New Diet, Teething, and Packing

Emily just loved her real food this week: puffs, cheese, corn on the cob, macaroni and cheese, bread, grapes, banana, brocolli, etc. She also loved the frozen celery. These new food can keep her occupied for a long time. Puffs are the biggest hit that it quiets her down every time at church. We are so happy about this because we will have more food choices when we are on the road. It was so neat to watch her to pick up food with fingers and put them into her mouth. We can hear her biting on them!



We bought Emily a little basketball goal (for $5). See how excited she was:


Emily also had a few difficult times. For two nights, she was suddenly cranky and crying. I thought the terrible two must have come early. We started looking into how to react appropriately when she is unhappy and whether we should have some discipline strategy toward her. Two days later, she was back to normal again. She touched the top gum with her fingers all the time. So we thought maybe more teeth are coming out. Poor baby! The frozen celery and teething ring really helped a lot at times like this. But I don't like the fact that she has to hold the frozen things with her tiny hands - it's so hard on baby!

David took Justin to Bob Chishom's Step by Step study Tuesday night. Friday afternoon he took Emily to see Sue. Friday night we went to Brook and Ann's house for their reader Michael's birthday party. Saturday we went to Fred and Fang's house for the going-away party for Fang's parents. The food was the best food I've had in a long time. Cody recited an ancient Chinese poem "Zan Zi Jing" for us; Evan sang a Chinese song "Only Mom is the Best in the World". Their Chinese really amazed us. Hopefully Emily will absorb both languages too. Sunday we had Marv, David and Gayla over for lunch. It was a busy weekend.




We started packing for the China trip now. It seems like Emily's stuff will occupy the big suitcase. David and I will pack our stuff in the smaller suitcase. We may need a third one for the LST stuff.

Happy last days of August!

Here is a picture of Emily dancing with Mom:





And a video of Emily's first bite of the sweet potato puff. She struggled with it for a little while. But after that she was so proficient with her fingers.

Week in a flash

A Chinese saying goes like this: "Walk a hundred steps after the meal; you will live to ninty nine years old." Emily definitely live up to that now. She passionately practices her walking and standing with every opportunity. We'd love for her to crawl before walking. But she seems to have her own agenda.

Joey came back from Taiwan. David continued studying with him every morning. Joey brought dozens of new Taiwanese students to FriendSpeak this Sunday. Several of them even stayed for the church service. We are in serious need of new workers now.

Jerry came over Wednesday afternoon. He was surprised at how much Emily had grown during the past month. David picked up Jason from SMU to FriendSpeak Wednesday night. Friday night he went to the LST training in Arlington. I stayed at home with Emily because I went to the training last year. We all went to the training on Saturday. Below is our team picture.

After we came back from the training, Emily sat on the floor played on her own for the longest time - she missed her toys! She played them one by one until the dinner time. See how happy she was back to her own place ...

Emily had her passport photos taken at WalGreen Friday afternoon to apply for the Chinese visa. The lady at WalGreen complimented that it was the best baby photo she's ever taken.

Sunday Emily was a little fussy at church. It could be the fourth tooth that is coming out, or she didn't want to be still on the pew. We spent most of time out there in the foyer. David and I thought about taking her to the nursery. But with the big trip only a few weeks away, we decided to keep her with us to lower the risk of being sick. After church, we met Heidi and Yongying for lunch. Heidi read with me three years ago during FriendSpeak. Hongying started meeting David at StarBucks six months ago. They are moving to New York next week. We are going to miss them!

One night we were talking about spiritual lessons that we learned from Emily. Here are just a couple on the top of the list:

1. Emily never holds anger or unpleasant feeling for longer than one minute. No matter how unhappy she is at the moment, she always forgives us and turns into a happy and trusting baby within one minute. (Eph. 4:26 "Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry")

2. Emily has an abandon trust toward her parents. When she decided to roll off the surface, she covered her face with blanket and beamed with smiles on her face - trusting that we were going to catch her in the fall. (Proverbs 3:5 "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding")

3. Emily is friendly and happy. She responds to people's smiles almost instantly under normal circumstances. Sometimes she initiates smiles to the strangers whom I thought might scare her a little. (Philippians 4:4"Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.")

Waving and Grandpa's visit

Emily's new development this week is waving bye bye. She first waved with us when we saw Dad and Linda off on Friday. Then she waved several times during the weekend. Our Frienspeak readers loved it when she waved at them when they left the room. Emily is also obsessed by walking and standing with our help. She can't quite use the pushing toy independantly yet. But she loves to hold our hands and walk over and over until we are worn out. She definitely slept more these days with all the exercise she had. She also started humming, clapping, and rocking along with the music. Her favorite words are still "mama" (which happens to be Chinese "Mom") "dada" "baba" (which happens to be Chinese "Dad") "yeye" (which happens to be Chinese "Grandpa") "yaya" ...

(Cruising in her crib)

Dad and Linda stopped by Friday for lunch on their way to Austin. We had hamburgers for lunch. Emily so enjoyed their visit. David got several really sweet pictures of her with Grandpa and Linda. Friday night we went to pick up some magazines that I bought for Emily -"BabyBug". I can't wait to read them with Emily later.

(Laughing with Linda and Grandpa)

(Forehead kisses with Grandpa)

(Momentarily sitting between walks)

(Daddy put double clips on Emily)

We met with David's cousin Gregg's family for lunch on Saturday. It was great to catch up with them. Emily enjoyed playing with everybody too.

Dad and Linda came in late Saturday. We had ribs for dinner and played with Emily for the rest of the evening. Emily was so excited to play with so many people. She loved having grandpa and Linda with us. David and I loved it too.

We drove separate cars for church on Sunday again because David had to teach the Single Purpose class. I took Emily home to take a nap after the first service. David came home after the class. He really enjoyed teaching the class on "baptizing into the red sea". I wish Emily and I could listen to his teaching.

Ray and Olivia brought Stephen to FriendSpeak Sunday afternoon. It was the first time for us to see them after Stephen was born in April. He is a big boy and has a sweet disposition. Emily played with Gail and other people. She was so sleepy in the end but she managed not to fall asleep until we came home and got ready for bed.

(Emily and Gail)

Here is a prayer that Gail forwarded to me this week:

My Sweet Baby (pray for your babies) by Charla Aldous

My Sweet Baby -a loan from above.

No better treasure

Could I have more love.

Standing here beside you,

But as I pray,I lay my hand on your head and I say....

"May you grow up to serve Him all of your days.

May He lead you and guide you in all of your ways.

May His Hand bless your future with friendships that last.

May you cherish your youth and not grow up too fast.

I stare in wonder at your tiny frame.

Just to think that God knows you by name!

He knows every hair on your beautiful head.

He knows all your thoughts before they are said."

"May God grant you peace in the midst of a storm.

May God give you strength even when you're forelorn.

May you answer the door when Jesus comes knocking.

May wisdom guide you when your mouth is talking.

May discretion protect you and keep you pure.

May you never stumble or fall before the Lord.

May your heart remain humble to the very end.

May uprightness and truth be what you defend.

May the world not ensnare or change who you are.and

May the light that's within you shine like the stars.

May angels surround you - body spirit mind;

May favor and peace be yours to find.

May rejection and pain never reach you.

May your spirit grow old for what you're called to."

As you rest in God's careI will rest, too.

Knowing that Jesus is watching over you.

In Jesus Name, Amen

Team Training, House Warming, and so on

Last week I worked from home to protect Emily against the stomach flu. Luckily she was fine. While I was at home, we tried to let her sit on the potty chair. She peed in it as soon as she sat down. It was so much fun to catch her peepees. But we only tried it occasionally - when it's convenient for all of us. Hopefully with occasional experiences, she will figure out where she should go in the future. Amy, Kendall and the kids came in Friday night. Emily sensed that something exciting was coming so she wouldn't go to sleep until after she saw everybody, which was one and half hours after her normal bed time. Saturday morning we all went to Diane's house warming party. Emily made a new friend there - Ron Green. She stayed with Ron smiling and clapping through most of the party. We came home after noon for the LST training. Johnny and Leslie came to our house. We had some pizza and cake during the four-hour training. Johnny and Leslie even practiced using chopsticks. After the training, we went to David's good friend Larkin's daughter's wedding at Prestonwood Baptist church. It was a very nice and simple wedding.


We went to the first service on Sunday. David and I drove separate cars because he went to SMU to pick up Terry to go to church with us. It was the first time for Terry to go to church. He liked the sermon and enjoyed the singing very much. David took him to the Searcher's class before they came home. We ordered some Chinese dishes for lunch. Then David and Terry rented a truck to pick up the dining furnature that Terry bought. David came home to take a shower. It was time for FriendSpeak and church again. While David was reading with Victor, I took Emily to look at the VBS decoration at church. Emily enjoyed touching the bubbles, inflated tire, butterflies, ropes, etc. They really did a wonderful job decorating. I can't wait for Emily to go to VBS in the future! Amy and Kendall headed back to Austin after they visited Kendall's parents' church.


Emily is 9 months old now! She got A+ again from her doctor at 9-month checkup. Her height is 29.8 in. (off the chart again) and her weight is 19.9 lb (75%). David said he was going to buy a basketball for Emily's 1st Birthday since he thought Emily was going to be a basketball player.

Here are some pictures of the week:

Emily's third tooth just came out. It's on the top. Now when she is a little fussy, we have to guess: is it toothpain, is she bored, or is she hungry/thirsty, ... so many variables!


Emily had a new toy - Chicco walker. She liked pulling the ladybug to hear the music and holding on the toy to walk. Emily loves standing and walking. Her face can turn from cloudy to sunny instantly when she stands up with our support. We suspect she might walk before she crawls.
And she still loves being held

Here is a picture of David's produce from the backyard. The squash was so big that it was almost as long as Emily. The cucumbers are big too. David made several batches of picos with them already:



David made the thinnest-crust pizza last week using tortilla bread, brussle sprouts, spinach, tomatoes and cheese - Hmmm, yummy!

Here are Leslie and Johnny learning to use chopsticks - they are pros now!

First Pool Party and Stomach Flu

We have many pictures and videos to post this week. So I'll keep the writing short. We didn't do much this week because of the bronchitis. I took three days off to stay at home. David was getting better toward the end of the week. But we went to a pool party Saturday afternoon. David began to throw up and go to the restroom every couple of hours starting from Saturday night. Poor David - he had chill and high fever again this weekend. The bugs really struck him hard. We are still walking on the eggshell to keep Emily healthy this week.

Where is Daddy??

I want to play with Daddy

Reading big book

It's fun to read

This week Emily knows to pull up the pumper pad to see whether we are in her room or not. Here is a picture of her peeking through the slot to check on us before she fell asleep. She does that when we came into the room to pick her up too ...

"Ha, you are still here!"

Forget about all the expensive toys! Emily's favorite toys can be a piece of paper towel, paper, any pen, sticks, or scarf. She can play with them for hours from left hand to right hand. We have a video on that. But it is too big to post, I guess.

Look, I can stand!

First pool experience at Kathy and Li's house

Emily was ignoring the camera
This is a video of Emily moving the beads on the maze before going to bed. We kept the room dark so that she knew it was about bedtime. It was the first time that I noticed she moving a bead all the way through. Her finger really developed a lot.

We also have a video of Emily reading with David. For some reason, we couldn't upload it. Here is a Youtube version of it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDdSqqTx-0U