Family blessing

About 10 days ago, my niece finally got her liver transplant...from her Aunt (my sis)! We are just so relieved that this day has come and everything went really smoothly. They are both at home recovering now. What an amazing sacrifice and gift my sister has given to Marissa, and how lucky we are that she was a match!

First trip to the zoo

The last day Yi Yi & Nai Nai came to visit, we decided to head up to the SF zoo. It was super chilly that day, but it was still nice to have the zoo  less crowded so we could make our way through most of the exhibits without waiting. Max was such a good boy and stayed strapped down in his stroller with minor complaining.

Out of all the things that were his favorite, I would have to say it was the ducks! Go figure...lol. The highlight was the children's petting zoo part. Max loved watching the ducks and feeding the goats. It was all over though once he found a pile of duck poop..I'll spare you the details.

Max plays with Yi Yi before we head out

Family photo

Max is mesmerized by the Rhino

Rhinoceros!

Sleepy lion

Lounging lemurs

Giraffes & friends

This owl was HUGE. You can't tell from the pic, but around 3 ft. tall!

Max trying to point to all the ducks at once

Hi there!

Max loves his Nai Nai & Yi Yi

Christmas afternoon

Christmas afternoon was spent getting our tummies full and opening gifts. It was so nice to have all the fam over to celebrate and watch Max run around in wonder at what was going on.

Hope all of you enjoyed your holidays as well!

Leon holding our new great niece Arianna 

Arianna - such a cutie!!!

My nephew Anthony, his wife Jonna, & my niece Marissa 

My sis Nga playing with Tank

L2R: John, Hong, Johnathon, Marissa, Jonna, Arianna, & Anthony

Jonna, Leon, Arianna, me, Nga, Anthony 

The Grandparents: Ann, Frank, Jim, Lan

Christmas morning

Christmas morning was a whirlwind. Since we were hosting, I spent most of it cooking. But we took time out for Max to enjoy his Santa present and open stockings!

Santa brought me a new iPod nano and other cool stuff. Max got a new table & chair set just his size and has been pretty happy with it since.

Max was pretty excited with his Santa present

Proud to have his own place to sit

Demonstrating

Stocking time 

Playing with his stocking stuffers as YiYi & NaiNai watch

Max, YiYi, & Tank chill out

Who stole the cookie from the cookie jar?

Many of you may know that I go a little bonkers with baking during christmas season. Cookies and more cookies galore to give away to friends and fam.

Well a certain Mr. Max was a wee bit taller than I thought and managed to get a hand on one of my cooling sugar cookies. When Leon and I asked him about it, he shrugged his shoulders, said "Uh-Oh" and "Mmmmm!!!" before smiling and running  off with the thing. With his first taste of a cookie (well not taste...an ENTIRE cookie), Max stayed up nearly an hour that night before he conked out in his crib! Thank goodness it wasn't a frosted one :)

Got caught!

Do not let a crumb of this goodness go to waste!

SO GOOOOD! :)

and the first catch-up post: Nai Nai comes early

Nai Nai came the week before XMas to get some one on one time with Max. From the looks of it, Max seemed mighty fine with that!

Well hello there...and go Niners!

How about them niners this past weekend? Wow! What a game. I officially drink the Harbaugh koolaid!!! Woot woot!

Yes, I know I know, I have not been very diligent in keeping my blog up to date. But I've been:

- Reading the Twilight Saga (done...in 5 days..the entire thing)
- Running
- Spending an exorbitant amount of time on Pinterest
- Enjoying nights doing absolutely NOTHING

A serious blog blast is coming your way. In the meantime, here is Max helping us cheer on the 49ers this past weekend..and it worked! :)

Santa? He's alright.

That sums up what Max thought about him. We headed over to Stanford mall last week on a weeknight to beat the crowds. Santa and his helpers asked how old Max was, and they gave us a whole lot of advice on how he would probably have a meltdown and the best way to take a pic (parents with him first, then Mom behind the camera, then Dad with Mom behind the camera, then lots of crazy waving, clapping, & yelling).

Max did not crack a smile and was a little weary of Santa, but I think we are just thankful that a meltdown didn't happen!

18 months

My oh my, time flies by. Our lil' guy turned 18 months old on November 22nd, and he surprises us all the time with how much his development is blossoming.

Max had his appointment a couple weeks late, but here's the stats:

Head circumference: 49cm, 86th percentile
Height: 33 in., 63rd percentile
Weight: 26 lbs., 69th percentile

Max is full-on running now. It's one of his favorite past times. Other favorite past times: pretending to "cook" with pots & pans, hide and seek, bouncing & throwing balls, stacking blocks, feeding & playing with Tank, pretending to "sleep", cleaning the table and sweeping the floor, throwing clothes in the laundry hamper, dancing, pointing out the parts of his face (and the parts of our faces too), being outside, baths, jumping on our bed, playing with his sound machine, playing with our alarm clock, climbing stairs, going to the park, and our favorite - giving kisses & hugs.

Things Max can say: Uh-oh, Oh wow!, Mama, Dada, all done, no ("nah!"), yay, ball, apple ("bapple"), banana ("nana"). Sometimes can also say: duck or up ("uh!")

Things Max can sign: Please, up, more, all done, help, thank you, eat, milk, hi, bye, cold, hurt/pain...and of course, touchdown!

Max has a total of eight teeth (4 on top and 4 on the bottom), and four molars breaking in. By now, Max has had well over 10-12 haircuts (probably more) since he was born. Besides his hair, he seems to be growing in height pretty fast.

Max's favorite foods: Oatmeal, yogurt, bananas, avocado, beans, rice, quesadillas, chicken, watermelon, grapes, bread, crackers, raisins, eggs, breakfast sausage, cheese, apples, oranges, and peas.

Max is not a fan of: broccoli, nose-wiping, haircuts, or sitting still for long periods of time.

Max has changed our lives so much, but for the better. He is such a happy kiddo about 98% of the time and so outgoing. He loves being silly, making people laugh. Can we say, attention-getter? He is a determined little guy and spends a good amount of time trying to figure something new out. Even though his determination sometimes turns into tantrums, he is over them quickly enough. His laugh is contagious, and he is laughing often - especially when he wants to be chased or for you to come find him when he is hiding behind the curtains.

The moments I love are when Max is in a cuddly mood and so he'll come over and sit on my lap while flipping through a book, or kiss & hug you for no reason at all. I especially love watching Max & Leon together. They have such a special bond and he calls for his "Dada" all the time, wanting to play and sit with Leon. And football Sundays? Forgetta' bout it!

We love Max more and more each day and can't wait to see what he will surprise us with next!

Lunch with Miho

The day after Hank's party, we headed over to Max's most favorite restaurant Chipotle to meet up with our friend Miho. I can't believe Miho has never gotten to meet Max, but I am glad she got to do so before he was in school!

Max showed Miho just how much he loves to eat, especially guacamole :)

Thanks for coming out with us Miho! Hope to see you again soon!

 A present from Miho - Thomas bath toys! 

Miho & Max

And one more

Hank turns 2!

Last weekend we took a trip over to Henry's house to celebrate his 2nd birthday! I can not believe the Paulsons pulled together such a cute little shindig while wrangling three kiddos.

Max had such a fun time running around Henry's house and getting to play with his toys. And we of course, enjoyed watching Hank run around with all his other friends. It didn't hurt to hold a twin or two either :)

Brett's mom & Shannon feed the twins while Max watches

Max in the yard

Henry serving the drinks! :)

Max LOVED Hank's b-ball hoop

Ruby...look at those eyes!

B-day banner over the table

Make your own play-doh as thank-you gifts

Cute cupcakes

Brett gives Hank his bday cupcake

Max, Axelle, & Hank in the yard