Monday, June 20, 2011

Summer is here!

Just in case anyone has been wondering where we've been with blog posts, here's what's going on:
1. We found it was a lot easier to record videos on our photo-camera and post them on youtube. It takes several minutes instead of several weeks. If you are interested, you can see my channel on youtube, called "Annabosen" where there are a handful of short, sweet videos of James.

This summer has turned out to be full of busy things!
Garrick just finished a week-long Suzuki Method training camp, has a concert coming up in Colorado, a week long gig in Park City, and is busy building up his private studio.
I have also been busy getting ready to teach Chinese at BYU's STARTALK camp for high school kids. I'm also applying to get a teaching certificate in Utah so I can apply for a Chinese teaching job if I can find one that is not full time and close to home.
James is growing like a weed, getting rashes, learning to talk, avoiding learning to walk, but sure is being a little ball of energy. Lucky for us he is still a pretty easy kid to take care of. He likes his nap, sleeps like a log through the night, and is quite good at entertaining himself as long as he has something interesting to get into.

In the beginning of June, right around when cousin Amelia was born, James learned his first word: "uh-oh!"
He uses it correctly most of the time, but still seems to think that it's right to say it as he is throwing something on the ground.
*Note: I suppose "dada" should really be his first word, but he still says dada when he talks to me, to his toys, and at other happy occasions. He also sometimes looks at me pleadingly and says "Mum! Mum! Mum!" "Uh-oh" is still the first word he consistently uses in the right situation, and really seems to grasp the concept.
His next word was "doggie" (which actually sounds a lot like "daddie," but we'll give him credit for it.) He is positively tickled when he sees a dog - and laughs out loud when John and Erika's dog CJ licks his sticky baby hands. We have several baby books with pictures of animals, and their names in Chinese and English, and when he gets to the page with the dog, he talks to it, smiles at it, touches it. I thought he wouldn't really be able to tell the difference between a dog and, say, a lion, but that page with the dog really does get more attention than any other animal. It is the same with the Brown Bear book. Garrick said today that we're probably going to have to get a dog at some point in our lives because of James...

Now that I got started writing about James, I could write all night about him. He is so amazing and fun, and is certainly a gift from Heavenly Father to make us better people, to inspire us to make life good, and to help us love each other more. I am so grateful that he is a part of our family!!