When A Child Is Born: Fall Update

We loved the cool fall weather although we didn't get to enjoy it as much as we wanted yet. At the same time, we are sad to put away all the beautiful summer clothes and sandles. The other day when I asked for the bubble guns at Babyrus, the lady told me, "we only have it during summer." Oops, summer has far gone before I realized it. I already look forward to the next summer!

Here are some happenings of our family in October:

Now I Know My ABCs: Emily continued working on the lower case letters. She learned the lower case "c", "d" and "e" this month. I never linked these together, but the first time when I showed Emily "a", she said "it's Q!"; the first time when I showed her "b" and "d", she said "it's P!". This girl can recognize her upper case letters upside down or flipped! I had to explain the subtle differences of those letters for her.

"c" is for "China". We looked at the map of China, made the dumplings, ate the dumplings, and built the Great Wall with the lego blocks. Emily even said "Ni Hao! (Hello in Chinese)" to every Chinese she met in FriendSpeak or on the trail. The Bible verse for "c" is "Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you (Psalm 55:22)". "d" is for "dog" or "dinosaur". We sorted dinosaurs by the size. We also read the books "How much is the doggie in the window" and "Lassie finds a way". Emily loved both books. She read them on her own and told the stories page by page. The verse for "d" is "whatsoever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; (Colossians 3:23)". "e" is for "elephant". We colored the elephant and watched some videos on the animals, including the elephants. The verse for "e" is "Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. (1 Peter 4:10)"

(Finding China on the globe)

(d is for dinosaur)

(The Great Wall fortress)

(Making dumplings)

(We also made hand, flowers, rabbit out of the left over dough)

(Eating dumplings in Chinese dress)

(Coloring letters)

(Sorting dinosaurs)

(Reading "How much is the doggies in the window?")

(Telling the story "How much is the doggie in the window" to mommy)

(Lacing the letters)

(Practicing Buckling up)

( Emily's favorite videos that she watches everyday during October)

Andy's New Trick: Andy now sleeps from 6:30pm to 7:30am. His naps dropped to two or three naps a day. For the first two weeks though, his bed time was from 5:30pm to 8:00am with a 6:00am quick feeding. It wasn't rare for David not seeing him at all for 24 hours then. He sat through church easily. He can grab his both feet and pass toys from one hand to the other. He is constantly blowing rasberries and wiggling with joy. His first roll-over was on October 7th. He loves playing on his exersaucer and grabbing the horseman. Andy has been wearing 12 months old clothes for a while now. Thank you Dawn and Jarrod for loaning Austin's clothes to us! We are so blessed!

New Deacon Installation: David was norminated as one of the new deacons for Prestoncrest. The installation was on 17th. Amy and Kendall came in town to show their support. We are excited to serve in the new capacity in the future.

Everything About Pumpkin: We went to the same pumpkin patch that we went last year. Emily had fun picking out pumpkins for Mommy, Daddy, Andy and herself. She also requested a big pumpkin that doesn't look so attractive to us. After we put the big pumpkin at the door for a few days, we carved out a Jack-o'-lantern. Emily lit the candle, turned off the light, turned on the light, and blowed out the candle for over a dozen times. She peeked at the smiling pumpkin a hundred times although it scared her a little sometimes.

(Emily helped scoop out the seeds)

(Emily lit the candle inside the pumpkin)

Last year we used the pumpkin to make the ribs pumpkin bowl. This year we made these pumpkin cuties (We ran out of the pepper stems. So we used raisins to substitue). Yummy!:

Happy Halloween: This year Emily had her first "Trick or Treat". We went to Prestoncrest's Truck or Treat Friday night. Emily was a little timid. We taught her to say "Trick or Treat" and gave her all the gear she needed. But after we got there, the only thing she wanted to do was to hold on David's neck. So we only stopped by three booths. Then we talked with our friends till the end. On Halloween night, we practiced the "Trick or Treat" at home before we went out. At first, Emily was timid. She would go to knock at the doors. Later on, she knocked at the door but forgot to get the candies. To the end, she figured out the whole game. She not only knocked at the doors, but also took one, two, three, ... candies until Daddy said "Stop!" a couple of times. Her treat bag was almost full when she came home. We were glad (and so proud of her!) she had so much fun that she requested:"Let's go Trick or Treat!" the next night!

(Emily did this most of time at Trunk or Treat)

(She did this for the rest of the time - visiting with Gordon, Charlie, Cole, Austin, Phil and Rebecca, and Gayla before we headed to the airport to pick up my mom)

(So, here's what she got for her first "Trunk or Treat" :-)

(Getting ready for the real Trick or Treat)

(Getting candies)

(Emily looked at the lights and said, "it's pretty!")

A Day In The Park: We took Emily and Andy to the neighborhood park that we went this time last year. Emily had a blast! She didn't want to come back. Andy was such a trooper that he went along with us without any whimper and he fell asleep in the stroller when we fed the ducks.

(Sandwich lunch)

(Friend with Doggie)

(Duck watching)

(Hi, duckies)

(Feeding ducks)

Happy Birthday Gayla: We had the Norths come over for Gayla's birthday to thank her for the nice things she did for our family. We are so thankful for their friendship.

Grandma is Here: We are so glad that my mom came Friday night. She will be with us for almost three months.

Emily Says Emily Does: I enjoyed recording what Emily says and does now. They made me giggle all the time. Here are some examples:

When David was praying, Emily said, "Daddy is talking to God!"
One day Emily ran into my lap and said, "Mommy, I have a BIG wet diaper!"
(Emily)"I'm tired, Mommy." (me)"You are tired? Let's go sleep!" (Emily)"Oh, I don't want to sleep." (me)"You are tired. You need to sleep." (Emily) Sigh!
Emily stood on the stool and I stood behind her to wash her hands. She said, "Be careful, Mommy! I'm going to fall down."
(Emily)"Oh, Emily is coughing!" (David) "Where did that come from?" (Emily)"From my mouth!"
(Emily)"Emily burped! Emily had a burp in the, in the, in the FACE!"
(Emily)"Mmmm, green bean smells good! Daddy is full. Daddy is through eating potato."
(Emily looked concerned)"Mommy, Andy is eating fingers in his mouth!" (me)"Oh, that's OK. He doesn't have teeth." (Emily)" Oh oh, he ate his fingers!"
(Emily) "Mommy, do you want to turn on the video?" (me)"We only turn on the video when Mommy puts Andy down to sleep." (Emily)"Mommy, put Andy to sleep in the bed!" (me)"Andy just woke up." (Emily) "Mommy needs to take care of Andy". (me)"Yes!"
Emily was coloring. I drew a face for her to color. She looked at it and said, "Oh, it's kind of scared!"
Emily had been eyeing a can of pineapple for a while. One day she finally held it in her hand. She brought a teddy bear and put the can in front of the teddy bear's nose, "Mommy, Teddy bear wants to eat pineapple!"
One day, Emily stopped playing and murmured to herself:" Andy is so pretty!" She ran to Andy, gently touched his head from his back and said again "Andy is so pretty, Mommy!" Then she knelt down and kissed Andy's head.

Emily brought a baby doll to Andy "Hi Andy, I want to give you a high five!" She reached the doll's hand to Andy "I want to try again!"
(Emily)"Mommy, Andy is coughing!" She ran to Andy and patted on his back. (me)"Andy is teething. His teeth are hurting." She then went over to get Andy's teething ring and handed it over to Andy's mouth.

It warms my heart to see how Emily loves Andy, and how Andy's face light up whenever he sees Emily. Emily picks up Andy's toys when he dropped them, brings Andy his bibs when he drools, smoothes his seat after I took him out, quietly puts her hands on Andy's arm when he's sleeping without prompting from anybody... Andy giggles and squeals every time Emily comes to play with him. It's not difficult to catch a video of them laughing and playing together. Here are a few pictures when they played together.