Hello!

Okay, we'll I've finally succumbed to peer pressure and am starting a blog! Since Justin is well into toddler-dom, it's becoming harder to take photos of a moving target and there's lots of stuff I want to share that needs more than just a photo to explain. So here we are. Hopefully you find this interesting and not just the pretentious ramblings of a proud mommy.

Lately, we've been amazed that we are actually able to COMMUNICATE with Justin. It's weird to think of him as another person that you can actually talk to. He's not talking yet, but he's started picking up some sign language. His babysitter (Mrs. Okano or "Ba-Ba") started with teaching him "oiishi" (delicious) which is patting his cheek. Of course, we didn't know at first that she was teaching him that so whenever we fed him in his high chair at home and he would pat the back of his head, we just thought he was being silly. Well lo and behold it actually meant something! So he's not coordinated enough to pat his cheek all the time, but anything in the region thereof (cheek, ear, head...) means delicious. We even managed to get him to understand the sign in Chinese ("hou sik").

So since it seemed like he was ready to learn, we've taught him a few more: please (hands together), all done (twisting hands), hungry (patting mouth), and thirsty (opening/closing hand). Lately, he's just started to string a couple of signs together...like he'll do "hungry" and then "please". The things this kid will do for food!

Before this post gets too long, I'll share one of our recent pics. I like this one because you can see ALL his teeth!