Snapshot of Angela's life at Houston 休士頓生活剪影

Little Angela has been at the U.S. more than a month and she seems adapted easily to new environment. Angela is curious and eager to explore new things no matter where she is. Here are some pictures and videos taken during her stay at Houston, which give a snapshot of her life abroad.

First time to play on a slide at park.

First time to help mop the floor in the kitchen area.

First time to use a computer.

First time to crawling up stairs by herself

Happy Birthday to Angela

Angela is approaching one year old! She is no longer a baby but has become a toddler. Mommy celeberated Angela's first birthday three times: first with Taipei grandma and uncle, second with Changhua grand parents, aunts and cousins, last with Daddy. Mommy and Daddy hope that Angela continues to grow strong and well in every aspects. Love you, baby. Go! Go! Go!

Meeting with aunties and uncles at grand grand pa's place

Angela went to grand grand pa's house to meet up with Mommy's cousins and cousin-in-laws, who came from the US to celebrate grand grand pa's 100-year-old birthday last week. Although it was Angela's first time to see Susan, Chris, Thomas, Carol, Nancy and Brian, she did not hesitate to mingle with them.



Angela showed her excitement to see new people, especially, when Brian and Susan lifted her up, she giggled, laughing out loud. During the time, everybody had fun to see Angela performing clapping hands, slithering tummy and crwaling around.


Angela was so active and walking around the table.

Angela received lots of new clothing and snacks from Susan, Thomas and Nancy. What a lucky, beloved baby girl!

Toddling 自由行

Angela has been practicing walking since few weeks ago. Like most children, little Anglea took those early strides on tiptoe with her feet turned outward. Recently, she has made a lot of progress and been able to take more and more steps alone! As you can see, she is really happy to toddle around.

Zhuazhou 抓週趣

In Chinese culture, when a baby is about a full year old, the rite of Zhuazhou (grasping things, a custom of telling a child's fortune by placing various emblems before the baby and letting the baby choose one) is conducted to predict his/her destiny.
寶寶滿周歲時的成長禮俗--抓周 (度晬)
準備用品：米篩、書、印章、筆墨、算盤（計算機）、錢幣、雞腿、豬肉、尺、 蔥、芹菜、蒜、稻草、刀劍、聽筒等。

A rice sieve contained 14 items was placed before Angela so that she may pick whatever she fancies. These stuffs emblem various occupations and fortune, including book (scholar, researcher, teacher.), pen(writer, artist), stamp(governor, power, or influential person), abacus(business, accountant, banker), coin(wealthy), drumstick (blessing), ruler(designer, architect), microphone(singer, actor), green onion(smart), peanut(longevity), garlic(planer, strategist), celery(diligence),straw(agriculture), sword(justice, soldier,police), and stethoscope(doctor, medical care).

麗嬰房寶寶爬行大賽 Crawing contest(part II) -Angela's first prize

今天麗嬰房舉辦第五屆兒童運動會，運動會現場人山人海，Mommy為小恩恩報名寶寶爬行比賽的項目。有了上回失敗的經驗，今天Mommy特地請出外婆來為小恩恩加油，以免小恩恩又像上回一樣坐在原地不動，錯失比賽時間。

比賽前每個參賽選手都要穿上大會規定的運動服，比賽時間一樣是一分半鐘，每組10名，優勝者必須在最短時間內爬完5公尺。小恩恩著裝後，頗有運動選手的架勢，不過神情似乎若有所思，好像在思考待會要如何爬行才能完成比賽。
一開始，當裁判吹哨後，只見小恩恩又坐在原地觀望，不論外婆如何催促，就是不動，還在原地打轉，時間一點一滴溜走，Mommy在終點線也只能乾著急，眼見隔壁的小寶寶都快到終點了，小恩恩還是不動。

終於，過了快40秒後，小恩恩開始動了，可是爬到了中間又停下來觀望，似乎在找尋目標。這時，外婆也從起點跑到終線這邊來為小恩恩加油，外婆拿出小恩恩經常玩耍的藍色小湯匙，要吸引小恩恩的目光，但小恩恩卻不為所動。最後，小恩恩終於看到的目標了─Mommy的相機，Mommy的相機後就放在終點線上，就這樣小恩恩只花了5秒鐘就很快的爬到了終點，而贏得H組的分區比賽冠軍。至於隔壁的小寶寶雖然比小恩恩爬得快，但因為距離終點線約10公分處就停下來張望，直到裁判吹哨時都沒有再前進，因此沒有完成爬行，成績不予計分，十分可惜。

小恩恩是同組參賽選手中唯一爬完全程的小寶寶，讓Mommy和外婆相當欣慰。Daddy雖然沒有親自到場為小寶貝加油，但得知小恩恩的運動成果也相當高興。
這次比賽，小恩恩為自己贏得了一包尿布和玩具，相當不錯。雖然小恩恩長大後可能都不記得這些事，但對Mommy來說卻是很難忘的經驗ㄋ。
後記：在Mommy上載這次爬行比賽的文章後，小恩恩另外還收到了麗嬰房贈送的一件小狗狗連身裝作為紀念品，雖然有點大，不過等到冬天應該可以派上用場了。



1年半後，Angela終於可以穿上這件小狗狗連身裝了，Mommy感謝上帝的祝福，讓Angela成長了許多，也更加活潑可愛。

First time cold 第一次感冒

Some statistic report indicates that children under two generally get 10-12 colds a year, especially if they are in daycare. Older children and young adults get about 6 colds per year. After the age of 30 the number starts to decrease to about two per year.

Angela caught a cold the other day. She had a slight fever around 37.5°C (99.5°F) and all symptoms-coughs, sneezing, running nose, and low appetite. Although Angela showed a bit tiredness and sleepiness in last two days, she still was very active and played most of the time when she was awake.

Because it is a mild cold, instead of taking Angela to see a pediatrician, Grandma and Mommy applied physical treatments, such as giving plenty of fluids, warm water bathing, and taking Chinese herbal medicine, to help reduce symptoms . During the cold, Angela stayed at home to take rest and did not went to daycare house. Grandma was busy looking after Angela and hopefully, Angela get well soon.

Gifts from aunts and ChangHua grandma 奶奶與姑姑的禮物

Angela is so blessed and beloved of all near relatives, especially both Taipei and Changhua grandmas.
This mid-autumn festival, Angela received new clothing from Changhua grandma again. Mommy can image that Angela become a charming little lady after dressing up.


Aunt Vicky also has given Angela many gifts since she was born. On mid-autumn festival, Vicky brought a lovely red infant clothing for Angela.



Currnely, Angela is during the period of learning standing and walking. This lovely pair of shoes, given by Aunt Vicky, is just the right dressing for little Angela. It is also the first pair of shoes for Angela.
Angela received gift from Aunt Kuomay on Oct. 9. Of course, the first thing Angela did when she saw the toy was to taste it.

Cousin reunion 中秋團圓

Angela went back to ChangHua visiting Grandparents and relatives on mid-autumn moon festival. It was almost fourth months since Angela met up with her little cousin, Kuan. Kuan is younger than Angela by 4 mos, but now his weight is more than Angela. Mommy is very envy Kuan's bright chubby face, looks so cute.

Naughty! Naughty! 頑皮小恩恩

Since Angela discovered the stereo player on Mommy's desk, crawling onto the dest and playing the CD player has became her favorite pastime.

Crawing Contest-Part I 寶寶爬行比賽(上)

Angela 即將滿10個月了，在這個階段正是Angela爬行最頻繁最熟練的時候了。Mommy特地為Angela報名了兩場寶寶爬行比賽。這個週末是第一次比賽，由遠東百貨公司舉行，下個月是由麗嬰房舉辦。

這次的寶寶爬行比賽時間是訂在9月20日下午2:00，共有將近60名的寶寶參加。比賽的規則是每場次有3位選手，爬行時間最長為1:30，爬行距離為5公尺，若在限時內沒有爬完5公尺則不計分，在限時內最早爬完全程的選手為優勝者。

現場每個參賽寶寶看起來都胸有成竹的模樣，見到彩色的地板，就開始舞動手足，一副躍躍欲試的模樣。Angela 的參賽號碼是「03」，是分組比賽的第一組，當裁判吹哨子後，Mommy將Angela放下地板，只見圍觀的家長大聲加油，但同組的三位寶寶全都坐在地板上不動，
Angela的眼睛一直注視周圍的觀眾，似乎很好奇為什麼有這麼多的人在大聲喊叫，Mommy想吸引Angela往前爬，可以四邊的人群更吸引她的目光。
好不容易有個家長拿了一個會移動的玩具，要吸引他的寶寶往前爬，被Angela看到了，Angela終於開始爬了，雖然Angela爬得不慢，但因為之前原地不動的時間太長，以致於爬了一半，時間就到了，使得這次的比賽無法計分。不過和同組的選手相較，Angela還有往前進，算是不錯了。

有了這次的經驗，希望下個月Angela參加麗嬰房舉辦的比賽會有進步一些，至少可以爬完全程。

Walking around! 開始學步走耶！

小恩恩開始學步走了，現在小恩恩最新的運動就是推著家裡的沙發和娃娃車在客廳裡到處走，看到新奇的事物就停下來摸摸看、嚐嚐看。有時還會跑到廚房裡玩烤箱，微波爐，真得是標準的好奇寶寶。

Bookstart! 開始閱讀

Angela took part in a story reading event held by Taipei City Library last weekend. This event was designed for babies aged between 6 month and 18 month with an aim to introduce babies to books as well as to develop their language abilities. At the beginning of the activity, the speaker played some games and introduced the little kids to say the name of their wearing such as clothing, skirt, hat, shoes, etc. Later, she read some traditional Chinese idioms from a book and asked kids to repeat.

Near the end, the speaker came to say hello to Angela and pretended to interview her. As the picture showed, Angela was more than happy to grab the microphone and tried to say something. The speaker encouraged Angela to be able to read stories to others someday when she grows up.

Mommy hoped, by attending such activity, Angela had a good start for cultivating reading habit.