Natalie loves Elmo

Natalie has finally bonded with a stuffed toy. Her toy of choice is... Elmo! She can say "Eh-moh" very clearly and asks for him to help her sleep. She also likes to do things together with him like put on socks, sit on her chair, read books, and he some times will even accompany her (from afar) to eat.

Since she loves Elmo sooo much and since we have just begun to introduce the TV into her life, Natalie is now allowed to watch (at most) 10 minutes of Elmo everyday. She watches the same episode and she LOVES it. When the opening music starts, she'll wave her hands in the air to dance along. When Elmo comes out on screen, she'll usually screams in excitement. Watch Video 168 of Natalie watching Elmo. You can see her stuffed Elmo next to her on the sofa.

Natalie's new and loyal friend, Elmo. He's a soft plush toy with plastic eyeballs. Natalie likes to hold him by the eyeballs.

Big girl

Forgot to post this photo of Natalie sleeping peacefully (over 4 hours) in the "baby" cradle on the plane ride to Sydney. She was so big her arms and legs stuck out!

Visiting Serafina

This week, we went to visit Natalie's little friend Serafina. Fabiano and Caroline (the mum and dad) were wonderful hosts, preparing salads and grilling up steaks, chicken, and sausages for us and the kids. Below are some photos from the day:

Natalie sitting with her friend Serafina and sharing the little music toy.


Serafina and Natalie look at each other. So cute!


Serafina goes in for a kiss. Awww... all kids at this age are so affectionate.

Serafina can clearly say the word "shoe". She loved Natalie's shoes and carried them around for a while.

A little later, the kids sit down for a snack of cheese and beef pastries, yum!

The TV helps to keep them quiet and chill (for about 5 minutes).

Don't they look like two "big people" having tea together?

Natalie and Serafina were very good at sharing. If I asked for a bite, they both gave me what was in their hands (even if half-eaten).

Clark with Serafina and Natalie. We had a great time!

More Sydney pics

Here are more pics of us in Sydney courtesy of our friends (stolen via facebook). Thanks guys!

The Wang family all decked out for Vanessa & Kevy's wedding. Clark is slightly burned from golf by the strong Sydney sun.


The Wang family with the happy couple. Congrat VIP & Kevy!


Natalie is a pretty little cutie patootie in her pink dress. She loved walking around and touching the wine buckets which were full of ice and telling us they were "ouwd" (cold).


Daddy taking care of Natalie during the meal. Natalie can also say "juice" now.

Natalie chilling with me. Pacifier in means time for sleep. She slept really well in her stroller while we danced the night away. What a good girl!

The next day, we went to dinner at Red Oak for Clark's birthday. Here's a great shot of Natalie giggling in her high chair. She loved eating the home-made pork sausages... yum!

Natalie walking along the pier and looking like a big girl in her jeans and sweater (except for the pacifier and lack of hair).

The Wang family at the zoo. As you can see, it was hard to get Natalie to look at the camera. The giraffes are so much more interesting!

Feeding herself with a spoon

Watch Video 167 of Natalie feeding herself with a spoon. This was taken yesterday during lunch. Her coordination has really improved! She also likes to feed other people (maybe because we are always feeding her).

Sydney!

From Nov 11 - 17, the entire Wang family and friends were in Sydney for our good friends Vanessa & Kevy's wedding. The wedding was beautiful (Natalie was specially mentioned by the groom in his speech) and everyday, the city was like the perfect summer weather in Toronto... made us miss home alot! We went to the zoo, ate a ton of seafood, and did some shopping.

Below are some select photos of Natalie. For all pics from our Sydney trip, see http://flickr.com/photos/thewanggang/sets/72157609405096520/

Also, see Video 166 of Natalie slurping noodles at an Italian cafe in Sydney.

Natalie is scared to touch the sleeping lizard at the zoo. I was kind of scared too.


Natalie staring at amazement at the giraffes. She has a few giraffe toys so was open-mouthed at seeing them real and moving in front of her.


Natalie with Clark staring at mountain goats sitting high on their mountain.


Natalie smiling and saying "Hi" to the goats.


Natalie sitting on a big fake sealion with Uncle Brad. She loved it and, if we took her off, would walk back to sit on it again.


Natalie still sitting on the sealion, this time with Auntie Vivian. After this trip, she can now say "Vivo".

Natalie and her daddy Clark hanging with some sheep.

Natalie was so excited at the zoo she didn't nap at all. By the time we left, it was almost 2:00pm (5:00pm HK time) and she gratefully passed out in her stroller while we were waiting for the bus to take us back to the ferry.

Natalie with Uncle Brad, Auntie Vivo and her mommy at the Fish Market. We ate sooo much seafood, it was super fresh.

Clark and Vivo with the sleeping Natalie on St. George street while shopping. Since we were on vacation, Natalie had to nap on the go.

Natalie hanging out with her daddy Clark at our Park Hyatt hotel room. We pushed two beds together to make one big bed for Clark, Natalie, Tracy and Vivo.

While in Sydney, we also celebrated Clark's 30th birthday. Here is Natalie happy in her highchair at Red Oak restaurant.

She was very happy! We tried to give her a time-out (for spitting) and when we turned her highchair around, she didn't even seem to notice and was happy looking around and chatting with passerbyers.

Today is Clark's official birthday date. Happy Birthday Daddy!

Chilling at Serena's

On Saturday, Natalie and I paid a visit to Auntie Serena's apartment. Auntie Vivian was there too. Natalie recognizes them both now and, after a brief warm-up, decided they were safe to play with.

Vivian and Serena singing and clapping with Natalie. Serena is giving Natalie a yummy home-made oatmeal cookie.


Auntie Serena reading with Natalie. Natalie copies her by saying "Gurgle", the name of a Disney character in the book.


Natalie says, "Look, I'm so gwai!"

Family day at the park

Earlier this week, we took Natalie out to the nearby park (a regular event) and brought our camera to snap a few casual photos (a less frequent event). Below are pics and comments.

Natalie says, "I don't want to walk there by myself. Pick me up! Daddy, put the camera down and tell Mommy to pick me up!"


"I just want to be carried. Is that so much to ask?!"


When we finally arrive at the park, Natalie forgets about being picked up. She'd rather climb up the slide, and slide back down on her belly.


Natalie happily wandering around the playground with daddy keeping a close eye on her.


Me and the cutie.


Natalie sees all the big boys and girls climbing this ladder and wants to climb it, too.

"Help, how do I do this?" Her legs keep slipping off the rungs and the rungs are too far apart for her.

Daddy to the rescue!

Look at the concentration on her face.

Almost there!

Natalie has made it to the very top and explores the upper decks of the playground. Look at the little belly.

Natalie loves it when she looks between the holes in the floor and sees her daddy Clark. Surprise!

She tries to poke her little fingers through the hole to touch Clark.

A look at Natalie climbing the stairs all by herself. When she peeks through the holes and sees Clark, she smiles for the camera.

Another peek at Natalie through the holes in the floor.

Later, Natalie tells Clark she wants to climb the BIG spiral slide. She points a lot now.

Tracy helps her to climb up again. Natalie peeks at her daddy through the slots.

And then we go doooown the slide together. Natalie loves it.

Natalie asks her daddy if she can climb up again.

Natalie climbs up again this time with Clark close behind in case she needs help.

And then they go doooown the slide again. Although you can't see it, Natalie's mouth is wide open. She really loves going down the spiral slide with us. When she tries to go down by herself, somehow she always ends up turning around halfway down and ends up going the rest of the way backwards.

Natalie really seems to enjoy spending quality time with us this past week. Of course, we love it, too :)