2011 Wrap Up

Now that we're well into February, here's a bit of everything to round out the end of the year...

Liam is slowly making friends with sleep.  He still wakes up two to three times a night, but we've gotten a couple of good sleeps lately, so maybe this is a precursor of good times to come!

Mama spent most of Liam's first year feeding him...he's a hungry guy!

And Dad took a few moments to familiarize him with the internet.  

Liam officially outgrew his infant carrier in December.  He was close to too tall, but mostly, his shoulders were too broad.  We miss being able to bring him upstairs like this.  

Superbowl Sunday

We spent Superbowl Sunday hanging out with friends, eating, and enjoying the game.


Liam spent the first part of the game napping in the car...

When he finally came in, it was time for some munchies!  Carrots and bananacado (steamed banana with avocado) were gone in a flash.  Incidentally, this was his first time in a highchair.  We just might have to procure one of these.

Liam watched the game with Dad for a little bit, but once he got fussy, Mama took him outside in the Ergobaby to experience rain, examine water drops on the flowers, and watch the tetherball circle the pole.

On a completely different note, seriously Liam, do you have to sleep on your tummy?  It kinda freaks Mama out...

Solid

Back in December, when Liam was not quite six months old (well, are we counting lunar months?), we decided it was time to try solid food.  We approached it with apprehension, but since he was eating enough to satisfy a Shetland pony, we thought it worth the effort.

We began with a traditional Hawaiian food -- poi.  In general, it tastes a bit like paste, but this was the venerated Hanalei brand and mixed with some milk, it wasn't half bad.

Liam must have heard about poi's reputation...you're going to feed me what?  What's that orange thing?  At least he was cute in the bib from Uncle Steve!

Alright...I suppose I'll try it...

In the end, he was helping Mama get the spoon to his mouth!

After poi turned out to be a big success, even when mixed with water instead of milk, we tried avocado, which was also welcomed with relish.  Then we did rice cereal, banana, oat cereal, and apple.  All have gone over well and Liam gets super excited when he sees his bowl and spoon.  Peas, however, were soundly rejected.  It might have been the fibrous casing though, so we strained what was left and will try them again another day.  At least we now know he's not indiscriminate when it comes to food!  At least for now...

New Year!

We had an exciting New Year's Eve at the Ng house--we fell asleep around 9p, sleepily kissed at midnight when the fireworks woke us up, and then spent the rest of the evening trying to get Liam to go back to sleep after Mama clumsily dropped a plastic cup that woke Liam up when the fireworks didn't.  (Bad, Mama, bad!)

We may have been tired, but that little buggah was wide awake when we were ready to head over to Uncle Kev's and Aunty Cathy's house!

Liam, you look so handsome in your first aloha shirt!  You're not bad yourself, Dad!

The little ones played on the ground together.

And Abby and Liam had some face-to-face time.

We probably should have taken more photos, but we were too busy eating!  What a great way to start the new year!

Christmas in January

As January comes to a close and the madness of Session has begun, we finally finish out Christmas here on Team Monkey!

As soon as we woke up, we decided to tackle the mountain of gifts that our generous friends and family bestowed upon Liam for his first Christmas.

Mama and Liam sat on the play mat, ready to begin the opening frenzy!

Erm...what is that?  A pile of white stuff?

Oh!  Open it!  Why didn't you say so?

(Of course, Mama made the tear, but Liam made a good effort!)

He got plenty good books to add to the collection...

...fun new toys that light up and sing...

...and lots of clothes to illustrate what a witty boy he is!

In the end, his presents filled the couch!

It was a little overwhelming, so Dad took Liam to the bedroom to read one of his new books.  "Stomp your feet!  Clap your hands!  Everybody ready for a barnyard dance!"

Then we decided to start an Ng family tradition and have dim sum for lunch.  We went to Happy Day, but they were so busy, the servers didn't have time to seat anyone new!  So we found our way to Jade Garden at Ala Moana.  We were supposed to have reservations, but were lucky enough to get an open spot for the Noon seating.  (A good tip for next year!)  Not exactly dim sum, but the buffet was good!

That night, we went to Poppa and Granny Sharon's for Christmas dinner.  We brought some stuff to store at Poppa's and decided to sit Liam in his bouncer one last time before it was gone for good.  Liam seemed happy!

Then everyone went upstairs to play and talk before dinner.

The end of the evening saw Liam chilling on Dad, while Cousin Abby slept on Aunty Tricia.  Boy, Christmas is exhausting!

Christmas Eve

Here it is, the second week in January and we have yet to finish Christmas!  Truly a sign that Session is rearing it's head and will be here soon!  But back to business...

We spent Christmas Eve at Grandma and Grandpa Bob's.  The food was good, as usual, as was the company.  We forgot to bring the camera, but the pictures we took with our new phones turned out pretty well.

The big kids spent some time playing in the office...

while Mama fed Liam and watched the antics.

Dad tried to get Liam to smile for the camera.

When that didn't work, Uncle Kev took a shot.

In the end, we took what we could get.

Uncle James took cousin Austin-Cabel on the balcony to look at the ships.  It was a gorgeous Christmas Eve!

Shanti, Abigail, and Zachary played together on the floor.

Shanti sang "Happy Birthday Jesus" with Grandma, complete with hand motions and everything.

Aunty Cathy snuggled Abigail while Dad held Liam and Uncle Kev hung out.

Shanti wanted to sit on Dad's knee like Liam was doing.

Zachary posed with Grandma in the hallway.

And just before we left, Dad and Liam took a picture with Grandpa Bob and Grandma.  You know Dad, we can see that you and Liam are watching football rather than looking at the camera!

A Very Cheesie Christmas

On December 11th, we had our second annual Cheesie Christmas Party!

Liam in the car on the way over to Aunty Wimmie and Uncle Daren's house.  He was in charge of protecting the presents.

Uncle Steve and Yuna sharing a moment.

Luca clinging to Dad Duke while Aunty Wimmie delivered presents and Uncle Steve and Yuna looked on.

Liam charming Aunty Erin with his good looks and winning ways.  Such a ladies' man, little boy!

Look!  We're a Cheesie Christmas Tree!!  It was so good seeing everyone this year.