Snowball on a ride

Mia is rising her new tricycle with her cat snowball.

2012 X'mas

Merry Christmas 2012. Mia's now posing in her X'mas outfit. She's such a big girl now. This year she's been singing Christmas carols non-stop.

Pinata

Mia's first pinata experience today was to break the little dog for grandma's 60th birthday. She was traumatized by the shattered headless dog. I wish she didn't hzve to go thru it but everything finished within seconds. She refused to see the recorded video afterwards and told me she was afraid. I should have known better.

Stop it, Leave me Alone!

Mia said "Stop it leave me alone" to Mike today. Mike called me to tell me about it. I could not believe it. She's going into the 'terrible 2' phase and becoming very hard headed. Now she's even mouthing back. She's just 22 months old.

Change of Personality

Mia had a change of personality in this semester's Music Together class. I first noticed that she did not eagerly join all the kids to pick music instruments. She'd wait and hesitate to take anything from the teacher. In the first class, she accidently tripped over a 7 month old. The baby broke out crying and probably spooked Mia. Mike attributed her shyness to her traumatic experience of thinking she might have hurt the baby. From then on it's been 6 classes, she still wouldn't venture away me much even though she's seldom that clingy at home or other places. She's generally speaking an outgoing child. Daycare teacher said she was the loudest child and was always friendly... at times strong willed. I am still trying to figure this out.

Picture Day

It's Mia's first Picture Day at the daycare today. I bought her some holiday dresses and a new pair of red shoes last night to go with the outfit. I dropped her off this morning. Principal Kae took her to the photo shoot while I rushed out to my morning appointments. I wish I stayed to see her taking the pictures. All I saw was a snowy background and a bunch of dressed up toddlers. I look forward to seeing the final product.

New dress

Today I made a dress for Mia.

Trick O Treat 2012

Today is Mia's first official Halloween. We went to get her a pumkin basket and dressed her quickly after dinner. We are pirates this year and she's the parrot on daddy's shoulder.

Getting ready to leave!  She learned to say "trick or treat" but was too shy at people's door. She also repeated "Polly wants the candy". Acrossed the street she was mistaken for a chicken!

Pumpkin Festival

We went to Cox Farm on Saturday before Hurricane Sandy comes. Mia went on the big girl slide with daddy, had pop corn for the first time, and petted baby goats.

The Marathon Fever

Mia had a flu shot last Tuesday. She was ok on Wednesday and suddenly developed a fever on Friday. It's been six days. She would range from 100 to 104, especially during the night. We gave her different medicine but none brought the fever down. Mike went in Monday morning but she did not have a fever or any infection. At night again it spiked to 103. After giving her Tylenol for over  a day since then, I took her in again this afternoon. The pediatrician ordered a CBC, a strep test and a uriine test. We await test result in suspicion of a virus. We had some sleep deprived nights this week. Yesterday at work I was in meetings from 8:30 to 6:30 without lunch break. The longest meeting which I ran took three hours at the end of the day. I was zapped. Good thing that the fever went down today below 100. I am hoping a good recovery this weekend. I still want to take her to the Pumpkin Festival.

Dialogue

Mia now can say the following sentences:

What's mommy doing?
Where did mommy go?
What's that noise?

She sings ABC. If prompted, she can go all the way to Z. She counts to 10 but misses a couple numbers. She goes 1, 2, 3, 5, 7,9,10.

It's more and more fun listening to her.

Buying pumpkins

It's that time of the year again.We went to the Farmer's market across the street and picked three pumpkins. Mia rode the little train and went on the hay slide. She busied herself moving the pumpkins up and down the wagon and enjoyed her wagon ride.

Octoberfest concert

Renaissance Festival

Aquarium

Last Saturday we took Mia to Baltimore aquarium.

Swear Jar

Mike started the swear and yelling jar a couple weeks ago. Each yelling and swearing in front of Mia would cost 20 bucks. Since then I have contributed 160 dollars. Mike had coughed up 80 bucks that he's yet to put in the jar. Unbelievable! I must tame my temper. Mia's been having so much temper tandrum since her class filled up with smaller kids. She's no longer the baby of the class and she's feeling a loss. Miss Pinky said she was acting up (whining more and not eating/napping well). She came home and threw the pillows from the couch to the floor while saying 'go away'. I think she needs more attention and is trying to adjust.

ABC

Mia sang ABC today! She went all the way to "G". I came home from work. Mom informed me that she could sing ABC. She started "A B C D E Feb... Fish" and kept repeating. She was right on the tune. I was so beyond happy. I videotaped it and would cherish this milestone forever.

Picture is from this past weekend when we celebrated great grandma's 80th birthday. She was throwig the pom pom while yellig rah rah rah.

At the Beach

Mia's Vocabulary at month 18

I calculated Mia's vocabularies today by Chinese and English. She's been able to name objects and expresssions: a total of 100 words/phrases in Chinese and about 50 in English. I am acutally quite surprised. Lately I've noticed a marked improvement. Last time I couted was about 3 weeks ago, at the time, I was able to count about 60 words in total. She has now more than doubled her mastery of language. I find it much easier to communicate with her now. She even told me about her earache several times, leading us to go to the pediatrician to treat her ear infection.

National Harbor

 

We went to National Harbor today. Mia had her first experience in the sand. It was overcast so perfect for a stroll outdoors. The temperature was in the low 90s. We had lunch at Bond 45, an Italian restaurant by the water front. We sat outdoors and saw many planes taking off and landing from the nearby National Airport. Later we stopped by a yogurt place. Mia had a few mouthful of yogurt with fresh fruit. There was a concert going on by the river called "abbey road on the river". A Beatles cover band. The National Children's Museum has a launch zone nearby so we let Mia play there for a little while. It was nice for me to go to the water and enjoy and breeze and sand too.

Yoga babes

 

Mia saw me doing a downward facing dog. She imitated immediately. Look at us serious yogis.

Words

Mia's learned to say I love you in Chinese. She mostly says "ai ni" (love you). The other day, when I said "I love you to her" before I headed out to work, she responded with "xie xie" (thank you).

At a year and half, she's now managed about 60 words. Some are bilingual such as 'moon' and 'car'. Her longest sentences are 'pick me up mama' and 'don't open the door bunny' in Chinese. She can express fear, desire, surprise and regret. It's now much more interesting to interact with her.

Agricultural Fair

Today we went to a county agricultural fair. Mia saw all the animals on the farm and had a few rides at the carnival. It was fun for me too since I've never been to such a large scale carnival. She had her first horse riding. She was afraid of goats and brown cows. She clung to me tight and repeated "pa" which meant "afraid" in Chinese. She really enjoyed the rabbits.

Lake fairfax

Right next door to our house, there is the Lake Fairfax. I take Mia there almost once a week to see the geese and ride the carousel. She's learned the route. As soon as we arrive at the parking lot, she starts to yell 'yaya' (duck). She could not tell the difference between goose and duck yet. She's such as big girl in this picture now and definitely more sure-footed. The other week, she walked up the stairs without crawling or my help. I was amazed.

Air & Space Museum

Air and Space museum was fun for Mia since she's really into planes.I video taped the trip. She kept wanting to see the video to look at the planes. It's not a typical museum. It's converted from a hangar and full of old planes and the Discover space shuttle. We also saw lots of missiles.

Baby loves water

At the Town center there is this fountain. All the kids go there. I prepared towel and extra clothes today. After dinner I released Mia for a water play. She had a blast.

Toddler swim meet

Park

Summer Favorite

Recent Favorite

Over It

Mia got over the daycare unhappiness by Wednesday last week. It was her 7 day at daycare. I was so busy at work, I did not have time to call. At 2ish, Ms. Mimi called me and reported that Mia ate lunch and slept in her own cot. I was beyond myself. I called it the "breakthrough" day. After that day, she ate breakie, lunch, snacks and could get about one hour nap every day. She also stopped crying during the day. She still cries or whines at dropoff but some days she was even smiling as Mike passed her to the teacher. I am really proud of my little girl. She adjusted way faster than I expected.

She did become incredibly attached to her 'yang yang' (lammi blankie) and would not part with it for a second. During the day she takes it everywhere and drags it through the playground. By the time yangyang gets home, she is dirty. I bought a second yangyang just so that I could watch them and switch them around.

Mia's first July 4 party

We went to a party tonight. Mike and his best friend Dave and the second generation

At the pool

We lost power due to a storm last night. We went to my in-laws. Mia had a blast in the pool.

Still Hating

Mike dropped Mia off at daycare this morning. It's her fifth day. Mike called and said she cried in the car as soon as he pulled into the parking lot. He held her for ten minutes and the poor thing howled the entire time. My heart is broken as I hear this. It's so tough for her. I hope she has a better day.

Carousel

We went to Chemijontry park this morning. Mia had her first carousel experience. We did it four times and she still didn't want to leave the horses.

Splash

Mia's first swimming lesson today. Getting dressed.

Mia enjoyed water very much. She was probably the biggest baby in class but she had the most fun. With dunking in water exercise, she behaved superbly. She was not too surprised when Mike submerged her in water since she's been practicing this in our bath tub since she was tiny. The class will go all the way to August 11. We will be training in grandma's pool intermittenly. Hopefully by the end of this summer. She will learn how to swim.

Cry Baby

I got out of the car at the daycare parking lot and heard this howling for mama. For a moment I could not tell who it was and was wondering "would that be Mia?" As I walked towards the gate, I saw this little girl dressed in flowery shirt pouring her tears out at the gate. An unfamiliar teacher was asking "is this mama?" Yes she is mine. I grabbed her really quick and put my face against her wet cheeks. Aparently she's been crying at the gate at everyone coming to get their baby, asking for mama. She did not eat lunch today. She was very clingy to her lammi, two dolls from class and her sippy cup. Pinky said she held on to the lammi all day and was crying a lot more after Mike's visit at noon. At that moment I decided we would not visit during the day any more.

For me, it was not as hard as yesterday but it is still very difficult for my poor baby. It will be a long road to normality.

1st Day at Daycare

Mia started her 1st day at daycare today. This moring, Mike and I both drove to send her off. The past two weeks, we took her in twice to get familiar with the environment and the teachers. She seemed ok then so we were curious to see how she would fare today.

I was giving Ms. Mimi Mia's items to keep when Mike called out to the boy next to Mia. I caught Mia hitting the shelf against the wall and falling on the ground. It turned out the little boy Brandon, shoved Mia and she fell even though she was happily minding her own business. Mike went over immediately and scolde the boy. Mia cried with much surprise and dismay. Mike picked her up. Both Ms. Mimi and Ms. Ismahan scolded the boy. Ms. Mimi said she was so sorry. Mia was shrieking since we all started paying attention to her. When I picked her up from Mike, my heart was aching. What a rude welcome!

When we were talking to the teacher, I started tearing up. I feel terribly uncomfortable leaving her here and I was so worried. The teachers assured me that Mia would be in good hands but I still had such a heavy heart.

When she wasn't looking we quickly left the room. I looked at her through the little window on the door and headed out with tears streaking down my face. I drove to work distracted. All morning I was heart broken. I called the daycare around 10:30. The teacher said she had a little cereal and half an orange. She then cried and everytime anybody came into the room, she called for mama. Ms. Pinky held her for an hour then she got better. My heart sank and I cried. I spoke with my coworkers who are moms that have gone through this. They comforted me with understanding words and suggested that I should arrange to pick her up early everyday this week. I cried a dozen or so times today including tearing up in my boss' office. I could not help it as soon as I thought about the crying little one, probably thinking we have abandoned her.

Mike stopped by at 1 and reported back to say Mia was sleeping in the stroller in the hall way since she would not sleep in her cot. I called the daycare again. Ms. Mimi said she did not want lunch and would not sleep. They took her out on the stroller and she just got sleepy. I teared up again after the call. I have become one of those moms that I couldn't believe I'd become. I feel so guilty even though I really don't have any choice.

I hurried home after my three o'clock meeting. I actually rescheduled two more meetings after so I could pick Mia up quickly. I sped like a demon. As soon as I drove into the parking lot, my heart was beaming with the thought that I'd liberate my baby. When I opened the door, I saw her sitting at the corner, all alone, eyes red and swollen, with her lammy in one hand and her seahorse in the other hand. There was also a toy puppy tugged under her leg. She saw me, pauzed for a second, then it registered. Her little face twisted and she broke out crying and reached up towards me. I ran to her, gave her a big hug and planted a thousand kisses on her cheeks. She smelled of soiled diaper and I just wanted to cry.

It was a terrible day for both of us. She got home, ate noodles, sweet potatoes, grapes and yogurt. She played with most of her toys. I think tomorrow will be even harder since she now knows what is ahead of her. I plan to leave work early again to pick her up. Oh how I hate this!

Splash

Mia is ready for swimming lessons. We signed her up for end of July class. Since she was a tiny baby, we have let her swim in the master bathroom tub. She is a water baby and has always enjoyed 'wawa'.

Our neighbor got some outdoor water slide and turned it yesterday in the yard between our two houses. When I got home from a seven hour round trip to Lynchburg, I saw Mia playing in the yard, hair drizzled in water and dress wet. She was having a blast.

Our in-laws has a pool, today is Father's Day so we went over to celebrate. Mia had her first dip in the pool, only hands and feet though. She did her best splashing the water. In two weeks, I think the pool will be warm enough for her to do her first big girl swim. We bought her the diapers used for swimming today in preparation for her upcoming adventures.

Zoo

Went to the petting zoo next door today. Mia freaked out over the ostrich, the turtle, the alligator and the screaming goats. She even did not like the peacock opening its tail. As soon as the white peacock shake his tail, Mia shook and grabbed onto me. She only appreciated the Vietnamese pot belly pig and said yum yum yum as the pig ate.

We saw a baby deer born only two hours before our arrival and a calf that was so fluffy, it was cuter than any cartoon character. Mia was not so impressed. She was distracted by a balloon in the little girl's hand next to us. When she gets bigger, she may like the experience more.