Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Month 23 (12/12/08 - 1/11/09) - X'mas & New Year '09


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Originally uploaded by gabeluk.
I can't believe it has been 4 months since I last blogged. I don't know where all of our time went since Thanksgiving, but I felt like we had been living in a whirlwind. So I am now going to post a series of make up blog entries to catch up. I just hope I remember what I did 4-5 months ago... here goes...

December is obviously all about Christmas and holiday, and Daddy took time off between Christmas and New Year this year to hang out, which was nice. Now that I am close to 2 years old, I appreciated the festivities and decorations a lot more. I opened presents on my own, and I even got to stay up to watch the ball dropped on New Year's Eve. I feel so grown up.

See my pictures and videos from Month 23. My pictures are also available on Shutterfly.

Thursday, January 1, 2009

Month 22 (11/12/08 - 12/11/08) - Happy Thanksgiving


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Originally uploaded by gabeluk.
Compared to the last two months, November was relatively tamed. Mommy and daddy took me to the playground a couple of times. I really like being the swing and the slides. Germs from all the other kids? Not so much.

I also had a play date with Evan and went to Ryan's 2nd birthday party this month. Ryan has so many friends and so many toys. He must have so much fun everyday.

And of course, we had our Turkey Day celebration. Mommy cooked again and invited Grandpa, Grandma, Uncle Sonny, & Uncle Warren over. She pulled the feast off very gracefully. Awesome.

Finally, I can talk now! Not fully, but I can often communicate what I want. For example:
  • Daddy, "mulk" = Daddy, get me milk.
  • "Watol" = Give me water.
  • On?! = Turn TV on for me.
  • Down = Put me down or help me get down from bed.
  • Out! = Take me out of the time-out box.
  • Po-po = Carry me! (in Chinese)
  • Daddy, broken. (I use this a lot.)
  • "Noonle" = Noodle! (as in feed me noodle!)
  • ah-chew = Thank you!. (We don't know why this means thank you for me. It just does.)

That's it. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

See my pictures and videos from Month 22. My pictures are also available on Shutterfly.

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Month 21 (10/12/08 - 11/11/08) - The lonely piglet


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Originally uploaded by gabeluk.
October certainly had its ups and downs for us.

First, I fell off my stroller and hit my head on the tiled floor. Then a week later, I rolled off the stairs at home. Third time's the charm, I fell off grandma and grandpa's couch and hit my head again. I pretty much carried lumps after lumps on my head for the entire month.

And remember, a few months back, I said the Civic will out live us all? Well, it didn't. It got stolen outside of our home. Worse yet, it was discovered two days later, and daddy had to pay to retrieve the car from the impound yard. Totally fed up, he donated (got rid of) it that very same day. Seriously. I have never met anyone with worse non-lethal car karma than daddy. Not even close.

The good news is that no permanent harm was done. At the time of this posting, I barely remember hitting my head and daddy is finding life without the cursed Civic quite liberating. All things considered, things could have turned out much worse, so we are actually very thankful.

Anyways, we went to several fall festivals and pumpkin patches in October. We went to Auntie Betty and Uncle Hansel's house for a Halloween party. Lastly, we attended a Thomas the Train event with Auntie Hilda, Uncle Mike, and Ryan. We rode in a life size train pulled by Thomas. It was a pretty neat event. :-)

See my pictures and videos from Month 21. My pictures are also available on Shutterfly.

Month 20 (9/12/08 - 10/11/08) - Youngest Wii Mario Cart Champion


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Originally uploaded by gabeluk
Long time no see, people. Yep, yep...I am way behind in my blogging (sorry!) so this is one of several make up episodes.

Daddy and mommy took a week off so we can go to the Bay Area and attend Auntie Linh and Uncle Garson's wedding. As usual, we saw lots of Daddy's friends and had lots of fun.

The wedding ceremony was simple yet elegant. And, of course, there were some fantastic food since Auntie Linh was involved. I could not believe she CATERED HER OWN WEDDING!! Crazy woman! And she pulled it off without a hitch too! Amazing.

During the trip, we split our stay between Uncle Vince's place and Auntie Julie & Uncle Keno's place, which means... lots of play time with Jayden, who celebrated his one year birthday. For reasons that I am too young to understand, I am quite fond of him. Mommy, daddy, I think I am ready for a little brother or sister now. When are you two going to get cooking?

We capped off the month with some beach time with Ryan and Amanda, some poker, some Wii playing, a summer festival, and a CHOCOLATE CONVENTION!!! What a fun filled month!

See my pictures and videos from Month 20. My pictures are also available on Shutterfly.

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Month 19 (8/12/08 - 9/11/08) - The fearless shopaholic


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Originally uploaded by gabeluk
I am now officially one and a half years old!!! As of 8/19, I am 2 feet 7.5 inches tall (50 percentile) and weigh 22 lb 15oz (30 percentile). As you can tell from this video here, I am getting more independent already.

We had dinner with a couple of daddy's Hong Kong friends, Uncle Derek, Auntie Winnie, and Uncle Kevin. Daddy knows Derek and Kevin way back in Hong Kong when he was barely a teenager. It is neat that they are still getting together 25 years later half way around the world. It was also trippy to hear daddy hold an entire dinner conversation in Chinese.

I finally met little Camden. Uncle Dan was away for business, but we hung out with Camden, Evan, and Auntie Cora all afternoon. Camden was barely a month old. Man, it seems like eons ago that I was his size. I felt like a giant. Here are some pictures from our visit.

This past weekend we had Korean BBQ with Auntie Betty, Uncle Hansel, Auntie Anne, and Clara. Galbi... yum! Auntie Anne and Clara were up in LA all week so Mommy and I hung out with them at the mall for 5 hours Tuesday afternoon. Time flies when you are having fun as none of us wanted to leave.

I learned a few dance moves this month and daddy captured some of them on video. Be forewarned though, some of them may make you dizzy. (You will see why.) Anyways, see my pictures and videos from Month 19. My pictures are also available on Shutterfly.

Friday, August 1, 2008

Month 18-2 (7/21/08 - 8/11/08) - I am a girl


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Originally uploaded by gabeluk.
... and not a baby, but more on that later.

Picking up where last week left off, we had two weddings this weekend, one in the Bay Area and one here in LA. Since it would have been too much for mommy and me to make both, we lost daddy to the Bay Area for a few days so he could go to Uncle Mark's wedding on Saturday. Then on Sunday, he flew back down to join us for Uncle Admond and Auntie Cristine's wedding reception at night. Just thinking about all that traveling makes me tired. Good thing daddy is used to it. What a trooper.

Anyways, Uncle Admond and Auntie Cristine's reception was huge and elaborate, complete with dragon dancers, live entertainment, and even an Elvis impersonator. It was fun, especially with Uncle Mike, Auntie Hilda, and Ryan there. Ryan and I got to hang out quite a bit as our tables are right next to one another.

Btw, what a small world? Uncle Admond is mommy's cousin's cousin, but he also grew up with Auntie Hilda as their families are close family friends. What do they say about Asians and the 6 degrees of separation again?

Mommy and daddy are getting sentimental about me not being a baby anymore. I can walk normal, I am talking more and more each day, and I pretty much understand everything mommy and daddy says (even though I pretend not to so I can get away with stuff). I have even lost most of my baby fat. Sigh... how time flies...

See my pictures and videos from Month 18. My pictures are also available on Shutterfly.

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Month 18-1 (7/12/08 - 7/20/08) - Bay Area road trip 2008


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Originally uploaded by gabeluk
Wedding season is in full effect with 3 weddings in 2 consecutive weekends in 2 different cities. Wow!

First, we made a road trip vacation up to the Bay Area for Uncle Eddy and Auntie Grace's wedding. Daddy took a couple of days off to hang out and to show me around his old stomping ground. We stayed with Auntie Julie and Uncle Keno's place, so I got to hang out with Jayden a lot. I love playing with Jayden. He is kind of like my own little baby brother, except that he ain't so little. He is almost as heavy as me and he is only nine months old. Let's just say that I am very impressed with his appetite.




Our Thursday schedule was a bit hectic as we ate hand pulled noodle (yum) in Fremont and hit Ghirardelli Square & Fisherman Wharf, Chinatown, and the expanded San Francisco Centre all in one day. At night we visited Uncle Dave, Auntie Ying, and Audrey in Palo Alto. Audrey was only about two months old when I last saw her, and she is about my size now. (Let me get this straight. Both Jayden, 9 months, and Audrey, 1 year, are my size? And I am close to 18 months old already? Hmm... I am not sure if I like where this is going. I think I need to start hitting the gym or something.) Anyways, hanging with Audrey was so much fun for the both of us that I kept her up way beyond her normal bedtime. Comes with the territory if you want to keep up and party with me.

Friday was all about food. We had Zachery's pizza for lunch. Unlike last time where mommy and daddy ate while I salivate, I got to taste the legendary deep dish pizza this time. In fact, I pretty much ate half a slice all by myself. Impressive huh? We then chase down our pizza with gourmet ice cream, daddy got his Mocha Bianca at Cafe Strada in Berkeley, and had Singaporean food with grand auntie Teresa and grand uncle Wilfred for dinner. Man, writing this makes me hungry.

The Bay Area gang were all in attendance for the Uncle Eddy's wedding. He was his usual goofy and sweet self. Good music and alcohol flowed freely as would be expected. How can that not be fun? See here for pictures and videos at the wedding.

Finally we had dim sum and boba with Uncle Willie, Auntie Karen, and Uncle Alan the next day before driving home to LA. While entirely too short, it had been a really really fun trip!!! I can't wait for my next visit.

See pictures and videos from our Bay Area adventure. As usual, these pictures are also available on Shutterfly.

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Month 17-2 (6/30/08 - 7/11/08) - It's all about me again


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Originally uploaded by gabeluk
On July 4th, we went to Auntie Christine and Uncle Phillip's place where I got to be ring leader for my subordinates Nathan and Nicole. I also met Benjamin (Uncle Patrick and Auntie Susan's newborn) for the first time. When he is a bit older, I will also recruit him into my army of mischiefs. At night, we went to grandma and grandpa's to watch fireworks from their front porch. I was too young to truly appreciate fireworks last year, but I found them totally fascinating this year.

On the 5th, we went to Auntie Annie and Uncle Tom's place for another BBQ and hung out with a bunch of daddy's beach volleyball pals. Auntie Annie's BBQ is always fun and always has a lot of good food which I can actually eat this year. Next year, I am going to take a dip at the pool.

What a difference a year make, huh? This time last year I was barely able to laugh and roll from stomach to back and vice versa. This year I am walking, talking (sort of), and eating big people's food.

BTW, my chinglish is coming along nicely. Here is a translation of a few of the vocab in my repertoire:
-- baby-ah (self-explanatory)
-- da = dog, duck, cat, and pretty much any non-humanoid animals
-- ba-pi = give me (why? your guess is as good as mine)
-- eyes = eyes or nose
-- wa = wall-e
-- mic = mickey mouse
-- bao = bread (in chinese)
-- ea-ea = eat

"Uh-oh" is now my favorite phrase, which is very appropriate. Since mommy and daddy didn't bother to baby-proof the house much, my recent favorite hobbies include emptying the kitchen drawers and throwing folded laundries onto the floor. Who need toys?

See my pictures and videos from Month 17. I have a few really cool videos where I rocked out with daddy to the tunes of High School Musical. They are definitely worth checking out. My pictures are also available on Shutterfly.

Saturday, July 19, 2008

Month 17-1 (6/12/08 - 6/29/30) - The mommy and daddy episode

June '08 seems to be more about mommy and daddy than it was about me.. well, at least their lives seems a bit more eventful than mine for the moment.

Daddy finally launched FindTopSchools.com earlier this month. He has been working on this site on and off for a while, but he really turned it on these past few months, which was part of the reason why he didn't have much time to help me with my blog recently. It is a pretty cool site that helps folks find all the good public schools in California. Even though he still has a to-do list a mile long, I am hoping that he will now have more time dedicated to Cadence again. :-)

We lost daddy to Uncle Eddy's, Uncle Mark's, and Uncle Marc's (yes, not a typo) bachelor parties (also not a typo) in Las Vegas the weekend of 6/20. Sounds like fun right? Except he made the mistake of driving the Civic. He blew his tire, got stranded in the middle of the Mojave desert in June in the middle of the day without water and shade for two hours, and took 8 full hours (no AC in the car) to get the Vegas. Driving back took him 6 hours because of an overturned eighteen-wheeler. I assumed he had fun for the little time that he spent with the Uncles. Once back, he kept muttering, "That damn Civic has betrayed me for the last time!" Hmm... maybe the Civic won't outlive us after all. We shall see.

Finally, 6/28 was mommy and daddy's fifth year anniversary. They ditched me and went to the Hump for sushi. Daddy dared to try the "surprise me" chef special. He said it was delicious and the meal looked delicious in the pictures, except his tummy didn't feel so good the day after. Perhaps he was too adventurous. Anyways, happy anniversary, mommy and daddy.

That's it. Next week the focus shifts back to me. Later.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Month 16 (5/12/08 - 6/11/08) - New ride


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Originally uploaded by gabeluk.
I really think I need to start blogging more promptly and frequently again. I have almost forgotten what happened in Month 16 already. Anyways...

The week after Mother's Day, daddy and I took mommy to the Scarlet Tea Room in Pasadena to celebrate. This was daddy's and my first afternoon tea. The place was elegant and very Victorian. The sandwiches and scones were really yummy. Too bad I can't try the tea. Can you imagine me all hyped up on caffeine?

During Memorial Weekend, we went out and got us a new ride. We traded in the Pathfinder for a 2008 Honda Accord EX V6. It's about time. After all these years, we finally have one good reliable car. Mommy and daddy were a bit sad about losing the Pathfinder, but they were quickly distracted by the shiny glint and smell of the new car. Where is the Civic, you ask? It is still here, and daddy still drives it to work everyday. At this rate, that car will probably out live us all.

We also went to the La Habra Children's Museum this month. It has lots of toys, costumes, and other make believe stuff. I am still too young to enjoy most of them though. I will come back when I am a tad older.

See my pictures and videos from Month 16. My pictures are also available on Shutterfly.

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Month 15 (4/12/08 - 5/11/08) - Asian Dora


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Originally uploaded by gabeluk
First thing first, Flickr now has VIDEO!!!! No more splitting up my pictures and videos. No offense Photobucket, but it has been nice knowing ya.

From my first few steps to full on walking, it has been quite a month. Still a little wobbly though, but that's what makes me cute. If I can walk normal, then I will be just another kid and a baby no longer. I like the attention I got as a baby, so I think I will take my time from here on...

Wedding season this year started with two right off the bat. Auntie Betty and Uncle Hansel kicked it off on April 26th. As expected, it was a beautiful wedding filled with elegance. We carpooled with Auntie Sharon & baby Aaron, and hung out with Clara, Auntie Ann and Uncle Ken. I even have my own seat and place setting at my table. Congrats again Auntie Betty and Uncle Hansel.

Mommy and I lost daddy to the Bay Area for a few days the following week. I am a hand full so it was tough on mommy. And daddy came back with a cold and gave it to me which I in turn passed to mommy. Poor form!

This last weekend was quite busy. Auntie Miranda's 10 years old B-day party was Saturday night. Happy birthday, Miranda! Sunday was Uncle Ken Thai and Auntie Ammie's wedding. It was also beautiful and elegant. And the best part? I had cake two days in a row. But it is not all about me... or is it?

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY, mommy! You are the best!

We celebrated with Grandma a week early and will celebrate with Mommy a week late b/c of the Sunday wedding.

Lastly, Happy Mother's Day to all the mommies out there. :-)

See my pictures and videos from Month 15. My pictures are also available on Shutterfly.

Monday, April 7, 2008

Month 14 (3/24/08 - 4/11/08) - Longest post ever

Boy, what a difference 2 weeks made. Not only can I stand, I also took my first steps and even learned to dance. You all know that I am a Hannah Montana fan, but can you guess that I am also into High School Musical?

I have come a really long way from being a bump on a log.

This past weekend was very busy and social. We kicked things off by having dinner with Auntie Annie and Uncle Tom on Friday. We went back to our place afterwards and I surprised everyone (including mommy and daddy) with my walking prowess.

We had a double header on Saturday. In the afternoon, we went to Auntie Betty and Uncle Hansel's wedding shower/housing warming party. Clara was there so I hung with her a bit. There were so many other babies there. Really. A lot. If I could count at all, I would say there were more babies than I could count with my tiny fingers.

Auntie Julie, Uncle Keno, and Jayden drove down from the Bay Area for the weekend, so we met up with them (along with Auntie Cora, Uncle Dan, & Evan) for dinner Saturday evening. Jayden is so much bigger and chubbier than when I last saw him. He is so cute, and such a happy camper too. He looks a lot like Uncle Keno but with a big square head. Do you think he will mind if I nickname him "blockhead"? j/k, lol. Here are pictures from our night with Jayden.

On Sunday, Uncle Willy came to visit. He is so nice and fun and a bit like a walking and talking encyclopedia with GPS navigation. Very handy to have around. He even taught daddy how to better use his camera so he can take better pictures of yours truly. I hope daddy took notes.

Lastly, I am not sure if this posting monthly thing is working out. As unintuitive as it may sound, it actually felt easier to post weekly. But then again, after this post, I am not sure if I have left much to talk about next week. Let's play it by ear, but don't be surprised if I go back to a weekly schedule while skipping occasional posts during "easy" weeks.

Mommy and daddy went video crazy this month, but with good reason. See my pictures and videos from Month 14. My pictures are also available on Shutterfly.

Month 14 (3/17/08 - 3/23/08) - Happy Easter


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Originally uploaded by gabeluk.
The fantastic four (Ryan, Evan, Amanda, & I) spent Easter weekend up in Big Bear Lake where I saw real natural snow for the first time. I don't know where the term "snow white" came from because the snow I saw was kind of dirty.

The road to Big Bear was really windy. Good thing mommy drove. Otherwise she would have gotten car sick like Aunties Hilda & Cora.

The rest of the weekend was great. The house we rented was nice and spacious, which was great since us kids were all mobile now. We hiked along the lake. The weather was mild and the scenery was beautiful.

See my pictures and videos from our Big Bear Trip 2008.

Month 14 (3/12/08 - 3/16/08) - Victory!! I can stand!!


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Originally uploaded by gabeluk.

I told you I was close last time. Well, a few days after my last post, I actually did it. I don't do it for long though since I can't go anywhere yet and standing in one spot is kinda boring. What's next?


Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Month 13 (2/17/08 - 3/11/08) - Get off my back


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Originally uploaded by gabeluk.
After a few hectic weeks that include my birthday, grandpa & grandma's visit, and Chinese New Year, I am ready for a bit of R&R. As a result, the rest of my thirteenth month was pretty uneventful. I continued to learn how to stand (I am oh so very close) and walk, and I got a few molars growing at back of my mouth.

I did have several play dates though. I visited Clara and hung with her for an afternoon. I think she looks up to me. :-) I met baby Aaron when Uncle Jack and Auntie Sharon came to visit. And I invited my posse (Ryan, Evan, Amanda, and Natalie) over to play one Sunday afternoon. Fun, fun, fun...

See my pictures and videos from Month 13. My pictures are also available on Shutterfly.