Photos: Malaysia, Papa, Aunt, Uncle, and Cousin

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Dad holding a plate of cake with one hand and Lydia with another hand

June 25, 2007

Living room at Bernard's and Choo's home in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia

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Lydia about to give something to her auntie Choo

(left to right): Isaac (Lydia's nephew), Lydia, and Choo

June 16, 2007

Living room at Bernard's and Choo's home in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia



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Uncle Bernard holding something that has interested Lydia, who is wearing her red hibiscus dress, a gift from her auntie Maylee

The hibiscus is the national flower of Malaysia.

June 25, 2007

Living room at Bernard's and Choo's home in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia



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This photo of Feiling (one of Lydia's cousins) carrying Lydia occurred in a restaurant in Malacca. I did not bring the camera, but fortunately, Lin Li, Feiling's brother, brought his Olympus digital point and shoot camera that was used to take this picture.

Photo note: Because point and shoot cameras have built-in, direct flash, the background is not illuminated by the flash.

June 21, 2007

Chinese restaurant in Malacca, Malaysia

Cleanliness and Orderliness

July 13, 2007


Cleanliness and Orderliness

SiowFong commented tonight that two of Lydia’s qualities that she love are the little Princess’ tidiness and her orderliness. (During our two-year adoption process, SiowFong had consistently asked God for a child who was clean, organized, and traveled well, and God answered her prayers with Lydia!)

Here are some examples.

About a week and a half ago, Lydia carefully placed her fork and spoon in the middle of the plate after finishing her dinner. When she sees us wiping the tray table on her high chair, she will sometimes take the cloth and finish the job.

Earlier today, after Lydia finished drinking from her bottle of water, she placed it on the mouse pad atop the coffee table where it sometimes resides.

Lydia also enjoys helping her mother do laundry. She loves handing dirty articles of clothing from the laundry basket to her mom so that SiowFong can then place them in the washing machine, and after the clothes are washed, she likes placing them in the dryer.

Last Saturday, when Silvia was visiting us to teach Lydia some Spanish, Lydia made noises to communicate to us that she wanted the guests to sit on the sofa in a certain order: SiowFong on one side, Silvia in the middle, and Kyvin on the other side.

Because Lydia likes to doodle, we place her in her high chair, give her a ballpoint pen and a piece of paper, and let her scribble away. Sometimes she gets ink on one or both of her hands, and when she does, she notifies us by making some sounds and raising her affected hand(s) to ask for a cleaning.

About ten minutes ago as SiowFong was folding laundry, Lydia saw some fragments of tissue paper on the floor, and on her own initiative, she picked up the pieces and deposited them in the trash can.

Finally, just a minute ago, on the sofa was a magazine that SiowFong had left after she finished reading it earlier tonight. Lydia saw it, picked it up, and gave it to her mother.

Photos: Malaysia, Tent

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Lydia playing with a variety of toys inside the tent, which was used to store many of the toys that her nephew Isaac had. When Lydia first arrived at Ma Wee's home and she saw the tent, she was afraid to go inside it. A day later, only with some coaxing would she enter the tent, and then she would stay only as long as SiowFong or I was stationed at the tent's entrance.

June 15, 2007

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Lydia inspecting the basket of toys.

Photo note: The white walls and roof of the tent are wonderful for bouncing the light from the flash to illuminate everything inside the tent evenly.


June 15, 2007




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Lydia playing with a cup.

June 14, 2007

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The tent, which was purchased from Ikea in Malaysia, measures about 4 feet in length by 4 feet in width and is abou 4 feet tall.

Photo Note: One of the nice features about the tent is that all of its surfaces besides the blue floor are white. In this picture, a remote (off-camera) flash was mounted on a clamp attached to the roof of the tent. Once the button on the camera was pressed to take the picture, the flash commander unit on the camera's hot shoe simultaneously fired the flash, whose light shot through the white colored fabric to illuminate the tent's interior with just a little spillover to neighboring pieces of furniture in the living room.

June 14, 2007

Note: All these pictures were taken in the living room at Ma Wee's home in Batu Pahat, Malaysia.

Potato Porridge

July 12, 2007


Potato Porridge

When Ma Wee was staying with us, she often made congee or rice porridge for Lydia. Now I am feeding Lydia potato porridge for lunch and dinner each day this week. In the morning around 8:00 AM, I dice two or three small red potatoes and place them in a saucepan with some water. To this mix, I add some mini carrots that have been halved longitudinally, some sliced onions, a few sugar snap peas, and a 2-inch lump of pork as well as a pinch of Montreal steak seasoning. I boil the contents of the saucepan for a half hour, which thoroughly cooks the meat and sufficiently softens the vegetables. Around noon and around 5:00 PM, I dice the pork into ¼ inch chunks, and I warm up the porridge. Then I scoop enough porridge out to make one layer of food on her plastic child’s dish, which is 7 inches in diameter.


Lydia’s Eating Habits

Lydia usually manages to consume about 2/3rds of the food on the plate. She prefers using her left hand to do most tasks, including eating, and she employs it about 80 percent of the time during meals. Having observed her eating habits, I know that she eats the pea pods and carrots first. Then she eats some meat, and she eats the potatoes last.

If she sees that I am eating something different that is not contained on her plate, then she motions and makes noises towards me to tell me that she wants to try some of my food too. When she is full, she will lift the plate and hand it to me. If SiowFong or I ask if she is full when she is full, she will use her left hand to rub the bib.

Photos: Malaysia, Hat

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Lydia attired with her favorite hat, her yellow sun hat

June 9, 2007

Our hotel room in Sheraton - Hong Kong

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What a smile !

June 9, 2007

Our hotel room in Sheraton - Hong Kong

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Lydia using her sun hat on a hot day in Malaysia

June 23, 2007

Historic downtown area of Malacca, Malaysia

Paramount Park

July 10, 2007


Paramount Park

Tonight was Lydia’s first experience of a picnic at a local park and her visit to a fourth local park. Shortly after SiowFong returned home from work, we drove to a local Kentucky Fried Chicken eatery after 6:00 PM to buy a ten piece bucket of legs and thighs cooked according to the Original Recipe along with mashed potatoes and baked beans. (We rarely go to Kentucky Fried Chicken as this is only the second time in the last four and a half years that we have bought anything there.)

Then we proceeded to Paramount Park, arriving there at 6:30 PM. Unique to this park is a large square gazebo whose dimensions are probably around 40 feet in length and 40 feet in width. Sitting underneath the gazebo are seven picnic tables. When we arrived, six of the tables were occupied by some families that homeschool their children, so we sat at the last table.

As Lydia had eaten her potato porridge for supper at home, she was not very hungry, but she relished the baked beans. After eating, she enjoyed observing the other families who were launching rockets at the park. Before we knew it, it was 8:30 PM, and we headed home.

Photos: Malaysia, Grandma 2

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Ma Wee ("Pour Pour" or maternal grandmother in Chinese) showing Lydia some pictures from her photo album of images made of her two-week long trip to China and her five-month long stay in America

June 12, 2007

Living room at Bernard's and Choo's home in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia

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(front row, left to right: Ma Wee, Lydia (in her nephew Isaac's car seat), and SiowFong
(back row: Maylee)

June 12, 2007

Bernard's Toyotal Unser minivan

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Lydia sleeping in Ma Wee's lap

June 15, 2007

Living room of Ma Wee's home in Batu Pahat, Malaysia

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"Pour pour" feeding Lydia some Nestle Lactogen 2 formula while Lydia is holding onto a stuffed dog

June 14, 2007

Living room at Ma Wee's home in Batu Pahat, Malaysia

Lydia's Recollections of "Pour Pour"

July 9, 2007


Lydia’s Recollections of “Pour Pour”


So far in Lydia’s life, the two adults with whom she has spent the most time have been her foster mother during the first 12 months of her life and Ma Wee during the last 6 months of her life.

To remind Lydia about Ma Wee, we mention “pour pour” to Lydia each day. Often that reminder is in the form of a question. We ask Lydia where her “pour pour” is, and she responds quickly by opening up the palms of her hand to tell us that she does not know where her beloved maternal grandmother is. Lydia, however, still remembers Ma Wee. When we ask her where “pour pour’s” picture is, she points to Ma Wee, who appears on two of the photos that sit on the kitchen countertop. When we ask Lydia where Ma Wee sleeps, she points to Ma Wee’s bed in her room.

Since returning from Malaysia, SiowFong has called Ma Wee about ten times. During their conversations, SiowFong activates the speakerphone function on the phone and places Lydia on her lap so that Lydia can hear her “pour pour’s” voice. Lydia occasionally smiles when she hears Ma Wee speaking on the phone.

Photos: Malaysia, Cousins, Aunts, Etc.

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Auntie MayNah ("Di Yi", which means older aunt in Chinese, is SiowFong's eldest sibling) holding Lydia, whose left hand is grasping the right hand of Feiching, MayNah's second daughter and the youngest of her three children

June 22, 2007

Dining room of MayNah's and Yap's home in Malacca, Malaysia

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Nelly, one of Lydia's cousins who is holding a photo album that contains photos of Ma Wee's trip to China and her stay in the US, is looking at Lydia, who is gazing back at her. Ma Wee is smiling also as she observes Lydia.

(left to right): Nelly, Ma Wee, Lydia

June 15, 2007

Living room of Ma Wee's home in Batu Pahat, Malaysia




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(second row, left to right): Ting Ting (Vincent's wife) and Vincent (Lydia's cousin)
(first row, left to right): Isaac (Lydia's nephew) and Lydia

June 25, 2007

Living room at Bernard's and Choo's home in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia

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Auntie MayLee ("Si Yi, which means younger aunt in Chinese, is SiowFong's older sister) is feeding Lydia some rice porridge while Lydia is sitting on the lap of her cousin, Feiling

June 17, 2007

Living room at Ma Wee's home in Batu Pahat, Malaysia

"Mama. . .Mama. . .Mama"

July 9, 2007


“Mama. . .Mama. . .Mama”

In the last 34 days, SiowFong has been with Lydia during the day for 31 days as she worked the three days after we returned from Malaysia and as she did not work this past week because of her company’s first annual shutdown during the July 4th week. Lydia has thoroughly enjoyed her mom’s presence, particularly in the last two weeks because of Ma Wee’s absence.

Both SiowFong and I have noticed that because Lydia realizes that her mom and dad are the only people who are living in the home with her, she has drawn closer to us in the last fortnight. Her behavior is evidence of this change as she is following one of us closely most of the day and making sure that at least one – if not both – of us is in the same room with her.

At 7:00 AM today, SiowFong hugged Lydia and informed her that she was going to work. Then Lydia and I stood in the driveway and waved goodbye as SiowFong drove away. Within fifteen minutes, Lydia was standing at the gate atop the stairs, pointing at the front entrance door, and plaintively calling out “Mama. . .Mama. . .Mama”, a phrase that she repeated over a hundred times throughout the day. After not hearing any response to her plea and not seeing SiowFong, Lydia began to get fussy and started to cry. I tried to explain to her that mom had to go to work, but she kept muttering “Mama. . .Mama. . .Mama”. When I read to her, it helped for a few minutes, but she would return to searching for SiowFong, calling out to her, and crying.

Finally, I informed Lydia that we were going “gai gai” (which means going out), and she expressed her delight by smiling and stomping her feet a few times. I put Lydia in her car seat, and we left the house to do some errands and made stops at the local post office, mall, and Costco. After being away from home for three and a half hours in the morning, Lydia’s distress diminished. After she awoke from her two-hour afternoon nap, however, Lydia began to utter, “Mama. . .Mama. . .Mama”. Her unease resolved after she began watching a DVD with some familiar nursery rhymes.

When SiowFong returned home at 6:00 PM, Lydia and I met her at the door, and Lydia, whom I was holding, had a big smile on her face and was leaning forward and was trying to transfer herself into SiowFong’s arms. For the rest of the evening, Lydia shadowed her mommy until they both went to sleep shortly after 9:00 PM.

Photos: Malaysia, Bath

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Lydia smiling widely after her mom gave her a bath in the blue round washtub. In Malaysia, because of the heat and humidity, most people take at least two baths every day. During Lydia's two weeks in Malaysia, she averaged two to three baths per day.

June 14, 2007

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Lydia with a look of surprise during bath time

June 22, 2007

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Lydia happily splashing water around as she sat in the blue round washtub. In Malaysia, the entire bathroom is tiled, and unlike in America where a bathroom has a dedicated shower area, the entire bathroom is a shower.

June 14, 2007

Note: All pictures were taken in the downstairs bathroom at Ma Wee's home in Batu Pahat, Malaysia.

Double Nursery

July 8, 2007


Double Nursery


When Ma Wee was living with us, Lydia did not spend much time in our church’s toddler nursery since Ma Wee would watch Lydia at home while SiowFong and I attended the first service at our English-speaking church that begins at 9:00 AM and ends at 10:15 AM. Then we would return home, and if Ma Wee went to church, I would look after Lydia while SiowFong and Ma Wee were attending a local Chinese-speaking church.

Today Lydia received two doses of church nursery experience. After dropping Lydia off at the toddler nursery for the first service at 9:00 AM, SiowFong asked that I leave the nursery first to go to the sanctuary. After seeing that Lydia was playing fine by herself with the other two toddlers, Elizabeth and Eli, in the room, SiowFong departed fifteen minutes later. According to the two adult nursery volunteers, Susan and Jolene, Lydia did well for a half hour until she saw Elizabeth’s mom come to the nursery to change Elizabeth’s cloth diaper. Then Lydia realized that both SiowFong and I had disappeared, so she began crying and could not be consoled; as a result, the nursery workers paged SiowFong at 9:45 AM to return there to care for Lydia. When mom reappeared, Lydia’s wailing stopped.

Today was also our day to serve as toddler nursery volunteers, something that we have been doing on a monthly basis since 2003, so Lydia stayed in the room. Since more people, especially younger couples with children, attend our church’s second service that begins at 10:45 AM and ends around noon, the number of toddlers in our room increased to eight (including Lydia).

As parents dropped off other children, SiowFong and I began to play with these toddlers. Lydia immediately expressed her displeasure because we were giving attention to the other children. She began protesting by uttering “uggggh…uggggh” and pointing at the other children, and then she quickly ran to SiowFong or me with the hope that we would abandon the child with whom we were playing in order to play with her. For example, when I was holding Elizabeth, a one-year old Caucasian girl, on my lap, Lydia attempted to displace Elizabeth by sitting on my lap also. Observing the ruckus, Rebecca, one of the teenagers who volunteers with us, said, “She (referring to Lydia) is so jealous!” After the first half-hour, Lydia’s behavior gradually improved.

Sharing some toys is still difficult for Lydia. Around 11:00 AM when Elizabeth and Lydia were competing to play with a plastic shopping cart, Lydia used her right arm to push Elizabeth away twice. Later at noon, Lydia and Abigail, a 17-month girl who is half-Caucasian and half-Japanese, were simultaneously interested in a Bob the Builder computer, and both were pushing and tugging at each other for the toy.