Jac: Hi and bye

Jac really likes to say "hi" and "bye"! All the time! If he is going down the hall to check something out and I am sitting and watching him, he will stop in the middle of the hall, turn around and wave and say "bye" to me! So funny!

He also likes to open and close doors. We went to Kangaroo Kingdom today and he was practicing with the doors on the play house. He learned how to knock on the door yesterday from another Mom, and so now when I knock and say "hi", sometimes!, he will open the door for me, and then laugh.

Sometimes when the babysitters are here in the afternoon, he will wave to them and say "bye"! When they are just sitting there and playing with him! Too funny! It almost seems like he is dismissing them, like, you have been here for a while, we don't need you anymore, you can go home! Too funny! They will then explain that it is not time for them to go home yet, and then sometimes he will say "bye" again!

Nic happy on the changing table

Nic really likes his changing table! Really likes it! We get the most smiles, and cooing and happiness there. He also really likes to wave his arms and legs around now and he is almost starting to reach the stage where he can "thump", which was one of Jac's first actions that he would do when he encouraged him it.

Jac learns the sign and the word for more

When Jac's Occupational Therapist was here today she was working on "more" with Jac. This is a common theme that his therapists have worked on for a long time. For the first time today, Jac signed and said more as a request to play with his toy more!

Yeah! It seems like Jac's communication is going to start taking off more. He tries to say a lot of words that we say and gets at least the beginning sounds of some words.

Current word list
Mama - Non-specific
Dada - Non-specific
Hi
Bye
More (added today)
Ne Ne (Taiwanese for milk)

Nic holding his head up

Nic is getting so strong! He loves to stand up all of the time and now he is able to hold his head up during tummy time! I put him down on the changing table and he held his head up for quite a while - long enough for me to be to able to get the camera out.

Jac playing with Nic

Nic has been spending a few minutes at a time sitting in the Bumbo seat. He has good enough head control to sit there and "play" a little bit with toys but on the tray.

Today, when I put Nic in the Bumbo, Jac came to play with him. He took toys on and off of Nic's tray and in and out of the box of Nic's toys (ones that have been passed down from when Jac was a baby). It was really nice to watch. Jac is so good with his brother.

Jac soaking in his personal hot tub

We took a styrofoam shipping box for Jac's Synagis injection, and used it as a personal hot tub for Jac. He really enjoyed it!

I got the idea from our friend Klaus who suggested that an ice chest makes a great soaking tub, ala Japanese o-furo baths. This worked out great!

Hello, good bye.

With Taj and the boys in back in L.A. for an extra two weeks, I've been making daily phone calls to see how they're doing. On one such call a few days ago, Jac clearly said "hello". Apparently, he's says that several times a day now.

As I was saying my goodbyes on a different call, Jac (with some prompting) uttered "bye bye daddy". Or at least something fairly close to that. Pretty cool!

Jac trying to pick which beer he wants

This is one for the wedding slideshow someday!

Nic in the Bumbo seat

Nic has pretty good head control now. He doesn't seem to like to lay down now and is much happier when someone holds him and helps him sit up or stand.

So ... here comes the Bumbo seat. He was pretty happy in it for a few minutes and Grandma even hooked him up to a little improvised toy contraption so he could play! In the picture he is playing with an Enfamil can and a mixing spoon (one of his brother's favorites for a while). It is a very snug fit for our big boy - he doesn't fall over at all!

Eating hands

Nic likes to eat his hands. He has not taken to a paci other then me so it seems that his hands are his paci. I can't tell how much of the eating of hands is teething and how much is that he just likes to do it. I am not looking forward to teeth with nursing! Oh man!

Nic is teething! and drooling! Jac has never drooled! I have seen plenty of kids do it but I have never experienced it up close and personal. Sometimes we put a bib on him it is so much drool. After I have carried him around in the carrier the front of my shirt is wet! Jac threw up on me all the time (and Nic spits up a bit) but the drool is a whole different beast.

Jac drinking from a Kleenex box

Yesterday I gave Jac an empty Kleenex box to play with after he woke up. He also had a bottle of formula. He decided to put the bottle in the Kleenex box, and then drink from the bottle. Hilarious and creative.

Nic playing and cooing in his Baby Einstein

Nic is smiling and cooing more and more. He is also whacking the toys in his Baby Einstein but good! Man he can give them a ride. He is also moving his legs more and more while he is doing it. Sometimes he can scoot himself quite a distance from all of the moving. He really likes it if someone leans over him while he is playing so he can see their face while he is playing - he gives great smiles as a reward.

Inspection boy

Jac likes to inspect things. Really anything. He likes to check them out and look at them from all angles and look for all of the little details. He has been having a great time emptying all kinds of cabinets at my parents' house. In one he found a curling iron, which he spent a good 7 minutes inspecting. I love watching him inspect things. He is so the child of two engineers.

Arboretum with Grandma

We have been taking the boys out on the town some and we took them to the Arboretum in Arcadia the other day. We fed the fish and the ducks and had a nice walk. I carried Nic in the Belle carrier and Jac rode in the stroller.

Jac was great as usual and seemed to enjoy the entire experience. He ate some of the bread as Grandma was feeding the ducks, geese and fish. Some of the geese were quite forward and one in particular we had to keep chasing off.

Nic was pretty happy in the carrier and slept most of the time. When he woke up I turned him facing outwards so he could see more.

Happy 18 month birthday

Jac is 18 months old today! Amazing! He is getting to be such a grown up boy

It is amazing to think that he is 18 months old and we have 3 month old also. I calculated it tonight - they are 449 days apart in age - or 1 year, 2 months and 22 days apart!

Happy Birthday Jac!

Jac the flirt

It has always been fun to take Jac out but it is more and more amusing to watch him! He makes friends wherever we go. He likes to wave at people now and once he has their attention he waves at them or does this really cute pointing then. It is so funny to watch. He will pick someone out and make contact with them and then just keep it up to keep their attention. Sometimes he picks people up that are a good twenty feet away. So cute! and hilarious to watch. Taking Jac out feels like traveling with a rock star!

Nic: Milestone: Rolled from back to front

This morning, while Nic was laying in bed with me nursing, he rolled from his back to his front! Wow! I was switching from one side of the bed to the other to let him nurse from the other side and he rolled over from his back to his front! I was so surprised when I saw him on his tummy - I thought I had done it somehow! So I rolled him back! And then watched him roll himself again! Cool!

Update: 1/8/09 - He has not rolled again since he did it twice on Tuesday.

Chiu Family Dinner in Monterey Park

We had a Chiu Family Dinner tonight. It was quite nice but we were missing Wayne and Ken and Camilla. We had a classic Monterey Park Chinese seafood dinner. Great! Fried crab with garlic! Jac enjoyed the food and Nic enjoyed the noise.

I was nursing Nic for most of dinner and I only had the use of my left hand! Joseph was quite impressed by my ability to eat with chopsticks with my left hand! Crab with just your left hand is quite a challenge!

Jac is eating pickled daikon radish in this video! Man - he will eat anything! Daikon is good, but strong!

Jac: So much laughing

Jac has been laughing up a storm! He seems to think everything is hilarious! Everyone is enjoying his great laugh!



He has also been enjoying practicing his standing on the bed where he can safely fall over!



And talking about Grandma's iPod Shuffle.

Jac in a shopping cart

We took Jac to 99 Market on the way home from the airport when we arrived in LA. It had been a very long day and Jac was in an amazingly good mood! We put him in the seat of the cart and he rode around that way for a while. After a bit he started to fuss and I took him out of the seat and started carrying him. He started fussing again. So I stood him up in the cart! Heaven! He was so happy, he couldn't stop laughing and smiling! He walked all around the basket and only fell over once. He was very happy!

Happy 3 month Birthday Nic

Happy 3 month Birthday to little Nicie! Or not so little as the case may be.

I am not sure how much Nic weighs but my guess is at least 15 pounds! Everyone's arms are getting a great workout carrying him around.

He is making more and more sounds and laughed for the first time the other day. Joseph was with him when he did it and I heard him also. Joseph asked me if it was the first time he had laughed and I said "Oh, no. He has laughed before." And then the more I thought about it, I realized that it was the first time he had laughed. Oh man! It is tough to be a second child. I am doing my best to keep the boys' milestones separate but it is tough!

I had a little bit of milk (whey) in some granola and wheat bread that I assumed were dairy free and were not. Nic did not seem to have any reaction to that (his cheeks did not change and he did not seem fussier than usual) so we are wondering a little what is going on. I don't really want to test things though so I am going to stick with my dairy-free diet.

Nic is also kicking now! Last night when I was nursing him in bed he was kicking me - the entire time. He seems happy to be able to use his legs more and is testing them out, on me. He likes it when you help him to stand up, and he goes up and down, up and down! He is so strong!