I've been cooking many exciting dishes in the past few weeks! This is one of the benefits of living in a big city. We don't have to drive so far to find a particular ingredient. This place has Korean, Chinese, and Japanese grocery stores. The locally-made Kimchi is the best. We also have Costco and Safeway for non-oriental food. Back in Corning, we had no Costco! Of course, convenience comes with a price. Things tend to be more expensive here than in Upstate New York. 

The gluten-free dish for my husband

Belgian Mussel Soup

Udon Noodles with Seafood

Beef with French Beans

Time flies by so fast. Can't believe my baby girl is already 3-month-old! She is getting bigger everyday! She is almost 13 pounds now! My son, on the other hand, is turning 3-year-old soon! I am having a hard time carrying him around. He is so big now! He also talks a lot nowadays. He's a big fan of big trucks and trains. Our house has turned into his toy land! Of course, both my babies got a lot of toys this Christmas! They are so spoiled I know. 

Our first Santa-Christmas Photo Shoot

Father and son bonding

Motherhood feels great

Christmas baby!

We just got back from our grocery trip two hours ago, and now I am waiting for Jimmy's chicken soup to be cooked. Jimmy makes really good chicken soup. I am already drooling. Jimmy also got me a cartload of snacks. I know he is spoiling me! 

Oh, I recently got a Zhan Family mug from Shutterfly (the one on the left). The cup on the right was an old cup I designed a long time ago. It preserved all our happy moments together! 

My baby son has been away from me for a while now. Due to numerous reasons, he has to temporarily stay in Canada with his grandparents. I hope we can get more settled so that I can reunite with him! He has a baby sister coming up soon, and he already knows how to say sister!  He is so ready to be a big brother! 

Next week marks the last week of my second trimester. I am already so big, so I am not sure how big this time I will get. The hunger situation is real. I've been craving for peanut butter crackers and the chickens from Chick-fil-A. I have also learned to buy snacks on Amazon Fresh, which will be delivered right to my door. You see, I am expecting myself to be a chubby and clumsy mama bear soon again. 

My son is still with his grandparents. He is so happy with his auntie Emma. They are having so much fun together. My baby is a naturally civil engineer. Well, he might have gotten his talent from his great great great great grandpa, Zhan Tianyou.  He can recognize shapes very well and put his blocks together without falling apart. He is a little boy of many talents just like his dada. I am very proud to be his mama. 

Jimmy recently saved two baby sparrows from our backyard. We successfully hatched them and now we are officially their adoptive parents. Jimmy is really good at feeding the babies. I also learned how to take care of them while Jimmy is away. In the meantime, our dog is getting used to the big city. She is very gentle now. We can even walk her on the streets! Here we went for a walk in Duke. It is a quite decent Japanese garden we have nearby!

It has been so long since I wrote a post. I should be documenting my COVID life. Many things have been changed but I am still the busy me. We are currently living in Durham and the summer here is very hot for a New Yorker like me. I am getting used to it by the day and my body is finally accepting the 90+ degrees weather. My big dog is also here with us. Due to her size, many city folks are scared of her. The thing is…the more terrified they are, the more my dog wants to engage with them. We got a whole bunch of new gears to train her to behave like a city dog. Well, at least she learned to not bark while other dogs are barking in their rooms. I should award her for being the most peaceful dog because seriously, she sleeps way too much!

Wanna play?

In the meantime, my son is staying with his grandparents and is enjoying the much cooler summer in Canada. He is having so much fun with his auntie and made a lot of new friends in the community. It appears my son is super social and can get along with anyone! He is also very brave. When he falls, he doesn’t cry much. He gets up and checks his body. If nothing’s wrong, he moves on. Ok, I didn’t teach him that. That’s a God-given package! 

Chasing the summer dreams

Another surprise! Well, it looks like I can’t keep surprises for too long hehe…Our baby number 2 will be here around our birthdays. The three of us will certainly have a big birthday party every year. We went to check on her today! She opened up her mouth and danced all the way through our ultrasound session. Guess, we will have an active girl in the house very soon. Alright, a new set of toys will be needed for the girl. We will buy barbies and a lot more barbies..hehe that was me when I was a baby. I loved my barbies!

Baby Cha dancing in my belly 😍

That’s all I have to say! I will update more soon! So many things are happening….

My baby has been growing fast.  His current favorite word is car. I guess our road trips back when he was just born helped him to love big trucks. The sound of them makes him happy. He can now say many words like hello, bye, apple, and banana.  He likes to imitate his little aunt, and he is definitely learning a lot from her. He can do some simple gymnastics flips. I am so proud of him!

Oh, here's me every time when I hear a new word from him! Omg, that feeling is indescribably happy! 

He loves his aunt and I think tennis will definitely be his sport!