April 15th Zoo Visit

This is the first time at the zoo where Oliver did a lot more walking around than in the stroller. He got to play with this big water fountain by the petting zoo that's actually used for washing your hands. We also did some sneaking around peaking through the bushes to look at some llamas. And had a great time taking a snack break with other school kids on a field trip. It was a wonderful day.

Baby Milestone - 21 months update

Today Oliver had his 21 months check up. He has managed to not catch a cold in the last three months. Not only that, he has put on 4 lbs, grew 1.5 inches, and his head grew 1 cm...which seems small compared to the amount of knowledge he has gained.

According to the doctor, it is normal for a two year old to know about 50 words and put 2 words together to form a "sentence". He may prefer one hand over the other, and become more adept to using a cup or fork.

Well, I am so proud to share with you that Oliver understands a few hundred words in both English and Chinese. He counts to 10 and is getting more familiar with the alphabet, both sound and letter recognition. He can put together 4 word sentences like "I see mommy car" and sometimes mix both languages to get his point across.

He hasn't shown a preference of one hand over the other, and seems comfortable using both to draw and throw the ball. Now he can draw circles and tells me he is drawing a circle. Or "string" when he is drawing a line. He can throw a ball pretty straight, and is great at hitting it with a bat, or a drum stick, or any other kinds of stick that he can find.

He uses forks and spoons, and knows how to wipe his mouth. And sometimes drinks right out of a water bottle using just one hand holding it!



These days he still loves watering the plants. He is more careful holding the watering can to keep it from spilling. And knows to walk in an exaggerated slow walk to be careful. He likes playing basketball, but also enjoys reading. I can pause before the end of a sentence, and he either has memorized the sound or knows it from looking at the picture. If we are out, he looks for and points out all the trucks and buses on the road with a color description. He recognizes the Santa Monica lines of Big Blue Bus. He also notices that there are "many cars, lots."



We also are working on being polite and he says please, thank you, and excuse me when he needs our attention or need us to move out of his way. We are learning to label our feelings, so sometimes a cry means sad, other times frustration or disappointment. He showed his sense of empathy when a boy took a ball from him and the ball rolled away. I explained it's because he also wanted to play with the ball. Oliver not only didn't get upset, he went and got another ball for the other boy.

Oliver is a great helper around the house. He wipes any spills on the floor, throws away his own dirty diapers, sweeps and vacuums, and helps me wash the car. He is the most hard working baby I know. The other day he was in the back yard washing rocks.

Needless to say I think he is amazing. He is a wonderful loving happy baby with a great sense of humor. I think if this was a personal ad, ABC would sign him up to be the next Bachelor, and girls would line up around the corner to meet him.

I love that kid!!!!

Ann's projects in progress

So I've decided that I need to publish my new mom's tip book. I found that you can self publish through Amazon.com and all I need to do is reformat the book to their standard size. The goal is to have the book published by my 35th birthday. It's mid March now, i think I can definitely make the deadline.

I just got our taxes organized and after looking at our finance for the past year, I thought it's time to take more responsibility on managing the money for our future. I've always been a saver so now it's just finding out more ways to make that savings grow. At the same time, hoping we can spend some money to take a real family vacation. It's been many years since we've done that and since Oliver will be starting school this fall. This summer feels like the right time for that.

Things are going great with the Moms Club. I've volunteered to redesign their website, but at the moment I'm making my book and home stuff top priority. The website is designed, I just need to work with another mom in the club to program it. So maybe that'll be done by May also.

I'm still not getting any freelance design work, but I've been more serious about getting the word out that I am available. Hopefully the freelance job with the church will return. That was nice to get a regular paycheck. I'm also thinking about trying to sell my RubyLove business on CraigsList. Although I can see myself turning that into something else later on, I feel like I won't have the same energy or drive for it. Maybe I'll put in an ad and see what happens. It sure would be nice to get the cost back and clear some space in our storage.

And last, I'm trying to plan a neighborhood brunch to meet some of our neighbors. Our street has become somewhat of a community for us. It's nice to know who lives near you, and maybe help each other out sometimes. I just found a neighbor who is also in the Moms Club who can do a babysitting swap with us. Yeh!

Baby Milestone - Twenty Months

Two-word sentences!!! These days Oliver is talking all the time. He knows quite a few words in both Chinese and English, and mixes them when he talks. He seems to like the contrast between big and small things, on and off, open and close, push and pull. Those are all very useful. His favorite movie changed from Winnie the Pooh to Toy Story. And I think his favorite color is blue. And favorite fruit is blueberry. He hasn't been the best eater because he can't stay in his seat for very long. Although if you give him a cup of water, he'll make soup out of anything and eat it.

We found out a few days ago that Oliver got accepted into the preschool we really liked. It was the only one we applied to so we took a big risk and hoped for the best. And can't be more excited about this fall. I'll be going to school with him 3 days a week, for 2 hours a day. It won't be much different from our days now being together, but it will be very interesting to see him in a school environment. Three of our friends' children will also be going to the same school, so that's really wonderful.

The weather has warmed up and we are back to going to the zoo. Now he knows the animals really well and can say their names and make their sounds. It's fun to see him almost having a relationship with the animals since we go there so often.




The temper tantrums comes and goes, and mostly under control if I have the time and patience to "reason" with him. Often I just need to keep repeating my message and eventually he'll hear me and stop acting out. He does seem to know and anticipate my reaction and it feels like he'll do things on purpose to get a reaction out of me. Luckily all the times we've spent together I've learned to not be so serious and just be goofy and make him laugh, which makes me laugh too.

Oliver continues to be helpful around the house when asked. I've started to draw on his chalk board with chores for the day and cross them out as we do them. I'm in the process of making a sign with rules such as no throwing things or pouring water on the floor. We'll see how that works out.

What's Ann up to?

Like most days, I'm catching up on what I need to do while Oliver is sleeping. It's been great with Oliver taking really good naps so I can take a break too. If I am smart, I'd turn off the phone and jump into bed as soon as I put him in the crib...but it's hard to resist getting on the computer.

The past 2 months I've just been trying to keep the house clean and stay on top of errands and chores. I've picked up a few books that I try to read whenever I get a moment to myself. I really haven't gone anywhere without Oliver or do anything for myself. So when Chris offers to take Oliver out on a morning weekend, I take that opportunity to do some pamperng. A nice long shower, a facial mask, paint my nails, just girly stuff.

The freelance job I had for the church in Denver is on hold at the moment, so I've volunteered to redesign the website for the moms club. With all of my volunteering work for the club, they have decided to put me on the board! I knew that once I got involved I wouldn't be able to help myself from giving it my all. I did pick up another small project for an organization I used to design for while I was at Disney. I hope maybe they will contact me for other work in the future since they really enjoyed working with me. It's hard for me to not try to fill every minute of my day with some type of project, but it's hard to turn down work when these days they are hard to come by.

A few weeks ago someone had gotten into our yard and dropped some things on the ground. It didn't seem like the person was trying to break in, but we still wanted to up our security just to make sure. So I got right to coordinating workers to put up more fencing and lighting around the perimeter. Although it's extra expenses that we rather not have to pay, it definitely gives us a better sense of security being home with the baby.

2 months ago, I chopped off my hair that I've been growing for a few years to donate to Locks of Love. 10 inches of hair was mailed to them in a little envelope to help a child with cancer and other hair loss diseases make a wig. It was quite liberating to have all that hair chopped off. I just received a post card from them for the donation and I know I'll definitely do it again. I'm loving my short hair right now and will probably keep it for a while before growing it out again.

In the coming months, I'll be working on the moms club website redesign, and reformatting the mom's tip book I wrote last year. I found out I can self publish through Amazon.com and sell it on their site. I'm excited about that and need to get to it soon. I know the book will be very helpful to new moms and after I've put so much work into it, it would be a waste just sitting on my computer. I also haven't made any cakes lately, I should really get back to that again.

Baby Milestone - Nineteen Months

In these past few weeks, Oliver and I have gotten into a very good rhythm. He is still waking up at 6:30 every morning, but now he just calls out for Mommy instead of crying to get our attention. Our morning routine with breakfast with Barney and Sesame Street continues. And he often will dance along to the music or call out the names of all the characters. Mondays are still our free day to do anything we want. We haven't been back to the zoo this winter, but we continue to plan fun places to hang out. Tuesdays are for Fit For Kids classes, which Oliver is getting better at staying put during "Circle Time".



Wednesdays, my parents come over around 10:30 and we all have lunch together. I then clean the house while Oliver plays with a-ma and a-gon. They really have a great time together. Thursdays are with the moms club play group either at the Grove or at the park. And Fridays are my parents again, then Grandad in the afternoon. This is a schedule that has worked out well for everybody. On the weekends, Oliver gets to hang out with mommy and daddy all day at some place new and fun. This past month Grandma Dooley came to viist and we all went to Kids Space Museum together. It was the perfect place for Oliver with lots of outdoor activities. he got to ride a tricycle and climb a rock wall! Daddy also took him to a farmer's market with a petting zoo, mini train ride, and pony ride. And I took him on a spontaneous trip to the beach and played in the sand...in the 72 degree California winter.





All the days now are broken up to morning activities followed by his nap. He's been taking great naps, sometimes as long as 3 hours. I suspect he is going through a growth spurt. I love it because I can get a nap in myself and get some work or reading done too.

In the past month, we've also applied for preschool in the neighborhood. It's a really great school and Chris and I did everything we could to show our commitment to having Oliver there. We had a good phone interview, and now we can only wait and hope that Oliver will be accepted. Space is very limited, but hopefully our efforts have paid off.

Later this month, we're heading down to San Diego to see grandma and visit the wild animal park!

Baby Milestone - Seventeen and Eighteen Months

Oliver is 18 months now, measures 33.5 inches tall (he grew little over an inch in the last 3 months.) He weighs 27 lbs (gained 2.5 lbs.) and his head grew 1cm. And he is running all over the place. We finally got him one of those backpacks with a leash because it was getting too dangerous. He is now tall enough to reach anything too close to the edge of the table. And when he can't reach it, he knows to push his little chair around and use it as a step stool. He is also very strong, and can lift up his chair or giraffe bike and move it around. He also can push his climber/slide when he wants to play with it in the living room. It seems like there's nothing he can't do. He helps to put all the balls in a bucket when we're done. He also uses sticks to help him reach for balls that rolled under the cabinets.He can get himself a matching pair of shoes. He knows how to wipe when he spills water. He can pour water or little snacks from one cup to another and back and forth. He can sometimes reach and turn the door knob, but if he can't, he knows to knock.

He has also become very attached to all of his stuffed animals and will make sure no one is left behind. He knows them all by name (There's his best friend Ba, Bo, Pooh, Baby Ba, Baby Bo, Bear, Lobster, Monkey, and Banana...and they ALL play and eat with Oliver)

Oliver has been doing a lot more talking. He knows 20+ words now in English and Chinese, and can count to 10 in both! I'm a very proud mama. "No" is his favorite word, with "mama" coming in second. He can understand everything I say in both languages, and each day he is getting faster at repeating the sounds he hears.

Oliver is now taking a baby fitness class every Tuesday. He loves to play basketball, and go down the slide. He is practicing "circle time" where everyone sit in a circle and do exercises. He is getting better at staying in the circle longer each time. He can also do half of the gestures the teachers demonstrate on his own.

Some days we like to take walks around the neighborhood to collect leaves and pods. He really enjoys being outdoors, and even when it rains he loves to jump in the puddles.

There was a time when taking naps was the most stressful time for me in the day. Amazingly now it's the best time for me. Oliver has learned to enjoy the process of putting his stuffed animals to bed. And he wants to get into the crib with them. And this week he started to sleep on a pillow and be covered with a blanket. It's the cutest thing ever, and he loves it! I love it too so I can have time to take a nap, or update the blog!!