Toadally Amazing

Andrew was still under the weather; and it was rather chilly outside. Thus, we opted to stay in tonight with Uncle Anh Tuan. We were bummed that we wouldn't get to take Andrew out trick or treating. However, we find comfort knowing that he wouldn't know what was going on or what he was missing out on and that he won't remember anyway. We are looking forward to next year though!!

I didn't get a video clip of him hopping in his costume since he was still sick. But I will try to get one later.

Here's our toadally amazing baby (I know it's a little cheesy, but I didn't design the costume). But Andrew is still pretty amazing nonetheless.

Hoppy Halloween!

The Rest of the Weekend

The rest of the weekend was busy, but a good busy doing mostly fun stuff. On Saturday, after feeding Drew his breakfast, we took a walk down to Kolache Factory for breakfast for Daddy and Mommy (even though Drew ate some of the bread too). Then, Daddy and Andrew put together a new toy that was a gift from Cousin Y and his family. Andrew loves it! Thank you so much, Y! It was too generous, but so very sweet of you.

Afterwards, we went to Champps to watch the UT v. Oklahoma St. game with David and Damion. A.J. behaved well considering. He wasn't too bad. He was probably too overstimulated and didn't want to take a nap, but he didn't put up too much of a stink. I was thinking that we would have to leave during the third quarter, but Andrew calmed down for a bit and let Daddy and Mommy finish watching the game. Eating chicken tenders sure helped too! After the game, we were in the car for no more than five minutes; and Andrew was fast asleep. That night, Mommy left the boys alone to their own devices to meet out Auntie Nazzi, who was visiting from Toronto, Canada, along with Monica, Belinda, and Steven. After that, Mommy went to a birthday/Halloween party of an old coworker, Ami. I came home to the sweetest thing...Drew sleeping in his daddy's arm. Boy, did my heart melt. I would have taken a picture, but it would have been too dark or the flash would have woken them up.

Sunday, Daddy and Mommy worked to clean up their room a bit. Boy, Mommy has a lot of clothes!! That afternoon, Auntie Monica came over later followed by Aunties Nazzi and Belinda to hang out for a while before dinner. Later, we went to Chili's; and Andrew was okay. He was all over the table trying to play with what he could. Later, he decided to start screaming so Daddy took him outside for a walk. Then, it was time to go home and get some rest.

Mommy is terrible again because she didn't take any pictures of A.J. with any of his aunties tonight. My bad. :( My apologies for screwing that one up, Naz! Next time, I promise!

Here is a picture though from Andrew playing with his new toy and with Daddy at Champps.

Deja Vu

A little case of deja vu...

Brennan at 7 1/2 months (note: this picture was taken the night Vince Young led the Longhorns to victory against the USC Trojans for the BCS Championship):

Andrew at 8 months (note: this picture was taken the day Colt McCoy led the Longhorns to victory against the Oklahoma State Cowboys hopefully en route to another BCS Championship):

Happy Eight Month Birthday

Andrew is 8 months old today. He is still growing and developing at a good pace, although probably not as fast as we have seen in previous months. He does know all too well about manipulating people (especially Daddy and Mommy) to getting his way by crying like to get out of the crib or prison. Luckily, car rides have gotten a little better, but still not perfect...sometimes, he is absolutely great, but on others, he still cries.

Drew is sitting and pulling himself up very well. He will still stand up by himself for a few seconds and can cruise when holding onto something (still owe you guys a video). We practice walking by holding his hands up. And there are no signs of him moving to a real crawl. Sometimes, I wonder if he will just start walking instead.
A.J. has also gotten much better at eating baby food. He is not near as picky as before and eats more of the fruits and meat flavors too. He even devours some types that Mommy doesn't think are tasty at all!! Drew really loves when we feed him grapes, Cheerios, chicken, and other adult food. We have also been trying to work on his pincer grasping so he can feed himself.

Andrew is still a pretty happy baby for the most part. Like I said, he definitely cries more, but generally is not too fussy. We know that he could cry more than he does. He loves to play (probably too much as I think he would rather play than sleep). He doesn't sleep as much or well as we would like. We are going to try sleep training him probably starting next weekend. Wish us luck! But we are still very blessed to have such a sweet and fun kid.

Here are some pictures that a friend of mine was kind enough to take. Andrew wasn't happy at the time because he missed his nap, fell asleep in the car, and then mean Mommy had to wake him up abruptly for pictures near the Water Wall, which apparently scared him. It's ironic--we have a pretty good natured kid, but finds one of the worst times to be fussy. Oh well. We will try again another time. But thanks Andrew (Nguyen) for your time and patience!! I hope we didn't scare you off of doing baby pictures!

The Frog

Steven, Belinda, and Evan invited us to the Halloween Festival at Evan's school. We figured that there wouldn't be much for Andrew to do in way of activities, but that he might be good for him/us to get out and see other kids in action. Auntie Monica got off work at 4pm so we had planned on her hanging out with us for the evening.

Well, we were definitely right about Andrew watching people, especially little ones. He was so intrigued about everything going on around him. The son of one of Belinda's friends, Max, who was dressed up as a really cute pirate, was very sweet with Drew. He would touch Andrew and Andrew would touch him back. It was adorable!!! Belinda had invited a few other friends and their kids, including Alise, Anna, and Jacob. It was a really nice time chatting with the other parents and watching the kids partake in the festivities.

After the festival closed, we headed back to Belinda's house for a night play date. It was great having the kids interact with each other. A.J. had fallen asleep on the way over, but after waking up, he joined in the action too. He is a little younger than the others, but still had fun playing with Evan's toys! We will definitely have to do it again soon.

Again, thanks to Steven, Belinda, and Evan for inviting us to an awesome evening!

Sadly though, I only have a few pictures as the camera battery died. I am really bummed that I don't have pictures of the other kids who were all very cute in their costumes. :(

But here is A.J., AKA the frog, at the festival. We decided on a frog costume because of his leap/crawl that just will not morph into a full time real crawl yet.

The photos are as follows: (1) Evan, the Bumblebee; (2) Max, the Pirate (note how Max and Andrew are touching hands); (3) Andrew and Max; (4) Andrew and Mommy.

The Beaver

I used to love the old show, Leave it to Beaver. But I don't think I ever knew why Theodore was nicknamed "The Beaver" besides that it rhymed with the family's last name, Cleaver. Well, I might have to add "The Beaver" as yet another nickname for my son. Apparently, our little beaver has been gnawing at his crib and leaving teeth marks. I had seen him put his mouth on the railing, but thought nothing of it because of the protective plastic cover. But apparently, ti was protective enough as Andrew has been putting his two bottom teeth beneath the plastic and scrapping away. I am glad that we spent good money on a crib that doubles as a teether too.

The beaver's marks:

California Cousins

Andrew and Mommy headed down to League City this morning because Mommy's cousin Y (or Ben via his American name) came to Houston for a visit with his wife, Duyen, and 4 year old son, Brandon. I had timed the drive down around Andrew's first nap and left here around 9:15am. He was tired and got a little fussy, but fell asleep about halfway through our ride.

Y and his family came a little after noon, but didn't stay long as they were going to eat with my other aunts and uncles. They were going to come back for dinner later that evening. So, after a training call for work, Andrew and I played and then took a fat nap (2 hours for Andrew and 1 hour for Mommy). When I woke up, he was still laying on my arm. I didn't want to wake him; so, I watched TV for the next hour until he finally woke up. I love when he wakes up and looks around then looks at you with a smile.

By then, it was nearing dinner time. Papa was grilling steaks...yummy! Y and the crew (wife, son, and 3 of my other cousins) arrived. We played out in the backyard since most little kids love my mom's koi pond. Brandon was initially shy, but finally came out of his shell. I also got into his good graces for showing him the toy chest upstairs where he found a few toys to his liking. He is such a cute kid; and I love how he speaks Vietnamese!!

Well, it was getting late and about time for the little guy and me to head back home and see Daddy. I am sad to report that he cried a good 20 minutes of the ride until falling asleep. :( Next time, I think I best wait and time it with another nap or bedtime! I don't know why our son doesn't like the car seat. Some days, he gets better, but other days, it is like it was tonight and just plain miserable.

It was so great seeing my cousin and his family. I absolutely adore Y and his two older brothers...my California Cousins, which is how I refer to them sometimes. We don't get to see them near enough. I told him that the Lenzes will have to make a trip to California (and Disneyland) soon.

Some pictures from a really great day...

Andrew plays with one of his gifts from Y and his family:

Cousins Brandon, Nga, Vanna, and Anh:

Brandon, Sydney, and Duyen:

Y and Brandon:

Brandon making a funny face:

My Little Prep

When we woke up this morning, it was kind of chilly. Oh, how Mommy loves autumn weather. It was sunny and cold. Perfect! Even more perfect was the opportunity for Mommy to dress A.J. in one of his sweater vests.

Here is my little prep in the making!

The Armstrongs

Uncle Rick's stepsister got married in San Antonio this past weekend. A few months ago, Aunt Anh Thu asked if she and the kids also came in for the wedding would we come meet them in there. When I initially agreed, I didn't know it would be the first weekend after moving in and how hectic things were going to be. But seeing how much I missed my nieces and nephew and the same with Ngoai and Papa, we still so badly wanted to make the trip.

We left Friday night in hopes that Andrew would sleep most of the way. Ngoai and Papa sat in the back of the car with A.J. thinking they could handle things if he got testy. Well, around an hour into it, he did just that. He was tired and wanted to sleep, but couldn't be consoled. We pulled over so I could switch places with Papa. Well, he finally fell asleep after a good 20 minutes of crying, poor kid. He remained sleeping for the rest of the trip.

Well, it ended up almost perfect timing as we were making our way into SA as Uncle Rick had caught an earlier flight and landed into town earlier than expected. He only had to wait 30 minutes or so at the airport before we picked him up. Nonna was still up after just getting back from the Spurs game with Aunt Janine and her family. Andrew woke up and played for a bit while all of us unwound from the drive and flight in.

Saturday morning, James, Ngoai, and Rick left to go pick up Anh Thu and the kids and lunch while I stayed behind with Andrew. The kids had grown so much and especially Brennan, who speaks so much better since May. Uncle Anh Tuan also made the trip in from Austin. Of course, we just all hung out and played and watched one heck of a football game. Go Horns!! That just added to a great day! It was eventually time for the Armstrongs to get ready for the wedding. The girls loved getting her hair done by Ngoai, the professional. Cara and Emma looked beautiful in their white dresses and Brennan looked so handsome in his suit. Anh Thu and Rick looked very dapper too.

That evening, Aunt Janine, Uncle Mike, and Cousins Stephanie and Thomas came over for dinner, which Nonna did another fantastic job of....so delicious!! Andrew was very nice to let us eat in peace while he hung out in the playpen. And Thomas was really sweet to play with his little cousin and even read to him a Texas Longhorns book, which a gift to commemorate Andrew's first Texas-OU game and the awesome Longhorns victory.

On Sunday, the Armstrongs were headed to a post-wedding family brunch. But first, we had another delectable breakfast courtesy of Nonna. Emma was so enthused to help make the French toast…our little sous chef. And Cara was also enthused to help feed Drew his breakfast…our little babysitter. Both girls did a great job; and A.J. ate very well for his cousin. Daddy and Nonna went to mass while Ngoai and Mommy hung out and managed to catch up on some HGTV while Andrew napped. When the Armstrongs returned from brunch, we continued to play and goof off. But then, it was time to head back home and time for the Armstrongs to head to Sea World.

Andrew did fairly well on the car ride home. He didn’t sleep much, but given that, he didn’t cry too much either—maybe 30 minutes altogether. Granted, I had to sing to him for the last 30 minutes of the trip to placate him.

We had a great weekend and had such a wonderful time with everyone. Thank you again, Nonna, for welcoming the loud and crazy Pham Family into your house and for being so gracious having so many people there. It means so much to my family and me to have had this weekend; and we owe a great deal of that to you and your hospitality.

Below is the slideshow from this weekend’s pictures. All I can say to the Armstrongs is please “come back to Texas!!” We love you and miss you so very much!

One thing that you might notice is Andrew wearing only a diaper in a good number of pictures. Andrew unfortunately experienced a heat rash from being too warm on the trip into town. Ngoai and Mommy thought he would be cold from the air conditioning, but boy, were we wrong! He really does take after me, my little space heater.

Play Date with Evan

Belinda and Evan were kind enough to visit us this morning for a semi play date/tour of the new house. Andrew was all into Evan--he really does seem to like other kids. I am crossing my fingers he stays that amicable to kids...and to all people, for that matter.

The boys didn't really interact together because of the age difference, but they did a good job of sharing the toys. Hopefully, as Drew gets older, he will be able more to play "with" Evan instead of "alongside" of him. Either way, it was fun for Mommy to hang out with Belinda as always.

Here's to many more play dates in our future...

I didn't get pictures of the two boys (camera was downstairs), but here is Evan checking out the kitchen while drinking some yummy milk. Such a cutie!!

Bumbo Revisited

Another find amidst the storage wreckage was the Bumbo. True, Andrew is sitting on his own, but we wanted to see what he would do with it now as opposed to 4 months ago. We first tried feeding him in his Bumbo in hopes that it could be an alternative to his high chair. It didn't work too well because he was so busy trying to check the seat out that he was too preoccupied to eat. Then, the next time we put him in it, he learned how to get himself out. Oh, well. He can just sit it in whenever then.

Some pictures from our trials:

Camouflage

I just thought Andrew looked really cute in his camouflage PJs that were recently retrieved from storage. Poor guy was a little fussy and wasn’t himself tonight. He was warm, but we don’t think he was running a fever. I hope it’s his top teeth coming in as opposed to him coming down with something.

House Guests

Ngoai and Papa stayed the night as our first house guests! This way, Papa would go to the office (with a shorter commute) and Ngoai could stay with Andrew and me on my day off so we can work more on unpacking!

Tonight's pictures are of my little nugget with Papa and Ngoai before and after his bath respectively.

Moving Weekend

Moving Day was more like Moving Weekend, but we know it will be more like Moving Months! But here is a recap of the events from the busy weekend.

Saturday, October 4, 2008

Saturday morning, James and I packed up some things and headed up to our new house. We began by cleaning and getting ready for the movers who were scheduled for later that afternoon. It was surreal being in the house knowing that it was ours (and Bank of America’s too).

Around noon, James left to go meet the movers at storage. Ngoai and Papa were on their way up too to help us. It seemed like forever before James returned with the moving truck. After that, it was a mad dash to unload the truck. Papa and Ngoai took turns watching Andrew. Little guy was just so curious as to what was going on and what all the ruckus was about.

Five and a half hours later, the movers were gone after some fun times with the couches and crib that were on the wide side; and we began unpacking and organizing what we could. Ngoai and Papa left for home around 630pm as they were tired and had plans to eat at Aunt Hong’s house. Then, it was again just the three of us. We wanted to grab a bite to eat and watch the UT vs. Colorado game so we headed over to Buffalo Wild Wings. Andrew did very well and loved the chicken I fed him. We came home during halftime and then put A.J. to bed. Daddy and Mommy were pretty tired too so we went to bed shortly thereafter so we can start up again tomorrow. Mommy was too busy and too tired to take pictures today, but I promise that I will have some later.

Sunday, October 5, 2008

It was definitely weird waking up in the new house, but a good weird. Andrew decided to throw a wrench into the mix by waking up at 5:30am and wanting to play. So, we were all up. Daddy tried to move some more boxes, but he and Andrew got tired soon after. We all took an early morning nap and woke up around 9am. Then, we got ready and headed down to League City to move up some more of our stuff. We packed and cleaned up the upstairs. While Daddy and Papa were moving the bed, Ngoai and Mommy were cleaning up the room when Andrew leapt out of Mommy’s arms and hit a tin can. He got himself right under his nose. I was mortified when I saw blood, but fortunately, it was more red like when you scratch yourself really hard. Whew! Aunt Hong later came over to play with Andrew and to pick up her truck! Thanks again for letting us borrow it! It was a tremendous help!!

Anyhow, a few hours later, the five of us headed back to our house. Shortly, after we arrived, Auntie Monica came by to see the new digs. Little did she know what she was getting herself into. We enlisted her help to get the king sized bed up the 2 flights of stairs. It was a feat, but we did pretty good, I have to say! Then, she was sweet enough to help organize the kitchen. Thank you for all your help! Sorry to turn a kind visit into work! Later, we ordered pizza for dinner, cleaned up some more, and called it a night because we were exhausted once again!

And a special thanks to Ngoai and Papa for everything they have done and do for us including, but not limited to housing us, taking care and playing with Andrew, feeding us all the yummy food, helping us move, all the home furnishings and furniture, and everything else (the list is way too long)!

Here are some pictures as promised: (1) Drew's first time sitting the front seat (in Aunt Hong's truck with the air bag turned off; and (2) Andrew's boo boo up close.

Play Date with Eric

So, after a failed attempt of a play date on Sunday due to the mistiming of the boys' naps, we were able to reschedule a play date with Eric this morning. It was so sweet seeing the two boys together. They tried to touch one another and looked at each a little strangely, but more so that I think they were intrigued by this other little mini human being in front of them. Both boys have grown up so much since the last play date and are developing and learning things so fast.

Mommy loved catching up with Jenny and is already looking forward to the next play date. The two mommies even discussed going to the Houston Zoo (but when the weather gets cooler!)

Jenny and Eric, thanks for having us over and for sharing your toys with Andrew.

Pictures from the play date: