Friday, August 8, 2008
Trip to San Diego
Friday, July 18, 2008
Dancing Queen
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Perfect 10

- crawl
- stand with help
- sit herself up
- have teeth
She does:
- stay in a seated position
- laugh at our silliness
- like to splash in the tub
- eat lots of fruit
- babble like a Pentecostal
- scratch at everything and everybody near her
We introduced Natty to our friends' dog, Piper. Piper is a female pug and when she got up in Natty's grill, Natty freaked like Julia Stiles did when Matt Damon put a gun up to her noggin in the Bourne Supremacy. Piper could have been on fire and sprouted tentacles and I don't think Natty could have been more scared. Since then, though, we've been trying to get her comfortable being around our friends' dogs. She felt pretty comfortable with this one:
Maybe it's because all pugs look like they've been victims of those exploding cigars you see in cartoons.
We've begun preparations for Natty's 1st birthday party. It will be on the afternoon of Saturday, Sept. 13, at a park in Temple City. Hopefully the temperature will be below 110 degrees.
Enjoy your summer!
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Day Trip #2: San Diego


They're food people just like Sunny is. They have a passion for good food that I, as a person with very unrefined tastes, can't get on board with. You would think I was a food person if you got a look at my waistline and puffy face but I usually eat only to stave off the stomach growls that so often embarrassed me in my classroom days. Sure I enjoy the occasional steakhouse now and then, especially when I'm with my brother (another notorious foodie), but I'm just as content with a frozen burrito as I am with a Chipotle barbacoa burrito with guacamole. Sometimes.
"Hmmm... I think I'll try the sesame chicken," I'll say.
"No, you didn't like it cuz it had bones in it."
"Oh."
"You liked the mochiko chicken when you had it 2 months, 12 days, and 7 hours ago though."
"Oh."
If Sunny could harness her food memory into say, Jeopardy memory, she would be the next Ken Jennings.
It was a fun trip and it was just what Sunny, Natty, and I needed.




Tuesday, April 15, 2008
I'm still here.
All in NatalieLand is fine and good. There may be a painful experience ahead but these last two months have been marked by developmental milestones and lots of smiles and laughs. Since my last post Natalie is now:
1) Sitting up. She finally has the neck muscles to prop up that big 'ol head of hers. She can't sit up by herself but when we put her on her tush, she can stay there for a long time. It's entertaining to see her sway from one side to the other as she instinctively tries to compensate for her big 'ol head pushing her center of gravity up her tiny body. It's like balancing a baseball bat vertically on your palm. With a bowling ball crazy-glued to the top of the bat.
Viewer note: Prepare to turn your head to the side in 8...7...6...
2) Rolling over. She can roll over from her tummy to her back. I'm fairly confident that she can roll from her back to her tummy but she refuses to do so because she absolutely detests being on her tummy. I have no idea how she is going to learn to crawl if she can't stand to be on that side of her body. The fact that she hates that position didn't stop us from putting her on her stomach over and over and over again just to watch her roll over. Trauma for her, good fun for us.
3) Eating solid foods.

But Natty is oblivious to all of that. She's been a joy, laughing and smiling with more regularity. It's hard to express in words how blessed we feel for being entrusted with her. Thank You God!
Friday, February 8, 2008
5 month progress report
Unlike me, Sunny spends ALL her time with Natty and she raves about the changes in her. So here is a progress report for Natty at 5 months:
- She weighs over 10 pounds
- She is getting a lot more snug in her clothes
- But she ranks under 10% (and usually less than 5%) in weight/length
- She babbles and squeals especially when left alone
- She sleeps 11 hours (from 8pm to 7am) regularly (YAY!)
- She hasn't learned to roll over
- She doesn't crawl
- She can grab objects
- She can raise her head when on her tummy
- She smiles and giggles more
That last item is a tough one for me. Natty makes me WORK to get a laugh from her. I think she is like me in that aspect: I don't laugh very easily. (Sunny is really the only person that can make Natty laugh with any consistency but even then, Sunny still has to put in a lot of work.) But it gives me tremendous joy every time she smiles when she sees me for the first time in the morning or when I come home from that job thing.
Here are a couple of pictures of Natty kickin' it on her boppy:
***
One of her favorite toys is the talking Cookie Monster given to her for Christmas by her Uncle Wei. Actually it is hard to tell if she really likes it or not because she doesn't really smile or laugh at it; she just wants to eat Cookie Monster's eyes.
This next picture is when I dangled a doggie treat in front of her and asked her to beg.
Just kidding. That never happened.
Speaking of doggies, this picture is from our day trip to Santa Barbara last month:
We went to Santa Barbara to eat at one of our favorite breakfast spots, Sambos, and to catch up with my old friend, Eli. That's NOT Eli in the picture with the dog.
Eli was my first boss, back when I used to work at a monthly comic book convention. Yes I used to be a comic book geek. I don't read or collect them anymore but I still have a soft spot for them. I enjoyed panned movies like Daredevil and The League of Extraordinary Gentleman even though I can't think of anyone else who did. I'm hoping the new Iron Man movie won't disappoint...
It was a beautiful day to go to SB. It was such a nice day that I simply stuck the camera out the car window and took this picture:
On a final and totally unrelated note, Natty is really excited that the Lakers got Pau Gasol and dumped that Kwame guy.
Friday, January 11, 2008
I [heart] New Years
We had our usual late lunch with Sunny's family on New Years. We took Natalie out for a walk after lunch and when we came back, Sunny's grandma scolded Sunny for letting Natty get so cold, her lips turned purple. True story.
Anyway, the thrush is gradually going away and Natty's mouth will continue to be Laker colored until all the fungus is gone.
Oh yeah, this past Christmas marked the first time in forever that we sent Christmas cards out. Because we weren't too experienced with this, we didn't order nearly enough so if you didn't get a card from us, here it is. Please print it out, magnetize it to your fridge, and then throw it out next Christmas.

Giggles!