Feedin' time

It was Thomas Paine who wrote, "These are the times that try men's souls." In Rowan's case, that time is feedin' time. He is finally swallowing his food, rather than playing with it and spitting it out all over the place. But look at the faces he makes! The first picture is typical--Rowan is all ready to chow down, throwing caution to the wind and fully embracing the spoonful of 'whatever' that makes its way inevitably into his mouth.













Below that is the aftermath--Rowan is trying desperately to swallow a tiny morsel of mushed up banana. I pride myself in showing him how to keep his mouth closed while eating, but at what cost, I ask you! Finally, a tragic moment--Rowan throws in the towel as he chokes on another tiny morsel. Let's face it, bananas are starchy. All in all, he did very well. So far, he has successfully swallowed three foods (banana, applesauce and avocado). Will a fourth be in the near future? Find out in our later installments.

Rowan plays the piano

As always, Daddy is not having any fun. Rowan, however, is having a ball. He loves playing the piano, loves the sound of the piano, loves music played on the piano, especially when Daddy sings to him. Every night (almost) before bedtime, we play him "Rainbow Connection," and he gets extremely happy and excited when he hears the opening chords, then laughs out loud when we modulate up a half step. Winnie claims that Rowan has a unique sense of rhythm, something which comes out when he and I improvise together, sounding at times somewhere between Morton Feldman and Stefan Wolpe. He has a tendency, though, to "sing" while he plays, like Gould and Serkin, though far more obtrusive. Although we're not forcing him into music (that would be horribly impractical), we hope he continues with it. So far, so good.

Rowan and Daddy playing Peek-a-boo, et al...

These moments make all the bad things ephemeral.

Enjoy.

Sun Lin Fai Law!!

Rowan says Happy Chinese New Year! It's the Year of the Ox, folks, the year for affluence through endurance and hard work (perfect for a world in financial crisis). Rowan received his first Lai See (red envelopes with money inside), which he proceeded to devour. Ah, the money tastes so sweet! So sweet! Daddy offers him another in the bottom photo--don't spend it all in one place, son!

Rowan's first foray into solids

Rowan tried avocado for the first time, being all gung-ho about getting the food into his mouth (top photo). Then he tasted it (middle photo). Despite his repeated gumming of numerous spoonfuls of avocado, very little of it, if any, actually got into his stomach. And so it remains. Since then, he's tried banana (hates it) and pear (indifferent), though nothing could possibly compare to his bright pink spoon, which he likes to chew till the cows come home (bottom photo). Don't get us wrong, though, for all you naysayers out there. We don't condone his using the spoon as a chew toy, instead trying to get him to see at as a useful tool for eating new, more substantive foods. Yeah, we're probably fucked.

Thank you

In a rare pictureless entry, I wanted to take this time to say a huge thank you to the Cheung family for the absolutely marvelous time we all had up in Northwestern Canada. First, to Gung-gung and Por-por for their tireless generosity, and for taking care of Rowan when one or another of his parents was away. Second, to Fai Kow Fu, for lightening our hearts in darker times, and for helping us select delectable bottles of wine which we drank at the host of fabulous establishments. Thirdly, to Clint, for almost singlehandedly arranging the whole affair, including restaurant and living accommodations--the food was achingly good. To Maggie, for taking marvelous pictures of the family, for keeping Leo sane throughout our stay in Whistler, and for being a bright face for Rowan. And finally, to the whole conglomerate of Cheungs for the hours and hours of joy bestowed on our little god head. Rowan had himself a very memorable experience (his parents moreso, I gather) and views the pictures with great excitement and revery. Upon our arrival back into the warmth (yes, warmth) and silence of our Chicago apartment, he became very cranky and irritable. He misses the abundance of people, the nightly outings, the endless days of fun and merriment. Even his eczema, which started to clear up in Canada, has started to return a little. Soon, we will do this again in Hong Kong, with his Grandma Sue and Pappa Bear, perhaps even his Uncle Mike and Aunt Julie, along with cousin Ruby. We'll see. Once again, thank you. We'll see you all on the computer screen.

Kow Fu Tzai: A triptych

A charming bond developed between Clint and Rowan, so much so that they bear, at times, the same expressions on their faces, from the inquisitive (picture 1), to the naughty (picture 2), to the foot-grabbingly happy (picture 3). Clint, who is normally quite reticent in family situations, or sometimes vaguely annoyed, was a different person with Rowan. Such is the effect our little boy has on people.

Lest I forget...

This is Maggie, Leo's girlfriend. Throughout the trip she remained very slender and quiet, though apparently she's a formidable force on the slopes. Wherever the entire Cheung family is featured in a picture, she is usually behind the camera. In this photo, she holds a happy Rowan in her lap, who grabs onto her very long fingers. Also, from what I can gather, Maggie only eats peanuts and shrimp.

Family photos

It was a tense affair. After finally rounding up everyone into the same room, the lighting slightly less than ideal (for we just couldn't get up that early), Maggie, Leo's girlfriend (who accompanied us on our trip to Whistler), snapped off several very nice pictures of the immediate Cheung family at our Taluswood cabin with a Hasselblad (the Rolls Royce or Bentley of cameras). In this picture, let's take stock of the main characters: Gung-gung and Por-por are stoic. Leo, koala-like, is a closed book. Winnie and Aaron are beaming pleasantly. Clint is a mime. And Rowan...Rowan is merely caught in the middle. The fireplace was not lit, since previously (when it was lit) smoke was drifting into the room and turning everyone's windpipes into cotton. A few details to notice--first , the beautiful snow on the trees outside the window; second, no one is wearing shoes; and third, there are two fish in the picture (see if you can locate them).

Last day in Vancouver

Picture number 1: Our last dinner in Vancouver was at Shijo, a wonderful Japanese restaurant on 4th avenue. There we met up with Winnie's cousins, Kevin (with his wife Joyce) and Amy, as well as another of Rowan's cousins, Nathan (the son of Kevin and Joyce). From left to right--Gung-gung, Kevin, Linda (the former Cheung housekeeper in Vancouver), Winnie, Aaron, Rowan, Por-por, Nathan, Joyce, Amy and Clint.

Picture number 2: Holy crap! Is that blowfish!!

Picture number 3: Gung-gung, Rowan and cousin Nathan, all smiling. Indeed, Rowan has become an extremely happy boy, and seems to spread happiness wherever he goes.

Picture number 4: By the end of the trip, Rowan had become so social as to be comfortable being held by anyone, even complete strangers. Here, he is happy as a clam with Vivian, the daughter of a friend of Winnie's mother (you got all that?). Also notice that his bib has changed from the preceding pictures. Rowan, besides being a happy boy, is a messy boy.

Boid watching

So one day we all went on this little tour several kilometers south of Whistler Village to watch bald eagles, who make their nests in the high trees along streams and rivers. On a spectacularly snowy day, we could see the black forms of the great birds huddled in groups of four or five on the trees, some making their high-pitched chirping sounds through the falling snow and the sounds of the water, others taking flight to look for salmon, who swim upstream to spawn and die shortly thereafter. The first picture shows us catching sight of the eagles in the distance. Rowan, meanwhile, receives a rare treat when he sees his first moose--oh, wait...that's Por-por. Sorry...

Picture number two: an awkward moment. We visited a hatchery where the salmon are robbed of their eggs and their lifeless corpses thrown into the nearby river where the eagles swoop down to feed. We thought we might be able to watch the eagles attacking the great, ruddy fish, but they remained patiently on their roosts, waiting for us to leave. So we had this picture snapped of the Cheungs (and a couple Traverses) taking shelter from the snow under a canopy. There would be no carnage today.

Later that day, after an exquisite lunch along one of the main banks of the river, a blizzard came. We were inundated with snow, the ride back to Whistler taking almost and hour and a half (as opposed to the original twenty minutes). Rowan wept for hunger. Though the weather was bad, we knew the skiing the following day would be spectacular.

Cute baby feet, ugly daddy feet

Rowan: Eww! Eewww!! EEEWWW!!! Please don't say my feet will look like that! Please don't say my feet will look like that! EEEWWW!!!




Ba-Ba: Alright, the cat's out of the bag. I need a pedicure.

New experiences, new hair

Proof positive that Rowan is indeed getting more hair, and it looks like it'll be more on the brown side than the black.

Rowan got some lovely things for his first Christmas this year: some new clothes, new bibs, a baby blanket, a pair of faux mink mits from Fai Kow Fu, and a beautiful quilt knitted by Mary Kay with his name emblazoned in yellow in the center. Mary Kay was very sensitive to the symbolism of the quilt's various images, referencing the experiences of Rowan's parents, as well as future hopes for the boy wonder. The first photo shows a bib-clad Rowan playing on his new quilt and exploring its various quadrants. The second shows him engaging in a new activity, playing with fruit (apples, oranges, pears). He enjoys kicking them, placing them in his lap then working his legs sufficiently enough to launch the thing forward several inches.

Oh...Can...ada...

After a four and a half hour flight where the United Airlines jet received the lion's share of Rowan's spit-up, we arrived safe but hungry in Vancouver, putting up in the Wedgewood Hotel in a suite, no less. They even wheeled up a crib for Rowan. We spent a few days there, where the first picture comes from (Gung-gung and Por-por having breakfast with their grandson by the fireplace), before setting off on our two hour car ride north to Whistler and Blackcomb. There we stayed in a lovely cabin in the residential community of Taluswood, situated among conifer-laden mountains, and everywhere the bluish pall of snow in twilight. It was here, in our cabin, that the second picture was taken (Winnie playing with Rowan by yet another fireplace). This was the beginning of a very special time for Rowan.

Correction: The first picture actually comes from a breakfast we had at Queen Elizabeth Park, but the Wedgewood has a fireplace, too.

Before Christmas

I admit, I've been out of commission. Here's a couple of photos to tide you all over until I get the the Christmas photos uploaded, which will take up some time (and memory).

The first one is a lovely one from Dad, the second was taken by me on an extremely cold and sunny day in Chicago. All seems right with the world--that is, until the heater breaks down one day before you're going to leave town for more than two weeks. By some miracle (and the modicum of help from the heating and cooling guys), the heater started working again in the early morning hours of our leaving day...and it continues to work--hallelujah. Coming soon, Christmas and New Years in Vancouver and Whistler.