Everything about the Bosmans

Sept 29th - Our new codes

2010-09-28T22:54:00.000-04:00

Some new terms in the family :

Cat - Patrick
Mouse - Me
Catfood - Dan Dan noodle
Cage - home
Blaire - Brigette
Ant - my mom

When the cat is gone, the mouse comes out of the cage for fun, the ant always carry candies home for Blaire, whose name got invented when she tried to call herself Belle. The cat never gets tired of catfood, often craves for it and pulls the mouse to join. The mouse used to LOVE catfood when she was a baby mouse, but after frequent tasting in the past 1.5 years, the mouse has start to turn away as soon as she hears "Iams" or "Whiskas".

Sept 28 - Hong Kong Part 1

2010-09-28T05:18:00.000-04:00

Living in HK is so much different than visiting. Surviving through the crowd, the humidity, the noise level and the air pollution in the city, doing what I do, a Real Estate agent, is enough to offset whatever organic shit I take or put on. This could be the most non-organic city on the planet. Too bad for me.

I so miss the drive-thru everything in Boston, drive-thru Mcdo, ATM.. none exist here, you walk to everything. I dare to say, I walked in the past year and a half more than I walked in my 20 years in Boston. Mosquito bites, the very reactive ants, the 100% humidity during summer months, are my new challenges. Other than that, we are fine. Thank god summer is almost over, at least, I can save my bitching temporarily for next summer.

Right across from our apartment, there was a house which is now under redevelopment. It was owned by an attorney before, he bought it back in 1986 for HKD$10M, just sold it for $480M, 48 times over 24 years, that is sick ! And that is the crazy HK real estate market, more on this later.

My favorites in the past 9 months

2010-09-27T12:22:00.000-04:00

Sept 27th - iPhone blogging

2010-09-27T11:52:00.001-04:00

Hi everyone, hope all is well. It's been a long while, and I have been thinking about getting back to my blog many many times, so here is my sincere attempt.

Brigette is a lot bigger now, her feet are about my mom's size, half as tall as me, there is nothing she and her helpful chair can't reach.

She has been possessed by various Disney princesses, luckily today she gave me a break by being Tinkerbell instead.

Dec 26th - Brigette's new friend

2010-01-17T09:32:00.003-05:00

Brigette named him "Toy", Born in October.

It's Brigette's Christmas present. Poor doggie went through a bit of abuse before Brigette learnt not to pick hi up by the NECK.

Dec 25th - Another Christmas with Brigette

2010-01-17T09:12:00.005-05:00

Wearing the dress set grandma knitted for her long long time ago, she looked like she was graduating from something......from "Mastering Terrible Two's" perhaps....

At the back of my mind, I was thinking when can I party with Brigette in SOHO....

I again looked at her baby pictures recently, she still has the same face, yet she looks a lot different, she has grown a lot. Everytime I think of that, my mind will be flashed with "No, I am not gonna do that", "lighten up mom", "come on, not again", "whatever, I am doing it", "This is not me", "Hey mom, can I borrow your white Chanel ?".......

We had Christmas dinner with Bonnie, Andy and Grandma at Times Square, then we headed home for bed, simply because Patrick and I were so tired, he couldn't even stayed up to count down to his big day.

Dec 10th - The twister

2009-12-14T09:22:00.003-05:00

Patrick's sister, Liesbeth visited us for 6 days, and during that 6 days, Patrick did a great job showing Liesbeth around HK. I think she likes the place, and certainly enjoyed her time here. Liesbeth, come back soon, there are a lot more to see :-)

Brigette moved up on her dancing skill, grandma taught her TWIST, and grandma is so proud of her, kept saying she got the grooves in her moves. Of course she is biased, and rightfully so.

Oct 31st - Halloween in HK

2009-12-14T09:12:00.003-05:00

Halloween in HK is more for adults, but thanks to where we live, the building has arranged something for the kids, they have setup some scary stuffs, and had the staffs dressed up, offered face-painting, candies and treats....

I couldn't find Halloween costume for Brigette's size due to lack of time, but grandma took the liberty to dress her up as a ELMO ballet dancer, using what we already have in the house. She of course looks cute. Parents were to paint their own kid's face, so I did, had no clue what I had in mind, but she looked like a basbal player afterwards.

Oct 20th - Candy's Birthday

2009-12-14T09:07:00.002-05:00

It was a SURPRISE party. Candy actually was

planning to make dinner, and Paul deliberately got into disagreement with Candy, about not having a special agenda on her day. All of us got there straight after work, and Candy came in with her super casual clothes, thinking she was gonna go out to a casual dinner with Paul. She utterly hated to appear this way, but hey, that was part of the fun !!

Uncle 7 got so incredibly drunk that he didn't touch red wine for weeks after that, I don't think he would order red wine just yet, even to this day.

Oct 18th - Happy Birthday Mom !

2009-12-14T09:01:00.002-05:00

After Jason's birthday party, we immediately went to meet with mom, another birthday cake with another crowd, after all these birthday, Brigette have a new addiction, blowing candles, even when she sees tea lights.

She really connects with Auntie Bonnie, whose head may not be that much bigger than hers. Every year starting in October, all these birthdays arrive one after the other.

P.S. I am rushing all these posts, hoping that I can just post all the pictures, so Auntie Micky and Auntie GiGi can see Brigette.

Oct 17th - Jason's BD party

2009-12-14T08:46:00.004-05:00

Jason's belated birthday happened on my mom's birthday, so that was quite a birthday day for me and Brigette. Jason turned 10 this year, and Candy thought it's time to call for a formal party, although Brigette is a bit young compared to the rest of the crowd, no one could stop her from dancing beside the stage when the music came on. As you can see, her favourite watermelon was on the menu, and as a guest, she got a set of beauty stuff, hand-picked by Candy. She looked like a wacko....

Oct 1st - Long time

2009-12-14T08:38:00.003-05:00

Hi everyone, it's been a long time, since I started my new job in HK, haven't gotton the chance to update my dearest space -

my blog. First 2 weeks of work, I was walking around like a zombie, didn't have any time to rest before my schedule get switched to waking up at 7am, on top of waking up in the middle of the night for Brigette and putting her to sleep whenever she pleases, that all depends on whether she naps or not during the day.

The job is quite different than what I had expected, real estate business in HK functions quite differently than the one in US. Rarely does anyone get or care to get exclusive listings, and every property is up for sale if the price is good. Back in the States, one would only be happy if they hear the neighbors sells for a lot of money; Here, they say "let's sell it".

We also hired a full time live-in maid to entertain Brigette, Brigette didn't let the maid touch her, but they became play buddies as time passes. Our maid's name is Leslie Nicholas.

Aug 21st - Green banana in a big sauna

2009-08-21T11:26:00.006-04:00

When we moved in this flat, we thought we would use the balcony a lot, for breakfast, for tea time, why would we want to be inside when you get the view, the fresh air out on the balcony ?? WRONG. Most of the time, the balcony door is closed now, to keep the sauna out, even in the morning, sitting out for coffee will not only make you soaked in sweat, it will give you a thorough tan. Patrick said someone should invent air-conditioned clothes, and wonder why they even have sauna here, since we live in a big sauna.

I can't leave food out like I did in Boston, and food turns bad fast. I always keep my eyes out for green banana, even when I buy them green, you will see them turning from lime green to yellow to black within hours. If you leave something sweet out, you will see the ants city forming some sort of pattern along the sweet item......I kind of miss the snow and the anti-bacterial temperature.

In short, uncle 7's shining neck, me still not able to wear anything with sleeves, and the naked sticky baby......we are one HOT family.

Aug 20th - bey dey dey

2009-08-21T09:23:00.003-04:00

Brigette is talking more and more, she likes to copy what you say, she has no problem saying simple words, but for words that are longer, she will pronounce them all as "bey dey dey". Strawberries, blueberries, belly button, are all "bey dey dey". Daddy asked me a few times to record this cause he knows he will miss this "bey dey dey".

The cream queen.....silicon baby, daddy created this. Whenever Brig fusses or claims that she hurts herself, daddy uses this as a quiet-down-the-baby technique - to put cream on her. Brig loves to put cream and lipsticks on herself, it may sound fine and harmless, but if you know how often Brig claims a fake injury, tiny peelings, dirt, you can imagine how CREAMed she has become, the couch, the floor.....

Just like Carmen, Brig is letting her steam out on the cat. Whenever she sees the cat, Brig will tell her NO, STOP, YAI YAI, .....everything I say to her on a daily basis.....so the cat doesn't really like her that much, which I completely understand.

Aug 15th - Finally the day has come

2009-08-21T08:51:00.002-04:00

Been a full-time mother for 2 years, the pregnancy was pretty painless, the first year was a breeze, the second year was mix of hell and lot of yelling, now, I can feel the third year is gonna be "hell on fire" ..... Been out of work for 2 years, but it seems like ancient history.

Seeing the fact we are in HK, where kids start school earlier, and the accessibility to a domestic helper, the desire to go back to the business world has always been haunting and pounding me, and I got what I wished for, and the timing is good. Starting on the 31st, I will be a trainee in a real estate/relocation company which caters to expats, until I get my license here. I am excited, just not that thrilled about getting up early again....

Other than Brigette, I have no other reasons to stay home doing what I am doing, bored to death. Brigette is fun to be with, but around the clock for 2 years.... I am looking forward to a non-ELMO world for a break, and finally become myself again. I am sure I will cherish the time with Brig much more when I don't have her 24 x 7.

July 29th - The BIG 2 checkup

2009-07-29T10:39:00.003-04:00

,
Height : 34.8 inches - 88.4 cm
Weight : 27.55 lbs - 12.5 kgs

Daddy read it somewhere that a kid reaches half of his or her full-grown height at age 2, if that's the case, then Brig will be between 5ft8 - 5ft9.

Kids in HK don't go to the doctor like they do in the States, they only go when they are sick, checkups are once a year, no fuss, no must ! Per the doctor we met, Brig is up-to-date on all shots based on the US chart, her height is just above 50%, and weight is just below 50%. I am just curious how many charts he has in his magic drawer, from how many countries that is.

July 26th - Still the tourists

2009-07-29T10:19:00.004-04:00

It's been almost 5 months since we moved to HK, but we are still doing the tourist thing. We went to the Lantau Island by the glass cable cars. The moment we stepped in the cable car with glass floor, daddy continuously asked if I am ok, the problem is he couldn't look down to the see-through bottom when we were at a great height, he was not fine but he made it through.

Looking down from the cable cars, I think HK is much bigger than what I remembered.

July 25th - 必姐

2009-07-29T10:13:00.002-04:00

That's a new nickname Auntie Linda gave Brigette, it sounds like "Brigette" in Cantonese, it's a somewhat powerful name.

1 house 3 systems produce a monstrous 必姐 !

July 20th - The BIG 2

2009-07-20T12:53:00.008-04:00

Ta Da ! Brigette's 2 unofficially, her birthday isn't until the middle of the night on the 21st, HK time, but to make things easier, we will just go by HK time. We received quite a few emails for her birthday, and we have invited some close friends for a dinner party at Cafe Deco on the peak. Mama, Papa, Popo, my sister Bonnie, Linda, Pat, Winny and her son Brandon, Candy and her son Jason, Kitty, Polly and her friend, and Brigette of course, had a fabulous night. One thing I needed to mention is that Candy's son Jason is such a sweet boy, she loves Brigette and has always been a great big brother to Brig, he always look out for her and it's always funny to see him getting his handkerchief to wipe off his sweat while chasing and playing with Brig, AND he thoughtfully brought us $100 coupons for Cafe Deco he got, how sweet ! She got a big Elmo from Jason, and that Elmo was put into a baby chair right next to her. Auntie Winny got her a Lego table, something Brig has been trying to ripe open all night long, but she would have to wait till tomorrow, Auntie Linda and Pat noticed the Dutch cartoon book Brig had at home, they went searching everywhere to get her that Dutch creation "Muffy ?". All the presents from aunties, all the candies, made her extra hyper, I had a hard time putting her to bed at last.

We picked Cafe Deco because it is 1 of the few places that are kids friendly and it has a play area, so we can all have fun.

We started the day off by going to the Stanley beach, which she always enjoys, her daddy said it's almost dangerous how much she loves to play with water, she was pretty much asleep the minute we put her in the car after stopping by also at Mcdonald's for a quick bite. After shower, I put on the new birthday dress on her, which has always been provided by her popo, this green dress plus the white Elmo shoes made her look like a nurse, don't they ?

2 regrets :
1, Auntie Micky, Gigi, and Uncle Eddie, Carmen and Hailey, her Dutch aunties and uncles couldn't be there.
2, Brig didn't react the way she usually does to Elmo when Auntie Candy and Jason gave her the huge Elmo, which they went all over to search for. Perhaps she was a bit overwhelmed, but the moment she went home, she started her Elmo craze again. So Jason, your effort was not wasted, thanks !

Happy birthday, my little BIG girl ! Can't believe you are 2 already, I wouldn't say "time flies", but it is certainly unbelievable that I have a 2 year old. When we all sang the birthday song to her, I could see it in her eyes that she noticed something was going on, she could feel something is special about herself today, I guess the next one will be even more exciting. I think she remembers from last year, that she needs to ripe open those presents, and blow the candles.

Thank you again to everyone who helped to make it a wonderful birthday dinner. Unfortunately I couldn't post the birthday song video here, the file is too big, will have to compress it first, sorry ! Will try facebook !

P.S. I have teaching Brig to keep her legs down while dining, and her sugar daddy was giving her a foot masage on the table, does everyone get the picture now ? hai.....

July 10th - The new enemies in HK

2009-07-10T14:56:00.006-04:00

The insects and flying objects, even on the 38th floor. Coakroaches, crickets, and the almighty mosquitos. Coakroaches are annoying but it's easy to take care of them, and the cat loves playing the them, till they die. My mom loves crickets, and they fly into our balcony, she would pick them up, the cricket will a buzzing noise, then my mom will release them into the open air, she loves it, since she used to play this when she was a kid. Now comes the real evil - Mosquito, and they love me. One day Pat brought me to look at boats at a pier around 6pm, we were asking questions about docking and maintaining them, meanwhile I was being eaten alive, I immediately ran back to the car, I felt the massive attack, when I got in the car, I saw at least 20 bites around my ankles, and arms ( I was wearning a long dress), when I look them, I can they were initally tiny bumps, quickly turned into shapes of hearts, spades, diamonds....at least half a deck on me. The worst being, I think those mosquitos were like :"HOLD ON, ok, 1....2.....3, let's bite", so when I felt the gang attack, I wanted to jump out of my skin. The fact it is hot summer here, I think it's gonna be long time till I can wear shorts again, don't want to walk around like an abused person. And these family&friends mosquitos' bites frustrates me in bed, I would stop but scratch, hoping I can perhaps scratch it so well that my skin go numb, then I can go sleep. It lasted about 4 days, miserable 4 days. So now, I put organic lemongrass esential oil in a water spray bottle and use it as a natural bug repellent, I didn't put Euculytus because it don't it to get into Brigette's eyes, they can burn. I also put20 drops of the lemongrass into my Aveda Chakra body spray, so I can use it as a perfume for hot days. The next step will be getting pants of Lavenderm lemongrass, and Verbana for my balcony, so hopefully they won't come remotely close to our place, and the plants should add some nice aroma in the air. Either way, I much prefer Brig to bite me then those tiny flying objects with long legs and small eyes. After they suck the blood, then go, they have to spit something back in our blood to make her needle doesn't stick and can be pulled up easily, JUST FOR THAT ??? and this is what makes us itchy like hell, how selfish and inconsiderate....

Brig finally got her first Princess high heels, so she can have no excuse to play with mine. she does exceptionally well with them. Again, she's a natural or it's in her blood, I got it from my mom, my mom and I can run in heels. Now, Brigette is already jumping in them. I hate all Princess products, but what can I say they are the only one who makes them.

July 4th - Happy 4th !

2009-07-05T14:03:00.003-04:00

Happy 4th to everyone back in the States !

I spent my day watching Michael Jackson's video on YouTube, to a point where Brigette looks kind of strange to me after me watching MJ for a few hours. I was never a die hard fan of MJ, but I grew up with his music, like everybody else. He is such an icon, so up there, I never thought he would just die like that, so easily. Now that he is gone, not only it makes me really sad, I have been wishing it's all a nightmare, I guess the idea of him leaving us and the thought of never ever see him on TV again is quite unacceptable to me still. I found this live performance of his which I think it's his best live performance I have ever seen, it's simply sensational.

June 23rd - The "eraser"

2009-07-01T13:24:00.003-04:00

It's mostly hot and humid here, and Brigette has a new nickname - "the eraser" - white, firm, and STICKY. She won't be able to roll off the hill, she gets too sticky. So you will see her a lot without clothes on. First off, she gets too hot, and she hates clothes on at home, even outside. One time, me and daddy were shopping at a phone store, were captured by the new gadgets, when we decided to check on the baby, she stood there butt naked, literally, she took off her clothes and diaper, in the store. We laughed with embarassment, she is such a free soul.

The only time she is calm and quiet, is when she is in her deep sleep, and I will never get enough looking at her sleepy head. She has been playing with my iphone since she was about 10 months old, and now she is really fluent, and auntie Linda almost choked herself watching how Brigette maneuver my iphone knowing exactly what she is doing, it's quite eye-opening.

June 22nd - Music school graduate

2009-07-01T11:24:00.018-04:00

The Celine Dion wannabe. I honestly have no idea where she got this from, the singing and dancing. Apparently, she is a natural. You can see that she has the beat in her, the news was on, was not playing music, and she just did her thing, even added a few keys to make it complete. Most importantly, I HATE karaoke with a passion, my musical DVDs are still in storage in Boston, no one sings and dances uncontrollably at home.....

I have to take a video of her dancing again, cause she has improved quite a bit, and she developed a taste for sexy soul music. The news of the death of Michael Jackson dominates the news, tons of his MTVs have been played over and over again on many channels. I wouldn't be surprised if Brigette picks up some MJ's moves, that will be hillarious !

June 21st - mini scooter

2009-07-01T10:49:00.006-04:00

The mini scooter with a squeechy froggie on the handle, how cute ! She is getting a hang of it already. She has so much energy, I have been thinking of something that can really burn her energy, let's see if this little mini scooter will do the job nicely. I gave up on playing kitchen cooking, have to admit it's not in my and her blood.

This thing actually says "mini scooter" on the front, and it fits her size perfectly. However, I have never seen anyone carrying a teddy bear and a purse on a scooter, what a fashion statement !

June 20th - It's a Dutch thing !

2009-07-01T10:15:00.004-04:00

Daddy brought back presents from Auntie in Holland - Kid's books in Dutch !

They are so very cute, me, mom, and Brigette flipped through them to see pictures and the seemingly "mispelled" words - that's how Dutch looks like to me. All of a sudden, my mom said, " Look ! No wonder, it's a Dutch thing !", pointing to the little girl with orange hair covering up half of her face. Even though the story is about a girl trying to make tomato soup and got tomato splashed all over the kitchen and her. At first glance, it does look like Brigette with her bangs covering half of her face.

I think in a week or 2, her bangs will finally be long enough to be put behind her ears, and I will have 1 less headache. I have insisted for this long, because I think her face has grown more proportionally now, that I don't want the bangs anymore, and she pull off anything I put on her hair.

Thank you Auntie Liesbeth .

June 8th - My Carmen

2009-06-08T13:57:00.004-04:00

MY OH MY ! Carmen grew so much, striking poses. Isn't she something ? Look at how Hailey was trying too ?

I kept imagining the dynamic trio going to Sephora 5 years from now. Although they are far apart now, I do have the sight in my mind, and confident that it WILL happen.

I will never get tired of these pictures, how beautiful !

Carmen and Hailey, Auntie Mandy misses you 2 sooooo much, you 2 are part of the life I am still so used to.

June 7th - The sneaky one

2009-06-08T13:10:00.004-04:00

Brigette has been trained to go to her bedroom and fall asleep on her own for about 2 months now, I just kiss her goodnight, leave a gap to her door, then close the door after she is asleep. Recently, she doesn't seem to want to sleep on some nights, and...... she escapes....she will sneak out. My mom moved in 2 weeks ago, so after I put her to sleep, I will help my own organizing her room, Brigette will then sneak out, since I won't hear the sneaking footsteps. One night, when his daddy came out from his working area, wanting to use the bathroom, caught Brigette roaming around in the living room quietly. When Brig saw her daddy in the dark, she got startled and jumped, went to her daddy's side, pushed her daddy away, ran back into her room, then close the door. HOW GUILTY !!!

June 6th - Her first volcabulary

2009-06-08T13:01:00.009-04:00

Time for some real civilisation. Flash cards are no longer playcards. Moon, Sun, stars, boat, car, banana, owl, all went fine, except for anything that're painted red. Strawberries, heart, cherries, she would not repeat after me, she argued they are indeed APPLE. Imagine her disputes while learning her first words ?!?!?!

Me : "Cherries"
Brig : "NO, APPLE !!"
Me : "Heart"
Brig : " NO, APPLE !"

She also knows a very local cantonese word, when daddy was out partying with friends, I taught her daddy went to "WET", he was out "WETTING". There, her cantonese must-know volcab.

Look at her carrying a mini plastic butane tank, looks so strong. Too funny !

June 5th - Elmo & family

2009-06-08T12:51:00.005-04:00

Just like Carmen, Brigette has her favourite friend on TV. It was Barney for Carmen, and Elmo for Brig. Because of her attachment to it, me and Patrick hear and see Elmo everyday. Since we can't get away from it, I thought I would put in a Elmo's Potty time DVD to actually make our torture more productive. The DVD has been played over and over again, to a point where, we all know how Elmo started to use his potty for the first time, we know how his daddy and mommy are, now I know, Elmo's mom is actually yellow, not red, with purple hair and likes to wear pearl necklaces. We also KNOW "accident is OK", the song got planted into our lower right brains, plus all the different alternate names for peepee and poopoo. The DVD also comes with Chinese, it's a multi-lingual (NICAM) DVD, it offered us some immediate reflief from the ELMO hypnosis initially, after a few times, the chinese version of Elmo's family and peepee poopoo inhibits in our lower left brains now.

She is doing fantastic using the potty, only problem is, she knows we have to respond to her signals to peepee everytime, so she uses it when she doesn't want to go sleep. I ended up bringing her to the potty all night long until she gives up, she does it by drinking more milk after each relief.

My mom is the queen of massage gadgets, and her granddaughter is sharing her passion, sticking her legs in for a foot massage.

May 22nd - GooGoo & yai yai

2009-05-23T11:13:00.004-04:00

"Goo Goo" is not cantonese, I found out recently that it's just something my mom made up. When we were kids, she replaced the word "Pain" with "Goo Goo", and for the longest time, I thought it was a Cantonese baby word... Needless to say, I already taught Brigette "GooGoo", so now, she points to the affected area, may it be pain, itch, or peeling, she wants me to kiss it to make it better. Other than having to kiss her feet in public once in a while, all is fine.

If she really hurt herself by bumping into an object, not only do I have to kiss her GooGoo area, I also have to scold the object itself, I need to hit the object and tell it how naughty it is. Last night, she dropped her toy in the shower, bent down to pick it up, bumped her head on one of the water outlet, I immediately hit the water outlet and call it "yai yai - naughty" to make her feel better, then she went hysterical, I meant hystericalllll -- she jumped up and down, hitting the water outlet, yelling up "yai yai" non-stop, to a point where I have to hold her shoulders and told her to stop, "that's enough, stop, I know it is yaiyai, but you have to be careful too", it was so funny.

GooGOO- it hurts
Yaiyai - naughty

May 21st - Copy cat

2009-05-23T10:43:00.005-04:00

Brigette copies whatever we do, she will push her doll stroller and hit it against the floor from time to time, this is what I do when I unfold this particular stroller. She wants to do a mask when I do, she wants me to brush something on her when I put on face powder. She comes to pad me when I sneeze or cough. She wants to drink from a big cup. She wants to use chopsticks. She wants to take off her clothes on her own. She wants to wipe herself dry after shower on her own. She wants to put on her own diaper. How come she doesn't want to cook for herself??

She really thinks she is a big girl now, I can't even have my hands on my own cell phone when somebody calls. She has to know it all, whoever calls. When I need to use the laptop, it has to be on HER lap. She has her own mini nail polish, and she painted my nails and toes, never had such a bad mani + pedicure.

May 20th - Not longer a Chubby

2009-05-23T10:39:00.002-04:00

Brigette has grown so much in the past few months, she is much taller now, and less ROUND (to put it nicely). The weather in HK might have helped a little....

She is starting to really pose for the camera.

May 19th - Her HipHop beach look

2009-05-19T11:20:00.003-04:00

I know, she is missing a shirt, but it was so hot, 32C here, plus we were home, so I just let her be. With her flip-flop, she looks like her dad at the beach, lol

It's been at least 31-32C in the last week, and Patrick asked me if it gets any hotter than this. I told him, back when I was still living in HK, this was how hot it could get, equivalent to a heat wave, but now, I heard from people that it can get up to 37C.......Global warming. NOT looking forward to it.

May 15th - Victoria Secret vs Budda

2009-05-19T11:13:00.003-04:00

Brigette gives me a new look everytime I turn around and check on her in the car. Doesn't she look comfy posing ?

These 2 positions are not new, I bet they are her favourite positions.

May 14th - Shoes

2009-05-14T10:11:00.003-04:00

The moment she walks in any shoe shop, she kicks off her own, then she got busy trying on shoes. The speed she kicks them off, and how high she would kick them makes it really funny. I am not particularly crazy about shoes, she must have gotton that fetish from her grandma. She loves walking around with high heel shoes, even though it looks really scary, she never had an accident.

Btw, she calls me "Mandy" now, don't know where she got that from, but it certainly shocked me initially.

I bought her 3 little underwears today, to prepare her for the big girl stage. I am still contemplating if I should start full potty-training now, considering it's harder to get to a restroom here than in the states, can't just pull over anywhere to a gas station or a mall, you have to park and walk most of the time, even with a potty chair in the car, I still need to find a place to stop the car, and I don't think it's that convenient here. I think I am gonna put on the underwear at home, signaling it's potty time, and diapers on outside. Let's see how that works.

May 13th - The crazy car city

2009-05-13T13:59:00.006-04:00

I am still disoriented, still can't believe I am back leaving Boston behind. It's a big chunk of my life in Boston that I am trying to put aside, still trying. Doing great with Brigette in the city, but after all these novelties are gone, hopefully I will still like it. Talked to a couple of expats here in HK, they told me the same thing, they had their first year trying to adjust, after that, HK will simply grow on you.

May 9th - Dancing Queen

2009-05-11T12:25:00.004-04:00

Brigette is getting into the grove. This is what happen whenever you plug in music. Candy taught her to shake her bum bum, and took a video of her dancing in her car. The video came out dark, almost seems like she got drunk and drugged, from the way she danced. Too funny !

May 5th - The BIG GIRL/Princess

2009-05-07T10:47:00.005-04:00

The terrible two includes continuous NO for an answer, throwing tantrum whenever she doesn't get what she wants, refuse to sleep, throwing stuffs, and acting like she knows it all, acting like she is a big girl who doesn't need assistance on anything, she can walk on her own, goes up and down the stairs on her own,drinking from a cup, opening anything on her own, at least that's what she thinks, doesn't like being touched when she doesn't feel like it.......

Respect. That's what she needs while declaring her independence. Saying NO means freedom to her, and showing us she has a mind of her own. Ok now baby, only if you really know it all, if that would ever happen to anyone......

She will soon be surrounded by darling grandma too, on top of the "sugar daddy", she will no doubt gonna become "a princess or whatever you want to call her", am quoting daddy's words. It's getting a bit out of my control, I only hope she keeps her "eager to impress" side of her, so she will try hard to make us happy..

Apr 30th - Seperation anxiety

2009-05-01T12:55:00.003-04:00

Officially into the monster stage, in addition to the long awaited seperation anxiety, I am getting no time to breath, let along enjoying HK. It doesn't matter anyway, since we will soon have to wear masks being out due to the massive scare of the Swine Flu, and Brigette is certainly not likely to keep the mask on. If it gets any worse, I will use this time to potty train, and militarily train her. Although, I have at a loss with the seperation anxiety deal since I am with her every minute she is awake, I guess I would have to wait it out.

The weather is getting summer like by the day, being in the south side, it isn't so bad, being close all the beaches, IF she behaves.

Aunt Bonnie took her for the afternoon today, I heard she was absolutely great with her, with no seperation anxiety, didn't cry and gave no trouble. I am thinking she might have mistaken Bonnie as Micky, in a way, it's a relief to know someone closeby can take her off my hands for a bit :-)

Brigette's new passion is strawberries, big ones. She talks more and more now, she tends to repeat whatever I am saying, even when I am scolding her, it's pretty annoying !!!

Apr 19th - A summer afternoon

2009-04-20T12:10:00.004-04:00

It was a beautiful day today, very warm, so we went down to the pool again, she pushed my hands away, she does it all the time, showing me she is a big girl, and she can do it on her own. She jumped and then submerge her face into the water, came up coughing out water. In normal cases, the baby would be so sacred, NOT this one. She did it again , and again, she was having so much fun. This is not it, she then climb out from the side then jump in, probably she saw something doing this in the adult pool, and again, she was not scared at all. She is such a natural in water, just like me, she loves loves being in the water. I can't wait to see if she will like my favourite swimming in the rain deal. Will find out soon. Her hair grew so much since we came back, it's much easier to deal with now.

After playing in the pool, we came back up and sat on the balcony to chill a little bit. I am sure she wouldn't mind doing this everyday.

Papa is here, she is being a spoiled brat again, that always means headache for me.

Apr 18th - Our Playroom

2009-04-20T12:05:00.004-04:00

This playroom has a flatsceen TV, and a book of DVD to pick from the concierge. For now, her choice is always Elmo and Barney. Other than the nice orange set of u shape sofa for kids with ottomans, the toys are still very limited. Numerous parents already asked if we can move some of our toys down there, but were all refused by the management office, for safety reasons. Let's hope they will jazz it up a little bit soon.

Having that said, when there are other kids in room is way more fun than any toys on the shelves.

Apr 17th - Business trips

2009-04-20T11:39:00.005-04:00

Since daddy came back, he was on a mission, getting the HK visa, then the HKID. We were happy that everything went so smooth and fast. The supervisor told me, if I wasn't a Hong Kong born, and was from China, it wouldn't go this smooth.

I went ahead of apply for my HK passport too, first application, since before it was a British passport. I went to the 4th floor, and saw all these immigration personnel DOLL-Like thingy lined up, with a sign called "Self-service Kiosk", I read the instruction, if I am over 18 and I am a real HK *** holder, I can use. So, I did. This thingy is so cool, it almost looks like the game machine you see at Chuck'n Cheese. Touch the screen to start, then it will start talking to you, insert my HKID, put my thumb on the fingerprint scanner, put my passport picture in the scanner, then the camera of the machine will ask you look at its 2 camera, to verify your facial structure from the scanned in pic, then scan in your filled-in application, then you verify the info on the scanned in application one more time, at this point, the previously scanned-in passport picture has already been inserted in this completed scanned form. Press Confirm, then slide your bank card and pay for EPS (like a debit card in US). Finally, it spits out the receipts for the fee, and the submittion, along with all the necssary info, the collection date, documents to bring on the date, and the location for the collection. The process took less than 10 minutes. It's fun and amazing.

And our baby has been good with us, as long as she is having fun, we are ok.
Patrick finally put in a Chinese name on his HKID card, cause the supervisor said he can be without now, but if he wants it later, he would have to pay for it, so we just came up with the name in 10 seconds, his Chinese name is 圃柏卓. After I left, I think I should have called him 圃伯爵, it's much cooler and more fun. Oh well. It did take them a long time to search for the code on our surname, they have seen it before, but it's not that common.

Apr 16th - The Brigette T-Shirt

2009-04-15T13:22:00.004-04:00

Went to shopping to mom, saw this t-shirt, had to get it for Patrick. It's so Brigette, I won't be surprised this is a little preview of future Brigette, as a matter of fact, the girl does look a little like Brigette, it's almost scary. The one hanging is the one they have, didn't mind at all, just have to have to it.

Makes me also think Brigette may look good in this hairstyle...

The girl in this t-shirt looks like she is saying, "you want to bring it outside ?", too funny.

Apr 15th - Her new vanity

2009-04-14T12:40:00.002-04:00

Not necessarily interested into Princess stuff, but the whole grooming thing. Buying toys are easy, but the trick is to make sense of all the toys for the baby. When we had Kitchen, phones, chairs, baskets, fake food, plates and utensils, they just get distributed on every inch of the floor. Now, with the playhouse, all the little piece makes a little more sense for Brigette. Same goes to the makeup bag, with the litpstick and eyeshadows, hairbrush, and hair dryer, they are fun on their own, and she definitely knows how to use them, but being able to connect all those with a space helps a lot. I also bought a set of cheap makeup brushes for adults, and put them in her vanity set. The set is the perfect size for her. With the top flipped down, it can easily doubled as a writing/activity desk, like the scary play dough. I also a Little Tikes big kitchen, but I am better off getting a small fridge for her playhouse. it makes more sense and she seems to have a hard time making sense a stand-a-lone kitchen anyway, thanks to me I guess.

In these pictures, she was wearing a little sweater Auntie Linda bought her, I just let her wear it like a mini dress, it's hot anyway today.

She again caught a lot of attention in the store, the girl commented that she is more caucasian than asian, wonder if I am a mix myself, I said no, then she asked how come she came out this mixed, cause usually they don't come so mixed, knowing the asian genes are indeed the dominating genes. I then asked WHAT ELSE can I say, she is in fact a lot more asian now.

Apr 14th - Our baby playground

2009-04-13T11:18:00.004-04:00

The weather is getting warmer and warmer by the week, and one of the advantage of living in a complex is facilities provided. There are 2 playgrounds here, seperated by some trees, one for 3 years old and under, the other for anyone else. My baby of course belongs to the babyground, with thickly padded ground, swingset, playset and some other ride-ons, Brigette always has a hard-time leaving the place. Between this, the pool, and the playroom, she doesn't really have to leave home to get entertained. We have a bike (bought by her grandma) locked at the podium, biking or pushing her toys around the playground, playing with other young babies expands her social circle, saying hi and bye to everyone she comes across made her pretty well-known here. Afterall, she is a very sociable baby.

I also got her the bubble gun, she goes nuts popping bubbles, something that Gymboree got her hooked onto.

Apr 13th - First time in a pool

2009-04-13T11:11:00.003-04:00

Not a jaccuzzi, but a real swimming. There are 3 seperate pools here at the building, one for baby, one for kids, and one for adults, all lined up together. I had all the gears ready for a few weeks already, remember the sexy leopard swimsuit I put on her when she was only a few months old ??? It fits now, with the swimmer's diaper underneath. She was not scared AT ALL, she walked around in the pool, she had such a blast, no fear, no phobia detected.

There are a lot of French people here in the building, I would say majority of the residences here are French, so I conveniently get my little French listening lesson when I was at the pool, and extra bonus !!

Apr 12th - The Wannabe Babe

2009-04-13T11:03:00.003-04:00

Today, we went to Stanley Market walking around, wanted to get some new summer clothes for my growing baby, saw a little store with all baby accessories, hair clips and sunglasses. First one I picked up was a big white sunglasses with crystals on the side, look very cute on her, not until I saw these Chanel look-alike for babies, way too funny on her, that the old lady selling them laughed at it. I immediately took out my tiny LV bag, let her carry it around in the apartment, the perfect size for her, with the wannabe sunglasses, she almost can pass for a snob, lol.

This is just for fun, my fun, definitely not the way I want her to go. Too much ! But look at these pictures, she looks too funny ! IF ONLY she can sit a bit more like a LADY !!

Apr 8th - Half dutch babies

2009-04-08T12:24:00.006-04:00

For a week now, I was out almost everyday, trying to check out what they have around us for Brigette. In order to feel settled, I think we have to know what we can do here, and hopefully I can arrange some educational and entertaining schedule for my growing baby. Therefore, I have been digging for playgroups, reading expat's forum trying to connect with other newcomers with same age babies. Guess what, there are quite a few half Dutch babies, and they all have the same problem, the baby doesn't speak Dutch. I met one half Dutch baby from the forum in Stanley, Brigette had a blast. Coincidentally, my friend Kyung is taking her world tour with her hubby and baby, first stop being HK, I finally got the chance to meet her half Dutch baby, again, Brigette loved the company.

On the home side, I got her this Little Tikes playhouse which has a little kitchen and a telephone area, big enough for her to have her own corner, most importantly, I can shove all her toys in there. The thing is huge, she love it so much that it's the first place she goes to when she wakes up. The little electronic bike is also a perfect size for her now, before she gets fluent on the real bicycle grandma bought her.

Among the beach, clubhouse at our building, at-home playhouse, paid-by-the-hour playroom, seeing difference aunties and babies, if only I can find a real Dutch playgroup, she should have a well-balanced toddler's life.

Apr 4th - 8 po

2009-04-04T14:42:00.003-04:00

Carrying around the little LV bag from auntie Linda around makes her looks like a little 8 po. She loves to carry stuff now, doesn't matter what, plastic bags, paper box, she wants to carry things around. She also loves to walk the stairs up and down, on her own. At times it can get scary, but these are her current obsessions.

Since she came to HK, she got the chance to meet more aunties, and she knows exactly who she can abuse, she even called a few MAMA.

The pool at our complex is gonna be opened from next monday on till November, I am so sure she will love it, she loves to play with water so much, but first, I need to find the swimmer's diapers first. All the other gears have been waiting in the wings.

Apr 1st - The turning point

2009-04-01T12:40:00.004-04:00

She is not far from the official Terrible TWOs, I am not sure how is it gonna be like in 4 months. LOOK AT HER !! So carefree, so "whatever", daddy said she already have the "F you" attitude, she simply is the amplification of both mummy and daddy....

The best $ I have spent in HK was to get her a set of toy cosmetics, look how dedicated and attentive she was when she puts on her lipstick, that's our dinner saver, when we can eat peacefully. Any other times, she is 1 "activist", if she was tall enough, she would tap on anyone's shoulders and say HI, she would be the best PR.

Good news, I am getting used to bringing her around in HK, which means less stress for me.

Mar 27th - We are back

2009-03-27T14:52:00.006-04:00

It's been over a month, and my blog has been covered in dust. We have a good reason, we just made a huge move, we moved to Hong Kong. Still a little disoriented, just a little over a month ago, I was sitting in an ice box, now I am tying this smelling ocean breeze. A lot to adjust, a lot to get myself re-familiarized with, a lot to find out, a lot to digest in general. Brigette is the one who had no problem whatever, she is so made for HK, other than the first few days of time difference, she latched on just fine.

Now I thought I wouldn't get the pressure from mom to update the blog, WRONG, I get the pressure from Micky. Same reason, just the other way around.

I still didn't notified all my friends about my departure/arrival, simply because I need time to find my bearings, and time to recouperate myself, after the speedy move.

After all, I am back to where I came from. Thought about my blog long time ago, but shame on me, I got my camera with me, but the charger is in the storage with the rest of my stuff, hence, the frugal usage of my camera.

Here are a few pictures of my new apartment, in Stanley HK. Brigette hasn't changed much, except for the fact that she became even more wild and spoiled, I didn't expect otherwise, with dad and grandma in the grand spoiling team, what else could happen ??

Jan 25th - The new bath fun

2009-01-30T01:57:00.004-05:00

Every night, I have to wrestle her out, if I ask her if she is done, she would say NO. She loves to have no clothes on, she loves to play with water, she must be a beach girl. Bathtime is no longer just a cleaning process for me anymore, she reached a whole new level, which also means 1, it takes longer, 2, she makes a bigger mess, 3, It's more tiring for me.

She likes to open her mouth and say AH (unfortunately she doesn't do that in front of her doctor), maybe she wants to show off her almost full mouth of teeth.

Jan 24th - The baby internet cafe

2009-01-30T01:46:00.003-05:00

It's freezing in Boston, I didn't want to stay out in the spa room and freeze my ass off, so I moved my laptop to the living room, and to prevent Brigette from trying to take over, I brought down my mini Sony laptop for her to play with, it immediately solved the problem. Went to the sesame street site and clicking away, meaning messing around.

At her own desk, what a funny scene !

Jan 23rd - First makeup job

2009-01-30T01:37:00.003-05:00

Today we went to the mall with Gigi for free fun, there was a huge lawsuit against certain cosmetic companies and they lost, so they have to give out free stuff. We were so happy that Brigette was cooperating in the stroller with the wait, only to find out she is doing a little makeup herself. When I looked at her, I almost jumped, she looked like one of those guys at the ball game cheering for the team. I had no idea how she got a hold of my lipstick, luckily, it was a vitamin stick with color, not one of those long-lasting lip thing. The bad news is, she also painted the stroller, oh MY !

I always thought Brigette would look good with makeup......

Jan 21st - 18 months checkup

2009-01-22T01:37:00.004-05:00

Weight = 24.13 pounds (58%), Height = 31.75 inches (53%), Head = 48.5 (93%), had 1 vaccine. I thought she grew a lot heavier, but she didn't, it felt that way though. After the shot, Brigette came running to me while giving the doctor a nasty look, I then told the doctor about her nickname "Bitch-lette", he cracked up and asked me WHO gave her that name, lol.

He summed up Brigette's growth after looking at the growth chart - average size with a big head. Doctor Marcus is surely a funny guy. I also inquire about the sample vitamin and mineral drink with probiotic straw which was sitting on his desk, it's so new that he had to read the label himself, water, sugar, corn glucose,....then he laughed and said no, told me it's for someone who has a hard time gaining weight, which isn't Brigette's case.

Next checkup is at her 2 years old, more vaccines are waiting for her juicy thighs, and hopefully by then, she will have developed some manner.

Look at the pictures I took when she was in her stroller, she has grew out of her Bugaboo

foot muff, she is too tall to be stuffed into that thing, and her head is hitting the canopy.

Jan 19th- The new Brigette

2009-01-22T01:27:00.003-05:00

She's been on a plane, she has been to the city, she grew a lot, she acquired a taste for HK snacks and jewelry, she learnt new skills, most of all, she can't stop talking. Not sure if she noticed she is back in another country, but certainly she should feel the silence here. I was so tempted to bring her out in the yard and let her play with the snow, but gave up the idea after second thoughts. Still jetlagging, I don't need another cold to take care of. She recovered from the jetleg much sooner than Patrick and I, cause she can sleep whenever she wants, when I have loads of laundry waiting for me, loads of mail, loads of everything ..... They say it takes 1 day to recover from every hour of time difference, which is quite interesting, on the 13th day we are back, she started to be sleeping normal again, exactly 13 days, for the 13 hours difference.

Jan 8th - from warm breeze to ice picks

2009-01-22T01:04:00.004-05:00

I looked out the window from my house, it's such a beautiful sight, I think we have never had this much snow since we moved into this house. It's beautiful, but it's a different story when you have to live in it unless you are a brain-dead poet. Coming from mid 70s to -20s is depressing enough, putting layers of clothes on Brig and me before we head out makes me think again of the reason I am here.

Immediately, my nose dried up from the heat, my fingers shrank from the cold, and putting conditioner on my hair is at all times is a must.

I understand Boston has summer too, but perhaps our timing this time just ecentuates the unfortunate differences.

Again, there is a bright side, Brigette can walk around freely and I don't have to walk as much.

Jan 6th - Goodbye tears

2009-01-22T00:55:00.004-05:00

I cried when I said goodbye to mom at the gate, I cried when the plane took off, not until 30 mins after the takeoff would Patrick dared to ask if I am ok. It was funny thinking back. As the flight reached its highest altitude, reality hits, I am going home. Correction, I am going back to a house. Perhaps it's a depressing thought, but I go through a period of depression whenever I return from HK, when I won't have the interest to eat anything, won't be able to sleep, won't be able to shop, doesn't want to reply to any emails or phone calls. Basically, I hibernate for a few weeks before getting back to my normal life. This time, it's worse cause I will going back to mountains of snow and drying heat.

...but I will be fine......

Jan 4th - 2 days left

2009-01-22T00:45:00.005-05:00

As I was counting down to the departure day, I wanted to run away, so far that no one can catch me and stuff me on the plane. I didn't do this......and that yet..... Not enough pictures taken, still a lot of friends I didn't meet with, didn't watch a stage drama, didn't eat enough of the good food. Until you personally tried it, you cannot imagine how great it feels to watch the massive snowing in Boston on TV while having a foot, neck and head massage at a massage parlor.

Jan 3rd - My old old friends

2009-01-22T00:30:00.003-05:00

Linda, candy, 2 Carmens, Kelly, Wendy, Polly, ...They are all good old friends, these are not all, but due to limited time and schedule, I only saw these crowd. The oldest friends of mine has gotta be Kelly and Linda, we knew each other from P.1 (Primary school), which is over 30 years, and the one I knew latest was Candy, but still, over 20 years. We all went to the same school, from Primary to Secondary, the same all-girl school, and it's nothing like it when we meet, it didn't seem a second we have missed, no warming up needed, and YES, we are all crazy.

To all my dear friends, thank you so much for the great time, and I am still missing you all everyday. I only hope you guys are minutes away.....sniff sniff.....

Jan 2nd - Brig's great-grandmother

2009-01-22T00:15:00.002-05:00

My popo is about 96 years old, and she is as healthy as can be. Although she had a cough during our entire visit in HK, she looks more awake than I did.

Meeting Brigette for the first time, her first comment was she looks exactly like the toddler ME. yoooohoo !! It's been almost 6 years, and my great-grandmother hasn't change much, I hope it runs in our genes :-)

Jan 1st - The Hangover day

2009-01-22T00:07:00.002-05:00

Starting from 3am, when we got back to the hotel, it wasn't pretty. The next morning, on the first day of the year, Patrick had to stay in bed and finally woke up at 5:30pm, this is how sick he got. I think he drank about 1.5 bottle of whisky on top of the wine at dinner, and some beer when the crazy party started. Luckily, there is always a good side of everything, I finally had some time to walk around the city ALONE. I was supposed to go pick Brig up from my mom's place while Patrick is getting rest, the van which brings me there only 1 block our hotel, but it took me approx. 4 hours to get to that van. Too many shops, and underground malls on that block that prevented me to get on the "motherhood" van.....

We had yet another nice dinner with mom without the baby this evening, but no pictures. Straight orange juice for Patrick the whole day as far as liquid goes.

Dec 31st - What a way to welcome the new year

2009-01-21T23:37:00.003-05:00

Patrick has been looking for a Dutch restaurant in the states, no luck ! There are actually 3 in HK, most restaurants can be found on http://www.openrice.com/ (open rice means meal is ready and let's eat in cantonese, literal translation). He almost jumped through the ceiling, we checked the first one, doesn't look real to him, mostly seafood (mussels), which can be a Dutch thing, maybe he was in denial because he doesn't eat seafood. The next one is in Soho, this one has his favourite appetizers, the Bitten balls ???? and some other balls ? So he quickly made a reservation for New year's eve, and brought my mom along, leaving Brig to the professional baby-sitter.

This Dutch restaurant is sort of a fusion, as the owner/chef admits, and I was quite surprised that the restaurant was not filled with Dutch people, maybe 2/3. But Patrick said anywhere outside of the NL, this IS filled with Dutch people. He talked with a Dutch lady outside during a smoke break, she just moved to HK due to her husband's job, they had 2 choices, either Boston or HK, they picked HK (Good choice !). They will be living in a 3 bdr flat which costs $7000 Euro, Patrick's eyes almost dropped to the ground, but the rent in HK is known to be expensive. Oh well.

We had a nice Dutch dinner, then off we went to a crazy party my friend Candy's husband held, unlimited alcohol and cigarettes provided, you can easily lose your mind and then some in that place. Patrick was asked to play the dice game, very popular among drinkers, the bad thing is he kept on winning, so Candy and her friends had to drink, one shot after the other. After several shots, Candy started looking for backup and revenge, she called for her friendS to "take care" of Uncle 7 (Patrick's nickname in Cantonese). With 7-8 people's taking shifts, Uncle 7 was in a different planet, seeing different stars. Sad part is, the location of the building is almost from the fireworks, so our view of the countdown was not as spectacular as we expected.

This is the first time in history that Uncle 7 begged me to leave, simply because he drank way too much. I then told him it's not uncommon in HK, that people will puke in the bathroom, then continue to drink. His face turned bluish green when he heard it. Even though we didn't have the perfect angle for the countdown, it was very emotional for me, it's been a while since I countdown in HK.

Candy and I sang a few songs, we had so much fun, she then secretly told me, that Patrick really can drink, he was drinking against a whole gang. After that day, the joke has been "The Dutch Uncle 7 has been "gang-raped"(drinking against the gang), and got K.O by the HK team.

The fireworks this year is not as good, probably because of the bad economy....Nevertheless, Happy New Year everyone !!

Dec 28th - HK nightly laser show with Symphony

2009-01-21T23:25:00.002-05:00

It's a guiness record of the largest permanent light show. It starts nightly at 8pm and lasts about 20 mins. The laser is just ok, if you look from the peak, you won't see the lasers as clearly, but how they coordinate with the symphony is wonderful. At least, if you find yourself nothing to do at home, you can look out your window (if you have a view of the harbour) and it will cheer you up.

Usually, it's only laser, but on special occasions, fireworks come along.

Dec 26th - Birthday on the Peak

2009-01-18T21:41:00.006-05:00

As a birthday present to Patrick, my mom kept Brigette for the night so we can have some enjoyment. Bonnie picked the place for us, it's Cafe Deco on the Peak, even though the food is just average and it's less intimate place, the view from the peak is not bad. We later hopped over to another restaurant for a drink right across (Pearl) which has an outside terrace and a more spectacular view.

After the peak, we went to a bar in Causeway, actually a bar at our hotel and met up with my crazy nephew Joe, Kitty and Simon, and we got my nephew drunk (K.O) and threw him in a taxi afterwards.

It was a cold and windy night on the peak, but nothing compared to what's happening in Boston.

Dec 25th - Meeting Santa

2009-01-18T01:02:00.004-05:00

It's Brigette's first rendez-vous with Santa Clause, and she got a present, I had no idea she can unwrap a present that nicely. It was another "Brigette's here" dinner, we didn't expect to be eating with everyone present at the same time, we again took turns. After dinner, Bonnie and Andy took us out for a drink and more night views, just before Patrick turned 1 year older. It was fun, but still, not the way we are used to spending our Christmas. How much longer will it take for you to sit still for a nice meal Brigette ???

I got her a sweater and pant set, which says "I have been good all year Santa, you can ask my mom" across her chest. If Santa really came to ask me.....hmmm.....

Dec 24th - The weird eve

2009-01-18T00:48:00.004-05:00

It's my mom's custom to go to the church on Christmas eves, so we went with this year. The church has gone through a lot of changes. I still remember it used to be so serene, the service ends around midnight, everyone would take a candle in a glass jar (given by the church) and walked home, with Christmas Carol Chorus on the street, it was so peaceful and so Christmas. We went in this year, the church was too packed, that we had no seats in the church itself, and was sent to a room upstairs with folding chairs and a plasma TV live-feeding the inside of the church. It was a joke ! Wait, that's not all, it's also Brigette's bedtime, so Patrick and I decided to leave, we walked back to our hotel well before midnight, when the clock striked 12, we whispered "Merry Christmas" to each other. Now, that's a first, what an odd Christmas eve !

Thankfully, we went to have dinner with mom before church, but then again, with Brigette around, it's never relaxing.

Dec 21st - The Patrick syndrome

2009-01-18T00:26:00.004-05:00

Only the NO SEAFOOD and the NO BONE thing are bad enough, almost everyone in HK love seafood. Under enormous pressure and non-stop teasing, he ate some seafood, the sharkfin soup, scallop fried rice, and some real fish, just to name a few, and he liked them. He got actually hooked on the corn chowder with crab. Never say never, he may start to eat some seafood if he goes to HK more.

The good thing is, he can still smoke everywhere, even in bars and some restaurants and cafes, which was a surprise since HK took on the no-smoking indoors and many outdoor places law last year. Also, being able to drink alcohol on the street is an added bonus. Even 7-11 carries alcohol, and he loves using his octopus card (dood dood) everywhere to buy stuffs, the convenience in this city is unmatched anywhere.

He also went into a few supermarkets, found some of the German snacks he loves, although he thinks they are still more expensive than buying them in Europe, he was stuffing his face happily outside of the store.

He admitted that, tasting the food in HK made him aware he had never really had real good Chinese food before. Bingo.

Dec 20th - The Brigette syndrome

2009-01-17T11:49:00.003-05:00

After hearing all the warnings about the stroller unfriendly city, hard to find changing tables and high chairs, we were prepared for the worst. To be honest, we did not have any problem with our stroller, we took it on our back to walk on stairs, into taxis, buses, vans with Brigette still in it, she sits in it as a high chair at less accommodating restaurants, and in fact, most MTR station has elevators and gates for stroller and wheelchairs, so we just have to stroll her with us, cant imagine the alternative - holding her in 1 arm, the stroller folded up and hung on the other arm, then the diaper bag on my shoulder; Brigette is also using pull-ups, so changing table is really not needed. So bringing the baby around was not a problem, mind you, with this stroller, we never needed a diaper bag, which was fantastic. The actual problem is to keep her entertained on top of dealing with her sleeping schedule in this exciting city made for adults only.

One of the best thing in HK is the food, but nicer restaurants don't allow kids, food too spicy or funky will send Brigette home starving, you can't chill at the restaurant for too long without seeing the Kung Fu Panda showing you the back flip. When we were at a multi-course meal dinner, me and Patrick will have to take turns bringing the baby out for a walk, or tried to stroll her to sleep, so Patrick now knows the streets around out hotel by heart cause that's what we do to make Brigette sleep at night. We would love to let her out and walk with us, ONLY if she would hold our hands, she is born a free soul, she doesn't want to be led. Before she learns how to take instructions, we were forced to strap her in.

Late night out is out of the question, since Brigette sleeps at 10pm, we found ourselves back in the hotel whispering our nights away. It was beyond frustrating, never thought I would be back in the hotel before midnight, I am in HK !!!!!! Come on !!!

At last, we changed to a hotel who provides baby-sitting, so we could finally bring my mom out for nice dinner on Christmas eve and New year's eve, and we can all relax and enjoy. Other nights when we absolutely were dying to go out alone, my mom will keep Brigette overnight. For this, biggest kiss for my mom, our trip would have been much less fun and much more aggrevating.

Dec 19th - The impossible in HK

2009-01-17T02:20:00.004-05:00

After about a week of being stuck in the stroller, Brigette long for some hardcore playtime, but believe it or not, that was our biggest problem during our trip. Most toddlers at her age in HK are home with the maid, we didn't see too many babies coming out, maybe a few tourists touring their strollers or parents taking a fun ride in a mall, but that's about it. There aren't much to do with Brigette in the city, there are parks of course, but other than that, not much we can find. There are kitties cafes and doggies cafe where people bring their pets for some chill out time, and the pets can play with each other, but there aren't any babies cafe around. Either you would have to join a club where they have kids' playcenter, or you would have live in a complex where they have specific play area for babies. No matter why kids tend to start school much earlier than here in the states.

Grandma insisted there is a babies' game center, but when we got there, it's under renovation, so only limited games are available for use. Tough luck, Brigette !

People, from left and right, volunteered their opinion about who Brigette looks like, either mommy or daddy usually, BUT, one of my friend actually said Brigette looks like MY mother, huh ?

Dec 18th - Brigette B

2009-01-17T01:33:00.005-05:00

In HK, there are a bunch of mixed celebrities who like to go by just the initals on the surname, e.g. Maggie Q, Lisa S, Ana R....probably because some of their surnames are difficult to pronounce. Since Brigette has gotton so popular among my friends and even stranger on the street, hence her new nickname, Brigette B, the new celebrity. Her doctor mentioned about stranger anxiety to me a few months back, and asked me to look out for that, it's very common and it will come. Brigette could be an exception, the stranger the person is, the more interested she gets, at least for now, she is no doubt a curious girl.

One day, when daddy was holding her while crossing a busy road, her head lying comfortably on daddy's shoulder while I was walking behind them, 2 girls walked behind them, took out their phones and started taking pictures of Brigette behind daddy's back; Meanwhile, to my left, there was girl talking on her cell saying "Really looks like Brigette, she really does", I looked over, thought maybe it was one of my friend, NOPE, didn't know her, oh well, maybe another Brigette is crossing the street. Then she kept on saying "really looks lke Brigette", I looked over again, she was looking right at MY Brigette, so she came over to me asking if I am Bonnie's sister, I said YES, she then confirmed with the person on the other side(my sister Bonnie) that it is indeed Brigette. All happened within second in a busy intersection. After she hung up, she came over and introduced herself, and told me how famous my daughter is on Facebook.

Daddy and I got a little overwhelmed by the attentions Brigette got, even a photographer came over and took a number of close shots of Brigette with a professional camera without asking for permission. I guess people just feel they have a freedom of taking pictures of anything they see.

Dec 17th - 50 pounds

2009-01-17T01:20:00.003-05:00

Brigette must be close to 30 pounds with clothes now, with 9.9 pounds stroller, plus about 10 pounds of baby essentials and shopping bags in the storage bin, it should be close to 50 pounds on Daddy's back. From the enthusiastic "it's nothing, it's fine" on the first day, to the "WHAT, stairs again ?" from second day on, daddy kept saying "it is a lot easier with Hailey in it instead", lol. On top of the weight, it was ridiculously warm for December in HK during our first week of stay, it was like summer, it was great as travelers, not so great for travelers travelling with a heavy kid.

The important thing is, we made it through, and it was all good !

Dec 16th - Ocean Park vs HK DisneyLand

2009-01-17T00:56:00.003-05:00

Ocean Park has been my favourite park in the whole wide world, I have been saying wonderful things about it, only good memories, the aquarium was enormous, filled with awesome fishes, the cable car ride was out of this world, the view was spectacular, the machine rides on the other side were phenomenal. The park was built by the ocean, along a mountain, and the water world was a kids' heaven. THAT WAS THEN. This time around, the whole freaking was basically under construction, they are digging everywhere, and the aquarium was filled with uninteresting fishes, to be honest, they all look like fishes that are served at restaurants, only bigger. Going to the machine rides, it all looks so different. Even though they had a special promotion on tickets for Christmas, I wanted a refund. I left heart-broken.

On the other hand, I have heard so much bad things about the HK DisneyLand since it opened up not long ago, like it is so small and it has nothing, it's a shame....... But Patrick really wanted Brigette to go to a DisneyLand, so we went late, just in time to catch the last parade of the day at 5:30pm, then the fireworks at 9pm. BIG MISTAKE ! It turned out to be a great one for the little ones, the parade was great, and they have fake snow falling from the sky the whole time, they really look and feel like the real thing, the fireworks was amazing. Brigette was so happy, she went into the "It's a small small world boat ride" and another river ride. Everything happening around kept her so busy. One thing though, people kept asking to take pictures with Brigette left and right, it almost seems like she works there as one of the Disney character, and the funniest being she didn't mind at all, she will pose or stand still for the camera to flash, I was speechless. I should have put up a sign next to her, "$50 for a pic", just to cover our travel expenses.

After the DisneyLand visit, whenever I sing "It's a small small world" to her, she gives me a big smile. I am sure HK DisneyLand made a big impression on her.

Dec 15th - Started with Stanley

2009-01-17T00:27:00.005-05:00

This is Patrick's favourite, and one of mine too - Stanley. It's only 20 minutes from downtown, yet completely different from the city, which is refreshing. Being the tour guide, although I am a bit outdated, I brought Patrick and Brigette to experience HK in the "fast lane", To sum it up, we went to the beautiful Stanley, Discovery Bay, Cheung Chau, Tsim Sha Tsui, Mong Kok (the most crowded town in the world), the Peak, the Peak Tram, the city Tram, the star ferries, the speed boats, the MTR, Taxi, bus, the speedy van, cable car, Ocean Park, HK DisneyLand, Causeway Bay, Central, crazy parties at Lan Kwai Fong, funky bars and restaurants in Soho, Cat Street, Temple Street, Women's market, Time square, avenue of the stars, kitty bar, doggie bar, and Sai Kong in a Ferrari.

There are still a lot left to do, but hauling a baby around gave us a lot of restriction, and tired us out faster. When it comes to baby's bedtime, all bets are off :-(

Dec 11th - Kung Fu Panda in my arms

2009-01-16T23:30:00.005-05:00

Today is the day. One bag of toys and essentials(with my iphone in a bag of rice - I accidentially put my iphone in my laundry and here is the most common trick to dry the phone off), one bag of snacks for both of us, off we board. We were lucky enough to get one extra seat, but that's about the extend of luck I got for that day. Since I already started to switch Brigette's clock 1 week before we leave, hoping that she will have an easier time going it gradually, rather than 13 hours in one shot, she was pretty tired around the take-off time to begin with. When the plane sat on the runway waiting for instruction, my nightmare started, Brigette became impatient and cranky, she turned into the "Kung Fu Panda" in my arms. I was strapped in, so I only have my arms to keep her under control. The first trick (feed her while taking off) didn't get to use, cause she already passed out from crying when the plane finally moved after 30 minutes of idle time. I am sure I was not the only one on the plane who felt this may going to be a long long 16 hours.......

After 3 hours of peace, just enough for my sweat to dry up, the panda was awaken by the sound of meal serving. On our menu, it says, "Hawaiian salad, Sirloin tips with creamy mushroom sauce, chocolate mousse truffle.......", they will probably save a lot of money in printing by simply have "SHIT" printed on their menu, Brigette wouldn't even swallow the sauce. After the first meal, I was keeping my cool, kept telling myself she was just tired, and I have a bag of toys and a bag of snacks, I am prepared. All those "taking the toys out 1 by 1, have them wrapped....kind of beautiful advice and tips" may apply on other kids, but mine only took a total of 20 minutes to unwrap me and my everything. Now, what to do in the next 12.5 hours ?? She didn't want to walk, didn't want to sit, the monitor in front of her seat broke, the air is bad, I couldn't discipline her when everyone were trying to sleep, the rest of the flight was basically me thinking whether I should throw her off the plane, or me jumping out myself.

I had no idea how I grabbed the luggage, the stroller, the 2 carry on, and the baby all by myself without a cart but when I stepped out of the gate, I was soaked with sweat, I got zero sleep, and too complicated to even calculate how many hours am I behind on my sleep. Although I was seriously sleep-deprived, as soon as I smell the HK air, it's all worth it.

"Hello, I am BACK !"

Here is a video taken by my HK friend Wendy, it was the first time Brigette meeting a big group of my friends, and Brigette doing her "Bruce Lee" gig, we have no idea where did she learn this.

Nov 26th - Come on... Aah !

2008-11-26T19:16:00.005-05:00

"boyboy, Aah ! dordor, Aah !", as the master went around taking charge of the feeding. She has been fed for months, finally it's her turn to supervise a little, I am sure it gives her some satisfaction.

She did a pretty good job in the feeding, until when I turned around again, saw her spitting out a small beige spat. She ate 1, OF COURSE, at least, I know her taste buds are working fine, she spitted it out.

You can hear her calling the dogs' names and saying thank you after each feeding in the video, she even tried to pick boyboy up, she wasn't scared, but boyboy was.

If we would have a dog ourselves, our dog would be a fat one, I can already see how Brigette chase feed him.

Nov 23th - She AGREES

2008-11-26T01:46:00.006-05:00

The first step of disciplining the grown-up style is by talking to her eye-to-eye. It didn't took her long to figure out that I must be unhappy about something she just did, and I usually end the conversation with a question, "ok?", and a question naturally demand an answer, so she will knod her head. All went fine, UNTIL, lately, as soon as I started talking to her, she knods her head, regardless of the context, even when I asked if she wants time-out. Never thought AGREEing can be this frustrating too.....

She is definitely getting verbal, she can talk to me for a long time, with questions usually, but I have absolutely no clue what she said, but the way she says MAMA melts my heart, she says HI to everyone who passes by her, waves bye bye and blowing kisses as she leaves every strangers, even the cashier at ABC store. Whenever she sees any handheld electronics(that applies to camera and walkie talkie and alike), she will yell "PAPA" out of control, since I usually put papa on the speakaphone when he calls in.

I am loosening up on the no-TV policy, she gets her dose of Elmo after dinner, I guess everyone deserves a little break time.

Not sure why, after her cold, her sleeping hours shifted, by an hour and a half, and hardly naps. Not happy about it, since I made a lot of effort to set her sleeping schedule, all my work seems to have gone down the drain. I can't explain the sudden surge of energy, even though I know kids at some point will grow out of napping, but it seems a bit early at Brigette's age, perhaps she just feels so good after combatting with the bad cold. On the other hand, considering 2 weeks later, her schedule will be turned upside-down, I wouldn't sweat too much in shifting her back for now, but hopefully after the vacation, she can be put back to a much appropriate schedule. This subtle shifting may help her to get over the jetlag easier next month, will see.

Nov 16th - Somebody said the magic words

2008-11-18T00:03:00.002-05:00

Went to the bank today to get a money order, the teller is a new guy, as soon as he heard "money order", his face drew a blank. The senior teller next to him asked if this is his first money order, he said yes, then the senior teller said "Uh OH". Immediately, my opinionated baby jumped in with a LOUD "Uh OH", everyone in the bank (including those banking specialists sitting at the other end of the bank, around the corner, laughed. The new guy was a bit embarassed, but it was hiliarious !

As Brigette expressed some sleepiness, I stuffed her white blanket around her neck, and she was OUT. Afterall, it is very possible for her to sleep in this thing. Actually, I got quite a few comments about how comfy she looks.

Her new game is to pick up a bottle like thing, tip it onto MY hand (pretending she is giving me lotion), then she would go ahead and rub her OWN body. It doesn't make sense, but it's cute, and she can play this for a long time if you continue to hand out your hand.

Nov 15th - Look me in the eye

2008-11-16T18:37:00.005-05:00

Out of all the disciplining method, the one that works the best for Brigette is the "Look at me" method. When she knows she is in trouble, she will avoid looking me in the eye, the eye connection/confrontational style is what gets her to listen and acknowledge......for a few seconds. Success only comes after thousands time of eye connections and confrontations. If there is a second person beside me enforcing the same rule, it will work even faster, it's like magic.

SO.....if Brigette is throwing stuff or hitting stuff, and daddy says "let her" or laugh, they are BOTH in trouble. Luckily, daddy is starting to cooperate now, and Brigette is starting to understand those are rules everyone abides to, not just something I made up for fun, and no matter how many times, where and how she pushes the envelop, the boundary is still there. I wouldn't say she knows it all yet, but it's something she needs to get used to, hopefully minimizing the agonies we will face for the "terrible TWOs".

Nov 14th - Oops ! I did it again !

2008-11-14T15:44:00.004-05:00

Despite the fact that votes on no bangs are more than otherwise, I caught the daddy cheated by voting on his opinions more than once. I looked at some old pictures and honestly think she looks also cute with long bangs, compounded by the pressure of travelling with her soon, I did it again for practical reasons. Her hair is much longer now, so she can do the traditional pigtails look. I am still nipping here and there after the initial cut since she wouldn't sit still for my artistic expression.

I am seriously starting the time-out plan now, provided that daddy works with it too. Unfortunately, I moved the playpen up to my bathroom for her safety, I took Micky's advice of making her time-out section independent of any tools, so I can excercise it anywhere.

Nov 12th - When East meets West, and something else

2008-11-11T16:20:00.010-05:00

I stumbled upon this site http://www.pbase.com/accl/hong_kong, it contains beautiful pictures of HK, and they also correctly present the crazy cultural mix in this one-of-its-kind city. I am from there, of course, I am biased, but it's not hard to see foreigners who "HongKongized" themselves and refuse to leave. It has the best food (any cuisine you can think of), the best shopping(any brand you can think of), the best entertainment(anything money can buy), there is nothing you cannot find in this place. Best of all, it's a taxfree city. It was still a British colony when I lived there, and even though it had been handed over back to China on 1997, hence went through a lot of changes, it still possess a charm that you can't find anywhere else, and much of the European flare still exists. It usually takes me about 5 days everytime to get used to the tiny living space, the crowdiness, but after I fit back in, I often wonder why am I living in Boston ? and for so many years, how did I survive it all these years ...

This speedy city will get you in and out of any places FAST, try going into a supermarket right before they are about to close, the cashier will show you how old and slow you are cause you just missed the whole scanning and bagging with a blink of your eye, a fingerprint scan (you can keep walking) will get you through immigration, the Octopus card (works through your clothes, handbags or wallets, just hold it up, or just stick your ASS/back pocket against the scanning device) is the most sophisticated and extensive implementation in the world, you can use it for subway, bus rides, van rides, train rides, tram rides, ferries, supermarkets, phone booths, and convenience stores, no coins-counting. You can of course choose to take it easy, just don't do it during rush hour in the mist of everyone rushing to work behind you, again, the pressure of feeling old and weak....

I hope Brig and Pat will love it as much as I will, or should I say, I hope, the city is still acceptably similiar to what I remember.

It's a place where East meets West, Nature meets Concrete, different languages, different culture, different background, all squeezed and jampacked into a small city with the Victoria habor in between which makes waterview non-luxurious, and that's why it's OH so irresistable.

Nov 11th - The ER weekend

2008-11-11T12:20:00.005-05:00

Due to an ear infection, Brig had her first fever, 100.6 on day 1, then 102.2 on day 2, Daddy imediately brought her to the emergency room even though the doctor told us not to worry until it reaches 104, nevertheless, I found myself waiting in the hospital with other sick people. Her temperature got up to 102.6 (ear check)upon arrival, and was gone before we left the hospital 5 hours later. She got to be the happiest emergency patient I have ever seen, she was playing and laughing while waiting, she was immediately checked by 1 of the doctor shortly after checking in, he reassured us that Brig is ok, she doesn't look toxically sick, her color is good, awake, and active. This is the first time I return to the hostpital since my delivery, they also have pediatric emergency, but they were too busy and have no space for a low-grade fever.

Finally, Brig was seen by the ER doctor, looked at her ears, didn't think they were bad enough to cause the fever, so he suggested to get a clean urine test, meaning sticking a tube into her private part.....she was not happy about it and she made her opinion loud & clear. The test for bladder infection came back negative. 2 days later, Brig woke up with some rash on her forehead and upper body, not hives, just rashes, the doctor suspected it was due to the antibiotics she was put on, I have the same thing with some antibiotics. This morning, she woke up looking like a burnt victim, the rash got a lot worst, was all over her face and body, even on her ears, the solution to that is Benadryl and wait or at least 48 hours for the antibiotics to leave her body, or a little longer.

What a weekend, the only good news out of al this is, I have enough antibioics left for myself. I wish I can have the rash on me instead of her.

Nov 5th - Much needed tips

2008-11-11T11:41:00.004-05:00

Even the thought of having Brig on my lap for 16 hours straight dehydrates me. After a few days of irregular heartbeat (just by thinking about it), I turned to the computer for tips. Everyone's experience vary, but we can only plan for the worst and hope for the best. Some useful information did calm me down a little, at least, I feel that I am doing something to prepare for it. Helpful tips include : Tired your kid out before boarding; don't board until last even though people with kids usually board first, that will only get your kids stuck in the plane longer; Feeding on the way up and on the way down; Avoid sugar snacks; Bring sleeping pillow or doll the baby is attached to; Bring new and old toys just in case the kid cannot sleep in the plane, never turn away any offered drinks, have plenty of snacks. Do not take all the toys out at once, take them out 1 by 1, have them all wrapped up for more fun, and it will take 5-10 mins more to unwrap each one.

Funny and helpful toys :

- Blue painter tape, don't have to show the kids how to use it, they will show you, it's easy to remove from anywhere, and can be used for baby-proofing at destination.

- Box of pipe cleaners, they can be twisted and bent to different shapes, for older kids.

- Coloring, magnet, doodle, sticker foam, or sticker books

- Boxes, save small cosmetic boxes or alike and unfold them flat, kids love to play with boxes.

- Making Cheerio necklace, for older kids.

- DVD player or Camcorder

- A deck of cards

- Folding toy, like the Thomas & friend folding train set

- Homemade picture books

Adjusting sleeptiime to the local time to cure jetlagging, which also include adjusting mealtime.

Most importantly, Benadryl and pray !!!

Nov 2nd - Preparing for the CITYwalk

2008-11-05T19:38:00.007-05:00

We are going to HK for Christmas and New Year, it's been 6 years since I have been back, and the thought of hauling a baby around in HK can be a headache. We have been told most of the restaurants don't offer highchairs or booster seats(most parents just put the baby on their lap and feed), changing table is hard to find(babies get changed everywhere, preferably standing up), not all subway stations have escalator, the city can be crowded, doorways are narrower, in short, the city is not as stroller/baby friendly as it is in the US, it's a real CITY afterall.

Daddy found this gadget on the internet, it looks good on reviews from mom who travels a lot, and using my imagination, it could be the best solution for this HK trip. Of course, nothing is easier than just pick up the baby and go, but Brigette is quite heavy, and we won't have a car while we are there.

This thing is a stroller with shopping basket, a packpack carrier, and a highchair, all in 1. It looks complicated and bulky, but when I lined it up with my umbrella stroller, it takes up less space. I also took a quick video showing how easy it is to convert it back and forth, just after a few try.

The Backpack function is more for daddy, on me, it's ok, but I got pushed around in the crowd, I may easily lose balance, the thing with Brigette in it is more than half my size. The handle can also be flipped down when it's being used as a highchair, so it literally takes up no more space than a regular chair. There are also 2 handles around the sit for you to life the whole thing up (supports a hair up to 50 pounds, total weight on the carrier can up to 60 pounds. This lifting functions is ideal if we need to get on a bus or when we don't want to haul her on our backs. It comes with loops for toys, and hooks for bottles. it weighs 9.8 pounds, made of aluminium, just a tad heavier than my umbrella stroller. Basically, it's almost like the stroller/folding metal basket old ladies take to the market.

I, of course, will have my sling in my handbag for short trips, but considering if we would need a stroller anyway, this can be it. Brigette seems to like to be in it since she is higher up than in any other stroller, and she is in an upright position, so she can see things around her better. When I stopped pushing her around to take a picture, she complaint.

The only concern I have is that if she would be able to sleep in it, since she is in an upright position, worst comes to the worst, I will have my sling for her sleep. My mom said when babies are sleepy, they can sleep anywhere, will see if true that is, especially there will be all new things and people around her, all will be exciting.

P.S. pardon my PJ, was not planning to post this one, but didn't feel like dressing up and take another one for demonstration purposes.

Oct 31st - The real Halloween

2008-11-05T12:52:00.010-05:00

All the kids gathered up at Kitty's place for Halloween since she lives on a street where Trick or treating is safe, no one ever come knock on our door to trick or treat, unless the parents want to have the excitement of walking into a sharp curve and coming out from a blind driveway.

Looking at all 5 kids sitting at the kids' table was amazing, it seems it wasn't that long ago when they were still lying on the couch together, was not even a year ago.

Carmen, Hailey, and Carmen dressed up the same as before, and Zoe was a paper doll (the kind which Chinese burn at their ancestor's funeral), and Zofie was a chicken.

Oct 28th - The Cinderella night out

2008-11-05T12:35:00.005-05:00

For my birthday, my 2 sisters came to our house. We spent the afternoon chilling out, the weather sucks out there, so we decided to take a dip in the pool, and with Brigette and Hailey for their first time. I was worried Brigette would be scared of it, to my surprise, she was enjoying it beyond belief, she was such a natural in water.

When it comes to dinner time, our maid (Gigi) cleaned the house and our nanny (Micky) looked after the kids while me and Patrick went out for a quiet dinner closeby, hmmmm....we can really get used to this.

AAAh, I felt so good after the waitress sat us down, she just left, meaning she didn't return with the royally HIGH CHAIR. The fact she didn't even ask if I needed one soothed my deepest soul. I can leave the wine glasses anywhere I please on the table, and I only need 1 grownup napkin for the whole 2.5 hours, wow ! No cutting food into small pieces kind of shit, and everything is a "YES". Loved it !

I dragged my feet as our address draws closer and closer on the map in our car, how I hope it's my birthday everyday, and the carriage doesn't turn back to pumpkin.

Oct 27th - Dutch girl eating sushi and paying basketball

2008-11-05T12:18:00.005-05:00

It's the Halloween party at Gymboree. Carmen & Hailey came along, and Gigi surprised us by showing up unexpectedly. Brigette dressed up as a little Dutch girl, Carmen as a dinosaur, and Hailey as a giraffe. Most other kids are also dressed up as animals, there were lions, tigers, bears, bees, ladybugs, cats, butterflies, except for 1 being the superman and 1 being the cowboy.

We had a great time together, although it was not as fun as I expected, I thought they would decorate the place, but the party was just similiar to the regular classes other than the spooky music they play for the party.

Parents asked me if I got the Dutch costume out of this country, in fact, I just ordered it online here, and it was a new creation for this year. I was quite surprised that the hat didn't bother her that much, it was really cute on her.

Oct 21st - My princess

2008-11-04T22:33:00.014-05:00

Princesses and Barbies never were my favourite toys, since it seems to send a negative message to kids, but Micky and I realized it's an inevitable stage for many girls, Carmen is obsessed with princesses. Although I have no princesses for Brigette, she somehow learnt how to admire herself in the mirror (I don't do that), put on lipstick and pretend to lotion her hands (I don't do that either). As long as she doesn't get overboard, it's ok I guess. Officially, she hasn't reached that princess stage yet, let's hope she will be a simple princess.

Now that I have setup her baby room with different sets of toys and mood, she literally has 2 play rooms. We would spend the afternoon at home exploring 1 area depending on her mood. If the weather gets depressing outside, there is no better place to be than in her baby room.

Oct 20th - Slow mom

2008-11-04T22:13:00.005-05:00

The No-TV policy gave us a chance to talk to each other more, and forces her to find things to do and learn. The first time I taught her to play the harmonica, she couldn't blow hard enough to make noise, it was so cute, and I thought I should grab the camera and recorded it, by the time I came back, she figured it out already and was proud of it. Therefore, this slow mom missed the chance.

Oct 19th - Everything is M-I-N-E

2008-10-19T23:28:00.001-04:00

Met a mother with her daughter at the park the other day, as usual, Brigette HIed them, seeing that the mother has something she wants in hand, a KID. We started talking, she asked how old is Brigette, and I asked her the same, she goes, "she is 18 months, and everything is M-I-N-E", it took me a few seconds to get the meaning, too old, brainfrozen. So there I get a warning, there is this stage waiting for me within 3 months, when she thinks she owes everything. After she rolled her eyes on the M-I-N-E thing, Patrick brought up the "terrible 2s", then she responded, "I think it comes earlier than that", another rolling of her eyes along with shaking her head.

Oh well, not like I expect to be easy in the coming year, but it's scary when get that confirmation from yet another mother.

It was in the 40s when we were at the park, I put on the ski pants on Brigette with a down jacket, I was chilling from inside out with my sweater. Even with full winter gear, Brigette's face and nose were getting red, I guess the idea of bringing her to the park in winter can be thrown out the window. Gymboree will be her running ground, only it's further away from the house. At the doctor's office, one of the nurse complimented how cute Brigette looks, and how she should be in the movie, she told me kids at this age needs their playground time, even when she didn't have time, she would park her car at the end of the driveway blocking it, put all the toys on the driveway, and let her kid run and play there. I still remember back in the daycare days, if it rains for a couple of days, the kids will get difficult being indoor for too long.

Oct 18th - Peekaboo

2008-10-19T23:14:00.006-04:00

Brigette is very much in her Peekaboo stage, she likes to be chased, likes to be caught, she thinks it's funny. SHe is getting a lot more fun now, at least the baby signs help a lot, we are commuicating just fine, except when I am disciplining her..... She knows how to sign milk, eat, sleepy, more, bath, and please now, way to go Brigette ! Some of the signs she doesn't do it the standard way, but I know what she is asking for, and that's important.

I think she is teething again.

Happy Birthday mom, I hope your headache will be gone soon. Blowing kisses from me and Brigette.

Oct 17th - 15 months checkup

2008-10-17T15:34:00.004-04:00

15 months numbers : Height is 31 inches (70%), Weight is 23.3 lbs (57%), and head is 47.25 (86%). Head is still on the big side, but Doc told me to be happy that the number is still IN the chart. She is growing at a nice curve, and definitely getting more proportional.

This picture was taken at the office while waiting for the doc to come in, she had nothing on after te measurement, I put the coat on her and held her on my lap, she got bored, and maybe she knew what was gonna happen when the doc comes in, SHOTS. She had 2 shots today, a flu shot and the MMR, the MMR stinks, she was quiet, just because she was so pissed it took a while for her cry to be audible.

I did had a discussion with the doc about he flu shot, I read up somewhere that the flu shot is filled with toxin, and it's not necessarily a good thing for anybody. The doctor explained and reassured me that it is a good prevention for something that can make my baby real sick, and he said he feels very comforable recommending it to Brigette, so there Brigette had it.

When the doc checked her ears, he told me we would have to do it on the bed, have her lying down, and wanted my whole upper body to be on Brigette's lower half. He realized how strong she is.

Her new snack = Blueberries, she loves it, and she hates it, depending on each individual one, it's funny just to watch.

Oct 16th - Getting high being high

2008-10-17T15:20:00.012-04:00

Brigette loves being high up, every night when she goes into the shower upstairs with me, she would look down to the living room, babbling. Still wonder what she is saying everyday.... She jus love being high up looking down.

I have started a NO TV regimen, I was never a TV watcher, but in the past few months, the TV was on a lot, partly because the house was dead quiet fearing Brigette will get bored, even though Brigette doesn't just sit there and watchher TV with her mouth open, I knew too much TV is bad, studies show aggression in kids has something to do with watching too much, if they are used to passive entertainment, it inhibits their imagination and concentration. Having the TV a lot, even I am getting disoriented, let alone the baby. Will see how this regimen does to Brigette. She has been doing fine without it, she doesn't ask for it, nor does she show she is missing something, in fact, I noticed she started digging out toys which have been tucked away, which is a good start.

Her winter outdoor play gear.

Oct 15th - Halloween party

2008-10-15T11:48:00.007-04:00

Brigette will be dressed up as a little Dutch girl, with a coat.

She is signed up for the Halloween party at the gymn on the 27th, so maybe she will get a feel of what it actually is.

Next doctor's checkup is this friday, curious to know if her head is more proportionally sized now.

Oct 14th - Her happy hour

2008-10-14T19:41:00.022-04:00

This is how it is, learning important concepts, excercising, encourage brain development and coordinations, playing, and singing. Brigette loves loves loves it, as soon as she sees the door, she screamed. Class consists of babies from 12-15 months. Mind you, not all classes are good, it all depends on the teacher, I was in the music trial class last week, it sucks, the teacher forgot how the song went, and it was more talking than singing and dancing, the teacher spent the first 10 minutes talking about the baseball game the previous night, and how she is so tired....Brigette was bored.

It was fun for me to watch how all the kids around the same interact, they casually grab stuffs from others' hands, and they are all good kids, no issues. There was this asian girl who, at the pushing game, leaned over to Brigette, tried to kiss her, it was really cute. Cute also that the kids are getting familiar with each other. Each activities are short, to keep the kids interested.

Oct 13th - Becoming a regular

2008-10-14T09:51:00.008-04:00

Going to the park 3 days in a row has put Brigette much more at ease, getting familiar with all the different play, finally can really start to enjoy them.

When I walked into this park this time, there were a lot more toys that parents dumped here, which is great, they are in a reasonable condition, I may do the same thing when Brigette grows out of her rides, so other kids can benefit from them it's much more fun when the park has that much toys lying around.

The only concern now is the winter, when it's too cold for her to be outside, so I have a slide at home to satisfy her cravings during the winter time.

Oct 12th - Lost all Brigette pics for this month

2008-10-13T10:00:00.005-04:00

The laptop all of a sudden decide to run a checkdisk on my card after a reboot, I stopped it immediately, but was not fast enough. Really not good. Fortunately, I uploaded 2 videos last night, but no pictures.

Oct 11st - Ready for Halloween

2008-10-12T18:19:00.007-04:00

Look at her new bruise around the eye, this time, it's the other eye. Any other bruises, on her arms and legs, forehead, anywhere else, goes away in a day or 2, but not around her eyes. This bruise happened when MF and Patrick were here, 1 week ago. Also, even if she just hit her upper cheekbone, her eyes got bruises, BAD ones. I can just easily put a drop of red food coloring at the corner of her mouth, and she is ready for Halloween, no costume needed.

She is officially over 14.5 months old, as I expected, the seperation anxiety was supposed to peak at 14-15 months, she is more than a koala now, she literally wants to be glued onto me. I have been putting her to sleep (playing dead besides her ever since she started sleeping in her room), last night, she took a long time, didn't want to sleep, and I had been lying beside her for over an hours, thinking this can't go on, and I needed to use the restroom, so I kissed her goodnight, left the room, it took her about half a min to realize I have gone, then of course, she cried, not much, was quite surprised, in about 2 mins, went dead silence. I went in and found she was asleep. Hurray ! Tonight, I was thinking should I continue this, it's about time anyway. I spent about 5 mins in the room with her, kissed her goodnight, left the room, she cried immediately for about half a min, that's it ! I am hopeful....and I don't want to jinx myself.

P.S. When daddy is home working (in the spa room), she would run into the glass door, purposely bump her forehead on the glass hard repeatedly, just to get her daddy to come out and hug her. She doesn't seem to feel the pain as much as we do by looking at her. She will also show you where she hurts herself, along with her girly pretend cry, even if it's nothing, it's cute in a way.

Oct 10th - Pope Paul II Park

2008-10-11T23:45:00.006-04:00

Today, while the weather is still ok, we went to the big park with Alice. We initially thought of going to a regular park with slide and swings, but Brigette often gets intimidated or shy by bigger kids playing on the play set, and I want to know how she would react to a huge piece of grass. Lucky for us, as I pulled in the parking lot, I saw signs of some sort of "Kite festival" going on today, and the sky filled with kites. I also heard Chinese drum, dragon dance, and some tai chi going on in one of those gazebo afar, figured it must be some Chinese activity.

I brought the powered toy mopad and a ball with me just in case. It was funny, since it was either bigger kids on their bikes, or babies in their stroller strolling along the paved paths, and in the middle of it, Brigette rides on her motorbike with a serious face. Perhaps she only napped for 40 mins. Perhaps it's the sun in her face, she wouldn't even lift her head up and look at the kites, and the sunglasses became nonsense when she didn't want to miss a thing around her. She was also walking funny, swaying left to the right and back and forth, turning around and around, I initially thought she must be having fun with the paved ground and grass, then after a while, we noticed what she was doing, she was playing with her own shadow, following it and figuring it out.

As the drum and dance event was over, the crowd was walking past us, and I was surprised to see that none of the drum players and dragon dancers were Chinese, how funny !

We both still have a bit of a cold, due to the crazy weather here, as much as 30F difference between day and night, but a bit of fresh air wouldn't hurt, and it was 73F this afternoon, and 46F at night.

Oct 1st - Healthy diet

2008-10-01T23:29:00.008-04:00

I did a research online, searched for the healthiest people and races in the world, other than the environment they live in, I figure there got to be some direct correlation with the type of food they eat.

Based on the data, Japanese, Chinese, Swedish, French are among the longest living races. I am quite familiar with all the mentioned races except for the Swedish, so I searched on Swedish cuisine. Due to the long cold winter they have, they preserve a lot of their food, salted and fermented, even fruit, and they eat lots of fish. So, it looks like the common special traits of these cuisines are : fermented food, lots of fish, and fruit. Also, I once heard an argument about preservatives in food will actually help preserve our body too, not sure if it's bull since everyone knows it's supposed to be bad for you.

At least now I don't feel so bad eating the preserved eggs and chinese cheese, non-chinese won't have a clue what I am talking about.

Now, let's hope Brigette doesn't get the "no-seafood" thing from her dad.