Aunt Vinaya

Aunt Vinaya was in town for Thanksgiving. After our play date, we drove down to League City to see her. When we got there, Andrew didn't even hesitate to let her hold him. We hadn't seen her for a few months now, so I don't know if he remembered her. If not, then there's always my theory that he likes cutes girls!

Andrew was not only comfortable with Vinaya, but also Vinaya's house. He was all over the place opening doors, grabbing knickknacks, and basically, touching whatever he could, especially their Christmas tree with glass ornaments and all. He did try to get into everything, but he did listen somewhat well and didn't break anything! Whew!

Andrew wasn't very comfortable with Vinaya's parents at first, but eventually, warmed up to both Mr. and Mrs. Valloppillil even letting them hold him and his hand.

It was great to catch up with Vinaya and see her--even with a major twenty-five pound distraction running rampid!! Hopefully, we will get to see her during the Christmas holidays! I didn't take many pictures. But I did get this one when we first got there. I didn't pull my camera out any time after that.

Memorial City Mall

This morning, we met with Jean and Emily at Memorial City Mall where they have the Children's PlayCastle. Andrew walked right up to it and started playing for about five minutes. Then, he heard a train whistle and stopped dead in his tracks. He just stared and watched it. Andrew could have cared less about the playscape after that. I told him to keep playing and then we would go ride it. He abided, but every time the train would come by or whistle, Andrew would start to look for it again. Then, I would have to redirect him back to playing...who would have ever thunk it?!

During the distraction of the playscape, he did play around with Emily and even went down the slide with her. They even held hands for a little bit while walking across the bridge. One of the funny moments was when this little girl we didn't know came up and started to try to hug Andrew. Then Andrew tried to hug Emily. It was like a battle between girls! Man, it's starting young! Ha ha!

But Andrew kept wanting to see the train. Jean and Emily were sweet enough to stop playing on the playscape and come with us. So we walked over and waited for the train to arrive. When it got there, we went to a car and opened the door. But he didn't want to get in, but Emily did. I think he was a little scared that it was different than any other seating arrangement than any other train we have been on. It was kind of confined inside. So, we just decided to blow it off--saved us $6! :) So, then we walked over to the food court and picked up lunch at Chick Fil A. Andrew ate great and so did Emily. But after eating, Andrew got antsy and wanted to walk around. So, it was eventually time to go. Jean and Emily went off to do some shopping and Andrew and I were headed down to League City.

The Gonzalezes

James's good friend, Alex, was in town with his family over Thanksgiving. We were lucky to have them come by the house for the afternoon. Their eldest son, Diego, has grown up so much...I can remember him when he was younger almost Drew's age. And accompanying them were their adorable twins, Xavier and Sieanna, who are a little older than Andrew.

I think at first, Andrew was a little overwhelmed by two kids playing with his toys, but he came around. But he really took to Diego right away and wanted to keep playing with him. We ordered in lunch since it was probably the easiest thing our three babies. The kids played and played until it was time for the Gonzalezes to head out for their other plans.

We love seeing them and don't get to do it nearly as often as we like. But when we do manage to get together, we have such a great time!

Turkey Day Treats

Our Turkey Day was filled with many Thanksgiving treats--some expected, some not.

This morning, we drove down to League City after breakfast and getting Andrew dressed. We wanted to get down there early so we can start helping with all the cooking and other preparations. Since Papa was in St. Croix this year, I charged Daddy and Uncle Anh Tuan with deep frying the turkeys and Ngoai and I would handle all the sides and desserts. Uncle Anh Tuan drove into town late last night and headed straight to League City so he could get things started with the turkey early and supposedly, Ngoai said he needed him for a surprise for Andrew. I figured that Ngoai had bought Andrew some toy that she needed Anh Tuan's help to put together. Boy was I off! When we walked into my folks' house, there was our first treat...Papa!

It turned out that my dad wasn't needed at the refinery this weekend and was able to book a last minute ticket home. Anh Tuan picked him up from the airport on the way into Houston. Andrew immediately went to him and after that, didn't want to let Papa out of his sights. All day long, he wanted Papa to hold him and play with him. It was so sweet. Papa was so happy too! He totally eats it up that Andrew loves him so much!

We also had two more guests that were visiting from out of town. Uncle Hung's sister was visiting from Ottawa and Uncle Hung's sister's niece (from the husband's side) was visiting from France--basically, David's and Mary Ann's cousin's cousin (not blood related). Both women were so nice. Andrew was a tad bit shy at first, but then opened up to them in his usual manner.

Andrew also had tons of fun playing with all the dogs--Daisy, Madison, and Bennett. He chased them around, petted them, hugged them, and even tried to kiss them a few times too! He was in doggy heaven with three of them running around.

Anyhow, Papa took over turkey duties and did a fantastic job! Mary Ann made sweet potato casserole, deviled eggs, and pumpkin bread, all of which were fantastic. I made potatoes au gratin and cornbread casserole and helped Ngoai with the green bean casserole, who also made the stuffing and pasta salad. For dessert, we had apple and pumpkin pie as well as a Parsi bread pudding. Everything was delicious! Andrew really enjoyed the turkey, green bean casserole, and rolls. He was funny with the turkey gobbling it up after Papa finished cooking it.

After the feast, we all took much needed naps! Then, we went to Uncle Hung's and Aunt Hong's house for dinner--some yummy Vietnamese food. After dinner, it was getting late so we drove home to put Andrew down for the night. Afterwards, we sat down to watch the UT vs. A&M game. We had heard some score updates and knew it was close. It was already in the 4th quarter so I told James that I didn't want to watch the entire game just to see us lose. He was nice enough to watch it live with me and then go back and watch the beginning of the game. To make our Thanksgiving even better, the Horns pulled out another win! I had an eerie feeling about this game since you can never tell with the Aggies and our rivalty.

But on a more serious note, we really do have a lot to be grateful for this year. Here are some of the things that I am so very thankful for:

• My wonderful husband and best friend in the whole world;
• Our son, our greatest gift;
• The life we have;
• Our health;
• Our loving and supportive family, especially Ngoai and Papa (who I am so happy could be home with us);
• Our dear wonderful friends;
• Those men and women defending our great nation, especially Uncle Rick; and
• Our freedom and living in this great country of ours!

Happy Thanksgiving!

From our turkey...

Happy 21st Month Birthday

Well, twenty-one months have come and gone since Andrew came into our world. It's been a crazy fast month. Andrew is growing into such a little boy and growing up way too fast for his Mommy! There has been so much going on that I will try to keep this brief (and since I can't remember it all).

Some new additions to his vocabulary that come to mind:

• please (hooray!);
• no (boo!);
• shh (putting his index finger up to his nose instead of across his mouth);
• oh for uh oh;
• yuck for yuck and yucky;
• boo boo (last month);
• da for da, which is diaper in vietnamese;
• juu for juice;
• pee for pizza;
• nu nu for noodles;
• mm mm for M&Ms;
• puh for puzzles;
• mah mah for money;
• neh for neck;
• pee pee;
• poo poo;
• duu for dude;
• duh for dog;
• bee for the insect and for Aunt Bee;
• neigh for neigh for the sound a horse makes (versus "nnn" that he used to say);
• ya for yak;
• duh duh for dirty;
• do for window;
• woo woo for train;
• meh for Metro (i.e., the Metro Light Rail Train);
• dah for door and dump (i.e., dump truck);
• tah for truck and that;
• be for bed;
• ba for back;
• ma for magnet;
• Duc for my cousin when he was visiting;
• Beh for Bennett (MaryAnn's dog);
• Day for Daisy (Uncle Hung's and Aunt Hong's dog);

We have been working on two syllable words with different sounding syllables, combining two or more words, and sentences. It's been progressing, but not nearly as fast as Daddy and Mommy would like. Andrew will say "mama please;" "dada please," "more please," "more bubbles," etc. But usually it's because we still have to prod him to do so. But when Ngoai babysat, he did say "more noodles" on his own. I guess he saves the good stuff for anyone but his parents

Andrew has been eating well and enjoying some new foods. He still loves his noodles and pizza, but one night we were having lobster and Andrew totally scarfed it down! We thought he might like it because of his affinity for shrimp, but he ate like half of Daddy's tail.

Drew still loves to play with his Thomas trains and puzzles (he has gotten lots better at both). But something that he has really been into is watching videos on youtube. Thanks to Uncle Anh Tuan, Andrew knows he can look at all different trucks and Thomas clips or whatever else he wants. Lately, he has been wanting to watch the Metro Rail more than anything. He will pick a clip by pointing my screen. One frustration on our part is that he will want to watch it a lot; and then, another is that he will keep picking different ones even though he hasn't finished watching the clip he chose last. Oh, what are we going to do with him!?

I have mentioned before that Andrew has always been a big fan of bathtime, but now even more so because he has been taking bubble baths. And when the bubbles dissipate, he will even ask for more. We usually decline the request though; and he is normally complacent with that. He has so many trucks, trains, ducks, crayons, and other toys in there that there isn't almost enough room for Andrew. He will also turn on the water too including the hot water. Boo. He also knows how to work the drain plug. Sometimes, we have to tell him bathtime is over and just pull out the drain plug. But then, he will turn it back so it goes back down. The punk!

Recently, Andrew has wanted to have all his stuffed animals in the crib with him--Daisy, Madison, and Bennett--our stuffed dogs that we have named after the dogs in Andrew's life. He also has a small Bevo in there. He has a big Bevo which sometimes makes his way into Drew's crib. Between all the animals and the pillows and the blankets, there isn't much room for Andrew. But he will lay on top of them no problem.

Another new thing we have encountered this month is Andrew's will to choose his clothes. Sometimes, he won't want to wear the clothes that we pick out for him. And then usually, he wants to pick out his own attire--typically something with some vehicle on it. Then, he is so used to wearing socks with shoes that he doesn't want to wear the socks anymore after we take off his shoes. We try to show him that we wear socks around the house, but he doesn't care. I also think part of the reasoning is that he gets hot. He is totally warm like me!

We have had less occurrences of hair pulling and hitting thankfully. I have noticed that Andrew seems to be more physically aggressive towards kids he doesn't know. With his friends in our play dates and in our Gymboree class, he is less means towards. Hopefully, he will learn not to be mean toward anyone soon!

Ok, that's all for now. I know I am leaving off stuff, but maybe I can pick up next month. Here are some pictures from today. Check out his Thomas pajamas that he already loves so much. And then, there is Andrew already getting an early start with double fisting (juice and milk versus alcohol--that comes much much later).

Play Date with Gareth

We met Gareth and his mom, Kristi, in Gymboree. In passing during class, Kristi and I would chat. She's always been really nice. And Gareth and Andrew will sometimes play together in class. So, we thought it would be cool to have a play date for the boys outside of class. We have tried a few times before, but sometimes always got in the way...namely, Andrew taking late or long naps.

But today, we finally were able to have our play date. We decided on the zoo because the weather was so nice. Andrew is a little under the weather so this way, the boys wouldn't be too close together. I didn't think he was contagious; and I did tell Kristi about it, but she was okay with still getting together.

We walked around and looked at the animals. Then, we walked over to the kids' part of the zoo and played on the playground. But Andrew just wanted to go to the petting zoo and kept trying to go over that way. So, figuring that he wouldn't be satisfied until he went over there, Kristi and Gareth were kind enough to go over with us even though Gareth seemed very content with the playground. The boys were very good petting and brushing the animals. Andrew even had a brush in each hand and brushed the animals with both hands for a while. He always wanted to brush each and every animal. I had to keep veering him away from the ones that were inside a chained area and show him the ones that were roaming around.

The boys were so good together. They played very well together and even chased each other around too. It was so adorable. The play date was so worth the wait; and hopefully, we will be able to do it again sometime.

Kathryn's 4th Birthday Party

This afternoon, we attended Kathryn's 4th birthday party after Andrew took a unprecedented two hour nap. It is like he knows we got somewhere to be and will either take a nap later than normal or sleep longer than normal. Today, he did both!

The party was held at Extreme Fun from 3:30pm to 5:30pm. By the time, we got there it was a little after 4:30 and the party was in full swing. Andrew didn't waste any time and proceeded to run amok through all the bouncers and inflatables. He wasn't scared to go in which he has been some previous experiences with inflatables. Andrew also loved it when Thomas came and played with him. Peter was sweet and played with Andrew even though he had some of his friends there. Andrew also tried to get into this pit of foam blocks, which was off limits to kids under 3, but Daddy didn't read the sign and let him anyways. But Andrew was okay with his dad and Tom. Andrew mainly liked walking around the perimeter throwing the blocks in.

Before we knew it, it was close to the end of the party...and time for cake! Andrew definitely wanted some of that action! Afterwards, we headed back to John's house where Kathryn had fun opening all her presents. Andrew tried to get into that action too, but was good about just looking at her toys.

It was getting late, so we headed back to Uncle Anh Tuan's to hang out and pack. Andrew did great in the car sleeping most of the way. It was a great weekend--with great family, friends, and birthday party. We had a blast! It is no wonder we love Austin so much!

UT vs. Kansas

Last night, we drove to Austin to attend Kathryn's 4th birthday party on Sunday. Andrew did great in the car and slept most of the way. He woke up as we were driving through Uncle Anh Tuan's neighborhood...maybe he just knew he was close to his uncle. He played for about an hour before wanting to go back to bed. And then, it took him forever to fall back asleep. I guess he was too excited!

Then, this morning, we made a trip to Toys R Us to buy some toys that were on sale (we even picked up one for Mommy and Daddy too--a new Wii game). After, we grabbed some breakfast tacos and then back to Anh Tuan's house to eat, play, and watch some College GameDay.

After Andrew's nap, we went over to Uncle John's house to visit. Peter and Kathryn were great with Andrew again; and he adores them both so much! He loves playing with all their toys; and the two of them are so good about sharing with him. Andrew also watched a little bit of Toy Story 2 on Uncle John's and Aunt Sharon's bed. But later, the kids wanted to watch it downstairs with the babysitter since John and Sharon were heading to the UT vs. Kansas game. Peter and Kathryn had their sleeping bags on the living room floor; and Andrew wanted to join. It was too cute seeing them lay together.

We went back to Uncle Anh Tuan's house to watch the game. Aunt Amanda came over too. I don't know if Andrew remembered her, but he was totally into her. He so loves playing with her--and she is so good with him!

To end a wonderful day, the Horns got another win! Texas, Texas, Yee Haw!!