Luca feeds himself

Sitting in his own chair, Luca feeds himself with a spoon. His hand is steady and he's very proud of himself. After he is full, he plays with what's left in his bowl and has a lot of fun with it.

By the way, Luca hates wearing a bib, so there is always a big mess after a meal.

Maya has started Swedish school

Maya has started to go to a Swedish school 1:30pm to 3:30pm every Friday. It's in Los Gatos, about three miles from home. The teacher is Monica. A very nice woman. There're about 10 to 12 kids in the class. They learn Swedish, do art and other fun projects.

Today Maya makes friends with a girl called Emily, who's also 4-year-old. They play really nice together, running, talking, holding hands, doing gymnastics. Maya is looking forward to seeing her again next Friday. Luca has fun playing with a 14-month-old girl too. They chase each other and play peekaboo, giggling a lot. But the fun is cut short when the girl, out of curiosity, puts her fingers into Luca's mouth. Well, Luca is a biter and has sharp teeth. :( Ouch.

Since Maya started the school, she's a little more willing to speak Swedish to daddy. Daddy needs to get better speaking Swedish to her. Persistence is key when it comes to language.

Luca's first words

Should have written this one a while back. But we've been so busy. There's still a lot to do for the house and we need another car because daddy's old BMW is gone. Also, Luca has been sick since last weekend (after we got back from Half Moon Bay). He had a fever for two days, and still coughs and has a running nose. On top of all these, he's  bothered by teething. He hasn't eaten much solid food and mommy has been giving him extra bottles of milk to make sure he drinks enough.

Here are his first words other than mama, papa, dada, etc. He's very talkative.
Byebye
Maya
jiejie (sister in Chinese)
nainai (milk in Chinese)
Titta (look in Swedish)

He's barely 15 months old and already speaks three languages :)

Last night he made us laugh so hard with his newly acquired talent: jumping. He stuck his head forward and then straightened his back with great force. He did it repeatedly and had fun with it. Too bad we didn't record these moments.

Here are some photos from Half Moon Bay. We went there with Maya's best friend, Ethan B's family.

Maya biking without training wheels!!

We started Sunday morning with "Daddy, I want to ride my bike today. I need to practice so we can go mountain biking together". How cool would that be? To go biking with Maya on her own bike and Luca in the child seat behind me, that would be really fantastic! Exercising with my kids would be so fun.

Sunday was just our second attempt without training wheels so I was looking "forward" to a long day of running behind Maya's folded in half holding on to her seat. Was I wrong or what! Within 5 minutes Maya started riding on her own, without any support at all. I got so carried away that I forgot to take anymore videos so this is all we've got.

I have to admit that I was a very proud and somewhat smug father when the dad that we met last weekend showed up with his 5.5 year old son to practice. The dad said "Wow, how much have you practiced since last weekend?" I proudly responded...."not at all, this is her 2nd time. Don't worry, I'm sure your son will figure it out too. You know, kids learn at different speeds"  :D  I know you shouldn't compare kids to each other but I couldn't help to compare.

I'm so very proud of you Maya! You are such a tough, fearless, adventurous and wonderful girl. You don't give up and you are never afraid to try new things.

Happy New Year of the Snake

02/09

It's the Chinese New Year of the Snake. Xin Nian Kuai Le, Wan Shi Ru Yi! Maya sings a Chinese new year song to waigong, waipo, dajiu and xiaojiu on the phone. Luca doesn't know how to sing yet but he hums along.

We watch the dragon and lion dance at the San Jose Museum of Art  in the morning. Maya meets her school friends Ethan B and Clemence there and they have tons of fun. Luca enjoys the show too.

We have some friends over for dinner. It's really good to see Pey-Ning and Venkat as we haven't seem them for almost two years. Maya loves playing with Kun and Afonso's two kids: Samuel and Mecham. Dinner is a feast, with fish, chicken, ribs, nian ago, and many other dishes. Fish and nian gao are a must for the Chinese New Year as they symbolize prosperity.

The only downside of having a big party is cleaning before and after. :)

Maya bikes without training wheels

This morning Maya bikes in the neighborhood park for more than one hour. Without training wheels and without assistance from either mommy or daddy. Bravo! It's only her second time biking without training wheels, which makes the whole thing more impressive. Her first time, which was a week ago, of course, she biked with daddy's help. We're so proud of her.