Thursday, August 19, 2010

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!

Friday, August 06, 2010

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 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