Wheeeee!

Mummy and Daddy took me to Vasona Lake Park in Los Gatos for the very first time. Even though it was nippy out and the sun had already set, I had a lot of fun being outside. Here's a clip of daddy taking me down the slide (you guessed it) for another first!

My First Christmas!

Daddy, Mummy and I on Christmas day!

Max and I were the only ones dressed for the occasion.

No lumps of coal for me!

Merry Christmas 2008!

Warmest wishes from our family!

Happy Birthday, Mummy!

Mummy said her birthday this year is by far the best ever because she gets to celebrate it with not one, but her two favorite guys (with me being her number 1 favorite followed closely behind by daddy!) Here's a biiiiiiig smooch for you mummy because I love you lots too!

Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday, dear Mummy!
Happy Birthday to you!

Winner of a new Ipod Shuffle

That's right, you're looking at the winner of a new Ipod Shuffle (in green) from my company holiday party at David's Restaurant in Santa Clara! (Okay okay I confess - I managed to persuade a colleague to trade in his Ipod Shuffle with my $50 Spa Certificate WITHOUT any arm twisting!!!) It's a fair trade, right? :)

Happy Holidays Y'all! :)

My First Taste Of Rice Cereal

There's only one word to describe this experience --- YUMMY! :) Keep the solids coming, Mummy & Daddy! :)

A visitor in the office

Ed is off on PFL (Paid Family Leave) this week to bond with Adrian. I must admit, I was a bit jealous that he gets to stay at home with Adrian while I became the "breadwinner" of the week, but my biggest concern was with Ed bathing Adrian since he's never done it before, let alone to do it unsupervised. Although, Adrian got to splash around a little more and stayed in the tub a little longer than usual, Ed did a marvelous job and I came home to a clean and yummy smelling baby. I did hear that Ed did get a "little" wet from the splashes, but the evidence (i.e the clothes) were disposed off in the hamper before I got home! Good job, honey! :)

Ed also brought Adrian by my work to visit me and my colleagues. Look! He's already interested in grabbing the mouse and tapping on my laptop! Way to go son! :)


Note: Please excuse the mess in the background as I just moved into a new cube for the umpteenth time and couldn't be bothered to unpack my boxes! :)

Rollover Rollover!

I've been able to rollover for a while now, but today mummy just so happen to have her camera available and most importantly -- I felt like cooperating! :)

Our Family Decal

We decided to pick up a family decal for our family car. Unfortunately, we couldn't find one that matches our physical appearance. In other words, they didn't come with Asian styled haircuts, so no spikey 'do for Ed and long layers for me. Also, Adrian is quite smaller than his decal below, but we figured it'll only be a matter of time before he becomes a toddler.

The Tam Family

Christmas in the Park in SJ

We journeyed over to downtown San Jose so that Adrian could check out all of the cool Christmas trees at Christmas in the Park. Half of the mum's and dad's population in San Jose must've felt the same way too! The place was packed with couples and families with children of all sizes. It's a good thing that we decided to carry Adrian around in a baby Bjorn so we didn't have to worry about having to steer the stroller around people and things.

Although he may be too young to understand the excitement of Christmas, I have a sneaky suspicion that Santa is going to spoil him rotten this year! Aside from the fact that he's still not sleeping through the entire night, Adrian has been a pretty good boy to mummy and daddy! :)

My 4-month check up

Here I am getting measured at my 4-month check up.

Measuring in at 25.5 inches tall, I'm in the 67.93% percentile.

Weighing in at 16lbs 4oz, I'm in the 73.16% percentile.

Holding my own bottle!

And since all of the adults were too busy eating at the dinner table, I had no choice but to be more independent and feed myself! :)

Starfish

This is one of my favorite past times, which Mummy coined as the "Starfish" move. That's because my actions bears a striking resemblance to a Starfish. I having a ball of a time! :)

Family

Our happy little family out and about on an unusually warm mid-November afternoon. Adrian enjoyed being bobbed along in the comfort of the baby Bjorn that was securely fastened onto daddy. Adrian was also sporting a cool hat to shield his cute cherubic face from the strong sun rays.

My First Halloween

Happy Halloween from the Tam Family!

Pumpkin Pail? Check! I'm ready to go Trick or Treating now! :)

Trick or Treat?

Which of these Halloween costumes should I wear for my first Halloween?


A. Turtle


B. Kung-Fu Panda


C. Caterpillar

3 Month Update

So I just turned THREE MONTHS old and I'm beginning to notice some major improvement in my ability to wave my arms and kick my legs. During the rare few moments when I'm not swaddled or when my arms escape from the wrath of the receiving blanket, I take full advantage in my freedom to wave and kick madly around. My hands have discovered my mouth and I enjoy placing both fists in my mouth. I haven't ventured into sucking my thumb yet, but there have been a few occasions where my thumb mistakenly makes its way to my mouth. Mummy & daddy have been extra careful not to leave me unattended because I have a tendency to roll to my right when I'm lying on my back. This might be the onset to my being able to roll over soon!

My neck muscle is pretty strong for a 3-month old thanks to all of the tummy time that Mummy & Daddy have given me. They FINALLY brought out the cool box that was sitting in the storage room and collecting dust for me to play with. And it's a..... Jumparoo! Thanks to Uncle Stephen & Auntie Jinny, I get to jump up and down, and listen to the cool music and see varying lights go off.

Check me out chilling in my Jumparoo! It's way cool!



(In case you're wondering, yes that's me on a Wii Fit. Since I'm still small and my feet doesn't quite reach the floor, my quick thinking parents figured this would help in allowing me to plant my feet firmly down. It's not like they have time to play on the Wii anyways!)

Gettin' Jiggy Wit It

Mummy captured me dancing (and sneezing) to an episode of "Dancing with the Stars."

My 2 month check-up

<-- Here I am at my 2 month check up! I'm feeling a bit shy before I strip down into my birthday suit for the big weigh in.










<-- And the scale reads 12lbs 2oz!!!

<-- Daddy held me to comfort me after I braved THREE shots and ingested a fourth medication orally.









Dr. Pediatrician said I'm doing great. I am 23.25 inches tall, weigh 12.2 lbs with a head circumference of 40cm. I am in the 59%, 58.66% and 48.97% percentile respectively.

One month update

Hi Ya! Sorry it has been a while since my first blog, but this past month has been an eventful one for me. First of all, I fought and "won"my battle with jaundice and then I had to tackle a fever of 102 degrees. Thankfully, I was feeling 100% better by the time of my red egg & ginger party.

To back-track. Mummy introduced me to tummy time during week 2 and let me tell you --- I LOOOOOVE tummy time! On some days, I can lift my head to the left and then to the right, while on other days, I just exercise my neck muscles by lifting it up high. That way, I can also look around and stare at all the cool things in my room. I'm getting really good at lifting my head up so I can't wait for the next challenge that mummy introduces me to.

My umbilical cord stump finally dropped off at just over 2.5 weeks. Gone are the days of the sponge bath. Now, I get to "chill" in a tub! I absolutely loooove bath time. Michael Phelps watch out -- I'm only a baby, but boy do I have a mean kick. Mummy told me that when I'm a bit older, she and daddy are going to take me swimming. I can't wait!!! I already don't mind getting water splashed all over my face. In fact, I enjoy every second of it. I think I should be on track to take swimming lessons soon! :)

Mummy and daddy threw a biiiiiiig red egg & ginger party at my one month mark and it felt great to be the guest of honor! I got to meet lots of familyand friends who spoiled me with lots of gifts and red envelopes. I'm not sure what's inside of them, but it felt cool to be the center of attention. Mummy and daddy kept complimenting on how well behaved I was that day. They said that I was not one bit fussy and slept through all of the conversations that were happening around me. I also woke up to take pictures and didn't mind being passed around for the pictures.

Oh and Grandma Tran gave me my first haircut! Yup, I was sporting a nice 'do for my red egg & ginger party! Thanks Grandma!! :)

Mum's still taking a gazillion pictures of me so feel free to take a peek at my gallery.

Hello World!

Hola!

I'd like to introduce myself. My name is Adrian Brandon Tam and I decided to make my grand entrance on Friday, July 25th 2008 at 6:38AM (well, if the truth be told, mummy "forced" me out because I had overstayed my welcome in her womb by a whole week -- I just couldn't help it as it was just too comfy!). I weighed in at a hefty 8lbs 5oz and 21 inches (supposedly 21 inches is the "new" average). To show my appreciation for mummy's awesome room and board for the past 9 months, I tried to keep her labor as short as possible. Mummy went into labor at 6:15PM, but didn't start pushing until around 5:50AM in the morning. I didn't want to torture mummy by having her push for hours so i decided to come out after 40 minutes. Even Mummy was shocked that I had came out so fast -- head and body all in one swoop! To show how brave I was, I didn't even cry as I left my humble abode of 41 weeks when I entered this world. Mummy rewarded me by hugging me tightly and telling me how much she loves me. Aww! How it felt so warm and safe to be held in her arms!

I couldn't wait to lie in daddy's strong muscular arms, but there were lots to be done. The nurses were fussing over me and I enjoyed every minute of their attention. Daddy did a great job of cutting my umbilical cord and wasn't nervous at all. I had to be whisked away for a bit so the nurses could conduct some further checkup. Apparently, I drank a bit too much water when I was inside mummy's womb. The nurses took good care of me and it wasn't long before I was returned to my mummy and daddy!

I'm getting hungry now, so I'm going to "tell" mummy and daddy that I'm hungry. It's bizarre, but when I open my mouth to tell them something, instead of hearing my words, they hear me crying. Note to self -- I better improve on my communications skills so they'll understand me better!

Mummy took a gazillion of pictures of me already and I'll ask her to post them as soon as she can. I've been keeping mummy busy with my constant need for feeding, pooping and peeing. I'll try to sleep in today so she can post the pictures soon.

More to come.....

Still no sign of Baby Tam yet...

Only 4 days until my big D-Day, but still no sign of Baby Tam yet. Since I've never been a big fan of having a holiday baby, I told him not to come out on the 4th of July and that he can come out anytime AFTER Independence day. Well, 10 days have passed and I think he's still taking my words to heart and is refusing to come out! Both Ed and I are now telling him on a regular basis to "come out to play". Hopefully, he'll listen and do just that VERY SOON!

All in a day's work

My car has been in dire need of a car wash for a loooooong while now. So after our papa's day lunch at Super Buffer, Ed was super sweet enough to wash my car. While Ed was cleaning my car, my uber cute nephew, Alan wanted in on the action. The only problem was he would still sponge down the car even AFTER the car had been rinsed and was ready for drying!

(Disclaimer - in case this reaches the hands of the child protection agency, technically Alan didn't really clean the car, but it was cute seeing him attempt to help out!)

A chat with Chow Yun-Fat

One of my aunts in England recently opened a small Vietnamese restaurant in London and was surprised by a very special visit by none other than the legendary actor -- Chow Yun-Fat. Filled with overjoyment, my aunt called my mum to tell her about the presence of the famous actor sitting in her restaurant. My aunt then decided to pass the phone to Chow Yun-Fat so that he and my mum could converse. Apparently, Chow Yun-Fat enjoyed the food -- crab, banh xeo (vietnamese crepe) etc. so much that he not only devoured everything on his plate, he also proclaimed that he'll be returning again for another meal!

I hope this will be the start of a very successful restaurant for my aunt and her family!

Our Baby Shower

Ed and I had our co-ed baby shower this past Saturday, which was a lot of fun! Since most of our guests were Asians, we mistakenly thought that they'll arrive on "Asian Time". Interestingly enough, our guests were very punctual and one-by-one -- individuals, couples and families started to pour in. We were a little embarrassed for not being more prepared for our guests. For the next 20 minutes, our wonderful helpers -- Christine, Nicole and Ed's parents rushed around preparing the fruit salad and getting all of the hot food items into the chafing dish. Thankfully, food was served not too long after! Whew!

We would like to thank all of our friends and family for spending a beautiful Saturday afternoon with us and for their wonderful gifts (plus those that are still in transit). Baby Tam now has all of the essentials waiting for him when he decides to make his grand entrance!

We're also extremely gracious to all of our helpers (you know who you are) for all of your help and support at this special event. Thank you!!!

(Full screen)

No mas Baby Crib!

We found out that the awesome baby crib that we had registered for Baby Tam is no longer available on our Babies R Us registry today. Eagered to find out what had happened, I called our local Babies R Us store and was told that the manufacturer had placed a STOP SALE on the Jardine line and to have the product removed from the sales floor until further notice. The kind gentlemen tried to comfort me by saying that the situation could've been worse and that there could've been a product recall issued for the crib instead! He then provided me with a 1-800 number to inquire for further details.

I dialed the 1-800 number and was told by the rep that it was NOT they (the manufacturer) that had issued the STOP SALE, but Babies R Us headquarters themselves for a "inventory line production safety overview". Unfortunately, that was all the information he could provide and advised that I call Babies R Us myself.

Determined to get to the bottom of this mess, I googled for a number to Babies R Us headquarters and was placed on hold. Finally,

after talking to the operator, I was transferred to the voicemail box of a lady in the Babies R Us division where I left a voice message for her to call back. [Note: it has been 7+ hours since I left the VM and I have yet to receive a call back]

My experience have taught me not to wait for a call back, so I googled for some more numbers at Babies R Us. This time, this rep denied that Babies R Us was responsible for the STOP SALE and that it was the manufacturer who had issued it. What a bunch of he said / she said!!! Anyhow, he provided with another number to call for further information.

I dialed the new number and instead of being placed on hold, I was actually on the line with a live person!!! Woohoo! Unfortunately, the rep was unable to provide any further information other than the fact that this is a normal practice and that products are periodically pulled from the sales floor for safety investigations, which may last anywhere from 2 to 6 weeks! I explained my predicament to her -- the fact that we had already purchased the diaper changing table and threw away the box, but needed to purchase the matching crib to complete the nursery! -- and not to mention that I'm only 7 weeks shy of my D-DAY!!! The rep was sympathetic towards my situation and suggested that I keep my receipt for the diaper changing table and that I may want to consider looking for a different crib instead! Yuck!!!!

Granted, that we will become "elite" members of the Babies R Us "club" in the months/years to come, I'm really not looking forward to shopping around for another crib/diaper changing set after spending months to find a set that we both really liked!

And the winner is...

The Volvo XC-90!

This weekend, we were lured into Smythe Volvo due to a special weekend promotion that they had on the XC-90 models. While the price was somewhat appealing, it lacked all of the extra features that Ed and I were looking for. After many hours of reviewing the different features available in the various packages and a second test drive, the offer presented wasn't quite sweet enough for us to buckle down and drop the benjamins.

Having skipped breakfast and lunch, Ed and I left to grab some food when the salesperson called to try to sweeten the deal that was left on the table, we politely responded that we would consider it knowing full well that it still didn't quite cut it for us. Our next stop of the day was to load up on goodies at Costco where we received yet another call from the salesperson, this time Ed and I were too busy to talk and offered to call him back at which point we presented the package that would allow him to cinch the deal. That salesperson, of course had to check with his manager if he could succumb to our deal, but instead of politely declining to meet our expectation, he went off on us on how he had attempted to meet us in the middle and that there is a baseline where he can't continue to negotiate. He also added that he can't continue to "play" like this AND not to expect a phone call from them! How rude! Although, we had decided that we were going to purchase an SUV for our new bundle of joy, Baby Tam isn't expected to make his grand entrance until a few more months. We certainly weren't in a hurry to purchase the SUV and could afford to wait until a better deal came along...

Well, 5 minutes later, the phone rang again and this time, it was the salesperson's manager who called to say that the deal was ours if we wish to take it.

Although we didn't appreciate the rude comments from the salesperson, we realized that the deal was too good to walk away from.

Baby Tam is certainly costing his mummy and daddy a few arms and legs even before his special arrival!

Test Driving

After visiting a crappy granite store, we stopped by Piercey Toyota to test drive the Toyota Highlander Hybrid Limited. The gas mileage is nice, about 25mpg, but it just wasn't very stylish or luxurious on the inside. The ride was just so-so also. There wasn't much cargo space for strollers and groceries if we have the third row bench up.

We also visited the Volvo dealership near our house. The XC90 was a much nicer car, better ride, more cargo space, but only 17mpg or so. Ugh, gas will cost a fortune in this thing.

Next step is to test drive the MDX, X5 and RX400h...

Our detailed ultrasound @ 18 weeks...

Our Valentine's day was extra special this year as it also coincides with our detailed ultrasound appointment. Our gift to each other was to learn the gender of our precious bundle of joy.

And we're having......a BOY!!!