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First Flight & Trip Alone!!!
December 13, 2011
There was a long holiday for school kids in Bangkok back in October but due to flood, Jamie's kindergarten's opening was pushed later and later endlessly. Soon, even his summer classes at Mandarin school or piano lessons all had to stop due to flood. With nothing for him to do here and we still had work to attend, we decided to send Jamie to HK all by himself, as Unaccompanied Minor!!!
There was no nervousness prior to the flight. All he worried about was if he could get juice inflight and if mommy would keep her promise to buy him candy in the airport. Haha
Jamie did extremely well. He enjoyed his first flight alone and stayed 2 weeks in HK. He enjoyed his return flight too. But he did complain that he wanted to watch Smurfs but the window was open and the sun light was too bright for his screen. LOL
Here's a picture we took upon his grand return. He grew up so much!!! And felt like he was much more independent.
Maybe he's ready for another alone trip to the US this time?! :-)
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First 3D photo!
October 23, 2011
Does it look 3D to you? :-)
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First Piano Lession!
October 4, 2011
Today Jamie had his 1st piano lesson! When mommy dropped him off, everything seemed fine and he looked enthusiastic. But one hour later when mommy picked him up, he was standing on top of the front desk chair eating cookies. The front desk lady explained that the teacher felt he was not into piano and couldn't sit still. He ran out from the classroom and hit the teacher as well. The teacher asked if we could change him to a more firm teacher...T_T So we're going to try another teacher in the next lesson. It's hard to believe Jamie could be one of those hard to handle kids but it's also true he's at an age which he tries to be rebellious against everything...
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First Mexican Fiesta & Pinata!
August 3, 2011
We were invited to a Mexican fiesta by our new friends (the husband is from Long Beach, California and the wife is from Lille, France - they have a cute little boy named Marlin). The party was great! It was child friendly, the Mexican food and Sangria were delicious, and Jamie got his first swing at a pinata.
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I dressed Jamie and I as cholos. You can see the tattoo on my left hand "Raza". On my right hand was another tattoo "La". Put the two fists together and you get "La Raza". I put tear drop tattoos below the left eyes of Jamie and I, but they eventually ran off with the sweat. If you notice Jamie`s neck in the photo, it is another smeared tattoo which was his gang name "Chino" (meaning Chinese male). I was "Huerro" (meaning fair complected man) and Joey was "China". We also gave her some tear drop tattoos.
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First dentist visit!
October 24, 2010
There's a dentist in the building we live in. Jamie hangs out there all the time. But this week was the first time he had a real visit! The dentist must be really good with kids. She did an amazing job in making Jamie relax. Here you can see Jamie being relaxed in having his teeth checked, with funny sunglasses on and holding a mirror himself.
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It was a smooth check-up and simple cleaning procedure. The only comment the dentist made was "maybe Jamie uses too much toothpaste" haha. Oh, and during the procedure she said "I'm more nervous than Jamie because we play together everyday". So funny!
As promised, Jamie was allowed to watch a few episodes of Doraemon because he behaved so well in the dentist!
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First ad!
October 24, 2010
The dentist in our neighborhood claimed to have found an ad poster with Jamie in it, in a shopping center quite far from our home. At first we didn't believe it and thought it must be someone who looks like Jamie. But then when we saw the photo she took of the ad, we knew for sure it was Jamie! It was an ad for the art school Jamie used to attend! They did not ask for our permission! We thought maybe they have this ad for a distant location only. But when we went to check out the branch in the nearby shopping center, we found this same ad! He's on their flyers too!! LOL!
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First night staying with nanny
July 14, 10
Jamie, tonight is the 1st time Nanny Pong stayed there with you overnight. Daddy is off to Bali and mommy has to come to KL for business. I know you are ok there. But I miss you. You are almost 4 but this is the 1st time we left you with nanny. The only other time we left you was when we went to Macau casino while you stayed with Grandpa Ben and Grandma Eva. Come to think of it, it's quite amazing how we always spend our nights together. Pretty soon, you'll experience more nights away from us. I know you'll be ok. I'm just worried about myself.
Love,
Mommy Joey
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First bicycle!
May 21, 10
With uncertainty when Jamie can go back to school or us going out normally like before, we got to find ways for Jamie to enjoy his life at home area. So that's how he got his first bicycle.
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But he had no clue how to ride it. He kept pushing his legs backward. So a kid in the neighborhood hopped on to show him. But Jamie still didn't get it...
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First pigeon!
May 1, 10
Sorry if some find this gross but pigeon is a popular delicious Hong Kong meal. Yummy~!
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First goggles!
March 24, 10
Daddy Steve gave Jamie his first pair of goggles (difficult spelling as easily being mistaken with google!!). Jamie was already confident in swimming before but now with clear vision underwater, he's even more confident. He didn't put up any fight and he kinda treated them as sunglasses.
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First red envelope from Mommy!
February 17, 10
Now that Jamie is 3 and a half years old, Mommy felt that it's time to give him red envelope for Chinese New Year. The amount was B100. When asked what was he going to do with the money, Jamie answered "buy chocolate ice cream, yogurt, milk" in this exact order. How cute is that!!! But the time we got to the store, he forgot what he wanted and wanted to spend all his money on different types of yogurt. He also tried to squeeze some bubble gum and candies in, whatever that was right in front of him at his reachable level but was rejected by Mommy. In the end he bought 2 different types of yogurt and still has B74 left to spend for the next round of shopping. |
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First time in Japan!
April 21, 09
Both parents lived in Japan before but this was the first time for Jamie to go to Japan. We were supposed to go in December but due to airport shutdown, we were forced to cancel. As political unrest continues even during Thailand's New Year Songkran Festival, last week we were lucky enough to have escaped.
Many "first time" took place in Japan but of course the happiest one was to meet Mommy's former host family, the Tachi family. |
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Another exciting "first time" was to accompany Daddy and Mommy to snowboarding trip.
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First time to see snow and ride on sled. |
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First time to sleep on tatami. This was our hotel room during snowboarding trip. It was so small, this was the size of the whole room.
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But even though the room was extremely small, we were very satisfied with the hotel because the young couple who rans this hotel provided excellent service. Mitsumata Lodge which is right in front of Mitsumata ski resort!!! We highly recommend this place.
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First time to the museum of his favorite character Anpanman.
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And many other first times took place during this wonderful exciting trip.
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First day in school!
April 10, 09
April 2, 2009. Waited anxiously for motorcycle taxi to get to school on time by 9am. |
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Arrived at school, wondering what will happen. During the ride mommy sits in the back. |
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First agenda in school: assembly. All kids got together and warmed up with songs and dances. Jamie was surprisingly nervous. He didn't feel comfortable on stage. Just kept watching quietly from off stage. |
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After assembly, kids went to their own classes. Jamie was registered for nursery but when he showed up he was given the ID card for K1 which is 1st year of kindergarten. But K1's age range is from 3-4 years old. So why was Jamie put in K1?! Only the school knows!!
Anyway, Jamie was much more relaxed by snack time. He started conversation with teachers around him.
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And he was very happy when he got to line up like this to go to the bathroom together. He preferred to be the last one because he liked to put his hands on others but not having others put their hands on his shoulders.
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Jamie is probably the youngest one in class with most kids being over 1 year older than him. Maybe due to this age difference, Jamie seemed to be the least social. When everyone else followed the teacher's instruction such as to sit on the floor to listen to story reading, he was the only one who sat next to the teacher and did his own things like drawing. |
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When it was time to eat, he was probably the most enthusastic one though. He seemed to be very hungry, ate well, and immediately wanted more.
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For the 1st day, class finished at noon rather than 2:30pm. Mommy stayed with Jamie the whole time but sat far away to observer. Overall he did quite well. He seemed to be enjoying it. By the end, he was this smiley with his name tag for class K1 Love. It was a good start. |
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First roller coaster!
March 28, 09
Last Sunday we went to a famous zoo in Bangkok called the Dusit Zoo. We were expecting to see a lot of animals but instead, there were very few animals but a lot of facilities for kids to play. There was a small scale roller coaster but still it would be too advance for Jamie. But we saw a lot of small kids around Jamie's age also getting on. We wanted Jamie to get on too but were not sure if Jamie was allowed and if he was ready. We let him observe first and let him decide. He went for it! And they let him on! Another amazing experience in Thailand. Daddy Steve insisted on taking photos during the ride because this is probably the only place where a small kid like Jamie could get on a roller coaster that scale and would let us take photos! And we adults could get on together too!!
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The roller coaster was going for 3 rounds in total. Jamie was ok when the roller coaster was going flat or up. But when he experienced the first fall, he started to realize, this might be too much for him to handle. When he was still contemplating what was that fall about, we arrived at the falling point for the second round. This time he knew he should be afraid. And by now he knew he would have to experience the fall again if we don't get off that thing. What really pushed his fear further was that, right after the relatively sharp fall, there was a sharp turn that leaned to his side. He must have felt like things were out of control and he was about to fall off.
He started to express his desire to get off. But we tried to calm him down and let him know it'd be over before he know it.
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But, after we safely got off the ride, he didn't want to leave, he wanted more. That was so kid!!
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So we were wondering if we should let him go again. What if he got more scared this time?...So again we let him decide. He went for it again.
This time, he anticipated fear. Before the first round even finished, he was asking to get off. And when we were about to fall, he put his head down so he didn't have to see outside. It was funny to watch but it was scary at the same time. His face was pale. What if he got too scared and end up fainting...
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But somehow he was ok till the end. But this was his pale face by the time we got off. Poor Jamie. But he was ok right after. It was a special experience for all 3 of us.
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First sunglasses!
February 22, 09
Jamie has mommy's nose.
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First own rental bike!
February 22, 09
Yesterday Jamie got his first rental bike but he couldn't figure out how to ride so we had to pull him with a leash.
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First hair cut!
December 13, 08
On December 2, Jamie had his first hair cut ever! Yes, he went on for 27 months without having his hair cut at all. Why? Mainly because 1. Jamie was born basically completely bald so hair is very precious for him 2. His curls were too cute to be cut, not knowing if curls will still grow or he will have only straight hair. But his hair was getting to the point that it made him look like a crazy guy and the hair quality was getting worse. Check out these BEFORE photos. First, the front.
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And these are the AFTER photos. This photo is not too clear to see his hair cut but in person, he was sooooo adorable after the hair cut. Many say he looks even more like a girl now.
Mommy is proud to be the one to carry out this important FIRST. It was surprisingly easy with the help of Babysitter Pong occupying him with on-going conversation. He didn't resist and maybe he didn't even notice. The more difficult thing was to find the cutting scissor. It's not being sold in most places, not even in huge hypermarket. In the end mommy still couldn't get one so just bought one that helps to thin hair but it worked out perfectly.
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The back. He still got cute curls left. This is so much more clean cut and refreshing. Didn't know he could get even more handsome than he was. :) By the way, recently when daddy say "handsome", Jamie would complete the sentence by saying "handsome boy" to refer to himself. He picked up this term because daddy compliments him all the time.
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First pony ride!
November 29, 2008
Having heard from a friend that her school took a field trip to this farm, we were excited to see it for ourselves. But we were quite disappointed. We imagined a huge grass farm with animals running around freely. But when we were there after a 2-hour long drive, first we were told the place was full. But in the end she managed to get us in. Next we realized the farm can only been seen thru a tour which is structured and involved a lot of video viewing. We were there for the nature, not for videos that we can watch at home! But it was all worth it in the end when Jamie got his first pony ride! We didn't think he would have the gut to do it but he did! With a cowboy along side. He looked so cute! We ended the day with delicious steak dinner. Sorry cows! Please see more photos from this link. http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=heta005.4drr5yy1&x=0&y=fffbng&localeid=en_US |
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First pee pee in potty trainer!
November 29, 2008
We have been not putting diaper on Jamie when he's at home or in the neighborhood for weeks. Last Saturday he finally did his first pee pee by himself there! Daddy and mommy were in the master bathroom. Jamie came and said "pee pee". We thought he wanted to tell us he was going to pee so we walked him to the potty trainer. And we discovered the pee was already there! So proud! But now we got a problem. When we find pee in the house, we have to guess it is from Yo or Jamie.
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First "dad" & "mom"!
February 20, 08
Sometime between Jamie's 17th and 18th month, suddenly he was able to intentionally call the right persons "dad" and "mom". He had been using the sound "mom" to represent other things such as food before but now when he says mom he really means his mother. According to Babysitter Pong, Jamie calls out dad & mom through out the day too. Does it mean he misses us??? :)
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First Thai words!
January 25, 08
Jamie finally spoke his first Thai words which are "nam" meaning "water" and "au" which means "want". He's also been adding more English words to his vocabulary. His favorite word now is "moon" but he pronounces it as "noon". He loves going outside at night to see the moon. He can recognize sun and moon from books. When he sees them, he points out to the sky and smiles. He also likes to say "mum" which Mommy Joey falsely assumed he was calling her but was later pointed out by both Daddy Steve and Babysitter Pong that Jamie says "mom" when he wants food and for other objects as well. It's interesting how in many languages such as Chinese, Japanese and Thai, the sound "mum" mean food for babies. It must be one of the easier sound for babies to make no matter which origin the baby is from. And since mother's breast milk is the 1st source of food for a baby, maybe that's why the sound for food and mother is the same = mum.
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First at driver's seat!
December 2, 07
At the 2007 Thailand Motor Exhibition, Jamie had his first experience at the driver's seat. He got a good grip of the wheel but he couldn't even see the front, haha!
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First word!
November 17, 07
Jamie spoke his first word today and it was "can or cannot?" in Cantonese! It was lyric from a Cantonese kid song that Mommy Joey often plays for Jamie. Out of all the languages Jamie is exposed to everyday including Thai, English, Japanese etc, Cantonese became the winner! Of course he doesn't know the meaning yet but this is the first phrase he spoke consciously for the sound of it. He was so proud and had so much fun repeating it!
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First Halloween party!
October 31, 07
There had been postings for a while already about tonight's Halloween party at our serviced apartment game room but Mommy Joey didn't know there was a deadline to signing up and by the time she called the party committee last night, it was already too late to sign up for the trick or treat part. Over 40 kids would be going on the trick or treat trip. Anything more than that would be out of control for the adult guardians. Luckily it wasn't too late to sign up for the post trick or treat party. The instruction from the committee was "just dress scary." Hmm...that might be difficult considering that Jamie didn't have any Halloween outfit. But he has Tigger, reindeer and snowman costumes. He wore Tigger last year and the outfit's probably too small for him this year, if possible, Mommy Joey wanted Jamie to wear the reindeer or snowman. But these costumes are thick and for winter. Bangkok's winter is usually so warm that it doesn't qualified to be called winter so what should Jamie wear?! But then miracle happened. The temperature on Halloween dropped dramatically from the previous days making it reasonable for Jamie to wear the thick costumes. The reindeer costume is bigger than the snowman costume but Jamie may outgrow it by next year's Halloween. Meanwhile, if Jamie didn't wear snowman this year, he'll definitely outgrow it soon. So in the end in order not to waste the costumes, Jamie took turns to wear both. First it was the reindeer outfit but he hates having anything on his head so at first he was very bothered by the hood. |
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But then he got used to it very quickly and calmed down. Yo was hot dog again this year because he had nothing else to wear :).
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Suddenly there were 2 crawling animals in the house with one having a bottle attached to his mouth.
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Later on for the party he was changed to the snowman outfit.
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There were lots of people in the party mostly kids. It's amazing how well know Jamie is in this serviced apartment. As he walked by, everyone including the tenants and staff called out his name.
Jamie sat among the kid crowd who were watching a movie but Jamie was into his own world.
He was ok most of the time but he cried when he saw a guy who dressed as a butcher.
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Here was Jamie with our neighbor pumpkin Oshin. Jamie went around with this basket collecting candies and he either threw them all out or tried to eat them all with the wrappings on.
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First own shopping cart!
September 22, 07
Jamie had shopped with us many times and had sat in or pushed regular size shopping carts but today he had his own mini shopping cart. With his reckless driving, of course he needed constant support to prevent him from knocking things off the shelves.
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First going under water!
July 21, 2007
We have always wanted to let Jamie go under water but we were afraid of all kinds of problems as you can imagine. We asked around alot, even thought about taking him to swimming classes. But finally we decided to let him do it, mainly because we talked to a life guard friend and she said it's not as much of a big deal as it sounds and Mommy Joey also learned the technique to do it from a coworker.
According to this coworker, the technique is to hold the baby's chest under his armpits and hold him alongside so that he has the freedom to paddle and kick. Next, tell him he'll be going under water and say 1, 2 and 3 and let him go under and come up, holding on to his body the whole time. Do this for only 3 to 4 times max per swimming.
So we tried as her advice. Daddy Steve held Jamie and Mommy Joey watched under watch with her goggles. Then it came the big moment we had all been waiting for. Jamie went under water with his eyes and mouth wide open with amazement. But when he was pulled out of the water he looked more shocked. He was probably trying to figure out what just happened. He blinked his eyes and coughed a few times and soon he got back to his paddling and kicking mode. He wasn't bothered by the under water experience. Great success!
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First game arcade ride!
July 1, 2007
This took place during his first visit to the zoo. Usually Jamie doesn't like to sit still but he likes this musical rocky ride. He's a kid afterall.
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First time in Yo's cage!
June 16, 2007
With Jamie's crawling mobility now, he's all over the place. Mommy Joey found it funny he was in Yo's cage (definitely not when Yo is around the cage though because Yo may see it as intruding his territory and may snap at Jamie) but Daddy Steve found it disgusting and commanded him to be off the cage right away. So this was probably the first and last time Jamie is in Yo's cage.
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First sippy cup!
March 17, 2007
First taste from a sippy cup given by Grandma Tonna. The water got all over his chest. It will take a while before Jamie can master this cup but he soon picked up the connection that if he pours slowly, the water will less likely to flood out. What a smart boy!
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First sitting unsupported!
March 9, 2007
After many practices in his stroller, Jamie sat on the floor unsupported facing one of his favorite dolls!
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First high chair!
February 21, 2007
Mommy Joey came late to lunch and found Jamie sitting by himself on a high chair provided by the resturant. He turned this into an even more difficult task by holding his own bottle too which he has been doing for a while already.
Actually, he got his own high chair in Bangkok but it's been sitting at home unassembled for months already.
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First sitting up!
February 17, 2007
Last night when being placed in a sitting position, Jamie sat up alone without help although the period was very short. Suddenly today he challenged himself by sitting up from his stroller. Even when the stroller moved, he held on to the sides to stay up. He seemed very proud of his achievement.
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First walker!
January 14, 2007
Technically speaking Jamie had tried other walkers before in stores or in a friend's house. But to have his own this was the first.
Many sources recommend Exersaucer instead of walker, in which a baby stays in the same spot but can rotate within the saucer to play with different toys. But it's 10 times more expensive than a walker! So we figured with constant supervision and inexcessive use, a walker will do too.
Put Jamie in the walker and he knows exactly where to go. He heads straight to Yo's cage or follows Yo if Yo is outside of the cage. Poor Yo has to be alert all the time to avoid being ran over. No wonder many dogs are afraid of little kids.
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First teeth brushing!
January 8, 2007
With teeth comes teeth brushing. Maybe the rubbing served as massage for his gum, Jamie enjoyed his brushing.
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First solid food!
January 6, 2007
With his first teeth coming out and always wanting more milk, we decided it was time for Jamie to try his first solid food. We followed the pediatrician's instruction carefully. We cooked some rice, mixed it with warm formula milk, smashed it, and there it was his first rice cereal.
Before the feeding, we put on his frog bib that had waited for its debut even before he was born. Jamie seemed excited without knowing what was about to happen.
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At first daddy tried to feed him alone. But Jamie fought back hard and was annoyed by this new substance that was put in his mouth, just like how he reacted to his first formula milk. It became difficult to have to hold the struggling Jamie and the liquid-filled spoon at the same time. Mommy jumped in to help to hold Jamie while daddy concentrated on the feeding.
Jamie finished eating 1 spoonful and that was the end of his first rice cereal. If his body takes it well, we'll continue feeding him rice cereal for several more times before introducing another type of food.
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First trip to HK!
January 4, 2007
Jamie had many of his firsts during this trip.
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First airline!
For a long time daddy and mommy had been debating which airline to take for Jamie's 1st flying trip. Should we go with the major and expensive national airline Thai Airways or the minor and inexpensive unknown Gulf Air? It's hard to imagine how an airline treat passengers with babies until you have actually experienced one. So without any experience, we couldn't tell which airline could offer better service and thus we decided to go with the less expensive one.
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First flight!
Gulf Air has a service called Sky Nanny. With no extra charge, the Sky Nanny helps out passengers with children during the flight. It's a wonderful service. Before the plane took off, the Sky Nanny came and attached an infant seatbelt to daddy's seatbelt. Daddy sat at the window seat so that Jamie could enjoy the view during take-off but even with loud engine running and the plane moving, Jamie didn't seem to notice anything.
During take-off, daddy fed Jamie as it would help easing the pressure in his ears. It also helped to put him to sleep. After take-off, the Sky Nanny came again to install the bassinet. Jamie fit perfectly in the bassinet and it was neatly placed right in front of our seats.
With an under 3-hours flight, the meals came soon after take-off. There was not much space to eat with a bassinet right in front of us and Jamie moving around, so we took turn to eat. After playing for quite a while, Jamie finally went to sleep and we were able to enjoy a little bit of quiet time before the plane landed in Hong Kong. Jamie didn't cry through out the flight and the flight experience turned out to be quite pleasant.
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First teeth!
On the day we flew to Hong Kong, mommy noticed 2 little white teeth coming out from Jamie's gum!! We couldn't believe how early these teeth were coming out and nobody else really believed us either unless they saw it for themselves. Wow! This boy grows so fast.
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First wedding to attend!
Second day after we arrived in Hong Kong was mommy's good friend Maggie's wedding. She was married to Ming thus the sign of "M&M" was everywhere in their wedding. Besides being able to attend such a sweet wedding, Jamie got to meet many of mommy's old friends from school, some she has known for more than 20 years.
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First new year's eve!
It was nice to be able to enjoy the beautiful sunset of Hong Kong on Jamie's first New Year's Eve. But it was also this same evening that bombings took place in Bangkok. We saw the news during dinner and it came at absolute shock. It is a shame that something so terrible happened to the usually peaceful and relaxing Bangkok.
That night daddy and mommy stayed home and spent count down with mommy's family while Jamie slept through the arrival of a new year.
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First new year!
On the first day of 2007, we visited mommy's good friend Susan's house. We already met on Maggie's wedding but hadn't met the new addition to her family yet, Hayden who is only 2 months younger than Jamie. It was an interesting experience to see what a family with 5 kids is really like. Jamie also got a rare chance to play with other children.
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First party!
Another big event during this trip was Jamie and Uncle Bobby's party. Grandpa Ben and Grandma Eva held a banquet to celebrate Uncle Bobby's birthday and Jamie's birth. Usually people in Hong Kong hold banquets for babies when they are 1-month old but since Jamie didn't get a chance when he was younger, he got his party when he was almost 5-months old.
Jamie was very active and social in the party. We played games with guests, asking guests to guess his weight and head circumference. He was passed around from guest to guest for hint of his weight but he didn't seem to mind at all.
For other babies too, maybe it's a good idea to throw this type of party when the baby is "old" enough to interact with guests rather than rushing it at 1-month old time.
A special thanks to Grandpa Ben and Grandma Eva for throwing the party and Uncle Sam for all his effort to create the wonderful slideshow that highlighted special moments from Jamie's birth to now.
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Although 6 days is usually not a short time for a trip, the time we spent in Hong Kong went by really quickly. With the experience of previous flight, we knew better of what to expect and wasn't too worried about it. Again, Jamie didn't cry but didn't sleep either. We played through out the flight. We were very impressed with Gulf Air. Everything from check-in to flying was smooth. The service was personal and the price was very reasonable. We'll definitely want to fly with Gulf Air again in the future. To see more photos from this trip, please click the following link. http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0EauWbNm4bsXIQ
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First encounter with a Golden Retriever!
Decemeber 24, 2006
Recently Jamie has been fascinated by Yo. His eyes follow Yo’s movement and he often bursts into belly laughs when observing Yo. So it was no surprise when his face lighted up when he saw a beautiful Gold Retriever in a doggy pool. |
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First Dim Sum lunch!
December 10, 2006
Hong Kong-nese love dim sum. Grandpa Ben and Grandma Eva have dim sum for lunch everyday and never seem to get tired of it. Mom loves it too. As a half Hong Kong-nese, today Jamie got a sense of how a dim sum lunch is like. Pretty soon he’ll be able to experience the authentic dim sum lunch, probably everyday during the coming Hong Kong trip. Here he was learning how to use the chopsticks, which is essential skill as a Chinese. |
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First water!
November 24, 2006
Babysitter Pong had to take afternoon off to run some errands. Her subsititue Gai (which means chicken in Thai) was sent to take care of Jamie from the nursery. Being used to having Pong around who basically takes care Jamie the way daddy and mommy prefer, mommy was not used to getting "surprise" after a long work day. But today mommy came home and was shocked to find water in Jamie's bottle, which should have nothing but formula milk.
Mommy was shocked because first of all, giving water to young infants is not a good idea as it messes their sodium level. Second, mommy or daddy should be the one to experience this special "first" moment, not some substitute babysitter!!
Babysitter Gai explained that she fed Jamie water because he seemed hot and couldn't stop crying. Plus, she didn't know he had never had water before. But later on babysitter Pong claimed that she had told Gai beforehand about this info. Whom should mommy believe?!
Since Jamie strongly rejected his milk bottle in the beginning, mommy thought he'd reject water as well. But according to Gai, Jamie drank it right away and stopped crying as well. Ahh!! But the point is, it doesn't matter if Jamie liked the water or not, mommy wanted to be there to witness and experience that special moment with him, not to hear from someone else! And mommy learned an important lesson that when it comes to having someone else take care of your baby, it's not only what to do that matters, what not to do is as important.
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First grasp of toy!
November 20, 2006
In the past few days Jamie started to hold his spit-up towel tightly in his little fist but today was the first time he held on to a toy. He held on to the ring and pulled the ball to his mouth. This is a great milestone because from now on he'll be able to entertain himself for longer period and what does it mean when he's occupied? Daddy and mommy get more free time! :)
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First trip!
November 20, 2006
This past weekend Jamie had his first trip. The destination was Pattaya which is located about 130 km south and an 1.5 hour drive from Bangkok. Daddy had a workshop to attend so mommy and Jamie tagged along.
The hotel was so much more than we could ask for. Our room was literally right in front of a swimming pool. We could get in and out of the pool from our balcony! Jamie was fascinated by the new surrounding but at the same time tired from all the activities. He couldn't fall asleep so he let his anger out by being fussy and difficult. But when daddy came "home" he was happy again and ready to explore more.
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We ate seafood on the beach. This was the first time for Jamie to be on a beach too. He mingled with the Thai ladies and enjoyed the sound and movement of wave. We expect him to be a great surfer when he grows up.
After hanging out on the beach for a while, we headed to another restaurant for more food. In the restaurant we met another family whose baby looked just like Jamie! But he was smaller than Jamie even though he is 3 months older. Speaking of size, we take it for granted now that no matter where we go, people are always surprised that Jamie is only 3 months old.
After dinner, we walked along the beach where many shops are located. The night ended with us being in our balcony viewing big scale firework that took place on the hotel's private beach. We had never seen big scale firework in such a close distance.
Next day while daddy was at work, mommy ordered a babysitter from the hotel to watch Jamie while mommy swims nearby. But it didn't work out. Jamie was very fussy and at the same time the babysitter wasn't trying hard to calm him down either. In the end mommy had to keep going back to the room to check on them. Now mommy knows she can't just hand her baby over to someone else and expect them to be able to take care of him right away. She also realized what a good job babysitter Pong does and learned to appreciate her even more.
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After daddy finished work in the morning, we spent some more time on the beach and swimming pool. A few hours later it was time to head back to Bangkok to pick up Yo from the dog hotel.
This trip gave us some ideas on what to expect when Jamie goes on his first international travel to Hong Kong next month. |
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First passport!
November 1, 2006
Jamie got his first passport, the US one. He's ready to travel! The plan for his first international trip is to visit mommy's hometown Hong Kong along with daddy during year's end to attend mommy's good friend Maggie's wedding and to spend New Year's with family and friends. During the stay in Hong Kong, Jamie will also apply for the Hong Kong identity card and passport.
His passport photo was taken in the hospital 3 days after birth. He looked so different from now!
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First time to swim!
October 23, 2006
Jamie has been hanging out by the pool with daddy and mommy everyday in this long weekend. But the closest contact with the pool remained sticking his legs into the water until we encountered a 5-months old girl in her floatie and swimming cap. She looked so cute in the water! Maybe her mother caught us admiring her little girl, she offered her floatie to Jamie. That same afternoon we rushed to the department store to get Jamie's swimming pants. And today he was in the water!
Mommy remembered learning from Discovery channel that infants can naturally hold their breath under water but daddy was not so sure. Mommy even had her under water camera ready to capture that under water moment but eventually figured it was too risky to try without further research.
Jamie seemed to enjoy the "swimming" experience. Somebody offered him a kick board this time and he rode it like he was boogie boarding. |
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First time to go out with mommy alone!
October 19, 2006
After more than 2 months, mommy finally had the courage to take Jamie out alone. Well, actually mommy had to because Yo's food was running out. It took more than 4 hours to get ready and mommy didn't have the first bite of food until 4 pm.
Mommy took Jamie to the supermarket in his stroller just to realize that with a stroller mommy couldn't push a shopping cart at the same time. So, mommy had to give up buying a whole bunch of stuff and sticked to buying just Yo's food. But still mommy and Jamie had fun shopping in the baby goods area.
After shopping, mommy was desperate to go to the bathroom but nope, the stroller didn't fit in the regular bathroom. So mommy and Jamie went to the handicap bathroom with people around seemed to be thinking "she doesn't look like one".
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First formula milk!
October 14, 2006
As breast milk is the healthiest choice of food for Jamie, mommy tried to breastfeed as long as possible. But as mommy’s maternity leave is approaching the end and she won’t be able to pump at work, she made the decision to wean Jamie to formula milk in the following days bit by bit starting from today.
As not feeling his original food source-mommy would help to minimize baby’s resistance to his first formula milk, daddy took the honor to do the first feeding. Jamie was cranky and refusing the bottle in the beginning. He seemed to be yelling “this is not my mom. I want her back!!” Mommy sat far from the two quietly watching. She wanted to just take over and let him know she didn’t abandon him but she had to stay quiet. It was also a strange feeling for mommy to watch Jamie take food from another source, from a totally different angle.
After about a 15 minutes resistance, walking around finally calmed him down and he was willing to take his milk slowly. After another 25 minutes, Jamie finished a 5-ounces bottle of formula milk, the maximum amount his pediatrician allows him to drink per feeding. He seemed very satisfied. What a relief! But a feeding is not complete without a spit up session. This time about an ounce and a half ended up on daddy’s shorts.
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First time to be secured in a car seat!
September 3, 2006
The law on car seat usage on children in Thailand is not clear but seeing how many Thais carry their babies in motorcycles in bear arms, it's probably safe to say that car seats are not required in this country. But it doesn't mean daddy and mommy don't want Jamie to be in one.
Among all the things that need to be bought for a baby, car seat is probably one of the most difficult things to decide. There are so many different types of car seat out there and they all have different pros and cons.
For Jamie, daddy and mommy decided to go with the infant-toddler convertible seat that can be used up to 4 years old.
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First time to go out with daddy alone!
September 2, 2006
Some friends were coming over for dinner so daddy had to head out to the supermarket to shop for food. Meanwhile, mommy had to take Yo to the vet for his skin infection. Daddy was worried because he got no milk but fortunately Jamie slept through the whole trip.
Jamie looked so small in the carrier it's hard to believe one day he'll probably outgrow his daddy.
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First time to go out in a stroller!
August 23, 2006
Today mom took Jamie and Yo out for a walk in the neighborhood in his brand new stroller. Jamie behaved very well the whole time. Sometimes he stared at the inside of the stroller. Sometimes he slept. The road was bumpy and there were many curbs mom had to overcome but she handled it well because the stroller is very light and easy to handle. This stroller was a really good deal because mom was able to bargain for a further 10% discount after an already affordable price at the Siam Paragon Department Store. Who would have thought that you can bargain in a department store! Well, this is the charming point of Thailand. Anyway, back to the walk. Yo was also cooperating. He walked calmly next to the stroller throughout the whole walk. Well done!
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First time to be home!
August 15, 2006
Tonight is the night to go home from the hospital. Jamie was hungry right from the start but mommy was hoping that the car motion would calm him down from crying because she's heard many times that infants like car motion. But nope, it didn't help.
Daddy parked the car in a dark alley so that mommy could try breastfeeding Jamie but that didn't work out either. At this point this new mommy could only breastfeed in a side-lying position. Plus, it wouldn't be a comfortable experience when mom is nervous about someone watching from the dark and worried if this would be another hour long session. It was better to get home first. In the end Jamie continued to cry throughout the whole journey. Once he was home and fed he was a happy baby again.
For this special night, mom has chosen a cute Classic Pooh PJ outfit for Jamie. She had always imagined putting it on Jamie way before he was even born. But she soon realized even though the size is for newborn it's still too big for the already big Jamie and it's too hot for the weather in Bangkok.
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