Not being first time to the mountains (remember our last trip report to Canadian rockies?), owen quickly adjusted himself from a city boy to a nature lover, and showed his profound love for the adventure, he even waved to the Elk next to the road.

As far as the highlight of the day trip, two things were stuck in my mind.. one is the great find of Thai Orchid restaurant near Hickory (the Spicy noodle and Thai chicken really broke my happiness meter), and the other being Four Point hotel at Asheville (it blew away my low expectation for a Four Point hotel by seeing the modern furniture and a big LCD screen, plus free cookies and drink)

As usual, enjoy the photos.

Variety is the spice of 2-year-old life. Your child needs exposure to all kinds of playthings and places to stimulate his developing brain.”

Now that statement is burned into my mind and I try to expose Owen to as many different things and places as I possibly can.

Our first trip that weekend was to visit our nearby park. Daddy was busy, so it was just Owen baby and I. It was a pretty sunny day with breeze so the canoes and kayaks were out. Needless to say, I took advantage of these stimuli and urged Owen to explore them. I have to come to realize, however, that Owen is quite timid when it comes to new things…he is afraid of them and needs coaxing before he would even come near them. I attribute this to our (grandparents as well as myself) over-protectiveness when he was younger. We will work to help Owen becoming more daring.

As you can see from the pics, Owen did finally get into the kayak and canoe! (of course Mommy had to get in it first to show him that it won’t hurt him).

Today, my two aunties (Mommy’s younger cousins) took me to the library for our usual storytime sessions. We got there late so we missed the session but we stayed there for a little while to read books.

While I was reading, there was a 21-month-old American gorgeous little girl who noticed me and kept glancing my way. She finally inched her way towards me, greeted me with a cheerful “Hi!” and wanted to stay by my side to read with me. Unfortunately, I do not have a thing for her so I mumbled “Hello” reluctantly at the urging of my aunties and then turned my back toward her (not forgetting to take my book with me so I can continue reading without interruption). Mommy said that wasn’t very nice and I should share, but she should know that feelings can not be forced…there’s just no chemistry between the two of us!!!

There was another girl that was also interested in me but she’s too young even to be considered.

*Sigh* I am only 2 and I already have to fight off the girls…what am I going to do when I grow up?! ;P

As usual, Mommy was going to fill up my “baby tub” but I wouldn’t let her. I kept on telling her to put it away. She tried a couple of times (mainly because she can save some water ;P but also because she was afraid for whatever reason, I may lose my posture and go under) but I wouldn’t give in so finally she did and filled up the big tub. I kind of changed my mind after Mommy filled up 1/3 of the tub since it looks kind of intimidating and hesitated in going in but she was determined not to waste water, so she put me in despite my protests. After getting in though, it wasn’t so bad after all! It’s just like the good old times, except now I have much more leg room…it’s actually like having my own miniature pool!

I am starting to run out of things to play with though…already know the alphabets like the back of my hand so the foam letters are not fun anymore. Think Mommy is thinking of getting me bath crayons…;P

Mommy doesn’t know which one is correct - what she does know is that I am EXTREMELY fickle nowadays and am sometimes REALLY living up to the “terrible two” reputation!

Don’t know why either, but it seems like all of a sudden, I know I am two and I should act that way. Give me two choices and I will drive you up the wall by switching back and forth between the two until your head spins. For example, the other night, I wanted Mommy to hold me so she did. As soon as she did, I told her no, no, I want to get down. As soon as she let me down, I changed my mind again and wanted her to pick me back up. I have to say, Mommy is indeed very patient with me - she still obliged. I thought this was very fun and wanted to see how long I could keep this up so I asked her to put me down again - this time, she said “Ok, Owen, let Mommy know when you make up your mind.” and walked away. I think she’s starting to take heed what the nurse informed her: be firm and don’t let me have my way because I am testing her and seeing how far I could go with her.

As I observe Owen explore and play everyday, I am often reminded of what it is like to be a kid. Watching him say hi and bye to goldfishes in restaurants and plastic rabbits in yard, I am reminded to be friendly and kind to all living and non-living things. Observing his insistence on removing his choo-choo train from its designated track and “driving” it up the stairs (meant for the little people that comes with the playset), I am reminded of children’s boundless imagination (there’s no limitation on what you can or can’t do). Sherwood often corrects him, saying “Trains need to stay on track, only people take the stairs.”, I advise him to just let Owen be - and let him do whatever he wants in his imaginary world. Why restrain his imagination and put limitations on what he can or can’t do when it’s not necessary? Frankly, I envy Owen’s simple and anything-is-possible world; for me, that’s the best part of being a kid, so I want him to enjoy that world for as long as possible.

P.S. On behalf of Owen to Uncle Raj: Thank you, Uncle Raj, for remembering my birthday! You are my #1 fan and I love you so! Hope to meet you one day!

Really need to get back on track…esp since in the past 2 months, Owen has also become exponentially interactive - talks a lot (actually saying first word, then 2 words, and now phrases that we understand ;P) and frequently does or says things that just crack us up!

Let me first start off by sharing his dancing moves from last month…he danced a whole song from a Chinese soap opera (2.5 minutes) from start to finish. Poor Owen got so tired at the very end he could barely move and kept looking at the singing cell phone as to say “when are you going to stop?!” - but the little man has got perseverance and despite the odds, kept going and finished .

It was a hot day, but obviously the 1.5 year old is not so hot about the zoo, he felt asleep before even seeing the sleeping lions (don’t know why, this is the 2nd time we saw the lions in NC zoo, the lions were sleeping when visited last time). Fortunately we get enough photos before he started day-dreaming…

So here is bit of advice, if you do plan to bring your little baby travel, make sure you plan the schedule to cover the things you want him/her to do/see in the morning.  Sleeping is very contiguous - by 2pm, we have seen most parents/grandparents were carrying sleeping children (in very many sleeping poses)…

Looking back at 22 months of breastfeeding - 20 of those REAL feedings until April - there are so many memories. From waking up every hour when Owen was just born, to my highly stressed period during Owen’s first year (not due to caring for Owen, but my self-imposed goal to nurse him through at least the first year), to my insistence to go just a little further to 18 months, to finally conceding to it’s time to wean him.

I think back to all the things I have done to ensure that I can nurse Owen as long as I possibly can and can honestly say that I have done my best:

- nursing every hour in the beginning
- coming home during lunch from work every weekday for 20 months
- countless HUGE bowls of fish and pigfeet soups to stimulate milk glands (I don’t even eat pigfeet!) every night during the first year
- pumping every 3 hours at work during the first year

Although it has caused some level of inconvenience to my life, I did not mind it at all and would do it all again in a heartbeat given the endless benefits to Owen. I have really treasured these intimate moments with Owen, cuddling him close to me and happily watching his little face grow content in the nursing process, and just basking in the joy of motherhood and my God-given ability to provide him with the nature’s best food.

The intimacy is a big reason why I am weaning him so late…I do not want to let it go. I am not ready to let it go. I don’t think I ever will. Owen seems to have a hard time letting go as well, as he certainly does not need the milk anymore, but still wants to nurse. It’s still the first thing we do when we wake up in the morning, when we come home, before we sleep at night, and through the night. Both of us need time to slowly let go, so we’ll let nature take its course.

Really glad I came across this article because we usually place Owen’s car seat in either rear outboard positions but never in the center for ease of access and keeping an eye on our angel. But with a stat like that - a whopping 43% lower risk - I will happily do more stretching in putting Owen in and out of his car seat. Regardless of where he seats in the back, I can’t really see his face anyways, so why not put him in the safest seat?!