Bloody Nose

I don't have a picture of it, but Vincent had his first bloody nose today. Okay, okay, it wasn't really a bloody nose (no gushing), but there was blood up there. He was climbing on the sofa, again (big sigh), and David had just told him that the sofa is for sitting. Vincent sort of sat down, but he was still flopping around on it, because he finds it super fun, and he flopped off the sofa and on to his face. He was very upset when this happened, and his cry almost sounded like he was extremely angry. After dinner, I was wiping his nose, and that is when I saw a little bit of blood on the tissue. Much less dramatic than the title of this post may have made it seem, but nonetheless, there was a nostril with blood.

On a lovelier note, here's a photo of Vincent combing his hair after his bath tonight.

Let's Catch Up!

Whaoh! It's finally summer time here in Seattle (although you wouldn't know if from today's weather)! We've had some hot days now, and it's GREAT! So, what has little Vincent been up to these days? Let me highlight some moments:

Miller fountain has finally opened! It's taken a few trips for Vincent to get daring enough to get in, but now he loves it!

We happened upon a parking lot sale of children's clothing and toys last weekend, where we found Vincent's first tricycle. And, it was at a great price! Can't beat that!

Some little monkey has learned to climb up on the sofa and he's so pleased with himself. Here he is doing one of his favorite things these days, which is flopping around on the sofa. He also enjoys jumping on the sofa, and is starting to think about jumping off. Oh my.

First lollipop. We only let him have a tiny bit. But, it was his graduation day (see previous post)!

Who says Seattle doesn't have beaches? Okay, so it's not the ocean, but there's sand. Here we are at Madison Beach, on Lake Washington.

18 Months Old!

Today was a big day for Vincent. Not only did he turn 18 months old, he had his very first graduation! We just completed his first year of Mandarin lessons at Sponge School. The school gave the students a mini "ceremony" with caps & certificates.
Vincent receives a flower pinwheel.
Here he is with his little cap on.
Sunday 9:30am class of 2008
(He's actually in the afternoon class, but we've been going in the mornings because of naps)
We're so proud of you, Vincent!Our post graduation lunch was delicious wonton noodle soup at the Canton Noodle House.

Bad Day and the Broken Window

Long story short, we had a rough day yesterday. It included a temper tantrum in the library (luckily, we were in a closed off room), a 15 minute nap in the car with no success of transferring to the crib, more grumpiness throughout the rest of the day due to no nap, and a broken window. Yes, if you look at the pictures of Vincent sitting in his chair below, you will see one of the windows behind him is covered up with duct tape. This is also a rare moment of seeing him actually sitting in the chair, rather than standing and bouncing, or flopping around, or hanging off of it. As he was standing on his chair yesterday afternoon, he tossed his head back pretty hard (something he finds amusing), and then he ran to me crying. When I looked, the windown was totally cracked. Luckily, the only damage was to the window.
At least there are the sweet little moments thrown in during the rough days that help get you through them. For example, I was cleaning sugar snap peas for dinner & when I turned around to check if my water was boiling, I heard a crunching sound behind me. Vincent had climbed up on a stool and reached over the counter for a snap pea and started eating it, raw! He was so delighted with himself, and seemed to really enjoy his little snack.

Sasquatch

David's mom and sister came to Seattle this weekend to spend some time with us, but mainly with Vincent. No, I don't mean that they only wanted to see him. We asked them to come out for the weekend to watch Vincent for us so that we could go to the Sasquatch Music Festival for one day. Yeah! We got to watch some bands play great music, with a couple of our favorite friends! It was a great day, even if it did end with a little rain.

Speaking of Sasquatch...It was starting to look like we may have a little Sasquatch of our own. Look at the head of hair on our little boy! It was time for a haircut. Vincent's first haircut. We took him to see Dina at Columbia City Cuts.


Okay, not quite Sasquatch, but it was time. And, the result? See for yourselves!

Happiness is...

...your 17 month old baby falling asleep on you in the baby carrier while walking home from a lunch outing.

Sorry, no picture of it, but to see pics from our recent L.A. trip, go to: http://picasaweb.google.com/ayangers/May08Trip

Happy Toddler

And finally,

I struggled to find the right title for this post, as I have so much I want to say, but also find that I am unable to find all the words for my feelings. And, as you can see, I couldn't choose just one of these 5 pics, so you get to see all of them!

I made a big decision today. Those of you who have heard me talk about my weening process for Vincent, will probably think, "STILL?" Well, "still" no more. I had told David about a week or so ago that I think both Vincent and I are ready to be done with nursing all together.

I have been actively weening him since January. Prior to that, it just seemed to lessen and lessen naturally. By January, he was only nursing 4 times a day. Last weekend, we started to drop the last nursing, which is first thing in the morning. With a slight change of our morning routine, Vincent has become less and less interested. This morning, I decided that tomorrow will be his last nursing. It's actually more for me, than for him. As you can see from his photos, Vincent is a happy eater, and his cow's milk intake is up to almost a gallon a week! I guess you can say that I need the closure. Though I feel really good about this decision, I am still feeling emotional. I will miss it. There's a look he gets while nursing that I won't ever see again. And, without that extra connection we get each morning, he has become more attached to his dad. I think this is wonderful for the two of them, even if I'm a little sad.

Whoah, the tears are starting to flow as I write!

Remembering how I struggled with nursing Vincent those first couple of months, I am so proud of myself for having gone this long. I am surprised at how much I loved giving this part of myself to him, and at how hard it has been for me to give it up. Thank you to everyone who have been so supportive along with way. Thank you, Vincent, for adjusting well to the weening, and for a sweet time together. And, thank you, David, for being my rock. Without you, your flexibility, your support, your hard work, and your love, I couldn't have done this so well.