videos of the day!

Here is a video of me blowing my trademark raspberries.


Untitled from Linda Fang on Vimeo.


And here is one of me walking with a little bit of assistance!


Untitled from Linda Fang on Vimeo.

9 month check-up!

Mommy took me to my new doctor this morning for my 9 month check-up.  I am now 29 inches tall, and 18 pounds and 4.5 ounces!  And my head circumference is 47 centimeters.  So, percentile wise, I am 90th for height, 45th for weight, and well over 100th for head size!  My big head makes it difficult to put clothes on me because they all get stuck on my head!!  But, otherwise, I am healthy and happy.  I also had to get my blood taken today to test for lead poisoning, which meant they had to prick my finger and then squeeze out drops of blood until they filled up a small tube.  But, in incontrovertible proof that I am the perfect baby, I didn't even react to the finger prick at all!!  I didn't cry or scream or even get a little bit upset.  I just looked at the nurse, and sat there cooperatively as she squeezed my finger until she filled up the vial.  The nurses were all so amazed, because this has never happened before!!  Usually, they said, the baby is screaming and flailing his arms and then blood gets everywhere, and it takes them 30 minutes to get the blood they need, but with me it only took a few minutes, and I was outta there!  Again, I am really the best baby in the world!!  Mommy and daddy are so lucky to have me!

Standing, but not quite walking yet....maybe tomorrow!
(Photo courtesy of Melissa)

In other news, yesterday daddy found me in my crib standing!  He was very proud of me, as I got there all by my lonesome!  And today, Melissa told daddy when he got home that I have learned to wave to myself in the mirror!  Yay, another milestone!!  I am growing up so fast -- mommy and daddy had better enjoy every day with me since before they know it, I will no longer be a baby!!

Sitting in style!

This is how I am found about half the time in the mornings
by mommy or daddy -- get me out of here!!

Yesterday, I surprised my mommy and daddy by sitting up by myself!  They tried to put me to bed as usual, but I didn't want to go to sleep!  And when daddy came to get me when I cried, he found me sitting in my crib! Next they will find me standing in my crib, gripping the bars!  Yay for my new milestone!!!

I had a big boo boo earlier this week, when I did a belly flop off mommy's and daddy's bed in the morning while mommy was getting dressed.  One second I was crawling towards the middle of the bed, and the next second, as mommy turned her back, I rolled right off the bed and landed on all fours (and my face) on the wood floor....ouch!  Mommy was very traumatized, but luckily, I suffered no injuries (no bruises, or anything!) -- maybe my round belly cushioned my fall??, and was back to my smiley self within 30 minutes or so!  I am totally fine, but this gave mommy and daddy a real scare, and teaches them an important lesson -- I am really mobile now so they need to be careful when leaving me (even if it is just for a second) on my own, especially on elevated surfaces!!!

In other news, I have learned to give raspberries!  This morning when mommy was changing me, I gave her about 10 raspberries in a row -- she thought it was the funniest thing in the world and kept laughing -- she is so silly!  She is just lucky I did not decide to do my raspberries with a mouthful of oatmeal!!  :)

Me, mommy and uncle Ariel, at the zoo!  

Last weekend, mommy, daddy and uncle Ariel who is visiting from Israel took me to the Bronx Zoo to see the animals!  I enjoyed all the activity at the zoo, but frankly, I was more interested in all the people than the animals.  Mommy kept pointing out the animals to me -- Olive, look at the big giraffe, look at the zebras -- but I was just so busy looking at all the people around me!!!  Maybe in a few months I will pay more attention to the animals.  Then on Sunday, we all went to the mall in the suburbs!!  I had just as much fun there as I did at the zoo -- there was so much to see and so many people!!  Of course both days I pretty much refused to nap, and definitely did not want to nap while being pushed around in my stroller.  Uncle Ariel says that I suffer from FOMO -- fear of missing out -- boy is he ever right about that!!  Why nap when there is so much to do and see??!!

What polar bear?!

Zebras!  Of course I wasn't paying attention --
I was too busy watching all the people to pay attention to the animals!!

Sleepy, but refusing to nap, for FOMO!!!!

Finally, I am headed to my new doctor on Wednesday for my 9-month check-up!  I can't wait to see how much I have grown!!  I know I have really grown because I am even too big for a lot of the new clothes that mommy had gotten me!
 

Me with mommy and daddy, in front of our new house!

Ma ma!

Ma ma!  (The flowers in my hair are courtesy of mommy.)

Me, the first day we moved into our new
house.  Daddy's boss sent us a delicious
fruit basket -- it was the size of me!!

Two nights ago, I said "ma ma" while staring into space (as I usually do) when I was with mommy as she was in the process of putting me down to sleep for the night.  I looked nonchalant, but mommy gasped and was amazed.  But daddy wasn't there and although he heard mommy gasp and say "Olive, did you just say ma ma?" over the baby monitor, he could not independently verify that I had in fact said "ma ma."  Until today.....when Melissa heard me say it a number of times and asked mommy whether I had learned to say "ma ma" in the 2 weeks that she had been away?  Mommy was overjoyed that with Melissa's objective verification, it is now official!  I can say "ma ma."  I don't say it intentionally yet -- it is just part of my daily babbling repertoire, but just you wait!

I am really good at walking (with a little bit of help still) now.  I will walk all day as long as I have 2 hands to hold.  This is back-breaking work for whoever is holding my hand, but I love it!  I get to explore and to lead the way!  So much to see!  I can't wait to be walking on my own soon!

Getting ready to crawl ... or at least
to scoot around in a circle!

I am also getting better at crawling.  I can push myself up off my belly for a few seconds, and I am quite good at moving/crawling backwards, and turning in circles.  Not so much in the way of forward progress yet, but I am working on it.

In other news, I can clap on demand to requests made in both Chinese and English.  Can you believe it?!  8.5 months and I am already bilingual!  And, I can give kisses (mostly an open-mouth kiss/lick) upon request as well, but I will only do it without fail for mommy when she requests it.  With daddy I only acquiesce about 50% of the time.

Me at the playground!  (Photo courtesy of
Melissa.)

The weather has been wonderful the last few days, which has meant that I have got to go outside a lot with Melissa!  Yesterday, Melissa took me to the nearby park and playground, and I got to ride on a ride-on car.  It was a lot of fun!  And today, mommy surprised me by coming home in the middle of the afternoon, and we played outside in the yard (with our socks off) the rest of the day!  Daddy also came home a bit earlier than usual, an hour or two later.  It was so much fun!  I went outside and played with my friend and neighbor Norah, who is 14 months old, from across the street.  We kissed hello and goodbye.  We are good friends now because we see each other and play together almost every day!  I am loving spring and can't wait until summer!!

So, I know I have been away quite a while, so I am posting a lot of recent photos to make up for it.  Enjoy!

It is sunny and all, but I am not sure about this whole sunglasses thing....

They do look tasty though....

But it is quite bright without them!!

As I was saying .... a dadamamalala blah brrr dala.

Hee.  

Me with mommy in our backyard on the nicest day so far this year!  

This is me, my jubilant self!

New house!

I know everyone has been anxiously awaiting my latest post, but frankly, it has been impossible to post when mommy has not even unpacked her computer!!  Anyhow, we are officially moved into our new house, and I am getting the hang of things here.  I think I like it here!  Grandma Jim and Grandma Hong came right when we moved to help mommy and daddy unpack, and Grandma Hong has been here taking care of me during the days!  It has been lots of fun!  And just today, Grandpa Aubrey and Grandma Paula came to visit as well, just briefly.  Everyone loves the house -- it's beautiful here, and so QUIET!  No fire engines, no delivery trucks, no people yelling outside....it's great!!  Anyhow, I am still not in my official room yet -- I am currently sleeping in mommy's study, which I have taken over as my de facto room!  They had set me up here initially because my room was still being painted....I am looking forward to moving to my permanent room though, as it is much bigger and has many more windows!  It will take some time for everything to get settled, but we will get there eventually!!  I don't know why, maybe it's the quiet, but since moving into the house, I have woken up every day at 7:15 or thereabouts without fail, until this morning, when I slept until 8:20!  My early (for me) waking has been making mommy and daddy a bit tired, but at least Grandma Hong is around to help them out!  Mommy really hopes that I will settle back into my waking up at 8am routine soon!

Also, as far as milestones go, I now have 2 teeth!  I got my first one a while ago but the second one just came in right when we moved to the house.  And I have also gotten really really good at walking (Grandma Hong has been practicing lots with me) while holding onto someone's hand.  I barely want to sit still anymore -- I just want to walk/stomp everywhere!  I am also making some progress on crawling, but why crawl when you can walk?!  I can do a pretty good job of crawling backwards, and I can move to the side, but forward progress is coming along too, just slowly!  But, who knows, I may be crawling and walking next week!

Look how small I look in mommy and daddy's new bed!!!

Sleeping in luxury!

Fun with Grandpa Jim.

I'm getting quite adept at feeding myself.  I love puffs!

With grandpa Aubrey and grandma Paula during their visit today.

Kisses!!  I have also learned to give kisses on my own.  But only when I feel like it!!!  :)