Well, the little guy made it - a year old! We celebrated in abbreviated fashion today with a little cake and song:
We plan to have a little more elaborate birthday party for him this weekend when we are more recovered from our recent trip to Singapore (more about that in a future post) and our friends here will be able to attend. Here's a few more photos from today:
...months, that is. Today our little toddler is 11 months old. This calls for some video!
In related developments, Lance is also (finally) getting more teeth in. Three more, in fact - all on top. It's his two front teeth and one right next to the right front tooth. He's been dealing with the teething pain very admirably - not too much crying or crankiness, although there is a fair amount of drooling going on. 'Tis to be expected... We figured he would have a whole mouthful of teeth by now, seen as how he had his first ones coming in when he was only six months old. Well, they come in when they're ready, no sooner. Now he can start eating a much larger variety of foods, since his chewing capacity will be increased mightily!
If he's already walking this well at 11 months, I wonder what he'll be doing by the time he is a year old next month? He's growing up so fast!
No, not the contraption that little kids use to scoot around in before they can walk on their own (though we actually do have one of those as well). I mean on his own! Lance decided he wanted to show off with Grandma and Grandpa visiting and take his first step with them here in Taiwan! He's since taken a lot more. Here's a few of them, caught on tape:
Each day he's getting more and more stable as he walks and he even does it without seeming to think too hard about it now. It's quite impressive to see how fast these young tikes catch on to things.
Lance will be 9 months old this week. Hard to believe how time flies! I am really enjoying seeing him grow up. There are a lot of things I missed when John was a baby because I was deployed – his first tooth, learning to crawl, pulling himself up, and standing on his own. (Just for a second!) His hair is growing in and starting to get longer. I have been able to see all these things with Lance, and I am very grateful.
He can do more and more each day. He loves to explore the house now that he is a good crawler, especially, it seems, the bathroom. If you let him crawl where he wants to, invariably he will head there. He is completely fascinated by the toilet and the toilet brush. (!) We are doing our best to keep him away from both things, but especially the latter. The other day, Barb caught him standing next to the toilet, seemingly trying to reach in and touch the water. No, baby, no!
I love this toy!
While he once really enjoyed spending much of the day in his walker, he now enjoys crawling and exploring without it much more, for he can get to places this way that he was unable to when in the walker. He pulls himself up on furniture and other items all the time. Sometimes he will walk while holding on to my or Barb’s hands. Too cute!
Well, I've been doing a lot of triathlon training, first of all. Then, we were out of town the weekend before last to Sun Moon Lake in central Taiwan. Right after we got back from that trip, I found out my grandma died and I went back to the U.S. for the funeral. Now I'm back in Taiwan and headed back to class tomorrow. More busy-ness!
Back on this side of the Pacific, I'm going to be busy writing term papers, preparing presentations, getting ready for the Taipei Half Marathon later this month, and all the biking and swimming I can manage to fit in!
I did post a bunch of photos from the trip back to the U.S., the trip to Sun Moon Lake, and other assorted goodness over at Flickr (some are also on Facebook, if you are on there). I'll put up a few here just for fun:
At the Formosan Aboriginal Cultural Village (FACV) near Sun Moon Lake
John at Sun Moon Lake
Barb and Lance on the Sun Moon Lake "ropeway" (cable cars)
This guy likes to ride on trains (at FACV)
On the way to the funeral
An all-grandson casket detail
Mild weather in Omaha means backyard football!
There was a massacre (of Lego men) - at the Fun Fair at John's school
Our new pets (two are still alive)
Folks, that's Carl "Stump" Merrill on the right, former NY Yankees manager (early 1990s). He was the "guest of honor" at the school Fun Fair.
It was a rainy day at the Fun Fair. Here's John trying to outleg his best buddy.
John's new tattoo (don't worry folks, it's only temporary!)
That's how much money you owe me, U.S. dollars (or Euros - you pick) - I accept cash, check, or credit card.
Bwahahaaa! Not really. It's how many years old the United States Marine Corps is today! This calls for a motivational photo:
What you lookin' at?
And I've even got a video that goes along with this, exhibiting Lance's progress towards crawling (we still think he may just skip crawling and go straight to walking - he's pulling himself up now and continues to dislike spending much time on his tummy):
Howdy folks. Here is more from our trip to Kenting. I'll just put a representative sample up in this post; eventually all the photos will be uploaded to Flickr.
After the triathlon - feeling pretty good!
Morning: the pool
Looking inland from the hotel at Kenting
John's new friend - they played together all morning
