The Hopper

A funny reminder of my hometown:

For Kiki and Helen

Happy Friday! I love you.

Better Than a Puppy

Watching Kailyn learn new tricks has been fun. She knows how to spin around, jump (sort of) and sing. She's better than a puppy!

That reminds me of the scene in 'Knocked Up' where Seth Rogan plays 'fetch' with his girlfriend's sister's kids (1:17 in the trailer above.)

As for Kailyn, she's also learned how to get into the fridge and look guilty, just like man's best friend. :)

Word Up

It's been a while since I've blogged, and it's probably because I've been too busy chasing a certain little girl around the house.

Kailyn is seriously mobile and a bundle of energy. She's also learning new words each day.

For instance, she knows how to say 'uh-oh!' when she drops something and can say 'yummy,' 'baby,' 'nai nai' (Chinese for 'milk') and 'Da Da.' So far, she still refuses to say 'Ma Ma' even though we know she can say it :)

What's even funnier than hearing our daughter say real words is the gibberish she speaks. For a while she would say 'Abi-abi-abi' (Helen thought she was trying to say 'happy'.) More recently she's been saying 'dubba-dubba-dubba.'

The newest Kailyn phrase is based on a toy Elmo we have in the house. He says lots of things, including 'yippee-ki-yay,' which gets turned into 'dubba-yay' when Kiki tries to copy me, copying Elmo.

The first time Helen heard the Elmo toy say that, her eyes got wide and asked if a toy should be saying that. When I asked why she freaked out, she said it was because whenever she heard that phrase she expected a swear to follow. I guess that's the Bruce Willis / Die Hard Effect.

Head-bopping, Hand-clapping and Running

Kailyn is turning into quite a little girl. She is really steady on her feet, can walk and go up and down stairs very easily, and 'gets it' when it comes to music, bopping her head, dancing and clapping her hands. It's pretty cool.

She is also so adept at going up and down stairs I don't even really worry about her that much. I can even go up the stairs before here and watch her ascend without worrying she'll fall backwards and tumble down the stairs (don't tell Helen I said that.)

I can see that her personality is developing really well, and she is still super-friendly and fun-loving. I'm always thankful for her, but have to admit that right now, it's a really good time to be her father because she's so enjoyable :)

Worst. Father. Ever.

I felt pretty horrible after Kailyn got hurt on my watch over the weekend. Here's what happened:

We were at a retail store and Helen was trying on some clothes. I had Kiki buckled into her stroller and was watching her, but it seemed like she wanted to get out so I unbuckled her and prepared to lift her out. We hang the diaper bag on the handles, and I've learned from experience that when I take the baby out the stroller tips over from the weight of the bag.

So I went to the back side of the stroller to remove the bag and prevent the stroller from falling, when I saw Kailyn get up out of the front of her seat, then fall head-first onto the non-carpeted floor. It all happened in slow motion, and the 'THUNK' of he head hitting the floor was terrible. I ran over as fast as I could to scoop her up off the ground, and there was that instant when there was an eerie silence...followed by loud crying from the baby. I nearly cried, too.

I carried her around and looked at her head, where there was a little plum-sized bruise forming on her forehead in mere seconds along with a little cut. The workers at the store gave us an ice pack to put on her head to keep the swelling down (and to prevent any potential lawsuit, I imagine) and after a little bit Kailyn was all better and the bump mostly went away.

I on the other hand, was a wreck the rest of the day, feeling guilty and wanting to be extra nice to our daughter to make up for letting her get hurt. Helen joked that Kailyn could ask for anything and get it from me at that moment, which was probably true. New pair of baby Ugg boots? Done. Ice cream for dinner? No problem. Sleep in mommy and daddy's bed? Sure thing.

Thankfully, both she and Helen were understanding of the situation. Neither gave me the evil eye and by the next morning Kailyn's bump was gone, her bruise was nearly non-existent and the cut was hardly noticeable. But it was a scary reminder that one must always keep an eye on their children at all times.

Baby Talk or Speaking Chinese?

Kailyn is expanding her vocabulary, or to be more accurate saying more sounds, every day. The reason why I'm not sure whether it's words or sounds coming out of her mouth is because much of what she says could be considered either.

It turns out that baby talk can easily be misconstrued as speaking Chinese. For instance, Kailyn will walk around muttering, 'Mei Mei' which could just be her making sounds, or she could be saying 'little sister.' {Maybe she's dropping Helen some hints that it's time to open up the baby-making factory again.}

In Boston, Kailyn said, 'Yeh Yeh,' which again, could just be sounds or in this case, she could have been saying '(patneral) Grandpa.' Whatever it was, suffice it to say my dad was really happy. So much so he took to calling Kailyn 'Princess.'

Though chances are she is just babbling, the fact that her sounds can make people so happy if they think what she is saying is words is a good thing. So the next time she says, 'Da Da' and points to the toilet, I'm still going to think she's calling me by name.

Snowmageddon 2012, aka Mr. Dumass

After years of covering severe winter weather as a TV reporter, telling viewers not to go outside if they didn't have to and warning drivers to go slowly on icy or snowy roads, it finally happened: I ended up being the jackass who drove into a ditch during a snowstorm!

It all started when my place of work sent people home early because the snow was really coming down. A line of cars created a mass exodus for the one road that led away of campus. As a result of the waiting many of the smaller, lighter cars got stuck going uphill and needed a helping hand/push from me (and others.) The car I was driving (an SUV) had no such problems, making me glad Helen had suggested I take it to work instead of my other car (a sedan.) It also made me confident that the rest of my ride home would be a piece of cake. How wrong I would be...

Once I got out onto the main road, I got stuck following a very 'careful' driver, who was going about 5 MPH. As we started going down a hill, the driver came to a complete stop, which pissed me off because I felt it was a dangerous maneuver since there were also cars behind me. My east coast driving-in-snow instincts also told me that when going down a hill, it's best to continually move so as not to slide. I was incredulous as I believed this idiot was just stopping because they were scared, so I decided to go around them and pass on the right. Big mistake.



Since there was fresh snow on the ground and very little traction, I started to slide uncontrollably to the right, right into a ditch nose-first. I tried to get out but only managed to sink deeper into trouble. Despite the best efforts of a few burly dudes who stopped to help push my car back onto the road, the weight of my SUV, the angle of the road (graded toward the ditch) and the lack of traction under the wheels made my car slide back into the ditch.

Remember that 'idiot' driver in front of me? Turns out they stopped because a metro bus coming up the hill had jackknifed and was blocking both lanes of traffic (the long way across the road.) So even if I had successfully gotten by the slow-poke, I still would have had to stop because of the bus. Oops.



After a few futile attempts to get my SUV out, I gave up, abandoned my ride and walked about 3 miles home. Later that evening I called and got through to the one local tow truck company that didn't have a six-hour waiting list of customers who were in the same predicament as me. Nearly 7 hours after my ordeal started, the tow truck pulled my car out and I drove the car back home. Very slowly.

My buddy Jae heard about what happened and texted me a three-letter question: "DWA?" My answer was no I was not, in fact 'Driving While Asian.' :) Rather, it was my perfect storm of overconfidence, arrogance and impatience during the first big winter storm of the year that led me off the road and into an embarrassing and unforgettable story. It made me feel a little like this:



*NOTE: The SUV below is not ours, but it crashed during the same batch of winter snow making me feel less like a doofus, which is why I posted it :)

Snow Day!

We had to take advantage of the recent snow day(s) in the area by going outside and playing.

Even though Kailyn technically experienced snow last winter she was only a couple of weeks/months old back then, and we were too protective to take her out and pose her next to a snowman or dress her up in a big, puffy snowsuit. No such hesitation this year:

End of Year Holidays in Boston

Last month Kailyn, Helen and I visited Boston to see my side of the family. It's always great to reconnect with them, especially since Kailyn has quite an East Coast fan club, as well as numerous young relatives she can play with.

The added bonuses included the weather being mild (no snow), people bought Kiki lots of gifts to make it like a second birthday party (all of which she loved), and like always the baby was a great traveler/eater/sleeper and adjusted to the time zone change without much problem. My parents even babysat for Helen and me so we could go out to dinner on New Year's Eve. A good time was had by all!

Grandma, Grandpa and the Grand kids


Kailyn with Bak Bak (Great-Grandma)


Story time with Grandma


Hanging out with Aunt Caroline

First Post of 2012! Kailyn Birthday Photos

It took a snow day, lots of free time and no activity on my eBay account, but I'm finally back in the saddle wih this blog.

Lots has happened since I last made an entry. But rather than explain in words, I figure it's easier to do so in photos. And let's face it, pix of Kailyn are all people really want anyway, isn't it?

Here are some shots from her 1st Birthday Party, a big bash organized by Helen and held at O'Asian restaurant downtown. As always, the pictures were taken by personal Kailyn photog, Ava Van. :)