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.