Ian is 4!

Dear Ian,

You are growing up too fast! You are 4 years old and brought us another year of joy, laughter and I have to say, some aggravation. Oh how you have grown and matured in the past year.

You loved to sing and knew many songs during the first half of this year. For the second half of the year, you love to dance to hot music more than singing. You like to create a disco-like atmosphere by turning off all the lights and just leaving a particularly dim light on. Then, you pick a CD; put it in the player and dance like crazy. Your dances are very groovy, sometimes you dance like a super hero, sometimes you dance like kung fu fighting.

You are still as particular as ever. I have to ask your permission to rearrange your toys and almost always never get to do it my way. You are very clear minded and know exactly what you want. You are a great helper around the house. You are such a hard worker and you pretend to mow the lawn and vacuum with your toy vacuum. You help me clean the table, dust, change batteries, mop, peel carrots, sweep the floor, bake cup cakes and lots more house chores. However, you end up creating more work for me to do after you help. You love to help wash the car and end up dominating the spray nozzle. You also love gardening and don’t mind planting some new seeds or watering your plants even in the hot summer months.

Last year, we were bragging about you being so good that you did not want to buy toys when we brought you to the toy store. This year, you want to buy every single thing from every single aisle. You are also good about using the word “need” (as in “I need to buy this”) instead of the word “want”. However, you almost never get to buy anything that you “need”, hehehe. We try to tell you that we do not buy something every time we go to the store and only buy things that we need.

Last year, you were quite reserved when you were outside of our home. This year, you have become more sociable and get comfortable easily outside.

I can’t even describe how crazy and totally in love you are about your favorite character, Lightning McQueen. You absolutely cannot share McQueen with anyone. You said “No one can have or buy McQueen because he is very very very very very very very very very important”. You kiss McQueen whenever you see the car. You kiss the TV when you see McQueen on TV. You kiss a card if McQueen is on it. You always ask me to take you to see the real McQueen. You ask me where McQueen lives because you would like to send him a letter. I hope I can take you to see a real size McQueen some day.

You are still fascinated with rotating equipment and likes wheels, gears, and especially fans.

This year, I truly enjoy having conversations with you. Your mixture of seriousness and childishness makes me laugh all the time. Here are some of the funniest things that we talk about.

Ian: When I grow up, I want to be God.

Mama: Oh really, why do you want to be God.
Ian: Because God is good

Ian: Do I have a wife (in his words: lau po)?

Mama: Not yet, but when you grow up, you will have one. Who do you want to be your wife?
Ian: McQueen

I once told Ian that he is God’s gift to me.

Ian: Why am I a gift?
Mama: Because you are God’s gift to me.
Ian: I am not a gift. I am a human.

Ian: Why does Megan not have any teeth? Did she eat too much candy and lost them? Or are her teeth not grown yet?

Ian: Does Jesus have a car?

Ian: Why is Megan’s butt in the front?

Mama: Are our hearts big or small?
Ian: Small
Mama: Where are our hearts located?
Ian: In my tummy but I am not sure because I have not seen it before.

One day, I made some yucca root to be dipped in sugar for Ian. My mom used to make me that when I was young and it has been a while since I ate some. So…
Mama: Can you share a piece with me?
Ian: No
Mama: But I would like to have some?
Ian: Are you hungry? (I thought he was going to give me some if I said I was hungry. )
Mama: Yes
Ian: OK, if you are hungry, go find something else to eat.
Mama: Speechless :-0

Here are some your favorites…
Favorite thing – Lightning McQueen
Favorite food – Ice cream, broccoli, grapes, hamburger, spaghetti, cup cakes
Favorite drink – Soymilk and juice
Favorite friend – Lightning McQueen

It was a tough and sweet year for you as your little sister Megan joined us. It was tough for you because you used to have all my time and now you have to share my time with Megan. It is sweet for you because you love your sister and love to be the older, wiser and more powerful big brother. All in all, I am extremely proud of you because I think you have done so well with receiving Megan.

Your skin still requires high maintenance. Thank God that you can eat chicken this year. So, we still have milk, eggs, peanut and sesame to work with.

As always, we hope and pray that God will always lead your footsteps and always protect you. We love you and are so proud of you! Happy 4th Birthday!

Love,
Papa Mama

P.S. Decorating McQueen on the cake turned out to be a lot more challenging than I thought. When the cake was done, you asked me why McQueen looked more like a minivan than a race car. Nonetheless, you told me that you liked it, whew.....

Happy 1st Birthday Megan

To my darling daughter Megan,

Happy Birthday to you.

You are 1 today and you made the past year so joyful that time just flew right by. You were born at 5:43 pm on a Wednesday, August 19, 2010. You weighed 7 lbs and measured 18.5” long. When you were in my womb, I was worried that I will not love you enough. When the doctor laid you on my chest, you immediately took a very special place in my heart, more special that I could ever imagine. After that, everything in my memory was a hazy because all I could feel was pain from labor without an epidural. You were ready to come into this world and did not give me enough time for the epidural.

You were so little, so precious in my embrace and I could not hold enough of you. You were a very good baby, ate and slept by the clock for the first two months. Then things changed. You started waking up more and more at night. With a family history of food allergy, I was very careful with your diet. At 10 months, I started feeding you some yogurt and you did okay. Thank God for listening to our prayers. We have been praying for you since you were conceived.

You were a “hand” baby because you constantly have to be held. You love to be sung to and would stop fussing when we sang to you. Till today you like to be lulled to sleep with “Twinkle twinkle little star”. At 11 months you started swaying to music that you like.

You were able to sit unsupported at 6 months, crawled at 7 months and cruised at 10 months. You first crawled backwards and it took you a few weeks to figure out how to crawl forward. Since you started crawling and grasping objects at 8 months, you have put almost everything into your mouth. You started eating semi-solid foods at 6months. Your first teeth - lower central incisors - came in around 9 months. You waved bye-bye at 10 months and from there onwards, you just took off with sign language. You started calling mama and papa at 8 months. As of today, we are still waiting for you to walk and more teeth to come in.

You love to go outside which made bringing you out and about a joy. You have such a naughty smile and I love receiving sloppy kisses from you. You like to eat and taste our food, especially food your brother Ian is having. You love to follow Ian around and do what he does.

I love it when you tuck your head on my shoulder and hug me tight. I love it when you wave your hand to say hi or bye-bye. I love your laughs when we play hide and seek and peek-a-boo. Your laughs just make my day. I love to see you chew on food with your only two lower front teeth. Your little mouth is so cute. I love it when I say “kiss kiss mama” and you kiss me on my lips. I just can’t get enough of those kisses. I love those moments when you have just waken up and I hold you - you just hold on to me and hug me tightly. I love your naughty smiles with your eyes squint. I love your serious face when you see new faces and you hold on to me even tighter, afraid that others might take you away from me.

Thank God for bringing you into our family and you are such a blessing to us and bring us so much joy. We hope that God will always be with you.

You are my little angel. We love you, and happy first birthday.

Love,
Papa & Mama

p/s: From your dear brother Ian, proudly announcing that his little baby sister is 1 today!

Recent Vacation Pictures

Finally found some time to post some of the vacation pictures. We spent two weeks in the Puget Sound area, and 1 week in the Bay Area staying with Pearl's brother. It was a good vacation, and we managed to find a suite with kitchen for our two weeks stay in Anacortes.

We spent the Independence weekend at Victoria and Vancouver. Victoria was pretty touristy, and Vancouver was almost like Hong Kong. We went to the Aberdeen center and ate at the Asian food center there, twice. I think we missed good and genuine Asian food a lot. Then had authentic Singapore Chicken Rice (though it is actually called Hainanese Chicken Rice) at my ex-colleague Cherie's place, thanks to her mom-in-law's wonderful cooking. Ian and Megan had fun playing with their pet rabbit, and the hedgehog (never seen a real hedgehog until then...).

San Jose was another place full of Asians. I can imagine myself living there with all the cheap and good Chinese eateries and groceries (Dungeness crab for $5 a pound!!)...if only their property prices are as low as Houston's.

All in all a pretty good and memorable trip, especially the family time spent together with Keat's family. However as ever travelling with two small kids are tiring...

Sweet and HUGE Rainier cherries at the Pike Place Market, Seattle...err the Iguana was fake, I think :o

Lots of wild caught seafood at the Pike Place market.

Ian enjoying his mayonnaise-free sushi

Happy Megan at the hotel

Megan loved the fluffy King bed

Pearl brought the kids to the strawberry farm, this is a revisit for Ian!

Ian had a blast at the local playground
The kids really like checking out the new hotel's beds

We bought some seafood from the local shellfish farm near Anacortes. Cheap Dungeness Crab, yummy!

Vancouver is a beautiful city by the bay, lots of rich people's yachts at the pier

Ian kung fu fighting at Stanley Park, Vancouver

Ian was very focused on the stone painting at Stanley Park

Petting Zoo at Stanley Park

We took the ferry from Vancouver to Victoria, it was rather cold onboard

Ian loves playing with Megan

Ian "Sayang" Megan :)

Gaya, Mutu, Keunggulan, Inilah Dunhill...I can almost hear the advertisement voice behind this pose.

Hatley castle, Victoria. Nice garden and much cheaper than the very touristy Butchart garden too.

Fort Rodd lighthouse was one of the most beautiful scenery we have seen throughout our three week's trip. This is almost like a painting. Definitely a well hidden secret of the beautiful Victoria Island.

We fell in love with this Lavender farm instantly

Other yachts along the route from Victoria back to Anacortes

Beautiful sun set at the ferry terminal of Anacortes

One of the rare moment when Ian and Megan managed a picture together

Otherwise this is Ian's usual self in front of the camera

Puget Sound was so beautiful that we can almost imagine ourselves retiring there

The First Encounter of the Cousins - this is t very first time Ian and Evan met each other

They click at the very first instant, and were playing happily at the playground close to Keat's house.

At the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco. This is my second visit, this time with family, which is a lot more fun than my previous visit just by myself. However I had more time to experiment with the camera then.

Both cousins are taking pictures!

Another hidden secret in San Francisco - the Art Museum

We also spent some time at the Happy Hollow children zoo and park in San Jose. In fact the kids enjoyed this much better than the sceneries. Ian was driving Megan around...may be another 15 years.

Ian and Megan "sharing" a ride at the park...who needs a double stroller? We can do it the "Penang" way :p

Ian wished he was tall enough to ride the go-kart alone

The beautiful shore at the 17 miles drive along the Pacific Coast

The famous Lone Cypress tree

The world renown Pebble Beach Golf Course

The kids enjoyed the Monterey Bay Aquarium very much. I must say that it is the most beautiful and interesting aquarium I have ever visited!

The Kelp (seaweed) jungle display in the aquarium

Lots of huge fish tanks in the aquarium, very grandeur and lots of interesting things to see.

Ian was very fascinated with the touch pool, he was able to feel the star fishes

Cousins playing sand castle at the Santa Cruz beach

The Tam Chiak Po (贪吃婆）Megan with a grain of rice beside her smile, after a satisfying meal