Feb 8, 2012  •  In Claire, Cute, Parenting, Personal

Toddlers and Tiaras: Claire Edition

We do our best not to push our girls into stereotypical gender roles or characteristics. And while we would secretly love it if they turn into tomboys, we never force them to play (or not play) with certain toys and encourage them to allow their own preferences to develop. As it turns out, our 16-month-old […]

Feb 4, 2012  •  In Asian, Claire, Education, Geek, Information, Parenting

Why Chinese is Hard

Most of my readers know that we have been teaching Claire three languages since she was born. And at this point, at 16 months of age, she understands Cantonese Chinese the best, and more than half the words she speaks are Cantonese. I have no problem with this. I believe that Chinese — regardless of […]

Feb 3, 2012  •  In Aerin, Baby, Claire, Parenting, Personal

Thrush!

Last night, I noticed that Aerin’s tongue was green.  😯 Okay, so it wasn’t that bad. She has always had a white patch on her tongue, which is common in many babies due to their milk/forumla-only diet. But last night, when she happily stuck her tongue out at me during her bath, I noticed that the […]

Jan 28, 2012  •  In Aerin, Baby, Claire, Parenting

Helping Mommy Out

My mother has been telling me ever since Aerin was born that the best way I will survive the next two decades is by getting both girls to help me out as soon, and as often as possible. Obviously this is still an unreasonable request to ask of Aerin, but now that Claire is walking […]

Jan 18, 2012  •  In Aerin, Baby, Claire, Motherhood, Personal

Walking Without Support

I am happy to announce that, at 15 months of age, Claire has finally started walking. Let me rephrase that. She has finally started walking without support. Because she has been walking with one hand against the wall or along some furniture, or one hand holding someone’s hand, for over a month now. We all knew […]

Jan 10, 2012  •  In Claire, Personal, Relationships

More Family Resemblances

A couple of weeks ago, J’s relatives in China found this old photograph and sent it over: Can you guess who the little girl is? It’s J’s mother when she was about 3 years old! Everyone immediately noticed how remarkably Claire resembles her grandmother in this picture. Here’s a recent picture of Claire for comparison: […]

Jan 4, 2012  •  In Claire, Personal

Christmas 2011

I know I’m a bit late, but how could I not share this picture of Claire on Christmas morning? I can confidently say that this Christmas was the first where I did not care if I received anything at all — the wonderful and generous presents that Claire and Aerin received were more than worth […]