12.28.2010

HO! ho! HO!

Santa payed a little visit to the Ng house. He was a little skimpy on the presents this year...something about Charlotte being too young and not really getting it.

Unfortunately, we made the mistake of flying home from Michigan Christmas day so we were all a little cranky and tired from the flight. It wasn't quite the same since we didn't wake up in our house to find presents under the tree. Charlotte still seemed to enjoy herself though. She got the hang of ripping open the wrapping paper quickly. This year Santa brought her a doll house, a sports pack with a football, basketball, and soccer ball, slippers, and some stocking goodies. I think her favorite was the doll house. She likes to walk around with the little people and animals and clank them together. She also likes to flip the bed upside down and carry the people in it.


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Home for the Holidays

This year we were pleasantly surprised when Kayu and I found out that we could both take some time off during the week of Christmas. We took a trip to the Midwest as a family of three for the first time. Ms. Charlotte soaked up all of the attention and waddled around from person to person. We made sugar cookies to ring in the holidays and got to visit with some great friends...the McGuire's and the Szumko's. We even had time to stroll around Ann Arbor and take in some of our favorite hang outs like Bubble Island. We ended our trip with an early Christmas celebration with the Williams clan with a mouth watering spread and lots of presents to unwrap.

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12.26.2010

Trouble Maker

These days I feel like I am being scolded by the little monster. She sticks out her pointer finger and says some gibberish. I have a slight inclination that she learned this at day care. I have a feeling that she is the bully at school and her teachers point their finger at her to tell her "no".

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Whitney and Brittany

Whenever we would go to Toys R Us when I was a little girl, I would longingly stare at these two baby doll twins that I hoped would some day be mine. They were pink and purple (mine and my sister's favorite colors) and they had these awesome bottles that accompanied them that made drinking, crying, and laughing sounds. One Christmas, sitting under the tree to my shock and amazement were the beloved twin baby dolls. I decided to name them Whitney and Brittany. Well when we went home this week, my mom brought them up from the basement and there was a new little girl (or terror) to love them...Charlotte. It was fun to watch my little baby adore them like I used to.

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12.04.2010

Santa comes to town

We stopped by the Children's village today to see the one and only Santa Claus (and Mrs. Claus was even there to join him). They even had hot chocolate with marshmallows to sweeten the deal. We waited patiently in line, unsure if Charlotte was going to sit with the jolly good fellow by herself. As we got closer she tensed up and leaned in close to my shoulder. There was no way she was going to sit with those strangers. So Mrs. Claus and Santa were kind enough to scoot over so I could shimmy my way in between them.

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I would like to point out that Santa's beard is the real deal. No artificial beard.

12.03.2010

Tubby Time

So I absolutely adore this picture. Mostly because we have pictures when I was little of me playing in the bathtub and my childhood cat Sparky was right there with me.

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15 Months Old

My baby is not longer a baby anymore! Here are some fun things she is doing these days...

* She holds her shoes and socks up to her feet to try putting them on
* She also tries putting her hat on her head. When you do it for her, she automatically rips it off
* She loves getting her teeth brushed. Probably because of the berry flavored toothpaste. When you set her on the counter and grab her toothbrush she grabs the toothpaste
* She says "night night" before bed time and reaches out for kisses
* She loves riding around on her tricycle and KaiLan car. She just learned how to get on and off of it by herself
* She throws her stuffed animals out of her crib in the mornings if we don't get her quickly enough
* She is showing signs of becoming a vegetarian. She has been anti-meat lately
* When she is fussy, food is the ultimate answer
* When she wants you to do something, she grabs your hand to let you know she wants you to do it


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12.01.2010

The Joys of Christmas

Christmas is all about spreading the holiday cheer. And this year Shutterfly is helping to do that by offering fifty free Christmas cards to those who share the 2010 holiday collection. Shutterfly is a great place to upload your pictures and use them to make great gifts. In the past I have made photobooks on shutterfly for relatives. It is a great way for them to relive past memories. I have also made calendars (http://www.shutterfly.com/calendars) on there to enjoy the photos throughout the entire year. We also made a canvas piece of art (http://www.shutterfly.com/home-decor/canvas-wall-art) with our engagement picture. It will be a timeless piece that we will always have.
This year I can't wait to use their holiday photo cards (http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery). They have so many styles and designs to chose from that it might be hard to pick just one. In particular I like the "Send Holiday Cheer" card and the "Golly Holly Jolly" card. They are simple but yet playful at the same time. I also like that you can choose just one photo or numerous photos to put on your card and personalize it however you would like. Keep your eye in the mail for an adorable Shutterfly card starring Charlotte!


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11.28.2010

Meow!

I was just looking through old pictures of Charlotte on Flickr and realized that last year she had a cat hat too. Crazy to see how much she has changed in just a year.

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Oh Christmas Tree

Our new family holiday tradition {since last year}...putting up the Christmas tree after stuffing our faces with turkey.


Rocking around the x-mas tree from Shannon Ng on Vimeo.

Turkey Day!

This year we had a low key dinner with just the three of us. I had fully intended on contributing more to the dinner making process, but somehow Kayu ended up doing most of the work. This Thanksgiving was a year of first...Charlotte actually got to partake in eating the Thanksgiving dinner. Last year she was just a wee little babe! Charlotte is showing signs of wanting to become a vegetarian. She only wanted to eat the smashed sweet potatoes. We had to hide the turkey in the potatoes in order for her to eat any.

So much to be thankful for this year...
a beautiful daughter. a wonderful husband. a supportive family. good health. great friends.

Nov 25, 2010

11.11.2010

No more mullet!

Since some people were making fun of Charlotte's mullet (ahem Nicholas!) we decided it was time for Charlotte to get a little trim. It made me a little sad to see the hair she had grown for fourteen months fall to the ground but I knew it was the right thing to do so she wouldn't be tormented by the kids at school =)

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11.03.2010

14 Months Old

Charlotte is 14 months old going on 16 years old now. She has just started testing the waters to see how we react to her. Most recently she has been coming up to me and pinching me. I tell her no and she cries for a few minutes, composes herself, and then goes right back and pinches me again. Little goober! Here are some of the fun things she has started doing....

* When I sing "if you are happy and you know it" she claps her hands, stomps her feet, and nods her head on those parts.
* She likes to put all her toys in her bucket and then pull them all out and hand them to me
* She can say "Uh-oh" and "Okay"
* She uses the hammer to hit the balls through her toy
* She can point to her nose
* She can stand up on her own when she is in the middle of the room
* If you ask "where is Charlotte?" she covers her face
* She is a pro at climbing up the stairs and is just figuring out how to go back down them
* Her newest animal sound is "woof"

* She can shake her head and say "no" at the same time. I don't think she knows what it means, but it is rather cute for now.
* She waves bye bye
* She fake coughs if you are coughing


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10.31.2010

Secret

I have a confession to make. I like to sneak into Charlotte's room at night and snatch her away from her crib. My hope is that she is so sleepy that she will just fall asleep in the middle of the bed between Kayu & I and we can snuggle. I have tried this twice with no success. The little baby wakes up and becomes aware of her surroundings. Then she tramples around our bed, climbs over us, makes cute sounds, and decides that it is time to party. Sometimes we just lay there still and pretend we are sleeping. That usually results in her doing something funny like grab our hand so she can give us a high five and we all end up bursting out laughing. Hopefully one day she will sleep in bed with us.

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10.30.2010

High Five!

I am pretty sure that Audreya (Brandy's oldest daughter) taught this to Charlotte. I love how she pauses with her hand in the air before she actually hits your hand.

Animal Sounds

We just started introducing animal sounds to Charlotte when we were in San Diego and she picked them up really fast. We are still working on the cat, dog, monkey, and duck sounds. So far we can get a "Eee Eee" sound for the monkey but no "Ew Ew" sound for the second half. The newest sound she makes is "Uh oh!" which is my favorite.

10.24.2010

California Love

Day Numero Uno:
I think we need some frequent flier miles for this baby! This was the fourth time Charlotte has flown in a 13 month period. Kayu complains every time that we need to start buying C her own seat but this mama is too cheap. In my opinion, she does exceptionally well on the plane. At times she was a bit feisty and wanted to get out and move around, but can you blame a toddler? The lady that sat next to us on the plane was kind enough to share her mini M&M's with C. She enjoyed shaking them and indulging in the chocolate (Hopefully she won't become an addict like her mom). On our way to the baggage claim, a couple of the passengers commented on how cute she was and how well she did on the plane. That night we went to a hibachi place and the staff loved her there. C was very mesmerized by the chef...either because he was Asian or because he was flipping spatulas.

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Day Numero Dos:
A trip to California would not be complete without a trip to Sea World! We spent the day checking out the sea life and watching the shows. And I learned that Shamu was actually a girl....who knew?! Apparently Mamu was the first whale that was adopted by Sea World. When the female came along, they decided to name her Shamu for the "she" version. Towards the end of the visit we came upon the Sesame Street kid's zone. Charlotte had fun playing with the life size xylophone and crawling through the tunnels. At one point a little Asian boy decided to get in the same tunnel as Charlotte. She was not very fond of the little boy and scrunched her face in disdain until he left.

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Day Numero Tres:
We took a nice morning stroll to a local diner in Coronado. We enjoyed some breakfast and fed the juke box some quarters to listen to some oldies. Charlotte drew in the attention of the customers by dancing to the music. Then we visited a local outdoor mall where I shopped until my heart was content. In the evening we went to Imperial beach where Charlotte sported her new kitty hat. Kayu kept saying that she was going to look like a freak on the beach with her hat on but it was chilly enough that a couple of other people had hats on too.

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Day Numero Quatro:
We headed to the children's museum for the day. It was our first time going to a children's museum so I was very excited about the excursion. I think Kayu and I might have had more fun than Charlotte since there was more "older kids" stuff. We got to climb the rock wall and ride the wooden segways. Charlotte explored the barn dance room and played in the rain house which had real water coming down the rooftop. She had the most fun pushing the grocery basket around towards the end. There was a little boy that came and sat on my lap when I was playing on the floor with Charlotte. Charlotte became envious of the little boy and immediately came over and laid her head on my shoulder to stake her claim. Later that night we got to see Auntie B and Uncle T. Charlotte was very shy around them at first but in no time she was running around showing off her new walking abilities.

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Day Numero Cinco:
Sunday we hit the sea for a harbor cruise. We indulged in an endless array of food and drinks....sushi, made to order omelets, crab legs, chocolate covered strawberries, caviar, shrimp...and most importantly mimosas! Before B & T headed back to LA, we made another trip to the beach.
Charlotte had a blast playing in the sand and making sand castles.
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Day Numero Seis
We explored La Jolla shores and were pleasantly surprised when we got out of the car and heard the sea lions calling. Kayu and I took turns climbing some rocks and got some really great views of the sea lions that were lounging on the rocks. You could tell that the sea lions just ate up all the attention they were getting from the tourists. We walked further along the beach and found a sea of seals sprawled along the beach. At first glance, they looked like a whole bunch of rocks but upon further examination, they were just a bunch of lazy seals chilling on the beach.
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Day Numero Siete
This morning we woke up to a wonderful surprise (insert sarcasm here). Kayu went to go get C this morning and I hear "Shannon!" I go into her room to find smudges of brown stuff all over the sheets. At first glance we thought it was poop and she was covered in it. Turns out it was puke. I'm not sure what made her get sick, put after a bath she seemed perfectly fine. After the munchkin was all cleaned up we headed to Brian's 24 for breakfast. We did some window shopping around the Gas Lamp Quarter and then headed back to La Jolla for a much sought after cupcake at Cups. We devoured a minty wonderland cupcake and some to-die-for strawberry milk. Mmm. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. We ended the trip with a nice dinner at C level where we had a great view of the water and skyline. Unfortunately, gone are the days of the quiet relaxing dinners. Charlotte was rather fussy that night so I didn't get to fully enjoy my lobster macaroni and cheese. All and all we had a really great trip and we were really thankful that my uncle let us stay in his condo down there.

10.19.2010

One small step for man; One giant leap for mankind

Charlotte took five steps toward me today! I knew it was coming soon because she has been trying really hard to walk lately. She usually comes charging at us like a mad bull and unfortunately gravity takes over and because of her big noggin leaning forward, she bites the dust. Today I was in the living room working on the paperwork for her new daycare and she was busy climbing on top of the suit case. She managed to climb on top and sit there. I was watching her from afar curious to see how she was going to get herself down. She shimmied to the edge, thought for a minute, and then turned herself around. As soon as she got off she stood up and then took five wobbly steps toward me. Tears filled my eyes from all the excitement. I gave her a huge hug and she just giggled in my arms. My baby is growing up so fast.

10.10.2010

Pumpkin Picking

Our veggie share had a thing this weekend that if you went down to the farm, you could get a free pumpkin. And anyone that knows me knows that I love anything that is free! So after a morning of chillaxing and eating some scrumptious pumpkin waffles, we headed down to Wellington and set out to find our "Great Pumpkin." Charlotte boarded her radio flyer and we hit the bumpy terrain.Not after long, we found a great sized fat pumpkin.




I told Kayu to plop C on top of one of the pumpkins to get a picture. Luckily Kayu looked first, because there was a massive spider hanging out on the pumpkin. Eeek!

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While on the lookout for a second pumpkin, drops of rain scattered around us. We decided to be troopers and keep looking around. Not more than a few minutes later, a torrential downpour came down. We grabbed a pumpkin and booked it back to the car. Poor C had her head in the nook of my arm to try avoiding the soaking rain. If I wasn't afraid of getting my camera wet, I would have gotten some pictures of our crazy family running around in the rain to get the perfect pumpkin.

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10.03.2010

Fashion statement

Yesterday Kayu went into Charlotte's room to get her out of her crib in the morning. I heard him laughing hysterically and he came out with Charlotte looking like this...

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Apparently our little baby is trying to make a fashion statement. The off the shoulder look is coming back!

I went in there this morning to get her and she did the same thing again. Silly baby.

9.25.2010

What can C do?

Charlotte is now into....

* Chasing the cats around and trying to pounce on them. Usually they are too fast for her.
* Standing for a few seconds on her own. She is getting more and more confident.
* Giving big open mouthed slobbery kisses.
* Shaking her little booty and dancing.
* Sticking her tongue out. Brandy says that Abigail does it all the time...so I am guessing that is where she gets it from.
* Putting food in her mouth and then spitting it out to look at it.
* Throwing a fit when she can't have her way. She usually rips something out of my hand if I tell her she can't have it.
* Sitting on Fergi's dog bed
* Climbing up the stairs and scooting off the couch by herself

* I forgot to add that she likes to sing. When the radio is playing, she softly babbles to herself. It is really cute.
* Today she saw me throwing a ball in the air. Her way of throwing is putting her hand straight up in the air and letting the ball go.


9.19.2010

Bye Bye BaBa?

Stubborn like her Mommy, Charlotte has given us a lot of issues with drinking her bottles. Around 8 months she decided she wanted nothing to do with the bottle and refused to drink more than ounce at a time. It was like pulling teeth just to get her to drink it. She also never wanted to hold her bottle on her own even though she was fully capable of doing so. As soon as she realized she had her chubby hands wrapped around it and no one was holding it for her, she would immediately drop it. Now Charlotte loves her bottles. She drinks 5 ounces at a time and thinks she is a cool kid holding her own bottle and playing with it. Slight problemo. We had planned on weaning her from the bottle at a year old and switching her completely to sippy cups. But now that she looks so cute holding her own bottle, I don't know if I want her to stop drinking out of her bottle =(

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9.07.2010

Check Up

We received a one year check-up questionnaire that we are supposed to fill out before Charlotte's one year appointment. One of the question asks....After she watches you hide a small toy under a piece of paper or cloth, does your baby find it? We tried this activity to see what Charlotte would do. Kayu placed a toy under a piece of fabric and what did Charlotte do? She grabbed the piece of fabric and gleamed like she won the lottery. And what did Kayu do? He shook his head in disappointment. A couple of tries later she finally picked up the toy and her dad loved her again. I told Charlotte that she is Asian and she is supposed to be smart. Kayu's response....she is only HALF Asian...the other half is blonde. Sorry to ruin your smart genes Charlotte.

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9.01.2010

Happy Birthday Sweet Baby

It is hard to fathom that Charlotte is a one year old today. It seems like just yesterday that they handed me my petite baby girl. Kayu and I must have looked at each other and thought what do we do now with this little being that is now ours. It is crazy to think back to all the obstacles that we faced as parents. From the trials of breastfeeding, to the scare of jaundice and Charlotte being hooked up to I.V's, to being away from the munchkin due to work...I look back fondly at all the hard times and am proud to say that we all survived!

My scrawny chicken legged baby is now a chub-a-wub that is full of adorable giggles. She is a little spunky baby that know what she wants in life.

Happy Birthday Charlotte Lian Ng. Thank you for bringing such an overwhelming amount of joy into our lives. We love you so very much.


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8.29.2010

Baby in a Box

I came into the dining room/kitchen area to find Charlotte in her toy box. At the time, Aunt Vicki was in the kitchen washing the dishes, Kayu was on the computer doing the usual, and Samantha was playing with some toys. I asked them who put Charlotte in her toy box and they all looked around puzzled. Turns out no one was paying attention to the baby and she crawled in the box all by herself. It is still a mystery how she did it but we are hoping she does it again so we can witness it.

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8.27.2010

Splash Park

Summer is quickly slipping through my fingertips. It makes me want to cry but I will admit that I do enjoy the cool almost fall nights. One of the places on my "to visit" list this summer was the splash park. We enjoyed it for a brief twenty minutes before the sun decided to hide behind the clouds. I think Samantha got the most enjoyment there...because she dragged Aunt Vicki back in after she was nice and warm in her towel.

Aug 27, 20101

8.03.2010

11 Months Old!

So putting food in front of a baby that spells a word and hoping that she won't mess with it is ludicrous. I thought maybe, just maybe, she would sit there and look cute so I could get a good 11 month picture. Who was I kidding?

Charlotte is always on the go now! She figured out how to pull herself to a stand. Last night I heard some commotion in her room after I put her down to bed. I didn't think anything of it. I went in later to check on her and her sleeping face was being illuminated by the baby monitor. She managed to pull it into her crib from the night stand. Next thing you know, she will be pulling the cats into the crib with her.

Charlotte is quite the talker now too. She mostly sings "mamamamama." If you try and get her to say "dada" she responds with "mamamama." I think it is rather funny. Kayu does not =)


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First Movie

We took C to the movie theater for the first time last week to see Toy Story 3. Something about it being on base made me feel better about taking a fussy ten month old there. Sure enough, when we arrived, there was a ton of little hellions (I mean precious kids) running around the theater which eased my fears a little more. Charlotte enjoyed the five minute mini pixar movie and then her ADD kicked in. She was grabbing peoples stuff in the front of us and squirming around on my lap. I finally took her to the back of the theater where she proceeded to climb the stairs to get to the lighted steps. Most of the babies were fast asleep in their mothers arms but not this baby. It might be a couple of years before we go to the movies with Miss Charlotte again.

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7.24.2010

The Big Apple: Day Four

This morning we took the bus to the city! Charlotte was fascinated by all the cars and buses passing by out the big window. Once we arrived in the city, we were greeted by buckets and buckets of rain. Of course the one day we decide to go in the city...it decides to rain. Charlotte seemed to enjoy the hustle and bustle of the city life even if it was raining. We arrived at Dhaba, a quaint Indian restaurant and met up with my college roommate Christine. They had a buffet so we loaded up on mouth watering Indian food...mmm. Charlotte had some naan, peas, chicken, and what I thought was tofu but was actually cheese. While wandering the streets I spotted a cupcake cafe and had to stop since I have this new obsession with cupcakes. We had a delicious mocha cupcake and even let Charlotte have a little nibble. Then we headed to Toys R Us to ride the ferris wheel. Seconds after walking into the store, Charlotte passed out. She must have been overwhelmed by all the toys there =)

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