» Archive for December, 2006
Thursday, December 21st, 2006 by diane
- 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
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Saturday, December 9th, 2006 by diane
- 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.
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Saturday, December 2nd, 2006 by diane
- 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.
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