A quantum jump in water

I haven't mentioned much about my swimming skill this year. There is really not much to talk about. Last year, I was treated as a star swimmer for my age. But I didn't make progress at all this year. Actually, dad thought I was more active in water last year. He said I was not much different from a floating log in water. Honestly, even worse than a floating log, as I need his support to be like a floating log.

NOT ANY MORE!
Yesterday I found out that I could make a good balance in water if I moved my arms and legs in the right way, with a little help of my floatie jacket. A new chapter of my swimming progress just opened. I myself could go anywhere I wanted in the pool. It's not easy as some time I got water in my mouth and nose. What I did was just spitting it out, like dad showed me. It's so cool to swim on your own.

Dad was a little lost. Whenever he tried to approach me to offer his unnecessary help, I yelled him to stop it. It seems that he relly need some time to adjust from a very needed person to an unneeded role. Be ready, dad. More adjustments are coming on their ways.

Hamilton Pool, better than a beach?

Last Saturday, we went to Hamilton pool, a natural waterfall in southwest of Austin. We were all impressed with theview and enjoyed swimming under cool waterfall. Aaron made a comment: 'This is even better than a beach. How could you get a waterfall in a beach?' It is hard to argue with him on this.

Dad's garden

Unlike Providence, it is usually not easy to maintain a garden in Austin as the summer is just too warm and dry. Not this year, we got a record high rain-water this year. Lake travis is all full and even open the gate to release some water. It has not happened for many years. And also it is not a hot summer so far. Gardeners are all happy.

A trip to Houston again

I visited Houston Zoo again. This time I went there with Aaron. It's a really hot day so we got a chance to see tigers, as the tigers have to swim in the water to cool themselves down. The next day we went to houston children's museum, which made all of us feel we really need to make Austin chidren's museum better. Houston is just such a great city. It is worth driving for three hours one way for the fun.

Something about Chengdu we missed

Time can never be enough. The historic Chengdu plane sits between two hill countries. We have visited the west part, which is really a part of great Tibet plane. The east part, Dragon Spring hills, is the one we missed. Dragon Spring is such a great place for artists of Chengdu. The view, country culture and country scenary is really one of the kinds. Here I posted a painting of Mr. ZhiZhuang Chen on Dragon Spring hill. Enjoy it.

Remark 7 of Chengdu trip: history is everywhere

There were two greatest poets in Chinese history. One of them is Du, Fu, (杜甫)。Every chinese kid grew up with citing their poems. Fu has stayed in Chengdu for four years during the notorious An Shi's riot. He wrote his most famous poem 'Wind broke my cottage' 茅屋为秋风所破歌 here. It is so touchy when he wrote: How could there be thousands houses available for all poor people in the world. I would be happy to die of being frozen in my broken cottage. ( 安得广厦千万间，大庇天下寒士俱欢颜。... 吾庐独冻死亦足哉。） In a rule of thumbs, dad doesn't put my picture in tears online. This is an exception. Just for Fu. My grandparent were with me.

Remark 6 of Chengdu trip: Oxygen bar

A new phrase I just learned: Oxygen bar. There are just so many trees and plants in Chengdu plane rural area. They produced so much fresh oxygen that now a popular thing people do is to have a weekend stay in rural area. It is called: visit Oxygen Bar.

They are not exaggerating. I had a sky overview. Uncountable mountains and uncountable tree. It is just such a great bar.

Remark 5 of Chengdu trip: A statute of me

Lotus is everywhere in those satellite towns around Chengdu. Summer is Lotus's glory time. Winter or fall is the time people pick their roots, a unique nutrious food. People make statutes for VIPs. Do I look like a VIP? Or maybe I am just a typical Chinese boy.

Remark 4 of Chengdu trip: Water from Heaven

Water has been such a precious resource in this world. ShiChuan is such a blessed place with abundant high quality water supply, which is from Tibet plane. The water, melted from snow, is so clean and cool. 拜水都江堰 said it all.

Remark 3 of Chengdu trip: Wild flower in Qing Cheng Mountain

Qing Cheng Mountain (青城山） is such a great place to visit. It is the origin of Dao religion. It is said: 拜水都江堰， 问道青城山. 古人云：青城天下秀。可见一斑。We climbed the mountain, visited temples, and smelled wild flowers. Oh, can not miss this, I ate a lot of real 'Organic food' from farmer's restaurant. I dare not enjoy all alone. My cousin, YueYue was my companion all along.

Remark 2 of Chengdu trip: Tea House and Bamboo

Chengdu is the capital of Sichuan and now is crowned as Capital of leisure (休闲之都）。In ancient time, there was a chinese saying "Sichuan is not for youth (少不入川）"，which really means that life in Sichuan is too easy and too relaxing, which makes youth lose spirit of hard-working. This sounds like a paradise for retirees.
In sunny days, people here like sitting in the tea-house, playing majiang and chatting each other. Bamboo chairs here are kind of unique. A bamboo chair, a cup of tea and a shade of huangjiao tree just give you a real piece of peace. It is absolutely stress-free.

Remark 1 of Chengdu trip: City life

I have never seen so many people before I visited Chengdu. This character fits the capital of most densely populated province of the most populated nation in the world. People people everywhere.
But how to find your own peace in such a Mahattan-like city. Find your own central park. There are a lot of city parks around. A nice thing I have to mention is that, unlike Texas, trees here are huge so you get cool shade everywhere.

People morning-exercise in the park. Looks like they are well-trained.














Striding in King Wang Jian's Tomb, one of dad's favorite parks while he grew up.

Spy my neighbor. Why? They have a pool at home.

Just half year change

It is always fun to look at a younger me. Hard to believe a faked pony can cheer me up so much. Now I have riden a real pony already. My favorite thing now is watching sesame street. I learned quite a few dance moves from it. Dad was really puzzled how educational experts call watching TV 'passive' learning. Now I can earn watching one hour sesame street per day. Can't wait going back to China. During the long flight, sesame street can bring everyone peace.

We have a big family in China. Getting a gift for everyone is a tough job. Dad has been shopping like crazy. Today he was even recognized by a compusa sales guy as dad has been there too often.

Now I am one and half years old.

You never know until you explore

My blog has been quiet for a while. Can't blame dad being lazy as our camera was broken. Canon E18, a well-known error which bugged so many people. As an Engineer, dad made a nice try to fix it once. But he couldn't fix it twice.

Dad decided to upgrade our camera to SLR. Unlike point-shoot cameras, SLRs need user to be more educated on camera. In other word from dad'd mouth, it takes time to figure out what you really need. A game most of us play every day about balancing cost and performance. Mom certainly can't bear the idea that I have no pictures for a while. We ended up with having an 'temporary camera', or you can call it 'secondary camera', a cheap one which fits its name.

The following picture was taken in Gymboree with so-so lighting. It is a whole lot better than our old camera, tahnks to IS technology. The movie mode was much more superior to the old one, which even makes us think who needs camcoders any more. This is all done by a camera which costs $179.

Even E18 doesn't exist, our 4M 3X old canon powershot should be collected as an antic a while back ago. You wouldn't know it until you explore. This doesn't just happen for cameras.

Happy Easter!

Egg hunting is the first time ever to me, mom and dad. We even discussed if we need to prepare some eggs painted with color ourselves. So you can imagine how happy we were when we opened the eggs. Great idea! See you all eggs next year.

baby sense

Last night, we went to basketball court and had some fun. On the way back, I suddenly found that a gigantic dark monster was following me all the time. No matter where I went, he was just there with me. I yelled at him and he seemed not to be scared. What can I do, except crying?

Dad and mom just laughed as they said the monster was my shadow. Today, we went to my 18 month check-up, which was scheduled a little early as we probably would go back to China by that time. We just found out I am 35inch in height and 28'9" pounds in weight. No wonder the monster was so big.

I can play

To most players, shooting basketball is easier than making a dunk. Not to me. I make every single basket with a slam dunk. Just like this. Grandpa and Grandma were quite impressed from QQ video. They are going to visit us soon. Before that, I am going to China to meet them. Dad promised that I will have a lot of good food there in Chengdu, which probably is the most famous cousine city in China. I have no idea what he is talking about. But look at mom, she starts drooling.

Our new neighbor moved away

Probably the mom felt we visited them too much. She was a little concerned with her baby's safty. They moved away. We are so sad that we couldn't watch them grow up. Now there is just an empty nestle sitting there.
It is still a mystery to us how they made the move. Did they get some help like that dad hired somebody to move our furnitures? Babies could be very heavy.

We got a new neighbor

We just moved in our new home. So soon a new neighbor moved in. They settled down on our garden fence. A mother with two babies. We embraced them with a warm heart. They are related with QUAIL but they are a little too big for a quail. Once we figured out who they are, I will publish it.
Dad had dreamed in his whole life to have a neighbor like this and now his dream just came true.

This is my community

Welcome to my community, Oak Brook.

We have moved in two weeks ago. Then we all got sick due to some virus. It took so much chicken soup and so much rest to get it over. Dad, excused himself from being procrastinated, finally finished installing gas drier today. Mom has been drying our clothes in the yard for two weeks. We started wondering how much energy would be saved nationwide if every family sun-dries their clothes once a month. Well, now our life just officially gets into right track.

Oak brook is an breath-taking community. Olson Meadow Park is right in front of my door. A long trail reaches Avery Ranch, and brushy creek water park. Many trees, bushes, ponds, creeks, and little bridges sketch my space. The view is just so beautiful that it entices out dad's painting desire with a yearly rusty skill. Certainly mom was not much impressed with it. And we got so many kids in our neighborhood that you need a PDA to help remember all of them. Finally, our school, Brushy creek elementary was an exemplary school in excellent RRISD.

I am just a lucky boy.

If you came to San Francisco...

A toll fee in Golden State Bridge, 5 dollars. (free to three passengers carpool, thanks to me);
A breakfast meal in marriot downtown, 20 dollars. (free to a child as a courtesy, even I eat like a man);
A round-trip flight ticket to San Jose, 250 dollars. (free to me as I am still under two years old);
A curious boy exploring historic San Francisco, Priceless! (and also costless!!!) What a wonderful world!

15 month check-up

Height is still 33.5 inches (>97%). Either I didn't grow at all or doctor's ruler shrunk a little bit. My weight is 28'9" (92%). So it seems true I am slimming down. Mom and dad finished check-up boxes of my ages and found out it is my first time to earn a full score (which means I did all things marked as 15 months-old probably do).
Following doctor's suggestions, mom cut my milk by half. And I also have to switch to sippy cup. Doctor said many good things about using sippy cup but I still can't see it. My appetite came back with less milk per day. But my appetite for vegetable is still close to zero.
I had a real slam-down basket when I was at Isabella's birthday party. Certainly Dad saw my talent and a training program is on the way.
We got our first house and will move in at the end of this month. This one is a small but cute one which sits IN A PARK. Yes, in a park. I couldn't be happier. Since there were multiple offers so we paid a full price to get it. Ouch!
There is a pond next to my house with elegant white cranes wandering around. That makes me feel good for what we paid for.

Happy new year!

Since Chrismas, we have been busy with shopping. So far, we haven't bought a thing. There is no such a concept of 'on sale' for what we are trying to buy, a house. The reason we picked this time of the year was just dad finished his work and was able to take a break now.
We have looked at tens of houses at various neighborhoods. They all look much nicer than my apartment. It just came to a question: which one fits us best? School district, through traffic, kid-friendly backyard. See, I am still the center of the Universe.
Finally, we sent out our first offer. Hopefully, we don't need to send out the second.

By the way, my first run (a real run) happened when we were looking at a house. I was intereted in a dog, which was confined in a room with a glass door. That cutie was gorgeous and quiet. So was I. We stared at each other. Then she suddenly barked at me. Very loud. Then I started my first run. That is a heck of run mom and dad would never forget.

Austin mountain bonnell view

The fall in Austin comes late. When New England usually has its second or third snow. Austin's fall just starts. Some decidous trees remind me New England occasionally. The dominance of mountain cedar tells this is Austin.

Austin has a few man-made dams, for creating beautiful lakes, like lake travis, town lake. Mountain bonnell is a site-seeing park to overview the town lake. Dad promises to take me to kayaking next summer. Then I will show some pictures in the townlake water.

A little summary

After my 1st birthday party, my walk developed very well. Now I am walking around indoor and outdoor all on my own.
Got flu shot, and didn't cry. Em, maybe a little cry. 28 pounds now. No height was measured but certainly I can tell I am not as chubby as before.
I started to have more interaction with mom and dad. My favorite way to show my disagree is to spit out, which dad and mom is trying to fix me with no success.
I started to feed back mom or dad (whoever comes convinient) food I dislike. As for my favorite food (duck, beef, grape, and bread from countyline), don't even think about it.

A trip to Houston

I made a trip to Houston for Alice&Eric's wedding. Aaron was choosen as ringbell. What an honor! I got a chance to visit Houston Zoo. Finally I met Tiger and Monkey. Real ones! Giant fish, Parrot, Girraffe... My jaw almost fell to ground. What a great eye-opener! As for mom, she was impressed by cooked duck wings in Chinatown. Looks like she was more eager to go back to Houston than me.
 

Stuff too cool for a baby

It is nice to pass one year mark. I was upgraded as a toddler rather than a baby. So, I can have face painting now. That is how people treat you when you are growing up.

 

Superman likes candy.

I played treat or trick with Aaron and we did a pretty good job.

 

I had my 1st birthday party.

This was a big show. I had my special birthday boy ride in MY GYM. But certainly it was not enough for me so you had to excuse me that I cried and rolling all over on the ground when my ride stopped. And certainly people all forgot this when we started cutting cake. But camera remembered everthing single detail.
In Chinese tradition, I picked my future career at my 1st birthday: Scholar! 

Can't believe my blog has been quiet for so long

Since my birthday, no new post has showed up in my blog. Nobody was lazy. Dad was just too busy so everybody's schedule is kind of crazy. Now his work got a milestone so we all can take a break. Even though it is just a short break. I have a lot of things to show. It will come very soon.

One year check-up

Weight=27'2"
Height=33.5inch
Duke's Coach K'd better to come to recruit me before it is too late. I got tons of potential.

One year birthday!

A year ago, I was born in Providence. Today, mom and dad celebrated my first year birthday in Austin. We went to Cheesecake factory. People there were very nice. Thay sang birthday song together for me. And I will also have a birthday party next weekend with my little friends in MY GYM. By the way, I can walk on my own a little now. So far, my record was six steps.

One of my favorite spot at home

No surprise. I can do a lot of things I like here. Certainly they are all related to eating. Now I can eat table food with mom and dad. I had a lot of cheese nuggetswith my own little fingers. Fish is my favorite. Steam fish with a little soy sauce, how can you not like it? Oh, actually I probably like toast duck more. Mom tricked me out to put toast duck next to cheese. When all roast duck was gone, cheese was still untouched.

Mom still follows books to feed me baby food most. Now earning a little table food to me is like earning a little play time to school kids. You have to finish your homework first, then comes play time. My homework certainly is canned baby food. So far, I am doing well.

Here is what usually happened. I finished my baby food first and got my freedom to go. Then came mom and dad's dinner. I crawled back to dinning table, held the table and talked to them loudly(maybe yelling a little bit). They put me back to high chair, and I enjoyed my second dinner. A dinner I really enjoyed. It sounds a little too complex to a baby. I am telling you, it is definitely worth the effort. Mom and dad's food is just so good. They should start a business competing with Gerber.


 

Baby's paradise.

 

Chickens are all born from eggs

 

Mom, I found a turtle.

Mom had a lesson

Mom thinks I am a fairly predictable baby. Eat on time, sleep on time, and she knows me all. Today, she had her surprise. She put me into my crib without putting diaper on me first. It's OK. Ray never peed in bed. Then she ended up with changing all my wet sheet. Mom's a little embarrassed as dad cautioned her before, but dad was called being over-cautious. Guess what, the only person who's not embarrassed is me.

Swim with Helina

My first buddy in music class

Today I am introducing my first buddy in my music class, Ethan. Ethan is as much a cute boy as I am. We went to the same music class and became buddies. The picture was taken in Austin Children's Museum. Ethan's mom brought us there. Do we look like buddies?

still on the curve

One of doctors in my clinic moved away. That could explain why my nine month check-up was scheduled when I was ten month old. Well, my growing momentum has lasted up to ten months now. I am still on my growing curve with few peers.
Weight:26 pound 6 oz. Height: 31 inch. In a sense, I am normal. Let me tell you why. I met a 7 month old baby girl in baby'srus . She was 31 inch, 27 pounds. A GIRL! No kidding!

My cousin, Arron had a great birthday party in Texas Jumping bean. Then he is going to Kindergarden next Monday. He is pretty excited about it. Arron, be a good one and make sure get a good grade.

Farewell to Kevin & Patrick

Kevin and Patrick are leaving Austin for Florida with their mom and dad. I lost two buddies here in Austin. But I got two in Florida. I am gonna visit them some day. And I am also gonna have fun in Disney land in Orlando.

Figured out

Ray is nine and half month old. Now He can figure things out. After viewing mom and dad turning TV on and off many times, he found out the cause and effect of remote control and TV. He always wants to take remote control but never got a chance. There had been for a while that remote control was the only bait, which could drive him to show a little bit effort to crawl.
Today, he got it all the way through the pillow blockage set by mom and dad. Maybe red power button is too obvious. Or maybe he is too eager for baby shows. He turned TV on.

Things are all on right track except ...

My play field was expanded since I started crawling.
My food menu was expanded and I sill laugh all the time and seem the happiest baby in the world. I am also gaining a lot of strength in my arm, not weight. Now I can protect my toys from guys like Aidan, maybe Nuri. Sometimes, I even got some toys out of their hands if I was lucky.

Things are all on right track except one thing. I still woke up at least once every night. A few days ago, mom and dad started taking doctor's advice to stop feeding me at night except water. In a old Chinese saying, a horse can not be strong without night grass. How can you stop my meal and expect I am happy and strong?

Now we are fighting on this.

One thing almost forget. Thanks Eric. Now I am all all right. I get it over sooner than Dad. New guys are always better and stronger.

Too much progress for one day!

Mom and Dad have been a little concerned that I still couldn't crawl even though I was nine month old. Many friends excused me for being a big boy. Today I made my break.

First, mom found out I stood up myself in my cribe. It was a shock to her. As usual, I had to do it again as Dad need a proof. Certainly anyone could see I gave them a big WOW.

Then, after an hour swimming in the evening, followed by a short bath, I was supposed to get ready for bed. I gave them anothr big WOW when they found out I was crawling FORWARD. I didn't think that was such a big deal, so it's hard for me to give them a surprised look.

Now they finally had a peace on their minds. How come it's such a big deal for them. Let me tell you why. Mom and dad heard from someone, who claimed she heard from her doctor that a baby who starts walking without crawling first would end up with disliking reading.

Obviously, they believed it!!!

Resemble whom?