Life in the Boonies

Today we celebrated Frank’s first birthday. He is such a big boy now. We opened many presents for Frank, right after he eat bananas and waffles. He got more board books, peg puzzles, wooden blocks, some cute clothes, and a puppet theater setup complete with puppets. He liked daddy playing peekaboo behind the puppet theater curtains. After his morning nap we went shopping for a new car seat. Now Frank can sit facing forward. They didn’t have the one we picked so later we order one on the Internet. Frank got leftover meatballs for lunch along with some wheat muffins. After lunch Frank was not happy playing inside so we all went to the park. We played and played until it was nap-time again. For snack, Frank was given some Asian pear but he spit them out and threw them on the floor. Finally mom gave in and peeled him an orange. Ate the whole orange with delight. Then we opened the wooden blocks and Frank picked them up, chewed them, carried it up the stairs, tossed them around. And then he was done with this new toy. Daddy gave him a bath and mommy played with him until dinner time. We ate stir-fry with rice. Frank liked the chicken alot. He got mad when daddy was putting the leftover away while he was still eating even though his tray was still full. Changed into PJs, brushed teeth, put down to bed at 8pm sharp. Frank rolled over and snuggled his blanket and we have all made it through 1 whole year of excitement, stress, joy, frustration, love, worrying, laughter, crying, hugs and kisses, amazement, wonder, and delight.

One Week Old	One Year Old

This week Frank advanced from playing toss and fetch on the staircase to finding things and throwing them over from the top. First it was daddy’s socks. This took quite a bit of planning as it involves crawling over to the sock drawers, pulling to standing position, opening the drawer, taking a pair of rolled up socks out, carrying it from the bedroom to the top of the stairs, and finally, flinging it over. He also experimented with socks in the laundry basket, needlepoint blocks, and his alligator pulley toy. Just when you think you have figured Frank out, he shows you how complex(heehee) he really is. Today daddy tossed a toy up to the very top of the stairs for Frank to fetch. Frank got all the way up there, then threw the toy into the bedroom. Then he proceeded to go get it back. Daddy waited and waited and Frank did not return. Finally daddy went up to check on him. Caught red handed unrolling the toilet paper in the bathroom. Speaking of paper, Frank pulled a bunch of tissue paper out of the box before we discovered what he was up to. The hard to believe part is he didn’t eat any of the tissue.

Another game we started to play is putting things back into the container. Frank used to only take stuff out. Recently he will put a ball into the jar if mommy points at the ball and the inside of the jar. Mom doubt he understands the actual words when she tells him to. Now he also give things to mommy when she puts her hand out. Frank is still cruising and have not yet let go to stand without support. He crawls very fast and there is no place he can’t get to. He is also taller and reaches many table tops that has not yet been cleared off or baby-proofed. Frank has outgrown those tiger shoes. Now he is wearing his first real pair of shoes when we go to the park. They are not soft and bendy like the tiger shoes so just socks at home.

In the eating department, Frank is completely on normal adult food. He won’t eat anything that comes on a spoon. This week he has eaten eggplant parmesan, spaghetti and meatballs, bok-choy and chicken stir-fry with rice, pot roast with potatoes, quesadillas, and jerk pork as main dishes. He continues to love grapes and oranges and bananas. When asked if he wants more oranges (or grapes), he kicks with excitement and makes a sound that is very much like YEAH. First word? Probably not. Today we tried an Asian pear and it was a flop. He also had mangoes, Fuji apples, and peaches this week although not with the same enthusiasm. When new food is getting placed on his tray, Frank tends to throw the currently held piece over his shoulders to free up that hand for the fresher and therefore better ones. When mom gives him Cheerios as a delay tactic to cut up the fruits, Frank will clear his plate by throwing each Cheerio away as to say I’m not getting anything to eat here… Frank continues to drink whole milk and water throughout the day. When his is thirsty, he downs that stuff without spilling any. Other times he will gargle it and drool it down his front. Breakfast and lunch Frank and mommy eats together. Then he has an afternoon fruit snack. When daddy gets home we all have dinner together. Then Frank is changed and put to bed.

Frank took two naps most of this week. On the day we had our playgroup here, he took the first nap late and refused to take the second one. He played nicely until bedtime. Frank’s first real playgroup. Two other babies came and they are both more advance than Frank in the walking stage. The older boy stands and walks while holding his mom’s hand. The younger girl walks pretty well and bends down to pick up stuff easily. It was adorable to see all three little people standing around the house. Frank did not interact very much. He watched them mostly. The girl wanted to pat Frank and play with his hair. The boy wanted to grab Frank’s hand. They all played with the ball shooting toy and the other two kids would go bring the balls back and put it down the tube again. Maybe that helped Frank because after that he did it once. Frank kept climbing up and down the stairs and it got the other kids on the stairs too. But the boy didn’t know how to get down yet so his mommy kept bringing him back down. The hardest part was trying to take a picture with all three of them sitting on the couch. Several was taken, maybe one will be decent.

Since returning from our vacation, Frank seems more grown up. When he is trying to do something or go somewhere and is being prevented, he demonstrates frustration. He wants more control and that is most obvious in the feeding part. He refused being spoon-fed. He is more willing to eat stuff he sees us eating. So, we have altered the schedule so Frank now eats dinner with us at 7pm. He goes to bed at 8:30 and wakes up at 7:30. Maybe this whole time we put him to bed too early. He wakes up happy and plays until it is breakfast time.

He loves bananas. Toast is good only when he feels like it. We gave him rice and it was hard to eat with his hand so he allowed mom to feed him with a chopstick. He also really wanted to grab the chopstick and play with it. Lots of food gets tossed on the floor. He likes to bite pieces off the apple. Spit it back out onto the tray. Look at it and then eat it. Oranges are a favorite. He will eat the entire orange without hesitation and still demand more. Grapes is another one. He really liked stir-fry bell pepper for one night. Baby carrots he will eat some when he feels like it. It has become much harder to feed Frank but we have been extremely lucky for a long time where he ate everything with enthusiasm.

Sleeping has been wonderful this week. Two solid naps, 9:30 to 11 and 3ish to 4ish. Bedtime at 8:30 and up around 7:30 with no wakings. He hasn’t fought any of the naps either so the days are going very smoothly. In playtime, Frank has learned to duck to get under the table. He use to get stuck and bang his head on the crisscross legs. Now he ducks really low and commando style crawls under it to surface on the other side. He loves the stairs. Daddy has invented a new game where we toss a toy up the stairs and Frank goes up to where it landed and throws it back down. When it doesn’t make it all the way down, he comes down the steps and continues until the toy is at the bottom. Then he remains where he is waiting for the next toss. Over and over again, giggling and laughing as he watches the toy roll down the stairs. After his falling, we decided to watch him more carefully rather than block off his access. He is showing extreme balance and skill as he turns, leans and reach for the toys on the stairs. Sometimes he can’t see it but when mom points to it and says “up, up” he goes up more to look for it. He also gets the balls that mom points at but doesn’t yet retrieve it back to her, just throws it to the side instead.

Frank has learned the exact button to press on his toy to start the balls from shooting out. When it stops, he goes the press it again and again. Sometimes he will go after the balls. We play toss the ball back and forth. Frank’s aim is random. So far we have visited the playground everyday. Frank goes down the slide, crawls around, tries to bother the ants, picks up all kinds of stuff and almost eats them. He stands with his butt leaning against the slide. He enjoyed watching several kids play basketball. He didn’t like the swing at all. We have just met a daddy with a 6-month old girl that lives close by. Although she will be going to daycare soon, we hope to find time on the weekends to play with them in the future.

• Jan 23 - Breakfast: handful of Cheerios, 1 banana, 1 whole wheat toast, 7oz milk; Lunch: 1/4 avocado, 3/4 toast, 1 orange, 2 baby carrots, 1/4 slice of cheese, 2oz milk; Snack: 1 cup grapes, 2 cookies; Dinner: some pork, 1/4 apple. Frank stopped eating his normal cereal mix. He now demands food he can examine, with his hand before putting into his mouth. Even avocados are becoming difficult, as he likes to squeeze them and mush them around everywhere.
  
• Jan 22 - He’s been sleepy and tired yesterday and today. Then fever last night but went away in the morning.
  
• Jan 20 - Cereal mush is no longer desirable to Frank. He doesn’t like to be spoon fed and fights to make a big mess. He is showing great interest in whatever we eat. Also now he lets his sippy cup sit on the tray and takes a drink in between his meal. We gave him pork and he loved it, until the spices caught on to him after eating a whole bunch. Then he got mad and was sticking his tongue out and trying to wipe stuff off with his hand. Some grapes helped clear his palette. Frank lost his balance and fell down the stairs today. He got too interested looking at stuff that he didn’t see he had no more space for his feet. Fast recover for Frank but mom is still worrying about damages.
  
• Jan 19 - Nursed alittle. Definitely no longer interested. We played by the slide and Frank tries to climb all the way up but gravity always wins. He liked standing there and throwing wood chips onto the slide and pounding on it.

Up early to catch our flight, Frank was alert and interested in his new surroundings on the Bart. Checkin and security was so smooth we had lots of time at the gate to play. Frank ate a banana while standing up and just chomping pieces off. Then he ate a English muffin. He crawled around and we met another baby on our flight. She was the same age but already walking. We breezed through customs and found grandpa waiting for us outside. First day we met all the other family members by the pool and Frank crawled in and out of the kid’s pool. He cruised along side the edge and found himself in the deeper end. When trying to crawl away, his face went into the water. Didn’t scare him, just some coughing to clear the water out.

We went out to dinner several nights and Frank ate his own dinner and then everyone gave him tastes of their entries. He never stopped eating, to everyone’s surprise (except mom and dad). Some of that includes, baked goat, quesedillas, huechinago, steak, chips and salsa, ribs, and lots of fish. Sometimes we forgot to pack his sippy cup so he drank from our cups. Lunch and Breakfast was always on the deck. Aside from his usual, Frank got an assortment of Mexican cookies, oranges, watermelon, apples. He even tried pop corn once and a lick of our ice cream cone. We all had to take turns feeding and eating. With all the extra new tastes, Frank stopped wanting to nurse mid week. With many more offerings and being turned down, Jan 16 morning marked the last nursing.

Frank took on a whole different sleeping schedule the entire time. He sleep through the night but always woke up around 5:30am. On several days mom took him out to the beach. We played in the sand and watched the sunrise and sometimes the cruise ships that came in. Other days grandma took him and he crawled up and down the stairs and helped with the landscaping. Frank likes to throw sand onto the chairs and then make them bounce by pounding on the chairs. He take a solid morning nap and then we go off to the pool to play. More pool or beach time after lunch and then a second nap. Lots of kids at the kid’s pool but Frank mostly played by himself. Not really interacted with any except to go after their toys that interested him. Frank loved watching the birds. Ones on the deck made him stop eating. He also yelled at them once cuz they were getting too close to his food. The pelicans on the beach was another favorite.

Frank started a gargling contest. He drinks some water, gargle it for a long time, then either let it run down his front or swallow it. Great uncle Eric took up the challenge but since he was gargling booze, he couldn’t keep up with Frank. As Frank got familiar with the pool, he would crawl to the edge, put his hand in as if to test the water, then slide his feet in to get down from the edge. On the beach, daddy and uncle Al found big rocks on the sea and offered them to Frank. Frank immediately tested them in his mouth and discovered how salty and yucky they taste. He played with sand and for the most part didn’t eat it. We played bury Frank’s legs. We left one toe sticking out in the sand and Frank looked at it with great curiosity.

Frank let go several times while cruising to get from the couch to the coffee table and back. He is also doing this thing where he locks his knees and sticks his butt in the air forming a upside-down V shape. Then he looks through his legs at us. Yoga down dog?

• Jan 8 - While mom was brushing her teeth this morning, Frank went downstairs by himself and played with his new musical table. Mom was later looking for him upstairs until she heard the songs playing. He must feel much more in control now that he can go up and down without other people’s help. For lunch Frank didn’t eat his usual bowl of cereal etc. He ate half of what mom was eating… eggplant and chicken stir-fry, saucy tofu and chicken, and steamed rice. There was vinegar, hot sauce, soy sauce, salt, sugar, and garlic cloves and Frank ate it all and wanted more when it was gone. This is the first time where Frank ate our food as a meal. Previously, he has tasted our food after he was done eating his usual.
• Jan 7 - Since we have returned from WA, Frank is not chewing on everything in site. He is showing more interest in flipping the pages of his books rather them eating it. We have decided to start reading to him again. Of course, he flips the pages back and forth so the stories are told not as printed. Some embellishments and additional parts involving characters such as Franklin always make it more entertaining to the other adult in the house. Frank likes Uncle Al’s presents (board books with flip flaps) the best. We are also giving him other board books to turn the pages and to teach him not to chew on them. Frank is also starting to take long morning naps. Some have lasted over 2 hours. His afternoon naps is at times a struggle and usually short. When he does miss that nap, he is not fussy and can still play nicely til bedtime. Maybe going to 1 nap soon?
  
• Jan 6 - Frank now climbs up and down the entire staircase unassisted. He was so excited in practicing, he refused to take his afternoon nap. He goes all the way up, then all the way down, then all the way up again. Sometimes he changes his mind midway and goes the other way.
  
• Jan 3 - Frank climbed down two steps while midway on the staircase. He went backwards and slided down his legs just like grandma showed him at the dock house. Then he went back up again. Later at the top of the stairs, he looked down, turned around, and came down the first step. Then back up again.

As daddy arrives on the 22nd, we officially starts the holiday celebrations that will last til Jan 1st. This week Frank had several new advances and new experiences. He quickly learned that to make the pan cover spin and wobble, he had to throw it while holding on to the rubber top. He is now expert in this art and does it continuously to everyone’s delight and earache. The wooden pegs that goes Thump is still a favorite activity but now Frank knows not all things can be spit out of his mouth that way. He has tried the yogurt cup, the measuring cup among others. As for signing, he might be doing some but maybe not intentionally yet. He does the cookie sign during feeding but is not looking at us. He puts both hands together and twists one hand back and forth. He definitely understands the milk sign (along with the words) but no signing it back to mom yet. He kicks with joy and smiles when asked “you want some milk milk?” Along that thought, Frank now takes food out of his mouth and either throws it on the floor or puts it back into his mouth. This is how we discovered he didn’t like broccoli. He also blew raspberries to indicate that he didn’t like it. He bites pieces of Cheerios off with his front teeth, takes it out, examines it, then eat the pieces one at a time. A lot more ends up on the floor now. Many dadadada sounds all week.

Christmas morning was exciting and fun. Frank had his own big pile of presents after the sorting elves were done. He wore his Chinese outfit hand imported by Grandma Siu Lan. Frank crawled around and pulled ribbons and tags off while we tried to put them back on to keep track who and what. He found Uncle Al’s CDs and threw them on the floor. He pulled on the tree and ornaments. The kitty hide from him the entire time. Frank got book and toys from relatives near and far. The immediate favorite was a jar of plastic interlocking beads. Frank tried to Thump with them but found he can make blowing sounds with one end of the bead. He even took a morning nap in yet another new house. We opened presents quietly and whispered happy noises until he woke up. Boxes, paper, tags, ribbons, packing material, and opened presents were everywhere and half of the day has passed.

Another trip to the dock house, but this time on Grandpa’s boat instead of the ferry. Frank crawled around inside and fell off a step in the blink of an eye. Good thing he has a hard head. He played on the steering wheel and posed nicely for all the photos. Frank knows this house now. He happily played and crawled and found the pan drawer. We had a laugh attack doing stand-up, fall down session on the mattress we put on the floor. Mom stands Frank up and lets go. He sits down or falls over and giggles. He hasn’t let go to stand since last time. Noticeably, he holds on to my leg with less force. On the way back, Frank took a nap with mom in the boat. He slept nicely until we docked again. When we ran over a log with a big noise, Frank opened his eyes for a second and then went back to sleep.

Back in Burlington, we discovered that Frank napped better when we tire him out. It was just a matter how how many people it took to do that. We played “where’s mommy?”, while mom peaks out at the end of the hallway. Frank scoots over to find her. Then grandma says “where’s grandma?”, and peaks out the other end of the hall. Frank scoots over there to find her. Back and forth, back and forth. Then he napped for 2 hours. The next two days we played in the pool. Frank was scared at first. His death grip on mom’s swimsuit lasted for 2 min. We showed him how to make splashes with his hand and that was the end of the scare. Frank splashed to no ends. When we finally removed him from the pool (because we had dinner guests coming soon) he screamed and kicked and was unhappy until he got rinsed off, newly clothed, and played with. He slept well that night so we did it again Sunday. This time daddy went in with him. They played motor boat (daddy holding him and moving him around with sound effects) from one end of the pool to the other. More splashes and fun.

The flight home was delayed due to delays of connecting passengers. Then delayed again due to mechanical problems. They let us deplane so Frank played in the waiting area and banged on windows and looked out at airplanes. Finally we took off and Frank got very hooty. He fussed and fussed but eventually fell asleep in mom’s arms. That nap lasted the rest of the flight so he was well rested when we landed. All those announcements didn’t even wake him. Some more waiting with luggage and then onto the bus and then onto the Bart. Finally we made it home and it was already Frank’s bedtime. First he needed some dinner. He definitely remembered home even though it has been 3 weeks. He crawled right in, found his familiar toys and was happy playing. When it was bedtime, he wanted to play more and resisted some. He was also tired from traveling so soon fell asleep. That marked the end of that adventure.

• Dec 21 - The houses keep switching on Frank so he had some trouble sleeping. Or maybe it is the new teeth coming out. Anyways, mom took him to snuggle in the middle of the night and boy was that a mistake. He wiggled and wiggled and finally went back to sleep. Mom slept with one hand on his leg. When he started to move again, mom reacted but didn’t realize how little space was left on the other side and thump… Frank rolled off another bed. If only daddy was here to protect the other side. Frank took an early 9am nap which was perfect for fitting in a playdate with Missy and June (Nat’s childhood buddy’s wife and 2 1/2 year-old daughter). Frank immediately found the glass door to their backyard. He really likes to look outside. Then we played on their patio some. When June started her lunch, Frank hooted to indicate “Where is my share?” So he got some grapes and then some Cheerios and then some water and then some quesidillas and then it was time to make our exit. While standing by the stereo system, Frank let go and stood (hovered) for a second. Then he turned around and reached for the stool. Not quite within reach so pushed away from the glass door and took a step. He immediately reached the stool and didn’t fall.
• Dec 20 - Again Frank woke up early but this time he was inclined to snuggle with mom. He wiggled so much he rolled off the bed. Slightly startled but only made one squeak before he found his mommy and his thumb. Today we head back to Burlington. While grandpa vacuumed, Frank crawled behind and followed along. On the ferry, Frank started to show us a new skill he has mastered. (Background info: Daddy’s old Fisher Price bus has lost all the people in it. Grandpa made wooden pegs in their place for Frank to play with.) Frank puts the “wooden bus people” in his mouth and then shoots it out while saying THUMP. He would only do this with the light green one and not any of the others. (Daddy did this at home 2 weeks ago with a wine bottle cork and that made Frank laugh and laugh. Now Frank does it and makes us all laugh.) By the time we got off the ferry Frank was tired. But we still had to go through customs since it was a ferry coming from Canada. The officer started to ask mom questions and that just made Frank mad. He stared at the officer and screamed until the officer said you can go. Grandma gives Frank his first haircut. Chopped off some in the front and on the side so it doesn’t bother his ears and eyes. More teeth on the bottom is coming through.
• Dec 19 - After waking up at 5:30, Frank refused to sleep any further having another new place to get use to. It didn’t take long for him to get comfortable as the morning nap lasted 2.5 hours. That’s a record. Being well rested, Frank crawls to grandpa, played with Uncle Al, watched the birds outside attentively, and participated in some wood chopping activities. Frank followed grandpa around the house. Then he found the magazine stash and “sorted” them. Uncle Al also invented a game of rolling the stacking rings from the other end of the room toward Frank. Sometimes it landed in front of Frank and sometimes rolled right passed.
• Dec 18 - Off we go to the dock house. Frank gets his first ride on the ferry boat. He got the rest of his breakfast in the car while waiting for the ferry. Then we went into the walk-on waiting area and Frank played with the Christmas tree and some fake boat gadgets on display for kids. On the ferry, Frank stood on the table and looked out into the ocean. He pounded on the glass. Thick and sturdy. The man sitting in the booth behind us blew bubble gum at Frank and made faces. Frank looked at him with great interested and waved. Upon arriving, grandma and grandpa moved all the plants on the floor and decorative items to higher shelves. Frank explored this new house. After his dinner, Frank sucked on a pineapple chunk and entertained us with his facial expressions. At one moment, grandpa put Frank down on his feet and Frank stood there without anything to hold on to for 2 seconds. Then he reached out and got hold of mom. From the look on his face, he was as surprised as we were.
• Dec 17 - Frank had a busy afternoon. We skipped church in the morning since Frank was still napping. But after lunch, Frank got a bath and new clothes to get ready to attend a concert at church. Grandpa was singing at this concert so we can’t miss it. We got there early so mingled with the church friends. Frank got to meet Pastor Wendy, who married mom and dad. He was very cute and well behaved. During the concert, Frank and another baby sang along. “Do you hear what I hear…” Frank squeaked right on cue. “Angel voices …” another cue. We also found a plastic hammer in the children’s room and Frank chewed on that during the concert. We crawled around and patted the Christmas tree too. Lots of ins and outs so he would stay entertained. Frank stayed awake in the car ride back even though it was past his nap time. He went down without any protest once his head hit the pack n play. After nap we hurried over to Uncle Al’s house to decorate the tree. Frank immediately liked Tiger’s (Al’s cat) toys. Tiger hid under the bed at first. During dinner, Frank and Tiger had a staring contest, in which Tiger won.
• Dec 16 - Today cousin Linda and John came to visit and play with Frank. Frank was so well behaved. At first he was shy and yelled when the new visitors got too close but after his lunch, he crawled around and played with everyone. He sat on Grandpa’s lap and played “This is the way the lady rides…”. He even let cousin John hold him and do the West Coast version of that song. Frank played with his new fishing toys from cousin Linda. Today Frank is noticeably more comfortable here and let mom move out of slight for brief moments. He plays independently and looks over once in a while to check where mom is, much like when we were at home. Frank also giggled and laughed when grandpa tickled him on the tummy.
• Dec 15 - Big storm last night wiped out the power here. It was so dark Frank slept til 7:15. When he finally got up, we had candles and flashlights. We had a fire in the fireplace and that kept us warm until power came back. Frank cruised right next to the fire and watched the flames flicker. Frank let grandpa carry him and look at the birds out the window. We went to the store after his first nap and had to open the new bag of carrots while in line so he would stop hooting. He chewed on the mini carrot until we got home. Now everyone does a stretchy stretch with Frank when he wakes from his peaceful slumber. Frank cruises over to the stereo system, bangs on the glass. Some new toys now include yogurt lid, plastic strip from milk bottle, and measuring cups.
• Dec 13 - Rise and shine to play with grandma. We explored the new surroundings. Frank liked the ceiling fan. He played with his toy bus, banged on grandma’s pots and pans, crawled by the deck windows and stared at the birds, followed mom into the bathroom and pulled on the toilet paper. Frank took two naps both lasting alittle over 1 hour. After lunch we took a walk around the neighborhood. Frank refused to wear his hat so we removed it and he stopped hooting. He is getting used to the new faces. Before dinner, Frank played thumbs up with Grandpa. Frank grabs Grandpa’s thumb and throws it off the table. Again and again. Then he played with Uncle Al’s Pepsi cup and pulled the straw out then chewed the plastic lid off. A pretty good first day overall. Mom still needs to stay very close but Frank is willing to crawl away on his own to explore.
• Dec 12 - Frank’s first plane ride went pretty well. He ate the entire time from after getting through security til landing, all about 3 hours. He finished the carrots, the green beans, a whole banana, some Cheerios, an arrowroot cookie, and a teething biscuit. All that food got him thirsty and Frank drink water with his sippy cup. He was loud but not crying. Frank liked to stand on the seat and look outside the window. He babbled and yelled loudly at the engine. He looked interestingly at the lady next to us and blew raspberries at her. Frank also liked to climb on mom to look at the guy sitting behind us. Frank got hooty in the car ride back since it was getting dark and he was probably hungry and tired. After dinner and a video call to dad, Frank went to bed and slept until 5:30 in the Pack n Play. Then he slept with mom from 6 to 7

• Dec 9 - First thing after breakfast, Frank takes all the train tracks out of their bucket. Now there is no grandma to put them back. We all miss her. Frank is no longer content with eating Cheerios one at a time. If they are close by, he grabs a bunch with one hand and stuff them into his mouth. If they are apart, he picks one up and then another and shoves both into his mouth. Sometimes he will also grab one in each hand and feed himself alternating. Frank not only cruises around the coffee table with speed and ease, he also does it with purpose. When a toy is out of reach on one side, he gets over to the other side and grabs it.
• Dec 8 - Frank has a door jam he can’t part with. Today he tried to stick it onto the fridge. It doesn’t stick like the kitty magnets. How interesting =). Frank now likes to carry his toy while crawling to other places. When he loses it, he recovers it and then continues moving. Frank’s table etiquette is getting ferocious. He eats like a hungry lion. Scary. The callus on Frank’s thumb turned into a big wound cuz he bites on it so much. Mom didn’t think it was ever gonna heal since he continues to suck on it. But now it is on its way to recovery. Maybe he does feel pain and decided not to bite it anymore. For lunch, Frank ate ox tail stew from mom’s plate. He even sucked on the ox tail bone to get all the juices out.
• Dec 7 - Frank goes up the stairs slower now, stopping to look around and also pausing to play with the gate at the top and bottom. We had a friend from the mommy group come over. The little girl protected Frank from the paper shredder. CUTE!
• Dec 5 - Frank ripped open the box holding some balls. He tugged and tugged until all the balls fell out. We are back to 2 naps and sleeping through the night. No new teeth. When Grandma calls Frank he doesn’t turn back until she says “CEREAL” and he scurries over. Frank likes to stick his finger into a hole on mommy’s pants. Now grandma sewed it up so he pokes but can’t find the hole.
• Dec 3 - Frank starts his 11th month of life with his first diaper rash. Poor baby. The wipes made him scream and cry. Frank can pick between cookie boxes and choose the one that is most familiar to him. Mom and dad both tried and switched the side the box is on. He always picks the arrowroot one he has been eating forever and not the newer teething biscuits. Frank waits outside the hall when mom goes to the bathroom. He just sits there. When mom comes out, he smiles and crawls towards her.

• Dec 2 - Today we played find the mommy. Mom crawls in front of Frank and peeks around the corner. He follows giggling. Then mom hides behind all the boxes and Franks finds her and giggles. Later mom makes it all around the dining room table and Frank can’t find her. He squeaks and grandma calls out to him and points to where mom went. Then mom turned back and peeked at him. Then he scurried over giggling. One short nap today but not very cranky. Two night wakening last night. Can’t make of what is up. Frank is drolling lots and chewing on everything so maybe teething. His thumb is injured from so much sucking but we don’t know what to do. He doesn’t seem to feel pain there. He found his wooden spoon that grandma hid (because it is long and pokey and dangerous). Frank played with it lots and won’t let go of it.
• Dec 1 - Frank is starting to say mama, ahmu, mamu sounds. Frank likes to help mom with laundry but taking the dirty clothes out of the basket and throwing them on the floor. Then when they are clean and folded, he likes to pull them out and throw them on the floor. It’s been 2 weeks where Frank fights the first and the second nap. Some days he would take a short second and nap wake up really grumpy. Today we decided to try one nap and it went really well. Frank slept from 11:15 to 12:30. The entire afternoon he was an angel. While mom and grandma sat around talking, Frank cruised around the coffee table doing laps. Maybe all those days he was mad mom was forcing him to take a nap when he wasn’t sleepy. Mom is a slow learner.
• Nov 29 - Frank is getting used to grandma and now crawls to her and turns when she calls his Chinese name. Dad has special powers to keep Frank from crawling away during diaper change. Mom has now learned the trick of holding him and saying “stay still”. Sometimes works for mom. Dad has some magic power.
• Nov 26 - Frank climbed up the stairs without any supervision from behind. We were all busy cooking and the gate was left open from another failed attempt for his second nap. He never looked back and reached the top of the stairs to find grandma. Good thing someone was up there to play with him. Few more bumps and scares from being so active but nothing bad.
• Nov 25 - We are doing some organizing in daddy’s office so all sorts of wires and computer accessories were on the floor. Frank was so happy to be in there he didn’t know where to start. He really liked pounding the keyboard. Later he was taken to the other room and as soon as he hit the floor, he scurried back there in top speed.
• Nov 24 - Three generations went to the park and Frank played on the slides, one tunnel and one regular. He was scared going down by himself with daddy catching at the bottom. No cries, just a startled face expression. Frank’s new favorite toy is the empty sparkling cider bottle.
• Nov 23 - Franklin’s First Thanksgiving! We had a big dinner party with lots of people. Frank ate quite a bit of turkey and stuffing after he ate his regular dinner.
• Nov 22 - Frank tries cow milk for the first time. He definitely liked it better than water in the sippy cup. Drank over 1 oz of it after breakfast. Frank released both hands from the chair and moved them simoutaneously over to the shelf. His legs were stationary but he never released both hands before.
• Nov 21 - Frank loves to bounce around. He likes to bend his legs and bounce up and down both while standing and while being held. He is flexing those muscles to get ready to hop around.
• Nov 20 - We have enjoyed a wonderful 2 weeks where Frank slept on a consistent routine. Now he is done with that. We are having a few night wakenings and now he is refusing his naps again. Today he didn’t take his second nap at all after several attempts by mom. He played nicely by himself and wasn’t cranky at all. Is he trying to move to one nap? We will need to observe a few more days. Frank can play with grandma if mom is around. He is really showing separation anxiety. The only thing that will distract Frank from needing mom is food. Now we have grandma feed him while mom takes dad to the train station. Frank doesn’t even notice mom is gone. The kid loves to eat. =)
• Nov 18 - Frank loves Mango. Ate a whole one for breakfast. Frank has developed a love-hate relationship with the spikeyfish bath toy. It sits on the shelf and Frank looks at it with curiosity. He slowly touches the spikes. Then he looks and yells at it. Crawls over to mom for some protection but always looking back at it with interest. Then he goes over and does it again. Frank is now saying mamama and dadada in addition to bababa. Other sounds he make are not really distinguishable to syllables.
• Nov 17 - Frank did not like shopping at the mall. He fusses most of the time there. Frank’s thumb has a callous from rubbing on his bottom teeth during all the sucking.
• Nov 16 - Grandma makes chicken liver congee for Frank. He didn’t care for it but ate the whole bowl regardless. Frank is getting good at squating down while holding on with one hand. He doesn’t walk while we hold his arms up though. Just likes cruising or crawling.
• Nov 14 - Frank does this thing with his hands that look like a wave but probably isn’t. He turns it back and forth and waves it high in the air. Looks kind of like a one hand sign for all gone but also as if he has finally discovered his hands. Frank is now falling forward and has gotten several booboos. He used to always lean back to sit but now sometimes he leans forward to reach the floor and either slips or loses his balance and falls. So it seems that diaper changes upstairs are much harder. Frank crawls all over and won’t stay still for a second. But downstairs, he can get distracted by a toy and lay on his back long enough to secure the new diaper. Same goes for changing clothes. Frank misses mom when she goes to pick dad up at the train station. He is left with grandma and as he hear the garage door he dashes out to find mom. He screams and cries when she can’t be found, occassionally sucking his thumb to calm down and then back at screaming and crying. He needs lots of hugs and kisses once mom returns. Maybe Frank is self weaning again. For two days now he will only nurse two times a day. We still try to teach Frank sign language. Likely he will never learn more since when he wants more (food) he kicks his legs and makes unhappy noises with his eyes closed. Hard to learn signs without looking. Frank is now appreciating the quilt hanging next to his crib. He looks at all the pictures before he takes his nap.
• Nov 13 - So many things Frank does we are now taking for granted. He has a very strong pincher grasp. It hurts when he pinches. He also has a good memory. The keyboard tray he likes to slide out was removed and he still goes over there and wave at the empty space. The nightlight he finally pulled out has been replaced with a plug and he still goes there looking for the light. He climbs on boxes to get higher. Today he climbed up his rocking chair that was tucked away in the corner and stood up on it to reach stuff. He does not like hats much. Very hard to keep them on him.
• Nov 12 - Frank eats sauteed Alaskan halibut for dinner. Not just little pieces from our dinner but a whole filet all to himself. Tasty!
• Nov 11 - Grandma Siu Lan arrives and Frank warmed right up to her. He wanted to play and didn’t take his second nap until 4:30.
• Nov 9 - Frank attends his first playgroup. He fell asleep on the way there, then slept through half of it. All the kids yelling and playing didn’t wake him. Ohwell, we’ll find a better timed one later since now we have grandma coming to play with us.
• Nov 8 - After our trip to the library, we played in the park. Frank kept crawling off the blanket to explore the grassy fields.
• Nov 7 - Frank’s first flu shot! He was more annoyed at being pinned down then the actual shot. He is either getting used to it or this doesn’t hurt nearly as much as the vaccinations. He did remember it after we got home though. When mom placed him on his back for a diaper change, he was first mad cuz he thought it was that again. But then saw the diaper and relaxed.
• Nov 6 - Frank came out of standing position without leaning back and sitting down for the first time. He bent his knees and lowered his body til his left hand reached the floor while the right hand held on to the chair. Then he let go of the chair and was in crawling position.
• Nov 5 - Frank eats brocolli. Loves it.
• Nov 4 - Frank got kissed by a girl while at the supermarket with dad. He was sitting in his stroller and the girl just came up to him and kissed him. Such a cutie! Frank plays with ice cubes for the first time. He likes the slippery and coldness. Then comes to touch mom on her neck. Ah!
• Nov 3 - Doctor visit. Frank’s weight is back up to 15% from being down at 6% three months ago. Must be all the avocados and yogurts.