Reading with Natalie

Yesterday, Natalie was very quiet and sweet while reading with us. As she's getting older, her concentration is getting better so she can pretty much sit through an entire (short) book with us now. She loves to sit in our laps (we're like her sofa) and will occasionally crawl out from her comfy seat to turn a page or grab another book, but then she'll crawl back in and plop herself down on our lap again.

Reading quietly with daddy.


Look at the concentration. Natalie is following her daddy's finger as he points out important objects like "orange" and "banana". She can now say "nana" (a little imagination required).


A close-up shot.


Same angle with different light settings.


Natalie helping to turn the page. Her little fingers have become really good at coordinating for small movements.


Natalie lounging in her "sofa".


Thumb-sucking action.


More thumb-sucking action.


Reading with mommy. Natalie furrows her brows while concentrating on the very interesting book.


Natalie likes to read the same books over and over again.

What did Natalie do tonight?

Tonight, when I got home from work, Natalie and I hung out together for a while. She gave me kisses and then protested when I tried to hug her for too long. Then daddy called to say he was on his way home, so Natalie and I got ready to go and surprise him at the MTR station.

Here are pics from our journey:

Natalie in her stroller in the elevator. She loves to sit with one foot up (the left foot) and play with her sandal strap.


We stop by City Garden Hotel for a quick pic. Natalie sticks her hand out to feel for rain (ok, not really, but it looks like it, doesn't it?)


Close-up of the Natalie. She's wondering why we aren't going anywhere. Can we get moving again please?


Natalie waiting to cross the street while I play with camera settings.


Natalie still waiting to cross the street and checking out the people around her. Lots of strangers give her friendly smiles.


Natalie still patiently waiting for the light to change. People around us are giving me strange looks as I squat and fiddle with the camera and snap pictures of the cute and quiet baby in the stroller.

Once again, we've stopped in front of another (well-lit) store so I can fiddle some more with the camera. Here is what I see whenever I'm out with Natalie in her stroller. Again, the left foot is up and she is playing with the sandal strap. It's velcro and makes the SHrrhhsss! sound when she tugs at it, releases it, and tugs again (and again and again).

In the Fortress Hill MTR station waiting for Daddy. I'm still playing with the camera and trying to capture movement (with Natalie sitting so still). Lots of people going into the MTR.


We've now moved to the other side of the pillar and there are a lot less people coming out. Natalie loves being out and is very "gwai" sitting quietly and patiently in her stroller. She just loves to people-watch.

Natalie holding her sandal strap. You can see the blur of someone coming out of the MTR station.

Yay, Daddy's here! Here is Clark pushing Natalie through the throng of people on our walk back home.

Clark holds a "walk" pose while I take a few pics with slow shutter speed to capture more movement behind and around him. Natalie holds a pose, too.

While Tracy is waiting to cross the street with Natalie, Clark takes the camera and starts fiddling with it, too. He manages to capture this movement photo while Natalie and I stand still again.

Little busy walker

Natalie loves to walk and will ask us to take her walker out (by pointing and yelling of course) so she can stand behind it and push it around. She hasn't gotten the hang of how to steer yet and will happily walk a straight-ish line until she hits something (a wall, a shelf, the sofa, my foot) that stops her from moving forward. Then she'll yell and call for us to help her turn the walker around so she can walk a straight line some more.

Today, Natalie did a little steering and managed to get her walker into the hallway by herself. See photos below:

Natalie making her way into the hallway. She's a determined little walker now.


She stops just inside the doorway and squats to pick something off the floor. While squatting, she accidentally turns her walker into the door.


Hey, how come I can't move anymore?


If the walker won't move, Natalie decides she still can and cruises along to the side of the walker where she can see me better and we can chit-chit.


Natalie happily chatting away with me.

Standing by herself

Today Natalie let go of us while standing and she can totally stand by herself without holding anything. See the photo we captured below. She loves standing now and we think she'll be walking within the next few weeks. How exciting! We're excited. It's a big milestone for her.

Also, see Video 127 of Natalie fussing when we take a necklace away from her, and calming as soon as she gets it back. Hail, our little princess :)

I have hair, teeth, and a belly button!

Watch Video 126 of Natalie pointing out her hair, her teeth, and her belly button. At first she can't find her belly button because it's hiding under her onesie and she wonders where it went. We have to help her unsnap the bottom before she can find, and when she does, she's really happy it's still there.

Sleeping Bum

Natalie likes to sleep with her bum in the air. We put her to sleep on her back or on her side, but at some point, she always manages to roll and squirm around until she's in the bum-in-air position. We find it really cute! Here are a few more pics.



And from another angle.

Playful Nat

Natalie is becoming more and more playful and will take the initiative to incite the people around her to play with her. This includes yelling and pointing at someone, crawling over to give you a toy, raising her arms in a "pick me up now" pose, or even crawling over from behind to pull at my pants and peek up and smile at me (see pic below).

Watch Video 125 of Natalie playing with us. She's very "busy" now. In cantonese, we would say she likes to "gow gow juhn". If we're chilling at home, Natalie will happily bang toys together, sort objects, and talk on the phone (she knows how to turn it on, but not off). She also likes to put small objects into bigger objects, open and close doors, pull out books and flip through them, and "find" things. She's non-stop!

Natalie crawled up from behind me to peek up and smile at me. She found this game really fun and did it over and over again.


Natalie wearing a bucket hat. She gives me the bucket and laughs when I put it on my head. But she doesn't find it quite so funny when I put it on her head.

Queen of Natalie-land

With her increasing understanding of the world around her, Natalie is quickly learning that she is the Queen of Natalie-land. Within her land, Natalie has many obedient subjects at her command (namely every adult she's ever encountered so far) and, as loyal subjects of Natalie-land, we must obey her every command or face her terrible wrath.

Just today, while trying to take a few nice pictures of Natalie playing happily at home, we made the mistake of trying to keep the camera from her. See resulting photos below. Yes, the Queen's fury is great. We have all quickly learned to jump at her every whim or have a very loud, unhappy, and determined baby on our hands.

Here is Natalie resisting when her daddy Clark tries to pose for a picture with her. She doesn't want to pose for pictures, she wants the camera! Whenever you try to hold her when she doesn't want to be held, Natalie will raise her arms in the air in hopes of slipping through your hands.


Gimme the camera or else! We gave her the camera, of course.

Happy Birthday Natalie!

Today is Natalie's birthday. Hard to believe that one year ago we were at the hospital anxiously waiting for her arrival, and today, we've MADE IT ...Natalie is turning ONE. She's no longer "zero" years of age and now has a proper age (which can be quoted in years instead of months).

Below are two pics that were taken and posted almost one year ago. You can see Natalie really has come a long way from her small(-ish) beginnings. Some things that have changed from one year ago:

• Natalie is no longer a cute baby lump, but a funny and happy toddler who interacts with others
• Natalie is almost triple her birth weight (from 7.5lbs - 22lbs)
• On the other hand, Tracy is 20% lighter than last year at this same time
• Clark no longer has to deal with a huge, hormonal woman while anxiously wondering if she's going into labour NOW. Or now? How about now?
• We have changed over 300 poo diapers and gotten poo on our hands numerous times
• Tracy and Clark have become more confident parents, and we're loving every minute of it

We still can't believe how fast this year has passed. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NATALIE!

One of the first pics of Natalie taken with my phone camera while at the hospital. She is only 1/2 a day old here.


Natalie home and sleeping soundly in her moses basket. This basket would be much too small for her today.

Walking holding on with one hand

We are super proud of Natalie. At dim sum a couple days ago, she stood on a chair holding nothing by herself for almost 10 seconds (with mommy's hands nearby, of course). She was too busy and didn't even seem to notice she wasn't hanging on to anything! And for the past couple of days, she's also been really happy trying to walk by holding on with only one hand. She'll even reach out for us to grab her hand so she can keep trying.

Watch Video 124 of Natalie hanging on with only one hand while walking. She's still really unsteady, but you can see how happy she is to be a big girl now and upright and almost walking. She still isn't confident enough to completely let go and stand by herself (even just standing, not walking), but she's definitely on her way there!

The cutie patootie playing with her mommy this afternoon. See below videos to see what she was up to.


Also, watch Video 122 of Natalie playing with her new toys while at dim sum. She even gives them little kisses and hams it up for the aunties and uncles.

Also watch Video 123 of Natalie experimenting with sound. She's holding a poker chip and will bang at the window grill which makes a "bing bing bing!" sound. Then she'll knock it against the window sill and wall which makes a "tck tck tck" sound. Then she gives the camera a big kiss. She's also really obedient right now. If we say "No, Natalie", she actually listens! We know this won't last much longer and are enjoying every moment while it lasts.

Dim sum lunch with friends

On Saturday, Natalie's first birthday was cancelled due to serious black rain. It was so bad in some parts of Hong Kong that they closed highways, shops were flooded, and people had to be saved from minibuses that had gotten stuck in a 70cm puddle of water!

Although there was no mega-glam party out on the waters, some friends were brave enough to venture outside and join us for a casual dim sum at Victoria Seafood in Citic Tower. It was a very yummy and chill lunch. Natalie received some very nice gifts from her aunties and uncles (and yes, you are ALL aunties and uncles now!) and enjoyed her first bite of a bum (traditional birthday bao). See pics below.

Natalie with her proud parents at dim sum. She can eat just about everything now (except nuts), including egg, beef, tomatoes, and even traces of seafood.


Natalie and our close family and friends enjoying the dim sum. If you ever eat at this restaurant, you must order their salt n' pepper tofu. We had three orders!


Natalie had a great time playing with so many aunties and uncles.


You can tell from this shot that Natalie's the star of the day with everyone watching her, waiting to jump at her every command. When Natalie claps, the whole table must clap with her.


Natalie hanging with Serena, Vivian, and Marian. Natalie is holding on to little cute finger puppets from Gerald and Marian. One of the puppets looks just like bam-bam from the Flintstones. There is a tiger finger puppet that Natalie likes to kiss.


Natalie with Uncle Jason and Auntie Corine. The last time Natalie saw them, she fell asleep on their guest bed with her bum in the air. Since then, she always sleeps with her bum in the air now.


Natalie with Dom, Lieny and little baby Evana. Evana is less than 3 months old but she is really big already!


Natalie smiling at the camera with Cindy Yee-yee.


The three babies Vicky (4 months), Evana (2 months), and Natalie (12 months). It's probably best not to say how many months Tracy and Lieny are.


Look at baby Evana's super cute and super round face. She's quite young, but already she knows how to smile and laugh with people now!


Natalie and Evana "playing" together.


Baby Vicky taking a nap in her sling. So cute.


Natalie and Cindy playing with a really cute bowling set given to her by Dom, Lieny and Evana. Just today Natalie was playing with them by herself and giving each of the bowling pins hugs and kisses. She has become more affectionate lately and will crawl over to give us kisses. We love it (of course)!

Natalie posing with her new dress from Auntie Vivian. It's soooo nice, we love it! And it looks like a perfect fit with a little room to grow. It's also very appropriate for the next time we go on a yacht :)


Natalie's new ralph lauren dress from Corine and Jason. Thanks guys, it is sooo cute! She's just like a little lady now!


When Natalie's bum (traditional birthday bun) came out, we all sang "Happy Birthday" to her. While we were singing, Natalie kept looking around with a "what's going on?" expression. After we finished singing and clapping, Natalie smiled and clapped her hands, too. Happy Birthday Natalie!

Black rain on my party day

Today was supposed to be Natalie's sweet one birthday party on the Prive Yacht. We were really excited to celebrate her birthday with family and close friends, but when we woke up this morning, it was raining outside and not just any rain, but BLACK rain! A little rain is alright, but, as daddy Clark would say, "This is aggressive!"

Little Nat had no clue we had just cancelled her very first birthday party and was cheerful as usual hanging out with us this morning. She was especially happy sitting on the sofa with us, reading a few books, and playing with our blackberries. Here are some pics below.

Natalie smiling at us. She loves that we let her play with our blackberries. She'll push the little buttons with her little fingers and grin at us and wave it around when the screen lights up.


More blackberry action. Look at the intense concentration. Doesn't it almost like she knows what she's doing?


Natalie trying to show her daddy what she can do with his blackberry.


Natalie crawling around on the sofa while she's, yup, hanging onto the blackberry.