15 Months Old

Caitlin turned 15 months old last weekend. Eugene and I can't believe it, as we looked through her last year's pictures. It has been an exciting week for Caitlin, since she started with our new babysitter, Connie, and her daughter, Michelle, who watches her also during the 4 days that Caitlin stays with them during the day. Caitlin has made a lot new little friends at the babysitter's place. They are Christian, Jaden and Aaron. At the same time, Caitlin has picked up a lot of the boys' voice level and playing habits. It hurts our ears a little presently, but I can tell how happy Caitlin is, plus she has become a lot more daring and active after returning from the babysitter. We are hoping it is just a phase Caitie pie is going through. Here are couple of pictures of Caitlin holding a remote control like a telephone. She is having a full on baby talk conversation, while I am snapping away. (Hee.....)

Turbulent Days

It has been a very busy and stress month for everyone at work especially with report cards due during the 2nd week of this month. On top of things, Eugene and I have been having babysitting problems the past few weeks since my friend and former babysitter, Alice, got sick. They found a tumor in one of her kidneys after being sick few weeks back. We're praying for her and her family. Since my friend can't babysit Caitlin anymore, I have been stressed out trying to find a new babysitter and someone to watch her in the process. My parents came over for the week to watch my little one. We were hoping for less stress for us until we find a new babysitter to replace Alice. Ah...that did not quite work out for Eugene and me. I have been so stressed out that my allergies went straight from a quick cold to bronchitis. I haven't gotten bronchitis for over 10 years, since my college days. In the mean time, I got some really great referrals for babysitters and/or daycare from colleagues in my school district. We were able to find a new babysitter starting Monday. The babysitter is located in our area, and the location is about 4-5 blocks from where we live. We are so relief! We thank God for answering our prayers. Even through these crazy days, I still remind myself to enjoy and appreciate all the memories I have with our little family especially Caitlin.

Growing Up Moments

Caitlin was digging and exploring our study room yesterday and discovered my little toddler backpack behind the door. I took it out of the plastic bag and gave it to her. Afterward I helped put on the little backpack on Caitlin. She totally loved it and didn't want to take it off. She wears the backpack everyday right now. I guess Caitlin is ready for school. (Hee...) She is just look so adorable with the tiny backpack. In addition, Caitlin loves DVD, TV, and Wii remote controls. Eugene and I have been trying hard to keep all our remote controls away from Caitlin. A lot of times I forget and leave couple of them on the couch. I forget that she's a lot taller now, and can reach for the remote controls since it's at her level now.

What Happened to February?

It has been a long......time since I blogged. February has been a very busy month with school-related things. We were able to head down to LA to celebrate TaiMaMa's birthday on Valentine's Day and spend some time with Eugene's relatives. (Here are some photos from TaiMaMa's birthday.) I was hoping to blog more over my Presidents' Week off when we returned from LA. That did not happen because Caitlin got the stomach flu and then I got it. It is quite difficult taking care of a toddler when you're not feeling well. I know all parents know it's a lot of work on our part when a child is sick. Poor little Caitlin got Eugene's cold afterward. We were hoping she was getting better. It does not seem so. I would never guessed that a little toddler can produce so much SNOT. Right now, Caitlin is suffering from a stuffy and runny nose, plus an allergy rash on her face. At the same time, I am quite amazed that she still loves to play and eat. She lost some weight when she had the stomach flu. Caitlin is under 21 pounds presently.

For a long time, books were flat pieces of food packaged in a convenient package of thin sheets. While not as convenient as Cheerios, nor as tasty as bread, it seemed to be quite a delicacy to little Caitlin. Anna, a poor teacher with a penchant for collecting oodles and oodles of books relished the idea of teaching her daughter the proper use of books, and over the course of Caitlin's first year of life, was quite distraught at Caitlin's habit of nibbling corners off of her precious books that she had saved for her little girl even before Caitlin was born.

Thankfully, Caitlin has discovered the joys of reading. Or looking at the pictures anyway. She loves the books with different textures (all cardboard or cloth books of course, while she no longer eats books, she still has a habit of ripping thin pages).

Anna and I sometimes track our daughter through the noises she makes, whether it's the pattering of her feet on the kitchen floor, or the noise of her toys, or her shaking her talking Elmo toy. But once in a while it gets real quiet in the house... and we know trouble is brewing. Once in a while, it's Caitlin pulling every single baby butt wipe out of the package. Other times it is Caitlin finding the joys of randomly turning on the TV or DVD player with the remotes. One time she climbed onto the couch using a pile of blankets as a "stepping stool." But the other day we discovered the most cute and wonderful thing... Little Caitlin reading.

The Latest on Caitlin

Caitlin turned 13 months today. It's amazing how much she has grown. When I dressed her up with her cutsy clothes, Caitlin looks like a grown little girl. Caitlin can toddle around by herself now. She still pushes her favorite Pooh car and crawls a little when she gets tired from toddling around the house. It is so cute to watch her get into things. She is very fast. Eugene and I got quite a lot of big crashes against our legs from Caitlin's Pooh car. Right now, Caitlin is a Caitlin the Explorer and Fussy Tazzy (Tazmainian Devil).

Happy New Year

Wow, I can't believe it. It is 2009. Happy New Year to everyone! It is Caitlin's 2nd New Year, but of course, she was a tiny newborn last year. It is fun just hearing her baby talking and banging her Pooh car/sound mobile around the house. I was just playing our DVD recording a minute ago from our last Thanksgiving, Caitlin's Birthday and just the days we stayed over at YeYe and MaMa's place. Caitlin was so quiet and was so engrossed to the screen. She even stopped eating her Cheerios to watch. It was quite cute and amazing at the same time. Lately, we have been feeding more of our food to Caitlin. Bread is very easy. We just peel the bread for her. I have been taking our food from lunch and dinner and blend the food with our Magic Bullet. Yes, we finally broke into our Magic Bullet that MaMa and YeYe gave us for last Christmas. I really like it. It is very handy and easy to clean.