Maxwell in the Big Apple

We recently attended Xiao-Li Yi's and her husband, Joe's, wedding. It was the first time all the cousins of Alan's generation were gathered together in one place. The wedding was held in downtown Manhattan, and we also got to hang out at GuGu's house and play with Ian and Lia.

Maxwell very much enjoyed hanging out with his two cousins, but Lia especially liked to play with Max. Each time she saw Max, she would point at him and say, "Baby." She is 10 months older than him, but right now, she seems light years ahead.

The first day we were in New York was a humid one, and it's clear that Max, Mommy, and Daddy have been softened by California living because we were all sweaty messes, especially Max. Nai Nai (aka Wai-Po) flew at the same time as us from Cali to New York, so we got to spend some extra time with her. You can see from the pics we had a great time with the family. MMY-Po gave Max his first taste of alcohol at the wedding reception (as she did with Ian at Wes Su-Su's wedding a few years ago), and he very clearly chose red wine over milk. *sigh* Our boy is growing up so fast.

Xiao-Li Yi and Uncle Joe should be on their honeymoon in Africa now, so we wish them another hearty congratulations, and it looks like we'll be back in the Big Apple for Xmas this year!

Google Vanilla

As an ice cream and gelato enthusiast, I must pause to note a vital milestone today: Maxwell had his first ice cream cone today. (well, half a mini-ice cream cone)

The flavor? Google Vanilla.

Huge thanks to Uncle Davidson for a fascinating tour of the Googleplex. We are trying to establish lofty career goals early on for the little guy.

"Maxwell Feng, Little Chef, Google Cafe." That has a nice ring to it, no?

(No pictures to follow as personal photos are not permitted at Google. But, please use your imagination of Max experiencing his first "brain freeze" moment. So happy, yet so sad, right?)

Milestone Alert!

Max is taking his first steps these days. We're convinced that this is the good influence of his twin (@ the nanny-share), Elodie. She's nearly running already! In any case, he's also really into clapping, and turning on and off the lights in the house (when we hold him to the switch - Kai1 Deng1! Guan1 Deng1!).

But most exciting of all is that Max has officially starting eating table foods with us. The meal that did it? Super Nai Nai's Niu2 Rou4 Mian4 (Beef Noodle Soup). He is very much into Nai Nai's cooking, and the soggy udon are a great complement. He was sucking on the beef chunks to get the "au jus" out, but not so much into the texture of the meat yet. HOORAY!

Mommy was the intrepid food explorer who introduced it to him, and the results were amazing! We haven't seen Maxwell open his mouth for the next bite in a long time. So, hats off again to Super Nai Nai (aka Super Wai-Po to our cousins, Lia and Ian).

Video to follow . . .

The Nai Nai Series

Nai Nai came to visit us for the week preceding our trip to NYC. She arrived to our house and in one night, got over her jetlag. She took care of Maxwell during the day while Mommy and Daddy went to work (and a bachelor party, ahem).

She took A LOT of pictures, as any loving grandmother with a digital camera and 4GB memory card would, and below is what made the cut. She made Max smile and laugh like we've never seen, and he really started opening up and being more interactive during and after her visit.

You can see that Nai Nai likes to "style" Max's hair to look like a Chinese politician's or a punk rocker's. The jury's still out on the "guai guai" look. But we dig punk rock Max. Somehow, between babysitting Max, and doing pretty much EVERY household chore that needed doing, she stocked the freezer (again!) with enough dinners to last us until her next visit. Super Nai Nai to the rescue!

So, here's a salute to Nai Nai - thank you for all that you do! Love, m.a.x.