|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
Sports Day
Feb 5, 2012
In sports day in Thailand, students are separated into different teams by color. Jamie was the sign holder for his team PINK! He was wearing traditional Thai costume.
|
|
***
Here was him competing! We didn't see any medals though. :-)
|
|
Miss you guys!!
December 13, 2011
Tonight Jamie suddenly said "Jamie hasn't seen Grandpa Herbie and Grandma Tonna for long time already. I want to sleep over in their house for one night." Mommy asked "Why?" Jamie said "Because I love them and I haven't seen them for long time." :-)
P.S. Hi from PB too! :-)
|
|
Flood
October 29, 2011
Jamie said today. "Nanny said America is flooded too. Is Grandma Tonna & Grandpa Herbie going to be ok? Are they going to come sleep here? No space so mommy has to sleep on the floor huh?" Since he said that, we keep humming the J.Lo "On The Floor" song whole day. LOL
|
|
Recycle Day
September 28, 2011
Jamie's kindergarten asked us to make clothing or accessory with reusable items for the kids to wear on Recycle Day. We just simply attached 2 plastic bags to his shoulders for him to carry candies in them. :-)
|
|
Monthly Report By Teacher
July 2, 2011
For June 2011. Jamie's teacher wrote "Jamie look like so young in his class some time his friends like to help. He likes to learn English & Science so much...He enjoys outdoor play; football, implant. He is well loved by everyone." LOL
|
|
A day at the zoo with some new friends
June 30, 2011
A friend of mine loves Jamie so much that she wanted to have Jamie for a day. She is one of my (Daddy's) first friends in Thailand. Her and her boyfriend picked him up and took him to the zoo. He was introduced to some new friends closer to his age and immediately hit it off. They had a good time at the zoo. From the pictures we received, we can tell that Jamie is very good at immediately making friends.
|
|
Am I 5 yet?
June 27, 2011
Jamie suddenly asked daddy...
Jamie: Am I 5 yet?
Daddy: Is it August 12 yet?
Jamie: Yes or no?
Then daddy realized why Jamie was asking. Look at the puzzle box! LOL
|
|
Summer vacation in Hong Kong
May 26, 2011
Jamie had summer vacation from March to May. Daddy put him in private swimming classes and Mommy put him in Mandarin classes to occupy his time. But even the Mandarin school went on vacation. And both Daddy & Mommy had business trip plans. So we decided to let Jamie spend his first vacation in Hong Kong without Mommy. He was there for a few weeks. Before he went, he signed a contract agreeing to following basic rules like no hitting, not too much tv etc.
|
|
***
Time flies. A few weeks quickly passed by and he came back taller, more slender and even more fluent in Cantonese.
Thank you Uncle Sam & Auntie Jenny for taking him to HK.
And thank you Grandpa Ben & Grandma Eva for taking him to Bangkok. :>
|
|
Report card
March 17, 2011
Jamie got a D for Thai Reading & Numbers...seriously? 1. His Thai reading is very good. 2. His kindergarten gives out Ds to 4 year old little kid?!
|
|
Graduation concert
March 17, 2011
It's that time of the year again. Graduation ceremony at Jamie's kindergarten. This year Jamie performed the Superhero dance. Can you guess which one was Jamie? Seriously, mommy was disappointed when after anticipating to see Jamie on stage, the kids came out with masks on...
|
|
***
Fortunately the masks were soon taken off. |
|
***
After ceremony and performances, younger children including Jamie cheered for the graduates.
|
|
Zoo with a buddy
February 9, 11
We went to the Pata Zoo with a neighborhood buddy Jamie enjoys hanging out with. On the way there, we looked back and out of nowhere, both of them were already sitting in the trunk! A minute ago they were still sitting properly with seatbelts on. It's interesting what other kids bring out in Jamie.
|
|
***
They both became King Kong.
|
|
***
They both fell into the hand of King Kong.
|
|
***
They went thru the dark tunnel to see nocturnal animals, piggyback style.
|
|
***
On the way home, we ate Northeastern cusine. Yummy~~
|
|
Thai dance
December 30, 10
|
|
Xmas
Dec 30, 10
On Xmas, we ate at a restaurant with live band. When the singer asked "any request?", Jamie shouted "A B C D E F G ..." Haha. Later on, the singer invited Jamie up to the stage to sing Jingle Bell. But all he knew was the phrase Jingle Bell...
|
|
Girl friends' birthday parties
Dec 13, 2010
There have been 4 different girl friends' birthday parties recently with 3 in a row in this past weekend!
First was Kimmy's 5 year old party at her residence club house.
|
|
***
Enjoyed some puppet shows.
|
|
***
In the party he played games.
|
|
***
As usual, he's always one of the first to lose.
|
|
***
But luckily his bigger friends always try to help him out.
|
|
***
When the cake came out, all the kids were fighting over which character to eat. It was chaotic and funny.
|
|
***
Next was Michelle's 4 year old birthday party @ Hard Rock Cafe.
|
|
***
Again played game and lost quickly. :>
|
|
***
Funny the same kind of cake came out again! It must be popular nowadays. Kids reacted the same way, everyone tried to fight over eating which character.
|
|
***
Jamie got this blow toy as a souvenir.
|
|
***
Next day was Lyla's 5 year old birthday party @ Charl E Chang, an indoor play facility.
|
|
***
While everyone was playing on this big slide, Jamie was too scared to even get close.
|
|
***
Played musical chair and quickly lost. :>
|
|
***
Finally a different kind of cake! But he got a blow toy as souvenir again.
|
|
***
The next party was Pari's 1 year old birthday celebration @ her home. She's our neighbor's niece. She's half Indian half Chinese. Looks a bit like mommy when she was a baby. ^^
|
|
***
Maybe it was an Indian custom. They cut off a tiny piece from the cake and passed around for family members to share some bites. Jamie, not a family member but was standing so close he was able to get a bite haha.
Once again he got a blow toy as souvenir. ^^
|
|
The importance of health
November 23, 2010
From Sunday, Jamie's health suddenly deteroriated. He threw up everything he ate, even after taking medicine the doctor prescribed him. So finally in early morning on Monday, daddy had to take Jamie to emergency and be admitted to the hospital. :<
|
|
***
At first we thought it might be food poisoning. But turned out it was some kind of virus infection in his stomach. Jamie is such a happy good boy though, that even under such difficult times, he was in good mood basically all the time. This morning he showed clear sign of improvement and woke up being hungry, which was a good sign. So in the afternoon, he was released and now he stays home to rest. Health, we should not take it for granted.
|
|
Bad hair
November 1, 2010
On the way to Jamie's school, mommy asked if he has brushed his hair. Jamie answered "yes, I brushed in North Carolina already". :$ |
|
Mini Me
October 24, 2010
Identifical! Taken in Sep. Note how Jamie pointed the finger to his nose, not his mouth. ^^
|
|
Water sliding
August 26, 10
One good thing about having a big front or backyard is you could do this! |
|
***
Daddy too?!...when 3 kids were waiting in line...
|
|
Pool
August 26, 10
Good that Grandpa Herbie has a pool table in his house! So that Jamie could learn numbers and colors! :P
|
|
Funny episodes
July 14, 10
1. The other day mommy pointed "Jamie Klistoff Warren" to Jamie and asked him to read it. Mommy thought Jamie would read his name. Instead, he started spelling "J-a-m as in Jamie" hahahaha. Yes, if you ask him, "J" is for Jamie and "M" is for mommy. :)
2. Jamie met an American boy. The boy asked Jamie his name. Jamie answered "my name is Jamie. Jamie go to North Carolina to see Grandma Tonna and Grandpa Herbie." The boy said "what did you say?" By this time, mommy was thinking "oh no, Jamie's English is really not understandable by American kids...he's gonna have a hard time in the States..." The boy asked again "what's your grandpa's name again?" Mommy answered for Jamie "Grandpa Herbie". The boy said "oh, cuz my grandpa is Herb!" Oh! So actually he understood Jamie perfectly!
|
|
Bye to swimming class
July 3, 10
This term felt very short. Probably because it was interrupted by several cancelled classes due to political unrest. Had no idea this class from last weekend was already the final class for this term.
|
|
***
We'll miss you Teacher Tom!!
|
|
Rain coat
July 3, 10
Cannot deny the big size of Jamie's head. The rain coat fits his body so well but the head...barely.
|
|
Daddy's origin
July 3, 10
Now I know why many people think daddy is from Germany...Klose from Germany national football team.
|
|
Many different looks
June 19, 10
Jamie's hair is getting long...wondering should cut it or not. Well, the benefit of having long hair is, we can style it in many ways...
|
|
***
...but it could get so messy...although he's still cute. :>
|
|
Get ready for World Cup 2010
June 13, 10
|
|
Neighborhood gang
May 27, 10
Schools around our area already opened but Jamie's school which is close to business district won't open until next Monday, which is 2 weeks later than original schedule.
|
|
***
When being asked for their age, young Thai kids often answer with don't know. It's not clear Jamie is older or they are...
|
|
Artist
May 21, 10
With tense situation in Bangkok, Jamie's summer course at kindergarten was cut short. With the free time, we put him in art class. We just wanted him to have some simulation. We weren't expecting any outstanding art work. But Jamie came home from his trial class with this piece of work. It's not just a drawing. It's a 3D piece of art work! We were so impressed. We immediately signed him up for more classes.
|
|
***
And they only got better and better...So far this one is definitely mommy's favorite. It's so creative.
|
|
***
This is another piece of creative work.
|
|
***
Jamie proudly displaying his work.
|
|
***
This was a cabinet (or a fridge?). He picked up his favorite item carrot.
|
|
Graduation concert
March 29, 10
At the beginning of this month, Jamie's kindergarten held a graduation concert for its K3 students who were moving onto elementary school. All students had to perform and we knew Jamie had to too but had no idea what he had to do.
That morning we arrived at his kindergarten at 7:30am as instructed but ended up waiting for 1.5 hour before the ceremony began. Jamie spent most of the waiting time in the playground.
|
|
***
Finally the ceremony began. There were over 10 shows on the agenda. From Jamie's class "Love", there were 2 shows. We weren't sure if he was going to do both or just 1 but Jamie's classmate Mickey's father who sat nearby us, told us Mickey and Jamie would be performing "The Sticky Rice Kid" show. That explained why Jamie likes sticky rice, a classic Thai dish so much! But still we didn't know if it was going to be a song, a dance or a play.
Finally his show came up. He slowly walked up to the stage with his classmates. He looked very excited to be on stage. His outfit was so cute! |
|
***
As soon as the music started, he was very into the dance. For most of the time he looked at someone in front of the stage probably for guidance. For the rest of the time, he smiled at Mommy Joey for acknowledgement. :)
|
|
***
The dance was so cute we didn't want it to end. But the real climax was actually this last move. He was soooo cute!!! It was worth the wait. He and Mickey were the only boys in this dance.
|
|
***
Jamie finished the dance with such satisfactory smile.
|
|
***
This day was also the last day for their principal who was going back to England. Each kid presented her a rose.
|
|
***
Here's a cool shot of Jamie with his close friends from his class. The other boys who wore a different outfit performed another dance with a Korean pop song. Although they looked very cute in their dance as well, we were happy Jamie got to perform in the Thai style.
|
|
***
We'll miss you Principal!!
|
|
Tai Kwan Do
March 26, 10
There's a Tai Kwan Do place in our neighborhood. We used to hang out there a lot. Kids have to be 4 years old to join so Jamie is still too young. But the trainer Mike is always kind to Jamie and let him play a bit. |
|
***
For a moment it looked he could follow instructions. |
|
***
But that wouldn't last long. In less than minutes, he'd start to do his own things. So he is too young to do Tai Kwan Do.
|
|
With friends
March 26, 10
Here with Alex, the youngest boy from a very lovely Dutch family who lives on our street.
|
|
***
Jamie watched Alex played the Guitar Hero. We always think Alex is handsome and looks like Ralph Lauren models.
|
|
***
Here with Natalie, elder sister of swimming classmate Carl.
|
|
***
Her father is Australian and mother is Thai. |
|
***
Not only she's beautiful, she takes good care of Jamie.
|
|
Crazy dance moves
March 24, 10
Jamie was trying on different sunglasses at a hypermarket. When he put on sunglasses and heard upbeat music, he suddenly turned into a wild dancer. Hilarious!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2tBMNn_ObI |
|
Facial expressions
March 24, 10
Jamie's facial expressions are always fasinating.
|
|
***
It gets better and better.
|
|
Linguistic
March 24, 10
Jamie is truly into studying languages. Even when we were at the dog park, he concentrated on his study.
|
|
***
He was writing "car" in Chinese. The shop owner is always very interested when Jamie studies Chinese because he can speak some Mandarin.
|
|
Favorite activity
March 24, 10
Jamie's favorite activity now is slide. If you ask him what does he want to do, he always says "slide". |
|
KFC presenter
March 24, 10
Doesn't Jamie look a bit like this KFC presenter? A tiny bit. People who walked by thought so.
|
|
With Andy
March 24, 10
Andy is one of the most famous persons on our street. He's very talkative with everyone. Kinda like the Indian version of Daddy Steve?!
|
|
***
Here with Andy's mom.
|
|
Big sunglasses
March 24, 10
How do I look in mommy's sunglasses?
|
|
Aspired to be a local driver
March 24, 10
Maybe it's just a boy's thing. Or maybe it's a Thai thing. Jamie loves local transportations like Tuk Tuk and motorcycle taxi.
|
|
***
Oh! He got a passenger!
|
|
***
Looking good in a motorcycle.
|
|
***
Even on a real motorcycle, he likes to sit in the front.
|
|
Girl look?
February 17, 10
My swimming buddy Carl's mom said I look like a girl when I put my hair up. Do I?
|
|
Preparing for exam
February 10, 10
This morning Jamie's homeroom teacher told Mommy Joey next week is exam week for Jamie. He's doing ok in English but when it comes to numbers, he can't count from 11 to 20. And when it comes to Thai, he can recognize all the alphabets one by one but can't point out the first alphabet when it comes to a word. Wow, this school is tough! Looks like Jamie may get a C in numbers again! Let's see how much he can pick up in the next few days.
|
|
Non stop coughing
February 10, 10
Jamie's been coughing since Nov 2009. Right, been 4 months already!!! It's never been vigorous, it's just a few cough everyday mostly in the morning. After seeing doctor many times, tried different types of medicine, avoided certain kinds of food/drink and swimming, he still didn't recover. Finally last month after a x-ray check, his pediatrician dignosed him with pneumonia. Yes, shocking to us. But his pediatrician assured us it was still at initial stage and if we take proper medicine, he could recover soon. Well, after 2 weeks of medicine he did get better and his coughing and runny nose finally stopped. Well, stopped for 2 days. After that, in the past week or so, he picked up coughing and runny nose also got worse. So today we went to see another pediatrician. Fortunately, this pediatrican said Jamie's pneumonia is gone as Jamie's lung is clear, has no fever, has good apetite and is active. So what's the cause of all this coughing and runny nose? According to this guy, Jamie is allergic to the changing weather. Never heard of such thing but as long as his pneumonia is gone we're happy. This coughing and runny nose is supposed to recover in 3 to 4 days. Let's see......
|
|
Christmas party at school
January 11, 2010
Jamie's kindergarten invited parents to join their Christmas party last month. We were asked to bring food. Daddy Steve wanted to set some good example by bringing healthy food instead of snack for children. The night before the party, he took the time to make some yogurt salad but when it came to the morning, he wasn't happy with his own creation and ended up buying fresh strawberries off the store. Nice effort though! |
|
***
Not knowing that the children were supposed to wear red for the day, when the children came out to the hall, we were surprised that the school had put on a special outfit for Jamie. Very cute!! But way too exposed for the ridiculously cold air conditioned room.
|
|
***
There were surprise shows too. We had no idea Jamie had been practicing. They had to "dance" to a Christmas song. Other kids were familiar with the moves but Jamie, being the youngest kid in the class, obviously had his eyes fixed at the teacher who was giving out hints for the next moves. :)
|
|
***
It's always cute to see them walking in this train style.
|
|
Amazing under water photos
December 25, 09
Merry Christmas!!! Hope these photos bring some joy to you, wherever you are!
Look how Jamie dived!!!!!!!!!
|
|
***
Smiley photo with Daddy in the water!!!
|
|
***
With Teacher Tom who used to be a under water photographer! |
|
***
With Teacher Tom again.
|
|
***
Jump! It used to be his big fear but now he jumps without being invited!
|
|
***
This is how Teacher Tom encourages the kids to jump.
|
|
Report card
November 21, 09
Here it is. Sorry it took 2 months to put it here.
He got A for most subjects.
We could not and still do not understand how he got an A in Thai writing but B in Thai reading.
This report card also let us know we have to work on his numbers. Funny that Nanny Pong felt the same. She immediately bought him a number learning VCD.
|
|
***
Apparently, his health was better than his learning skill. And his parents have no comment. :)
|
|
With Nanny
Nanny fed naked Jamie dinner right before his bath.
|
|
***
All cleaned up after bath. But Jamie added a sticker to nanny's forehead. |
|
About to cry face
November 21, 09
See photo. We like this face. :) |
|
Different faces
October 27, 09
Jamie doing his different faces again with Yo and Pizza as audiences.
Smiling face.
|
|
More photos from swimming lessons
October 27, 09
Many more photos were found from mommy's mobile phone.
This dolphin shaped "shower" worked like magic. Jamie used to be very afraid of having water on his face during baths too but with a few times playing with this, pouring at each other, he quickly learned the fun of splashing water in his face. Now he even enjoys having his face under water, with a big smile on too.
|
|
***
Look how excited he got going thru the tunnel. This is swimming couch Tom who does an excellent job in making swimming fun with many different games.
|
|
Swimming lessons
September 12, 09
We've always wanted to enroll Jamie in swimming lessons and we finally did. Half hour every Saturday.
|
|
***
For most of the time, Jamie enjoys the lesson. They have many different tools and games.
|
|
***
Boogie boarder in the making!
|
|
Superman
July 28, 09
Posing like a model?
|
|
Back from school
July 28, 09
Right after getting off from school van.
|
|
K1 Jamie
June 19, 09
After we came back from Hawaii, Jamie started his 1st year at kindergarten (K1) at the same school where he took summer course in April. This is him in his uniform before going to school this morning. He absolutely loves school. He loves his homework too. He loves it so much that he wants to do the same homeworks over and over again. Many of his homeworks involve tracing lines to complete words. Because of that, now he's very good at writing line in shape he wants. He also learned how to sing the whole Thai national anthem. Amazing! |
|
Being held up
May 26, 09
Jamie likes to be held up like this. As soon as Daddy and Mommy hold his hands with one on each side, Jamie immediately takes his feet off the ground and stretch his arms like this. We always worry about hurting his joint and try not to do it but it's difficult for others not to give in to his demand.
|
|
***
Same thing to Mommy's friends Zoe and Moses. |
|
Meeting friends in Japan
April 21, 09
|
|
***
Playing with Leah in her house, forcing her to drink his juice.
|
|
***
Kotaro came to the airport to see us off. They immediately acted like buddies.
|
|
***
Kotaro's little brother Kyoushiro was also there but this less than 2 months old baby is still too young to play together.
|
|
Shoe fetish
March 28, 09
Whatever shoes we leave by the entrance, Jamie would just assume they are his toys. Yoko's shoes were no exception. Nice shoes! Glad Jamie didn't break the heels. Nice pose too, Jamie.
|
|
Whose poop?
March 1, 09
We were at the dog park today. While we were engaged in a conversation with somebody, Jamie was standing by himself a few meters away from us. Suddenly we saw that there was poop right by where he stood. Daddy immediately assumed it was dog's poop. But when we asked Jamie whose poop is that, he answered "Jamie". Thinking back on how Jamie has been having difficulty pooping yesterday and today, how he stood still there and not seemed to be doing anything particular, Mommy was quite sure it was Jamie's poop. And it was backed up by evidence of stain on his butt. Yes, it was Jamie's poop! Jamie has never pooped himself like this but he's definitely still trying to figure out how to control his bowel movement at the toilet. He's much more in control with pee pee. Back to tonight, it was funny how his poop went right down his pants without getting stuck, at a place where there was no shortage of suspects.
|
|
Writing/drawing practice
March 1, 09
One of Jamie's favorite activities now: writing/drawing. He likes asking us questions like "want XXX?", meaning if we want him to draw a certain thing. The XXX can be random things from objects to persons. It's also a way for him to show us new words or concepts he learned and what's in his mind. Of course we always answer yes and he'd draw some lines that look nothing like the thing he offers to draw.
|
|
I love HK
February 1, 09
Jamie, proud of being half HKnese.
|
|
Jamie in December 2008
January 20, 08
Photos of Jamie doing different things last month.
Busy reading newspaper when naked.
|
|
***
Smiled for the camera.
|
|
***
Singing as daddy played the guitar.
|
|
***
Solo playing the piano.
|
|
***
Going to the toilet in the potty trainer which is something he doesn't do anymore. He does it in regular toilet bowl now with our help.
|
|
***
Made stressful packing even more difficult.
|
|
***
And the cleaning boy Jamie, wearing mommy's rain boots.
|
|
Singing oldies & counting numbers - a must see!
January 9, 08
My friend video taped this moment of Jamie singing Chinese oldies last week when we visited Hong Kong. But according to her and many other people, Jamie'c Cantonese sounds like Thai!
This is a Hong Kong pop song from the 80s that mommy likes. Mommy sometimes sings this to put Jamie to sleep and eventually he remembered the whole song.
http://hk.youtube.com/watch?v=CPr8ZuqEDyI
This one shows Jamie counting from 1-8, again sounding like Thai even though he was speaking Cantonese. Some people say the lanuage you're most comfortable with in counting numbers is your native language. Since Jamie always starts counting in Thai first, Thai is no doubt his native language.
http://hk.youtube.com/watch?v=54JLeWKqsuc
Thank you Lok for capturing these precious moments!
|
|
Photo taking
November 29, 2008
Before, he wouldn't stand still for photo but now he asks to take photos of him many many times with the same pose. Like this salute pose he just learned recently, he made mommy take this same pose for at least 10 times.
|
|
Kanan's birthday party
November 29, 2008
We are lucky we have very friendly neighbors. They are a family of 4 from India. Last month was the boy Kanan's birthday. On his 6-year-old birthday morning, his mom asked him what he wanted for his birthday. He said he didn't want any things but he wanted to have a party with his friends. Because of this wish, his mom put together a party on that same day, with great decoration and great food! That's mom's love right there. Many kids but with only his mom as the guardian for all kids. Very tough for her but very lucky for the othe parents to have some free time. Only Jamie could get away wearing a shirt with his own face to someone else's birthday party. :)
See more photos from this link.
http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=heta005.bbjb6dt5&x=0&y=2kf80x&localeid=en_US |
|
Number counting
September 6, 08
Mommy said "1 2 3" in Cantonese and surprisingly Jamie responded by saying "1 2 3 4"! Then mommy said "5 6", Jamie said "5 6 7 8"!! In the end he said "9 10" on his own too! Mommy hasn't even taught Jamie the proper way to count and he already picked it up on his own! Don't think he understands the concept of number yet but at least he figured out the sequence of the first 10 already!
|
|
Big lip Jamie
August 14, 08
Jamie fell flat on his face and look at his big upper lip! It happened about 10 days ago. But it recovered super fast. By the next morning he woke up, his lip already returned to normal.
|
|
See Jamie a year ago
August 2, 08
Mommy Joey was organizing files in her laptop and found a folder of photos that were taken by Uncle Bobby during their stay in Thailand a year ago. It's amazing to see how different Jamie was compared to now and Bobby's photos offer another angle of Jamie that's usually not captured by mom's camera. Here are some mommy especially likes...
Jamie always played with the mini store cashier at the serviced apartment we used to live in. |
|
***
This next one looks like it was taken in a studio but it was taken in the hotel lobby we stayed in in Hua Hin.
|
|
***
This one is funny when you see them in sequence. First it looked like everything was fine...
|
|
***
Next Jamie bit Grandpa Ben and Grandpa had funny reaction.
|
|
Cowboy
July 30, 08
Looks like he's going to pull the gun out...Mommy bought this outfit in Taipei. He's becoming less and less like a baby and more and more like a big boy even though he's not even 2 years old yet.
|
|
Favorite food
July 30, 08
His favorite food now is raisin. "Raisin"..."more"...keeping his belly big. How come adult men with big belly doesn't look cute like him?!
|
|
Verbal skill update
May 28, 08
This morning Jamie used 3 words to compile a sentence! He was squatting and he pointed to a black dot on the floor and said in Thai "mosquito", "dirty", "die" as he slapped the floor in attempt to kill the "mosquito". Wow! He knows all these words and actually applied them very well. He also gave an insight into what the babysitter usually says and does.
Although he's always liked to play with mobile phone, he talked back for the first time to the person on the other side of the phone just about 2 weeks ago. He said "daddy" when daddy called.
And although we say "love you" to him all the time, he didn't say it back until this week. It still sounds nothing like it but we know that's what he means.
Some recent favorite terms are "play with water" in Cantonese and "mon" (meaning com'on) in English (he does a hand signal to have people come to him instead him going to them).
|
|
Goodbye to stroller
May 18, 08
Jamie hasn't used his stroller for months already and we can't foresee any occasion where he'll need it anymore because the truth is it's more tiring to carry the stroller than Jamie so we gave it to charity last month.
|
|
Dance moves
May 8, 08
In April Jamie somehow developed a unique dance step similar to break dance routine. He would cross his legs and twist his body to bend down as if he was going to sit on the floor.
|
|
***
But without the butt touching the floor, he would get up to finish his move.
But it was temporary. He hasn't been doing it in May. |
|
Speaking skill
April 6, 08
When Jamie had his doctor check up, his pediatrian asked about his speaking skill and guessed he could probably say about 10-20 words by now but then Mommy Joey realized how many more he's actually been speaking. Mainly they are:
English:
1) dad
2) mom
3) ball
4) please
5) nan (means nanny)
6) boat
7) bird
8) moon
9) Yo
10) sit
11) no
12) night (means good night)
13) nice
14) wood
15) Lila (friends' daugther)
16) bridge
17) hand
18) fish
19) jump
20) dance
21) bot (means bottle)
22) key
23) up
24) down
25) bath
26) kiss
27) hot
28) ouch
Thai:
1) want
2) sleep
3) milk
4) water
5) hold
6) wipe
7) dirty
8) fish
9) Pong (nanny's name)
10) tuk tuk (a type of transportation in Thailand)
11) mouse
12) go
13) baht (Thai currency)
14) turtle
15) bird
16) open
17) airplane
18) finish
Cantonese:
1) please
2) can
3) fish
4) hold
5) sock
6) leg
7) read book
8) what
Japanese:
1) Anpanman (his favorite cartoon character)
Wow! At least 54 words! The pediatrician said Jamie is speaking well for his age especially for boys but if she knew he could speak this much she would have been really impressed. We're surprised because we were worried that his constant exposure to multiple languages would actually slow down his speech development. But it didn't. :) But for some reason he speaks many more English words than Cantonese. Mommy really needs to speak more Cantonese with him.
Nowadays he learns his words really fast. If we say something he inmitates it right away, sometimes in quite funny situation. For example, the other night he was pinching mommy's leg which obviously was not nice, so Daddy Steve seriously scolded Jamie "that's not nice", then Jamie said very happily "NICE!" Yup, that was his new word and he was proud of it. As parents we are supposed to put on this straight face in this type of situation but it's difficult!
Among his favorite words are "want" in Thai and "please" in English. At first it was really cute when he started communicating what he wanted and knew how to ask for it. He couldn't say "please" at first so he said "biz" then he said "bliss" and now he says "b-lease". But as time went by he started to overuse it and sometimes when all he says through out the day are these two words, keeps dragging you to the fridge to open the door for him and keeps asking for milk even though he still has his cup unfinished, it could get quite annoying. |
|
Malaysian prince
March 12, 08
Jamie in an oversized traditional Malaysia costume.
|
|
Walking Yo
February 24, 08
How you walk a dog says a lot about your role for the dog. If you walk behind a dog, he thinks you're the follower. |
|
***
Ideally you should walk a dog like this, with the dog side by side and no pressure on the leash.
|
|
***
This is ideal too when the dog follows you and fixes his attention on you and again with no pressure on the leash.
|
|
***
And when you sit it's ideal that you sit on higher level than the dog so that he knows you're the leader. Good job, Jamie! And Yo!
|
|
Jamie in a basket
February 24, 08
When we went to the store, he put himself into the basket. For sale?
|
|
Little Gym
February 16, 08
There are many classes for little kids and most of our friends engage their kids in such classes but we haven't done so. But to get a peek at how a gym class is like for toddler, we used the free ticket we got from our friends.
Jamie was obviously a little too developed compared to other same aged toddlers in his class. When everyone else was sitting in circle for group activity, he wandered off to do his own thing. Maybe because he was new in class, the instructor was attentive to him.
|
|
***
He looked so happy when he was able to walk on this "thing".
|
|
***
Afterward we took him to have a little ride.
|
|
Naughty climber
February 9, 08
Mommy heard Jamie cry, came out to the living room to find him being stuck like this. He could get up but not get down.
|
|
Strong boy
February 6, 08
Jamie made it look so easy to pick up this tricycle. He picked it up and walked around for many rounds. Not really sure what he was trying to do. Maybe he was just testing his strength.
|
|
Photo pose
February 6, 08
Jamie somehow developed his own photo pose. Look at these photos and you'll see the exact same pose! The funny thing is this happens to be a popular pose for high school girls in Japan too.
|
|
Big boy
January 26, 08
Jamie is truly a big boy for his age. This pajama is a 4-year-old size.
|
|
Switch fetish
January 26, 08
Jamie loves to press switches. TV, light, on, off...It's waste of energy and especially annoying when we try to watch TV.
|
|
Leaving with Babysitter Pong
January 21, 08
Should we be impressed that Jamie likes Babysitter Pong so much that when she leaves, sometimes he runs out with her bag to get ready to leave with her, or should we be alarmed that he rather be with her than with us?!
|
|
Benjamin Franklin
January 20, 08
Do you like my hair style?
|
|
Rice baby
January 1, 08
Hey, I can't get this grain of rice out of my right eye!
|
|
Sweeper
December 29, 07
Jamie loves to sweep the floor. When he sees housekeeper doing it or see the mop on the floor, he'd go grasp it and starts sweeping.
Here we were in the beautiful temple near our apartment, he was also sweeping the floor.
|
|
The 5th word
December 27, 07
This morning Jamie spoke his 5th word! Jamie was pointing out different objects in a book for Mommy Joey to say the name of the object. When Mommy said "horse" in Cantonese, Jamie followed!
|
|
Horrific accident
December 23, 07
Probably a very common behavior of someone his age, Jamie always likes to stick his fingers into door gaps. As soon as he developed that behavior, we've been trying to be careful of both gaps when opening and closing doors. Mommy Joey still remembers how horrific it was when her friend's sister's fingers got hurt from playing with a door during a party that happened almost 20 years ago (Jeanie, do you remember???). She wouldn't want that to happen to Jamie. But no matter how careful we try to be, sometimes accidents are avoidable. That's why there are accidents.
On morning of December 1st, Daddy Steve and Jamie were exiting a bathroom together. Daddy Steve looked back to make sure Jamie was away from the door but as he was closing the door, he felt the door was not closing smoothly. Next he heard Jamie crying and he turned to look to realize Jamie's index finger on his right hand was stuck between the narrower door gap. He got cut right in the middle of his index finger nail. He was bleeding very badly and of course crying badly too. Daddy Steve took him to the hospital's emergency room. The doctor decided that Jamie's finger nail had to be taken out and have 1 stitch. The doctor said the finger nail will grow back but he can't be sure if it'll be in the neat regular shape. The doctor gave Jamie some medicine that was supposed to put Jamie to sleep for 6 hours but funny enough this very active Jamie woke up within the 1st hour and was up and playing again.
While all this was happening, Mommy Joey was in business trip in Singapore. It was absolutely horrific to get such a bad news over the phone and could do nothing about it. She could only imagine how shocking it was for Jamie and could not wait to get back to see him. Lucky it was already her returning date after a long trip.
For the 1st week after the accident, Jamie had to be brought back to the hospital everyday to change the bandage. He definitely remembers the unpleasant experience in the emergency room because every time when he was brought into the emergency room, he burst into crying and screaming. It took a few people to hold his finger for the treatment. But the cute thing was no matter how much he cried during the treatment and how much he seemed to hate the people who were "messing" with his finger, when he exited the room, he always greeted the same people with the Thai greeting hand gesture and gave blowing kisses.
Fortunately, Jamie's nail has been on a smooth recovery although it hasn't been easy. The whole time when he had the bandage on, that finger couldn't get wet so he couldn't have regular bath and his play had to be monitored the whole time to make sure he wasn't touching it or letting water get in. One night when he was about to go to sleep, his bandage came off and we had to take him to the emergency room to get it wrapped. Etc...
|
|
***
Now that his bandage is off, he can use the finger normally and can touch water again which makes it so much easier. But it'll take a while before his nail grows back.
There's a Chinese saying that describes the pain of finger is so intense that the pain reaches the heart. So a little cut on the finger may seem minor but it definitely doesn't feel so for the baby and his parents. Hope this "minor" accident won't happen to anyone else. At least it shouldn't be happening to Jamie again.
|
|
More words
December 16, 07
After speaking his 1st phrase, Jamie's been quickly picking up other words. On the flight back from HK on December 11, while Daddy Steve was playing with him by holding him up and down saying along "up up up up up, down down down down down" as he always does, Jamie copied "up!". 2 days later when Jamie was playing basketball and slam dunk, he said "wow" which is another word we often say to praise him. Then yesterday, he was pointing at Yo and said his 4th word "dog"! 3 out of his first 4 words were English. Mommy Joey has to work harder for his Cantonese.
|
|
Sumo
December 2, 07
Recently Jamie likes to make sumo movement but he's never been exposed to sumo yet.
|
|
Door blocker
November 17, 07
To prevent Jamie from escaping from the apt which he often does, we usually put a chair in front of the door to block Jamie from opening it. Seeing us doing that, Jamie took it into his own hands and put more chairs behind it. It worked for us!
|
|
Housekeeping
November 3, 07
Jamie really imitates what other people do and he's incredibly observant. Recently he started to take a cloth either it's his towel or somebody's shirt and wipes everything from TV to book shelf to his food tray. And where did he get this from? Our serviced apartment's housekeepers who come clean our room a few times a week. Man, nothing escapes his eyes. |
|
Applauding for himself
October 31, 07
In an effort to creating a positive environment for Jamie, whenever he does something positive no matter how minor it is, we always applaud for his action for encouragement. Before he would smile when we applauded him. From this week on, he suddenly started to applaud for himself when he completes a task. It's like he's saying "Hey, look at my achievement. Now let's applaud for it." Very cute!
|
|
Creative way of playing
October 29, 07
Somehow Jamie managed to turn the stool over and sat in between the legs. He did it over and over again.
|
|
Big change
October 28, 07
Compare this photo which was taken today when Jamie is 14 month old to the photo on Meet the Parents page which was taken a few days after Jamie was born! Jamie's grown so much!
|
|
Meeting with Kotarou
October 27, 07
Yeah, Kotarou and Auntie Hanako from Japan visited Bangkok again! He grew a lot! He's 2 months younger than Jamie but they're almost the same height.
|
|
***
Kotarou got hungry and had lunch in Jamie's high chair while Jamie played underneath.
|
|
***
After lunch, both got sleepy and Auntie Yoko rocked them to sleep in just a few minutes. Well done! They slept peacefully side by side on Jamie's futon. Jamie's been sleeping on this futon instead of his crib ever since his last HK trip. He's been sleeping well since. In the morning, even if he finds he's alone in the bedroom when he wakes up, he doesn't cry. He would walk to where his water bottle is, put it in his mouth and knock on the door for attention. He's such a baby but yet so independent. It's the cutest thing! In Thailand most kids sleep with their parents until 6 or 7 years old so when they hear that Jamie is already sleeping alone they're very impressed.
|
|
Tantrum
October 17, 07
At this age, tantrum is very common. Just having his toy taken away could trigger such a big reaction.
|
|
***
But when the toy was returned to him, his tantrum immediately stopped. It's amazing how fast emotion swings for kids this age.
|
|
Poor Jamie
September 27, 07
Jamie was taking a walk with Daddy Steve outside of our serviced apartment building in the evening. When they came close to an one-step stair edge, Jamie seemed to have stopped but suddenly his body leaned forward and fell on the ground. Hopefully the wound will recover soon. Unfortunately this type of wound might become part of his life in the coming months or years.
|
|
Facing forward
September 22, 07
Jamie's car seat had been facing backward up to now but now that he reached 1 year old, the car seat could be adjusted facing forward. He loves facing forward and it's been much easier to put him in, take him out and take care of him this way. |
|
Runaway baby
September 21, 07
Caught in action! Nowadays Jamie loves opening and closing doors. He also loves going outside. He finds every opportunity to open the entrance door and escape. He would run outside to bang on the elevator door or play with the vaccum cleaner cord that the housekeepers leave there. Unfortunately the door lock is located within his reach. We'd love to add a lock in a higher position but we live in a serviced apartment and that's not quite possible. So now a dining chair became a temporary block to the entrance but he's strong enough to push the chair away anyway so the best prevention is to keep close eyes on him at all time. |
|
Favorite medicine
September 16, 2007
Surprising but it's true, one of Jamie’s recent favorite activities is taking his teeth medicine. He’s too young to use toothpaste so his pediatrician gave him some fluoride medicine. One pill per evening after brushing. He likes it so much he goes to the kitchen to pick it up several times through out the day.
The medicine is a very small white pill. We put it on the sofa for him to take. Instead of picking it up with his fingers, he aims and picks it up with his mouth directly. You can see the saliva stain he left on the sofa. |
|
***
Although it is repeated every night, he's proud of his achievement and truly enjoys the medicine every time.
|
|
Messier eater
September 16, 07
As time goes by Jamie's messiness only gets worse.
|
|
***
And he has become more impatient. He hardly chews and swallows everything as it's fed. If the next bite of food doesn't get to his mouth right away, he shouts. Of course this behavior won't be allowed for long. He's got to learn that food will only come if he asks for it politely.
|
|
Dancing Jamie
September 2, 2007
When Jamie hears music, first he reacts with a smile.
|
|
***
Then he starts into dance frenzy.
|
|
Leg warmer
August 11, 2007
Do I look like a girl or a ballet dancer or both with this pair of leg warmer? |
|
Big head baby
August 11, 2007
Jamie has a truly big head. This outfit is for 1 year old, Singaporian size. He just turned 1 but his head is already too big for it. We have to cut up the neck to fit his head in. It’s also too tight for his body. |
|
Remote control
August 5, 2007
Jamie's recent favorite objects? One of them must be this remote control.
|
|
***
He's learning cause and effect and he's more observant than you can imagine. He sees us holding the remote control and pointing at the TV everyday so he does the same. But he still hasn't figured out which button to press yet. He just holds it up and points at the TV. Plus sitting on the sofa in this position with this pajama, he looks just like a middle-aged couch potato. Very cute.
|
|
BTS ride
July 22, 2007
Jamie likes to ride BTS (abbreviation for sky train).
|
|
***
During BTS ride, he likes to walk around. |
|
***
He makes circles around the poles.
|
|
***
(This kid looks way older than an 11-month-old baby.)
|
|
***
He also likes talking to other babies. He's a natural comedian. Look closely and you'll see other passengers were smiling and taking photos of them.
|
|
A walk to the minimart
July 21, 2007
Jamie's favorite activity recently? A walk to the minimart. Before, putting shoes on him turned into a battle every time but now he associates putting shoes on with doing what he loves, going out, so he cooperates and even compliments us with smiles. After we put shoes on him and take him to the facility floor in our apartment complex, he takes our hands and walks toward where he wants to go, the minimart.
|
|
***
His mind is determined to go to the minimart. For him to get there, first he has to take a long straight road, then he has to make a left turn and make a right turn again to go into the store. There are so many ways to walk on this floor but every time he goes straight there from the elevator. The trip is more than 50 meters long. How can an 11-month-old baby rememer all this?!
|
|
***
After he goes into the minimart, he looks around and occasionally reaches out to touch and grab things. Here he grabbed a fabric softener. But this is not his final goal.
|
|
***
His finally destination is to get to the refrigerator and tries to open the refrigerator door. But the door is too heavy for him. There are several doors. If he sees other people opening other doors, he'd move to those doors and try. He probably thinks something is wrong with the doors he can't open and if other people can open other doors, he can do. But he never can. When he can't, he just stands in front of it and stares at the Yakult drinks inside. It's amazing how this baby registers the whole route in his mind, determining to get to that refrigerator door from the moment he sees us putting shoes on him. Sometimes he even goes pick up his shoes and shows us he wants his shoes on. When he does that, he probably has this whole scenario crafted out in his mind already. What a determined little fellow!
A side episode to this is that Daddy Steve said the minimart staff said to him twice that Jamie likes Yakult. What do they mean by "likes"? Yakult is not a drink for baby (way too acidic for a baby's intestines). It wouldn't be that somebody let Jamie try this drink behind our back, would it?! We will have to check about it with Babysitter Pong later.
|
|
Carrying something
July 13, 2007
Recently Jamie loves to carry something in one hand and walk at the same time.
This basket is usually filled up with toys but instead of playing with the toys inside, he empties the toys out and plays by carrying the empty basket. In a way this playing approach is quite creative.
|
|
***
Another example of him carrying something. This is Yo's suitcase when he travels to the dog hotel or other destinations.
When Jamie is old enough to carry his own bag during traveling, this will become Jamie's suitcase.
|
|
***
Yo was ready to head to dog hotel.
|
|
Water boy
July 11, 2007
Jamie loves playing with water now. He smiles when we turn on the sink. This is great because it makes it so much easier to wash his hands and feet.
|
|
Electronic piano player
June 24, 2007
Jamie likes to play electronic piano. It should be a great way to keep him occupied and gives time for a short unsupervised time. But what do you know, as soon as you leave him alone, he somehow manages to turn the volume to super loud and you'll have to stay with him to make sure the volume is not too loud to bother the neighbors.
Or, instead of going for the music, he goes for the plastic stand for music note book. Again, in just a short unsupervised time he already managed to bend the stand and broke it.
To him, every aspect of this object is a toy. It's not confined to just making music sound.
Babies' imagination is not confined by stereotypes. It's actually quite inspiring sometimes.
|
|
Meeting Kotaro again
June 17, 2007
Jamie got to meet Kotaro again. Kotaro was not as fragile as last time. They played rugby on the bed. Kotaro's dad is a professional rugby player.
|
|
Modeling
June 2, 2007
Jamie was invited to take some snap shots at a modeling agency. It doesn't mean he has job offers yet but at least he's one step closer. He performed extremely well being smiley and playful the whole time. You can click this link to see the photos they took of him. Although all these photos look kind of similar, Mommy Joey can't resist but to put all of them on the link because upon a closer look, he has different gestures in all of them and if you look at these photos at slideshow, you can really feel his energy as if you're watching video clip. You'll see in some photos that he sticks his tongue out. He picked up this habit a few days ago when we met a friend who sticked his tongue out to make him laugh. Oh, he's so adorable! http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2091334682&code=28324779&mode=invite&DCMP=isc-email-AlbumInvite |
|
Hong Kong permanent residency
May 8, 2007
After a long and tedious process, Jamie finally got his Hong Kong permanent residency approved last Friday. Now he has a sticker in his US passport stating this status. He has the right to reside, study or work in Hong Kong just as I do. Next step is to apply for his Hong Kong passport. |
|
Dining @ KFC
April 28, 2007
Hey, I want some of those chicken and fries but I can't reach...can anyone place them closer for me please?
|
|
***
Hey, what are you looking at...
|
|
Yo's walker
April 21, 2007
Jamie has been walking Yo lately. He picks up Yo's leash when we leave the house.
|
|
Comfy crib
April 14, 2007
One moment I love having comfy pillows around it.
|
|
***
Next moment I don't like it and protest with fake cry.
|
|
Mexican father and son
April 7, 2007
|
|
Baby encounter
February 11, 2007
This Thai baby was sitting on the floor patiently waiting for his mom to set up her vendor. We sat Jamie down next to him and they started interacting. He's 1 year old.
|
|
Messy eater
February 11, 2007
The photo explains everything.
|
|
Playground
January 13, 2007
Throw a mattress on the floor, put a clean bedsheet over it, put toys all over it, and there it was Jamie's own little playground.
|
|
Bike riding
December 27, 2006
At this early age Jamie is already enjoying the fun of bicycle riding. |
|
Favorite position
December 20, 2006
Although he can make 360 degrees turn on his own now, this is his favorite position at the moment. |
|
Sing-along Jamie
December 6, 2006
Jamie has always been fascinated by people's talking, reading and singing. He especially likes to observe people talking on their cellphones. He laughs even when mommy reads outloud a serious book called "What is Islam?" Singing to him also makes him laugh from his belly. But recently he stopped being just an observer and started to participate in these activities.
A few nights ago, mommy was feeding Jamie and singing "We are the champions" by Queen at the same time. "We are the champions my friends, and we will be fighting till the end..." And then suddenly Jamie started to sing along! With the bottle still in his mouth! :) He participated by making a sound that rhymes at every end of the phrase. It wasn't random sound, it rhymed! We caught this on video!
Ever since this incident, he has been doing this to people's conversation as well. Yesterday his eyes were wide open starring at Oprah talking to a guest on TV. Suddenly he joined the conversation and started to murmur his opinion with a real concern on his face. It's absolutely hilarious. |
|
Brave Jamie
December 4, 2006
Jamie had to meet his pediatrician for regular check-up today. When he was about to get his vaccination shot, daddy left the room because he couldn't stand watching his son suffer. But mommy thinks injection's pain is often exaggerated in one's mind. It's important to "train" Jamie to not over worry about getting injection and understand that it's just a tiny tiny bit of pain that will go away in seconds so that he won't suffer all the unnecessary worry mommy used to have when she was younger.
When the actual shot came, Jamie showed a bit concern on his face. He seemed to be thinking "what is this feeling??" Just when he started to realize this was some kind of pain and was about to cry, his pediatrican, nurse and mommy all cheered up and told him what a brave boy he was and by then the shot was already finished. With his short memory, he already forgot what upset him in the first place and there he was all smiling and kicking again. No tears were shed. It turned out that daddy suffered more for this shot than Jamie did.
By the way, during this visit, his pediatrician asked us to start considering feeding him solid. We can't believe it's already that time. We feel like he's still a newborn. He doesn't even have teeth yet. Can his immature stomach digest solid?! But when the pediatrician mentioned the magic phrase, "with solid, he'll stay full longer, require less frequent feeding and sleep longer", suddenly this whole solid thing doesn't sound like such a bad idea after all. :)
|
|
Smiley Jamie II
November 20, 2006
Same old same old.
|
|
Wanted
November 18, 2006
Handsome prince seeks petite princess. Must give continuous attention and lots of cuddling. Substantial dowry a plus.
|
|
Amazing Thailand
November 11, 2006
Foreigners who live in Thailand often make fun of a famous campaign slogan called "Amazing Thailand" because this country is truly amazing in many ways. Tonight we experienced one of those amazing moments.
We went out to eat in a resturant with 2 other friends. Jamie was lying in his stroller next to our table. One waitress approached Jamie. She took him out from the stroller, held him and walked around in the resturant. Recently we've been experiencing this friendliness quite often so we were not surprised. But what was surprising or rather shocking was her next movement. After holding Jamie and passing him around to other waitresses for a while, she put Jamie back in the stroller, took the milk bottle we prepared on the table and started feeding him without asking for our permission. We found this truly amazing.
|
|
Life with babysitter
November 3, 2006
To get ready for mommy's return to work, this past week Jamie spent his first week with babysitter Pong. She works for a local nursery. From this week on she'll come to our apartment to take care of Jamie from 8am to 8pm Monday to Friday.
Although it's still too early to tell, so far she seems to be a hardworking, patient and responsible lady. She has been on time which in Thailand is a very rare practice. She seems to be genuinely interested in providing good care for Jamie which means she is not only providing basic care such as feeding and changing diapers but also stimulating his growth by talking a lot to him. Sometimes she even sings Thai lullabies which is something even his parents can't do. During her "spare" time at work, she studies English vocabularies of babysitting terms.
Although Jamie is too young to show preference toward people yet, still being healthy and happy after spending 60 hours with this lady probably means she has been doing a great job. |
|
Gangster Jamie
October 27, 2006
Jamie was trying to look tough with a bandana head band (and a Winnie the Pooh shirt).
|
|
Smiley Jamie
September 27, 2006
Jamie has been smiling a lot recently. He usually smiles when he's being talked to. Sometimes he makes an oowhoo sound too. And almost every time he sees daddy's face he smiles.
The pediatrician said although crying means he's not happy about something, smiling doesn't necessarily mean he's happy. But daddy and mommy would like to believe otherwise.
|
|
Goodbye to the umbilical cord stump
September 8, 2006
Tonight the last piece of the cord that connected Jamie with mommy in the womb for months finally came off.
This incidence symbolizes the start of Jamie's independence. It also means daddy and mommy can finally have some tummy to tummy time with him, he can take a real bath, he can exercise his neck while lying on his tummy, no more stinky stump smell and so on.
This photo was taken minutes before his stump fell off.
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|