“Hey Exie, who’s that in the mirror with Baba?”
She’s been sorta’ saying her name for a few months, but it’s been a one-syllable version, something like “kss.” But now she’s starting to do a two-syllable version:
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Major milestones deserve a montage (especially if they involve Russian knee dancing)…
learning to walk 8/8/09 to 9/30/09 (4min:15sec)
Ama (“gramma” on mom’s side in Mandarin)
animals
Antoine (playgroup friend)
apple
baa (sheep sound)
Baba (“Daddy” in Mandarin)
baby
ball
balloon
banana
bath
bau bau (“hug” or “hold” in Mandarin)
bbbb (elephant sound)
bee
beep
block
blue
blueberries
Bo (cousin)
book
bottle
bow wow (dog sound)
bowl
bread
breakfast
bubbles
bye bye
camera
cap
car
cheese
circle
clock
corn
dog
duck
Dug (uncle)
egg
Elmo (much as I tried to avoid Elmo
he has managed to infiltrate our home)
Exie
fei ji (“airplane” in Mandarin)
flower
Gramma
grapes
hello
help (which still sounds like “puh puh”)
home
hot
keys
lai (“come here” in Mandarin)
Lala (for Aunt Stella)
Mama
Max (playgroup friend)
meow (cat sound)
milk
Mmm
moo (cow sound)
moon
mouse
mouth
neigh (horse sound)
night night
nine (her first number!)
no
Nola (playgroup friend)
ooo ooo (monkey sound)
out
pajamas
pasta
peas
peep (chick sound)
phone
pi bau (“purse” in Mandarin)
plate
Pooh
prunes
pu pu (fish sound)
rah rah (tiger sound)
red
rock
shoes
snack
socks
spoon
sss (bathroom sound – you know the one)
teeth
that
this/these (not sure which)
trees
truck
tummy
waffle
walk
water
wow
xie xie (“thank you” in Mandarin)
Yeh Yeh (“grampa” on dad’s side in Mandarin)
yuck
zee (letter zee)
zzz (bee sound)
This is very likely an incomplete list since there are a number of words/phrases that we’re not sure about yet (“he tang,” for example, which means “drink soup” in Mandarin, but since she’s only used it once, we didn’t feel like it really qualified as vocabulary yet).
Max, Antoine, Adam, Exie, Nola, & Jonas. Perfect; just like that. Everybody hold still and keep smiling at the camera. Excellent. Thanks very much for your cooperation.
Playgroup Super Awesome has added yet another member, so now the total is six. The new addition is Adam (who has the best laugh in the world) and his mom Diana. Susan met them quite a while ago at Day One. More recently, they’ve had a few playdates and seem to get along famously, mostly ’cause Diana & Adam are fun peeps, but I’m sure shared Taiwanese heritage doesn’t hurt.
Diana, Adam, & Ted
We had our first family/family outing with the Fongs back in August, sharing a dim sum meal in Mountain View, topped off with a trip to a boba shop (I still can’t quite embrace the feeling of those little tapioca balls flying through the straw and interrupting my flow, but I was definitely the odd one out in this case).
An extra benefit of Diana & Adam joining the plagroup is that Exie will hear more Chinese; Diana & Ted speak as much Mandarin to Adam at home as English, so he’s a lucky kid – he’ll be completely bilingual. Actually, he’ll probably be more than bilingual since he also gets some Cantonese and Taiwanese thrown into the deal. Some of the other playgroup kids will also be bilingual: Max (whose father Jacques speaks to him mostly in French) and Antoine (Aude & Osman both speak French to him at home). It’d be great if Exie ended up bilingual, too, but unfortunately our Chinese isn’t really good enough to accomplish that, so we’ll have to figure out how to augment it somehow. Maybe we’ll just drop her off at Adam’s house for a few months.
But I digress… back to the main point of the post: a big warm welcome to the Fongs! Thanks for joining Playgroup Super Awesome!
My dad has also been struggling with his health. Unfortunately for him, he was ambushed by some sort of virus during his visit to us. Their normal one-week visit has turned into three-weeks, much of which he has spent in bed, trying to recover.
We have been worried that it was another stroke because he was showing similar symptoms, but in the end it has been decided that it was not. Apparently, after a stroke, some of the recovery is actual, but some of it is simply compensation by one’s brain and body to cover up the lasting effects. To make matters worth, my father is notoriously susceptible to strange and harsh maladies and manages to contract illnesses that, in several cases, have never been properly diagnosed. Sometimes a run-in-the-mill virus can lay him out for a long time. In this case, while his body was fighting the virus, it stopped some of its normal compensation for the lasting effects of the stroke.
We have all been very worried about him over the last several weeks, but fortunately he seems to be slowing getting better now.
We just received news that Susan’s grandma has passed away (in Taiwan). She has been in the hospital, and we were all hoping that she would recover, but she didn’t. She was 96 and led a great life, so this event is not tragic, but of course it is very sad.
Susan’s grandma and grandpa (on her dad’s side) helped to raise Susan and her sister during their childhood (all the way through high school). Many of Susan’s early memories revolve around them. So it is fitting that Exie is named after her (Exie’s middle name is Yi, Susan’s grandma’s first name).
Susan’s father was already in Taiwan (he works there), and the rest of the family will be flying back for the memorial services happening sometime near the end of the month.
Even though I wasn’t able to get to know her well (though I was lucky enough to meet her on two different trips to Taiwan), it was immediately obvious what a kind person she was, and how fond she was of Susan. She told me some stories about when Susan was just a little baby.
We miss you and and will always love you, Ama.
Exie & Yeh-Yeh (my dad) are rightfully delighted to be test subjects.
Our new camera arrived a few days ago and I’m starting to use it today. It is extremely likely that nobody cares about this except me, with the possible exceptions of Nasir and Spencer. After agonizing over the choice for our next DSLR (our 5-year-old Nikon D70 was a trooper, traveling around the world with us, but 5 years is a long time in camera development these days), I decided to go with a Nikon D90 (instead of a more expensive D300 or the full-frame D700). I’m also hoping to grab a new everyday all-in-one lens for it in the coming months. It will be nice to have something a bit faster since Exie is keeps accelerating; it is getting significantly more difficult to grab candids before she makes a mad dash for the camera, or “mamema” as she calls it. *Lots* of out-of-focus shots recently.
At the most recent playgroup session (a few days ago), Antoine gave Exie a big ol’ smooch goodbye. His parents are teaching him the traditional French custom of kisses on both cheeks. This one, however, was a long-lasting smackeroo right on the lips. Exie hasn’t quite figured out the kissing thing yet, but once in a while she makes an attempt, which usually ends up looking a bit like she’s doing a fish impression. Anyways, everybody that witnessed Antoine’s goodbye smooch will certainly testify that it was very cute.
But today in the park, after he did it again, Exie put her fingers from both hands together and said the word that goes with that sign: “more!” Antoine seemed more than happy to oblige. Hmm… perhaps this is going too far. Maybe I should sit little Frenchy down and give him a good talking-to. Next time that hoodlum and his mother show up at our door, I’ll simply stand in the background looking very tall and angry with my arms folded.
My folks arrived today. They’ve visited quite a few times this year, so that’s great. This is the first time, however, that I think Exie has really remembered them from the time before, so that’s even greater (for them, too).
On the way home from the airport I told them that I thought that Exie would be walking before they left in a week. Of course, I wasn’t sure about this, but both Susan and I have been feeling that it is imminent. In our playgroup, she is the only one not walking (no pressure). But this does mean that she sees people her size toddling around all the time; I’m sure that this must help move her towards her own first steps.
Anyways… sure enough, that afternoon Exie let go of Mama on her own accord and took a few steps to end up in Gramma’s arms. Gramma’s gotta’ love that! (I will post some video soon.)
blood draw
There can be few things that rip your heart out quite so completely as physically restraining your own screaming child as they put in the second needle. Of course, I know that it is for her own good, but when she looked at me between violent wails it was as if to say, “Why are you letting them do this to me!? Why are YOU doing this to me!!?”