Trip to Montreal

it was a wonderful trip. I had forgotten how pretty the summer is in Montreal. I know my little bear won't remember any of the fun we had ... wait a min. did he have fun? I know we were both exhausted and I had fun and I am assuming he did too... if he is my boy ;-)
booked the last minute trip on Monday and we were off in the air by the next morning. it was our first mom-son trip. not sure how much I could handle with Ethan constantly trying to escape, I packed as little as I could. (I should have got a few more diapers, it was a hassle to have to buy diapers in Montreal and haul them back, they are more expensive there, well, pretty much everything was more expensive considering the exchange rate) we had a little trouble at the check-in desk as they couldn't locate Ethan's ticket. but we made it and got lucky to have a empty seat for Ethan. it was about 3 hrs to NY-Laguadi, he slept an hour. then we boarded an smaller airplane with American eagle (only 3 seats per row) for an hour + to Montreal. he pretty much slept the whole time. (it was his nap time though) we landed onltime, Niuniu welcomed us inside the airport and Gong picked us up, it was nice he borrowed a carseat from his friend. I can't imaging to have drag a carseat with me .. on top of the stroller and a backpack of food, diaper ... toys ... and a running toddler!!
Day one - off the plane onto the boat! we went fishing with Brother's. his friend has a boat. the lake was quiet (no wind, no fish either) 2 hours and $5 bait later, we had 3 small bass and a clam. ;-) time to go home ...
Day two push Ethan to a nearby park. Gong told me there was a patting zoo. unfortunitely, it has been closed for renovation for 2 years. (talking about out dated infomation!) bought tickets

fun things to do with yr toddlers

Here is a list of activities you can start trying to help with their development. These activities are geared for 12-16 months. I had this list saved in a file so I can't recall where I got this information originally.

1. Babies love games at this age (Pat-a-cake, This Little Piggy, etc.) Try different ways of playing the games and see if your baby will try it with you. Hide behind furniture or doors for Peedaboo; clap blocks or pan lids for Pat-a-cake.

2. Babies enjoy push and pull toys. Make your own pull toy by threading yogurt cartons, spools, or small boxes on a piece of yarn or soft string (about 2 feet long). Tie a bead or plastic stacking ring on one end for a handle

3. Play the naming game. Name body parts, common objects, and people. This lets your baby know that everything has a name and helps him or her begin to learn these names.

4. Cut up safe finger foods (do not use foods that pose a danger of your baby's choking) in small pieces and allow your baby to feed himself. IT is good practice to pick up small things and feel different textures (bananas, soft crackers, berries)

5. Make puppets out of a sock or paper bag - one for you and one for you baby. Have you puppet talk to your baby or your baby's puppet. Encourage your baby to "talk" back

6. Tape a large piece of drawing paper to a table. Show your baby how to scribble with a large nontoxic crayon. Take turns making marks on the paper. It's also fun to paint with water.

7. Make an obstacle course with boxes or furniture so your baby can climb in, on, over, under and through. A big box can be a great place to sit and play.

8. Let your baby "help" during daily routines. Encourage your baby to "get" the cup and spoon for mealtime, to "find" shoes and coat for dressing, and to "bring" the pants or diaper for changing. Following directions is an important skill for your baby to learn.

9. To encourage your baby's first steps, hold your baby in standing position, facing another person. Have you baby step toward the other person to get a favorite toy or treat.

10. Arrange furniture so your baby can work his or her way around a room be stepping across gaps between furniture. This encourages balence in walking.

11. Let you baby help you clean up. Play "feed the wastebasket" or "give it to mommy or daddy."

12. Your baby is learning that different toys do different things. Give your baby lots of things to roll, push, pull, hug, shake, poke, turn, stack, spin, stir.

13. Give your baby containers with lids or different compartments filled with blocks or other small toys. Let you baby open and dump. Play "putting things back." This will help your baby learn how to release objects where he or she wants them.

14. Babies continue to love making noise. Make sound shakers by stinging canning rims together or filling child proof medicine bottles with different sounding objects like marbles, rice, salt, bolts, etc. Be careful to secure lids tightly!

15. Make a surprise bag for your baby to find in teh morning fill a paper or cloth bag wtih a soft toy, something to make a sound, a little plastic jar with a screw-top lid, or a book with cardboard pages.

16. Most babies enjoy music. Clap and dance to the music. Encourage your baby to practice balance by moving forward, around, and back. Hold his or her hands for support, if needed.

17. Loosely wrap a small toy in a paper towel or facial tissue without tape. Your baby can unwrap it and find a surprise. Use tissue paper or wrapping paper too. It's brightly colored and noisy.

18. This is the time your baby learns that adults can be useful. When you baby "Asks" for something by vocalizing or pointing, respond to his or her signal. Name the object your baby wants and encourage him to communicate again - taking turns with each other in a "conversation."

19. Play "pretend" with a stuffed animal or doll. Show and tell your baby what the doll is doing (walking, going to bed, eating, dancing on the table) See if your baby will make the doll move and do things as you request. Take turns.

20. Prepare your baby for a future activity or trip by talking about it before hand. Your baby will feel a part of what is going on rather than being just and observer. It may also help reduce some fear of being "left behind."

Kite runner

I have been reading Kite runner by Khaled Hosseini lately. it is very powerful and moving in such a way that I forgot it supposed to be a fiction.

loves to read

Ethan hadn't been into books until I got the "big wheels" book for him from the library a couple of weeks ago. (don't know what it is, but he is obsessed with car stuff, anything with wheels) he loves that book, he'd drug it with him everywhere and asks us to "read" to him over and over. he'd point at the truck and go "dumb" so cute ...

M.W. Turner

http://preview.theartsnetwork.net/turner_edu/index.html
I have always liked Turner's oil painting but have not seen his watercolor until this show at DMA. his watercolor almost has many depth of color as his oil painting, but still stay clear and transparent. he rendered the lights and shadow so vivid as you can feel the morning sunlight leaking through the leaves, dancing on the water ... warming up the steel railings. I was so impressed, his painting is not the striking kind, at least for me, it wasn't one of those that I will be dying to have ... but they are beautiful, everything must be so perfect in his life, I can see him being confident but modest, successful but soft spoken, hardworking and gentle. his talent was recognized at a young age of 21 so I guess we don't see angry or struggle in his work. even those battle scenes ... they looked sad but not mad ... I am surprised that I'd like him, hmm... I must have getting old ;-)

Ethan had a good time touring the museum with me. he had lots of fun climbing the stage in the cafe, watching the maya dancers and playing water at the sculpture yard.

welcom baby Xu Dou - little mouse- Thomas

baby XuDou was born on the 2nd of May 2008 12:19 PM. (2 weeks b4 the due day) 5 lb and 11 oz 18 1/2 inches.
He is a cutie, he has long winkled slender fingers, we all said that he will be growing up playing piano ;-)
Congratulations to Tao and Lian and wish you all the very best luck.



in retrospect, I hosted a baby shower for Lian on the weekend when she was finally discharged from the hospital (at 33 weeks). color theme was yellow/blue. I baked a cake (my 2nd cake ;-) Jing helped with decorating and June brought balloons and lots of fruit ... Wendy grilled the daddy-to-be with baby questions, we tighted bolloons on him when he picked the wrong answer. I thought the party went well and we all has a good time. Tao told me that it did help to cheer Lain up a little. that is more important, right?