the drummer girl

Introducing the newest member of STOMP. Specialty, pots and rice spatula. At 13 months, Makayla has found a way to make music (or loud sounds) with whatever she can find. This is a percussion piece with some vocals. Enjoy!

for the love of food!

Makayla will do anything for food...even risk her life going downstairs head first!

2010 top ten reflections

Time flies! Can't believe Makayla is already ONE! More on her 1st b-day festivities on a later post. But now, let's reflect on 2010...

makayla:

10. The outside world is much more exciting than inside mommy's tummy.

9. FOOD? bring it on! anytime anywhere!

8. Eat, sleep, play and repeat...life is tough...but I'm managing okay!

7. I have mastered the following dance moves: rocking back and forth on all fours, swaying side to side and my latest, shaking my booty while rocking one leg.

6. I love to eat.

5. Elmo is my new best friend.

4. I love to eat.

3. Simple things like pieces of paper or product packaging (aka garbage or junk) can entertain me for a really long time.

2. I have a soft spot for stuffed animals or babies that resemble stuffed animals. A gentle headbutt is my way of showing affection.

1. Being a baby is great but I'm super excited to explore the world as a toddler!

heidi:

10. Giving birth was the easy part...motherhood is hard work!

9. Parenting is definitely teamwork! Abe is the best teammate.

8. It truly takes a village to raise a child. Thank God for family (esp. grandparents) and friends!

7. Twelve weeks of maternity leave was way too short!

6. Full time job + motherhood + side business = self destruction

5. Quality time with your child beats any fancy toy or cool gadget you can give them.

4. Elmo music videos might be the next best thing.

3. Have yet to figure out how to balance family, work, church and a million other things...work in progress...

2. It's been exciting watching Makayla grow and learn new things. Looking forward to seeing her blossom into a healthy little girl!

1. Giving birth to another human being was the most life changing experience I've ever had. It's amazing how it all works! And if I could do it all over again, I would! (no, I'm not pregnant with #2 yet)

abe:
10. Giving birth was the easy part...fatherhood is hard work!
9. Working at home and caring for Mak wasn't easy at first, it just got harder every time I thought I got used to it.
8. 3 naps, 2 naps, 1 nap, none = a long day.
7. Sleeping through the night starting at 2 months, a gift of grace and mercy.
6. Paternity leave? More like paternity stay.
5. One "hi dad" goes a long way.
4. I knew I took a lot of pics, didn't realize each set is about 25 of the same shot. Of those 25, I'm lucky to get a couple keepers.
3. "She looks just like Heidi" "She looks just like Abe" "She looks like a mix of both" duh!
2. It's 3pm, I should get breakfast.
1. Can I take a shower yet?

1.8.2010 Welcome to the world, Makayla!

1.8.2011 Happy 1st Birthday, Makayla!

Mak - gained 15 pounds and a few inches
Heidi - dropped 50 pounds (maybe gained a few back)
Abe - lost a few inches of hair and still sporting his nice maroon shirt from a year ago

santa & ms. elf

Makayla met Santa at a community health fair last Saturday. She was surprisingly not afraid of the big hairy Santa...maybe she knew he was daddy's friend who dressed up as giant penguin on Halloween?! And of course, how can we have Santa without his super helpers! Makayla was happy to see this pretty elf that looked a lot like Auntie Jada! :)

little lady

Our little girl is growing up so fast! At 10 months going on 11, Makayla has learned to respond to certain words and started to copy what grown-ups are doing. She is super sensitive to sound...doesn't matter if it's loud from the TV or a random sound from somewhere, she would turn to the source and check it out. As soon as she hears music or even a drum beat, she would start swaying/dancing. It's really fun to watch :)

Some things she started to do lately: wave goodbye, high-five, nod when she hears 'yes', shake her head when you say 'no'...when the phone rings or when she hears someone say 'hello', she would put whatever she's holding in her hand up to her ear, whether it be a broccoli, piece of chicken, the ipod or an actual phone. But I think what made her daddy most proud was her ability to say 'hi dad' on demand. She probably doesn't know what it means yet but that doesn't matter. Daddy's heart melts every time she says it.

Mak got her first holiday dress last week from tai po (great grandma) and was asked to wear it on Sunday for church (thanksgiving service). Finally...no one asked if she was a boy today! Here're some pics of our little lady...

stair master

Makayla is now 10 months-old, and she has achieved an amazing feat that no other baby that we know has done before in our house - climbing our full set of stairs! The video shows her third time doing it today, but the very first time she did it, we weren't even trying to get her to do it. She just crawled to the stairs herself and zoomed up. Heidi yelled for me so that I'd get behind Mak to catch her in case she fell backwards, but she only slipped a couple times because she looked back to see me. Otherwise, the proud look on her face when she accomplished her inaugural climb was priceless. I wish my eyes could take digital photos to capture moments like this.



Next step, learning how to go down the stairs not headfirst.

food art

Today was a typical cold, rainy November day...perfect for a hot bowl of PHO! We took Makayla to 'I Love Pho' and let her try pho for the first time. Yup, you guessed right, she loved it! I guess that's no surprise since she loves rice and pho noodles is just another form of the same thing. But then again, what doesn't she eat?! (she did try something and didn't want more...lemon pulp...hehe...'no thanks mommy!')

So we went to the restaurant half hour before it closed. Mommy and daddy finished their dinner while Mak slowly but ever so diligently shoved and savored pho noodle pieces into her tiny mouth. Mommy was worried that the restaurant owner would kick us out (as we were the last customers there and even the waiter had his dinner and finished) so she started helping Mak finish her noodles. Due to the urgency to finish and leave, noodles were fed rapidly into the direction of Mak's mouth but didn't always end up in there. Instead, they were stuck around her mouth. This gave Mommy an idea...'hey, a sticky baby face makes a great medium for food art!'

Now the urgency to leave was not so urgent anymore. Instead, the following 'living art' was created and appreciated by a little laughter for the next few minutes. We packed up and left shortly after (while Mak was still trying to grab food that was caught in her plastic bib).

Untitled
Mix Media: basil leaves, slightly moistened baby face, hungry baby
2010