Time to Relax

Your Daddy works very hard to provide for our family. He is dealing with 156 (!) kids this year, 2 AP Classes, 1 morning lab, 1 night lab, and lots of IB papers to grade. Basically he comes home very tired each day. Here is a picture of the 2 of you, after a long day's work, relaxing in your favorite corner of the house. You guys like to snuggle up together with your favorite pillow and blankie.

New Toys

Why do we even bother buying you toys? All you need is some digging in mama's kitchen cabinets and it's Tupperware galore!

365 Days

Happy Birthday, Lucas. You are 1 year old today. The last 365 days have passed by in the blink of an eye. Where did the time go? What happened to the 7 lb, 11 oz baby who felt so weightless in our arms? Last year at this time, we were holding you in our arms for the first time. 13 hours of labor, 1.5 hours of pushing and you were no longer in the safety of Mommy's womb. You would be out here in the real world, experiencing the joys and pains of life. So far, in this year, you probably didn't really understand "pain", but you certainly know what joy is. Just some examples of the simplest of things: your stuffed doggie, swimming pools, jumping on our bed, climbing stairs, eating blueberries, rocking out to music, seeing your grandparents - you find joy. You don't know it, but you have taught us so much about how to be joyful, how to find happiness and be content in whatever circumstance we are in. Oh, to have that child-like perspective. God has entrusted us silly people to be your parents. We are by no means perfect, in fact, we get impatient, angry, judgmental, self-absorbed (just to name a few) way too easily. However, He gave us to you so that we could take care of you. We pray that you would be proud to be in this family. Thanks for the greatest and happiest year of our lives, Lucas. We love you a lot and can't wait to see what the future brings for us.

July 5, 2009

Happy 1st Birthday, Lucas Joseph Lim!

The First of many Father's Days...

We celebrated the first Father's Day this past Sunday. Though you didn't know what was going on, Daddy was really happy to celebrate this day with you. Since you were born, you always preferred Mommy over Daddy but it doesn't really matter because you are the best thing that has happened to me. I just want to take this time to tell you how significant you are to Daddy.

When we were thinking of a Chinese name for you, we decided on a name that means "healing light." Your grandparents didn't think that it sounded that good but I insisted. Why, you may ask? Well, Lucas means "light." Meaning that you are someone that lights up our lives. You have unlocked deep stores of love that I never knew existed. When I look at you, my heart melts because of how radiant you are. You are always so happy and willing to spend so much time with us. You are also the light that shows me how I still need to improve as a person and, more importantly, as your Dad.

Now, what about the healing part? Well, you may want to read this first before you read on. You are a huge part of my continual healing. How I interact with you as your Dad slowly seals up the wounds that I had because of all the Daddy things that I never had that growing up. You may wonder why I get so excited when I see you or why I try to wave your mom away because I want to love you the way that I know how to...the way that I wanted to be loved. I know that you are totally unaware of what's going on and you usually see me as an obstacle that you have to overcome to get to Mommy but, I love you, son, and your presence in my life has already made such an impact on my life.

So with this, I want to celebrate you, Lucas, for making Father's Day a day of meaning, purpose and life. Thank you!

Love,
Daddy Lim

Viva Las Vegas

We took our first family trip (which will be the first of many) to Las Vegas this past weekend to celebrate Mommy and Daddy's 6 year wedding anniversary. What fun you had everywhere...especially the buffets! We would keep scooping food onto your food tray to buy us some time to eat and you readily ate up the rice pilaf, baby corn, fruits, and other veggies. You probably ate three times more than your normal food intake. But hey, if we adults can stuff ourselves, why can't you, right? Don't worry, we had so much fun, we will be back soon!

First Haircut

You finally got your hair cut today. Your first haircut. Mommy was a little heartbroken since your hair is so fine and well, a haircut means that you are growing up. But it's been hot and really, as much as we like your rock star locks, it was just getting in your eyes, covering your ears, and hanging in sweaty strands. How in the world are we supposed to cut your hair when you won't even sit still for 3 seconds? The solution? Go to a place where they cut kids' hair, where there are not boring barber's chairs, rather a little toy car. A place where Thomas the Train is playing right in front of your face. A place where the hair gel smells like cookie dough! (Really!) Mommy was armed with your favorite snacks and boom, within 15 minutes (and $18.95 less), you went from this:

a snip here, a snip there, a little TV to distract you...

to this:

Hi Handsome!

Climbing

It's been harder to get pictures of you as you are constantly moving around. You crawl at lightning speed (or so it seems) and now you are mastering the stairs. Mommy and Daddy are getting a backache from bending over and going up and down the stairs with you, but it's so fun to watch you start from the bottom step, look up at the highest step, and go up with no inhibition. The first time you attempted to climb the stairs, we had to coax you with your favorite toy and help you reach for each step. You looked at that daunting staircase with a twinge of fear and frustration. Now, we're going to buy a baby gate this weekend.

Lucky Ones

We are so blessed that Mommy gets to stay home with you in the mornings and you get to hang out with Ah-ma in the afternoons while Mommy does some work. You are always in good hands. It's days like this when we can go have breakfast at the park, watch the birds eat the crumbs left behind by picnickers from the day before, stroll around, and play on the swings. It's such a joy to watch you delight in all the happenings around you. You giggle when you see a leaf blowing in the wind; you track it carefully with your eyes. You wave to all the old ladies doing tai-chi in the park. You burst into laughter when Mommy pushes you high in the swing. Mornings are good times. We are lucky ones to have this time together.

GQ

Sorry I've been absent from this blog. I was too busy being handsome. Here I am at a wedding wearing my new yellow velcro tie. Yes ladies, it is velcro.

Sick

Well, you got your first fever at 8.5 months. Not a very high fever, just 101.6. And two barfs. Of course, as first time parents, we were super worried, measuring your temperature every chance we got, carefully watching the clock when you could get your next dose of Infant Tylenol. You were a trooper though, you just laid on mommy's chest quietly and relaxed. Not to mention you slept for 12 straight hours through the night. 'Atta boy!

Pre-Loved

Lucas, this past weekend, we celebrated the life of your great-grandmother. You see, your dad had a different kind of childhood. Most people have a mommy and daddy raising them but your dad was raised by your great-grandmother. Sadly, she went to meet the Lord a week and a half ago. She meant a lot to your dad. She was the one that took care of him before your dad could even speak. She took care of him all the way until he finished college. Your dad was happy that she was able to meet you and hold you. It brought her great joy to hold one of her great-grandchildren. Lucas, you need to know that the love that you experience from your dad is an extension of the love that he experienced growing up. A lot of what he learned about loving you was given to him by your great-grandmother. As you grow older, you will be visiting her with daddy. Whenever you ask your daddy who it is you are visiting, I will say, "the one who taught me how to love you."

Dressed to the Nines

Here you are in your first shirt, tie, and coat combo at a formal event. Luckily for babies, they make ties that are velcro. How spiffy you look!

Say Cheese!

Hello! I am 8 months old today. I have 5 teeth (3 on top, 2 on bottom) and my favorite food is blueberries. I love to show off my teeth. Sometimes, I bite my mom by accident when I'm nursing. She screams and it makes me cry. I like to show off my teeth!

Eye on the Prize II

You've mastered balancing on your knees for a bit, scooting forward, wiggling your butt, and then sitting back down. We turn our heads and you've somehow moved 6 inches.

Eye on the Prize

You really aren't a fan of crawling yet at 7 months. We put you on your tummy and either you're more interested in the patterns and texture of your play mat or you just want to sit on your butt. They say that if we put a toy farther away, we can get you to crawl toward it. So far, you will stretch your arms as far as possible to reach it, scoot your butt a little and somehow manage to extend your fingers around said object. Once you get it, you laugh and we interpret it as "Haha, Mom and Dad. I win."

Protection

Moms and Dads are different. From this picture you can see that Mommy was the one who set up your play area. You have really started to enjoy sitting on your own. That exersaucer that you used to love to play in will only keep you occupied for about ten minutes. You would rather just sit by yourself and play with your toys, sometimes playing for up to 30 minutes! (good boy!) Each day, you are learning to sit better and better, but you still have some accidents. Daddy wants you to learn to fall and brace yourself. Mommy puts lots of pillows around you so in case you fall, you won't hurt yourself. This is probably a little foretaste of how things might go as you get older. Maybe it's a manliness issue or a maternal protection instinct. Whatever it is, know that we do everything because we love you.

Yum!

You've started solids and what an adventure it has been. Mommy and Daddy have learned that you really can't force a baby to eat when he or she doesn't want to. So far your favorite foods are sweet potatoes, sweet potatoes, and more sweet potatoes. Sometimes it's messy (usually when you don't want to eat), and other times you gobble that food up so quickly and cleanly we hardly have to wipe your mouth. Here's a picture where it got messy.

Your Great-Grandparents

Your Great-Grandparents live almost 7,000 miles away in Taiwan. We decided to brave the 13+ hour plane ride to visit them. You were so well-behaved on this trip! Sleeping on the plane ride both ways, adjusting to the new environment very quickly - we are so proud of you. It's a good thing because Mommy and Daddy love to travel so you're going to be lots of fun to tote around. It took about 6 days for you to get over your jet-lag. Let's just say during this period, we vowed never to take you out of more than four time zones. But we got through it and we're already planning out next trip (more than four time zones away). Thankfully your Ah-ma was came with us and helped hold you while you slept on the plane. She's a lifesaver!

On this trip, we did some sight-seeing, lots of eating, shopping, and more eating. Mommy tried stinky tofu for the first time and it wasn't so bad. (Daddy still thinks it's the worst thing he's ever tasted.) All your Taiwanese relatives loved meeting you and you now have a big deposit of red envelope money into your college fund!

Happy New Year!

2009 was a great year. You came into our lives on July 5th and from that day on, our hearts grew bigger each day. We never knew we could love someone the way we love you. Although you are not speaking yet, you communicate to us that you need us (usually by crying), but somehow as you are growing older, you begin to reach out to us to indicate you want us to hold you or cuddle with you. You are full of energy, rolling around on your foam play mat but when you really want your mommy or daddy, you sit still, put your head on our chest and just let us hold you. We look forward to all the new memories we will create this new year!