Crawling!!!

Well, I had pretty much put crawling on hold for Nathanh.  He seemed to be able to make his way around by sitting, turning, lying down again, and doing the whole process over and over or by crawling backwards, so I thought he'd lost interest in actual crawling.  But today he surprised me!

So, I would imagine that most babies crawl towards something they want; mommy, daddy, a favorite toy...Not my Nathanh!  This is what he wanted enough to start crawling.

Nathanh discovered this gem behind the door of his bedroom yesterday.  I guess he had been dreaming about it all night because he certainly remembered it was there today!  I had just changed him after breakfast and put him down on the floor in the middle of his room while I went to wash my hands.  When I returned he was looking very intently toward this hidden treasure.  I had a feeling that he was going to try to crawl towards it so I went and got the video camera and then on my way back into the room 'happen' to touch the door stop with my toe so that it would go twaaaaaang(or whatever that sound is).

That definitely tweaked Nathanh's interest and he thought about going for it while I sat poised with the camera rolling....it didn't happen...in fact he actually bonked his head in one attempt to get going, which I caught on camera...oops.  Anyways, once we dried the tears and had a few cuddles and kisses, I thought I'd give it one more shot.  And he did it!  I let him twang away for a couple of minutes and then I put him back in the middle of the room and resumed my cinematography efforts.  I got the whole thing!  We then promptly phoned daddy at work to relay the breaking news!!

When Erwin got home he took Nathanh upstairs to strut his stuff.  And when I heard the excitement, I knew Nathanh had preformed again!  He has not really crawled anywhere else, other than a long reach...not even to find me...huh...but he sure goes after that door stop!

Here is a repeat performance just before bed time.



I love this face!  There are so many captions one could put in the thinking bubble!  What do you think he is thinking here???

GOT IT!!!

It is sure a good thing that Erwin finished installing the gate at the top of the stairs yesterday!!!

Chúc mừng năm mới

Today was Nathanh's first Tet Parade (mine and Erwin's too).  Tet is the Vietnamese equivalent to Chinese New Year.  The actual day is February 3rd this year but for us the celebrations started today and will end on February 13th!  This was the first year that Vancouver hosted a Tet parade for the Vietnamese Community.  It was a short route but well attended and lots of fun!

We met up with our adoption group and saw many friendly faces of other families who have adopted from Vietnam in the crowd.

Left to right:  Abby, Nathanh, Sarah, and big sister Emily

We were a bit concerned that Nathanh might be afraid of the lion...but apparently not!  The Lion came right up to his stroller.  When I looked in right afterwards Nathanh was laughing!

All week they were forecasting rain but other than it being a bit cold (by Vancouver standards - not the rest of Canada!) it was an absolutely gorgeous day!  We wanted Nathanh to wear his Vietnamese outfit so we put MANY layers underneath to keep him cozy.  The only problem was that he kept pulling off his mittens so his hands kept getting cold.

After the parade we decided to go to, what else, a Vietnamese restaurant with the other families.

Nathanh was very well behaved sitting in a highchair between mommy and daddy.  It was a very long lunch due to the busyness of the restaurant but it sure was nice to catch up with the other families.

A better look at Nathanh's little Vietnamese shirt.

This was the balloon that he got at the parade.  I tied it to one of his toys so it wouldn't float away on him.  He was fascinated with it and played with it for most of the evening!

New Play Area

Today Nathanh and I made a new play area in my computer room for him.  My hope is that perhaps I will be able to check my email during the day, without Nathanh always banging on the keys.  I wouldn't mind this so much except that Nathanh seems to know keyboard shortcuts and keeps changing the language of my keyboard...luckily I know how to turn it back now!

Thanks Auntie Joyce for the wall decals.  They make my play area fun and a real 'boys' hangout! 

I had to have a tickle fest on Nathanh's tummy so that he would smile big enough to show all of his upper teeth!

This is the photo that gave me the inspiration to make a play area for Nathanh in my computer room.

Notice how Nathanh is not crying even though I am on the other side of the room taking the photo?  This is a HUGE improvement.  So my thought is that he can do the same thing in my computer room!

Foods to Date

Nathanh has been a very good sport about trying lots of new foods.  To date he has tried:
-rice cereal
-wheat cereal
-peas
-broccoli
-carrots
-sweet potato
-butternut squash
-pears
-avacado
-apples
-banana
-white fish (cooked in orange juice)
-potato
-various teething biscuits

Of course, all of these have been in puré form, with the exception of the teething biscuits.  His favourites are peas and broccoli for the veggies and pears and apples for the fruits.  Nathanh did not like bananas the first few times I tried to give them to him mashed up, however, when I was eating one he very much wanted a bite of mine, so I let him take a small bite and now that is the only way he will eat it!

We tried the fish this week to try to up Nathanh's protein intake.  It was a recipe in a baby food book recommended to us by our pediatrician.  I thought it was quite good really.  Sole cooked in orange juice puréd with carrots and potatoes.  Nathanh probably didn't think it was a good as I thought it was but he eats one cube (ice cube tray portion) every night...as long as there are peas to follow!

Next week I want to try him on a chicken puré of some sort.  I also want to introduce blueberries and yams in the near future.

In teething news, Nathanh now has five teeth!  Right after the two top ones came in last week another one on the top broke through.  I've been trying to catch them on camera but it is way harder to get photos of the upper teeth than the bottom teeth.  Here is the best I have managed.

Showing off one of his upper teeth.

Ever since Hanoi, when Nathanh had first one and very soon after, two teeth, we have been practicing good oral hygiene:)  Luckily for us, Nathanh LOVES having his teeth brushed!  It is sometimes an activity I will do with him to soothe him if he is cranky.

Nathanh can't wait to get that soft bristled brush into his mouth!

And if I miss a spot he will surely guide my finger to just the right place!

Shower

On Sunday, the ladies from our church put together a beautiful baby shower for Nathanh and me. The timing was perfect - we were just too rushed before going to Vietnam and when we came back there was no way I was going to let everyone pass Nathanh around (I don't think that would have gone over too well!), then the holidays set in so now was good.  I am VERY confident that Nathanh is attached to me so letting others hold him is no longer an issue...for me, Nathanh may have something to say about that! The special day was hosted by this wonderful friend.

Jessica

I was very touched by all of the people who came out to help welcome Nathanh into our church family.

There was plenty of food to eat...in true Berea style, I might add!

The cake was a tribute to both Nathanh's Vietnamese heritage and his new Canadian citizenship...but if you are thinking the baby on this cake doesn't look very Vietnamese you'd be right...the same baby cake topper was used last month as baby Jesus!

The present opening seemed to never end...Nathanh was certainly spoiled...I mean provided for lovingly;)

I could keep posting pictures of all of the adults playing shower games and me opening all of the gifts...but I know that all you really want to see are ones of that special little guy enjoying his day.

A new train that makes noise!

Nathanh approving of a very cute pair of fire engine shoes.

Nathanh reading one of his many books that will most certainly be well-loved and well-used!

Here are a couple of other very thoughtful gifts that I know will be cherished for years to come.

This little fleece blankie is keeping Nathanh warm in his crib as I type.

A beautiful hand-made quilt, personalized just for Nathanh!

Thank you so much to our wonderful church family for taking such good care of us.  We are truly blessed to have all of you in our lives. Love, Tammi, Erwin and Nathanh.

New This Week...

Sleep Training is going GREAT!  I am not sure how Nathanh caught on so quickly to what we were doing but he is definitely on the program!  Perhaps how we are putting him down now - awake, rather than holding him to sleep, is what they were doing in the orphanage and so he remembered the routine and caught on quickly...I don't know but it is working wonders!  We are doing the put him down, if he cries then let him cry for 5 minutes before going in to check on him and reassure him quickly without picking him up.  If he cries again wait 10 minutes before going in a second time, increasing on 5 minute intervals.  Saturday night we had to go in twice before he fell asleep and today at nap time we went in twice but both times he fell asleep just after the second check in and all of the other times he has fallen asleep a few minutes after putting him down.  The whole point being to teach him how to fall asleep and fall back asleep on his own.  'Gotta love building that independence!

Nathanh is now able to pull himself up.  He started the week by only being able to do this if what he was pulling himself up on was positioned just so, but now it is pretty much a given that he can do it if he has something to hold onto at the right height.  The part that I have to watch is sometimes, once he gets up, he forgets that he has to hold on...We'll be working on that part this week!

The other new little trick that he has learned is to go from his tummy to a sitting position on his own.  The first about 8 times that he did it, it was by accident really and he just ended up sitting.  But now he knows that he can do this and gets into and out of these positions purposefully.

His two top teeth have both cut through.  His right one first and the left one about two days later.  I am SO glad to have this happen...as I am sure Nathanh is too!  What a pain teeth are, literally!  How many more teeth to go?

Here are some pictures from this past week.

sleeping in mommy and daddy's bed (before sleep training began!)

"Come on teeth break through already!"

Snuggling with Froggy

This is one of those pictures that my nephew would NOT be impressed with...I can hear him now..."just because you can put a duck on his head does not mean you should"

Nathanh is not bothered by water on his face or in his eyes.  Our Wednesday swimming instructor says to just just do one or two drops so that they are not scared...this is obviously not a problem for Nathanh.

I just have to say that the electrical outlet in the background looks a lot closer than it actually is!  I promise you Nathanh is in no danger here!

Sometimes crawling backwards makes you end up under a chair...