Walking Around

Yes, Renee is officially walking around! She has been able to walk with minimum assistance for quite a long time. However, her first documented new ability of standing up on her own was on July 17th. In the captured video, she made three good attempts before standing up.



One of her favorite activities is to mess around in the backyard when we are doing some yard work. Her goal is pretty simple, to do whatever you are doing by grabbing whatever you are using. The only safe thing we allow her to do so far is to carry this to 'water' the plants.

She really looks like a grown kid, doesn't she? She still could not stand up on her own when this picture was taken.




We took her to six flags with Jerry, Erica and Ethan. I did not get good pictures with them to post here because it turned out to be really hard to capture the good moment on BOTH babies. I don't suppose I should be surprised.

Here is Renee's first encounter to the characters from Looney Tunes. I cannot say that she was happy to see them, probably curious at most. I am just glad she did not cry, which is usually her first reaction to something close and unfamiliar, or loud and unfamiliar.



She falls asleep every time we take her out on a trip long enough. This time is no exception. She went to sleep on our way from the whale show to the sea lion show. So I stayed outside with her waiting for the rest of the group. I had to move once because someone was smoking inside the park. Now that I have a baby to look after, I really hate more of the smokers, because there is just no escape from the second hand smokes. I really understand the freedom of smoke, as I once smoked, but I really hope that Renee can enjoy her freedom of fresh air. Then again, I should not complain, because in Bay Area the condition is so much better than some part of the country, let alone some part of the world.




Renee has a great smile. Sometimes she has such a problem with eating or drinking that I was so mad at her. She would just smile at me and I just cannot bring myself not to love her for who she is.







Lianxin joined her coworkers and we start having regular play day for Renee every month. This time it is at the new park in Doublin. She played with sand before, but this time she really had a blast. She had all the time in the big playground, with all kinds of toys littered around.

Say... Is that Will's dad playing with a toy truck in the background? Where is Will??




Here is another great smile from Renee while playing in the backyard. With her confidence to walk around (and ours), we let her running around in the backyard sometimes. She was a bit scared of grass for a while, although I have just taught her the game of 'patting the grass'.





Her biggest issue these days is feeding. She sometimes just think of all kinds of things to do. We just have to let her while feeding her. Here is a photo of her grabbing grandma's clothes, for what reason, we might never know.

Sometimes, she will clap after every spoon, and request you clapping with her through sound and gesture.



Very often, she will stick her feet up and forward, and put them on the table in front of her chair. You would think this looks quite tiring, but no, she can do this the whole time she is in the chair. If you tickle her feet, she will laugh and take them down. Then she will put them back up right away.








Then again, there are always time like this when she just eating on her own. Isn't that impressive? We let her use china plates and she has not broken any so far (knocking on wood).







We took her to San Francisco last weekend. She appeared to be very happy here. I don't know if it is the flowers.

This is a cute picture too. I had to cut myself out of it so that I don't ruin it.








She actually did not touch the flower. For anything that she has never seen, she will reach for it. Then she will stop and shake her head at you with a funny smile.

I suppose it is good to be cautious since we won't be around her forever. Then again, I am sure a parent will find good excuse for his or her child's every behavior.




This is a picture of Renee with grandparents, who have been looking after her at home. The grandma is the only one who knows how to control Renee's temper at any time. Renee has learned to beg the grandpa for banana by raising the joining hands, which is a Chinese gesture for 'thank you'.

First Birthday!

Renee had her first B-day!

Looking back, I cannot believe how much she has grown. Renee can now clap, point, wave, solute, and enjoy the music by rocking side to side. She can almost walk now. Actually, we all believe that she can walk because she just need to hold on to one of your finger and she can go anywhere, which is becoming her favorite indoor activities now. We took a 500 MB movie to show all the above (except the walking part) and proudly sent it to my parents.

On the day before, we took her to a nice restaurant. She pretty much slept through the whole thing. Here is the picture of the new family in the forming.







On the evening of her birthday, we had a nice dinner together. It just so happened that it is her grandpa's birthday as well.









We brought her the first birthday cake, she pretty much 'smashed' through it. I really cannot say that she enjoyed eating it.


















The last items in celebrating her birthday is moving her bed out of our room and into her own bedroom. It actually went quite well in that it affected the mom and dad's mood much more so than hers.

Approaching One Year

Greetings. I know this post is conventionally late but I got more pictures this time. With Renee growing more active each day, it is just hard for me to choose which one to show. As a matter of fact, I have already tried to make the list shorter, and I am going to have a post just for her first birthday.

She is taking regular bath by her grandmother. Needless to say, she quite enjoys it. We all thought she might grow up to be a good swimmer unlike her parents.







In preparing for her first trip, to Hawaii, we bought a playing pen for her to sleep in during the travel. She really enjoyed it, but only for that day.







Renee is sort of potty trained, in that she normally does not poop in the diaper anymore. She does not know how to tell us if she needs to go, of course, so we just put her to the potty from time to time throughout the day. For poop, you can still tell if you know the sign to look for. Again, her grandmother is the first one who mastered this art.





This is her regular visit during the weekday now. She loves it so much that she will fight when it is time to go.








Then we took her on a Hawaii trip.

We bought a pair of lei for the grandparents on the first day at Hawaii. She has no idea what it is, and it was actually a wonder that she didn't try to eat it. We all loved this photo, so I printed it and put it on our dining table.











We went to the beach before going to the Luau. Renee had her first sand beach experience. As usual, she was very cautious and did not even want to put her foot on the sand. Then she became accustomed to it and start studying the sand.





Renee checking out the scene at the Luau. At the time when this picture was taken, she only feel comfortable walking if you hold both of her hand. You can sort of hold one hand but you have to constantly encourage her, otherwise, she will resort to crawl within a few steps.









We took this one outside Perl Harbor. I don't know why but I just love her with that big flower.







This is a presentation of our traveling gear. One car seat, one stroller to push her around, and one back-bag with her food, diaper, clothes. The handbag on the chair is all that the rest four of us taking.






Renee checking out the pineapples in Dole Plantation. She is now very good at pointing to things that interest her.