Perfect position

I spent 1 hour this afternoon to play with April. We did some exercises. It was great. And I even found a perfect postion for me and April to play together.
I lay down on the bed, put several pillows on my back and let her sit on my stomach. And I bent my knees so that she had support on her back too. This position gives us good eye contact -- she could see my face when I talked to her. The best part of this perfect postion is that if she gets bored/tired of one pose, you can easily adjust it (from 0 to 90 degree) by moving your legs back and forth.


See, "diet" and exercise keep us more healthier. The double chin is almost gone. :-)

Two, even easier

Many people agree that Chinese probably would be the hardest langauge to learn. But it does not mean all the Chinese characters are as complex as the one (Love) I introduce at day one. Yesterday's character is a simple one. Today's one would be even easier.

How could it be?

Pronunciation: /er/
Meaning: number "Two"
Two straight lines! Top one is shorter than the bottom one. Pat, is it what you have in your mind? ;-)

This is a very important feature of Chinese charaters - you might get the meaning of the character from its look, but not know how to say it.

This one is easy

Pat told me this morning that the yesterday's character was too difficult to learn. So I am going to try a easier one this time.

Pronunciation: /yee/
Meaning: one

That's Chinese character for number "one". Simple, huh? Does anyone want to guess what the number "two" would look like in Chinese? Answer will be revealed tomorrow.

Chinese Characters, Start, Love

The other day, one of my colleage Vinny came to ask me what was the Chinese character for love. I wrote down the simplified form (爱) for him. But he said he kind of remembered there was a "heart" inside of the that character. Oh, he was asking for the traditioanl form of that Chinese character. Unfortunately, I did not remember the traditional form. So I ended up Googling for it. Lucky enough, I got it in .gif format.

Last weekend, when I blogged about Harry Porter and ABC, I kind of had an idea -- making my blog a platform, or a channel to present Chinese culture -- Chinese character, Chinese festivals, Chinese food, Chinese histroy and whatever I come to my mind related to China. I can not only use it to teach April everything about China in the future, but also provide people who love to know China with stuff they might be interested in.

Alright, first lesson - Chinese character (traditional form) for "Love"

Pronounciation: /eye/
Meaning: Love

Harry Porter and ABC

Last Friday, the sixth book of Harry Porter series finally arrived in stores. I felt really happy and lucky for those kids living in English speaking countries.

According to Beijing Morning (in Chinese), the Chinese version of Harry Porter and the Half Blood Prince will come out on Oct 15th, 2005. That's three months away from the English version hit the store. Most of the Chinese kids have to wait until then.

For our April, she is going to be a little ABC, American-Born Chinese (definition from Wikipeida). According to this definition, "ABCs tend to assimilate rapidly into the English-language environment of the United States and often have more reduced facility in Chinese than other members of the Chinese diaspora". So I am sure that April will enjoy Harry Porter VII, VIII (if there is any) just like any other American kids. But in the meantime, I still want her to be able to appreciate many wonderful Chinese works. I wish her could take the opportunity as an ABC to become a real master of both languages. This is also a part of meaning of her Chinese name ().

Big Girl

On July 8th 2005, two months and 4 days (or 65days) after April was born. She was 15lbs and 8oz, 4lbs and 12oz more than last month. And she was about 25 inches (63.5cm) tall. Her head circumference is 15 inches (38.1cm). I was shocked by the news. NO Wonder holding her a little longer will give you a numb arm.

Normally, breastfed baby gets about 1-2 pounds per month in its first 6 months, then get about 1 pound per month from 6 month to one year.[1] But the doctor said though she was growing fast but it still falled into the normal range and most importantly she was pretty healthy. Well, she can be more healthier if she is not overweight. : )

After we came home, we decided to breastfeed her at least every 3 hours. Prior to that, she was breastfed every two or two and a half hours or even more frequently. April didn't notice the policy change and responded very well. After putting her on "diet" for 2 weeks, we feel she does not gain that much weight this time. Can you tell from the picture how much she weighs now?

With grandma


[1]. AskDrSears.com

"First" Moments

It's been a month since the last post. During the last month, April had her first month party, first big, big smile, first musical experience, first hair cut, first "Yi Yi Ya Ya", first passport photo, first excercise and etc. And we are planning her first trip at the holiday weekend.

Here comes the photos:
1st month (6/4/05)


SMILE

Rock & Roll


Haircut (by Dad)


Passport (by Dad)

Tip: Making your own passport photos

Exercise