CIRQUE DU SOLEIL
We treated ourselves to an unbelievable evening at the cirque du soleil. No, we did not go to las vegas, we had them right here in houston. It was a very casual encounter that led to our discovery of their coming to town, but surely people who believe in fate would say,"Everything happens for a reason". As soon as we heard about it, we could not let it pass, especially not after we found out the tickets were as cheap as $40! This message is for you, my friends, who haven't found it out yet. Go buy a ticket for the show, it is so worth it. And I am obligated to point it out that this blog is not sponsored in any way, or affliated with cirque du soleil.

Even though I had never been to a live circus before, I have seen a lot on TVs. Some typical acts are walking on ropes, throwing people in air, balancing on objects (ladders for example). With all that in mind, I was still impressed by their performance. Apparently, cirque du soleil is well known for their artistic integration of music, light, dance, and acrobat, which was very much appreciated that evening. The show we went to see was "Corteo", about a festive funeral imaged by a clown of his own, watched by angels. I don't think it is necessary for me to describe to you how each act went, and why they were great, because words from me can't do the justice (I am not a writer!!). What I want to discuss here is the reason why I think their show was successful.

First, they really made it look very easy and graceful. (a) They look like they are dancing the whole time, smooth and musical; (b) They have group acts, which require a lot of coordination among them, and when successful, just blurring your eyes. Second, the constumes rocks. Everyone knows how much I like those fancy dresses in that historical time. And this setting put me right in the dreamland. Third, those angels in the air, who are supposed to be watching the funeral proceeding, came so handy as Fedex services. Whenever someone needed something high up in the air, an angle showed up with the right stuff. And it didn't look out of place either, because they are angles, and they are supposed to help.

And their gift shop! Cool stuff all the way..... If only I had the money!

Baby Drool Contest
With the huge number of contests out there, you would think they have come up with everything. Apparently Japanese people have contest of how much tear you can shed within a certain amount of time. Here is a bestseller: Cute and easy: baby drool contest.

Three legged doggie

In a recent event, Onion Ring has damaged one of his hind legs. Specifically speaking, but maybe not medically precise, he has dislocated one of his shoulder sockets. It happened after an exciting shower time, when the doggie got so excited, and landed wrongly on the hard floor. In retrospect, I was also partially responsible since my belly muscle might have contributed to the speed with which he was bounced back to the ground after he jumped to give me a push. Remember a saying like "some small event can determine the outcome of the whole war", this incident has also changed his life for ever.

The doctor's verdict was that Onion Ring was to have his leg back into the socket, but unless he stopped the reckless way of his in jumping around, the same event was bound to happen again. Several scenarios could happen: 1. By miracle, the dog understood what the doctor said, and changed his way of behaving, and became a placid dog; 2. The dog breaks his leg again, and needs a surgery to replace the sack; 3. The dog stops using his wounded leg altogether. None of the above, NONE, would enable him to be the same again. Our poor doggie, is therefore, going to lose his trademark: jumping around like crazy. We were so sure the second scenario was to occur, but on the contrary, even though his bondage was taken off, Onion Ring still walked around with three legs. Therefore, the correct answer is No. 3!!

How can he function like this? Wouldn't he prefer to use all four legs when they are all accessible? Intrigued by his choice, I looked it up with two key words: three-legged dogs. And I discovered a whole community of dogs who only have three legs. Some of them lose one of the front legs, and some of them lose one of the hind legs. I drew a conclusion from these observations: four legs are not necessary for a dog's survival at least in a domestic environment, however, losing one of them jeopardizes their complete functionality: we have to carry Onion Ring to get in our bed now:(

Even though Onion Ring walked around in a funny way these days, I am sure he does not think there is anything funny about his whole situation. His spirits, which we used to cherish and complain about the same time, are compromised. Hopefully, one day, he will recover completely, to be a happy doggie once more, who thinks he can take on the world...... without the jumping and barking part, of course!

Spring time for the backyard

I am sorry this is not necessarily true for some of you, my friends and family, but in houston, we are deep in spring time, which means no snow, no sweater, suns all the time, flowers blooming everywhere, and everyone gets their lazy asses up and drives down to a home store: it is time to do gardening!! I certainly did my share, and I know that because my body muscle hurt for a week afterwards.... Here is a picture as proof, see those nice flowers on the corners next to our beautiful deck (Thanks, Papa for giving us a beautiful deck, we enjoy it all the time). But I still have half of the work to go, because inexperienced as I was, we miscalculated the numbers of bricks we needed for the border:) I am sure that happens to everyone, right?



So we put the flowers we haven't yet put in the soil on the top of two benches around the corner. In this beautiful artistic picture taken by my mom, you can see the angle the artist chose to express her view of the backyard, with the baby in the center of the attention, as always. In this picture, lucas happened to stroll down in a walker near the flowers, and he grabbed one with his tiny hand, in the most unexpected way. I guess it will take some time for him to realize flowers are for watching, not eating. Until then, I hold a firm belief that Lucas is to grow up as a lady's man, picking flowers for his girl friends.

Finally, the day we have been looking forward to is within reach: Lucas is turning 6 months old!

Now here comes the one-million-dollar-question: who does he look like? Does he look like his daddy?

Or his grandma?

You can obviously see where his beautiful genes come from...

According to some people, if you get rid of the age factor, these two could be twins!

There is definitely some chemistry between these two!

We are cousins!

Hi, grandpa, grandma, auntie Nena, Chara, Uncle Sam, Bernhard, Frida, how come I don't have a picture with you? Don't you want your pictures taken with me? Look how cute I am.

What we are up to lately

The new year of 2007 has started without any warning, and it is the end of January before we know it. How did time fly away? What have we done in this first 1/12 time of the year? I guess the answers reside in our chinese phrases, "happy time passes fast" and "they are all chicken hair and garlic peel kind of stuff".
Remember how I mentioned we felt our time stopped at the time when the baby was born, fortunately, we have got used to the roles of being new parents now. We got used to the late night shifts, we got used to staying in all the time, we got used to leaving a party or a place early every time, and we got used to the boredom, because we have made progress.....
The baby still stays high, 90-95% in weight, 75-90% in height, 50% in head size at 4 month check-up. He is transitioning into the crib to sleep now with a lot of breaks on Mommy and Daddy during the nights. He clings to us when we carry him as if that would make a difference in case he fell. And he communicates more than ever.
After we made a toast on New Year Eve, we continued our small but significant life style: we made many trips to grocery stores, many many times; we went shopping for the after-christmas sale; we went to memorial park arboretum, and walked in mud for a while.
What did you do?

For your delight