e+e's blog

The Prodigal Laptop

2010-10-24T22:47:00.000-07:00

A couple weekends ago, I lost my work laptop. It was a brand spanking new Powerbook, and I had just spent the prior month painstakingly moving my data over and configuring it. Then, I decided to do some work (performance reviews) in a cafe while Edward took the kids shopping. When I was done, I walked over to Target and put my laptop in the shopping cart. (Y'all know where this is going.) Since the kids were in the cart, I shoved the laptop in the folded seat section, and, of course, totally forgot about it until hours later. We rushed back to the store, but no one had turned in a laptop. At that point, we figured that it was long gone and most likely making its way to eBay.

Then, two days later, I got an IM from a co-worker. If one could giggle over IM, he was doing exactly that as he informed me that he had located my laptop. Apparently, an Apple employee who was his customer from a previous life had found the laptop at Target, checked with the Apple store, and figured out it was registered to Google. She then called a few people she knew at Google, one of whom was my co-worker who said, "Yes, yes I do know an Ellen Lee!" And just like that, I was able to be re-united with my laptop. Hooray!!

So, I was certainly relieved and happy to have found my laptop. But more than that, I was extremely moved to see that people out there do care about doing the right thing. The woman who found my laptop could have just turned the laptop over to some lost and found and been done with it. But instead, she really went out of her way, made a real effort to hunt me down, and then personally returned the laptop into my hands. How cool is that?

Spring Break in Maui

2010-05-04T21:58:00.000-07:00

Friend: "What are you guys doing for Spring Break?"
Ellen: "Uh, we're going to Maui."
Friend: "Wow, how fun!"
Ellen: "Uh, really?"
Suffice it to say that in the weeks leading up Spring Break, I was not particularly excited about our trip to Maui. I can't swim and dislike being in the sun, and Griffin is Mr. "I-don't-want-to-get-wet".

The good news is that we had a great vacation. We went with our close friends, the Chius. A+G had a blast playing with Ian. And Edward and I really enjoyed hanging out and experiencing Maui together with Anthony and Elaine.

Some highlights:

- Good Eats -- We enjoyed several great meals, ranging from local food (deep fried musubi and loco moco at Da Kitchen) to shave ice to ritzy (excellent meal at Banyan Tree in the Ritz).

- Hiking -- Yes, yes, it's true. We actually went on a *gasp* hike. This guided waterfall hike actually turned out to be pretty hard-core. It was rainy and slippery, and we had to walk single file so as not to slide down the mountain. Pretty hard-core. But the kids did great, and it was really quite beautiful.

- Snorkeling -- Believe it or not, I snorkeled! It was pretty crazy, being way out in the ocean and not knowing how to swim. But I had an awesome guide who pulled me around on a boogie board, and it was really a fantastic experience. Except after I got back to land, I was totally nauseated and sat with my head in my lap for half an hour. Ally was super brave and snorkeled too, and she will proudly tell you that she saw 2 goat fish and a butterfly fish.

- Surfing -- No, not me. My studly hubby Edward took a surfing class and did awesome. Does he look like a surfer or what? (You should see the action shots of him wiping out, hehe.)

- Swimming -- Griffin had a real breakthrough. The first day, he freaked out when I dipped him into the ocean. He kept yelling, "You got me wet!!!" Then, the first day at the kiddie pool, he got as far as putting his feet in the water, and that was only after I bribed him with letting him watch Cars. The next day, he agreed to go in the pool if I bought him a floatie. He picked a fish shaped boat that had no hole in it, so he was pretty confident he wouldn't get wet. Once in the pool, he had fun and was more ok with getting wet. Ally and Ian tried to coax him into the water, but he still refused. Finally, I bribed him again with Cars -- he could watch the whole movie if he sat in my lap in the pool. I said, "It's the same as the tub at home. You like being wet there!" To which he replied, "I only like being wet with no clothes on." Hmm, that's a pretty good response. Still, I pulled him into the water, and once he realized he could simply stand up in the water, he smiled and started walking around in the water. Breakthrough!!!

It was a great trip, and the kids have been asking to go back already. So I made a deal with Ally -- after she learns how to swim, we'll go back. Is that good motivation or what?

More Maui pix here.

Trippin' in Asia (part II: Hong Kong)

2010-02-21T23:49:00.000-08:00

Here is my (quite) delayed part two recap of our Asia Trip.

Hong Kong was a blast. We stayed at a very nice, roomy apartment in Kowloon, right in the middle of everything (on Nathan Rd.). Edward was in heaven, eating Chinese breakfasts in the morning and Chinese desserts after the kids went down. The kids had a great time with their cousins, Janice and Jason. I think the highlight for them was playing at the Clubhouse at their cousins' place.

The night we arrived, we went to Sai Kung for incredibly fresh seafood. The next day, we went to Ocean Park, where we saw (at close proximity and with zero lines) 2 super cute, super hungry pandas. We had 2 superb Shanghainese meals -- 1 with the hairy crabs, and 1 with the river shrimp. Yum!

While in Hong Kong, we got to see some of Edward's good friends. We met up with Rico, Sally, and Aidan, who had visited us before in SF. I don't think the kids remembered each other, but they got along great. They made these hilarious little video snippets. We also saw Nerissa and Rex, and I was inspired to hear about Nerissa's decision to change careers. Lastly, we got to spend some time with Helen, Ruud, Alex, and Kaitlyn. The kids chased each other around the Elements mall for quite awhile -- we thought it would tire them out, but that didn't really happen.

It was certainly nice to spend time with Edward's family. His parents flew in from Shanghai to see us, and his sister, Eva, and bro-in-law, CY, took time off to spend with us. Our last evening together, they took us to the Intercontinental for a scrumptious brunch that served 5 types of crab and cooked-to-order foie gras! And it had an incredible view of the HKG skyline. It was really a fantastic ending to a wonderful trip.

More Hong Kong trip pix are here.

Trippin' in Asia (part I: Taiwan)

2010-01-14T12:25:00.000-08:00

So we survived our first ever Asia trip with the kids. The flights were mostly fine (thankfully our kids don't get air-sick, although I had my moments), and jet-lag meant early mornings (and yummy breakfasts) for 3 days. We spent most of the trip focused on eating great food and meeting up with family and friends.

We stayed with my parents in Taipei (4 flights of stairs up and down everyday!). We had a packed schedule, meeting with relatives (aunts, uncles, cousins) for pretty much every meal. We had a couple fantastic meals at Din Tai Fong (hsiao long bao, pai gu mien, yum!), a great Taiwanese style dinner at Shin Yeh (my favorite gium la-ah, aka clams), and amazing pigs feet off of Si Ping St.. The chicken in Taiwan simply has more flavor, and even a simple lunch we had at home tasted better than most Chinese food in the states.

We also took a 2 day trip to Sun Moon Lake with our relatives (23 of us in total).
Unfortunately, it was rainy and very foggy, so we didn't get to enjoy the views of the scenery when we took our boat tour of the lake. The next day though, it was clear and sunny, and the view for our very nice hotel was spectacular. But I wasn't able to enjoy it much, since I got food poisoning that night. After the bus dropped off everyone else at a local tourist spot, the driver and tour guide took my mom and me to a hospital 30 min away so that I could get looked at by a dr. Fortunately, I pretty much recovered a day or so later, but I was much more careful about not overeating.

The hotel at Sun Moon Lake was very nice, and the kids really had a great time on the trip. Ally made fast friends of Chi-Yuan's girls, and they (including Griffin) all played nicely together at this very nice kids play area in the hotel. It was great to see Ally interacting with them and speaking Chinese to them. In fact, it was pretty cool to see that Ally could communicate with all of my relatives quite comfortably. Griffin was a completely different story -- that boy needs to work on his Mandarin!! Probably partly because of the language barrier, Griffin was pretty clingy to us and my parents.

The kids did bond nicely with Chi-chung, Nako, and Han-Ting. When Ally left, Ah-gong asked her who she liked the most in Taiwan, and she didn't mention the little kids. Instead, she said Han-Ting Ge-ge and Ah-diong Ah-gu!! Very cute. (Although I think it was mainly because Han-Ting would carry her around, and Ah-diong was plying her with gummy candies non-stop!)

All in all, it was a great visit (minus the food-poisoning), and I am already looking forward to a future visit with the kiddies!

More Taiwan trip pix are here.

Happy Holidays!

2009-12-22T01:13:00.000-08:00

Happy holidays everyone!

Happy 4th Little G!

2009-11-19T22:55:00.000-08:00

Tuesday was Griffin's 4th birthday. Irene brought the boys over for cake, and Griffin was pretty excited to have company over on a weekday. He was also pleased that he had "2 birthdays" since he'd also had a party at school. And after he got his new Mack, he told me, "I'm very very VERY lucky!" Yes you are, and so are we. Happy Birthday little guy!

Girls and Cars

2009-11-03T21:08:00.000-08:00

Alicia was a princess (again), and Griffin was his faaaaavorite character -- Lightening McQueen. They had a blast trick-or-treating with Auntie Thao's kids and their cousins, and Ally has a new found addiction to Snickers bars. I'm so not looking forward to her next dentist appointment!

More Halloween pics here.

the kidz

2009-11-03T09:15:00.000-08:00

here's a rare picture of the 5 cousins goofing around.

this past weekend, we went to the peninsula creamery for lunch with mark, irene, and the boys. we had to split into 2 booths because there were just so many of us. here they are, just hanging out and enjoying their independence. looking at this pic, i can just imagine what they'll be like as teenagers!

Don't Stop Believin'

2009-10-19T00:25:00.000-07:00

Here's A+G's take on the Glee cast version of Don't Stop Believin'. They get into it, then they get a little distracted, but ultimately they do their thing. Check it out.

Pumpkin Field

2009-10-18T23:45:00.000-07:00

We went pumpkin shopping this weekend. But this time, instead of going to the usual parking lot pumpkin patch, we went to Webb Ranch in Portola Valley. The kids were pretty amazed to see this huge field with pumpkins everywhere, and they had a great time trying to pick out the perfect pumpkin. Griffin was much less picky -- he just wanted a pumpkin that was smallish. He found his in about 2 minutes and was off to the jumpy-house. Ali (new spelling, story for another blog) was much more meticulous, searching for the right size (big enough to hug), the right shape (very round), the right color (bright orange), and the right surface (few blemishes).

Anyway, we've booked Julianne (Preschool teacher by day, Pumpkin carving artiste by night) to come over next weekend to carve these puppies up. Edward and I have never carved pumpkins ourselves, plus we aren't particularly artistic (unlike our kids). But more importantly, we don't want to touch the goop, so we outsource. :)

Cars and Princesses

2009-09-04T20:11:00.000-07:00

We survived our first trip to Disneyland! Mark and Irene had already planned to go the last week before school started, so we decided to tag along.

For the kids, it was a dream come true. Ally got to meet all her favorite princesses, and she really got into the whole autograph and picture thing. Griffin was a bit wary at first, but by the 3rd day was pretty excited to meet the princesses. It was pretty funny, because he would just hold each princess' hand and just stare at them with a silly grin on his face.

Griffin has been pretty obsessed with the Pixar Cars movie for the past 7 months, so he was absolutely thrilled to see McQueen and Mater. He even got to see them driving in the Pixar parade (which was actually a pretty cool parade for us adults too)!

Ally was tall enough to ride some rides, and she very much enjoyed the Jumping Jellyfish (super tame) and the Grizzly River Run (very very wet with a couple big drops).
Griffin was pretty scared of everything, but had a good time at the "A Bug's Land" section, which had some cute kiddie rides. Mark, Irene, and the boys hit all the major rides, and Anton and Peyton just went on and on about how scary and cool the rides were. I even got to go on the Hollywood Tower of Terror with M, A, and P, and it was a lot of fun (especially hearing the boys whimpering in anticipation seconds before each drop).

We all stayed at the Grand Californian, which turned out to be extremely convenient. The rooms were fine, but we were certainly paying a premium for the location. And, I have to say, it was well worth it with 2 small kids.

All in all, it was a pretty fun (but tiring) 3.5 days at Disneyland. But I'm going to wait until we can ride some real rides before going back. No more Jumping Jellyfish for me!

A Mousing We Will Go

2009-07-20T23:51:00.000-07:00

the other day, edward was looking at a chocolate bar that was tucked in a basket on our counter and noticed that the corner was missing. naturally, he assumed that i was being lazy and had just broken it off without wrapping it back up properly. but when he pulled out the candy bar, he was surprised to find another corner missing from the bottom. upon closer examination, it was pretty clear that some small creature (not me) had been helping itself to the candy.

edward put the candy bar in a plastic bag, set it back on the counter, and went to bed. the next morning, the bag was on the floor sticking out halfway from under the dishwasher. when he pulled it out, he discovered that the plastic bag had been chewed through, along with another half of the candy bar.

at this point, we knew it was a rodent. edward insisted that it must be mouse, because it could wedge itself into the basket to eat the bottom of the candy bar. i felt it was a rat. anyway, we set up this trap and taped it. unfortunately, the glue traps were too small because it was a RAT (not a mouse), and it was able to chew itself free. still, a pretty interesting video.

chicken and waffles

2009-07-02T22:54:00.000-07:00

we just had a pretty awesome dinner tonight. we flew down to burbank this afternoon, checked into our hotel (or ho-tay-yole, as griffin calls it), and then headed over to roscoe's house of chicken and waffles for dinner. we'd never been, but i had read about it online and most recently had our food friend, peisun, give it a ringing endorsement. man oh man, was that a fantastic meal of fried chicken, waffles, fried giblets, biscuits & gravy, grits, and sweet tea! it was amazing. the chicken was juicy and flavorful, the skin was crispy and tasty, and the waffles were just delish! the kids loved it too. i mean, how cool a meal is it for kids -- chicken and waffles for dinner!

ok, enough raving about the dinner. after dinner, we went to universal citywalk, where they were playing mamma mia on a big screen. ally was thrilled, and so we sat under the stars (and neon) and watched half of the movie. then we met this really nice balloon guy who made these cool bumblebees and flowers.

the robot and the cupcake

2009-07-02T00:38:00.000-07:00

Ever since Griffin noticed the giant robot and cupcake outside the Android team's office, he and Ally always look for it when we are driving around the Google campus. So Edward took them to check it out, and they were pretty fascinated by them. The top picture totally looks like a Hansel and Gretel moment!

(Our 1st) European Vacation

2009-05-03T22:59:00.000-07:00

A couple months ago, I learned that I had to go to Europe for work in mid-April. Then when we realized that it overlapped with Ally's spring break and my parents' Taiwan visit, we decided that it might be a good opportunity (and excuse) for us to travel to Europe together.

Edward and I were both pretty nervous about the flight, but it turns out that that went pretty well overall (other than a little crying and kicking in the middle of the night). In fact, when we were deplaning, the mom in the row in front of us turned around to compliment us on how well-behaved they were. That was pretty cool.

Jet-lag, on the other hand, was a bit more of a pain. The first night, we were able to get them in bed by 10pm. But then around 2am, Griffin woke up asking, "Is it wake-up time?" "Uh, no. It's 2am. Go back to bed." "But I'm hungry!" Then Ally woke up. A full breakfast and 2 hours later, I gave up and went back to bed. Edward then stomped over to them, ordered them back to bed, and somehow it actually worked! We all proceeded to sleep until 10am or so. The next day they got up 4-ish, the following day 6-ish, and then they were normal.

It really helped that we were staying in a house and not a hotel. Our friends Helen and Ruud had recently moved to Belgium, so we were able to stay at their places in London and Belgium. And since they have little ones, it was a perfect set up for us -- the London place was stocked with kid-friendly food, 2 kiddie beds, and lots of recorded kid TV shows ("In the Night Garden" became a big hit)!

But the absolute best perk was Tess, their old nanny. She came and watched the kids a few nights so that we could walk around London and have some nice meals. She was really amazing with the kids, and they really took to her immediately. That was pretty awesome.

The kids really loved riding the Tube and train (esp Eurostar to Brussels). They seemed especially delighted that there were no seat belts, which meant they could roll all around the seats and floors if/as they so desired.

Another highlight was seeing Edward's cousin Jack, his wife, Sining, and their kids, Livy and Lucas. Jack and family moved to London this past summer, and it was really great to spend some time with them and see their cool little London pad. They hosted a nice brunch on Saturday and also invited Edward's Auntie Linda and Uncle Tom, who were visiting from Zurich. So that was a lovely little family reunion.

A couple friends asked what the kids thought of Europe. The funny thing is, I don't think they really even noticed that they were in a different county. People with different accents -- standard in Bay Area. Different architecture -- not something you notice as a kid. Eating lots of bread, cold cuts, and cheese -- cool, but not that different. What they really noticed was the trains, walking everywhere all the time (this got old real quick with Ally), and hanging out with us 24/7. In fact, they had the most fun playing with Livy and Lucas, Kaitlyn and Alex (Helen's girls), and just chillin' with us. But Mama and Daddy had a great time being on a real European vacation, and that's A Good Thing.

More Europe pics here.

Hanging out with Helen

2009-05-01T00:37:00.000-07:00

We spent a lovely vacation in Europe, and we got to spend several days in
Belgium with my close friend Helen, her husband Ruud, and their 2 beautiful little girls. It was the first time our kids got to meet, and they had a great time together.

At one point, Ally said to me, "Mama, I'm not so lucky. Alex [Helen's older daughter] is so lucky. But not me." "Why's that?" I asked. "Because Alex has a 'park' in her backyard. She has swings and a slide. But not me."
To which I retorted, "But ... but ... well, we have a dog!" Not such a great comeback, I know, but it was the best I could come up with. I mean, Alex and Kaitlyn (the little one) are two lucky kids. Look at that house! Look at that play structure!

Anyway, we spent one lazy afternoon just lounging, chatting, eating cold cuts and chocolate (not together), and watching the kids play. It was just like old times when we would hang out and do basically nothing. Talking about what we could do with the day ... and then discovering that the day had gone by. Haha. At least no flights were missed this time ... but that's a whole other story for another blog entry.

Ally is 6!

2009-04-26T23:53:00.000-07:00

We just survived our first birthday party with all of Ally's classmates. First of all, due to my very poor planning, I gave everyone a week's notice, so we got about 50% turnout. Still, there were a lot of kids going nutso in this little gym place. Ally had a blast, and her friends seemed to enjoy it too. Their parents enjoyed it even more, since we told them to go enjoy their kid-free hour+!

Happy birthday Ally!

smooshed family pics

2009-03-23T20:53:00.000-07:00

here's us goofing off in one of those silly photo booths. the kids really got into it, but the last pic shows just what posers they are!

it's snow fun

2009-03-23T20:43:00.000-07:00

here are some (2 month old) pics from our 2nd annual northstar ski trip with mark, irene, and the boys. ally had a great time skiing, and she and griffin had a blast playing in the snow and crafting this lovely snowman.

Tips on the Transition to Kindergarten

2009-02-25T23:48:00.001-08:00

I recently was asked to attend a Kindergarten Workshop at Griffin's school to share our experiences with Alicia's transition to Kindergarten. Here are some tips/pointers for those of you getting ready for this big transition.

Kindergarten starts brutally early (8:15 for us) and on time. Your days of waking up post-sunrise and taking your time in the morning are over. You will find yourself chanting "Hurry up, we are going to be late!" throughout the morning.
Apply to Kindergarten on time. We didn't. Our public school opened for registration on Feb 1. Being as clueless about these things as I was, I moseyed in on Feb 20th and wound up on the waitlist (we were #90 out of 80 spots). That put us in a panic, as the other schools in our district are really not very good. So we started looking into private schools and discovered that most of them had closed their admissions by January! Wow, who knew? Well, apparently the other 89 parents who signed their kids up on Feb 1. :(
Naptime is no more. This was actually not a problem for us at all. Ally spent the last 3 years of pre-school sitting for 1+ hours per day on her mat, wide awake and bored. So when we told her this summer that she was going to start Kindergarten soon, her first question was, "Is there nap at Kindergarten?" When we responded no, she started cheering. But I know lots of parents are concerned about this. Sorry, no tips to be offered here.
Parent participation is highly "encouraged." Basically, you will either volunteer and donate money willingly or be shamed/guilted (by other parents and your own child) into doing so -- either way, you will do it. Get used to it.
Parent/Teacher interactions are limited. At our preschool, we got to spend a fair bit of time with the teachers at dropoff and pickup, and we got to hear a lot about how Alicia's day went. At Kindergarten, we don't even see the teachers because Alicia goes to afterschool care. Occasionally we bump into the teachers, but they always seem in a rush. Maybe if I volunteered more ...

Buzzy Buzzy Bees

2009-02-25T23:06:00.000-08:00

Last Thursday, I was invited to attend a Kindergarten workshop at the Wetlands (Griffin's school) as an "Alumni" parent to talk about our experience with the transition to Kindergarten. As I was finishing up a meeting and getting ready to go to the Wetlands, I got a call from Alicia's school. The office manager called saying Alicia had been stung by a bee -- she was fine (no allergic reactions, phew), but she was crying and hyperventilating. I was a little surprised I was being asked to take her home, but the office manager kept emphasizing, "She's upset and hyperventilating."

As I drove to her school, I was picturing myself walking into the Kindergarten workshop with a sobbing and hyperventilating Alicia and saying to the parents, "This is what you have to look forward to with Kindergarten!" But of course, when I got to Alicia's school, she was sitting there drawing and smiling. Uh, ok.

Anyway, her experience with bees turned out not to be terribly traumatic. She has drawn several pictures documenting the event, and she has also quite enjoyed telling everyone about it. Check out the picture below, I especially love the tears streaming from her eyes and the flight path from the bee to the bite on her hand.

american boy

2008-12-16T23:59:00.001-08:00

here's a+g singing american boy. check out alicia's 'tude and griffin's cool shades.

Griffin is 3 (+1 month)!

2008-12-16T23:52:00.000-08:00

my little boy is 3 years old!

40 is the new 30

2008-11-09T22:54:00.000-08:00

my favorite husband turned 40 this past monday. we celebrated this momentous occasion at an intimate dinner with a few close friends. edward was roasted a bit, as our friends shared some funny and embarassing stories about him.

my favorite story was the one about how edward forced a very pregnant me to sit on blankets thrown over his precious sofa because he was worried my water might break while i was sitting on it. and of course, my water did break while i was sitting on the sofa -- and all i could think about was how to get to the bathroom without getting the sofa dirty!! to his credit, he didn't check for stains until after we got back from the hospital with baby ally. haha. funny guy, that edward.

the weird thing is, 40 really is the new 30. when i was in my early 20's, i dated a 40 year old guy. i thought he was pretty old. but when i look at my current 40 year old guy, i think he's pretty young. not as young as all the random strangers who meet him seem to think though. my hairdresser met him and went on and on about how young he looks, especially compared to me (thanks a lot mrs. hairdresser). his fantasia buddies were all surprised to find out he is a father, and then were shocked that he is 40. of course, he does work hard to keep his girlish figure -- swimming 3x a week and drinking only 1 pearl milk tea a day (versus the 2 he used to inhale).

happy birthday mr. yim! love, your thirtysomething wife, ellen.

Second child syndrome

2008-11-09T09:50:00.000-08:00

Edward and I are both the second and youngest child, and we have both suffered from the “second child syndrome.” Our older siblings have tons of pictures, videos, and stuff from their early childhood. We are lucky to even show up in the background of their pictures. So we swore that we would not do that to our second child … and then we had our second child.

Poor poor Griffin. Not only does he get stuck wearing the occasional girly hand-me-down, but he has considerably fewer pictures and write-ups documenting his development. I did a week-by-week account of Ally’s first year. For Griffin, I think I summed it up in a single blog.

So here’s my (lame) attempt at doing some catch-up.

Stupid (baby) human tricks – Since Griffin was about 22 months old, he could play “Name that Tune” with ~30 tunes, including Mamma Mia, Alicia Keys, and Rent (the Musical). You could play or sing a few notes from any song, and he could name it. It was (and still is) pretty amazing.

Bi-lingual – Griffin was slower than his sister in developing his verbal skills. But in the last few months, it’s really picked up. His Chinese and English are coming along nicely, but it’s especially cute when he mixes them.
• Mama, can you “bao-bao” [pick up] me?
• Can I have some more “je ge” [this]?
• It’s not “ho dai ah” [so big]!

Other cute speech thingy’s:
• Deng yi shiao (instead of shia)
• Dia-dee (daddy)
• Jie-jie’s hitting! (followed by Ally yelling, “I’m not hitting!”)

Morning Knocker – Every morning, we wake up to some gentle knocking. It’s slow and steady and pretty quiet, but it just goes on and on until you walk over to his room. Griffin doesn’t seem to know he can open his door, and he just sits against the door and knocks it until one of us opens it up. Then he springs to his feet and greets us with a big smile.

Puzzle Solver -- Griffin loves puzzles. Unlike Ally, who felt that puzzles were to be completed just once, Griffin will play with his 12-piece puzzles again and again and again.

He's a boy all right -- This past year, Griffin has had 2 incidents of nursemaid elbow (kinda like a dislocated elbow). The first one happened when we were playing and dragging both kids around by the hands. After we let go of his hands, he burst into tears and was clutching his left wrist. After a consult with Dr. Ah-gu, we rushed to the ER. They listened to my account of what happened and immediately diagnosed it. A doctor popped it back into place within minutes, and we were on our way. The second time it happened, Griffin was (supposed to be) sleeping in his bedroom when suddenly we heard him wailing. Edward found him sitting on his bed, slumped against the wall and nursing his other elbow. We recognized the symptoms right away and went off to the ER once more. This time, they had a harder time popping it in, and they made us get X-rays since we weren't in the room when it happened. (I think they also do this to make sure it's not abuse or anything like that.) Anyway, after the X-rays showed no breaks or fractures, the doctor tried once more and successfully popped it back in. Crazy kid.

The Princess and the Pooh

2008-10-31T22:56:00.000-07:00

Wild guess what Alicia was for Halloween this year. Yup, another Princess. Woohoo.

Naturally, Griffin wanted to be a princess too. When asked what she was going to be for Halloween, Alicia would happily reply, "I'm going to be Sleeping Beauty!" And Griffin would cheerfully add, "And I'm going to be Belle!" After correcting him several times, he finally realized that the Belle thing wasn't going to happen (at least not in public) and started getting into the Pooh Bear thing.

We also took them to a pumpkin patch this year. Alicia wanted to pose with the pumpkins, but Griffin was not so cooperative. The picture below was the best we could get.

We were also fortunate to have Miss Julianne (teacher from school) to come and help the kids carve their pumpkins. The kids were delighted, and Edward and I were mostly pleased that we didn't have to touch the goopy stuff. :)

No wedding dress required (aka Vote NO on Prop 8)

2008-10-25T09:51:00.000-07:00

this past august, we attended the wedding of our close friends, qing and diego. it was a beautiful ceremony in a breathtaking location overlooking the pacific ocean. but what made the wedding so amazing for us was the tremendous feeling of love and joy from all their family and friends who were there to celebrate together with them.

when we told ally that we were going to uncle qing's wedding, she excitedly asked, "will there be a wedding dress?" so we asked her who always comes to see us with uncle qing, and she quickly responded, "uncle diego." i nodded and said, "yes, that's who uncle qing is marrying." she was quiet for a minute and was clearly mulling this over. finally she looked up with a concerned look and asked, "but who's going to wear the dress?"

i have to admit, i thought it was cool that the only thing that fazed ally about this was the fact that there would be no dress. maybe we can get uncle qing and uncle diego to photoshop one in for her!

Long lost cousin

2008-09-10T00:53:00.000-07:00

after twenty some years, edward and his long lost cousin, phil, were finally reunited over the canada day weekend this past summer.

for years I had heard edward mention his phantom half-shanghainese, half-swiss, canadian cousin. they had met only once before, when phil's rugby team was at some competition in hong kong in high school. in the last few years, we have gotten to spend some time with edward's auntie linda, who is phil's mom. she and uncle tom would talk about phil, sheila, and the girls quite a bit, and we started to feel like we almost knew them.

so this year, we decided we would finally go up to vancouver and meet them. we were all very excited about meeting each other, and having the kids get to know each other.

as you can see in these pictures, the kids got along fabulously. i think they were a bit confused as to how they were cousins, given how they look so clearly different. but ally and griffin really enjoyed staying at their beautiful home. griffin loved having free rein to run in and out of the house, and ally had a blast sleeping upstairs with fiona and elsa. and, perhaps the most pleasant surprise of all, was how well we got along with phil & sheila -- it was better than being just cousins, it was like we were becoming good friends.

we are very excited to have "discovered" new family, and we are hoping to be able to see them more often than once every twenty years!

Can I see? Can I see?

2008-09-10T00:24:00.000-07:00

These days, any time I take out my camera to shoot pictures of the kids, they come rushing over shouting, "Can I see? Can I see?" I now have lots of pictures of them storming the camera. I started wondering what "nice" pictures of the kids might look like, and I even dared to daydream about how lovely it might be to get a *gasp* family photo with all 4 of us!

So in early July, we hired a photographer, Annie Tao, to spend an hour or so with us and take some pictures of the kids -- and to take a rare family photo. We spent the morning just walking around the Stanford quad, and the kids had a great time goofing off and mugging for the camera.

We really enjoyed the photo shoot, and we absolutely love the pictures.

We highly recommend Annie!

If you want to see the rest of the pics, check out our picasaweb album.

my baby girl is in kindergarten

2008-08-27T23:41:00.000-07:00

last wednesday, my baby girl, Ally, started her first day of kindergarten. she had been very much looking forward to starting kindergarten, and she was very proud to be going to a big girl school.

that morning, she jumped out of bed when she heard me enter her room, and she was super excited. i took this picture of her showing off her yoga skills in her cute little uniform right before we left the house. (btw, i love uniforms. how cool is it that i don't need to fight with her about clothes now!!)

when we got to the school, i walked her into the playground. she seemed curious and excited. we said hi to the teacher, and she got in line with the other students. when i called to her, she waved and smiled. then she walked in to her classroom with the other kids, and she was clearly very happy and proud to be in school. the other kids kept looking at their parents worriedly, but she didn't even look back.

i was proud of her for being brave and even happy with the situation, but i also felt a tiny pang of sadness knowing that she's just like me -- unsentimental about the past, and always looking forward. today it's kindergarten, tomorrow it will be college, and then ... well, i guess we'll need to enjoy this time with her while it lasts!

di-di's gone!

2008-06-29T23:04:00.001-07:00

i haven't blogged in several months, and i had planned to blog after our seattle/vancouver vacation. but after this morning's excitement, i decided i needed to blog about it.

we flew in to seattle friday evening. flight was good overall, especially with virgin america's entertainment system. griffin caused a bit of a scene at the security checkpoint when he refused to give up his little backpack and started crying and tried to lie down after i wrested it from him. still, a relatively smooth trip getting in to seattle.

then, this morning, we decided to take the kids down to see the pride parade right outside our hotel. the kids and i were waiting to take the elevator down when edward yelled down the hall that his card key wasn't working. as i walked back, just 15 feet or so, ally started yelling in a panicked voice, "di-di's gone! di-di's gone!" i turned around as she burst into tears and cried, "he went on the elevator!" i ran over, but the elevator doors had closed. wow, that was a frightening moment. edward booked down the stairs to the lobby, and ally and i jumped on the next elevator down. we all rushed into the lobby and looked frantically around. just then, we heard loud, familiar crying sounds and saw a young woman leading griffin up the stairs to the lobby. the woman said admonishingly, "he came down the elevator by himself." i just thanked her repeatedly and scooped him up, and edward and i both felt a giant wave of relief. ally was so happy to see her brother, and i was so proud of how protective she had been during the whole thing.

this little episode certainly scared the crap out of all of us, and it serves as a good reminder that we really have to watch our kids at all times (especially reckless little guys).

our first family ski trip

2008-02-12T00:09:00.000-08:00

edward decided that this year, we should let ally try skiing. mark and irene had taken the boys up to northstar in december, and they all really had a great time. so we agreed that we'd try it with them on their next trip, which was a couple weeks ago.

what an adventure. on our drive up, it was raining and snowing hard, so mark advised us to get snow chains. we spent about an hour in vacaville looking for chains. once we got onto the mountains, boy was it a painful drive. it was dark, windy, and snowing like crazy. good thing we have AWD. it took us a good 6-7 hours to drive up there, much of it done at 30mph.

but once we were there, we had a blast. ally took classes for 2 days, and she was quite the pro skiing down the little hills. griffin was a bit freaked out by the snow, but did enjoy tooling around the northstar village in his little jumpsuit.

the village was great. i had a view of the kids ski school from our condo unit. we enjoyed a couple nice lunches at mikuni. and best of all, starbucks was just downstairs, so edward would swing by and grab me a cap after dropping ally off at ski school. pretty sweet. even better was the fact that mark and irene got bumped up to a huge 3BR place, and we spent our evenings enjoying their fine cooking in their very nice, spacious pad.

here's a video of ally skiing! and one of devon skiing.

stacking blocks

2008-02-11T23:48:00.000-08:00

here's a little video of griffin stacking blocks with frankie and ally from this past xmas down in san diego. he got pretty good at stacking them in the right order and then kicking them (with his eyes closed!). it's not very good quality video, but it's still pretty cute.

Happy Holidays!

2008-01-03T00:22:00.000-08:00

i hope everyone enjoyed their holidays. we certainly did, although we didn't really celebrate it in a traditional way.

first, we spent most of christmas eve in our minivan, speeding down the 5 to san diego. we made it in record time (since most people were at home tucking into a lovely christmas feast). we then spent xmas day apart, with the kids running wild with cousins at home, while edward went to see a movie and i went gambling at a local indian casino with a bunch of my cousins.

here are some highlights:

* went to sea world with ah-ma. was freezing cold, but the kids enjoyed watching the jumping fish.

* went to the zoo with jack, sining, and the kids. griffin was "gang gang" (scared) of pretty much everything, and he kept pulling his stroller hood shut whenever we pulled up to an exhibit. highlight for the kids was definitely the express bus.

* went to legoland with sining and livy. tons of people this time, so we had to wait in line a lot. but ally still had a great time.

* stayed at the hotel parisi in la jolla. huge, 1k sq ft 1-bedroom apartment (with kitchen), awesome location, and great breakfast included. best of all, we could make a mess and come back to a tidied and clean (including dishes!) place. pretty sweet.

* ally and griffin got to play with lots of cousins. ally loved all the "jie-jie" -- vicky, kelly, and mimi. but she had the best time playing with frankie. griffin performed "ai wo de" and "hsin de ge" a million times for everyone, to the point where all the cousins could sing them by heart as well.

it was a relaxing and fun vacation overall. seeing as how this was our second christmas in san diego in a row, i suppose this may be becoming a tradition for us!

babyG is 2

2007-11-16T23:57:00.000-08:00

today is Griffin's 2nd birthday. i can't believe babyG is 2. it's gone by so fast. feels like i was just on maternity leave, and now he's running around the house singing rihanna and rent (just like his sis).

so here's a quick progress check on the boy.

allergy update: seems to have improved overall. we tested him a few times with cheese, and he seems ok. still comes home from school with a bumpy torso from time to time, so we think he may still have an egg sensitivity. but we are hopeful that he'll outgrow it soon.

sleep: sleeps well, once he falls asleep. we put him down around 10pm or so, and then we hear him serenading his sister for the next hour or so before finally falling asleep around 11:30pm. (more on the singing later.) the good news is he's still napping well.

talking: this boy sure loves to talk. recent quotes include: "where casey go? dere she is!" "no, jie-jie, stop it, i don't like it." and my personal favorite, "dancing queen, mama, sing it!"

name that tune: ok, so our kids don't have any real useful talents. but griffin can already name pretty much any abba song in 2 notes. he's pretty amazing. i'll post some videos on it soon (hopefully). sometimes we'll be trying to skip over a song (because we've heard it 50 million times and are sick of it), and he'll catch just the first note or two and exclaim "wee-hoo!!" (sweet escape, gwen stefani). then, we feel obliged to let him hear it.

singing: not only does he name that tune, but he sings along. his current faves: "another day" (rent -- and yes, i know that is not quite kid appropriate), "umbrella" (rihanna), "lay all your love on me" (abba), "no one" (alicia keys).

playing with his sister: ally and griffin get along fabulously. we feel very fortunate that they have such a great relationship (for the most part). as to be expected, they do enjoy tormenting each other from time to time, but they also spend a lot of time cracking each other up.

btw, check out this picture that ally took of us. not bad for a four year old, eh?

so you think you can dance

2007-11-15T01:26:00.000-08:00

here's a little dance number from ally to the tune of girlfriend by avril lavigne.

BFF

2007-10-29T00:27:00.000-07:00

when we ask ally who her best friend is, she'll usually say sloane, her pal from school. but when we ask her who she likes to play with the most, she'll say devon, her cousin. devon is just 5 1/2 months younger than she is, so they are pretty much the same age and really play well together. now, when we go to mark and irene's house, ally pretty much disappears until dinnertime -- or until one of the 4 starts crying, which usually happens every half hour or so.

ally loves playing with griffin, but clearly it's different when you're playing with a toddler who won't follow directions and insists on destroying her tents and stealing her "baby" every time she turns around. with devon, they act silly together, play make-believe together, and boss each other around. we've even caught them ganging up and picking on devon's older brother, peyton, which must be a thrill for devon.

people often think that ally and devon are twins, as they are a similar size, have similar hair, and even a similar face shape. but maybe they think that because they seem to have a strong bond and connection. we are all so happy that they have each other as best friends -- and i hope it's a friendship that lasts them a lifetime.

Dance dance

2007-06-26T23:50:00.000-07:00

here's a video of ally dancing at "baby loves disco" back in january. she reminds us of the character mango from SNL.

The Big 0-4

2007-05-01T22:29:00.000-07:00

our baby girl is 4 years old.
oh, sorry, she asked me to clarify that she is not a baby, as she is "4 already" and "almost 5."

we had a little party for her up at the "baby loves disco" party in sf @ ruby skye. it was pretty cool. ally had a blast, and she spent most of the time getting her groove on down on the dance floor.

at one point, all the girls were down on the dance floor, and all the boys were sitting upstairs in the room, staring down at the dance floor. irene commented that "dancing is an important life skill, especially for boys." shortly afterwards, all the moms dragged their sons onto the dance floors for their first lessons. all except for elaine, since her hubby and son were hiding in the "reading corner" and refusing to come out.

but there were 2 boys who spent a LOT of time on the dance floor -- of course, those would be the two mr. yims. griffin loved rocking out to the music, so we definitely have 2 babies who love disco!

ally was thrilled so many beloved aunts, uncles, and friends could come out and celebrate on this special day with her.

our taiwan trip

2007-04-11T18:53:00.000-07:00

the last few months at work have been crazy busy, and i was on the verge of burning out. so at the end of march, i headed to taiwan for a week long vacation with just me and ally.

but 12 hours into my vacation, i was really really regretting the decision to take a 14 hour flight with my almost 4-year old daughter. she was great at the airport, and even for the first couple hours of the flight. i had been worried that her ears would hurt during takeoff, so i kept feeding her gummies. then, i popped on her headphones and "wonderpets" on edward's video ipod, and she was a happy camper for another hour.

so far so good. but then it all started. quick summary:

i spilled tomato juice and benedryl on ally and her seat (2 separate incidents)
lots of crying and kicking violently as ally struggled with falling asleep in her seat; eventually had to hold her as she slept
ally: ate 4 mini-bags of gummies, slept 4 hours, watched 3 hours of wonderpets, woke happy as a clam
ellen: ate barely anything, slept less than 1 hour, watched 2 episodes of heroes, felt nauseated and generally miserable

the good news is that once we were in taiwan, we both had a great time. ally adjusted very quickly to the time zone change, and she had a grand ol' time hanging out with the extended family. we stayed with my parents and spent some good quality bonding time with them as well.

here's a brief recap of what we did:

ate excellent food at every meal -- japanese food, hsiao long bao, beef noodle soup, oh-ah-jian
sipped coffee in cafes with relatives several times a day (cafes are the rage in taipei)
visited a botanical garden and a taiwanese cultural center, and stayed at a beautiful hot springs resort (hotel royal chiao hsi)
did some shopping (101, miramar, etc)
slept a lot (more than 9 hours for me a night!!)

ally had a blast, and i got what i wanted -- a relaxing, leisurely vacation with nary a thought about work. of course, i missed griffin a lot (oh, and edward, too, of course :P ). and i was thrilled when we landed and saw that he actually remembered me!

but as much as i enjoyed the trip, i am also quite sure that i won't be doing long distance travel with little ones for quite some time. that is, until the next time i'm desperate for a vacation ...

First Update of 2007

2007-01-06T22:26:00.000-08:00

so as of the first week of 2007, here's what's going on.

* griffin is on the verge of walking. he had been breaststroke crawling for a while, and since the first week of december (at karen ah-yee's and uncle rex's house) started doing a normal hands and knees crawl. now he can wobbly-walk while holding onto 1 hand (and grasping a sock in the other).

* ally is starting dance class. she LOVES dancing. ah-ma bought her a kids "dance dance revolution"-like toy for xmas, and she just loves dancing on it.

* ally is talking more and more like an adult. today, she said, "he's like, where did it go?" she is also the grand negotiator, always trying to negotiate for just "1 more 64 zoo lane" episode or "3 more pieces of persimmon".

* griffin says "da!" and "uh-oh" and "hao-chur". well, the "hao-chur" actually comes out as "jia-jia", but the intonation is right. and the "da!" has no real meaning, except that if you exclaim "da!", he'll respond with an equally enthusiastic "da!" even his "uh-oh" isn't used quite correctly, as he will say it (with a grin) after he has deliberately thrown something on the ground (for the umpteenth time).

* griffin loves cars. he loves blocks. he loves anything that's hard and makes loud noises when he bangs them together. he has already fallen off the changing table, tumbled down the stairs, and bonked his head and bit his lip countless times. he is such a boy.

* ally is ever the music fan. her latest faves include sexyback (justin timberlake), ye de di chi chang (jay chou), dani california (rhcp), and the little mermaid soundtrack.

* griffin has finally figured out how to eat his food without cramming his mouth full, gagging, and throwing everything up. i'm sure you're thinking, "what do you mean? isn't that a basic skill we are all born with?" no, not this son of ours. if you gave him a slice of apple, he would shove the whole thing in his mouth and start gagging. even if you cut up the apple into small pieces, he would shove them all in his mouth until his cheeks puffed out and then start crying because he couldn't swallow it. but about 2 weeks ago, he finally figured out how to bite off chunks and swallow it before putting more food into this mouth. hooray for no more daily throw-ups!

SoCal Vacation

2007-01-05T23:00:00.000-08:00

we had a lovely vacation in southern cal over the holidays. we stayed at a sweet 6-bedroom beach house in encinitas, where we would watch the sunset from the living room in the early evenings and fall asleep to the sound of crashing waves at night. in the mornings, ally loved watching the surfers ("ducks!") riding the waves.

the drive down was rather painful, as we had a couple of false starts and then hit traffic pretty much right off the bat. then our "quick" lunch ended up taking over an hour, and an hour later we had to stop again to feed the baby. the sun was setting, we were 5 hours into our drive, and we couldn't believe that we weren't even out of the bay area. the good news is that ally and griffin were both good sports, and ally was happy as a clam once we cracked open the dvd player and popped on her headset.

here are the highlights:

* we went to legoland for 2 days with mark+ irene+the boys

(this lego santa is the only santa that ally is not afraid to sit next to!)

* m&i took us all out for a lovely sunday brunch at the four seasons

* spent xmas eve at ling-chi's place and saw lots of aunts, cousins, and other relatives

* went to the zoo with vicky jie-jie

* ally and griffin spent the evening with vicky jie-jie and mimi jie-jie + her family, while e&e went with el's aunts and cousins to the casino. it was a win-win evening, as ellen won $500 on slots and ally had such a great time she didn't want to go home.

* spent a couple days in LA, doing a little shopping and just relaxing. highlight meal was fogo de chau, where we feasted on tasty grilled meat.

2006-11-19T01:18:00.000-08:00

we decided to have a little 1st bday party for griffin, and we had mostly family and a few friends (human and lizard).

ally was a great helper with the lizard lady, and she loved petting and holding the snakes and lizards.

griffin kept trying to grab the tails of the lizards and squeezing.

ally and daddy loved wearing the snakes on their shoulders, and mama was a little freaked out when one of the big snakes was staring her down.

all in all, griffin was quite stunned by it all, but ally and the other kids had a blast running around the room throwing rubber-footed lizards at the wall.

happy birthday rashy boy!

2006-11-16T23:55:00.000-08:00

today is griffin's birthday. for his birthday, he gets to:

* have a lovely full body rash
* take benedryl and claritin
* gag on apple and spit-up on daddy
* stand-up in his highchair and almost jump off
* dive off the changing table and bite his tongue

happy birthday rashy boy!

Octopus's Garden

2006-11-07T23:33:00.000-08:00

as you can see, we went with a sea theme for halloween this year.

ally decided she wanted to be a mermaid. at first she insisted that she wanted to be a princess, so we were quite relieved when she changed her mind and asked to be ariel, the little mermaid.

we did trick-or-treating at our house this year. mark, irene, and the boys, and tommy, jessica, and damon all came over. we drove up the hill, hit about 10 houses, and drove back down for dinner. our neighborhood seems to have mostly empty nesters, so there weren't too many people out trick-or-treating. but all the homeowners were extremely friendly, seemed quite delighted to see us, and gave the kids handfuls of candy.

Griffin's 10-month progress report

2006-09-17T22:37:00.000-07:00

yesterday, griffin turned 10 months old. here's a pic from last night.

so what's the deal with the earflap hat, you ask? it's not snowing in sf these days, is it? no, the little guy just has an itchy ear. the dr. says it's seborrhea, which is the same as cradle cap. he's been scratching and scratching, and we find him in the morning with very bloody sheets. pretty scary.

what about clipping his nails, you ask? i do, but they grow so damn fast. mitts? yes, we do mitts, but the little bugger has figured out how to pull them off by biting the mitt and pulling his hand out. which brings us back to the earflap hat. we put this on him, and it largely discourages him from scratching the ear too much. this is night 3 with the hat, and the ear does seem to be finally healing.

here's some other updates.

* eating -- when we started griffin on solids about a month back, he decided that solids are much better than the icky alimentum we were feeding him, so he totally cut back on formula and would refuse to drink more than 2 oz at a time (vs 6 oz previously). unfortunately, his silly parents didn't realize that they subsequently needed either to up his solid intake or increase the frequency of his formula meals. after his 9 month checkup, we realized (with the doctor's help :) ) that we hadn't been giving him enough calories, and we upped his solids and formula feedings, and he gained 1 pound in 3 weeks. hooray! as for his allergies, we're doing pretty well, and he's eating all fruits, meats, and lots of veggies. still no eggs or dairy, and we're getting ready to try soy, wheat, and corn.

* physical stuff -- he can scoot backwards and in circles (pivoting), but isn't up on all fours yet. sits like a champ, can clap on demand (pai-pai-sho), and loves playing with toys (especially banging stuff together). oh, and he reached another big milestone today: he can feed himself cheerios (technically, morning-o's)!!!

* verbal stuff -- he says "dada" and "baba" and makes "old man noises", as his daycare teachers like to call them. babbles incessently, and likes to yell. he's definitely a yim!

ally is still doing great with her "di-di". she tells everyone he's "my baby" and is very protective (and sometimes possessive) of him. occasionally, she'll assert, "that's my toy" when we give griffin one of her old toys, but then she will always proudly follow it up with "but i'm sharing with di-di!" she is such a great big sister, and we are very proud of her!

A Visit from Eva Gu-Ma and Family

2006-09-03T23:40:00.000-07:00

so we had a lovely visit from edward's sister (eva), her husband (cy), and their 2 kids (jason and janice).

it was nice to spend time with them again. we hadn't seen cy or jason in over 4 years, and it was really the first time we've gotten to spend so much time together with just the 2 families.

ally and janice had a blast with each other, playing make-believe games, playing with toys, pretending to be dogs, and generally being silly together. at one point, they must have overheard us talking about santa cruz, because then we heard them giggling and yelling to each other, "no, it's _my_ santa cruz!" so they seemed to think they each _had_ a santa cruz, which was rather odd. this time, they really figured out how to play together, and ally really looked up to her big sister, "janice je-je". ally would often try to copy janice, and it was pretty funny to hear ally echoing janice in cantonese!

so we rented a place in aptos for a few days, and we spent some time relaxing and visiting in the monterey bay area. the kids had fun at the aquarium. ally sat and stared at the giant tank for a long time, and was delighted to see the sunfish again. the girls had a great time at the crashing wave exhibit, and i could hear their squeals and shrieks of delight halfway across the aquarium.

we also hit the santa cruz boardwalk, walked around downtown santa cruz, shopped at gilroy, and generally tried to relax. it was a generally relaxing mini-vacation for us, except that i had to work for a couple days of it.

as for eva and family's visit as a whole, i think it was "ok-lah" (as eva likes to say). sure, san francisco isn't exotic or maybe even that interesting if you've been here before. but, as eva was quick to point out, that wasn't why they were here. they were here to see us and the kids. and from that aspect, i think the trip went really well. in fact, every time we see eva and her family, i feel that we grow a little closer. for me, i feel like i am getting to know them a little better each time, and with that, i feel a little closer to them. it's hard since we only get to the see each every few years, but it does feel more and more like family. we do seem to be learning to understand and maybe even appreciate each other's culture and way of life. it's so easy to forget that not everyone shares the same value system that you do, and that not everyone wants to live where you live, eat what you eat, do what you do for fun, etc.

maybe we're also just bonding more over the kids. while it's harder to learn to love each other as adults, it's just so easy to love each other's kids. janice is such a wonderful and sweet little girl, and jason is quirky but still very lovable in his own way. and watching ally's face light up whenever she sees her cousins or her beloved gu-ma and gu-cheung really just makes me want to give her more opportunities to be with her family.

i always felt so lucky to have 20+ cousins. ally and griffin only have 5, and i want them to be as close with all of them as i was with mine.

who are these babies?

2006-08-26T23:44:00.000-07:00

Who are these babies?

Are they the same baby? Siblings? Relatives, or maybe just friends? Are they Lee's, Yim's, or none of the above?

Take a guess, and then click here for the answer.

more idol performances

2006-07-31T00:20:00.000-07:00

i've uploaded a couple more of ally's idol-worthy performances from june. "bottle of sunshine" is pretty hilarious, while "bad day" shows off her more sensitive side.

bottle of sunshine - june 2006
bad day - june 2006

July 4th Weekend in Napa

2006-07-07T23:31:00.000-07:00

so we decided to take a short trip up to napa for the july 4th weekend. this was our first time in napa with kids, and we weren't sure how it would go.

we were pleased to find that we were still able to dine at some nice restaurants -- mustard's grill (with the chiu's) and napa valley grill.

we also hit a couple of wineries. artesa winery had gorgeous views and nice grounds, so we took a bunch of pics there around the fountains. some folks were nice enough to offer to take a picture of all of us, so we got a couple rare family pics. we had a nice little picnic at v. sattui, but ally was pretty concerned about all the flies flying around. she kept switching sides at the picnic table because there were "too many flies over here." one fly kept hanging around griffin's stroller, and i was horrified to find it perched on the edge of his mouth while he was desperately trying to lick it. yuck.

we thought we should do something kid focused, so we visited the sonoma traintown. it's really a tiny little train that's rather uncomfortable for adults. in fact, i felt rather queasy the whole time, and my lower back hurt from the lack of lumbar support. of course, ally rode it with her usually "stoneface" expression -- basically, a blank look. i tried to pretend i was enjoying it, and asked her, "isn't this fun?" to which she replied, "i want to ride the merry-go-round." argh.

we stayed at this cute little house in napa called the napa saltbox. the bedrooms had these large raised closets, and ally decided to make one of them her room. she had a great time playing in the closets, having bubble baths in the clawfoot tub, hanging out watching "rent" on the couch, and blowing bubbles on the porch.

it was a nice relaxing mini-vacation. but after just being back at work for 3 days, i feel like i need another!

For more pics, see our picasa album.

Trip to Carmel

2006-06-11T01:20:00.000-07:00

we took our first family-of-four trip last weekend. we spent one night in carmel at the highlands inn. we went to the beach, and ally had a blast splashing in the water and chasing and being chased by the waves. at one point, she pulled me so far down towards the ocean that a huge wave came by and almost swept her away (much to daddy's horror). good thing i was holding on tightly to her hand!

we were all ready for a snack, so we headed into town for a caramel apple. yum! then we went back to our hotel and enjoyed a beautiful sunset from our deck. (well, griffin missed it, as he was busy nursing.)

the next day, we hit the monterey bay aquarium. ally had been there last year, but this time she was able to really enjoy it. she stood and stared at the huge sunfish tank, and just watched and watched in awe. she loved the sunfish and the turtles, and kept exclaiming, "the fish are bigger than me!"

Ally's 3rd Bday Party

2006-06-11T00:52:00.000-07:00

so this blog entry is obviously a bit late, as ally turned 3 over 6 weeks ago. but i figured, it's better late than never. we had a small group of little ones attend her bday party at a gym in santa clara. she had a total blast, and we enjoyed catching up with our adult friends.

American Idol

2006-05-27T22:43:00.000-07:00

ally's new nickname at her daycare is "the american idol." apparently, they will play songs they know she likes, and she then entertains them by singing along. her current faves are "bad day" (daniel powter), "you're beautiful" (james blunt), and "we belong together" (mariah). the teachers think it's pretty hilarious, and she does seem to enjoy performing.

this started after i asked one of the teachers, crystal, if she was a rent fan. she looked surprised, and i explained that one day when "seaons of love" was playing in the car, ally said, "miss crystal sang this today, and i said i have that song too!" i then told crystal that ally can sing "light my candle", and she found that to be pretty funny. but i also said i tried to avoid playing that these days, because i found it pretty disturbing to hear my 3 year old baby girl singing the words "i used to be a junky" and "i was born to be bad".

we first noticed that she was pretty musical when she was about 6 months old. she showed a distinct preference for "the scientist" (coldplay), and that song was the only thing that could soothe her when she was cranky or tired. we got pretty tired of the song, and would sometimes try a switcheroo by playing the song for a minute or so and then changing it to another song. but she would notice immediately and start wailing. let's just say, we don't listen to that song much anymore.

when she hit 18 months, she started echoing songs (singing along but with a delay). at that point, some faves were "nobody" (five for fighting) and "ai ni deng yu ai zi ji" (leehom wang). we would play different songs for her, and she quickly picked up (or assigned) the song names and would request them by name. around the 2 yr mark, she was really in to "hey ya" (outkast), "karma" (alicia keys), and "ai wo bieh zo" (jacky cheung).

it wasn't until she reached 2.5 years that she really started singing with the music. at first, it was rather "pitchy" (hehe), but now she is singing mostly on key. she most recently was very into our good friend's lisa and hogan's wedding cd, and just loved the song "slung-lo". that's the first song she really learned in its entirety, and it was just freaky to watch her singing along to the whole song.

so now once we're in the car, our job is as both chauffeur and dj. our trick is now to try to get her to like the songs we want to hear. i have been successful lately in getting her to like some songs off the new depeche mode cd. it's pretty funny to hear her ask for "john the revelator".

i know the day will come when she will tell us that our songs are boring and uncool, and when she will insist on listening to her own tunes. but for now, i do enjoy hearing her little voice belting out the words "you're beautiful, it's true!"

here are some video clips:

jingle bells - daycare performance from last christmas (dec 05)
you're beautiful - jun 06

The "My-Kid-is-Allergic-to-Everything" Diet

2006-05-26T22:35:00.000-07:00

so for the past couple of months, i have been on the "my-kid-may-be-allergic-to-dairy-shellfish-eggs-oh-and-let's-throw-in-nuts-for-good-measure" diet. it started out with a suspicion that he may be allergic to dairy. but after i cut out dairy, he still had reactions. so then i cut out shellfish. then eggs. then nuts. and then wheat.

finally, this past tuesday, i took him in to see an allergist. the dr. did 3 sets of skin tests. the first 2 were deemed negative, even though i had noticed that a few of the spots turned red but then faded. the third test was shrimp, and it turned red and then faded. the dr. said that that was an indication that it was positive. so i asked about the previous spots that had also turned red, but he dismissed those (probably because he hadn't seen them when they were red). he then said for me to resume eating anything i wanted except for shellfish and eggs. "eggs? but he tested negative for eggs." yes, the dr. said that while he did test negative, most cases he sees end up with eggs as the culprit. uh, ok. that's really scientific. when i asked if that meant it was ok to start him on formula and rice cereal, he asked me to hold off. ok, sure.

so that afternoon, i took griffin to the pediatrician for his 6 month checkup. i told her about the allergist's recommendation, and she started shaking her head. she recommended that i stick with the "vegan-plus-red-meat-and-chicken-minus-nuts" diet, but to go ahead and start him on hypoallergenic formula and rice cereal. this was weird, as the allergist and pediatrician were basically giving complete contradicting advice.

anyway, i had already treated myself to some pasta with alfredo sauce after seeing the allergist, so i figured i would continue allowing myself to have dairy and made myself a latte at work. that night, griffin's skin actually looked almost perfect, so i thought i was in the clear. well, the next day, his rash reappeared, and by the evening he looked pretty awful. so it does seem that he does indeed have an allergy to dairy. :(

let's just say that i am not going back to this allergist. and now i trust our pediatrician even more. when i told her i was surprised at the allergist's findings, she asked me, "well, what do you think?" i should have trusted my gut instinct, which was not to believe his findings. but instead, i let my cravings for ice cream, cheese, and lattes blind me.

so i'm back on this crazy diet, but i do see a light at the end of the tunnel, as i will likely wean him in a few weeks. i have come a long way in these 2 months. i started out thinking "oh, what's the harm in a bit of cream sauce here or there?" since then, i have become very strict about my diet. i have certainly learned a lot about my self-control (or lack thereof), and i have also learned a lot about how difficult it is to be vegan. but most of all, i am quite proud that i have been able to stick this out as long as i have, and now i ready to wean this guy and pig out on ice cream, pizza, and cheesecake!

Almost 5 months

2006-04-13T00:28:00.000-07:00

so griffin is almost 5 months old. here's a quick progress report.

* eczema -- he still has it, but i'm no longer as sure that it's dairy related. last weekend, griffin, edward, and i all had the stomach flu (ally somehow managed to escape it). the 2 days after i had pretty much fasted for 24 hours, i noticed that griffin's eczema was actually getting worse. why would it be worse if i wasn't even eating anything? so the mystery continues.

* day care -- he started part-time last monday and had a horrible first day. he cried a lot and refused his bottle. edward said that when he picked him up, his eyes were totally puffy. :( the good news is now he is doing fine at daycare, and so we're relieved.

* sleep -- so since this past saturday (~20 wks), he has been truly sleeping through the night. he sleeps from 9:30pm to 8:30am. it's been awesome. this is the best i've slept for the last 6 months!

* physical stuff -- he isn't rolling over yet, but sure does enjoy thumping his legs on his bed. he has just started reaching for toys and grabbing things, but hasn't quite mastered it yet. still scratches his head up quite badly, so we still have to put mitts (or socks) on his hands. but when he does have bare hands, he now likes to suck his thumb. it's kinda weird to see, since ally never sucked her thumb, ever.

* stranger anxiety -- he does seem to recognize people now, and stares warily at new people. but overall, he is still pretty friendly.

and how is ally doing with griffin? ally adores her little brother (so far), and gives him hugs and kisses. she does like to take his toys and claim them as her own, but is generally pretty good about giving them back to him.

she also does give him the occasional smack. the other night she announced, "i want to hit di-di", and then she did. after a nice talking-to from both me and her daddy, she stated, "i can't hit di-di. just the couch." so then she proceeded to happily hit the couch.

Get the potty started

2006-04-12T23:40:00.000-07:00

at the end of february, ally moved up to the preschool room at her daycare, and the teachers asked us to start putting ally in panties. that weekend, we rushed to target and bought a dozen panties and trainer pants, as well as pull-ups. up until this point, ally was going potty in the toilet occasionally, and we were really not sure if she was ready.

well, the first week of march was a mega-laundry week. she was having 2 to 3 accidents a day at school, and would sometimes ask to wear diapers instead of panties. getting her to sit on the potty was a real struggle, as she would refuse, whine, cry, and have complete meltdowns over this. not a good week.

the 2nd week, she began doing much better. so much so that we would sometimes forget to ask her to go potty. one day, she peed in the carseat. it was a major PITA to clean (according to edward, hehe), and she seemed to lose confidence in herself. but by the end of the week, she was doing better again.

now, as encouragement, we had been rewarding her with candy. one candy for pee-pee, 2 for poopy. it was probably not a good thing to do, but it seemed like a good idea at the time, and it seemed to work. but once she started going more reliably, we quickly phased out the candy and replaced it with stickers and eventually with just praise.

so we're now in mid-april, and she has been doing great. she has been in just panties (except at night) for the last month, with only 1 accident every week or so! we're very proud of her, and quite amazed that it went as well as it did. we are certainly grateful to her wonderful, patient teachers -- julianne, crystal, kristin, and annie -- who helped to train her!

of course, now we have to deal with making 4-5 trips to the restroom over the course of a meal, just because she finds it great fun to walk around touching everything in public restrooms.

Moo Moo Here, Eczema There

2006-03-21T22:15:00.000-08:00

So a few weeks ago, in his 15th week, Griffin started getting little splotches on his legs. I immediately recognized it as eczema, since I have seen quite a bit of it on Ally.

Then it became more than just a few splotches ... it became a major red rash that covered his torso, legs, and much of his face! I took him to the doctor, who just confirmed that it was eczema and recommended hydro-cortisone and lotion. So I was diligent about applying the cortisone and slathering on the aquaphor for a few weeks, but it actually seemed to get worse. The rash started looking more and more like hives, and you could barely see his skin through all of the red bumps.

Then one night, I noticed that it got worse immediately after I nursed. Hmm. This was interesting. So I checked online, and read that nursing babies sometimes have allergic reactions to dairy consumed by their mothers. *Ding!* This was _very_ interesting. It turns out that I had purchased a new espresso machine right around the time his eczema first appeared. I was drinking 2-3 cappucinos a day, and this may have been what set off his eczema!

So I have been trying to avoid dairy for the last 2 weeks, and it really seems to have made a difference. I immediately switched from cappucinos to americanos, but it's taken some time for me to get used to avoiding _all_ dairy. One morning I noticed the splotches had reappeared, and then I realized that I had eaten half a pint of frozen yogurt the night before. I kept thinking "no milk, no milk", and had conveniently forgotten that fro-yo is still a dairy product.

Today his skin was looking great! It was pale and smooth -- that is, until I got home and ruined it for him. I broke down at work today and ate a butter cookie, and the red dots showed up on his body about an hour after I fed him. My poor little baby is suffering because Mama has a weakness for dessert!

Apparently many babies outgrow these allergies by 18 months or so. I'm planning on "testing" his reaction periodically (especially when I'm majorly craving some creamy dessert), but I will mostly avoid dairy for now.

There is certainly one side benefit to this ... I'm losing weight!

Back to work

2006-03-09T01:23:00.000-08:00

so this is my last week of maternity leave. next week, i will leave this world of spit-up, baby talk, and diapers to return to the world of operations and project management.

it's been amazing how quickly the last 4 months have flown by. with ally, time really seemed to crawl, and the first 4 months felt like forever. i think it's because i wasn't working when i had ally, and so each day felt pretty much the same. but this time around, because i know my leave has a hard stop, i'm really cherishing my time off with griffin and am also trying to get all my little "projects" done.

what projects, you ask? sorting through my thousands of photos. updating our old website. going through our 18+ hours of home video and making some home movies. unpacking the 20+ remaining boxes from our move so that i can finally park my minivan in the garage.

so how many of these projects have i completed? uh ... well, none of the ones i had planned to complete. but i've done a bunch of unplanned stuff, like writing this blog! oh, and buying some new toys, like my new espresso machine and canon digital rebel xt.

i still have 4 days before i start work on monday, and i'll really _really_ try to put together at least ONE movie. actually, i'm quite lame in that i have only put together 1 movie ever, and it's entitled "ally's first month". she is now almost 3 years old. i guess that makes me Lame with a capital "L".

oh, i suppose i did make significant progress on 1 project, my main project, really -- griffin!
he's healthy, growing, and really doing well. hates the bottle (just like his sister did), gets really mad when we make him nap in his crib, loves grinning at people, and chats up a storm.

as for the other projects ... anyone know of a good project manager?

Artist in the Family

2006-02-07T00:21:00.000-08:00

It appears we have an artist in the family.

Ally has taken up posing for the camera. Sometimes she'll be a good sport and mug for the camera. But lately, it's mostly been strange poses.

She'll say, "Take a picture of me!" and run off to assume her pose, which usually consists of sitting in a strange position and looking away with a pensive or blank look on her face. After I snap a few, she'll come running back, yelling excitedly, "Let me see! Let me see!"

Sometimes she'll be super-pleased with the results. Other times, she'll insist on doing it again, maybe in a different part of the room.

Here are some classics.

The yoga-esque pose is her favorite.

This is what she came up with when I requested that she take a picture with her brother.

I have to admit, the kid's got a good eye. :)

mr. spit-up boy

2006-02-05T01:28:00.000-08:00

when most people see a little baby, they reach out their arms and ask to hold them. but lately, my son has been generating the opposite response. he has become known by family and friends as mr. spit-up boy. after he's nursed, everyone steers clear of him. he has the most amazing projectile spit-up, ala the exorcist. i'm talking, it shoots out about a foot over your shoulder, spraying everything along the way. he has marked our sofa, rugs, hardwood floors, countless clothes. i have to change outfits at least twice a day, because he just coats them.

so now, most people wait until he has thoroughly covered me with spit-up, and then they consider him safe to hold. and even then, they hold him facing outward. there are constant cries of "oh s**t!" in our household, followed by major scrambling and grabbing of burp cloths and paper towels to clean up the mess.

i suppose this is pretty common with babies. it's just that ally didn't really do this much, so we're just not used to it. i hope he gets over this soon. until then, i'll be sporting a streak of white down the front and back of the left side of my shirt.

** check out Mr. Spit-up Boy in action.

To swaddle or not to swaddle

2006-02-02T00:38:00.000-08:00

griffin is now 11 weeks old, and i've been trying to figure out if we should still swaddle him.

we have been swaddling him with both blankets and the "SwaddleMe", but it appears that he is the houdini of swaddles. every night i burrito wrap him with his arms at his side, and every morning his arms are out and flailing about. it's almost like he's taunting me. "you can't keep me (and my arms) down!"

right after i swaddle him, he sometimes starts wriggling and crying angrily. so then i think, maybe he doesn't want to be swaddled. maybe he wants his arms out? after all, i'd be pretty upset if someone wrapped me up tight like that (unless it was part of some bondage thing, er, never mind).

but when i don't swaddle him, he jerks his arms about as he's falling asleep, and he often ends up bopping himself on the nose and then bursting into tears. the other night, i left him unswaddled with his blanket tucked around him. i left the blanket close to his face, and he immediately began happily sucking on it. well, i had barely left the room when he started wailing. i returned to see that his flailing arms had pushed the blanket away, and now he was upset that the blanket had mysteriously disappeared. i repositioned the blanket by his face, and within seconds his arms shot up and swatted the blanket away again. he was doing battle with himself, and he was losing -- it was both hilarious and sad. after a few minutes of this, i gave up and just swaddled him. when i left the room, he was furiously sucking on the blanket, fully determined not to let it get away this time.

ally liked to suck on her sleeve when she was falling asleep, and perhaps he will too. but until he has better control over his arms, i guess he'll still be my little burrito boy.

Smiles for everyone

2006-01-31T19:07:00.000-08:00

It turns out that Griffin, like Ally, was a late smiler. Just as with Ally, I was armed and ready with the camera once he hit 6 weeks old, and I was ever prepared to capture his first smile. I waited and waited. And waited.

Finally, somewhere in his 7th week, he started to smile. He smiled at the giraffes on his bumper. He smiled at the cube thingy on his mobile. He smiled at Ah-ma and Ah-gong (grandparents). But he wouldn't smile for me! I was starting to take it personally.

But now that he is well in his 11th week, he is flashing his toothless grin at everyone, including Mama (woot!). He's cooing, gurgling, and squealing as he smiles, and his eyes just sparkle.

I have to say, it certainly makes those early morning feedings a bit more tolerable. It's hard to stay grumpy when someone is happily cooing at you (between gulps).

8 1/2 Hours

2006-01-24T17:12:00.000-08:00

So last Wednesday night, the little guy slept for 8 1/2 hrs!!! He had been up all evening (6-9pm) and then went down at 9:30. I fully expected him to wake up at 3:30am, since he usually sleeps about 6 hrs for his long stretch. But not this time ... he woke up at 7am!

I was ecstatic, and well rested for a change.
And hopeful for the future ...

But alas, it was a one-time deal. He has since gone back to his old nighttime schedule, which is:
* sleep for a 6-hour stretch, wake up and eat
* sleep for a 3-hour stretch, wake up and eat
* cry, wriggle, and kick until mama starts walking up and down the halls
* play/talk/coo with half-asleep mama for 30 minutes
* conclude with a giant explosive diaper (often requiring an entire outfit change and changing area wipedown)

It's tough when the crying/ playing/ pooping thing happens at 7am, because that pretty much means I'm up for the day with less than 6 hours of (very interrupted) sleep. I know, I know, I should just go to bed earlier, right? Well, I am going to bed earlier (12:30am) these days, but I still can't seem to fall asleep until 1:30 or so. But it's just so hard to be disciplined about going to bed any earlier, because it's so nice and quiet when both kids are finally asleep! And each night, I can't help but be hopeful that maybe _tonight_ he'll sleep 8 1/2 hours again.

Sleep Train

2006-01-10T01:20:00.000-08:00

so, after almost 8 weeks, i am finally getting some sleep.

for the first month, griffin was basically sleeping in bed with me. we had the pack-and-play in the room, but i would fall asleep while nursing and wake up just in time to put him on the other breast for his next meal. he was sleeping and snacking pretty much all night, and i was a total wreck because i was getting barely any sleep. then, one night after i had fallen asleep while nursing, i was suddenly waken by this weird sensation of something tickling my breast. i instinctively swatted at it, and immediately realized (with horror, of course) that i had been swatting at my little boy. so on his 1 month birthday, we kicked him out of our room, and he (and i) have been sleeping much better ever since.

he still was only sleeping 3-4 hours at a stretch for the first 5 weeks. and his 4 hour stretch was often in the middle of the day. but then at just past 6 weeks, he started sleeping from midnight to 5 or 6am fairly regularly. of course, that doesn't mean that _i_ am getting 6 hours of sleep. once he goes down, i try to get some "work" done (like blogging, paying bills, watching general hospital -- you know, important stuff).

ok, i have to admit that i still bring him into bed with me some mornings, but mostly because i'm afraid he'll wake up ally. and i do quite enjoy snuggling with him. :)

now his overall schedule is much more predictable, and this last week we have been venturing out for dinner. we went to koi palace on saturday and kisaku on sunday, and he was very cooperative for both meals. the secret has been to keep him up and play with him about an hour or so before going out, then feeding him right before dinner. oh, and rocking him in his carseat helps too. let's hope he keeps this up!

New Baby, new blog

2005-12-05T17:10:00.000-08:00

since i haven't had as much time to put together a fancy website for griffin, i figured i'd better do something ... so here's a new blog, just for him.

it's week 3 now. griffin was born 11/16/2005, 6lbs 9oz, 19". after 2 weeks for false labor, our dr scheduled an induction for us. we called all morning, but they kep telling us to call back because L&D was super busy. finally they gave us the ok to come in, and we were in the room around 12:30pm. they started up the pitocin immediately, and boy oh boy did i start feeling it. the contractions came hard and fast, and they hurt like hell. poor edward was trying to chat with me, probably to distract me, and i started yelling at him to "shut up" and "stop making annoying comments." after a few more attempts at chit-chat, he sat down and started reading harry potter. of course, that was rather annoying as well, and i finally started growling about wanting an epidural NOW. it probably took 30 minutes for the anethesiologist to show up, but it felt like an eternity. i was ready to strangle someone, and edward was wisely staying out of arm's reach. anyway, to make a long story short, i got my epidural and felt great (no nausea this time). next thing you know, the nurse asked me to start pushing, and the little guy came out at 4:39pm. so it was a quick 4 hour labor, and i felt pretty good!

so this time was quite different from last time. with ally, i didn't see anything once she came out. all i heard was "she's perfect!" and then i kinda passed out. this time, i saw the dr catch griffin, and she immediately placed him on me. all i could think was "eeeeww, he's covered with white goop!" the dr asked edward if he wanted to cut the cord, and edward replied, "uh, no," as if she had asked if he wanted to chew on the cord.

the first week home was relatively easy. griffin slept a lot, and we really tried to make ally feel good about the baby. the second week was pretty tough, as griffin became much more demanding about being held and about using me as a human pacifier. i actually got to leave the house for thanksgiving at mark and irene's house. but even that was rough, as i spent half the time nursing and changing him in the room. after nursing him, i discovered he had leaked pee onto his clothes. so i had to change his entire outfit and diaper. then, once he was fully clothed again, he pooped. then as i changed his diaper again, he started spitting up all over his clothes. at this point, i called in reinforcements -- i called edward's cell, yelling "aaaah! there's stuff coming out both ends!!" anyway, it took a while, but we finally got him cleaned up and wrapped up again.

the last few nights have been rough, with him squawking throughout the night, waking every hour or so. last night he would emit these strange grunts every 5 minutes or so for an hour, making it pretty much impossible to sleep. and of course, there's nothing babies like as much as going poopy in a nice fresh diaper. so i'm exhausted, but i do enjoy holding him as he sleeps. since he wakes up pretty quickly when i put him back in his bed, i've been letting him sleep in bed with me quite a bit. some days, i even let him sleep on my chest. it's pretty nice, having a little baby to snuggle with. :)