Cabinets

Andrew is very inquisitive (Daddy and Mommy like to call it being "nosy") and will try to get into whatever he can. He has been opening drawers and doors. In our kitchen, we have a set of cabinets which house tupperware and plastic bowls. Well, we leave this to Andrew's disposal. He loves to pull whatever out of the cabinets and throw them on the kitchen floor for Mommy to clean up after later.

He has also taken a liking to pots and pans. At first, he was really into it; then, it lost its luster. But recently, Andrew has been enjoying it again. He likes to carry them around the kitchen island. However, Daddy and Mommy may have to deter his time with pots and pans as we think he is able to knick the doors and hardwood floors!

I got these photos this afternoon while Andrew was playing in the cabinet. Yes, he is ALL the way in!

Chuc Num Nam Moi

"Happy New Years" in Vietnamese!

Chua

After dinner at my uncle's house, we headed down to a Buddhist temple (or chua in Vietnamese) in Dickinson, which is like 10 minutes south of League City. But first, we dropped off Daddy and Andrew at my folks' house. Andrew is still under the weather and had only one nap today (too stimulated to take another one). So, we thought it best that he go home and get some rest. He proved us right falling asleep in the car after 5 minutes.

At the temple, five of our cousins were performing in a show in celebration of New Years. They did a fantasic job. They are so talented!! We are all so proud of them and their hard work.

Ngoai and Mommy missed the first dragon dance, but Uncle Anh Tuan and Mommy stayed for the second one. Then, Papa and Ngoai stayed to pray while Uncle and Mommy headed home to get Daddy and Andrew. The four of us then drove to our house; and Andrew slept the whole way except for like 5 minutes after he woke up as we put him in the car.

It was a great time; and it was awesome seeing so many family. I don't get a chance to see my cousins as much as I like. So it was really great to see them on such a special occasion.

Here are pictures from chua. I am not wearing an ao dai tonight because Ngoai told me that it was going to be really cold and the show was going to be outside (another reason we didn't think Andrew should go). Little did we know that the temple built a pavilion, which housed the show.

Lunar New Years

We had an early start this morning as Uncle Anh Tuan surprised us by showing up at our door at 7:30am this morning. Luckily, Mommy was already awake. Andrew woke up about 30 mins later and seemed very happy by the surprise of Uncle being there.

Later this morning, we were lucky to have more visitors with Mary Ann, Andrew's great-grandmother, Mary Ann's boyfriend, and Madison stopping by on their way back to Dallas. Andrew was again all about Madison. He did a very good job of petting her and even tried to kiss her on the mouth and then, on the backside too (hmm, not good)!

This afternoon, we headed down to League City to spend the day with Papa and Ngoai. We were invited to one of my uncle's house for dinner in celebration of the Lunar New Year, which begins tomorrow. David and Dina were also visiting from Dallas and stopped by the house to see us too.

Last Friday, we got Andrew an ao dai, which is a traditional Vietnamese outfit, and changed him into it after dinner so he wouldn't get it dirty.

Below are pictures from my uncle's house:

Happy Eleventh Month Birthday!

Well, here I am again posting about another month come and gone. Drew is growing up so fast these days. He has been learning so much over the past month. His walking has come a long way over the past few weeks. He can walk across the whole room. It's nowhere near perfect; and he still has his share of falls. Andrew will even try to walk fast/run now. I wonder to myself why do kids want to try to run when they haven't even mastered walking. Crazy daredevils!!

A.J. says "da da" and "ma ma" and will look at us when he says it. He also says it when we leave the room. Andrew has also learned the signs for "more" and "milk". We will add more signs as we go like "finish" and "please".

As for new tricks, he will pat his mouth and ours to do Indian (Native American) tribal calls. He loves playing with his toys as well as boxes and bottles. Andrew also loves to listen to stories; he will even manuever to sit in our laps, which Mommy absolutely loves.

He has gotten so much better in the car too. We don't know if it is because he's just grown up and knows that the car seat means that he is going somewhere or because he is placated by looking out the window. Drew still gets fussy though when he is tired. But sometimes, he will fall asleep without crying at all! Yippee!

Andrew, you continue to amaze us each and every day. Daddy and Mommy love you so much!! Happy Eleventh Month Birthday! One more to go before the Big One!!

Here's a picture of Daddy showing Andrew the ways of Playstation! Sorry, it's blurry. My camera has been acting up.

Happy 2nd Birthday, Evan!

Today, we braved the cold and attended Evan's 2nd birthday party at Hermann Park. It was windy, but that didn't stop us from having a good time. The kids were all cute, especially the birthday boy!! Andrew did good considering his 10 minute power nap on the way to the party and him not liking to walk in his shoes.

Mommy sucked it up big time by leaving her camera at home, but Steven and Belinda bailed me out by sharing their pictures. Thanks, I owe you guys one. And thanks for inviting us to share in the big day! Happy Birthday, Evan!

Houston Zoo

Last week, I purchased our family membership to the Houston Zoo. Today, we met up with Jenny, Eric, and Jenny's sister, Karen, there for the afternoon. This was Andrew's first time at any zoo, so Mommy didn't know what to expect in regards to how Andrew would take to it (or even if he would).

With Andrew's track record of not liking to sit in his stroller for long amounts of time, I opted to put him in the Baby Bjorn. I didn't want to have to push the stroller while carrying him! I thought it best to save the stroller test for when Daddy was with us.

Well, there is definitely no question about it--Andrew really took to it! He was so good just looking around. He was really cute when he would look at the animals and start "talking". He would sometimes point at them too. I think it was better with the bigger animals since they were easier to see such as the elephants and giraffes.

One of the books that we read to Andrew is this zoo book from Sesame Street that includes elephants, giraffes, and zebras. Since I read it to him almost daily, I have it somewhat memorized. So, when we saw those particular animals, I would recite those portions of the book in hopes that he would associate it. I don't know if it worked or it was pure coincidence (I think the latter), but James said tonight, Andrew really tracked the pages in the book.

Also, Andrew did really well at the petting zoo. He was gentle and not scared at all. I have also been reading a Touch and Feel book with farm animals; and Andrew will usually touch each page. We have also been working on gentle patting when he sees dogs too.

Either way, we will definitely be going back to the zoo!! I don't think Andrew cried or fussed once!

Time with Nonna

Nonna also visited us on this busy weekend. She was a good sport coming along to both the birthday parties with us and helped us with Andrew. Saturday was such a crazy day, we preferred to take it a little more easy on Sunday. We went to 11am mass thinking it would close to Drew's nap time. Well, he was tired, but still too overstimulated to fall asleep. I took him out by where the other parents take their kids, but he would talk and make noises. So, I took him outside where we wouldn't bother anyone. There were a few parents and kids out there too. Guess we aren't the only ones. He liked to play with the leaves and would try to put them in his mouth of course.

Well, after mass, he promptly fell asleep in the car. We headed over to Mi Luna for their brunch buffet. Delicious!! And their unlimited mimosas and sangria for an extra $8 wasn't too shabby either!! Andrew slept long enough for us to eat for a bit. He woke up in time to eat and ate pretty good too. We then headed to Lowe's to look for rugs. Afterwards, we headed back to the house and we all took naps.

It was a great weekend with lots of fun. But apparently, we were all exhausted--especially with us not at 100% still.

Thank you so much, Nonna, for coming in and for all your help! I can't believe that I didn't take any pictures with Nonna and Andrew. But here is one at the restaurant as Andrew was experimenting with whipped cream.

More Pictures from Emily's Party

Here are some of my favorite pictures from Emily's party that were taken by Andrew.

Birthday Bash #2 - Emily

We left Mina's party as Andrew was starting to get tired so he could take a nap before the second party of the day. Drew woke up a little after 4pm, which is when our neighbors' party started. So, we arrived a little late, but not too bad considering. The party was in full swing; and Aimee told me that someone I knew was at the party. I didn't have a clue who. Maybe another attorney? Maybe someone Vietnamese? Maybe another Longhorn? Well, how about the last two out of three? It was Andrew Nguyen, my former co-worker and resident photographer. It turns out that Andrew is friends with Aimee's sister. Sometimes, it's such a small world. I don't think that I mentioned this in my other blog about the Boltons, but Donnie and I also know some of the same soccer people back from CCISD.

Sorry, I digress...back to the party. Sweet little miss Emily was turning one as well. Aimee did a terrific job planning and executing the party. The cake and the favors and the food were all amazing!! Andrew was so good at the party too. He ate like a champ again! And it was funny because Aimee's mom offered him a cracker and then held him for like 15 minutes. Andrew didn't cry or anything. I even came to him and he didn't reach out for me. I guess he likes the Asian ladies!!

Donnie and Aimee, thanks for inviting us to the celebration! Happy Birthday, Emily!! We had a great time.

Birthday Bash #1 - Mina

Today, Andrew was invited to two birthday parties...the little Mr. Popular!! The first one was for the daughter of a former co-worker, Rocio, who is a very sweet woman who helped me greatly when I returned from maternity leave by introducing me to some other mothers who worked at Deloitte. This group of ladies have provided much support and guidance to this new mom! It's funny how fast we have all bonded over having children. It's also made for ready made play dates (even though I have missed the first couple due to prior engagments).

Anyhow, Mina turned one and her party was this afternoon. I got to see some former co-workers and their kids, which was very nice. Andrew got to play with some other kids and he was really excited about Mina's toys, which were all novel to him. The food was awesome! Andrew thought so too as he really took to the chicken that Rocio's brother made. I can't believe how much he ate!! Must have worked up an appetite from all the playing.

Mina is such a sweet and beautiful girl. Rocio, thanks for the invite! Mina, happy 1st birthday! Wishes for many more!

I took pictures when we first got there, but put my camera up and didn't take anymore. So, I don't have many from the party. But I do have one of the birthday girl to share!!

Play Date with Eric

We went down to League City today to hang out with the grandparents. On my drive down (35 minutes gives you some time to think), I thought I would see if Jenny and Eric were available for a play date. Well, lucky enough, they were!! Eric is too cute and so much bigger than Andrew. But that's ok--James is smaller than Eric's daddy, Justin. Anyhow, the boys were sweet to each other. They shared toys very well. Jenny and I talked about how we can't believe that they are going to be one year old soon. I love seeing our boys together!

The Maks

Tonight, we hosted a small gathering of friends from my former job (2 jobs ago)...for a group lovingly referred to as the EOTFLG. The acronym stands for "Eat on the Floor Lunch Group" since we used to eat together everyday on the floor since there was no adequate space for us to all eat together in the office (the company used to buy us lunch).

Well, Jerry and Mitzi Mak have been volunteering for the International Justice Mission going on two years now to help rescue youngs girls from being enslaved as postitutes. FYI, they have their own blog at Transitioning to Life in South Asia. Anyhow, the Maks were in town visiting over the holidays; and we all wanted to get together to see them. So, we hosted a small impromptu dinner party just to hang out, catch up, reminisce, and laugh. It was so good to see them and everyone else!!

I didn't take many pictures, but here are a couple of Mitzi and Andrew. We look forward to your return in August!!

Time with Granddad

Saturday morning, we had breakfast at Cafe Brazil. Mommy was pretty sick with a cold so Granddad and Daddy went to the Houston Boat Show on Saturday while Andrew stayed home with Mommy. But luckily, Uncle Anh Tuan took care of him so Mommy could rest.

On Sunday, Granddad and Daddy went to church; and then, we all headed over to the Houston Museum of Natural Science to see the Body Worlds 2 exhibit. It was very good, while a little overwhelming at times. Luckily, Andrew slept through most of it; and when he was awake, he was intrigued about everything going on and was really good.

Granddad headed back to Austin this morning. We had such a visit with him. Thanks for coming in! We love you!