Happy first birthday, to the boy with two birthdays

Kai is ONE!

Birthday 1: 16th. January, 2009, his lunar birthday, in Shiyan

We had a so-called party in a function room of a restaurant. Kai's grandma couldn't wait to see what Kai is going to be in more than twenty years, so she went for the superstitious, yet traditional way to find out. We placed a variety of objects in front of Kai, on a Mahjong table, which is just big enough for Kai to sit on.



Obviously Kai's grandma wasn't serious enough, she just grabbed things she could find, which might mean something. We brought a book, a toy horse, a pen, a spoon, a calculator, some baby jar food, several candies and even a shuttlecock! So right from the beginning I deeply doubted the accuracy of the result - no matter what the result would be. Fortunately Kai didn't disappoint his grandma - he first picked up the calculator which laid right beside his hand. A cheer of joy. Would Kai be an accountant in 20-year-time? Soon he got tired of the calculator and picked up the baby food jar. He raised the jar proudly like a strong man. I was curious which occupation adults can associate raising baby jar food with? Hard, hmmm...



Kai's cake aroused another cheer of joy.


the lovely fruit cake

Happy birthday to you, Happy birthday to you, Happy birthday dear Kai Kai, Happy birthday to you!


Mum blows the candle for me

I guess Kai's favorite part of his birthday party was eating noodles. He loves noodles. The noodles people eat on birthdays have a special name: longevity noodles, simply because noodles are long, so it's like a good omen for health. May Kai good health all life long!


birthday 2: 28th. January, 2009, Kai's solar birthday, in Guangzhou

Early in the morning at 6 am on his birthday Kai and I arrived Guangzhou after another 21-hour-train journey. It was chilly too, here in Guangzhou. At lunch time, Dad came back from America. We had lunch in KFC. Kai got as many potato chips as he could imagine and played in the kid's club of KFC as long as he wished. That was nearly the day, as dull as the weather. We three had an early night.

On the second day, Kai was showered with presents and cards, mainly from the UK! So many lovely books and toys, piled up in front of him. He was overjoyed, threw jigsaw pieces around, and soon was distracted by the "Noisy Noisy Grrr!" book, and then began to touch the fluffy Carterpillar. For the sunny afternoon we went to a small nearby open park for Kai's favorite train ride.

I'm the little train driver

The day was too much (fun) for him. He couldn't even sleep at bedtime, and kept pacing back and forth in his funny zabra pajamas.



Thanks to everyone who gave Kai two lovely birthdays with party, cards, presents, love and big kisses.

Kai's first walk

Today Kai first walked. By walking I mean taking several steps without holding on anything.

I started to pay much attention to the playing boy when I found he was standing beside me without holding on anything. He has stood there for about 10 seconds and was smiling at me. He has never done that before! Then he started to walk towards his Grandma wroblingly, smilingly, and with slight confidence. I was overjoyed and called my mum for her attention. She clapped her hands to encourage Kai to go further.



Kai was really interested in walking and practiced it several times after.

The good boy started his first walk several days before his one year birthday. Surely Kai was thinking of how to surprise his dad on his return.

Snap: freezing cold

It's a freezing cold morning in Shiyan. With the precious sunshine, we still feel cold. Here is at least 10 degree cels colder than Guangzhou.

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Kai is tired of staying in for the whole morning. He is very pleased to breathe some fresh air, although cold. He loves running around in walking rein, to chase a boy on wheels.

PS: Jonathan is on his business trip in USA now, for the long long 18 days. We came back to my hometown Shiyan, for the Chinese New Year without Jonathan.

Aaaachoo! (Turn down the volume, it could be a loud sneeze)

Kai began to copy adults, "achoo" is his favorite one. He also found clapping hands funny, and often copied his Mum or Dad.

He began to understand quite a few things. On hearing "Feiji" (air plane), he would look up into the sky; on hearing "Xiao Gougou"(little dog), he would look around for a lovely doggy. Not only that, he began to pronounce "Ga, ga, ga", for Gou gou (doggy), as Mum always calls "Xiao Gougou" when we see dogs.

A good sign of language development.