b.e.n.d. towards You

New blogs, friends!

2008-07-24T14:37:00.000-07:00

Alas, i've become more and more of a mac-lover.
Check out the beta version of our new blog... will hopefully create my own backgrounds and graphics one day.

I still can't figure out how to insert a "add comments" section... anyone? waymen?

Noah & Naomi
Design Blog

Playground in My Mind!

2008-07-09T15:59:00.001-07:00

The kids really love the playgrounds around our neighborhood, especially when their Auntie Kim & Auntie Kristen go along with them! My updates are still coming!

Climbing rocks and going down slides!

Noah loves making silly pictures.

Naomi kills me with that smirk/smile.

It was a zoo in the park! Moose and 2 monkeys...

Noah's expressions are always so awesome. That boy is a happy one. :)

Recent Random Pictures

2008-07-09T15:07:00.001-07:00

After a huge long hiatus, i'm back blogging. I'm tempted to move to a mac blog, but before then I'd better post some pictures and tell some stories before Gu-Gu Sandy complains to me one more time (haha just kidding, you know i love you)

How am I possibly going to update a year of my life in one blog, i don't know either.
Slowly but surely, my dears. These are just random pictures that I've found.

Bob teaching Noah the rhyming game. Noah is seriously thinking about his next rhyme.
He's happy he learned it so quickly!

The kids playing at EKC. Naomi puts eating in her pretend play.

The difference between Noah and Naomi when they eat.

Naomi made us put her in the big mailbox at church. She wanted us to close it so she can do peek-a-boo. She's also eating Mark's burger after her own dinner. That girl...
Noah is showing you his new shades

Random pictures of the kids

Playing with the vent at Crabpot.

Harry Potter!

Impressed by Daddy's Magic Trick

2007-08-30T22:40:00.000-07:00

Thanks Sheila for taking these pictures at the wedding, they capture Noah's expressions so perfectly.

YSF SAD BAD

2007-08-30T22:31:00.000-07:00

Brothers' & Sisters' Appreciation. "Deal or No Deal" game, Bob snuck in to "pose" with the models.

Dessert was chocolate fondue. Katie & Noah wanted to play along with the chocolate mess.

Play Park

2007-08-30T22:09:00.000-07:00

Noah calls all playgrounds "Play Park" (Dora-style).

Naomi is growing like you wouldn't believe, if Noah wasn't finally gaining some weight and finally growing a little taller, i'd seriously be worried. Noah is 19 months older but only 5 pounds heavier than Naomi. Girls are definitely different than boys. Naomi already started signing and speaking around 8-9 months.

Noah is such a character. His smile and goofiness cracks me up. He took Bob's cap and ran off with it, and turned around and gave us this look.

Mother of two!

2007-06-01T16:25:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I could hardly believe that I have two children. It came all so quickly and they are growing up and have both such different personalities. I get so exhausted sometimes but I cannot imagine my life without these two beauties.

Our attempt at a family picture in front of the bathroom mirror. Naomi and I dressed up for Mother's Day. Bob secretly bought me a little vase of flowers with the sweetest note on it, left it on the YSF room piano and captured the picture when I picked it up!

I love that shirt on her, she looks so cute! She makes funny faces now, i love it!

Noami hanging out with the adults. She thinks she's one of us too! She had this one day where everytime she looks at Gabe, she would cry. She doesn't do that anymore!

Noah being a fruit fiend. He also decided to sit with the older kids table and eat with them, acting like he knows what's going on and trying to be a part of their conversation.

Noah & Katie + Misc Church Pix

2007-06-01T12:46:00.000-07:00

Noah loves going to church. He gets really sad everytime we leave, and whenever we're in the car, he'll say, "Chuuuuuuuurch!!" Noah loves to play with other kids, especially Katie.

Those young-uns... they start out so young these days (just kidding, Angie)

From the church picnic

Katie is way too cute and super smart.

She can speak in complete sentences in two languages.

Dillon, you've been caught redhanded. And you wonder why Noah doesn't like you.

He's such a little man... wonder what he's pondering about, probably the meaning of life - my son might not be bilingual but he sure is philosophical (harhar).

Noah and Naomi both like the piano. Noah thinks he's Ray Charles.

Naomi follows Noah

2007-06-01T12:27:00.000-07:00

We don't seem to put Naomi in little places like we did with Noah. Partly because Bob is more gentle with his baby girl. Also, Naomi doesn't seem to appreciate it like Noah did. She always end up crying after we do it... but here's what we got:

Some cute pictures in pigtails with her Da Da.

Bob got these great monkey and elephant chairs from Costco and the kids love it. Noah likes to climb on Bob, and Naomi practicing her balance act.

Harry Potter + Hollywood

2007-05-31T12:45:00.001-07:00

Totally unrelated to my babies - but...

Universal Studio is opening up a HARRY POTTER THEME PARK in late 2009!

Part of me is appalled at how commericalized this book/series/movie has become, part of me cannot wait for the trip Michelle and I are going to take...

In other unrelated news, Bob and I have been seeing how revolting Hollywood girls are becoming. I've already ranted about this before, but it feels like they took it to the next level. Everyone is plastickly (plastic + sickly) with unhealthy stick figures and their faces look all old and messed up from drugs. I was going to post some pictures but i got too disgusted.

Puzzlefighter Throwdown

2007-05-26T12:17:00.000-07:00

Dave and Lisa came to visit us. Of course Bob introduced Puzzlefighter to them right away. Dave was getting beat badly by Lisa. Look how he's quietly seething... yeah Dave, buy a copy and practice. you need it.

Michelle's Ice-cream Cruise

2007-05-25T13:32:00.000-07:00

This was a while back when we celebrated Michelle's birthday on a ice-cream cruise. Sorry this is so late... Happy Birthday Michelle!

Beautiful scenery. I want a house boat, a boat house, whatever they're called. Michelle's Max and Sebastian celebrated Michelle's birthday as well. Noah was equally excited and scared of the dogs. He finally worked up the courage to feed them some biscuits, then proceed to look really proud of himself.

Noah hanging out with Mommy and Auntie Michelle's friends. He thinks he's one of us.

Noah also befriended Uncle Poe because he gave him chips. Food = friends!

Noah explores the boat. When they were cooling the boat's engine with water, Noah points to it and says, "pee..."

Noah's favourite part of the cruise: ice-cream!

Look at him greedily eyeing Auntie Michelle's ice-cream sandwich even though he already has his own...

Photoshoot

2007-05-03T22:23:00.000-07:00

Kris, Oli & Sheila all offered to help me out on my first photoshoot of my clothing portfolio. Granted I don't have that many pieces of clothing ready, but it was definitely good practice and a good indication of what i need and what to expect when i do my final portfolio...

Here's my hair stylist guru/model Kristen & my beautiful tall model Olivia.

Naomi wants to join in the fun while I call my awesome photographer Sheila.

My models, stylists & photographers don't complain, babysit and don't charge me anything!

Here's my photographer Sheila hard at work, she even captured some fun artsy angles of me at work! Cool beans. She took so many good pictures, it was hard to narrow them down for this post!

Not too shabby!

My jacket (the hood could be unattached!), my shirt, and my dress

My three skirts

Whew! That took more work than it looked. Thank you ladies for being so kind and patient throughout the whole process. Hope it was fun for you too! One day i'll post all the good ones on my design website... one day...

Post-photoshoot family pictures

Naomi's Meals

2007-05-03T18:40:00.000-07:00

We let Naomi lick some watermelon recently, and she loves it. She gets really upset and frustrated when we stop letting her.
She has started eating some baby jar food and she doesn't seem to like it much unless you mix it in with rice cereal.
Bob tried to offer Noah some baby food and he shoke his head and said, "Nooo... bay-bee..."

Naomi's faces

2007-05-03T18:20:00.000-07:00

I know it looks like they're all the same picture, but i wanted to show that Naomi does make faces!

Naomi has one eye bigger than the other, it's more obvious when she smiles...

Ba-boons!

2007-05-03T18:10:00.000-07:00

Here's Noah playing with the Red Robin balloons on Esmond & Kert's birthday... or as Noah says, "Ba-boons!"
And of course a picture of my chub chubster Naomi with her auntie Kat.

Birthday Wishes!

2007-05-03T18:08:00.000-07:00

These are posts that should have been done a while ago...
Happy Birthday Kenzie & Maddie!
It wasn't Tayden's birthday, but it was the first time we've seen him!

Noah's Birthday Fun!

2007-05-02T22:43:00.000-07:00

Instead of posting 5-6 posts of the same event, i've decided to get off the lazy chair and do an actual post (stupid Picasa doesn't let me post more than 3-4 pictures at once, love google and everything, but grrr...)

For Noah's second birthday, we rented out Little Gym and invited all his friends to run around and play, eat snacks and cake.

Toddlers & Babies Galore!

Our Canadian family came to celebrate! Noah loved every single minute with his aunties, uncles, cousins and grandparents...

...Especially Ella during this trip, Noah had fun following Ella around the house, copying everything she does and playing

Thank you friends for coming!

Jocie trying to do splits. Future gymnast, perhaps?

I especially like the picture in the middle showing Kenzie in action!

Look at Maddie and Noah being buddies.

Run Noah Run! I've seen Noah run, and I've seen Noah sweat, but never ever so much... Noah ran so hard that he didn't sleep a wink that night. He played hard, cried hard, because he couldn't calm down to sleep. Silly boy.

Noah blew out the candle before we even finished the song... that's my boy.

He didn't want to leave at the end of the night! "Do we really have to leave, daddy and mommy?"

That week, he had so many people celebrating his birthday with him, giving him cake, that whenever we said "birthday", he would say "cake?", or pretend to blow out candles.

There, doesn't this feel better as one whole post?

Uncle Mark stuck in the car

2007-05-02T22:36:00.000-07:00

Nomi!

2007-04-06T17:03:00.000-07:00

Naomi seems to have less expressions than Noah (Noah calls her Nomi). She also plays it cool and doesn't burst out laughing as much as Noah did. She loves to smile than turns away coyly. She however does get her feelings known when she's upset. Bob and I think that she looks like Noah but doesn't quite look like either of us.

Spiderman, Spiderman...

2007-04-06T16:42:00.000-07:00

We took Noah to Tutta Bella dressed in a Spiderman Hoodie (thanks Uncle Kert!) Everyone loved it and Noah kept getting free Gelato samples from waitresses. Here's a cup of delicious Nutella Cappuccino.

Fishy Naomi

2007-04-06T16:34:00.000-07:00

For the last couple of months, Naomi has been trying very hard to turn. Either because of her ginormous head (oops did i say that?) or her chubby body (double oops), she couldn't quite make the complete turn. Finally, several weeks ago, she made a complete turn and even moved her arm out of her way. Mind you, couple of minutes later, she will complain since her head is too heavy to support for a long extended period of time. :)

Toddler Noah

2007-04-06T16:31:00.001-07:00

This is just the beginning. Pictures overload!

Rice Cereal

2007-04-06T16:27:00.000-07:00

Mark has designed his own Bjorn baby carrier using his North Face Jacket.
We started Naomi on rice cereal a month ago and she's been loving it. She always start smacking her lips together when we eat and trying to reach for it. Sometimes she gets mad when she can't eat what we're eating.

Major Update

2007-02-17T17:22:00.000-08:00

Naomi is growing sooooo fast. I'm putting her in 6-9 or 9-12 months clothing. She isn't even 4 months old! Her number 3 diapers are starting to get tight and will have to move on to number 4 VERY soon. That kid is monstrous. She is however getting cuter but people still think she looks like Noah. I think she is starting to look more like her own person and finally more girly. hehe.

Other Major Update: I'm now a proud employee of Nordstrom. Ah, the ambitions of being a creative independent designer is crushed by the enticing benefits and career advances that a major company offers. Although I guess I was never THAT ambitious.

So eventually I would like to work for their Product Group, but now i'm starting at the bottom of the food chain. We're in the process of trying to find a nanny/sitter for the kids on the days where i have work/school so hopefully everything will work out...

Poh Poh Rocks!

2007-02-17T17:20:00.000-08:00

So both my parents are back in Hong Kong. We miss them terribly, especially my mom (not that we don't miss you dad), but Noah has gotten so used to seeing his Poh Poh, he still calls out for her still. He cried so hard after she was out of his sight at the airport. When he talks to her on the phone, he frowns and looks very confused because his Poh Poh isn't next to him.

Thank you for coming over so often and for such long periods of time to take care of us, Poh Poh! We sure love and miss you! Mom, you are indeed SUPER MOM!

Gong Gong's Baby

2007-02-17T17:11:00.000-08:00

Noah sometimes runs to his Gong Gong when we tell him it's time for his nap, trying to extend his playing time as much as possible. When we asks him if he's a baby, he'll say no. If you asks him if he's Gong Gong's baby, he won't say no.

Brother & Sister

2007-02-05T16:57:00.000-08:00

Noah really likes his sister (most of the time). He likes to play with her, gives her his own food (and frowns when we say that she doesn't know how to eat his food), and loves to show her around!

2007-02-05T16:55:00.000-08:00

Nothing says family like letting the younger sibling sit on the older one...

Fiesty Naomi

2007-02-05T16:54:00.000-08:00

If you try to take a picture while Naomi is smiling or cooing at you, she will immediately stop, or frown...

2007-02-05T16:52:00.000-08:00

or she'll punch you in the face. (see the hair she also pulled out from my head!)

Finally smiling for the camera

2007-02-05T16:45:00.000-08:00

Look at that chubby face :)

Noah likes to wear hats like his daddy

2007-02-05T16:40:00.000-08:00

2007-02-05T16:38:00.000-08:00

Noah has the Do & Poon Genes

2007-02-05T16:37:00.000-08:00

2007-02-05T16:35:00.000-08:00

Best of 2006

2007-01-27T20:10:00.001-08:00

One of these non-baby posts are hard to find on our blog, but i can't help but tell you about these little things that i've found the past year that made my "Best of 2006":

Kettle Chips have always been very tasty. I know there are lots of Tim Cascade fans, but i never loved them because they were way too hard for my liking. Kettle Chips have a much crsiper crunch and the seasoning is just right. I have been a big fan of the "Lightly Salted" chips, but one day Bob came home with a bag of "Tuscan Three Cheese". It was deliciousness packed in a bag. Next flavour to try? "Cheddar Beer".

Philosophy comes up with lots of bath products. The fun thing about their products is that it's 3-in-1. It can be a shampoo, soap, and a bubble bath. They range from fruity, dessert-like, or more flowery flavours. This apple flavour makes you feel like you're cutting a crisp apple every time you use it. Very refreshing.

While "House" will still remain one of my favourite shows, "Heroes" was an excellent newcomer this past year. Some people criticize it for being too much of a cliff-hanger everytime, or that the plot is too slow, but i love it. I think it's a very exciting show with a very good concept. And some might recognize Masi Oka as Franklyn from "Scrubs".

While I know this game is 10+ years old, i have recently acquired it from Amazon, since I loved the even older game "Sherlock Holmes and the Serrated Scalpel" back in junior high. PC adventure games are just such classics (such as King's Quest, Sam and Max, Monkey Island, Day of the Tentacle, Manic Mansion, all the Lucas Art adventure games) and they just don't make them like that anymore. Good dialogue, hard puzzles to solve, new scenes and places to explore once you've hit the right conversation or solved a previous puzzle. It's just good stuff. This one will most surely become one of my most treasured PC games (i know when bob reads this, he would shake his head at how incredibly nerdy his wife is... hehe). Speaking of PC adventure games, anyone know if they are EVER going to make Monkey Island V?

Looking Spiffy

2007-01-27T18:45:00.000-08:00

For the longest time, Noah refused to wear this nice jacket hat combo that we got from Auntie Betty. You would not believe the amount of fighting and tears that was came about every time. Finally, two weeks ago, he let us put it on. We quickly snapped some pictures. Who knows when he'll put this jacket on again?

Second Day of Snow

2007-01-24T16:33:00.000-08:00

Noah embraced the snow better the second day. He was willing to walk around in it and laughed when he touched it, because it was so cold. He still refused to stand on unleveled ground that was covered in snow...

First Day of Snow - II

2007-01-24T16:26:00.000-08:00

Isn't snow so pretty? Naomi was mesmerized with her first sight of snow...

First Day of Snow - I

2007-01-24T16:25:00.000-08:00

Snow is a rare occasion in Seattle, especially snow that actually sticks on the ground and gives you something to play with. Noah did not appreciate the first day of snow. He didn't like it when we made him sit on the little hill of snow.

Tina & Kal

2007-01-24T16:24:00.000-08:00

Tina and Kal came to visit us at the beginning of the year. Naomi was happy to see them. Noah was sick all night so i didn't get to take any pictures of him playing with Ella or Noah crying when Ella picked on him. Oh, children :)

Playdate with Kenzie

2007-01-24T16:23:00.001-08:00

Speaking of playdates, I forgot to post these from last october (couple of days before I gave birth!) when Kenzie and Angela came to visit us! Noah always likes to play with other kids. Kenzie is younger but not much shorter than Noah! Angela, i'll call you again when everyone has stopped being sick in this household!

Jocie & Noah

2007-01-24T16:23:00.000-08:00

Jocie came over for a quick playdate earlier this month. Noah was so happy to play with her. He kept trying to help Jocie close the car door even before Jocie had a chance to put her leg in. A little too eager, my son! Thanks for coming over to play, we would love to have you over anytime!

New Year's Eve

2007-01-24T16:22:00.001-08:00

The Ma's invited us to their mansion for New Year's Eve. It was a good Puzzle Fighter night!

Christmas at Jeffrey's

2007-01-24T16:22:00.000-08:00

We got invited to cousin Jeffrey's place for Christmas. Noah was excited to play with Santa but got scared of him last minute and started crying. Naomi sat on Santa's lap with a half-drunk expression.

Happy Birthday Gong Gong!

2007-01-24T16:02:00.001-08:00

During the Christmas season, we had both Gong Gong and Poh Poh with us! And Christmas Eve was my dad's birthday! Happy Birthday Gong Gong! Olivia made a delicious dark chocolate cake for him that day. Gong Gong is Noah's favourite buddy. He saw Chuck Chen last sunday and said "Gong Gong!" happily, but when Chuck didn't come over and hug him and play with him, he looked very confused and a bit upset and keep saying longingly, "Gong Gong...". If only I have a picture of Chuck Chen to post for comparison. Noah can't wait to see you again, Dad!

Christmas Service

2007-01-24T15:59:00.000-08:00

Our blog entries are getting less and less wordy, just a few words and paste some pictures on them for your viewing pleasure. That's how tired I am now...

The Poon's

2007-01-24T15:58:00.000-08:00

Thank you Poon's for taking us in again during the storm. Theon and Olivia are now known as "On On" and "Oh Oh" to Noah. Here's our chubby little girl, she's growing faster and bigger than Noah did when he was that age. She's was in 6-9 months clothing even before she turned 3 months old. yeesh...

Power Outage II

2007-01-24T15:57:00.000-08:00

Not only were homes open to us to stay at, the Li's invited us to their dinner party. Noah had so much fun with all the kids and Naomi fell asleep in people's arms. We also tried to put chairs on Kristen while she was sleeping.

Power Outage

2007-01-23T14:46:00.000-08:00

On December 14, the Puget Sound Region experienced a storm that left many residents without power. Our house was without electricity for 7 days. We didn't realize how much we relied on electricity and technology but thought we could tough it out. By the third night, the house was freezing cold and even the warm water bottles, the fireplace (first time lit in 10+ years!) and layers of clothing just didn't cut it, plus we didn't want the kids to get sick... So, we went over to the Shi's and subsequently the Poon's when their power was up and running again. We were so blessed to have friends and family that offered their hospitality and opened their homes to us. Thank you again, you guys are so awesome!

Life with Naomi

2006-12-13T18:52:00.000-08:00

(Finally updated - 10 picture posts!) Having two children has certainly changed our lifestyle. Just as we have adapted to Noah's schedule, we now have a newborn baby that doesn't seem to adhere to any, especially her sleeping schedule. She likes to sleep whenever she wants, lately we've been trying to train her to sleep better at night, but sometimes she still likes to stay awake from 9pm-4am, which wrecks havoc to our rest. We cannot be more thankful that my mom is here right now. Naomi sure looked a lot like Noah, especially when she was just born, she's starting to look more like a girl and more like her own person, but there are times when we look at her and think she looked like how Noah looked as an infant (they are siblings, i know). Naomi cries a lot more and is very sensitive to every little thing, she cries whenever she needs to do anything. There was a phase where she would cry every time she was awake. This little girl sure tests our patience, but when she's not crying and looking precious, she totally melts our hearts all over again.

Naomi Grows Up

2006-12-13T18:28:00.000-08:00

Mean Grandma?

2006-12-13T18:23:00.000-08:00

Here's grandma laughing during a conversation with Bob and Naomi crying in her arms, but it looks like she's being mean and laughing at her granddaughter who is in tears.

I <3 Bob

2006-12-13T18:09:00.000-08:00

Noah as a Yellow Monster

2006-12-13T18:06:00.000-08:00

Bob put Noah in one of these giant onesis that my dad bought from Hong Kong. He looks like a giant pikachu/wizard with a backscratcher as a wand.

Blue Skidoo, Noah Can Too!

2006-12-13T12:59:00.000-08:00

Noah loves to imitate. He recently picked up a new move. He was watching "Blue's Clues" and when Blue and Steve/Joe jump into another world/picture, Noah follows.

Noah as a brother

2006-12-12T13:52:00.000-08:00

Noah is a really good brother. He doesn't get jealous very often at all, and he loves to help out. When we change her diaper, he'll run and grab diapers for her, even though he sometimes will bring us his size 5 diapers instead of Naomi's size 1. After helping, he'll clap for himself or look really proud. He likes giving her the bottle and pacifier when she cries or offering her his favourite toys.

Noah & Naomi's Halloween

2006-12-12T13:44:00.000-08:00

We put Noah in his Chinese outfit (not much of a costume, but recognize it, Do family?) and took him and Naomi to Bellevue Square for Trick-or-Treat. Noah had so much fun going door-to-door gathering candy for his bag. He didn't care to eat the candy, nor did we care to show him that candy was edible. Bellevue Square was absolute madness! If you think pre-Christmas shopping was bad, this was worse. Nobody was actually inside the stores, everyone and their kids were all crowding near the entrances of all the stores that were giving out candy. Naomi didn't care for the chaos and slept through the whole thing.
Noah bumped into his buddies Kenzie and Alexander, while Bob bumped into Sonics' players Kareem Rush and Earl Watson!

Father and Son Duo

2006-12-12T01:08:00.000-08:00

Noah already likes to work out with his dad. He tries to lift up heavy objects, turn to us and say, "Whoa!" One of his favourite weights is the big container of protein powder that Bob has. He joins Bob in working out as a passenger on his back during push-ups. One day, while Bob was laying down to rest, Noah decided that it would be funny to sit on his face. Bob can't lay on the floor without him giving his dad a face full of diaper. Finally, as the next step of Bob and Noah's balancing act, Bob has gotten Noah to balance sitting on his head without support. (The last picture is a reminder of the last milestone as Noah sitting on Bob's hand.)

Noah Loves His Veggies

2006-12-11T19:22:00.000-08:00

Noah was playing with some vegetables his 3rd Great Aunt bought us from the Farmer's Market.
He was having a blast. Later when my mom was washing it before cooking, we discovered some big bugs in it, true organic style.

Naomi Michelle Do ~ Life on the outside

2006-10-23T15:49:00.000-07:00

Hey Folks,
Bob here...thanks to all the well wishers and emailers who have encouraged us. Also thanks to all the family and friends who have visited and given Naomi gifts and kisses!

So Eunice asked me to write this post and share about the birth of our beautiful baby girl. I will try not to be too long winded as I have a habit of being. I will also try to share just the highlights and spare you all the gruesome details that I had to endure in the birthing suite. Also, Naomi wonders why her story is being posted on thelifeofnoah blog but such is the hand-me-down life of the second child.

So...there has been a lot of interest in the birth of Naomi among the young people in our church. Not so much because they wanted to see our baby, but rather because they have this huge baby pool going on with the winner getting a free dinner from the losers. Many different people had been politely telling us when to have the baby. Many people were disappointed when their day came and went without nary a peep from Naomi.
Eunice also hoped that the baby would come sooner than later. Her reason was because Gong Gong (her dad) was here to visit from Hong Kong and would leave on the 21st of October.
So we were excited when at 2 am on the 20th of October, Eunice's nightly bout with contractions were a bit more regular. (I take full credit as I encouraged her to walk a lot earlier that evening...the motivation? shopping at south center).

At around 3:00 am we called the Dr. and she let us know that we could come in. We arrived at the hospital at 4:00 and were a bit worried that we might be experiencing a false alarm as the contractions had subsided substantially. But the nurses had us strapped in to moniter mother and baby for a bit.

Just when we thought it looked like we were going to be sent home, the beeping machine started to beep. A lot. We looked at each other a bit confused as to why it would do that. Then the nurse came rushing in, more alarmed by the beeping machine than we were. She started pressing buttons and asking for a doctor, any doctor to come in for assistance. Eventually two doctors and a head nurse came in to see what it was all about. The beeping machine was beeping slower again and they were satisfied.

So it seemed that the machine was a baby heart rate moniter. And for some reason Naomi's slowed down and started that whirlwind of concern. Our Dr. said that there could any number of reason why that happened, including maybe wrapping the umbilical cord around herself. Either way, now that it's happened, they wouldn't feel right sending us home in case it happened again without the beeping machine to monitor it. So, they asked us to ok inducing the labor. We said ok.

This happened around 6:30am.

We settled in to wait for the pectocin (aka induce juice) to kick in. Eunice watched Pride and Prejudice with her personal attending nurse and I fell asleep on the pull-out bed. At around 10am, Eunice got her epidural to make herself more comfortable and finally was able to sleep a bit.

That was all we did until 2pm. The doctor came and gave the ok to start. Eunice started pushing. In less than 15 minutes, Naomi Michelle Do was born!

At 2:16pm, October 20, 2006.
Eunice did awesome, it all happened way faster than with Noah. I made a promise to myself to not look at the birthing this time, but that darn doctor kept telling me to "take a look at this", "take a look at that"...

The whole build-up to the birth was pretty drawn-out, so it was pretty abrupt how quickly it ended, but i'm glad for Eunice's sake it was fast.

One other note, before you get to look at the pictures, (although I wonder how many people actually read through this whole yarn ~ a gold star to everyone who did) I want to state that I think mothers are monsters (in a good way). I am so proud of how Eunice did through this whole deal. I can't imagine the pain and discomfort that they go through with labor and birth. Yeesh. Gold stars for mothers. (So if are a mother and you read this that means you get two gold stars).

(left) Eunice 3am - still pretty

(center) Naomi weighs in at 2.8 kgs (that's 6 lbs 2.7 oz for you americans)

(right) Mommy and baby right after birth

(left) Eunice ordered a little more food so that I could eat too (mac & cheese, ceasar salad, fish and chips, a thick chocolate milk shake and juice)...all I got was the juice and one piece of fish.

(center) Noah poking his little sister

(right) The proud grandparents

(left and center) Gong Gong is Noah's favourite play buddy. He was so sad to see him go back to Hong Kong and cried when he dropped him off at the airport. Gong Gong, please come back to visit us soon. Noah keeps looking for you at home.

(right) Gong Gong with Noah and Naomi. Note Noah's shifty eyes - "i'm up to no good..."

Some of our lovely visitors at the hospital.

At Home

(left) Noah wasn't being a cooperative model for his Canadian Auntie's photos

(center) Noah not looking very happy to have to take a picture with his little sister. The competition begins...

(right) "Will you stop taking my picture already please!"

(left) Noah thinks he's as old as his cousins, and can play video games.

(center) One of Eunice's favourite expression that Noah makes - look at his lips!

(right) Noah and cousin Jessie

(left) Auntie Cindy and Donna

(center) Cousin Tori and Naomi

(right) Naomi and Ella Bella

(left) Mom and baby

(center) Naomi and grandma Poon

(right) Naomi and grandma Do

Rare moments where Naomi opens her eyes. She loves to be swaddled (unlike Noah), and sleeps all day. Here I'm showing how small she is. Her head is the same size as my fist and my thumb is as thick as her ankles.

The calm before the storm...

2006-10-01T18:00:00.000-07:00

It has been forever since we've updated, but classes are finally over and i figured that an update is in order before our lives get even busier with the second baby.

Pregnancy:
It's certainly different this time around. Some say that the second pregnancy is supposed to be easier. I disagree. On one hand, you have one child with endless energy running around all day, and another child growing every day inside of you. Not to mention how much this baby girl moves in me. The doctor says it's normal because the second one has more room to move. She's throwing her limbs everywhere, you can even see my whole belly shake and where her limbs are moving. Am I ready to have two active children? Contractions are coming strong and harsh at night, but not lasting frequent or long enough to be the real thing. Bob predicts October 4, Mark predicts October 10. Bob hopes Mark is correct.

Noah:
Noah decided to develop separation anxiety not at 8 months, but at 18 months. He has become a lot more clingy and refuse to go to just anybody. I suppose that is normal for a toddler growing up, but I miss the benefits of the infant that would go anywhere with anyone. However, he is super cute (bob says i got to stop being so biased and always saying that about my own child - but he is!) and will talk and babble non-stop all day. His favourite subjects are animals and he is learning more about shapes and colours. It's mind-boggling how fast and how much kids learn! He is also identifying more and more people.

House:
No, not the tv show. that show is good - there seems an inverse relationship between bob's liking of the show and my affection for hugh laurie. haha. don't worry bob.
Honestly though, we're doing some major moving - all the rooms upstairs and downstairs are being switched because there are three rooms downstairs (fitting all the babies and us parents), and only two upstairs (and we don't want any of the children to feel left out). Friends and family have been in and out to help move, which we are extremely grateful for.

Family:
My mom is Super Mom. She has been over here since August and it's been so tremendous having her around. AND my dad is coming this Wednesday! He does have to leave for a conference but he'll be back later to visit. Noah can't wait for his Gong Gong either! We're also planning to have Bob's family over for Canadian Thanksgiving. Bob wants me to have the baby right before Canadian Thanksgiving... i'll try...

School:
School will be on hold for at least two quarters. I had a lot of fun learning this quarter and i even made a jacket that was quite spiffy and not too bad if i say so myself. i still have lots to learn in the sewing department because i'm technically two quarters behind. i'll post pictures once i get it back - hopefully before i have the baby!

Pictures:
I hear you - go on with the pictures already! ok ok, here they are!

Family:

Bob's family came to visit a while back. See how much my boy has grown? it's amazing! Noah had fun playing with all his aunts, uncles and cousins. I love Noah's expression with his Gu Ma Cindy, whom he learned to call "Gu Gu" today.

Woodland Park Zoo:

Took Noah to the zoo. He loved looking at all the animals and fishes. He had lots of fun, but was a bit scared to pet the animals in the petting zoo. Bob blames me for his "chicken" genes. haha.

Pacific Science Center:

This has become one of our favourite spots to take Noah - and we get to make good use of our annual Christmas gift from Auntie 3 - membership to the Pacific Science Center. Noah's favourite thing to do there is to yell and talk to the ducks in the water. "Quack quack! Quack quack!" he says happily to his feathery friends.

Dillon's Homecoming Football Game:

Bob took Noah to see Dillon play in his Homecoming Football game. Noah had a lot of fun cheering and stomping around. However, he did throw up all over Auntie Ruth... i'm so sorry!

Growing up:

Noah is growing up so fast, but don't worry, we still like to find weird places to put him in...

Fishing and Eating

Bob has been going fishing more lately. One time he took Noah with him and he loved it. He bonded with the fish in the bucket, would not stop talking to it and calling it "Yu Yu" (cantonese for fish). He also loved watching Bob cook and fry it and then happily devouring it. No remorse for eating his aquatic friend.

Noah loves these chicken legs that my mom makes. He doesn't seem to want to become a vegetarian in any way... he was licking the bone and skin afterwards too. (ahh, just like his mother when she was small). He also discovered his love for the Vitasoy milk.

Videos:
Some videos for your entertainment. Thank you Tammy for posting them!

finally some new pictures!

2006-07-13T00:30:00.000-07:00

Dear Bob the husband,

We took Olivia's camera (we need a new camera, ours is completely busted!) and took some pictures and a video for you today. I'm really tired, but there was an interesting incident of Theon mistaking Michelle's pepper spray as a spiffy flashlight, and within seconds the whole household was coughing violently as the pepper spread through in the air. It hits us faster than we expected, we had to rush Noah out of the room. Besides a really bad cough that made baby girl cramp me up all night and a bad feeling in my throat, i'm ok.

BUT, the night was really good with food and tivo + Project Runway. I can't wait for you to see this season's contestants, there's a super creepy guy that was born in Taiwan. oh you got to see it!

Anyway, things are good. Everyone has been really nice to me and Noah, especially Olivia, who visits me everyday. I also bring Noah out a lot now, you wouldn't believe how much more I drive these days. I still don't like driving everywhere, but i am much more willing to do it.

We miss you lots, and enjoy the pictures and the video. We can't wait to see you again!

~ much love, wife

Theon took the Tivo box and put his new cushy pillow (i bought it at costco - it's like a mini beanbag for noah - he loves it!) in it. It's his new lounging chair/bed. He is definitely Noah ThunderThighs Do.

Noah has been doing this "gangster" pose (similar to praying), but he does it when he sees people, almost like saying hi. i don't know where he picked it up, maybe from the shi's cousin. we couldn't capture it in time, and we kept making him re-do it. when we finally got it, he didn't look too happy to do it anymore. noah had way too much fun today, got too excited and threw up on the floor. we immediately gave him a bath. he's totally fine, look how happy that he's half naked.

And onto the video! We couldn't get him to laugh like he did before with the whole "catapulting" stuffed animals out of his exersaucer anymore. it's old news, but olivia got him running around laughing like crazy and trying to imitate her saying "noah". it's really cute! watch it and see your son even though you're far away. you'll be home with us soon!

Noah laughing

noah's sayings

2006-07-08T09:14:00.000-07:00

Bob, I couldn't find any new pictures. i think they were all on your memory card with the big camera that you took. so i just decided to put some old ones. I know you've seen these before you left, but you can see them now online.
~ much love, Lo Por-ah

Noah misses you lots, Bob. Come home to us soon! He's learned couple new things and is as cute as ever. I do miss his longer hairstyle.

One sunday afternoon after church, i desperately needed some rest from carrying a child in my womb, and noah woke up from the car ride home and refuses to go back to sleep. Bob took Noah to his room and played with him and thus allowing me to take a nap. I woke up to complete silence, thinking it was odd. I went to Noah's room and discovered Bob sleeping on the floor, Noah nestled in closely next to his da da and the room in COMPLETE CHAOS. While Bob crashed as he watched noah played, Noah had stuffed clean clothes from his drawers down the diaper champ, took books out of the book case and tore off pages, took toys and threw them all over the floor... it was a sight to see.

Noah was able to do this stunt for a long time now, but we could never take a picture because he got up too quickly. This was finally captured last month.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Noah destroys me with his ways. His expressions and how hard he's trying to say things always gets me. Here are some of his sayings:

Duck = "qua qua"
Bird = "bur bur"
Fish = "yu yu" (chinese)
Water/watermelon = "wa wa"
ball = (his first word) "ball ball"
bread = "bao bao" (chinese)
cheerio = "O O"
when he wants to go out and play = "ou(t) ou(t)"

When he watches Blues' Clues, and blue jumps at the screen and babbles, says "bo bo" (or something similar), noah babbles back with the same sound, he waits for Blue to do it and repeats after her. Funny guy.

Bob's parents left today. I'm mighty sad to lose such good babysitters. So good in fact that i got couple nights off and friends took me to see movies. It felt weird to be able to do that. I don't think i've left the house so late at night in a long time.

Bob, Noah really misses you. When i carry him into our room to get stuff, he always says "da da", expecting to see you. When he sees your picture on the fridge, he yells "da da!" He also kisses the picture when i say "kiss da da" and make a "muah" sound.

Baby girl is also kicking like crazy. So much for my placenta might reduce the kicking sensations because of its position. This one is also an active one.
School starts on Monday. i'm scared for pattern 3.

getting old!

2006-07-04T00:35:00.000-07:00

Michelle and Eric are so super sweet. They came over with delicious Thai food and an ice-cream cake to celebrate my birthday. Then, my in-laws watched Noah in the late evening while Michelle and Eric took me to NACHO LIBRE. I needed a good nonsense movie and some good laughs. I definitely liked it better than Napoleon Dynomite.

Husband, I will post pictures soon, i promise. just too tired from the movie. on the way home from the movie, it wasn't even midnight and i almost fell asleep 5 times in the car. I feel like i'm getting o-l-d.

Noah always shakes his head at first whenever i try to feed him icecream. (michelle took some good pictures of noah's face when he gets his first bite of icecream) Then when he finally tastes it, he keeps asking for more. he's a cutie butt. Bob gave him a super short haircut and it made him look much older, but at least he's sweating less from his head. i really miss bob! i think you'll get sick of hearing it by the time he gets back, but i don't care.

preggo hormones!!!

2006-07-03T00:14:00.000-07:00

so Bob left with the boys for the Taiwan Missions Trip. Check out their pictures and progress, and don't forget to pray for them. Of course, i'm missing him lots and the preggo hormones are no help whatsoever.

Bob's parents (thanks parents!) are in town and they took care of Noah for us all weekend while bob left for taiwan and i left for california for erin and ryan dayala's wedding. congratulations guys! beautiful wedding, and may God bless your new life together. cali was fun but the weather was so hot (definitely better than taiwan though, poor bob who is probably sweating profusely)

Noah was fine without our company as he is an easy going baby. when i came home tonight, he was taking a bath with grandma and he screamed in delight and tried to climb out to get into my arms, but after a while, he just wanted to play with his grand-aunt 3. grrr that kid, so much for worrying about him missing me, eh? i think he's glad to see me though, he is now such a big boy - walking around and trying to talk nonstop. (will post in another about what he likes to say)

cali was fun and a relaxing break from school and everything, and i had a lot of fun - thanks oli and kris for sharing a room. but i'm glad to be home with noah and family. thanks everyone for celebrating my birthday early even though everything was rushed. now i'm missing olivia and kris...i need to stop missing people. these hormones... this baby girl is definitely giving me a a different kind of pregnant experience than with noah.

much too tired to post pictures of noah, and i didn't get to take pictures of the wedding because my camera broke - will post them once i steal some from kris.

oh! bob gave me a super duper birthday gift this year - TIVO and a serger. I get to record all House and Monk episodes. I had a Hugh Laurie marathon when i came home from cali. We also ordered a bunch of cheap dvds and i'm waiting for them to arrive. it's way past the estimated delivery date. i keep "betting" with bob that they will come each day, and they keep NOT coming. (every bet costs 1 billion dollars - i now owe him 6 billion). i miss bob.

Noah Growing Up!

2006-06-15T16:48:00.000-07:00

Since my mom left for Hong Kong this quarter, I could not have done it without Bob, Uncle & Auntie 3, Uncle Ed & Auntie Carol (+ shi boys), Theon, Olivia, Stan, Kris & Kim, Michelle, Eric & Gabe (go movie club!)... hope i'm not missing anyone. They were always ready to take Noah so I could work or take the night off, or simply keep me company. You might think it's not a big deal, but it really makes a big difference. Noah sure is entertaining, but the adult company is much appreciated. See skirts here!

Noah sure grows up fast. He now laughs at things as if he really understands what we're saying or what the joke is. He walks a lot more now but is still wobbly. He charms his mom to no end and is becoming clingy, but that kid sure is cute (are parents allowed to say that about their own child?)

Noah sometimes sings a tune with babbling words over and over, and thinks it's amusing. I guess he has moved on from his one-note song. He is also a Cheerio fiend. He loves to raise his hands up when someone says "touchdown", or clap along to anyone else so is clapping. He loves music and dances along to catchy tunes and likes to drum on anything from boxes and cans. He gets excited when we take walks around the yard/neighborhood. He loves to touch all the leaves and flowers and look for birds and dogs (except when they bark at him). That child is a fun-loving one.

This was a while ago - before noah would walk. We went to visit for Bob's mom's birthday. Noah had a lot of fun playing in the yard with the aunties and his cousins.

I follow Daddy's example and climbs on trees. Mommy thinks there are two monkeys in the family.

As usual, all the kids had fun with their Uncle Bob.

I bonded with my cousin Ella by eating apples together. She was trying to smell/kiss me, i'm not sure. I was biting the apple so hard that one of my eyes became smaller than the other.

Grandma did my hair so I could be a "gwai" sonny boy and give Grandpa the newspaper.

It was a good visit and the cake was scrumptious!

See you next time!

Our Growing Family

2006-06-10T23:33:00.000-07:00

It has been a long time since we've updated, Jay. Nesting mode has kicked in and we've begun talking and taking action into reorganizing our house. It will take a lot of effort and planning as we've decided to move downstairs. Another quarter is also ending for school, and i'm getting that exhausted feel once again, and somehow missing my parents again... but there are talks in the plan that i might see my dad soon, HOPEFULLY. I know i will see my mom in august, so that's a definite YAY.

Just got back from visiting Bob's family in Canada, and it was good family time. However, Noah couldn't sleep from allergies and/or a cold. Either way, a sleepless night for all. The feeling i have now is similar to jetlag, which explains why i'm up so late blogging instead of working on 2 skirts for my final project.

But we're safe at home now and we're proud to announce that as of this past tuesday, baby number 2 is officially baby girl. :) Now i can't wait for the girly outfits and cuddling with my baby girl, and i know that bob will love this little one to death. i am scared for the teenage years though. eek, God knows i was nothing but trouble to my parents, especially my mom. But i turned out semi-ok, right mom? ;)

We hope Noah will be a good bigger brother, he has become more clingy lately, and sometimes gets jealous when i hold other babies, especially when he's tired. but he's a good trooper that one, and i think we'll do ok. I've been trying to introduce the baby to noah by letting him touch my belly, taking him to my doctor's appointment, but he insists on calling my belly "ball ball"... hey now...

Oh and he finally started walking. FINALLY, before hitting the 15 month mark, he is willing to walk by himself for short distances. However, if you force him, he will sit right back down and starts crawling. so stubborn, wonder where he gets it from...

I was going to post even more pictures, but after uploading these ones, it seems like an appropriate time to stop, as we took these pictures in the park and at the Seattle Science Center - both new places for Noah. More family pictures and others will show up soon. i promise, after my final projects are over.

At the Park...

We took Noah to the Park after his afternoon nap one day. He didn't seem too pleased to be out of his PJs, but he soon woke up slowly and was having the time of his life. We found out that Noah is just like his daddy, they both love little tiny places to crawl into.

One of Noah's first expressions, and still remains his favourite. The wide open mouth of happiness.

He smiled so much going down the slide, then of course attempted to climb up the slide afterwards. In the church nursery, he refuses to sit down properly on the plastic slide, he always goes head first.

And how can you go to the park without riding the swings! His first trip to the park was super, and my little boy was sad to have to leave.

At the Seattle Science Center...

Uncle Ken, Auntie Donna, Justin and Jessie came to visit Noah and we took them to the Science Center, finally putting good use to our passes. Noah roamed around the toddlers' area and thought it was the neatest place to play.

This boy really loves to climb in boxes, he also made a friend in the car ride, although he kept leaning over and pressing all the buttons for her. "hello lady, lemme show you how this works..." After playing with the music set in the science center, we've decided he was old enough to play with the one we got him. Now it's one of his favourite toys.

Gooooooooooodnight!

Pain

2006-04-25T11:04:00.000-07:00

Ever since last month, i've been getting these abdominal cramps that come and go. Yesterday, they were so painful that i could barely pick up noah. Luckily, Michelle and Eric came to my rescue when Bob was gone for the evening. The nurse said that they are normal since this is not my first child and my muscles are restretching. The pain is typical for 12-16 weeks. Wouldn't it be more stretching for my first child because they've never been stretched before? Hrm... but i'm glad that it's normal, and that since i'm not bleeding, everything is still good for the baby.

Some have inquired about the due date of the baby. The actual calculated due date is october 28, but since Noah was early and this is my second child, my ob/gyn is predicting mid october. Maybe he'll have the same birthday as Uncle Manchester. :)

Noah took his first steps!

2006-04-23T16:49:00.000-07:00

We came home from church and all took a nap. When we woke up, Noah was playing in the eating area. He was hanging on to Bob's leg and let go, then took couple of steps towards his exer-saucer! We tried to videotape it afterwards, but he wouldn't do it again. But yay! that means he should be walking any week now, hopefully!

Noah thinks he's a pirate (arrrgh). The back of that shirt is the most true statement of any of Noah's clothing.

Noah loves his blankie but he was willing to share with Daddy. Took Noah to the Mariner's game, he would be happy if they could only win one game when he goes to see them.

See you next time!

Must See & Read!

2006-04-22T23:38:00.000-07:00

I remember reading Pride and Prejudice when I was in junior high and I did not finish it . Recently, Kat and Olivia got me watching the most recent film adaptation of the novel. While I am no fan of Kiera Knightley, I thought actor Matthew MacFadyen played Mr. Darcy well. I just fell in love with the movie and the story (ask Bob how many times i've watched it, and how much i quote it). Of course almost all books are better than the movie, which definitely made me re-read the book. Oh my goodness, the book just completely captured my heart. READ IT. I love the way they talk, and how so much is implied with a few choice words. Ah, it's so clever and it just blew me away. I also loved the fact that the book that I had was my mom's old hardcover copy and it's almost as old as me. I think she bought it when she went to college because it says "University Bookstore - $3.89" on it. (i love that - i'm such a dork) Now I have to watch the old BBC's version. If you can find it for less than $21 on DVD, let me know.

I know I raved about this already, but please watch House. It's my absolute favourite show. I was never a big fan of medical shows (because i'm a wuss). But this show has everything - intrigue, sarcasm, and wit. You will feel somewhat guilty loving Hugh Laurie's (who's British but carries a perfect American acccent) character House, being so upright arrogant but truthful, you can't help but think he might truly care. The whole show is briliant, one episode and you'll be sucked in.

Don't worry, I shall still update you with how things are going with my pregnancy:

I'm growing so big so fast that I cannot believe it. While I'm not gaining more than my last pregnancy, I sure am expanding like a cow. So much so that I told Bob that i must be carrying twins. My doctor disproved that theory with our ultrasound by showing us only one baby. The reason she says why I am growing so quickly is because everything is already stretched out and it takes very little to stretch you back the way you were. Great, huh? But no matter, as long as baby 2 is healthy, it's all good

One weird aversion thatI have this time around is really strong garlic smell and/or taste. I just cannot stand it, it makes me sad. I tried to keep eating it anyway, but i couldn't continue. we went to the Mariner's game and I had to stay away from the garlic fries. One craving i have is goood soup noodles. I keep wanting to get a good bowl of Shanghainese vegetable noodles. How I wish i'm in HK right now where noodles are a-plenty and where my parents are. :) How i miss them so.

Noah is still doing well, growing big and responding and playing so much it's amazing. I cannot believe just a year ago I had him and look at him now! I love my little boy, he gives me the sweetest smile and my favourite time is right before I put him to sleep - we have this little ritual now where i feed him milk, then he plays with me and laughs, then he cuddles up to me and his blanket and I rock him on our gliding chair. In less than a minute, he's asleep. He is way too cute. I am a little anxious when we have another - how will noah deal with not being the center of attention? How will bob and i deal with another baby and be tired all the time, but noah will still be a bundle of energy?! Yikes... one step at a time, eh?

Baby Number 2!

2006-04-15T23:27:00.000-07:00

So, big news. Do Baby Number 2 is on its way. (*gasp* i know...) Doctor gave us a clean bill of health so we're good to tell everyone. Originally we wanted to wait another week before the big announcement for the kids, but Pastor Sam beat us to it on the Prayer List email update. So, surprise!

Some of the responses from the kids we got were pretty funny:
Dillon called Bob just to see if it was true.
Winnie's mom nudging winnie over to me and whispering loudly for her to go ask me if it was true, even though i was right there.
Emily yelled out, "ALREADY?" after the yf announcement.
Lauren saying, "yeah i thought you were getting fatter..." Thanks Lauren.
David Lung saying, "so all these months, everytime i come over, you were already pregnant? you are good at hiding babies." Thank you, David.

Last monday, we had our first ultrasound and it's amazing to see the baby so tiny. We remember Noah swimming around and hiding from us. Baby Number 2 stayed still and waved its arms and legs at us and turned its body. Even though both our babies were unexpected, (but this one was definitely the biggest shock ever), seeing the baby has made me so excited and now really looking forward to meeting him/her. I'm fine with either a boy or girl, because i think it'll be fun for noah to play with a brother, but i would be so happy if it's a girl too. If he turns out to be a boy, i definitely want to adopt a girl one day. As much as i love my babies, I'm done with the birthing after this one.

Here are some pictures of our tiny little jellybean. We'll know the sex of the baby in the beginning of June! Name suggestions are welcome, just as before.

Say hi to little baby 2:

Where's Noah?

2006-04-04T11:15:00.000-07:00

Noah's skills so far (he's almost 13 months):
- Clap hands (to both chinese and english prompts)
- Baby sign language: milk and please, will do so without prompting! (you will not believe how much noah loves to eat and the amount of milk he drinks and asks for in a day)
- Dancing (although he might have inherited my ugly dancing)
- Blowing kisses
- Kissing us when we ask him to, but he does it with an open mouth
- "Deem Chong Chong" - Cantonese Nursery Rhyme
- Sticking his tongue out when we do it (and scrunches up his nose and eyes)
- Waving hello or goodbye
- Saying "da da" and "ma ma"
- Flirting with girls
- Standing unassisted for a while but walking assisted
- Playing peek-a-boo
- Singing his one-note song
- Destroying everything
- When he's holding onto the edge of something while standing, I will say "Noah, no hands", he'll stand up straight and lift up his arms and show off his palms and smile. what a guy.
- Put things on his ear and pretend to be on the phone when i say "wei"

Spring Break Post

2006-03-30T23:20:00.000-08:00

My school has spring break this week - hence the TWO updates. Woah. Will probably be slow again when school starts, so please be patient. Last quarter I took three classes and almost died of exhaustion (check other site for pictures). This quarter I might be down to one or two classes. I've decided that my family and my health is more important at this time. All my teachers told me there was no need to hurry to graduate... i just felt older than most of my peers and i wanted to graduate so i can start working. But there's no need to kill myself through the process, so i will slow down. With the help of my loving husband and my friends, i passed with flying colours and cannot wait to learn more.

My mom finally left us after two long months of babysitting her beautiful but heavy grandson. Understand my mom is under 100 pounds and is less than twice the height of my big boy. We miss her terribly, and she has introduced me to the the wonderful world of House (must-see tv, folks). I'm so addicted, maybe even more than Monk (especially now that they switched assistants, the show is just not the same). I watched CSI today and thought of her fondly. Bob calls my mom "Numb3rs" due to her incredible math skills (which i did not inherit). Ah, such wit. We miss you, mom. Dad, you too. come see us soon, please.

March was a busy month with three birthdays - noah's, bob's, and my mom's. Emily and Omar invited us to the Seattle Aquarium. Noah had a blast. One day though, I must take you guys to Ocean Park in Hong Kong. Much bigger and i promise you lots of sharks and dolphins, not just a plastic one hanging from the ceiling. We also visited baby Kenzie and baby Jocie later that day. Kenzie was sleeping the whole time so we didn't take any pictures. She is one adorable baby girl though. Go to their site for pictures.

Dave Hill visits Bob

Bob's high school buddy Dave and his family came to visit. Noah used their present as a hat.

happy birthday, grandmama

Noah climbed into the tupperware box by himself and smiled at bob for the first picture. Then, Bob put him in a bigger box.

we had a chance to take my mom out to celebrate at Shiro's. I don't know where Noah gets his table manners from, definitely not me. That boy loves to eat and flirt with the waitresses, he didn't get that from me either.

Aquarium Field Trip

The many faces of my son. Some more attractive than others.

Noah thinks the Aquarium is cool. "Can you dig it?"

Noah really enjoyed looking at all the different fishes swimming around. He wouldn't stop "ooh-ing" and pointing at everything.

Just being silly with Auntie Emily and Uncle Omar.

I've never seen a boy so happy to be posing next to a shark. Noah loves to copy his Dad.

playdate with jocie
a lookback at their first playdate, 6 months ago. Noah didn't make a very good first impression - stealing her pacifier and making her cry.

Jocie is sooo cute!

6 months later, Noah still steals Jocie's stuff but luckily for him, she didn't get mad at him this time.

such happy babies!

Noah mischeviously sticks his tongue out at Uncle Sam. It was a fun play date, Jocie!

Thanks for reading. We'll see how long before my next update.

Update Overload

2006-03-17T14:42:00.000-08:00

Hit a blogger's block, since Granny's funeral and Po's passing, just didn't feel like updating. And now especially with school speeding ahead and finals next week, i feel like i haven't stopped. School is great - check the other blog for my final pieces (will update after finals).

With much "nagging", here's more pictures of noah. I was going to put them in a more orderly fashion, but alas, sleep beckons.

Noah thinks boxes are more fun than actual toys.
Bob trains Noah in Mario Kart.
Bob looks a tad scary here, but i liked Noah's smushed face against the window.

Noah did not live up to Bob's expectation of his love for snow ... maybe next year.
The Janzen's came to visit us earlier this year!
Noah does Kung Fu in his sleep.

Noah is very fashion forward when it comes to his clothing. Here he's setting trends for cousin Ella.

Noah had his first taste in lemons and he likes it!
"Do NOT mess with us" ~ Noah and Ella
Ella likes to boss her little cousin around.

Noah's birthday gift from Daddy - the Sonics' game!
During that weekend, Bob's family came to visit and Noah had a blast!

Due to Daddy's super training, Noah could join in the video game playing. (zoom in for expression).
Noah loved playing with Jessie.

Noah and his grandmothers. I'm so sad, my mom is leaving soon...
Noah likes to look like a big bully sometimes.
Noah thinks boxes and bags are also birthday presents.

Noah searching for more presents inside the bag.
Noah disappearing in his mountain of gifts.
Counting all the red pockets that he had received.

Funny pictures from the birthday dinner... Noah thinks pink is manly.
Noah is a cold water fiend. He also loves sucking on ice from Bob's mouth haha.

And of course blogspot had to freeze 15 times during my posting.
But hope you all enjoyed the pictures. Thank you for all the birthday presents, greetings from far and near.

Will actually post with more news next time, for now just enjoy the pictures. G'night!

Granny

2006-02-05T10:53:00.000-08:00

Yesterday night, Bob received a phone call from Mimi, Granny passed away.
A couple of weeks ago, she had a stroke. She had just turned 99 last week.

She was always so healthy even for her age. Isn't she pretty in that picture? I loved this picture that Bob took of Granny and Noah's hands together.

I'm glad she lived to see Noah. I will always remember how much she loved playing cards and eating cheeseburgers.

We love you Granny.

One Size Fits All

2006-01-23T17:30:00.000-08:00

and so it continues, the tale of how noah fits in everything and everywhere...

he destroys everything with his eating and licking, even the fridge in the church nursery could not be free from noah the destroyer...

a quick recap of places he's been so far, i think the grocery bag still wins as a crowd favourite. I've probably forgotten some other ones, but these are pretty classic:

Well, that's all the time we have folks, see you next time!

Fancy Sunday Clothes

2006-01-13T22:31:00.000-08:00

Everyone said i looked so mature in this outfit, and that i looked like a mini-man. I say I look quite spiffy. See my bottom two teeth? I have two more coming out on top, I guess all i wanted for Christmas IS my two front teeth. I am usually a good boy who can sit by himself and read and play. I love to play with things that are not made to be toys more than toys themselves. Fax machines, phones, remote controls, my mom's glasses and computer wires are on my top-5 list.

I am super active, but food always calmes me down - definitely genetic. no doubt about it.

Here is me being dragged away from my toys so that my parents can go out. Grr, you do not come between my favourite toy and me. (see my mean expression - my dad thinks i'm a bully).

Mommy promised more Hong Kong and Canada pictures, they are coming, she's super busy now, so be patient.

Noah in HK - II

2006-01-09T18:37:00.000-08:00

Riding the plane was fun at first, but then i got tired of being in such a small place. There were so many people playing with me, but i couldn't crawl around at all. It was hard to fall asleep, but i finally did it and Daddy was nice enough to be my pillow. Here I am in my Gong Gong and Poh's Poh's place. Boy, they live really high up in the building! 43th Floor! I loved looking through the windows!

I'm pretty good at standing with assistance, you wait until i walk! Mommy and Daddy will have a fun time chasing after me. Daddy decides to style his hair like Wolverine one day, I didn't know what to think of it. But the next day, I decided that it was definitely awesome so i asked daddy to style it for me.

I performed tricks for Gong Gong and Poh Poh by demonstrating my extremely wicked balancing skills with Daddy, who trains me well.

Travelling in Hong Kong sure was fun. Daddy put me in this baby REI hiking backpack. I was taller than everyone there. I guess they don't sell these cool transportation devices there, because everyone was pointing and "ooh"-ing at us. But then again, they could be doing that because i'm so ridiculously good looking. (like this third picture here, very nooolanderly)

Gong Gong would not stop feeding my parents. All the food looked so good and I couldn't eat much of anything. There was that beautiful crab with noodles, the lobster that was humungous (look at my expression), and hotpot beef that melted in your mouth (at least that's what my parents said).

I require a lot of entertainment. One restaurant gave me a balloon and crayons and crafts. The balloon was a good idea, it preoccupied me for a good while, but i just wanted to eat the crayons but nobody would let me. Since I was in Hong Kong, I decided I too should be tech-savvy, so i grabbed Daddy's cellphone and pretended to call Gong Gong and Poh Poh. You wouldn't believe the decorations they have at the mall - they go all out! Here I am posing with a toy soldier. Poh Poh was really scared that I was going to fall.

The Christmas lights outside our apartment was so bright and beautiful! I loved it (zoom in for my happy face!) Oddly enough, there was this Mermaid and Viking in front of the Christmas tree (of course, they too are very ... Christmas-like?), my parents decided to take pictures like tourist, but I wouldn't let them leave me out of this picture! Take note - who's the viking and who's the mermaid in the last picture... hehe

We met up with a lot of people, here are some (the rest will be in another post)...

Daddy's old friend Josh Liu (the King/Boss) from Prairie Bible College! Isn't it wild that they met up years after college all the way in Hong Kong?

I also befriended the owner of the goose restaurant that Gong Gong loves. Uncle David made me PR manager because all his customers loved playing with me. He said I could come back and work for him anytime. My future is set.

Michelle

2006-01-07T11:16:00.000-08:00

Finally, a picture of Michelle and Noah together. I haven't been able to find many nice pictures of them together, because one or the other is always making a face (mostly michelle), so i finally gave up. Enjoy.

Yesterday was Orientation for school. I stood in line so many times at so many different places just so I could give them more money. I picked up my first quarter supplies - a big portfolio case with tons of textbooks and equipment. I'm 25 years old and going back to school and it feels weird, especially because most of my peers seems younger. I am so looking forward to the things that I will learn - Basic Patterndrafting, Industrial Sewing and Design for Apparel!

Michelle and Eric came over for dinner last night. It was non-stop eating with Bob's "Fry-day" Extravaganza. Eggrolls, fish-n-chips and popcorn shrimp, ending the night with icecream. Bob kept trying to make Eric drink all the beverages we have at the house. There was so much laughing at the Do's residence - rewatching "Lazy Sunday" fifteen times, learning to play Sudoku, introducing Eric to Dynomite, knitting away with Michelle, and having so much fun we never got around to watching a movie or playing Bang. Good times.

Noah in HK - I

2006-01-05T16:22:00.000-08:00

Noah and Grandma found Bullseye from Toy Story 2 at home and was reminded of his favourite movie of all time. My dad has already started spoiling Noah with toys, he bought him this thumb sucking monkey and Noah loved it, you can see him hugging it so tightly.

Noah thinks Gong Gong is his homeboy and you shouldn't mess with this duo. He loves laughing and sleeping in his arms. Doesn't he look like a mini version of my dad here?

When Noah wakes up in the morning, he always smiles with Uncle Manchester. At night when we eat with the whole family, Noah attacks Auntie Jasmine who he thinks is a big doll for him. Noah is greedy, he watches TV and plays with Great Uncle 4 at the same time.

Noah is the first and only great-grandson on my side of the family. Look at all the attention he's getting. He always tries to flirt and play with everyone he meets, even strangers on the street. He has befriended the owner of this restaurant that my dad takes us.

I have even more pictures to post, but i'll save that for later - stay tuned for exciting episodes of Ocean Park, Broken Window, Seattle Friends in HK & of course more eating than you can ever handle.

mr. pibb + red vines = crazy delicious

2006-01-04T00:05:00.000-08:00

This holiday season sure was a hectic one. Travelling to Hong Kong with a baby is no easy task. Noah is a relatively easy-going baby and he didn't enjoy the plane ride. As I am getting older, I realize how much I dislike flying (funny how i once considered flight attendant for a career). Noah is growing taller and bigger everyday. He loves to pull himself up everywhere now, i really have to watch him, he loves getting into little spots and licks and eats everything. He loves to laugh and have fun and is so interactive with you now. His top two front teeth are growing in now!

Hong Kong was fun (as usual), i really love being with my parents (despite how completely stuffed i feel after the trip, right dad?) I find myself being sad sometimes because i miss them so. I wish I could hop on a MTR from seattle and get to my house in Hong Kong. That would be ideal. Noah loved seeing his grandparents, he had a love-at-first-sight with my dad. He saw him at the airport and threw himself at him. He would always want his Gong Gong to hold him. Bob called them kindred spirits. Don't worry Mom, he loves you lots too, Dad is just "more comfortable".

There are so many pictures i want to share with you from Hong Kong but updating have been extremely slow lately, partly because of all the travelling back and forth and adjusting Noah back to normal schedule, but mostly because i've hit a downtime of blogging and i'm unsure why. For my xanga readers, i will be leaving xanga soon and moving to blogspot. LJ readers, have no fear, I will be staying on. So xangans, you can refer to LJ or blogspot if you want to stay in touch. (blogspot address will be announced soon - i like the way blogspot allow me to post pictures)

School is starting next week, i cannot be more excited and nervous at the same time. I really pray that we will be able to juggle everything together. I can't wait to learn the techniques! Michelle also got me a basket of yarn, needles and a book on how to knit. Then she taught me, and i've been knitting away! I love it. Best gift ever!

Oh! Theon gave us a night off and babysat Noah. (Thanks Fei On!) We went to see Chronicles of Narnia. I didn't know what to expect, because they always ruin good books, but this one was pretty good. Way to go Disney (i totally didn't know they made it). White Witch was wicked, and they didn't overdo the dramatic scenes much. Speaking of Narnia, did anyone see the SNL skit/rap on going to see the movie? It's highbrow humor i tell you. Check it out! You can get the video free from iTunes.

On a completely separate note: Does anyone know anything about ulcers? During my plane ride and on the way over to Canada, i got these intense pains somewhere near my stomach and they would come and go. I have no idea if they will come back...