Language explosion

Okay, perhaps I exaggerate but in comparison to where we were in January it feels that way lol. We took him to an early words assessment last Friday and she felt there were no issues. She did put us on the waiting list though, just in case. She felt his understanding was advanced and that he seemed to have enough words to not be overly troublesome. Since last Friday he's added even more words. He's even strung a couple together i.e. "It's an apple", "it's a ball" (sounds more like "i a baw" and "i a appoo" but close enough!!). He also says mama and has pointed to pictures of me and said mama. He also seems to consider Pat mama too though lol and hasn't said dada in awhile. He says "ya pwease" for yes please when you ask him if he wants something. He now can point at pictures if you say where's the cat or dog. He can also say baby and bear. Seems the b, m and a sounds are what he's working on right now. He also tries repeating a lot of words you say. He'll point to a picture and say what sounds like "what's that" i.e. "wa a". Then he'll watch our mouths as we say the word.

Another little aside about our funny little guy is that he seems to really find different accents interesting. As you all know he looooves the Wiggles. Other than the music we think he also likes the Australian accents. On the Best of the Wiggles DVD he becomes enraptured with the owl song because Steve Irwin does the intro. He loves Steve Irwin, so sad that he is no longer with us :( His other favourite song is the "tie me kangaroo down mate" one with Rolf Harris.

I love my cuddly, loving, stubborn and quirky little man!!

He got a much needed haircut last Sunday. Here are a few pics to finish off :)






I forgot to mention. He's been with us exactly 10 months today!

Second year molars??

Hey blogging friends with children. When did your little ones get their second year molars? Van has been really rangy the past 5 days and we can't figure out what is wrong. He hasn't had a temperature and everything else seems fine. We've tried looking in his mouth for the molars but it's impossible to see back there. We just can't figure out why he's been so nasty. Even his daycare provider can't figure it out. He's basically averaging about 5-10 tantrums/meltdowns a day (past 5 days). Normally he's a pretty happy kid and doesn't push boundaries too much (we're lucky) but the last few days he's been trying to get into trouble and then tantruming when he doesn't get his way. Also not liking things he normally likes such as baths and has decided that eating snacks in his highchair as opposed to on his comfy chair in the living room requires a dramatic meltdown. The reason we're wondering about the teething is that the last time he was this miserable all the time was when he was getting his eye teeth and molars in the late fall. I think second year molars usually come later but he did get all his other teeth on the early side. He is also very orally fixated these days and has his hands or toys in his mouth a lot. Another thing is that he's been sleeping a lot more. He actually had a morning nap on Saturday for the first time in months (other than when he was sick). Anyway, just looking for insight from parents who have gone before as we would love to know this behaviour will ease up soon lol as it's been challenging to say the least.

Here are a few examples of the hand in his mouth:

20 months old!

Van will not be at a teen age again until he is a teenager!! How crazy is that?! He turned 20 months old on Monday. Nothing too new to report in the past couple of weeks. He has a couple of more words. He consistently tries to say Chibi when we do although he won't attempt her name on his own. He now says mama and daddy/dada to refer to us (took long enough little stinker! I've only been waiting patiently for you to call me mama for almost 10 months :) ). We are heading to an early words check-up on Friday and I am very interested to see what they say (no pun intended).

On Saturday we met up with Sam, Woody, Max and Vanh along with Francesca and baby Matteo for a stroll around Chinatown. It was Van's first time having an extended walk on city streets. He did amazingly well and was none too happy whenever we had to pick him up or put him in the stroller. He expects that he should be able to walk all the time now. Unfortunately we don't have enough time in a day to get from point A to point B with a toddler who walks a block in 10 minutes lol.

The gorgeous arch again (Pat took the pics and didn't really get any of Van on his outdoor hiking adventures this time):


Hanging out on the corner;


Pho for lunch, yum! Pat took some great pics of the ever photogenic twins Max and Vanh:


Max (thanks Sam lol):



Vanh:



My baby boy enjoying his lunch:




Hanging out at home in his shell suit (for my UK/Ireland friends/family lol):



Yes, he needs a haircut. Not sure he is really rockin the mullet...


Another fun walk, this time around the neighbourhood and to the park:





The now requisite monthly table shot. 20 months old! (first thing in the morning before being taken to daycare. Hence the dazed look):

Over nine months with little dude!

On May 31st last year we became a family and Van became a part of our lives forever. That was over 9 months ago!! On March 11th he will have been in Canada for 9 months. He has been with us almost as long as he was at the orphanage. Time sure does fly. I took a trip down memory lane yesterday as I gathered together his adoption papers to be sent off for translation (we've decided to be proactive and get all our ducks in a row for the epic name change process we will begin in June). I shed a few tears as I read through his papers and saw the little picture sent with his medical. I chuckled and then shed a few more tears when I saw his unbelievably cute passport photo taken while we were in Hanoi. Oh how I miss the cockatoo hair :) It has been quite the journey so far and all I can say is I don't think I could possibly love this little guy anymore than I do. He is quirky, strong willed, annoying, crazy, loving, funny as hell and our little man. We are so lucky to have him. When I think about all we went through to get to this point it seems impossible that we have him in our lives. But he is here and we are so grateful.

I've decided to post a few choice pics from the past 9 months (I'll be doing this again when we reach a year....maybe before too lol):

Our first day at the orphanage:


G&R ceremony:


11 months:


1 year:


13 months:


14 months:


15 months:


16 months:


17 months:


18 months:


19 months:


(excuse my hair, yeesh)






Love you peanut! xo