “yes”

Po-Po – Chinese word for Grandma (Ma-Ma's Mom)

Nung-Nung – your version of Gong-Gong, which is Ma-Ma's Dad

Ow-foo – your version of Kow-Foo (Ma-Ma's brother)

Bo-Bo – Chinese word for ball

Nana – Banana

But-But – Chinese word for pen

Apple

Outside

Shoes – Kind of sounds like you're saying “issues” or “it's shoes”

Up

No

Ah-bot – your version of robot

Moe-Moe – Chinese word for hat

Me

Boat

Nose

Maw-Maw – Chinese word for horse (usually accompanied by you pushing one of us over so you can climb on our back)

Some new signs that you've learned include:

Cereal

Cracker

Diaper

Hurt

Where

Tree

Moon

Snow

Wind

Sleep

Cry

Yes

Sorry (you no longer sign it the same way as Please)

Airplane

Boat

Soap

Nice

Clean

Dirty

Bug

Flower

You still really enjoy playing with cars and balls, and in true boy fashion, you like to climb on furniture and pretty much anything that you can knock over. You have this fearless nature about you that I know is going to cause a lot of lost sleep on Ma-Ma's part, not to mention send Yee-Po into hysterics over your safety. You've started to exhibit a mischevious side and are definitely testing your limits. Often times, when you are doing something you know you shouldn't be doing, like touching Ba-Ba's CD changer or climbing on the stairs by yourself, you will pause in mid-act to look sheepishly at us as if to see what we will do. Most of the time, we can just tell you to put something down or sit down or walk away and you will do it, but there have been occassions when we've had to put you in Time Out. It's not a pretty thing but we hope that it will teach you to know your boundaries.

You enjoy taking walks around our neighborhood with Yee-Po when the weather is nice. And we've taken to letting you play in the backyard as well, where we have amassed a curious collection of sports balls from various neighbors who have chosen not to retrieve their lost balls for some reason. You're getting better at throwing the ball and definitely have improved in the kicking department.

You continue to delight us with your charm and wit and sweet nature. Even when you had Roseola (baby measles), and you were running a fever of 101+ degrees, you were still a very chipper kid. It made it that much worse for Ba-Ba and me that you were so agreeable even when your body was burning up. We are truly blessed to have such an easy going kid, we often remind ourselves.

Hopefully, it won't be so long until my next letter. Until then, know that Ba-Ba and Ma-Ma, along with Lo-Lo and Yee-Po, love you very much. Our lives are so much richer with you in it.

XOXO,

Ma-Ma

16 Months Today

Dear Trevor,

I can hardly believe today is your 16 month birthday. Life has been so busy that I didn’t even get a chance to write and reflect about your first birthday at the end of September last year. I had just returned from a disastrous work trip to Toronto the day before your first birthday and was feeling pretty crummy, but you have an uncanny ability to just wipe away the worries of the world and just let me be your Mommy. I’ll never be able to express how wonderful it was to get out of the car where I had just been bawling my eyes out while on the phone with a colleague, and to enter the house where you greeted me with your toothy smile and big hugs. You have a wonderful way of reminding me what is truly important in life.

We had a lovely little first birthday party for you at home. Po-Po, Gong-Gong, Uncle Tom, Aunt Kimberly and your cousins Riley & Cooper, Grammy and Great-Aunt Regi came up for the party and we had a great time celebrating with your local Aunties and Uncles, too. It was a luau theme, which was surprisingly difficult to find luau-themed decorations in the Fall. Mommy took it for granted that it was a staple in the party supply stores, but since it was so close to Halloween, most of the shelf space was already dedicated to Halloween décor and costumes. Nonetheless, we were able to scrounge up a few things and the party was a huge success. You were a great host roaming from guest to guest and sharing your infectious laughter. You had been walking unassisted by then for a month or so, which was fun to watch as you flitted between people. We let you have your first taste of Asian coconut cake and you were in heaven. You cried and did your sign for “more” when we took the slice of cake away. It was so adorable.

We’re about two months away from welcoming your little brother, Cashew, into our family. You, of course, have no idea what that means yet. I try to point to my bulging stomach and sign “baby” to you, but mostly, you think that means that I will turn on the Baby Singing Time DVD for you, which, incidentally, you love. You ask for it most mornings and sometimes even in the middle of the day on the weekends. Sign language has been a great way to communicate with you. Right now, you know the following signs:

Mommy

Daddy (you do confuse the two quite often)

Grandma & Grandpa (too similar to Mom & Dad to really distinguish)

Baby

Food/Eat

More

Milk

All done

Water

Star

Car

Train

Bus

Dog

Cat

Fish

Bird

Horse

Frog

Rain

Outside

Up

Down

Brush teeth

Wash hands

Bath

Shoes

Socks

Hat

Jacket/Coat

Book

Help

Please

Thank you

Sorry (you sign it the same way as Please)

Ball

Doll

Bear

Apple

Banana

Pear

Grass

Cold

Hot

Your pediatrician told us that children growing up in bilingual homes will have delayed speech, so we’re not concerned that you haven’t really said too many words yet. You do say “Ah ma” (Mom) and “Ah ba” (Dad) when prompted, however. And last weekend, you even started to say “Ah po” (Grandma) but mostly you use the signs you’ve learned or some other form of gestures to get your point across. When you’re in the talkative mood, you will give these long monologues while raising your right hand as if you are decreeing something important. It’s quite hilarious to watch.

You enjoy playing with cars and balls right now. One of your favorite things to do is to take apart this Melissa & Doug Geometric Stacker (http://amzn.to/ehWksO). At first, all you would do is take out the circles and occasionally the octagons, but then, you started to stack them back on the dowels and now, you will interact with all three columns. It’s neat to watch your thought process as you pick up various pieces and decide which piece will go on which dowel and in which order. It seems very deliberate, because you will place a piece on the dowel and then, pick up another piece and just as you’re about to place it on the dowel on top of the previous piece, you decide that you don’t want that other piece on there and you remove it so you can put your new piece in its place.

Another one of your favorite toys right now is the VTech Pull & Learn Car Carrier (http://amzn.to/hE2son) from Auntie Emmi & Uncle Alen. For some reason, you only like to push the cars around when there’s not driver in it and you’ll always remove the driver from the cars and toss them aside as if they have offended you in some way.

When you’re not playing with these toys, you enjoy going through your plethora of books and sometimes ask Mommy or Daddy to “read” them to you. Of course, you have the attention span of a gnat right now, so mostly, you just like to flip through the pages really quickly and peruse the pictures. Oddly enough, you like to flip through the book backwards. I don’t know if that’s because you still seem to favor your left hand. You also like to play with your balls (Play Visions Light Up Wizard Ball http://amzn.to/fGKld0, Edushape Sensory Balls http://bit.ly/g2qyGp, inflatable beach ball). You particularly like to bring the Wizard Ball to the kitchen so that you can bounce it on the linoleum and watch it light up with delight.

Sometimes, we’ll have dance parties in the kitchen with the Stitch doll (from Lilo & Stitch) that Yee-Po brought you from Hong Kong, who sings and shuffle dances and we like to mimic its moves as it shuffles forwards and backwards in its cute little circular moves. We like to make Yee-Po giggle with delight as Mommy shuffles along with the doll and you try to follow along. Those are the moments where you radiate pure joy and it just melts Mommy and Daddy’s hearts to no end.

We’re really enjoying being your parents and are grateful for all the wonderful moments we’ve shared together so far. We know that you will continue to delight us with your charm and amaze us with your growing knowledge.

Love,

Mommy

Six Months Already?!

I can hardly believe that you are six months old already. The old adage is true; time does fly when you’re having fun. This past month, you have shown much more upper body strength, doing lots of push ups to look around while you’re on your tummy. You finally figured out how to roll from your tummy to your back and once you figured that out, you have been rolling all over the place. You even managed to roll under our leather coffee table one day when Daddy was working on the couch and you were playing on your activity mat.

One of my favorite parts of my day is returning home in the evening and being greeted by your enormous smile. It melts away any frustrations I’ve had during the day and makes everything better. You’re ever more curious nowadays, too – always turning to where you hear noise or activity. It’s been so fun to watch you explore the world around you. You interact a lot with your activity mat and love to grab for the octopus or turtle.

You’re developing an independent streak, but from time to time, you will rest your head on my shoulder just like you used to do when you were just a couple months old. I love those moments when I feel like you’re still my little boy and maybe, just maybe, I can freeze time for a little bit to remember the sweet gesture.

Each day, you amaze Daddy and me with your development and we find ourselves more in love with you than the day before, which we didn’t think was even possible. It’s like those song lyrics - I love you more today than yesterday; But not as much as tomorrow.

Trevor's Treasures

This past month, you started sleeping about eight to 10 hours each night with minimal middle of the night wakings. Hallelujah! We stopped swaddling you right after you turned four months on the advice of our pediatrician and the concern of Gong-Gong & Po-Po. Gong-Gong, in particular, said that he was sad to see you all bundled up with no freedom of movement. Personally, I was hesitant to stop swaddling you, because Daddy and I were concerned that you wouldn’t be able to sleep through the night. But like most of the decisions we’ve made as parents (e.g., moving you into your own room and crib), we decided to just rip the band-aid off and do it. Unfortunately, this coincided with your bronchialitis, so you were waking up every hour for a few nights straight so that was really tough. After you recovered from this illness, you steadily improved your ability to sleep longer and longer at night without being swaddled or fed in the middle of the night. The only thing that is less than ideal about not swaddling you is that your arms and hands get so cold at night. We put you in a long-sleeved, footed PJ and sleep sack, but the sleeves ride up and expose your arms. I wonder if they make baby arm-length gloves a la 1982 Prom Queen style?

This past month, you took your first flight – a quick hour trip from San Jose to Orange County for Auntie Emmi & Uncle Alen’s wedding and your very first Chinese New Year. We wanted to fly for this trip because we were considering bringing you with us to Ireland for Uncle Michael and Auntie Chrissy’s wedding in April and I didn’t want a 10+ hour plane ride to be our first experience with you on a flight. You did quite well and slept for most of the flight, though you did wake up right before the descent, which was troubling because of the whole plugged ear phenomenon. You sucked on your pacifier and didn’t make a peep.

You were a big hit at the wedding rehearsal, sporting a vest and coat made by Gong-Gong. For the wedding, you looked so dapper in a tuxedo jacket by Gong-Gong and nearly stole the scene from Uncle Alen. Luckily, he didn’t mind sharing the spotlight with you. I was worried that you’d be a handful during the ceremony since Daddy and I were in the wedding party and couldn’t be with you. But you were such a sweetheart and slept the entire time in your car seat. We really are so blessed that you are such an easy-going kid.

Your first Chinese New Year was a special one and filled with lots of family time at Uncle Tom and Auntie Kimberly’s house. Sadly, your cousins Riley and Cooper and Auntie Kimberly were still under the weather, so you didn’t get to play with them nearly as much as everyone would have liked. You did giggle a whole lot with Auntie Kimberly though, which was such a hoot for everyone. I hope you always remember what a special time Chinese New Year is and that you’ll always want to celebrate it with family.

You’re still turning from back to tummy quite a bit, but only on your left side. In fact, I feel that you favor your left hand more and wonder if this means you will be left-handed. Perhaps it is still too early to tell. You can hold your head rather high now while on your tummy and for a much longer period of time than before, but when you get tired, you smoosh your face on the ground or crib and get rather upset that you can’t turn yourself back. We’ll come over to turn you to your back, but then you’d just flip yourself to your tummy and the cycle starts again. When you’re laying on your back, especially at night when we put you to bed, you often put your hands right in front of your face as you stare at them intently while you wave them gently about. I so desperately want to know what is going on in that little head of yours.

Your hair is getting so long and is lightening up. Daddy is itching to cut it because it is a little mullet-esque in the back. Your abundance of hair is still the number one comment we get when someone sees you or your picture for the first time. You’re so expressive with your facial features now, often giving me big, big smiles. I still don’t really know who you look like yet, but you’re definitely developing your features. I’m searching for dimples on your face and I think we saw some the other day, but I’m still not sure that you’ll have ones quite as deep as I do. You really enjoy laughing with Daddy (and Auntie Monica), but mostly you just give Mommy really big smiles with hardly a peep of a giggle. I keep trying though and every so often, when you’re in the mood, you’ll giggle for me when I’m talking to you on the changing table.

I can’t believe you’re already five months old. Time has flown by and Daddy and I have enjoyed every single minute with you – yes, even those cranky, long, sleepless nights when you were first born :). Our life is so different now, but I couldn’t imagine it without you. Our house is so much fuller with you and it has nothing to do with all the baby stuff we’ve amassed for you.