Birthday Parties

Two birthday parties in 1 day.
Tom and Rebecca's Tristan 1 year

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Brian and Qiaolan's Lily turned 2 years

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Dim Sum With Grandpa Su

Dad came on Friday night for a week (mostly helping with my tax, thank you!).
We went for dim sum at Noble Court and ran into Monica and Fei. We had a good time hanging out. They came to my place afterward.
Andy and the other two kids had BIG appetites.

The Walking Day

In the morning, we went to an old man's house out in the woods to give some gifts for he had helped me getting out a snow ditch the weekend before (that was an adventure for a different time). The man says kindness brings good Karma. I believe it. Andy was fascinated by his goats.


In the afternoon, the good karma for showing appreciation came around. Andy took off walking! It was an exciting moment for him. He had been taking a few steps in the previous weeks. Now he really took off. He walked wobbly across the entire living room area by himself, multiple times. He made excited shouting throughout the walks as if he discovered something new (see video below).



He also managed to stand up and resume walking on his own after he falls down.



It was also my dad's birthday. Grandpa said this was the best birthday gift.

17 month was an exciting time in Andy's development. He started walking regularly and learning fast like a sponge.

Dinner @Stephanie's and Learning To Feed Dog Snack

We went to my friend Stephanie's for dinner on 2/15. We had a great time and lots of delicious food. She has this really adorable dog named Pluto. Andy loved feeding Pluto treats.

First Trip to Canada

Andy got to use his passport for the first time on a weekend trip to Victoria, B.C. He loved all the new scenery, especially the tropical Butterfly garden and the Miniature World. It was a bit cold there in February though.

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15 & 16 mos Observations

Andy started part time day care (Tuesdays and Thursdays) on 1/4/2009 at Sundance Preschool & Daycare in Bellevue. He is in the Early Toddlers class (12-18 months). The girls in the class surrounded him when he first got there. The teachers say he's doing well (the only time he cries is at drop off time). He seemed to have adjusted quickly, getting on their two naps schedule. A couple of days after he started daycare the occurrences of his standing on his own feet dramatically increased. Maybe there was some peer influence as all the other kids were walking. He is more willing to walk with one hand held now, but still not roaming on his own yet.

He had his first ear infection right around when he turned 16 months. It was a hellish couple of weeks. He had high fever the first night, then was diagnosed with ear infection. He took Amoxicillin for 7 days, which left him with a severe reaction of red bumps all over his body. And the ear infection returned. The doctors were reluctant to prescribe any more medication until his reaction cleared up. After some research and friends advice, we found dropping garlic oil in his ears and sleeping on the side of the more infected ear over one weekend provided the cure. The doctor was totally amazed by the effect of the remedy: it totally cleared up one ear and partially the other. So she pronounced no more antibiotics necessary.

He learned to recognize quite a few words from the picture books and objects now (some animals and daily items). His favorite of all time is doggie. He makes this escatic sound whenever he sees a dog or a picture of a dog.