Joshua's Tree

Brendon Joel Cheng is Here!

2010-05-04T09:27:00.000-07:00

4.29am April 23, 2010 Brendon Joel Cheng was born. 7lbs 13oz, 20" long.

It all happened very fast, we got to the hospital around 3.50am because Anh was having contractions. We got in the room and 2 pushes later (with no epidural) the little guy was out. Because he came out so quick, he had some fluid in his lungs that he had to expel so he was in the NICU for about 12 hrs (there is a pic with his halo on). Now he's back home gaining weight and stealing our sleep.

2009-11-05T20:16:00.001-08:00

True story. Josh was playing with his letters in the bath tub today. He picks out three letters and sticks them on the wall.

2009-10-24T09:48:00.000-07:00

Josh was standing on his stool going to the bathroom, he looks over to his left and says, "there's a cross with no Jesus!"

2009-10-19T06:53:00.000-07:00

The 'R' has a D-hole!

-Josh E. Cheng 10/09

2009-08-05T14:22:00.000-07:00

Josh went to his 2 year dr visit yesterday. He weighed in at 25.4 lbs (25 percentile), 50% in height and head size. So he's still short but now he's relatively skinny. WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN?! The days of 95% are gone. If he wasn't allergic to butter, chocolate, ice cream and cake, I'd load him up to get back to his original chubbiness.

2009-08-05T12:11:00.000-07:00

Whenever something isn't going right for him he shouts "help, help, ayuda me, ayuda me." It's just part of his vernacular now.

Another great gem from Ms. Dora.

Happy Birthday Josh!

2009-08-03T11:30:00.000-07:00

Josh had his 2 year birthday party this past weekend. Thomas came by (actually I think it was one of his distant relatives) and took all of the kids and most of the adults around the neighborhood. Everyone seemed to have fun, there was much too much food.

Like usual, we didn't take many pictures but luckily Jessica and Thuy did.

2009-07-31T14:42:00.000-07:00

Sometimes Josh will his toys to bed when he goes to sleep at night. I guess he figures, if he sleeps then his trains have to sleep. And since he sleeps laying down his trains have to lay down. So he goes through, one by one and puts them to sleep. He even decides who gets to sleep on the tracks. It's the funniest thing to watch.

2009-07-27T06:42:00.000-07:00

Whenever he sits in his chair to eat, we give him something to look at or play with just as a distraction. On Saturday, we were eating lunch and Anh handed him a Michael's 40% off coupon to play with. Anh asked him "What does it say?" His typical answer would be "numbers" or "A,B,C's" but he said "4-0" We were shocked and asked him "How do you know that?" He responded "PBS Kids dot org"

I know this is telling us something about the amount of TV that he watches. But I'm not sure if we should have him watch more or less.

2009-07-17T10:28:00.000-07:00

Josh has a got new saying. Whenever we take something away from him and put it out of reach as punishment- he'll stand on his tippy toes and stretch out for it even if his fingers are 6" away from the object. He'll say, "never give up!" and continue trying even if he has no chance of getting it.

Thanks for that life lesson Dora, we are going to be enjoying that one for a while.

2009-07-07T10:20:00.000-07:00

Josh goes to Little Gym once a week and at the end of the class they give them stamps on both hands, both feet and their belly.
Momma asked him what kind of stamp did you get today?
He responded, "steering wheel."
Steering wheel? It turned out to be a peace sign. But I think the little man is destined to be a gearhead.

2009-06-23T07:32:00.000-07:00

Here's a new one...

Josh spent the second half of his day sans-diapers as part of his potty training. After dinner he's running around the living room, tugs on his shorts a bit then continues to run until his shorts fall off. We watch him run around for a while cause its pretty funny to watch him run around pantsless, then he bolts off into our room. He sprints out a few seconds later and we notice he's leaving a trail behind. Now I'm not easily nauseated, but my stomach is still tight from cleaning up loose stool in 6 different places on the carpet.

Kinda makes me wish for the days he was just pooping in the bathtub.

2009-06-17T10:51:00.000-07:00

Josh can now open doors. I was banking on his stumpy stature keeping him from developing this ability for another couple of years. My last solitude is now invaded. I was sitting on the throne, playing brickbreaker, this weekend and in busts the little man who proceeds to unravel the entire roll of tp and like that, poof, he's gone.

Where has the innocence gone?

2009-06-17T10:42:00.000-07:00

During this basketball playoff season Josh was exposed to alot of basketball. I think he got a bit too familiar with the people on TV. Whenever he saw the Cavs head coach, Mike Brown, he would yell "Uncle Phi!"

This weekend there was a profile on Sportscenter, an image came up on the screen and Josh screamed "Uncle Phi!"

...odd...very odd...

2009-06-05T07:53:00.000-07:00

Josh usually spends his first waking moments singing to himself or giving a monologue on the topic of the day. It's usually pretty funny stuff. I wish I could record the audio and post it up.

A couple of days ago i was listening to Josh's morning jibber jabber...
"...I'm shopping...
...IIIIIIIII'm shopping...
...Hi, Aunt Jessica!"

2009-04-07T08:42:00.000-07:00

Anh told me the last time they went to Target, Josh was playing with 3 talking baby dolls. He went up to each one and said, "Hi, I'm Joshie" and shook their hand. All he got back from them was an automated cry. I got home and told him, "sorry son, if you are gonna be anything like daddy, you better get used to it."

Then on Saturday, we went to Zoe's 2 year birthday party. I heard him say the same thing to the birthday girl, "Hi, I'm Joshie." 5 minutes later I see them hugging and touching hands and playing with a barbie laptop together. He takes a second from playing to look up at me with a gleam in his eye, as if to say, "let me learn ya somethin dad."

I guess he goes to Target to polish up his game.

2009-04-01T10:43:00.001-07:00

Josh tried yellow mustard for the first time today and, surprisingly, he liked it. He actually had a mound of mustard and ketchup in front of him and he picked the mustard more. He was even double dipping with ketchup and mustard. Maybe it was novel because it was new, but I'm surprised that he liked the sharp taste of it. Next on the list... dijon...

2009-03-30T12:18:00.000-07:00

I've been harassed by various people to stop being lazy and keep up with Josh's blog. So I'm going to make a slightly larger effort than the last couple of months.

It's tough to find things to write on here because he changes so much these days. He's in the phase where he learns new words and phrases and makes new discoveries everyday.

This past weekend he tried calamari for the first time. He seemed to like it. He kept saying "more calimommy, more calimommy!"

He went to the dr about a week ago and was 24lbs 4 oz.

He's probably gone the longest without a haircut since he was born (maybe 6 weeks) so he's looking a little extra spikey these days.

2009-02-12T06:51:00.000-08:00

As of yesterday, Josh has a new favorite word: chup. Actually his new favorite word is also his new favorite food. When he sees it, he says the word over and over and over and over. He'll occasionally throw in a "french fry" but only because he uses that as a utensil to get his chup into his face. Man, he loves that stuff.

He also has a funny new habit (compulsion). Everytime he takes off his socks, he has to clean the sock lint from between his toes. He'll spend as much time as it takes to his little piggies clean. It's like watching a monkey groom himself, his tiny fingers are very careful and deliberate. Dang, I guess he did get some OCD tendencies from his Momma but I would never have guessed that he would display them so young.

He was outside the other day playing in his sandbox, got overzealous and shoveled a bunch of sand on himself. He looked at the mess and turned to his Momma and Aunt Mimi and said, "uh oh, I'm in trouble." This kids a freakin genius!

18 month visit

2009-02-05T11:48:00.000-08:00

Josh went into his 18 month doctor visit this week and measured in at 23.5 lbs, which makes him 25% in weight, 50% in height and 60% in head size.

Dr. Dickerson described him as SKINNY! That's the first time anyone has used that word towards Josh. Skinny? No matter what the numbers say, I just don't see it.

In other news... he put his entire Thomas the Train track together for the first time yesterday. Occasionally, he's able to shovel up his own food out of a bowl and into his mouth. He still picks flowers for his Momma every time he goes outside.

2009-01-22T19:06:00.000-08:00

These are the flowers that I picked for Momma

2009-01-10T09:29:00.000-08:00

2008-12-09T12:52:00.000-08:00

Josh had a blast in Wichita Falls over Thanksgiving. He got to hang out with Uncle Sammy, Max, Baxter, Keebo and the rest of the family. Ate non-stop and never had a shortage of people to give him attention.

He did surprisingly well on the car ride home. It was a 7hr15min trip because of the traffic. He only slept for an hour and didn't cry once. He even peed through his diaper and clothes all over his car seat- yet not a whimper. I think he gets his ability to wallow in his own waste from Daddy, cause Momma isn't good at that at all.

Josh has really taken to the word "No." He uses it all the time, when he wants something, when he doesn't want something, when he's watching TV, when he's eating, when he's sleeping; pretty much all of the time. At times it's cute, other times he needs to be sent for a flogging.

2008-11-10T18:37:00.000-08:00

I've been chastised for not updating the blog by a couple people now so I'll try to get back on it. Everything is is changing so quickly these days, everyday there are a couple of new things that he picks up. I've gotta say this is probably the most exciting time up to date.
Just today he started saying "no sir." I asked him, "come here so I can change your diaper." His response was "no sir" and took off in the other direction.
He's starting to climb up on the couch and moving boxes around to climb up on so the baby proofing needs to move upward. Another one of his new things is walking backwards into you. I don't know why he does it, but he seems to get a kick out of it.

2008-08-20T06:14:00.000-07:00

The little guy is changing so fast. He's running everywhere now, he builds up some steam and his head gets way out ahead of his body and at some point he trips. But he seems to love the rush cause he keeps doing it over and over again.

He likes to hear his own voice, he's got about 20 words in his vocabulary and he likes blurt them out when he doing laps around the kitchen or right when he wakes up and laying in the crib. I think his first multi-syllabic word is "Elmo"; still hasn't said any semblance of Momma or Dadda...

I helped him dribble his first basketball earlier this week! Regulation size of course (why start with a small ball? we're not aspiring to be in the WNBA) I would dribble the ball in front of him at his height and every couple of bounces he would slap the ball down- with his left hand of course.

He has a thing now about finding the heaviest thing in the room and trying to pick it up and carry it around. I'm impressed sometimes at the things he can lift. And if he can't pick it up, he'll keep working at if until we distract him (I'm not sure if that is good work ethic or hard-headedness; since he is my son, I'm guessing the latter).

I got to meet Karen and Daryl's daughter, Kamryn, yesterday. Just a week old and so tiny, I can't even remember when Josh was that small. I can't wait until she gets bigger so she and Josh can play together.

He also had his 12 month exam last week and weighed in at a slim 22lbs 11oz. He got 4 shots and cried a bit but felt all better when he got a sticker from his big buddy, Simon.

Happy Birthday Sammy and Josh!

2008-08-05T07:12:00.000-07:00

Sammy and Josh had their first birthday party over the weekend. There was a ton of food and Josh had lots of fun playing in the water, with the other kids and trying to touch the dogs. Thanks to everyone for breaking their backs to help getting the patio done this past week. And thanks for the overwhelming amount of toys/ gifts- he shoulld be set until his next birthday.

2008-07-16T07:48:00.000-07:00

Josh went to the doctor yesterday and weighed in at 23 pounds 2 oz. 75% in weight and head size, 50% in height. Still squatty but a little less so. He's walking and climbing like a hemorrhoidal monkey.

Yesterday, he was sitting in his high chair and dropped his sippy cup, the he said "uh-oh." It's the first time he has used words to express his feelings! Up until now, he has just identified objects.

Motile

2008-04-08T19:52:00.000-07:00

Josh is getting really good at the crawling and pulling himself up these days. So I got a great idea (I'm sure I'm not the first to think of it). I get one of those baby leashes then drive a stake in the middle of the living room; now Josh is limited to a 6 foot radius and we don't have to child-proof the house. This will help him build up the muscles in his legs as he tries to break free. His balance will improve as he takes a running start and quickly finds the limits to his tether. It's a win-win-win situation.

Yeah, I think this might work. I'll go run it by Anh...

2008-04-01T07:45:00.000-07:00

I haven't been updating the blog so much lately but Josh has been learning new things everyday. He's crawling around a little bit, he's verbalizing sounds that can be construed as words, he turns his own pages when we read.

Last Saturday, we were on our way out so I sat Josh down and I sat down next to him to put on my shoes (like we always do). I felt him pulling my shirt but just ignored him. I finished putting on my shoes and turned around and homeboy was in my face!. He had pulled himself up for the first time! I said "WHOOOOAAA" then he fell over, shocked by the sound. It was a great moment.

2008-03-10T18:53:00.000-07:00

This post is just to spite Aunt Purvi.

2008-02-17T21:18:00.000-08:00

Now that Josh is eating more solids and he's getting stronger, it's getting MUCH more difficult to change him. He likes to try to roll over or explore his nether regions when we are changing his diaper. Yesterday, we were changing his diaper and, apparently, he wasn't done doing his business. Josh was like a Play Doh Fun Factory of putrid goo, you guys are lucky we didn't have a camera handy!

6 month checkup

2008-02-17T21:16:00.000-08:00

Weight: 18lbs13oz.
Height: 27"
Head 17.5"
All 3 categories are in the 70% percentile, so he's pretty well proportioned now (not the tree stump that he used to be).

2008-01-27T15:15:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I've posted. Little guy has changed quite a bit. Josh is sleeping in his own room now, on a good eating/ sleeping schedule, started eating rice cereal, started sitting up on his own.

Unfortunately, he has gotten sick for the first time. He's about 4 days into his first cold and it seems like it's getting better. Lots of coughing, sneezing, runny nose, sleepless nights and sleepless days. Can't wait til this one is over.

Flat head is a-ok

2008-01-09T07:45:00.000-08:00

We went to the 'flat-headed baby' specialist yesterday and he said it's not as bad as the pediatrician originally made it sound. We probably won't be needing a helmet to correct the problem. We're going to give it 6 weeks to work itself out, and if the flat spot is still prominent we'll go back and see him.

We were able to get the vitals:
-Weight: 18lbs 10oz
-Height: 25.5" long
- Head: 17.3" circumference

Little Trickster

2008-01-07T22:35:00.000-08:00

Anh was telling me about a new trick that Josh learned today... Josh gets the hiccups all the time, almost once a day. So to help him get rid of the hiccups Anh usually gives him a little bit of water. Apparently, he likes drinking the water. Today Anh gave him some water, then his hiccups went away so she took the bottle out of his mouth. 2 seconds later Josh starts coughing. So Anh puts the bottle back in his mouth. After a couple of sips, she takes the bottle back out. Once he realizes the bottle is gone he starts coughing again. They repeat these steps a couple more times and Anh realizes that she's getting played. Josh is faking a cough to get water! He's only 5 months old! How does he already know how to manipulate? We both thought it was pretty funny, but we're gonna have to nip that in the bud. Tubby little deviant!

Here is a pic of him today after his 4th haircut.

Our prayers have been answered!

2008-01-04T12:05:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was the first day, since starting his sleep training, that Josh didn't cry at all during his naps and at night! He's learning how to put himself to sleep now and Mom and Dad couldn't be more excited. It's been a tough couple of weeks and I hope that yesterday wasn't a fluke. I never thought it would be so difficult to get a baby to sleep.

Yes it's ladies night, oh what a night!

2008-01-01T16:13:00.000-08:00

Last Sunday, Nate and I had a couple of ladies over for a little after-Christmas get together. Ally, Lauren, Megan, and Ary came over. I don't mean to brag... but I got to hold hands with Megan and Ary and I got a couple of kisses from Lauren. I thought I was gonna get some digits, but I have a feeling that I'll be seeing those girls again...

Nice Rip!

2007-12-18T09:27:00.001-08:00

Last night Josh let fly a nice one when he was sleeping. It must have lasted 3 seconds with high volume flow. It was easily the biggest I've heard from him. Makes me proud...brings a tear to Daddy's eye.

Spoke too soon

2007-12-14T06:37:00.000-08:00

I may have jinxed myself by making my last post. We had a tough night. We're not sure if he's regressing (the book said he might) or if he's going through a growth spurt (another one?!). Either way, Mommy and Daddy are tired.

Making Progress

2007-12-13T13:12:00.001-08:00

After our trip to Wichita Falls, Joshua was becoming harder and harder to put to sleep. Alot of bouncing, rocking, shushing and Bjorning for long periods of time. So we started to sleep train him last Friday. It's been a tough couple of days, with lots of crying but we're seeing a little bit of progress. He's able to put himself to sleep and take 2 hr naps but he's restless at night (it's the opposite of the way he was before- he didn't take daytime naps and slept all night). So we're hoping that in the near future, his nighttime routine gets back to the way it was. Sleep my little pudgeball, sleep.

4 Months!

2007-12-07T11:09:00.000-08:00

Josh had his 4 month doctor visit on Tues and we got his vitals:
17lbs 10oz, 24.5 in long. He is still in the 90th percentile for weight and 25% for head size and height. So don't adjust your TV sets, he still is a tree stump.
He got 4 more shots, that didn't seem to bother him too much. But the first time we took his clothes off to change him, he ripped 2 bandaids off with his right hand in one fell swoop. It's AWESOME that he can grab things now.

Thanksgiving Developments

2007-11-27T22:10:00.000-08:00

I was lucky enough to take the entire week off for the Thanksgiving holiday and witnessed Joshua develop quite a bit. We took the 6 hr drive to Wichita Falls, TX (where Uncle Phi has also experienced the developing powers of Wichita Falls water, first-handed). He did great in the car, only fussed for about 20 minutes each way. Here are some of the areas that I've noticed Josh has progressed:
- His arms grew! From birth til now, when he stretched his arms straight up, they would not reach past the top of his head. On Fri, his fingertips crested past the top of his head.
- He stands! A week ago he could easily stand for a moment (with my help for balance), but now he can stand for a minute at a time.
- He jumps! Again, with my help in balance, but he'll jump 10 times in a row.
- He talks! He verbalizes much more now. Not nearly as much as Uncle Sam, but much more than he did a week ago.
- He grabs! He grabs at things now, mostly toys and his pacifier and mostly with his right hand :( but still he grasps at things while he didn't 7 days ago.
- He can inch! I wouldn't say he can crawl, but he can inch like an inchworm. He brings his legs in, puts his butt in the air and his body falls forward. He can't get very far cause he hasn't figured out how to move his hands so he just falls on his face- but it's progress nonetheless.

Hair Cut #3

2007-11-20T09:27:00.000-08:00

Josh is 3 and a half months old and he just got his third hair cut. Grandma cut it the first 2 times and I had the honor, for the first time, yesterday... so, long story short... I unexpectedly had to fade Josh's hair. It's alot tougher to cut a baby's hair than I expected, all that bobbing and jerking. Now he kinda looks like he just got back from Chinese Boot Camp. Sorry Josh, that was my bad.

Oooohhh Noooooo, it's Joshzira

2007-11-15T20:17:00.000-08:00

It's Josh's first movie poster. Thanks Uncle Efren!

More than meets the [beady] eye!

Happy Hundred!

2007-11-15T20:11:00.000-08:00

Last Sunday we celebrated Josh's 100th day at Fung's Kitchen. Grandma and Granpa invited a bunch of their friends so they could ogle over the chubling. Unfortunately, he spent 40% of the time sleeping and another 50% of the time crying. He likes to sit back and look around, he gets pissy when people are all up in his face trying to get a reaction (I think he gets that from his Dad).

A New Skill

2007-11-06T14:09:00.001-08:00

Josh has developed a habit of trying to hold his bottle when he eats but he doesn't have the motor skills yet, so he mostly rubs his knuckles on the bottle. A lot of times, he just ends up knocking the bottle out of his mouth. I really don't have a problem with him trying this except that he's using his right hand. I could do the ole tape-the-right-hand-behind-the-back-to-make-him-use- his-left-hand trick but Anh doesn't really like it when I use tape on the baby. Oh well, I guess I'll have to be happy with him being a righty. We should have another baby... a left handed baby.

Welcome Baby Girl Bhatt

2007-11-06T13:48:00.000-08:00

Hooray! Aunt Purvi and Uncle Ankur had a 7lbs 7oz and 20.25 in long. I think she is still un-named, but we are glad that Josh has another potential girlfriend around.

Update: They finally decided on a name- Aryana Bhatt

It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown!

2007-11-05T12:31:00.000-08:00

Josh had a pretty rough Halloween. He spent alot of the day and night crying either with the teething or a rash he has developed. He had a lot of visitors but scared most of them off with his incessant crying- it's his way of saying "Trick or Treat". Anh did get the time to put on his lovely pumpkin costume (thanks Aunt Purvi!).

I've gotten multiple questions asking why he even needed a costume cause he is round enough already. It was easier to put the costume on than to dip him in orange paint.

Bumbo-bee

2007-10-24T10:30:00.000-07:00

Little guy is getting better at holding his head up so I put him in the Bumbo for the first time yesterday. [For those who don't know what a Bumbo is: it's a formed foam baby chair to help them learn to situp] First thing I noticed is his thighs are too fat to fit into the slots. I had to cram them in with some vaseline and a crowbar (not really, but that's what it felt like). Once we got him in there, he was an ace. His head would bob around a bit every now and then but he did pretty good for his first try. He seemed to like it, he was in there for about 10 minutes without any issues. I think we'll make this a daily exercise.

Cutting a Tooth

2007-10-24T10:25:00.001-07:00

Josh has been cranky for the last 2 days and not able to sleep very well at night. We are guessing that a tooth is coming through (Anh's mom has been saying this for about 2 weeks- some kind of intuition). I still can't see/feel anything on his gums but Anh says she can (maybe because of my dulled senses). Hope it pops out quickly. Even though his whimpers are really cute, I think he's not very comfortable.

Party like a Rock Star

2007-10-24T07:30:00.001-07:00

We went to Nathan "Strahan" Tam's 1 year birthday party at Dozo this past weekend. It was HUGE! It felt as big as our wedding. Lots of people, lots of food, open bar, balloon animals, loud Cantonese karaoke.
Josh had a good time- he slept through the whole thing. He seems to rest better with the loud noises around.

Uncle Sam

2007-10-13T07:45:00.000-07:00

Uncle Ron and Aunt Teresa visited from Oklahoma City last weekend, introducing Josh to his new uncle Sammy (Sammy was born 2 days after Josh). We were hoping that we could put them next to each other and have them get coo at each other and try to touch each other. That didn't really happen. They were oblivious of each other, barely even noticing that there was another miniature person in their midst.

2007-10-07T17:01:00.000-07:00

Apparently Josh is aware of the winter months coming up, his animal instincts have kicked in and he's storing away food for the next 3 months in his cheeks.

2007-10-06T06:53:00.000-07:00

Josh went on his 2 month dr visit on Thurs. Here are his vitals:
Weight: 14lbs 5 oz (95%)
Height: 22 3/4" (50%)
Head size: 15 1/2" (25%)
So scientific america and the data loggers of the world are trying to convince me that Josh has a relatively small head!? uhh...no. If that was the case, then his mouth size would have to be down in the 2-3% range.

He also got his shots so he came home with 4 full sized band-aids on his thighs. Poor guy. Momma said he took it like a trooper and barely cried.

2007-09-23T23:04:00.000-07:00

Grandma trimmed Josh's hair last Thurs. His hair is quite a bit shorter and it makes his head look EVEN BIGGER (if that was possible). It's short up top and longer on the sides and back- yep a Baby Mullet.

We weighed him on our scale at home (at 7 weeks old) and got an unofficial 13.6 lbs. According to the chart that the Pediatrician gave us a couple weeks back, this puts Josh in the 95 percentile in weight! He definitely takes after his mom, she used to always be in the 95 percentile in the tests she took in school.

2007-09-23T22:55:00.000-07:00

My cousin Stephen came by to visit from Jersey last weekend. He's got a son who just turned 2 named Dominic. When I looked back at Dominic's baby pictures, I noticed that he looks a whole lot like Josh! They could be related!... oh wait... they are. First cousins? Second cousins? Distant cousins? I dunno what you call them.

But here's Dominic on the left and Josh on the right (both at 3 weeks old)

Bird Watching

2007-09-12T12:45:00.000-07:00

So it turns out that Josh likes to flip the bird when he's eating. Right hand, left hand, eyes open or closed, sitting up or laying down, it doesn't matter. Sometimes he'll perch that Ibis on the mast that is his bib. Sometimes his Eagle will soar in patterns in the sky. For whatever reason, he feels the need to give that one finger salute almost every meal. But the thing is... I can never get it on film. Each time that I reach for the camera, the Dodo will scurry away. I will keep trying until I get a series of pictures of the ever elusive Yellow-bellied Sapsucker in its natural habitat.

Identical Twins

2007-09-04T23:11:00.000-07:00

My father in law looks at Josh one day and says "His face looks like a steamed bun!"
I cannot disagree.

Momentous Weekend

2007-09-04T22:56:00.000-07:00

Saturday night we brought Josh to the in-laws house for a family get-together. First time he was out of the house for more than an hours or so besides doctor visits. I think he likes being around lots of people and noise.

Sunday morning we brought Josh to church with us. First time out in society. It went pretty well, just a few grunts throughout the mass. I think I'm ready to turn him loose.

Sunday night Anh and I went to Purvi's baby shower... without Josh! We were out for about 3.5 hours and he was still alive and about the same when we got back. No worries.

Monday night we snuck in a late night run to Target with the little guy. He pretty much slept through the whole trip. Not too shabby Thunder Thighs.

The Toughest Change

2007-08-26T19:48:00.000-07:00

It was a diaper change for the ages. Josh had a dirty diaper, like he does 8 times a day- we put him up on the changing table and get him out of the old diaper, clean him up and into the new diaper. As we fastened one side of the diaper, we hear the explosion of another dookie. The impact of the release was enough to start a bout of hiccups and with each hiccup there was a little bit of spit-up. As we are cleaning up the second round, the third round comes shooting out of his little round rear. Our four hands hustle harmoniously like an F1 pit crew, one pair cleaning the yellow-orange bits all over the changing table and the other pair wiping up the constant dribble of spit-up rolling down his chubby cheeks. We almost have the situation under control when Josh releases a yellow fountain and gets us both with the stream. After 10 minutes, 3 diapers, countless wipes and 3 wet shirts, order is finally restored. I think I saw a crooked smirk come from Josh's little lips as we picked him up from the scene. Good one Josh...

Thanksgiving

2007-08-25T10:10:00.000-07:00

Thuy and Phi just got back from Rome two days ago and they came over yesterday (along with Long) and made us a feast of a meal. They hooked it up with the food, cleaning and some babysitting on the side.

THANKS GUYS!

Big head small mouth

2007-08-23T09:56:00.000-07:00

We went in for the 3 week visit today- he's up to 8lbs 13oz! He's gained 13oz in the last 9 days (his slowing down off of his 'Andre the Giant pace'). It seemed like alot of weight to me until I found out that Claire had her baby yesterday and she was born at 8lbs 10oz! Dang Claire, now we see why you were carrying so low for the last 6 months.
Josh is at 50th percentile in the 3 measurement categories. Weight: 8lbs 13oz; Length: 20.75"; Head Size: 14.5"
Avg isn't good enough son, you need to step it up- I wanna see some A's and B's on your next report card!

The Umbilical Cord Fell Off Today

2007-08-15T21:13:00.000-07:00

Happy Trails my friend. I'm gonna miss you, you little blue crusty thing you.

Behemoth

2007-08-14T20:33:00.000-07:00

Born.............. 08.02.07... 7lbs 3.8oz
5 days old..... 08.06.07... 7lbs 1oz
13 days old... 08.14.07... 8lbs

At this rate he'll be as big as Andre the Giant in the fifth grade! Go Josh Go!

2007-08-13T16:57:00.001-07:00

In his first days of life, Joshua was a big whimperer. Whimpered all the time- happy or sad, awake or asleep. He would throw in the occasional grunt when he was making dookie, but the vast majority of his vocabulary were soft, high pitched cries.

In the last 2 days he's all about the grunting. Sounds like he's constantly straining to drop the next big thing. But these grunts seem to be unrelated to his bowel movements. I kind of like the sound of his grunts (much manlier than the previous whimpers) so I grunt with him. We go back and forth carrying out entire grunt conversations. Mother doesn't like it much.

Picky Eater

2007-08-13T16:37:00.000-07:00

We supplement Josh's diet with formula after Momma feeds him to get him full. We've pretty much been using the stuff that we got from the hospital and bought more of the same brand. We got some free samples of this soy, lactose intolerant formula in the mail. In an effort to make him a diverse eater, I give him the soy. 30 minutes later- projectile vomit out of his nose and mouth. We originally thought we fed him too much at the last feeding and he gave it back. So the next feeding we give him the soy again. 30 minutes later, more projectile vomit. I was holding him ~4in away facing towards me and he drenches the front of my shirt. There was more on me than there was on him, that's how powerful the gush was. So it turns out Josh is intolerant of lactose-intolerant formula. Back to the regular stuff.

A week old!

2007-08-09T21:06:00.000-07:00

Josh celebrated his one week birthday by taking a monster dump at 5.09pm. Good work man! Many more to come.

(I'm not nasty like Lawrence so I didn't take a picture of it)

2007-08-07T10:40:00.000-07:00

Here is one of my favorite pictures from Joshua's first day. He looks like he is devising his plot to take over the world. I suggested naming him Stewie Griffin Cheng, but Anh didn't like it so much. I think it was because she didn't want to be the 'Lois' and I could easily fall into the role of 'Peter'.

Baby Josh is here!

2007-08-05T16:01:00.000-07:00

Joshua Everett Cheng was born August 2, 2007 5:09PM. Little guy came in at 7 lbs 3.8 oz, 18.5 in long.

Momma and Baby are back home and doing fine. Sorry for the late notice, we're just getting used to the little one's sleep schedule...

2007-07-21T11:04:00.001-07:00

A picture of Anh today at 37 weeks.

It'll be any day now...

The Baby's Room

2007-07-21T10:42:00.001-07:00

I painted the background Anh, Claire, Angie, Jessica, Phi, Thuy drew and painted the details.

2007-07-21T10:32:00.000-07:00

The names of the day are Josh and Dean.

2007-07-21T10:03:00.001-07:00

This is a pic from May 9. Anh was about 6 months. Getting a little belly...

2007-07-21T10:01:00.001-07:00

Here's the 4D image of the little guy at 17 weeks. Can't tell who he looks like yet, all I know is we gotta get some meat on them bones!

Blogging the Baby

2007-07-16T21:57:00.000-07:00

We're starting this off to chronicle the baby. We still don't have a name yet- Austin and Cole are our top choices right now.

Any suggestions?

Here's the first profile picture of the baby at 11 weeks old.