My name is ...

After 14 days, I now have an official name. It is Maxim Yue Fung Tran (陳裕豐).

You already knew about "Maxim" -- that is the name picked by Mom and Dad (mainly Dad). I am told that "Maxim" has a special meaning for Mom and Dad. It was the first name they considered...and after looking at several other names, they agreed that Maxim was the only name for me.

As for my Chinese name "Yue Fung" (裕豐) -- this was very carefully selected and agreed upon by all my Great-Grandparents. It took awhile to come up with this name because there were many traditional Chinese naming rules that had to be strictly followed. Guiding my Great-Grandparents was my Grand-Uncle Monk (as the title suggests, he is one of my Grand-Uncles who also happens to be a revered Buddhist Monk in China). Loosely translated, my name means "abundant & plentiful".

By giving me this name, my family hopes that it will bring me much success in all my life endeavours.

Two Week Update

It has been 2 weeks now since I have been home. So far, it's been great. I can sleep almost the entire day. Mom is a walking 24-hour buffet and Dad cleans my ass on demand.

Here is a video of me waking up on my first day at home....


Here are some other pictures from the past couple of weeks.

Day Seven (Home At Last)

Today, dad and grandma took mommy and me home.

We were lucky enough to have Uncle Hon drive us.

I think I will take the next few days to check out my new digs. My next post might be in a few weeks. Until next time.

Day Six

In the future, if I ever want to party or have some silly fun and laugh a lot, I now know who to turn to....Uncle Josh (mommy's cousin) and Auntie Kaman (another of mommy's cousin). They are full of energy and always making jokes (usually the kind that makes everyone blush).

Also in the picture below, next to mommy is Uncle Franky (mommy's older brother). Although this is the first time Uncle Franky's picture has been shown on the blog, he has in fact visited mommy and me every day since I was born. He is usually the one taking the pictures and video.


There also seems to be some excitement in the air today. I don't completely understand yet, but mommy and daddy were talking about "going home" tomorrow. Sounds like a nice place, can't wait to see it.

Day Five

Today, I met Grandfather Fan (公公 - mom's daddy). It was not until today that Grandfather's work schedule allowed him to see me and mommy at the hospital.

Here is a longer video of me waking up & getting fussy while being changed by grandma. In the end, mommy rescues me :)




Dad like the picture below because it looked like I was kinda smiling. I was actually passing gas.

Day Four

Today, I met the second of my four great-grandmothers (太嫲). She is my mother's father's mother. Since I was born, great-grandma has been very eager to see me, but wasn't able to because she had to care for another grandson. Finally she was able to see me today. She was soooo eager that she arrived an hour early before she was supposed to.

In 4 short days, I have learned so many new things. I have already established that Mom is really smart, pretty, cool & great! As for Dad....he is great too, but sometimes acts a bit weird. For example, he is absolutely fascinated with my yawning -- he can't seem to get enough. Mom calls his weirdness as "Minh-erism". Moms says to be prepared for a lifetime of them :) If you know of any "Minh-erism" that I should be aware of, please share them with me!

To satisfy Dad, here is a short video of me yawning...




Here are some more random pictures from today (notice the nice coiffure)...

Day Three

So how big is a 3-day old baby? As you see below, my head is just a wee bit larger than an orange.

On my third day, I had a very special surprise visitor -- my great-grandmother (太婆). She is my mother's mother's mother. Dad tells me that I'm very lucky because I have other sets of great-grandparents (in Toronto, Los Angeles and Hong Kong) that can't wait to see me.

Here is a picture of 4 different generations together...

Also visiting me today was Grand-Uncle Hon (mommy's daddy's middle brother), Grand-Auntie Jacky and Cousins - Tony & Tommy. Dad says Grand-Uncle and Grand-Auntie have been super supportive and incredibly kind to our family. I think I already like them lots.

...Sound Asleep...

Ever wonder how a really really really tired Maxim sounds like?





Mom and Dad thought it would be cute to share. Although I don't know much right now, I'm pretty sure it is something that I will regret in the future.

As you might have noticed in the video, Mom and Dad were accusing each other of who gave me the "snoring gene". From what I understand, I sound like my grandfather (dad's daddy).

So if it looks like a Tran...and sounds like a Tran....then I must be a Tran :)

Day Two

Dad unfortunately wasn't allowed to hold me yesterday, but got his chance on my second day. Here is a picture of dad holding me for the very first time.

Although mom was tired and still recovering from the (unexpected) c-section, she looked happy for our first family picture:

Grandma (婆婆 - mom's mommy) got a picture with me as well...

Here's one of my ears and feet...

Here are some final pictures for today...

Day One (Hello World)

Hi everyone, it's Maxim.

I know I am a little early...hmmm...make that 2 weeks & 2 days early. Mom and Dad were expecting me around August 2nd. I didn't even give dad a chance to attend his second mandatory birthing class, so he wasn't able to be there in the delivery room with mom (in Hong Kong, for the father to be in the delivery room, they must attend 2 mandatory classes offered by the hospital). Dad tells me that he's cool with it, so no worries.

Here are some details about my birth: I was born on Tuesday, July 17 at United Christian Hospital in Hong Kong, China. I weighed just under 6 pounds.

I'm healthy and mom is doing fine as well. As for dad, he's clueless, but happy.

The 2 pictures you see were taken by dad within minutes of my arrival. By the way, you can click on them to enlarge.