dim sum with Mia

Puzzle Fun at 19 months

noreply@blogger.com (Todded) — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 07:35:00 +0000

Happy Valentine's Day

noreply@blogger.com (Todded) — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 10:01:00 +0000

Mom and Dad had dinner with friends while Mia got to play with one of her best buddies, Alex. Mom cooked a few curries, raita, mango chutney with pappadoms and a great cheesecake. The kids got a bit "jumpy" towards the end of the evening.

Where in the World is Bahrain?

noreply@blogger.com (Todded) — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 09:57:00 +0000

Just a little morning fun during breakfast...

Year of the Ox

noreply@blogger.com (Todded) — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 07:25:00 +0000

Señor Papa Presenta...

noreply@blogger.com (Todded) — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 07:15:00 +0000

... Mia's year and half pictures. The Jumbo Spud (not be confused with Stud, abuelita) is a mega size Mr. Potato Head featuring multiple heads of various sizes and thousands of accessories to attach. This is indeed Mia's favorite toy at the moment. Thank you Uncle George and Aunt Henaris!

On Your Mark... Get Set...

noreply@blogger.com (Todded) — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 05:11:00 +0000

As we previously mentioned, Mia got a purple tricycle from Abuelita as an early Christmas present this year. She's just about off to the races now. (Thank goodness because bending down to push her was about to make our backs give out.)

Zoom Zoom!

noreply@blogger.com (Todded) — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 07:06:00 +0000

Look Ma, No Hands

noreply@blogger.com (Todded) — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 14:59:00 +0000

One piece of Chinese culture we always enjoy viewing are the Floating Colors parades (飘色) with the children dressed in costume floating magically through the air.

It is a big honor to be selected as a performer and Mia has been practicing her stuff just in case.

She loves an audience!

Shaoguan

noreply@blogger.com (Todded) — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 15:07:00 +0000

We just returned from a quick getaway to the mainland. For Mia this was a big event - her first trip into mainland China. Mom had filled out all the paperwork for her a few weeks ago to get her China Return card so she could enter (she does not need a passport or visa like her parents do).

We went to Shaoguan (韶关) in northern Guangzhou as part of a 3-day company trip and had lots of fun with our colleagues touring several famous spots in that region. Our itinerary included the caves of Gu Fo Yan (古佛岩), the scenery at the top of Dan Xia Mountain (丹霞山), and the 1500 year old Nan Hua Temple (南华寺). The later of these was really interesting- it was home to Hui Neng where he established the southern sect of Zen Buddhism in the Tang dynasty. (It even has his mummified remains, which I have never seen in a Buddhist temple before.) Also, outside one of the courtyards is a giant Bodhi Tree that everyone ran around to become a bit more "enlightened".

Mia took it all in stride and as usual added a lot of life to the group!

Catch the Train

noreply@blogger.com (Todded) — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 13:54:00 +0000

We weren't really late, but Mia felt it was necessary to sprint all over the train station just in case.

Cosquillas

noreply@blogger.com (Todded) — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 09:53:00 +0000

17 Months

noreply@blogger.com (Todded) — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 13:02:00 +0000

Just a few more photos to share from last month.

Leche Galleta Una Luna Mas

noreply@blogger.com (Todded) — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 14:24:00 +0000

Milk Biscuit One Moon More

In case you haven't guessed what these five words have in common... they can all be shortened to a semi-intelligible syllable and spoken by our 1-year-old. Just listen hard! ;)

Continuing with yesterday's theme, here's Mia practicing her speech (in Spanish this time).

Sounds of Mia

noreply@blogger.com (Todded) — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 02:44:00 +0000

I'm about 6 weeks late in posting this one, but I want to get a few vids online of Mia 's first couple words to share.

Mangoes, Coconuts, and Jackfruit

noreply@blogger.com (Todded) — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 00:23:00 +0000

Mommy, Daddy, and Mia took a much needed long weekend away from Hong Kong. We took the short flight over to Cebu in the Philippines. The beaches were pristine and we had several days of really nice weather. There was amazing snorkeling right off the beach at the Shangri-La Mactan resort where we stayed. The variety of fish was amazing.

Dad's favorite was the bright-blue starfish that dotted the ocean floor. And eating tons of fresh mangoes. Mia liked feeding the fish bread crumbs from the canoe. And of course playing in the sand.

The grounds of the resort were great with several good restaurants. Highly recommended for a family getaway with young kids. And as we have noticed from living in HK, the Philippine culture is just genuinely warm and fun to be around.

Boo!

noreply@blogger.com (Todded) — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 12:17:00 +0000

Mia was a butterfly this year for Halloween. Here's a few pics from the costume party she attended.

Nan Lian Garden

noreply@blogger.com (Todded) — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 11:06:00 +0000

A few days ago we headed over to the Kowloon side to visit a park here in Hong Kong named Nan Lian Garden (南蓮園池). It's a gorgeous classical Chinese landscape garden in the Tang Dynasty style located next to Chi Lin Nunnery. It's relatively new, having opened in late 2006, and it was neat to see the backdrop of the urban city against this tranquil spot of well-kept land.

Fine, I'll Do It Myself

noreply@blogger.com (Todded) — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 10:45:00 +0000

Mom has a blue step stool she uses in the kitchen to reach the upper shelves. It is made out of a cheap plastic and weighs next to nothing. Mia has recently learned she can carry this step stool around and climb up on top to get to things she shouldn't be playing with. The past few weeks it has basically been attached at her hip. Wherever Mia goes, step stool follows. It's like she's uncovering a whole new world.

The other day I had just exited the bathroom and saw her running towards me, step stool in hand. I thought she was coming to give me a big hug. But to Daddy's chagrin, she proceeded to run right past me to her bedroom door. Now mind you the door was shut to keep her in the main living room where Mom could keep an eye on her. I watched her as she carefully placed the step stool down in font of the door and climbed up the stool to grab the handle. (The door handle is a lever type you pull down to open). Luckily, the handle was too stiff for her to move. I sat there laughing, amazed at her determination for about two minutes while she tugged on the handle with all her strength.

Then she suddenly decided to jump off the stool while holding onto the handle. Sure enough, her body weight forced the handle down and the door popped open. Mia marched right in like nothing had happened and grabbed her blanket, which is apparently what she was after the whole time.

New Wheels

noreply@blogger.com (Todded) — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 10:32:00 +0000

Dad was away for half the month on business, but Mom kept him updated daily with the latest photos of his baby girl. He even fit in a few Skype sessions while away. And as you can see in this slideshow, he eventually returned with a brand new set of wheels for baby Mia courtesy of Abuelita.

She hasn't quite figured out how to push the tricycle just yet, but Mom and Dad taped her feet to the pedals to help her get the motion. It won't be long before she's rollin' all over the apartment.

15 Months

noreply@blogger.com (Todded) — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 07:40:00 +0000

Mia is one and a quarter today. She is climbing on everything, and now loves to hang onto any object above her head with her feet off the ground. When hanging she can almost pull herself up into a full chin-up. She loves the pool and no longer minds getting dunked under water. She still eats anything we put in front of her, and can recognize tons of objects in her books by either their English or Spanish names.

Here's a few videos to add to yesterday's pics.

This first vid first shows her establishing her sea legs. Mommy and Daddy had some questionable parenting; we got more than a few stares letting her run all over the top deck of a moving boat. But she has a good sense of "off-balance", loves to run like a drunken sailor, and never complains when falling.

This next video is more fun with dry ice.

Back Home

noreply@blogger.com (Todded) — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 05:37:00 +0000

Mia had a bit of jetlag from the return leg of our trip, but overall she settled back into her routine in Hong Kong quite smoothly. Here are some more pics taken from the tail end of our US trip and the next few weeks recuperating back home in Hong Kong.

Highlights included:

Attending her first pirate-themed birthday party on a junk boat - Mia definitely thought she had commandeered the boat and had high rule of the open seas

Performing her first chemistry experiment - Our mooncakes for Mid-Autumn festival came packed with dry ice, so we had to have a little exercise on sublimation

Smelling (or at least leaning into) just about eveyr tropical flower known to man at the Flower Market

Playing at Alex's house during Doris' baby shower, and watching lots of Barney DVDs that could drive any normal adult insane

Floor Routine

noreply@blogger.com (Todded) — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 00:55:00 +0000

One fun aspect of parenting is watching how Mia's laugh changes and develops as she grows. Thankfully she does plenty of laughing so it's easy to see.

Pastime

noreply@blogger.com (Todded) — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 05:28:00 +0000

Mia's favorite pastime is still reading. She especially loves books with various buttons that mkae sounds or play a tune. Recently she tries to cahllenge herself by setting off as many as possible at the same time to create a cacophony of sounds the likes of which could only appeal to a one-year old.

Here is Daddy reading Mia a book on America's favorite pastime. This shot is about the 10th time Daddy has read about Elmo going to the ballpark today, and to keep his own sanity he starts making up odd voices which Mia finds very amusing.

Down With 13

noreply@blogger.com (Todded) — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 15:33:00 +0000

Wrapping up another month- tomorrow it's on to 14. Dad is getting noticeably nervous at how fast Mia is growing up. How can we just keep her at this age for a few years!?

Here's a few more shots added onto our "Texas set" and a little video from abuelita's backyard...

Baptism

noreply@blogger.com (Todded) — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 15:31:00 +0000

Today was Mia's big baptism day here in Katy, Texas! Lots of family were in town from Houston, San Antonio, and Monterrey to celebrate. We had a great cajun dinner the night before with Texas Blue Crab, Gumbo, Catfish, and plenty of hot sauce at one of our favorite spots. Mia preferred playing in the rice and also got to hang out a bit with Chloe (who's only a few days her senior). The ceremony on Sunday was short and sweet, and we had a nice BBQ reception following the ceremony. Her Godparents brought some awesome party favors as well.