from zero to
Exie...

tough couple of weeks

By Grace | Published: Sep 15, 2009

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.

UPDATE (Oct 16): I’m happy to report that dad seems basically back to normal, so that is great! Phew.

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great grandma

By Grace | Published: Sep 11, 2009

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.

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camera upgrade

By Grace | Published: Aug 28, 2009
Exie & Ye Ye (my dad) are rightfully delighted to be test subjects.

Exie & Ye Ye (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.

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no more smooching for you!

By Grace | Published: Aug 26, 2009

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.

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first steps

By Grace | Published: Aug 25, 2009

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.)

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first IM chat

By Grace | Published: Aug 19, 2009

I’m not a big IM user. Just never really got into it. I’ll do a little Facebook and a little Twitter, but IM not so much. I find it somewhat disruptive, though I certainly acknowledge its potential uses. We do, however, use it for intra-house communication. Especially now that there are times when we don’t want to wake the baby by yelling from floor to floor like barbarians. Or as just a quick time saver instead of trekking up the stairs. Usually I’m upstairs in my office (i.e., the guest bedroom), and Susan’s downstairs in her office (i.e., the kitchen/dining room). Come to think of it, maybe I should submit a complaint; her office is about 6 times as big as mine.

So of course it eventually comes to pass that Exie is sitting on Susan’s lap when I IM her about something. Exie isn’t allowed to watch TV, and she’s not really supposed to be looking at computer screens either, but once in a while it’s difficult to avoid. Here is the transcript:

Susan: so amazing, Exie just said “french fries”!
Grace: really?
Susan: apparently she’s been craving them for 13 1/2 months
Grace: let’s go get some!
Susan: I told her we just ate out yesterday but she’s a little insistent
Grace: which establishment do you think she will most relish (no bun intended)?
Susan: don’t know. she doesn’t know that many. I’ll ask her
[pause]
Susan: GB or we can go 2 Counter. if you don’t want burger u can ordr smthng else at GB
Exie: k,.nijmjumnhn cv gxXjny l
Grace: if the fam is eating burgers, i’m eating a burger! wanna go now?
Exie: vc fdgrv tcdes
Grace: (trying to figure out if i should be wrapping up)
Exie: cfP c556;’y6vb c]\
Susan: yes
Exie: mb cv f6cx ‘
Grace: k. on the way. lol
Exie: clx0–p['CX
Exie: vg//]P_wZ!
Susan: x is typing
Exie: [q’ v
Exie: \
Exie: \v-
Exie: sxsxc”
Grace: ok stop. i’m coming down. :)

It occurred to me afterwords that I should start using my daughter as an awesome password generator.

Note to Exie: By the time you read this, the acronym IM may be so outdated that you have no idea what it means. It stands for “Instant Message.” Sometime in the progression of technology after email and before the ubiquitousness of cell phones, people started using a technology that allowed them to send messages to each other on their computers, and they’d pop up immediately. So, instead of having a slow email conversation or a consuming telephone conversation, people could “chat” with each other, usually while they were doing something else on their computers at the same time. This last bit explains why your father never really got into IM’ing; my ability to multi-task is… um… limited at best.

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electric slide

By Grace | Published: Aug 15, 2009
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Wanna’ go on the big twisty slide, Exie? Okay, Poppa will go with you.

Hmm… that’s interesting. Wanna’ go again?

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toddler?

By Grace | Published: Aug 9, 2009

Apparently the definition of “toddler” is somewhat up for grabs. Of course, it would be quite reasonable for one to be considered a toddler as soon as one can actually toddle (which Exie can’t yet). But often times it seems like it simply means someone between 1 and 3 years old (which Exie is). So either we already have a toddler instead of a baby, or we will soon.

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But hold on one second! We’re not done with the baby stuff yet. Do we absolutely have to move on to the next stage? Already? I *like* it that she talks nonsense. Of course it’s great to see her learning words and starting to actually communicate, but that means that pretty soon she’ll never again blabber on for five minutes in complete gibberish. And it will be easier when she can consistently feed herself, but it’s fun to do it for her and watch her consider the momentous meaning of every mouthful. She’ll never again be able to try tofu for the first time. And crawling will go away. That’s a shame, cause there’s not much cuter than that little booty going furiously back and forth as she scrambles across the room. And while it can be a major time suck, I liked rocking her to sleep. Now we rock her for a few minutes and put her down in her crib. So she no longer falls asleep in my arms. Bummer. I’ll take the tendinitis that goes with it. And what about the clothes that she only wore a few times before she grew out of them? Pretty soon we’ll have to buy shoes where the hole part is not bigger than the rest of the shoe. I could go on and on, but you get the idea.

It is ridiculous how many people say to you, as a new parent, “They grow up so fast.” Yea, yea, heard that before. Only a million times. Guess what? It’s true.

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animal sounds

By Grace | Published: Aug 8, 2009

She learned cat first, because of Chloe. Then cow, which for some reason has always sounded like “buuuh” instead of “moo.” She can obviously make an “m” noise (“mama”), but for some reason she just doesn’t want to use it when talking like cows. Here’s a quick sampler (this isn’t all of them, but it’s certainly enough to get the idea):

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animal sounds 8/8/09 (34sec)
[bigger version]

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ken & anna get hitched

By Grace | Published: Aug 1, 2009
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Our good friends Ken and Anna got married today. The location was a nice winery (Clos La Chance) south of San Jose. The weather was awesome. Too nice, if anything, so fortunately they provided sun umbrellas, which was excellent – babies have very thin and sensitive skin, you know. And poppas that are trying to stay not-too-old-and-weathered-looking also appreciated the umbrellas.

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The ceremony was short and sweet, which is also perfect for babies. But apparently Exie didn’t think it was quite short enough. Somewhere very near the end, after sitting quietly on our laps like a model child for an unusually long time (for her, at least), she decided to start making noise. But not just any noise; she decided it would be a great venue for busting out her new monkey sound. So without any prompting (usually we say, “Exie, what does a monkey say?”), she commenced with a fairly long string of “ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh.” Maybe ’cause Ken was in a tuxedo? We’ll never know.

Anyways… biggo congrats to Ken and Anna! May you live long and soon produce an offspring that is old enough for Exie to play with and young enough for her to boss around.

Credit: Top two photos by Maurice Ramirez

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