Potty Training

Anh decided it was time to try his hand at peeing in the potty. This is what happened....

Pictures, videos, etc.....

So, it seems the only thing I can ever find time to do it upload videos and post pictures. Please scroll down for the 3 latest videos - 2 are from Yachats on the Oregon coast and one is from a local farm. I have also added a link on the right side of the page to picture albums of Anh.

Just a few little notes about what Anh is up to:
Anh is really talking up a storm. Every day it seems that he has new words and loves using them. Right now his favorite word is "No", thanks to our friend Elliot :-)
Anh is finally getting more teeth, including molars! It has been six months since his last teeth came in, and he has been managing on just the 6 front ones that he had. We are being reminded about how much fun getting new teeth is..
Anh peed "in" his toilet for the first time! It had nothing to do with us, and he didn't quite make it into the toilet, but it was still quite an accomplishment. We bought a training toilet a few months ago, just to have around so that he would be used to it. He has loved playing in it - he thinks it is a toy box. Well, a couple of days ago he said "pee pee" and pointed at the toilet. Patrick removed Anh's diaper and Anh sat on the seat and peed a little on the floor. We are very proud :-)

Anh is definitely not a little baby anymore and I am always amazed to look at old photots of him to see how much he has changed!
Enjoy the videos and pictures.

Through the legs

splashing in the water

more videos

All I can manage these days is just posting videos and pictures! Here is another one to keep you going

New Anh video - begging to talk

Sorry I don't have time to post, but enjoy this video.

Big Boy Shoes

Quick cute video

I only managed to snap a single video while in Israel. Anh insisted on playing with this small bottle of gin all the time and everyone kept saying he was starting early. No, he did not drink any alcohol! He has also taken to "dancing" to music - really just spinning round and round - which he demonstrates briefly here. Just this afternoon we were outside playing and he hear music from inside the house. Anh came running (ok, well stumbling) inside and stood in front of the stereo twirling around for at least 5 minutes.

New Trip - Israel

Ok, so we have been in Israel for the past 2 weeks visiting family and I haven't made a single post! Bad Shula. This means that somehow, in between working and taking care of a child, I will have to make up for this, so here goes....
We were lucky to find a fairly good flight itinerary to Tel Aviv by flying first to Portland where we met my sister. Then we hopped a 10 hour direct flight to Frankfurt, a quick layover, and then on to Tel Aviv in 3.5 hours. The only hitch was that we started with a sick child. Anh had managed to contract hand, foot, and mouth disease, a common childhood virus, the day before we left. He had sores in his mouth which made it painful for him to eat and caused him to be VERY cranky. There was a point when I questioned whether we would be able to travel at all, but we toughed it out, and thanks to my sister's help, made it to Israel in OK shape.

Within the first two days we reunited with family, visited Old Jaffa, went to an Israeli play at the theater that my uncle manges, and ate tons of hummus and pita. Anh was a little cranky all of the time, but it didn't stop us from enjoying ourselves. One memorable meal we had at Itzak HaGadol, where they brought us about 30 little salads, fresh pita, a tray of grilled meats, and pitchers of lemonade. Our first "Israeli" meal and it was delicious.


On our second full day in Tel Aviv, Patrick and I spent the day at Ethrog, Invitrogen's Israel R&D site. A day of work during a vacation sounds like a dull prospect, but it was actually quite interesting and hopefully will lead to some good collaborative projects.
Early the following morning, we were off to Eilat, the southern resort town on the Red Sea coast. My family had previously traveled here 20 years ago and had a fantastic time snorkeling and relaxing. We were in for quite a surprise when we arrived and discovered that Eilat has turned into a small scale cross between Las Vegas and Atlantic City. Not exactly our idea of a great time, but we made the best of it by walking the board walk, eating fantastic sea food, snorkeling at the coral reserve and visiting the aquarium. Things have definitely changed for the worse and it is unlikely that any of us will want to return. Some highs and lows were:
The hotel, Edomit, was a bit crummy for the price. The breakfast and the cleanliness were pretty bad, but at least it was close to downtown.
The aquarium was fantastic, with really nice coral tanks and an underwater observatory. While we were there, a group of young teenagers saw Anh and were facinated to see an asian child. They all wanted to play with him and have their pictures taken with him. None of them had heard of Vietnam, but they understood that it is near China and Thailand.



To be continued....

Leapfrog into March

Well, not much has happened since I last posted - yeah right! Can you imagine two months going by without any changes in the life of a 1 year old? Anh is seriously amazing and is surprising on a daily basis. Now he walks full time! He is quite the cautious guy, wanting to make sure that each step is safe. I had to laugh when I visited my friend with a daughter at the same stage and she was RUNNING everywhere, even though she was falling constantly. Nothing could stop her and she would just pick herself off the ground and keep going. Anh, on the other hand, is cautious about everything. At every new experience, he spends a lot of time looking the situation over and analyzing it before plunging in. Sounds just like his father! He is also beginning to talk, although "nana" seems to be his universal word for - food, drink, more. We originally thought he was asking for banana, but just about any food will please him. He is still eating like a horse and will eat just about anything we put on his plate, especially if we are eating it too. Tonight he had his first tabouli and seemed to like it. Well, enough talk - here are pictures! Yes, our boy loves to get inside pots, buckets, boxes - just like the cat. Oh, and he meows just like a cat too. I guess he is multi lingual.

First Steps!

Anh took his first real steps today! After all of these months of thinking that at any moment he would walk, there it was...... and in my lab, no less. Perhaps he was scared of the thought of all the Science around, perhaps he was just ready. Anh has been taking single steps as of late, but today he actually took 5 steps in a row, without falling.
Kids really are amazing! Just when you start to wonder how you can possibly juggle all the different aspects of your life, he throws a little surprise like walking... or like trying to kiss you on his own volition. What a sweetheart.
Hmmm, what else does Anh do? Well, he:
1. Talks a lot. Ok, so he doesn't really say anything understandable except dada, mama, and dog, but he sure loves hearing himself talk! He also loves to sing along with us - he doesn't yet know how bad we sound :-)
2. Takes toys out of containers and puts them back in again. You may say big deal, but I think it is pretty cool that he can pick up after himself.
3. Eats a ton! Yes, this boy will eat anything and his favorites are beans, beef (he takes after his fater) and most veggies. Unfortunately, milk products seem to give him excema, so no scoopy for him.
4. Wake up every morning between 3 and 5 am. Not so cool, but we are hoping he grows out of this in the not too distant future. For now, we are rewarding this behavior by bringing him into bed with us. Such softies.

Of course there are plenty more Anh tricks that I could list, but just wanted to give out a little taste.
The next phase of our remodel - kitchen and bath - begins in less than a month. Hopefully, I'll be able to post some of those pictures!