Train Fever!

While Kian still has a remarkable appreciation for buses, this fascination has taken a back seat to TRAINS! Now that he can communicate a lot more about his wants and needs, we've taken frequent trips to the local toy store called Curious Kidstuff and a nearby Barnes & Noble after school and on weekends in order to play with their train tables on display. "Go toy store, play trains?"

Kian got to open a birthday present a couple weeks early....a wooden train set! (Mostly to cut down on the number of trips we have to take to the toy or book store!) I captured his initial reaction to opening the gift from Gung Gung (Grandpa Andre) on another video with a large file size, but here is one for the blog that shows his enjoyment of his new toy just moments after I set it all up...

Marimba Concert in the Park

We stumbled upon an outdoor marimba concert in a park near Alki Beach one weekday evening and found out that Kian was really into this new type of music. He was also quite curious about a little girl's stuffed horse toy, and she was sweet enough to notice and share. Both videos tell the story....



Part One




Part Two

Dressing Up for the 4th of July

In these photos and a video taken today, Kian delights in putting on a few of dad's things -- shoes, hat, and sunglasses.

Kian Counts to Ten!

Prior to today, Kian has only counted to 2, even when there are more than two objects. He would say, "one-two" while bouncing his pointer finger and then just keep bouncing his finger to count more without verbalizing more numbers. Sometimes he'd repeat "one-two-two". Then, out of the blue today, he counted to ten on his own without prompting or echoing! When he counted the doors upstairs in his typical style "one-two...two doors!" I corrected him saying that there are actually four doors, "one-two-three-four". I coaxed him to count to three, but then he just kept going on his own, while I stared in wide-eyed amazement! He looked a bit surprised, quite delighted, and proud of himself, and then counted to ten again. I rushed him downstairs so that Ryan could hear him, and Kian counted to ten a 3rd time on our way downstairs! Unfortunately, when I turned on the video camera Kian became more interested in the camera, possibly getting a bit shy, too. He got out "one-two" and then stopped. So, he didn't count to ten for the camera or for dad at that moment. Here's the video anyway...




Later that evening, I was able to catch him counting to ten for Nana Joan on the phone, but the recording only started at "three". One of these days, we'll catch the whole series of numbers on one single video! Until then, here is part 2 of the counting to ten series...

The Past 3 Months

Our blog's 3-month hiatus has coincided with the fact that I (Althea) returned to work full-time in March covering the remainder of the school year while my teaching partner is on maternity leave. Between full days with 27 rambunctious 2nd graders, being 23 weeks pregnant, and coming home to actively play with a very active toddler, it's been tough to find the time and energy to process the photos and videos we've had stored on our camera for awhile. Summer break starts in two and a half weeks for Seattle Public Schools, but I didn't want to wait too much longer before posting a few things to highlight what Kian has been doing these days.

In the following series of photos, Kian tries out the big spoon he insisted on taking out of my cereal bowl. We are please to announce that Kian is not allergic to wheat, as was originally reported from his allergy test at 12 months old. This recent finding (through trial and careful observation) opens up a whole new world of foods that we don't have to buy at PCC. His diet remains dairy-free and egg-free, however.


This video shows why it's tough to resist making Kian laugh...



Kian has a blast with the parachute and cool sunglasses from Ava's 3rd birthday party in April...




Kian tries out his new bike (no pedals), given to him by Buh-pa (Matt) and Gramma (Gei)...



Kian loves to ride around the neighborhood up and down small driveway inclines, and he lets us know when he wants to go by saying, "Outside...weee!!?" He always offers neighbors and dogs a friendly, "HI!" when they walk by. Lately, he likes to point out other cars with the Mazda symbol that drive by or are parked in the neighborhood, making the connection by saying, "Mommy car!" since he associates our Mazda5 with me, and our Nissan Cube is called "Daddy car". Kian also remarks, "Buh-pa car!" when seeing other Camry Hybrids like his grandpa drives, even when they are a different color.

Besides riding his bike around outside, one of Kian's favorite activities is rallying Ryan and I to run around the house with him, while pushing one of three toys -- the safari truck, the lawnmower (which he calls a car because I suppose it kind of looks like one...and also, he's never seen us mow the lawn), or the shopping cart from Nana (Joan). Our back pains remind us of how much we love him and don't want to disappoint. We are thinking of ways to create extensions for the handles, but until then, we suffer with a smile.




Taken before Mother's Day brunch...

On our way to REI on Mother's Day, we got video footage of a typical car ride these days, which entails Kian pointing out every truck, bus, or airplane within a quarter mile. On a Sunday, there just weren't as many of them out and about as there are on his way to school, so he seems concerned at times. Nevertheless, he finds something to celebrate and clap for....




This belly photo was taken on May 16th at 20 weeks pregnant. Why do I look big enough to deliver in just a couple months, when I'm really only half way there?! How big IS this baby girl?!! (Yes, if you haven't already heard, Kian is going to have a baby sister in late September!)


Kian still loves school and enjoys naming some of his friends. He has picked up the phrases, "Mommy coming!" and "Daddy coming!" from his peers, who wait by the window for their parents to arrive in the afternoon. Some other new words are apricot, more apple juice, big orange truck, open door, "bye-bye boo boo!" (when he hears a toilet flush), "two buses!" (not sure when he picked up how to use the plural form), "vroom vroom Daddy car" (when he wants to play in the Nissan), and "agua big door hot" (which means REI...for its waterfall, big elevator doors, and indoor fireplace). He's been chatting up a storm, so it's tough to record everything, but these seemed to be a few worth remembering.

St. Patrick's Day

On our way to the Irish Heritage Festival at the Seattle Center last Sunday, we were fortunate enough to walk past a couple of parked Metro buses. These days, Kian is obsessed with buses, and often gets upset when the buses drive away out of sight. He immediately requests/demands "more buth!" with that adorable toddler lisp. So, it was pretty cool to be able to see them up close for as long as he wished.

Just minutes after the following video was taken, the luck of the "Chirish" (referring to Kian's combo Chinese-Irish Heritage) brought an additional bus to the line of parked buses with a couple of drivers-in-training, who were nice enough to let Kian come aboard and sit in the driver's seat (as long as I didn't take any pictures that might incriminate them)!




At the festival, Kian thoroughly enjoyed pushing around a little blue patio chair, often coming dangerously close to ramming into the backs of some innocent spectators' legs. Ryan and I had to run interference constantly. He giggled heartily while racing the chair around the Center House.


Kian was also fond of this little dog...

When we finally raised him up above knee level, Kian enjoyed the Irish music and dancing that we came for...




On March 17th, we hosted St. Patty's Day dinner, now an annual event.

Our first time was in 2008, when I was pregnant with Kian:

In 2009 we took a family photo with Kian at age 7 months:

And this year, when we took our family photo, we're a family of four....well, almost...
I am 12 weeks pregnant! Baby Chow Liddell #2 is due on October 2, 2010. Cheers!!

Kian Turns One and a Half!

Above photo taken on Feb. 10th: Kian with the Bear of Comparison, a teddy bear he's posed with on the 10th of every month for the first year of his life.

Compare this to the following photo taken 6 months ago on his first birthday:

Fun with firetrucks...




Dancin' dancin' dancin'.....Dancin' Machine!

Kian has been trying out some of his new dance moves to the beats of his Sesame Street "CD player". He has some favorite dance songs, and knows which buttons to push to get to them. Enjoy the show. His only request is that you clap when it's over.




His 18-month well-baby check-up isn't until Feb. 23rd, so we'll report his weight and height stats then, but we can update some other developments. Last month, some of Kian's favorite activities were: sorting and fitting 12 different shape blocks in a wooden cube and pointing to the animals on his placemat when we asked him where certain animals were (he knows kangaroo, toucan, elephant, rhino, panda, tiger, bear, hippo, zebra, llama, peacock, among others...). In more recent weeks, he's enjoyed rolling various balls down the steps, and pointing to the letters of the alphabet on his placemat so that we can name them. His favorite letters are: O, R, S, U, V, W, X, Y, and Z...perhaps because those are the ones that he can reach and point to the easiest! He can identify and point to most of these letters when we ask him, for example, "Where is the 'U'?"hat

Kian babbles constantly! He points around while he's talking, as if he is explaining different things to us. We once watched him in his video baby monitor pointing around his bedroom and explaining things to his stuffed animals, from his crib. We can't wait until he can really communicate what's on his mind. Here are the words that he can say and use properly: light, dada/daddy, mama/mommy, hi, more, up, all done, bubble, uh-oh, ball, hat, hot, nana (banana), Nana (for grandma), Buh-pa (for grandpa) and his first Spanish word, agua (water).

He loves going to school, where some of his favorite activities are doing puzzles, working on art projects, and jumping on a little trampoline. He no longer runs to us with relief when we pick him up; he seems so comfortable there. The staff and classmates are so caring and loving toward Kian.

More updates to follow, after his next allergist appointment on Feb. 18th.