March into March

We are marching into March!!! For the first two days of March, we have done lots of walking and sightseeing with Alvin's uncle King and his family. We visited some major sites in DC, including Building Museum, the US Capitol, Botanic Garden, the White House, Kennedy Center for Performing Arts, the National Zoo and Washington National Cathedral.

It was an overwhelming weekend for Alvin, not only because of all the touring, but also because it was his first time to meet his dear cousin Sammie. These little two connected instantly and our sweet 3 year old Sammie knows exactly how to take good care of her little brother.

At no time, you know Uncle King and Mom are related.

Our first stop is this magnificent Building Museum in DC.
The Building Zone is designed for kids to learn hands-on building arts.

No worries. The circuits are behind a plastic glass. It is just for them to learn what is behind a wall.

Sometimes construction workers need to make sure they are still in good appearance.

That is how our ancestors built the Great Wall in China - block by block.

Uncle King's Family

Alvin is always content as long as he has Mom and breads.

The zoo visit is fun also. Look closely how lazy the panda is in the background.

We concluded our weekend with some family time together (see video below). Monday evening, when Alvin came home from daycare and couldn't find Sammie, he was pretty sad. He even cried for straight one hour at bedtime because he missed all the funs with Sammie and didn't want to go to bed. Welcome back soon, Sammie!!!

V Day Special

Alvin had a bitter and sweet Valentine's Day.

From day one in the daycare, the babies have been taught to share toys with others but keep the germs within self. However, these naughties fight for the toys endlessly and share germs unconditionally. This time around, they shared the same symptoms - running nose, coughs and ear infection. So, for Valentine's Day, for the bitter part, Alvin has to take his antibiotics. But, for the sweet part, Mom made a special cake for him and Daddy.

This fruitcake is specially made without eggs and low in sugar and decorated with strawberry whipping cream and raspberries. Although it is hard work, it is worth spending the time for mom's two favor boys. Next time, mom will make a 3 layers for her 3 boys!

Super Sunday

What makes a Super Sunday like the past Sunday? Nice spring-like weather, a fun visit to DC museums, and a Super bowl night with pizza and cokes!

Although Groundhog predicted 6 more weeks of winter, the early spring sign already came last Sunday. With 57 degree and blue sky, the only place you want to visit is the DC mall!

We started the trip early at 9:30am. The first stop is the Natural History Museum. For Alvin's age, the only exhibit is appropriate for him is where the mammals are. It took Alvin 15 minutes to get familiar with the room. Just like a cat to a new place, he walked to every corner in the room to check things out, then, he started to point to the animals he recognized from his bedtime books.

He got excited when he discovered the lion!

The second stop is DC Botanic Garden. It was the first day of the annual Orchid exhibit. You will see Dad took many excellent pictures of various orchids. There is nothing can beat the natural beauty of these flowers. They are just gorgeous! We think the Botanic Garden is very toddler-friendly because all the flowers and plants are placed on the ground and Alvin had no problem seeing them and even touching them (oops...sorry)! For winter time, it is even better because the conservatory is hot and humid like a rain forest!

Alvin got lost in the Jungle!. Maybe he didn't get lost..maybe he was just going to a different direction than what the parents expected.

We then had a brief lunch picnic in front of the Capital Hill reflection pond. Seagulls and ducks are flying and sailing around. Nice entertainment for the lunch.

After refilling his energy, Alvin started to wander around the steps and we took some nice pictures of him.

Alvin finally got wore out by 2pm after 4 hours of walking and running and getting up/down stairs. Here he begged Mom to carry him.

In the evening, we had pizza together for dinner and Alvin watched the 1st quarter of the game with parents. Since normally he is not allowed to watch TV, he is not a big fan of the flashy screen at all. For the big game, he couldn't care for less. Most of the time, he just played his toys around. The parents put Alvin in bed early that night so they could watch the last quarter of the game. Since the Giants got intercepted in the 1st quarter, the parents didn't expect a great game at the end. The last 5 minutes of the Super Bowl almost gave parents heart attacks. Not to mention that the baby was ready to pop out. Not recommended to pregnant moms.

Drinking and Sleeping Problems

Someone got both drinking and sleeping problems?

Alvin recently got a "drinking" problem, take it easy, it is just milk. He used to consume ounces and ounces of milk but now he is only sipping 2-3 ozs each time. We think he is finally growing up and is more interested in other foods. On the good side, he is eating table foods and fruits like crazy. We should not be complaining.

Do you know everyday we are gaining 1 extra daytime minute in the morning and 1 extra daytime minute in the evening? It is a good news for those people like mom who longing for more day light. But, for Daddy and Alvin, it is a bad news because mom usually gets up at sunrise. And the moment she gets up, she would open the curtains to wake up Dad and Alvin. After she washes, if she finds anyone is still in bed, quilt off the bed! Then, the lazy Dad will get up mumbling how cruel the Mom is but Alvin is still snoring his way into the dream. One time, Mom even turned on his favorite CD and then cut all his finger nails but he was still sweet-dreaming. Alvin probably burns up his energy in the day care center during the day and needs extra time to recover at home.

Here just couple pictures we took in the past and would like to share:

Have you ever seen a soccer player wearing a bib? You do now.

Alvin's Dad insisted many time to have his "master-piece" to be posted. You know what his skill level is.

Vistors - strangers or friends?

Despite the fridge temperature, Alvin still enjoyed going to mall playground and visiting friends. Also, we had unexpected visitors from old days. Surprisingly, Alvin made friends with our visitors instantly. He even gave kisses and big hugs to express his appreciations.

It was the first time Alvin met his Uncle Ken, a long time dear friend of the parents. Uncle Ken's surprising visit already overwhelmed the parents. But on the top, he delivered a great news to us - he is going to get married in the coming March and expecting about 550 guests in his wedding! We felt so honored that he personally delivered the wonderful news and wedding invitation to us! Congratulations, dear couple!


Mom's dearest "American Mother" Margaret paid us a visit from New Mexico (yes, the state!). About 6 years ago, Grandma Margaret "lost hope" on her daughter Hope, and decided to move to New Mexico to pursue her dreaming career of teaching in the Indian Reservation. The majestic mountains and modern arts in Taos, NW are so attractive to Margaret so she decided to stay there forever. It was so nice to catch up with her after so many years and it was especially nice to see her doing so well. Alvin will love to visit you in the near future!

****** Family Update ******

For the past couple months, Alvin has learned a great deal from his peers in the daycare center, for the most part, good stuff. His Daddy also taught him colors, shapes and numbers. He now can identify red, yellow, blue and green colors; circle, triangle, rectangle, star and square shapes; numbers from 1 to 10! Daddy has done an amazing job!

With the second one coming on the way, the parents decided to buy a van. After Dad's intensively searching and comparing, we finally settled with an Odyssey. The first day Mom drove her new car, in about 20 minutes, she "broke" the back door (couldn't open it) and totally "ruined" the rear mirror camera. Wow...she is as advanced as Alvin! But, it turned out that Dad was the last one slammed the back door and the hatch was broken and obviously it turned the camera to a wrong angle. The dealer fixed the defected hatch and now everything is back to normal. So, it is fair to say, the toys in our house have to be Alvin-proof, and the hardware in the house has to be Daddy-proof.

Over the holidays

Holiday is never be long enough for the parents. Celebrating the holidays with good friends is especially fun. We went to 2 Christmas parties and invited some friends over to our place (finally the Dad has some good foods to eat)! Also, we visited DC Botanic Garden and Georgetown last gorgeous Spring-like Sunday. Following are some pictures from various events.

Who does a better job, mom or Dad?

Bridge over Georgetown C&O canal

By the Potomac River overlooking Kennedy Center

Season's Greetings

Season’s Greetings

Dear friends and families,

We hope this letter finds everyone high in holiday spirit and you and your family are in good health. Since the holidays are coming and we all want surprises, why not start our letter with an exciting news – we are expecting a sibling for Alvin in early summer! Every child is a gift and our family is so blessed.

In addition to the news, we want to give you a little bit update on our family whereabouts. Alvin continues to amaze his admiring parents everyday with his physical and intellectual achievements. He is now 17 months old and runs and climbs everywhere as you can imagine. He just started to learn how to stand on one foot and jump without landing on his soft bottom. Dancing with music is his favorite physical movement and crying without tears is his most powerful tool to gain parents sympathy. Alvin also loves to draw like an artist and plays hide-and-seek everywhere in the house with his daddy. His language acquisition is improving everyday. He can now speak 20-30 words and recognize about 80 names, including animals, foods, objects, some US states and of course, China and US on the maps. Quite impressive, um?

Alvin’s Dad continues to be a fulltime engineer at work, a fulltime babysitter in the house and a part-time student at Hopkins. How can he handle all these? We don’t really need to know as long as his boss is happy, Alvin is healthy, Alvin’s Mom is merry, and the grade reports are all As.

Alvin’s Mom continues to enjoy her motherhood with an extremely supportive hubby doing all the housework, a wonderful boy giving her free massage on demand and a cute little baby kicking her tummy every now and then. What a life!

That is all about it. We are just doing as well as you would expect. Our holiday wishes go to you and your family.

Alvin, baby-on-the-way, Hope & Yuelun