Photos: Birthday, Opening Gifts 1

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Lydia is holding and examining a gift from the Poons, a glove and hat set.

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Lydia is rummaging through a gift bag to discover its contents.

(From left to right) Her friends, Vivian Foley, Eden Poon, and Samuel Chen, are observing Lydia's actions.

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Lydia's search continues.

Her mom, who is in the background, is collecting the gifts that Lydia has opened.

Photographer: James Chen

Note: These pictures were taken on January 6, 2008 at The Little Gym in Kenmore, WA.

Dinner at Feng's and Iwen's Home

January 19, 2008


Dinner at Feng’s and Iwen’s Home

Iwen Chiu, the former teacher of the Friday morning playgroup at CISC in Chinatown, invited us earlier this week to her home for dinner last night. As our car pulled into the driveway, Iwen’s sons, Orion and Aries, were standing in their living room and looking out the window, awaiting our arrival.

After Iwen, Feng (her husband), and their sons greeted us in their foyer, Orion (who is in second grade) and Aries (who is four years old) began chasing each other through the living room and the main hallway. Unaccustomed to the boys’ pace and style of play, Lydia initially avoided them and stayed near SiowFong or me. During the first twenty minutes, she lifted her arms towards me to ask me to carry her, which I did for a while.

Lydia enjoyed the delicious meal that Iwen had prepared. She ate more than one filet of tilapia, a lot of rice, some lima beans, and a little fried tofu. She also managed to drink 8 ounces of water, which is an unusually large amount for her. SiowFong and I knew that she was full because she did not want to eat any dessert.

After dinner, while Feng and Iwen conversed with me, SiowFong , Orion, Aries, and Lydia were playing with a number of toys, most of which Lydia had not previously encountered. For example, she enjoyed playing her first air hockey game. (Each time that we visit the home of a friend who has a preschool or school aged child and see the different toys there, SiowFong and I are amazed by the variety of toys that are available in this country.)

As the grateful beneficiaries of Feng’s and Iwen’s hospitality, we enjoyed three hours at the Chen home, and Lydia will return there on a future weekday afternoon to have a play date with Aries.

Photos: Birthday, Parachute

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The parents and their children are holding up the edges of the parachute.

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With the children in the center of the parachute, the parents are lifting up its edges.



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The children are sitting in the center of the parachute.



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The kids are looking at something.


Note: These pictures were taken on January 6, 2008 at The Little Gym in Kenmore, WA.

Sage Parenting Advice

January 19, 2008


Sage Parenting Advice

Victor and Ellen Fung are recent “empty nesters” because their younger child, their son Ryan, just began his freshman year of college at Western Washington University last fall. Knowing that we are relatively new parents at the beginning of a lifelong journey, they graciously gave us some sage parenting advice, which included the following thoughts:

First, if they could go back in time, they would make sure that their children learned a second language during their childhood years. (Their elder child, their daughter Tracy, recently traveled to Beijing to spend six months there to learn Mandarin, and she, like her brother, have said to their parents that they wished that they had learned Mandarin when they were much younger.)

Second, the other change that they would have made would be to invest more time in nurturing their children’s faith in Jesus. Victor pointed out wisely that children will often attend church with their parents when the children are still living at home out of obedience and respect. Once the children leave home, however, they may not follow their parents’ routine if their faith in Christ is not strong.

Third, they informed us that once Lydia enters kindergarten, we, like other parents of school-aged children, will be at the mercy of the school’s schedule, which was an ongoing challenge for them before their children graduated from high school. They reminded us that we control Lydia’s schedule now, but that will change dramatically when Lydia finishes pre-school. School days, for example, typically end at 2 PM for elementary school children. In addition, a number of school days are half days, particularly in first grade, and during the four parent-teacher conference weeks of the school year, school is closed during those weeks. Finally snow days mean delayed school openings and canceled school days. These eventualities mean that SiowFong and I must readjust our work schedules to address these situations.

Photos: Birthday, Monkey Bars and Hoops

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Eden Poon and Lydia are hanging onto the low bar.

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With the assitance of her mom, who placed her on the low bar, Lydia is holding onto the low bar successfully.


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Lydia is holding onto a hula hoop while sitting on the inflatable.

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Lydia is looking at Eden Poon while Vivian Foley and Vaughn Poon are bouncing on the inflatable.

The Little Gym's facilities are suited for preschool and school-aged children because the variety of the sports equipment provides enough options to result in an enjoyable experience for almost every child of those age groups.

Note: All these pictures were taken on January 6, 2008 at The Little Gym in Kenmore, WA.

Lunch with the Fungs

January 19, 2008


Lunch with the Fungs

Because SiowFong has lived in this area for a long time, she has known a number of people for over ten years. Two of her friends whom she has known for fifteen years are Victor and Ellen Fung. For the last year, SiowFong and Ellen have been reviewing their social calendars to coordinate a time when Victor and Ellen could come to our home to visit with us, play with Lydia, and enjoy a meal together. At 11:30 AM today, they came to our home for lunch.

They also brought a gift for Lydia, which was a large Doodle Pro. Within minutes of their arrival, Lydia was comfortable with both Victor and Ellen, experienced parents with two children in college (Tracy and Ryan). Lydia was intrigued by the various animals that they sketched for her on the Doodle Pro. Later she brought out books for them to read to her. Before and after lunch, Lydia intermittently called out “Uncle” and “Auntie” to get their attention because she enjoyed being with them. After lunch, Ellen and Victor took turns carrying her around the living room. Lydia was especially delighted when Ellen held her closely and then jumped in place in the living room, which resulted in a big smile appearing on Lydia’s face.

Victor and Ellen enjoyed Lydia as much as she enjoyed them. Both kindly volunteered to babysit Lydia in the future. They both commented on what an easy child she was because of her good behavior. Ellen, who has been following Lydia’s blog, remarked that she thought Lydia was “cuter in person”.

We had a lovely time with Victor and Ellen; our three hours with them passed quickly; and we hope that we can see them again when Ma Wee is here this summer.

Photos: Birthday, Low Bar

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Lydia is standing in front of the low bar.

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Lydia is trying to climb over the bar while her mom is encouraging her.

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Lydia successfully scaled the low bar !

Note: All of these pictures were taken on January 6, 2008 at The Little Gym in Kenmore, WA.

Play Date with Eden Poon

January 18, 2008


Play Date with Eden Poon

The main event for this third Friday of January 2008 was Lydia’s play date with Eden, Frank Poon’s and Wee Kao’s 29-month old adopted daughter from China. When we arrived at the Poon home around 10:15 AM, Eden, who seems to possess a limitless amount of youthful energy, was waiting for us along with her parents.

For the next two hours, Lydia and Eden played downstairs in the den and upstairs in the recreation room. They began their experiences in the living room by taking their turns with Wee, Eden’s mom, as she supervised their playing with the upright piano. Then they watched a video of a Mandarin cartoon with traditional Chinese children’s songs playing in the background. Later they tussled over a globe. Around 11:00 AM, we moved to the recreation room, where Lydia enjoyed riding on a rocking horse, laying on a stuffed frog that is the size of a large adult beanbag, eating walnuts that Wee fed her, playing with an electronic LeapFrog cube that recited each letter of the alphabet when it is pressed, sitting on Eden’s toddler chairs, running around a little bit with Eden (Eden’s gross motor skills, dexterity, and agility are much better than Lydia’s), and glancing at an episode of Teletubbies.
Lydia had a lot of fun in these short two hours.

After all of this playing, Frank, Wee, and Eden generously treated Lydia and I to lunch at a local Korean restaurant. Frank and Wee also kindly gave me two more boxes of clothing and diapers for Lydia since Eden, who is potty trained, no longer needs diapers.

Photos: Birthday, Inflatables

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Everyone is enjoying playing on the inflatable.

Individuals who are on the inflatable (from left to right): Samuel Chen, Eden Poon (who is airborne), Vivian Foley, Lydia (who is sitting on her mom's lap), and SiowFong

Individuals who are around the inflatable (from left to right): Vaughn Poon, James Chen (with a camera in his hand), Little Gym instructor, Matt Kaing, Mayfanna Li (with the camcorder in her hand; she was the principal videographer of Lydia's birthday party who recorded > 90 % of the event), Todd Foley

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SiowFong is watching Lydia as Lydia walks across the inflatable.

(Carolyn Pastoriza, Vivian's mom, is standing on the right.)

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Everyone is lying on the inflatable as it fills with air.

(left to right): Matt Kaing, Kyvin Kaing-Li, SiowFong and Lydia, Vaughn Poon, Evelyn Chen, Little Gym instructor, and Samuel Chen

Note: All these pictures were taken on January 6, 2008 at The Little Gym in Kenmore, WA.

Language Immersion

January 17, 2008


Language Immersion

In today’s newspaper, SiowFong informed me about an article that caught her attention whose title read “Language-immersion elementary school coming to South End”. Here are some of the highlights from that piece:

“Building on the popularity of the John Stanford International School, Seattle Public Schools will start a second international elementary school for students wishing to become bilingual. The district plans to announce Thursday that Beacon Hill Elementary will be designated as an international school offering immersion or partial immersion programs in Spanish and Mandarin. . .The programs will start next fall.

‘There’s been a huge demand in the last couple of years for Mandarin,’ said Kelly Aramaki, principal of John Stanford Elementary in Wallingford, which offers immersion programs in Spanish and Japanese. . .The Stanford school, which has about 400 students enrolled in kindergarten through fifth grade, has a waiting list of 90 to 100 families hoping to enroll their children, he said. Many more don’t even wait-list themselves because they live too far from the popular program. . .

Demand for language instruction in schools has grown along with an increasing awareness that children will enter a global work force down the road. . .The school district polled business leaders to learn what needs they envisioned from their future employees, she [Karen Kodama, international education coordinator for Seattle Public Schools] said. Spanish, Japanese, and Mandarin language skills were consistently identified as pressing concerns.

Mandarin, like Japanese, is a ‘level 4’ language, which means it is more challenging for English speakers to learn than French or Spanish, which are considered ‘level 1’ languages, she said. ‘But little kids pick it up really fast.’

Although building future job skills is one goal of the international programs, an equally important component of both international schools is building cultural awareness. The mix of children from different cultures is key to both programs, Aramaki said. . .

Students in the immersion programs spend half their days studying core subjects, such as language arts and social studies in the foreign language, and the other half of the day studying subjects taught in English. By fifth grade many students have developed strong proficiencies in their second language, Aramaki said. Students who start learning early also have much more native-sounding pronunciation than those who learn later, or as adults.”

(Source: Carol Smith. “Language immersion elementary school coming to South End.” Seattle Post-Intelligencer. January 17, 2008. pages B1, B5.)

Photos: Birthday, Here Is the Cake !

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"Look at my birthday candle!"

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Vivian Foley, a Little Gym instructor, and Lydia are still gazing at candle that was lit on Lydia's cupcake to celebrate her birthday.



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Lydia is examining the plate of birthday cupcakes, each of which is decorated with an animal. Her cupcake, the one in the center, has a tiger decoration.

To the right side of Lydia is Vivian Foley and a Little Gym instructor, and to the left side of Lydia is Kyvin Kaing-Li.

Note: All of these pictures were taken on January 6, 2008 at The Little Gym in Kenmore, WA.

Je Je

January 16, 2008


“Je je”

Lydia made another visit to her pediatrician, Dr. Julie Bledsoe, this morning, and during the visit, she received her first hepatitis A shot and another tuberculosis test. After interviewing SiowFong and me and after observing and doing a physical exam on Lydia, Dr. Bledsoe gave Lydia a clean bill of health.

Not all children are as fortunate as Lydia to have good health. As noted during yesterday’s posting to Lydia’s blog, Ayla Bramblett, for example, is battling retinoblastoma of her right eye, a serious disease that has the potential to end her life prematurely.

Ayla’s picture has had a great impact on Lydia ever since Lydia saw her picture and learned about her plight a week ago. When SiowFong showed Lydia a picture of Ayla, whose right eye has been removed, Lydia had a troubled look on her face as she softly said “ooooh”. With a bewildered countenance, Lydia intently studied Ayla’s photo. SiowFong explained to Lydia that “je je” (Mandarin for older sister) had something wrong with her right eye and that Ayla and her parents needed prayer. SiowFong and Lydia then prayed for Ayla and her family.

To test whether Lydia remembered Ayla the next morning, SiowFong asked Lydia about “je je”, and Lydia responded by partially closing her right eye. More importantly, since last Tuesday, Lydia has been consistently mentioning “je je” every time that we pray before meals and before bedtime.

Years ago, I heard a sermon during which the preacher commented that the word compassion means “to suffer with”. The image of Ayla without her right eye is etched on Lydia’s mind. Lydia seems to understand that Ayla is not well and needs help, so she repeatedly brings it to our attention so that we can ask for God to help Ayla. David Hubbard once said, “The purest form of love is given with no expectation of return. Measured by this standard, earnest prayer for others is a magnificent act of love.” (Philip Yancey. Prayer: Does It Make Any Difference? Zondervan: 2006. page 301.)

Please continue to pray for Ayla.

For those of you interested in learning more about Ayla, please visit her blog at http://www.2china4ayla.blogspot.com.

Photos: Birthday, Group Introductions 2

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Lydia and her friends are handling some rattles and tambourines.

(left to right): Vaughn Poon, Lydia (in foreground), Kyvin Kaing-Li (in background), Samuel Chen, Evelyn Chen

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More musical action



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Eden Poon and Lydia are playing with their rattles.


Note: SiowFong took all of these pictures within the same minute on January 6, 2008 at
The Little Gym in Kenmore, WA.

Prayer Request for Ayla

January 15, 2008


Prayer Request for Ayla


Ayla Bramblett

Kimberly Powell, Lydia’s sponsor, informed SiowFong a week ago about the story of Ayla Bramblett, the 34-month old adopted daughter of Chinese descent with retinoblastoma of her right eye. Ayla’s parents had traveled to China to pick up Ayla just last summer, and before they adopted her, they knew that she had special needs.

Kimberly contacted SiowFong to ask for prayers for Ayla and to notify SiowFong that a family friend was coordinating an effort to help Ayla. Because of Ayla’s disease, this friend was asking friends to mail arts and crafts packets to her home so that she could deliver a new one each week to the Bramblett home because Ayla is not allowed to participate in any outdoor activities for six months as her cancer treatments. Kimberly had emailed this friend to tell this family friend that she wanted to help, and after reading about Ayla’s situation, SiowFong sent a similar email.



Retinoblastoma

“Retinoblastoma, the most common eye cancer of childhood, occurs in approximately 1 out of 16,000 live births in the US and Northern Europe. Sometimes the cancer is hereditary, and at other times, it is not. . .If untreated, it grows to fill the eye, and it spreads after six months to the brain, causing death in a matter of years. Treatment includes surgical removal of the affected eye, radiation, laser therapy, freezing therapy, and chemotherapy. The overall five-year survival rate for children with retinoblastoma in the United States is 93 percent. . .A child who remains recurrence-free for five years after the diagnosis is made is considered cured. The prognosis for children with metastatic disease [cancer that has spread] is poor. In most reports, one-year to 18-month survival rates. . .are approximately 50 percent. . .Survivors require lifetime follow-up because of their propensity to develop (and die from) non-eye tumors, most of which are osteogenic [bone] or soft tissue sarcomas.” (Paul Kaufman and Richard Saunders. “Overview of retinoblastoma”. UpToDate. September 6, 2007.)


More Information

Please pray for Ayla.

For those of you interested in learning more about Ayla, please visit her blog at http://www.2china4ayla.blogspot.com.

Photos: Birthday, Group Introduction 1

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(left to right): Lydia, Kyvin Kaing-Li, Samuel Chen, Eden Poon, Evelyn Chen (who is behind Eden), and the two instructors

Adults comprised most of the guests for Lydia's celebration of her 1 year old birthday last year. However, during her 2-year old birthday party today, children dominated the event.

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Lydia is listening to one of the Little Gym instructors.



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(left to right): Eden Poon, Lydia, and Vaughn Poon

Note: All these pictures were taken on January 6, 2008 at The Little Gym in Kenmore, WA.

Mei Mei

January 15, 2008


Mei Mei

Since we are in the process of adopting a second child from China, we have been periodically reminding Lydia over the last few months that “mei mei” (which means little sister in Mandarin; the equivalent is “mui mui” in Cantonese) will be coming to be a part of our family.

Over the same last few months, Lydia has communicated to us that she comprehends this fact and some of its implications. For example, Lydia’s bedroom is the place where she takes her afternoon nap on the days when she is not attending day care. In that room are two beds, her crib and a twin bed, the one that Ma Wee used. Occasionally Lydia points to the crib and says “mei mei”, and then she points to the twin bed and says “baby”, her name. During this past weekend, SiowFong collected Lydia’s clothes that no longer fit her. SiowFong informed Lydia that Lydia would not be wearing them because they were too small, Lydia softly stated, “mei mei”.

Another indicator of Lydia’s understanding occurs around the dining room table. She will sometimes point to her high chair and say “mei mei”, and then she directs our attention to a regular chair and says “baby”.

Another example occurred last night when Lydia was sitting on my lap. Most of the time, I sit Indian-style on the living room carpet, and Lydia sits on both of my laps as she prefers this position, especially when I am reading a book to her. Yesterday, however, she sat only on my left lap, and then she pointed to my right lap and said “mei mei”.

Photos: Birthday, Girl Eating

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Lydia is looking at what her friends are eating.

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Lydia is ready to eat with the red spoon in her left hand.



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Lydia is looking at mom (who took this picture of her).


Note: All of these pictures were taken on January 6, 2008 at the Little Gym in Kenmore, WA.

Learning to Talk

January 15, 2008


Learning to Talk

One of the most interesting and enjoyable aspects of parenthood for SiowFong and me is witnessing Lydia’s development of language skills over the last year. Memories of Lydia’s babbling, her first words (including “neen neen” [the Mandarin word for milk], mama, and baba), and recently her first sentences (which usually start with the phrase “I want”) bring smiles to our faces and joy to our hearts. Remarkable would be a good word to describe this process of normal language development.

“The first spoken word universally occurs at approximately one year of age, and the next six months will witness an explosion of approximately fifty more. Your child’s first words will probably refer to things that are present in the environment and things that move. . .

At eighteen months, your baby is learning approximately four new words a day. She is organizing words into categories. . .She identifies several body parts, items to eat, and items to wear. She is also paying close attention to phrases and to the order of words in a phrase, noticing that, in English, people say ‘black shoes,’ and not ‘shoes black’. . .She is learning that an adjective is followed by a noun in English. If she is surrounded by Spanish, she is also learning that for that language the opposite is usually the case. She uses context to help her make sense of what you are saying, relying on what is happening in the environment to figure out what your words mean.

Around the age of two, your baby becomes aware of language. If you do not understand something she says, she might try to say it differently, understanding that language is separate from the message, and that the same thing can be said in several ways. . .

Soon your baby will put two words together to form her first mini-sentence. At approximately eighteen months, she will develop ‘telegraphic speech,’ using just the most important words to convey her thoughts. . .For example, your child might say, ‘Elmo run,’ or ‘Big kitty.’ Words might be missing, but the order is adult-like. . .

Your baby’s phrases will continue to increase in size, so that, at thirty months, she will have an average sentence length of approximately three words. Her spoken vocabulary will have 250 to 300 words by the time she is two, allowing her to use various combinations to comment, persuade, respond, and ask questions.”

(Source: Erika Levy, Elisabeth Ijalba, and Zvjezdana Vrzic. Baby’s First Words in Spanish. Living Language: 2007. pages 45-48.)