Illnesses

It's been over a month since this household has been sick-free, and it's not quite over yet.  I am usually the healthiest of us four, and even I have not been immune to whatever virus has been floating around.  The kids have had colds and coughs for a few weeks now, M got hit with the same as well as a stomach bug, and I had a fever two weeks ago, which turned into a cough so bad that my chest now hurts when I take deep breaths or move in a certain way (though I went to the doctor and he ruled out pneumonia).

The kids:
Big sister K came down with a fever two days ago and it got so bad that M had to go out at 2:00 in the morning to pick up some children's ibuprofen for her (thank goodness for 24-hour pharmacies!).  I ended up taking her to work with me the next day because she couldn't go back to daycare and neither M nor I could take the day off.  I made sure she brought enough markers, crayons, and coloring books to keep herself busy, and it worked... for about the first 30 minutes.  Then my nook color occupied her for another 20 minutes, followed by my desk calculator (who knew she'd get so much enjoyment just pressing on the numbers?).  A few trips to the pantry to refill her cup of water, a few trips to the potty, and the whole morning was gone.  I'm surprised I was able to get any work done at all.  I had planned to take her to the cafeteria for lunch, but by noon, she got very fussy and just wanted to go home.  I relented and ended up working from home in the afternoon while she napped.  She was well enough to return to daycare today, but I kept bracing myself for the phone call telling me I had to pick her up.  Fortunately, the call never came and she was fine when I checked on her in the afternoon.

Baby M has been waking up in the middle of the night for a few weeks now, and we don't know why.  It could be teething, but I suspect he just has nightmares.  He does it about five days out of the week... the few nights where we are able to sleep in peace is such a welcoming gift.  Last night, big sister K woke up at about midnight with her fever spiking again.  I gave her some ibuprofen and brought her back to bed with me.  Then soon after, baby M woke up crying.  I picked him up and carried him for a bit before putting him back to bed (he's fine as long as he's being held, but would instantly start crying the second he gets put back into bed).  We tried letting him cry it out, but it continued for three hours straight (yes, that's three hours of non-stop hysterical crying) before I finally went to get him.  I brought him into big sister K's room (since she was sleeping in our room) and after a bit of coaxing, he went to sleep (no doubt exhausted from all the crying).  Of course, by this time, it was already 4:30 in the morning, so it was only a few short hours before I had to get up again.  Oh what fun.  Thank goodness today is Friday.

Museum of Natural History

We took a trip to the American Museum of Natural History on Saturday.  Unfortunately, we didn't get there until 3:30, so big sister K only had about two hours to spend there.  She loved seeing all the dinosaur bones and animals.  Coincidentally, my nephew happened to be there with his cub scouts class, so it was an added bonus that we got to hang out with the M family for a bit.  Someone even offered to take a picture for us...

We stayed at the museum until closing (had to maximize the hefty $34 we paid for parking), then made our way downtown.  If we didn't promise big sister K we'd drive by to see the tree at Rockefeller Center, we would've made it to Chinatown a lot quicker... but because we did, it took us an hour to get from 79th Street to my mother-in-law's place.  We took 5th Ave down from the 60s to 51st Street where we'd be able to see the tree, and it took us 10 minutes just to move one block.  I haven't been in that area in years and was surprised to see all the new stores there.  M and I kept pointing out all the attractions to big sister K; I think we were more excited than she was.  We saw the huge snowflake hanging across 57th Street by Tiffany's, the glittery snake in front of Bulgari, the Christmas lights at Harry Winston, etc... I felt a bit nostalgic as we moved at a snail's pace down 5th Avenue.  Once we got down to Rockefeller Center, it was like a mob scene... hundreds of people just congregating in the streets.  Big sister K saw the tree from a distance, but because we were so far away, I don't think she had an appreciation for how big it actually was.

As we headed downtown, we gradually noticed an increase in the number of people dressed up in Santa outfits.  At first, we thought people were just getting dressed up to go to a holiday party, but it didn't take us long to realize it had to be more than that.  As we neared St. Mark's Place, we stopped at a red light and I actually saw someone I knew crossing the street in front of us, dressed up as Santa.  I yelled out to him and it was only then that we learned of "Santacon," a day where people dressed up as Santa Claus and in essence, bar-hopped around the city to get drunk (yeah, try explaining that to a 4-year old!).  Personally, I don't see the point... maybe it's because I don't drink, but I just don't understand why people would rather get into a drunken stupor than do something more worthwhile and meaningful with their time.

Haircuts

I was supposed to take big sister K for a haircut at Snip Its today.  She's been there once and loved the experience.  Unfortunately, I had a meeting come up last minute and couldn't leave work early enough, so I called her up at the daycare and told her I'd take her tomorrow.  She was fine on the phone and didn't seem to mind.  Apparently, that phone call did squat; it didn't register in her head that she wasn't going to get a haircut today, because when I went to pick her up and she realized we were going straight home, she had a total meltdown.  Baby M saw her crying and then he started crying too.  Not fun.  Eventually I was able to get them both to quiet down.  During the car ride home, big sister K looked so sad, like she was constantly on the verge of tears... it totally broke my heart.  At one point I stopped at a red light and turned around to talk to her, promising to take her for a haircut tomorrow.  That didn't do much to change her mood, so then I promised to take her out for lunch (on a school day).  Now that did the trick.  Big sister K started talking a mile a minute and any broken promises were immediately forgotten... my cutie pie was back!  Lesson learned: Don't make promises you can't keep with your child.  (And if you do, take her out to lunch to make up for it.)

On a related front, I gave baby M his first real haircut today (I've only snipped a little of his bangs in the past).  This kid moved around so much that I don't know how I managed not to stab him with the scissors!  Considering I had to cut his hair without actually looking (couldn't let him see the scissors otherwise he would've kept trying to grab them), I think it turned out fairly decent.  You can't tell from the picture, but I cut off almost three inches in the back. Hopefully it'll be a while before I have to give him a haircut again.

And M just reminded me before: Happy 13 Months to my baby boy!

12/12/12 Update:

Big sister K got her haircut today!  I'm surprised she agreed to cut it this short, but it looks a lot better from the mess she had.  Here's the end result:

And this is what her hair looked like before:



Parent's Night Out... Or Not!

I should realize by now that things never go according to plan.  M and I had taken the day off today, thinking with Parent's Night Out, we wouldn't have to pick up the kids until late.  We took it easy despite the long list of errands I had written for us to accomplish today.  Then at 3:30 in the afternoon, I got the call from daycare that all parents dread... baby M had thrown up all over the place and I had to go get him.  So much for Parent's Night Out!

I picked baby M up from daycare, brought him home, and of course he's fine.  No fever, no more vomit, not even the usual fussiness.  I honestly think the boy somehow knew he was going to be staying in school late and this was just his ploy to get out of it (yes, he is that smart!).  M and I ended up taking him shopping with us, first to Target (check one item off my list of errands), then Hong Kong Supermarket, followed by take-out sushi for dinner.  Baby M was happy the whole time and kept babbling in the car (that's definitely a step up from the usual crying).

Big sister K stayed in school (I stopped by her classroom when I picked baby M up and gave her the option to either come home, or stay there until after dinner), so now daddy is on his way to pick her up (refer to previous post).  I was able to spend some quality time with baby M before putting him to bed, which is a rarity these days since I'm usually focused on big sister K while M is tending to baby M.  Going through the motions day after day, I forget how precious these moments with our children are... how we need to take advantage of them every chance we get, because before we know it, they'll be old enough to talk back to us and won't want or need us anymore.

So... things didn't turn out the way we planned, but maybe they worked out for the better.  Now I have to figure out how I'm going to tackle the rest of the items on my list of to do's!

Parent's Night Out

Friday is Parent's Night Out at the daycare, and this will be the second time M and I are taking advantage of it (we get to leave the kids there until 9:30pm).  Big sister K loves spending the extra few hours in school (at least she did the first time).  She gets to wear her pajamas, have a pizza party for dinner, hang out with her friends (as if she doesn't get enough of them during the day)... what's not to love?  Baby M probably doesn't enjoy it as much as she does: disruption to his daily routine, missing mommy and daddy (especially daddy!) in the evening, different teachers feeding him his dinner... ehhh, I just keep telling myself he'll be fine.

We told big sister K she would be staying in school Friday night for Pajama Day, and...
Me: Daddy's going to pick you up from school on Friday.
Big Sister K: YAY!!!  I want daddy to pick me up!
(proceeds to dance all around the kitchen)
Me: Hey, what about mommy?
Big Sister K: But mommy, you pick me up every day!  Daddy never picks me up.
Me: LOL!  Can mommy come pick you up with daddy?
Big Sister K: Yes.

My cutie pie... oh how I love her!

Counting Christmas Lights

In the spirit of Christmas (and being the typical Chinese parent with the need for her child to excel in math), I started having big sister K count the number of houses she saw that had Christmas lights on during the car ride home.  The first time she did it, this was the conversation that followed:

Big sister K: 1... 2... 3... 4... 5... 6...
Me: Wait, wait wait!  You're only supposed to count if you see Christmas lights on the houses!
Big sister K: But mommy, I do see Christmas lights!
Me: You do??  How come I don't see as many as you do?
Big sister K: Mommy, you're driving!  You're busy paying attention to the road!

First Steps

Baby M took his first steps on Sunday!  It was very exciting watching him cautiously move his tiny little feet, one after another.  He collapsed to the ground after 2-3 steps and decided to crawl for the rest of the night, but I am very proud of him nonetheless.  I'm in no rush for him to learn how to walk, but after seeing those first steps taken, I couldn't stop smiling for the rest of the night.

A major milestone reached... now to wean him off the bottle... (it's been so long that I've forgotten how I did it with big sister K!).

Birthdays...

We celebrated both kids' birthdays this past Saturday, first at JerZJump for big sister K, followed by dinner at Sunny Palace for baby M.  It was a busy day, but everything worked out well (for the most part) and more importantly, it seems like everyone had a good time.  With the gas restrictions currently in place, I'm glad all of the New Yorkers who made the trek out here were able to fill up (regardless of license plate number) before heading back home.

Some highlights from the day...

The birthday girl is all smiles as she bounces away.

The birthday boy is stuck to daddy like glue.

The M family (where are my sister-in-law and niece???).

Our feeble attempt at getting all the kids together for a group picture.  We're missing about a quarter of the camera-shy kids here.

Being silly...

Queen for the day!

Cake cutting for big sister K.

Cake cutting for baby M.

Sandy and Athena

One year ago on October 29, 2011, we were suppose to have big sister K’s birthday party at JerZJump (scheduled two and a half weeks early in the anticipation of the arrival of her little brother). Baby M ended up coming out five days early, but it didn’t matter because the birthday party had to be canceled due to a snowstorm that resulted in the loss of power at the bounce place. This year, October 29, 2012 marked the arrival of tropical storm Sandy, causing much havoc across the northeast that will take weeks, if not months, to recover.

The Y household did not completely escape the wrath of the storm, but were very fortunate compared to many others who suffered worse damages. We lost power for four days, so everything in our refrigerator had to be thrown out. Our friends TY and BY regained power after about 12 hours of outage and were kind enough to put us up (us and my freezer chest full of breast milk). Their older daughter Lizzy, is a year younger than big sister K, and the two girls had a blast playing with each other.

As luck would have it, all my babies got sick at some point while we were home-bound. Baby M had a fever on Sunday (before the storm started) into the early week and showed all the symptoms of an ear infection. Unfortunately, with the power outage in our town, we couldn’t reach his pediatrician to be properly diagnosed. He seems to have recovered during the week, but then passed the germs to his big sister and daddy. Big sister K came down with a fever on Thursday and it took all the energy I had (short of quarantining her) to keep her away from Lizzy (and vice versa). Meanwhile, M also caught whatever bug was going around and was feeling miserable, but he still had to go into the office when they regained power Thursday morning. Apparently work didn’t agree with him because he was felt even worse on Friday and ended up taking a sick day.

My office was closed until Friday, so I spent the majority of the week vegetating at TY & BY’s house with the kids. It was nice to spend all that time with them (though I wish it was under better circumstances) but I was not all that disappointed to learn that the office would be open the next day when I called our emergency hotline on Thursday afternoon.

We had electricity restored at our place Friday afternoon. I went back to TY & BY’s house with the kids after work and had dinner with them before heading home (M was already home nursing his illness). M recovered over the weekend and all was well until mid-week, when we got hit with our first nor’easter of the season. Winter storm Athena made the commute home treacherous on Wednesday night. The constant snow piling onto the car coupled with the power outage in our entire town gave me close to zero visibility as I maneuvered our way home. The two kids crying (no, more like screaming) in the backseat also didn’t help. In any case, we made it back in one piece. M had gotten there a few minutes before us and already lit up all the candles (good thing we hadn’t bothered putting them away yet) and the Y family spent another evening enjoying a candlelight dinner.

Busy Weekend

This past weekend was quite a hectic one for us.  We had two banquets to attend on Saturday, one in the early afternoon for my relatives who just adopted a little girl from Korea, and the other for M’s relative who recently got married.  Big sister K had a blast at both.  At the first banquet in Chinatown, there was a kids table set up, equipped with coloring books, crayons, markers, paper, and stickers.  Big sister K’s normal shyness was gone as she sat at the kids table away from mommy and daddy (though she did have her cousins A & A keep her company).  She enjoyed coloring and sticking stickers on random pieces of paper, and would periodically come running to our table to show us her latest masterpiece.

We headed off to Brooklyn in the late afternoon/early evening to congratulate the newlyweds.  We got there a wee bit more than what would’ve been considered fashionably late thanks to construction on the Brooklyn Bridge, and were immediately rushed to the front of the restaurant to partake in the traditional Chinese tea ceremony.  Big sister K met BW, her cousin once removed, and the two of them put on quite a show on the dance floor.  BW kept running after big sister K to hug her.  My little girl, not used to all the affection from a 19 month old, just kept squirming as she tried to pry BW’s tiny fingers off of her.  (I caught a video of big sister K dancing Gangnam style, but had trouble uploading it onto blogger.)

Sunday meant a chance to relax as we went to church at CCOB in Old Bridge instead of trekking out to NY two days in a row.  We took big sister K and baby M for their flu shots in the early afternoon.  Prior to leaving, I gave a pep talk to big sister K so that she’d know what to expect and wouldn’t get scared.  Little did I know what wonders that little pep talk would do; big sister K got so excited about getting the shot that I almost had to calm her down.  At the doctor’s office, she pulled up the sleeve of her shirt and practically shoved her arm into the nurse’s face for her shot, all done with a huge grin on her face.  Afterwards, I asked if it hurt.  Big sister K said no, then immediately asked for a sticker.  Baby M wasn’t as thrilled about getting a needle stuck in his thigh (can’t say I blame him), but stopped complaining by the time we got to the car.

The Y family came over for dinner Sunday night.  It was nice seeing them and meeting the newest addition to their family.  Big sister K enjoyed her play date with LY and everyone ended up going to bed late that night.  It was a busy weekend with not enough sleep, but the time spent with family and friends was well worth it.

Call Me Mama

Baby M said "MAMA" for the first time earlier this week (Wednesday, 9/26/12 to be exact)!  I got just as excited as when he first said "dada," but luckily we were in the confines of our own home this time, so I was spared the embarassment of having strangers hear me shriek with joy.  He continued to say "mama" nonstop throughout the rest of the night.  It seems that he got it all out of his system on that one day (and in hindsight, I should've captured it on video), because I haven't heard him say it since.

Some photos from our mini-golf outing in Branchburg earlier this month:

 

Old Bridge Day

We ventured off to Old Bridge Day on Saturday morning.  Unfortunately, we couldn't find any parking, so M ended up taking baby M home while big sister K and I enjoyed the festivities.  We even made it into the local papers at the Home Depot Kids Workshop table:

Here is my little girl... first time getting face paint:

The highlight of the day for her was probably bouncing and going on the inflatable slides:

Making a card for the troops overseas:

Cookie Monster

Thanks to our generous family and friends, big sister K had accumulated a healthy collection of Sesame Street friends by the time she turned one.  Now at the mature age of three (almost four, as she'd often remind me), she's outgrown most of the stuffed animals.  Obviously we're not letting them go to waste, so they've been passed on to baby M (and naturally, when baby M shows an interest in them, all of a sudden big sister K decides she wants to play with them too).

I remember when big sister K was younger, she'd drag Cookie Monster everywhere she went.  She even preferred him over her talking Elmo (who I thought would be every kid's favorite).  We were playing in big sister K's room recently and presented baby M with the Cookie Monster doll.  It was really to keep him from getting his hands on something more dangerous (he seems partial to power outlets), but his eyes lit up at the sight of the furry blue monster like you wouldn't believe!  I guess like sister, like brother.  Since then, it's served as a good tool to distract him when he's getting fussy.  He also has a Cookie Monster bath book he enjoys reading (or more like eating).  We don't make it a habit of letting baby M sleep with stuffed animals, but here he is during nap time, cuddling with his new best friend.

Approaching Fall

With the temperature dropping down to the 40s and 50s overnight these past two days, this is a true sign that summer has come to an end (and I suppose the fact that Labor Day has come and gone, and my half-day Fridays are no more are also signs to prepare for the cooler weather).

We went to Sesame Place this past Sunday.  The forecast indicated mid-70s, but it was quite warm when we got there, so we ended up letting big sister K play in the water.  I was surprised at how crowded it was (given the periodic thunderstorms and tornado watch the day before, I guess there was a spillover from Saturday).  We left the park in the early evening, and as the sun was setting, baby M started to cry during the car ride home (as expected).  Armed with a container of Gerber puffs, I would feed him a puff each time he let out a cry.  I was sitting in the front passenger seat and he was strapped in his car seat behind me.  I had to stretch my arm to the back in order to put the puff in his mouth, and when doing so, would glance back at big sister K and ask if she was okay.  She barely answered me and looked tired, so after a while, I decided not to bother her as I continued to silence baby M's cries with puffs.  Then out of nowhere, big sister K burst into tears.  It came so unexpectedly that M and I were shocked.  We asked what happened and at first, big sister K said she wanted Pooh bear (her Winnie the Pooh lovey).  That's her staple answer whenever we ask why she's crying (though it's hardly ever the true reason), and when we told her she was already holding Pooh bear (which she was), she said she wanted her blanket.  While doubtful that she really wanted her blanket in the 80 degree weather, we told her she'd have to wait until we got home.  Still crying, big sister K then told us she was hungry (which I also doubted was the case, being that she ate four pieces of chicken nuggets once we left Sesame Place).  I managed to find a Fiber One bar in my bag and gave it to her.  She settled down after that, but I think the real reason why she got upset was because I was feeding baby M and "ignoring" her (I guess all those times I asked if she was okay didn't count for much).  Once she got the attention she craved, all was well with the world again.

Last night, M, big sister K, and I were sitting in the kitchen chatting (baby M was already sleeping).  We weren't talking about anything important.  Big sister K was just going through the names of all the friends in her class and telling us when their birthdays were, but as she was talking, I felt an overwhelming sense of contentment in my heart.  We could have been doing a million other things, but instead, we chose to spend it together.  It's really the little things in life that mean the most.  I just pray and hope we have many more of these moments to come.

M could not get his car to start as he was leaving work today.  After picking up the kids, I called to make sure he was okay.  He was on his way home and said he eventually got the car started after about the fifth try.  Big sister K wanted to talk to daddy, and this was the brief conversation that followed:

Big sister K: Hi daddy!
M: Hi K.
Big sister K: What happened daddy?  Are you okay?
M: I'm okay, but the car isn't.
Big sister K: That's okay daddy.  I'll help you fix it.  I will tape it up for you.
M: LOL!
(If only car trouble can be fixed with a piece of tape!)

Family picture with Murray at Sesame Place.  Baby M was too intrigued by the orange monster to pay attention to anything else, but at least he wasn't scared.

Happy 10 Months to my two-teeth baby boy!  Love this face!

On a more somber note, I will always remember what happened this day 11 years ago.  My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone who lost loved ones.

Dairy Ban Lifted

I had cut out dairy from my diet since last December, as baby M was (and still is) solely on breast milk and I was afraid he may have had a dairy allergy (his poop started looking mucous-sy back in December, one of the signs of a dairy allergy).  We went through this with big sister K four years ago and I ended up putting her on formula because none of the doctors (including a pediatric gastroenterologist) could explain why there was blood in her stool (everyone just attributed it to a dairy allergy).

M convinced me to introduce dairy back into my diet on the premise that baby M may have outgrown the allergy (if he indeed did have one to begin with).  About two weeks ago, we ordered pizza for dinner and I finally gave in... and I am happy to report that baby M's poop looked just fine!  I've been eating more and more foods with dairy since then.  After almost nine months of sacrifice, I rewarded myself with a big cup of ice cream last night.

Eat Banana Video

Big sister K sharing her banana with baby M:

Arthur Ashe Kids' Day

We took a long drive to Flushing on Saturday for Arthur Ashe Kids' Day at the US Open.  It was canceled last year due to hurricane Irene, but we try to make it out there whenever we can (though after this year's experience, we're having second thoughts about going back next year).  The trip just doesn't seem worth it anymore... we probably spent more time commuting than we did at the US Open itself.  Plus, it was hot, it was humid, the lines were long, and everything was overpriced.  They also didn't hand out as many freebies as they had in the past.  At one point, while I was waiting on line with big sister K for one of the activities, M took baby M around to scout out giveaways.  Even with baby M as bait, he came back empty-handed (though he did say baby M was a chick magnet).

Big sister K got to take pictures with Dora, Diego, Mario, and Luigi (she insisted on taking a picture with the latter two even though she didn't know who they were).

 

 

I think out of all of us, big sister K enjoyed it the most.  I guess that makes sense since we really went for her.  One good thing that came out of it (which was our intention) was that big sister K sparked an interest in playing tennis.  Hopefully that interest holds up as we look into giving her lessons when she gets a little older.  This morning when I dropped her off at daycare, she couldn't wait to tell her teachers that she went to the US Open on Saturday.

We met up briefly with WC and family, but they got to the Open much earlier than we did and it was so crowded that we couldn't really do anything together.  I was disappointed we saw each other for only a quick minute before heading our separate ways (as expected, big sister K kept asking where C was), but hopefully we can plan another play-date for the kids soon.  (WC: If you are reading this, this is a hint for you to make use of your Sesame Place season pass before the end of the year.)

Need to Vent

Let me preface this blog entry with the following: For those of you who know both M and me, this is not meant for anyone to take sides.  I just need to vent and figured I'd use this blog as an outlet to do so.

M and I have a strict policy (or so I thought) of no candy or chocolate for the kids.  That's why when big sister K asked for chocolate during the car ride home from school yesterday, I automatically said no.  Then we got home and big sister K asked M for the same thing.  His response: "okay, you can have a small piece after dinner."  Imagine my surprise and dismay!  M told me he had promised big sister K some chocolate that morning, so I couldn't say no.  I got so upset I couldn't even eat dinner last night (I still haven't regained my appetite and I haven't spoken to M since).  It's not even the issue of giving our daughter a sweet (I'm not happy about it, but I wouldn't be opposed to it if he had given me some advanced notice).  It's the fact that we weren't aligned in our parental disciplining, and what's more disconcerting is that this isn't the first time it's happened.  There have been other occasions where big sister K wanted to watch TV when it was past her bedtime.  I'd say no, big sister K would go ahead and ask daddy, and the next thing you know, she's plopped in front of the family room TV, eyes glued to an episode of the Fresh Beat Band.  Then there was another time when she misbehaved and asked for a sticker.  I told her no, she'd ask M, and she gets a sticker.  Very frustrating indeed.

Our daughter is very much a mama's girl and would often times prefer to do things with me.  It's natural for the other parent to feel left out; that's why I can't help but feel like M does this intentionally (even if it's at the subconscious level) so that he would be viewed as the "good guy" whereas mommy is the mean one.  I don't want big sister K to think that she can always go to daddy when mommy says no to something (even though she's already doing this), and I've mentioned this to M when it's happened in the past, but he's always brushed it off.

I welcome any feedback on this topic.  Am I overreacting?

Baby M's First Words

After three continuous days of sleepless nights and vomiting, I finally decided to take baby M to the doctor last Friday (didn't know how much longer M and I would be able to handle staying up until dawn with a crying baby).  The diagnosis was as I suspected: baby M had an ear infection (first one ever).  He was prescribed Amoxicillin for 10 days, but unfortunately after the first dose, baby M developed a bad case of diaper rash.  He kept pooping every few hours (including the middle of the night) and would cry hysterically each time because he was in so much pain.  Poor baby... his skin was so raw and red; it would require two people to change him - one of us to hold him down.

The Amoxicillin kicked in after a day or so and baby M was finally able to sleep through the night again.  After some heavy use of Boudreaux's butt paste and Aveeno oatmeal baths, the diaper rash also improved.  During our trip to Target on Saturday, baby M was in good spirits.  While we were perusing through the baby aisle, he was babbling and all of a sudden goes, "DADA!" (and this was after saying "baba" in the car last week).  I got so excited I ran to baby M and started making a big fuss over it.  All the shoppers around us must have thought I was crazy, but I didn't care.  And to think, all this time, we've been trying (unsuccessfully) to get him to say "mama."  If I got that excited over hearing him say "dada," imagine what my reaction would be when he does learn to say "mama!"

On Sunday, M was watching the two kids while I was upstairs pumping.  When I got done, he told me that baby M said, "nai nai" ("milk" in Chinese).  Baba (which is "father" in Chinese), dada, and nai nai... what else will come out of his mouth before he says "mama"?

2012 Summer Olympics

It's been hard catching the Olympics these past two weeks.  With the time difference between here and London, it's virtually impossible to watch anything live, and pre-recordings just aren't as exciting (especially after having gotten an update online).  I'm also not a huge fan of how NBC has been purposefully selecting what to air (not to mention how the media is always so US-focused).  I understand there's too much going on to show everything, but they do own multiple network channels.  Why not use them to broadcast the Olympics during prime time?

Once in a while, we manage to catch a bit of the Olympics after dinner.  Sometimes it happens to be before big sister K's bedtime, so she'd watch it with us.  Unfortunately, I've come to realize she isn't very interested in gymnastics, volleyball, tennis, or any other sport on dry ground.  What she does like is diving.  The first time she saw it, she asked me, "why are they jumping into the water?"  I couldn't help but laugh (I think to her, it was like asking why skydivers would want to jump out of a perfectly good airplane).  She somehow grew fond of the sport though, because they had it on again a few nights ago, and when big sister K saw it, she said, "oooh!  I like this!" and insisted on watching it until the end (which, thanks to NBC, wasn't very long).

On another note, the US finally surpassed China in medal count (83 vs. 78), although China still leads in gold medals.  Let's see how the next two days pan out.

Thanking God

Baby M got sick over the weekend and decided to share it with the rest of the family.  We all woke up with runny noses today, with M bearing the brunt of it.  We had plans to head out to Chinatown for my last-minute dentist appointment to put a crown back in (after a few visits to an endodontist to retreat a botched root canal, the crown on that tooth gave way and fell out as I was enjoying some Chex Mix Thursday night).  M was too sick to go out, so we decided that I would take big sister K with me while he stayed home with baby M (who was still under the weather).  The plan was for the two of us to go to service in the morning, then head over to my mother-in-law's place for lunch, where big sister K would stay while I went for my dentist appointment.  Well, it should no longer come as a surprise to me that things rarely go according to plan.

Big sister K and I were well on our way out to Chinatown and I was thinking to myself how nice it would be to get to church on time for once, when I get a phone call from M telling me to go home.  It turns out I had forgotten to bring my breast pump accessories with me, so I had to turn around and head back after driving nearly half an hour, thus relinquishing all hopes of making it to service at all.  We ended up staying home for lunch since it was so late already.  Big sister K prayed for the food and in her prayer, she thanked God for daddy being sick.  My inital reaction was to correct her and say it's not a good thing for daddy to be sick, but then I thought about it and came to realize that we shouldn't thank God only when things are going well.  The Bible tells us to "rejoice always, pray continually, [and] give thanks in all circumstances" (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18a).  How astounding that God would use my three and a half year old daughter to remind me of this.

The Rest of July

Recently, it seems like big sister K has become more needy.  Things she was willing to do when she was younger no longer holds true these days.  She always needs either M or myself to stay/play with her and she won't go anywhere in the house unless one of us went with her (i.e., to the bathroom, to get something from her room, etc).  Drop-off at daycare in the mornings has been unpredictable; at least half the times in a given week, she would break down crying as I am about to leave for work.  I feel like she is regressing emotionally, and through no change in routine at home.  Hopefully this is only a phase that she will grow out of soon.

Baby M started holding the bottle on his own at home last week (apparently, he's been doing it at daycare for a while now) and can clap his hands.  It's amazing seeing the different things he can do each day.  I was also told by his caregivers that he started scaling the book shelf at daycare on Friday.  Oh boy!

We went to play mini-golf at the Branchburg Family Golf Center last Saturday.  It was the first time we took big sister K (and baby M, obviously), and she had a blast... her baby brother, not so much since he was strapped to daddy the entire time.

Big sister K has been voluntarily praying before we eat dinner (we always ask her to choose who will be praying).  In addition to the regular items she thanks God for (i.e., the food; keeping us safe and healthy; mommy, daddy, big sister K, and baby M), she's also been adding her own twist to it.  Last Sunday, she gave thanks to God for letting her play with her cousins Jonah and Mebrat (we drove out to Chinatown and they accompanied her to the park).  When I told her she forgot about her cousin Elijah, she wanted to pray again and this time included Elijah.  Earlier this week, she thanked God for the outdoor concert we attended in our town, yesterday it was the swimming class she went to, and tonight, she thanked God for baby M waking up and sleeping and mommy (I said she prays for things on her own, I never said I always understood what it was).  Despite the periodic incoherent phrases and the grammatical errors, I am very proud of my little girl for extending her prayers all on her own.

We started giving puffs to baby M to eat for the first time today.  Can you tell he's enjoying it?  Given the option, this boy would be downing the food we eat rather than slurping the mush (a.k.a. baby food) we give him.  He stares and salivates every time he sees us put food in our mouth.  M has already given him bananas (real bananas) to try and he loves it.

Here's big sister K practicing her writing.  I love her pose with the crossing of the legs.

Me and my babies:

 

Mid-July Update

Baby M turned eight months a few days ago.  He's been busy crawling all over the place and is building up his leg muscles by standing now.  He can pull himself up while holding on to something and there's been a few occasions where he's taken a step or two, so I'm sure he will be cruising (and maybe even walking) in no time.

Earlier this week, baby M came down with a fever while at daycare.  I had to leave work early to pick him up.  He was in the nurse's office when I got there, and the second he saw me walk through the door, his face lit up, he grinned from cheek to cheek, and he instantly started crawling towards me.  At that moment, my heart totally melted.  No words could describe the love I felt and the emotions that ran through me.

Baby M's fever lingered into the evening; we eventually gave him ibuprofen to ease his discomfort and help him sleep better.  He couldn't go back to daycare the next day even though his fever went away (since their policy is to be 24 hours fever-free before returning), so he ended up spending his 8-month birthday at home with daddy.  I suspect teething is the cause of his illness.  Baby M has had a terrible runny nose for a few days now, along with phlegm in his throat that he can't seem to get rid of (which caused him to throw up several times after eating).  We've had to clean up more vomit these past few days than I care to remember.

Going back to two weeks ago... we made a late trip to Sesame Place on July 4th in the 90+ degree weather.  We got there around 4pm and only stayed for a few hours.  Big sister K and I enjoyed playing in the water while M and baby M tried to stay cool indoors where there was air conditioning.  We left before the evening parade started and stopped by Olive Garden for dinner.  On our way home, baby M started crying up a storm.  One thing I've come to realize - my boy does not like being stuck in the car when it is dark.  Every time we've had to drive home at night, he starts crying non-stop throughout the car ride, then five minutes before we get to our destination, he falls asleep.  I've grown accustomed to it (though that's not necessarily a good thing) and fortunately, big sister K can sleep through the noise.  Still, it's no fun hearing a baby scream for 45 minutes straight (or for an hour and a half if we're going home from my brother's place in midtown Manhattan).  Someone suggested I get a night light (or something similar) for the car.  Any other suggestions to spare our ears?

My Little Crawler

Baby M started crawling for the first time last Friday (6/22).  I was enticing him to move forward by placing a toy in front of him, and to my surprise, it worked!  Then last night, he pulled himself up into a standing position by grabbing onto the edge of his crib.  My baby's been keeping busy!  He's also been keeping mommy and daddy busy!  A few nights ago, he pulled a placemat from off the table where his baby food was sitting and the glass jar went shattering across the kitchen floor.  SIGH!  I can see this one causing havoc wherever he goes already.

I was running late for work yesterday and rushing to get out of the house.  As I was about to put the two munchkins in the car, big sister K insisted on taking a picture with her little brother.  I am so glad I acquiesced, otherwise I would never have been able to capture the photo below.  I think this was God's way of telling me to calm down and focus on what's important in my life.

My Little Drummer

Maybe I should've started big sister K on drum lessons instead of piano lessons.  We left some recent purchases of toilet tissue in the foyer, and big sister K took it upon herself to line them up side-by-side and pretend they're a drum set (kids' imagination... gotta love it!).  What's ironic is if you look at the video below, there's a box holding an actual drum set on the left-hand side.  We bought it for big sister K weeks ago (will be her birthday present in a few months time) and never put it away.  We're lucky big sister K hasn't noticed the box and started asking about it.

My apologies for the shakiness in the video.  I was holding baby M while filming and trying to prevent him from snatching the camera.

Play Date at Sesame

Call us crazy, but MH and I took big sister K and NH (her son) to Sesame Place on Thursday in 100 degree weather.  I had already taken the day off and we scheduled the trip weeks ago, so we went as planned and dropped the little siblings off at daycare that morning before heading out.  Despite the heat, the kids had a great time and didn't want to leave.

Baby M's First Sick Visit

Baby M had his first sick visit to the doctor this past Monday.  Over the weekend, he developed a fever and threw up a couple of times.  My poor baby was up the whole night going into Saturday (as were M and I).  The acetaminophen we gave him did little to relieve his fever and M ended up making a trip to Walgreen's at 3am to pick up some ibuprofen.  Baby M finally got a good four hours of sleep at 4am once the medicine kicked in (also probably because he as exhausted from all the crying).

Our plans to enjoy Saturday as a family went by the wayside as we were forced to divide and conquer: I stayed home with baby M while M kept big sister K entertained outdoors, where they spent the late afternoon at the North Brunswick Youth Sports Festival.  Baby M was able to sleep through the night on Saturday for the most part, but still woke up cranky and refused to eat.  We canceled our trip to Chinatown and postponed Father's Day celebration with my parents to the following Sunday.

The pediatrician diagnosed baby M with coxsackie virus (also known as hand, foot, and mouth disease).  He painted a very bleak picture for M, saying the fever could spike up even higher, the vomiting and loss of appetite could continue, and the infection may last anywhere from 3-10 days.  Fortunately, baby M was fever-free after Sunday and was able to hold down his milk (though he didn't eat much).  He probably could have gone back to daycare on Tuesday, but we kept him home another day just as a precaution since we didn't want him getting any of the other babies sick.

Good Night Baby M

As big sister K was getting ready to go to sleep tonight, this is the conversation that followed (our typical bedtime routine for the most part):

Me: Good night K.  Jo tao*.
K: Good night mommy. Jo tao.
M: Good night K. Buenos noches*.
K: Good night daddy. Buenos noches.
[Pause]
K: But I didn't say good night to baby.
Me: Baby is already sleeping.  How about you say good morning to him tomorrow instead?
[Big sister K gives me a sad face.]
Me: Okay.  Come on.
[We go into baby M's room and stand by his crib, where he is sound asleep.]
K: (whispers) Good night baby.
[Big sister K walks back to her room and goes to bed.]

*Translation: "Jo tao" means "good night" in Chinese and "buenos noches" means "good night" in Spanish.

Big Sister K's First Haircut

We took big sister K for her very first haircut on Saturday (I've always cut her bangs at home prior to that).  Since M was planning on getting a haircut anyway, we decided to make it a family trip and have his barber cut big sister K's hair (the barber supposedly cut children's hair as well).  Let me tell you, that was a BIG mistake... and I mean HUGE.  Big sister K's bangs were cut so choppy, short, and uneven that it was irreparable (and the barber had the nerve to criticize my attempt as hairdresser!).  My only consolation is that big sister K's hair will eventually grow back and that she is still cute no matter what her hair looks like (sorry, that's motherly pride for you).  I took some before and during pictures of the cut, but was too traumatized and upset to take any after pictures.

My Messy Eater

Baby M started blowing bubbles with his lips recently (well, it's really more like him just spewing out saliva).  Sure, I went "awww" the first few times he did it, but after 10 minutes of spit coming out of his mouth (and landing on me if I happen to be carrying him), it's not so cute anymore.  It's especially annoying when I'm trying to feed him.  Baby M is already a difficult (and messy!) eater to begin with (he starts crying and won't eat after a few bites), so this new "game" of his certainly does not help during mealtime.

Memorial Day Weekend

Big sister K has been asking to go to Sesame Place, so we finally went this past Saturday.  The few days leading up to it has been great - every time she was about to misbehave, we'd use that as leverage and ask her, "Do you want to go to Sesame Place?" and she'd immediately obey us.  I guess that only worked to a certain extent though, because Friday night was extremely challenging as we tried teaching her how to spell her colors.  She refused to pay attention and definitely tested our patience beyond belief.  We were exhausted and it got so late that eventually we just sent her to bed.  The next morning, she woke up on her own and the first thing she said to us was, "I want to spell my colors by myself."  She then went downstairs, took the book, and started spelling all the colors out loud.  Afterwards, she came back upstairs for me to test her.  When she got them all correct, she says to me, "Now can we go to Sesame Place?"

Big sister K had a bit of a cold, so we didn't let her do any of the water activities at Sesame Place.  Still, she had a good time watching the parade, Elmo's World Live, and the new "Let's Play Together" show in Abby's Paradise Theater.  We left the park early enough so that we'd get home in time for dinner.  On the way out, we saw Zoe and had to let big sister K take a picture with her.  How fitting that she happened to be wearing her Zoe shirt that day!

We went out to Chinatown on Sunday and actually made it somewhat on time to service (first time in a while!).  We only stayed in the sanctuary for worship though, then headed upstairs to the nursery.  Big sister K joined the other kids for the beginning of Sunday School, but started crying while practicing a song for Father's Day, so she didn't stay for the actual lesson.  After church, we went over to M's mom's place.  Everyone hung out there while I paid a visit to the dentist to take care of an abscessed tooth (I am now on antibiotics and was reassured that taking the medicine is fine while breastfeeding).

On Monday, big sister K woke up crying because she had another bad nosebleed (her fourth or fifth one this month).  I kept her nose pinched and was able to stop the bleeding, but both kids had a cold, so we decided not to go strawberry-picking.  Though we didn't do much, I feel like the day wasn't as relaxing as I would've liked it to be.  Then again, I guess it's hard for any day to be relaxing with two kids around.

Piano Lessons

I made my first purchase ever on Groupon.com earlier this week.  I saw a deal for piano lessons at Worldwide Piano in Edison and thought I'd let big sister K try it out.  I bought six private lessons for her and figured she'll get whatever she can out of them.  Even if she didn't like it, they were inexpensive enough that I wouldn't feel like it was a total waste of money.

Big sister K went for her first lesson today.  Both the owner of the place and her instructor thought she was a bit young, but I told them she expressed interest, so I'd have her try it out for a few weeks and see how she does.  Her instructor (Mr. P) was pretty good with her, considering he's never taught anyone so young (I confirmed with him after the lesson and he said that the youngest student he's ever had before big sister K was age 5).

There wasn't much piano-playing during this first lesson; the focus was more on posture and technique.  Big sister K was attentive, but remained shy and was hesitant to respond when Mr. P asked her a question.  I'm sure she'll warm up over the next few lessons though, since she kept asking about Mr. P on the car ride home.  He gave her "homework"; hopefully I'll have enough time and energy this week to let her practice on the piano.

First Field Trip

Big sister K went on her very first field trip to Von Thun Farms today.  Despite the gloomy weather, the trip went as planned and the kids got to see some farm animals and pick strawberries.  I was pleasantly surprised when I picked up big sister K to learn that she didn't have to change into her spare clothes and shoes (I expected the grounds to be muddy from all the rain).  Big sister K had a lot of fun and brought home a pot of petunias, a quart of strawberries, and a coloring book.  She was kind enough to share her strawberries with M and me after dinner, and I must say, she did a good job picking them out.  Maybe we'll go strawberry-picking again this weekend if the weather cooperates.

RL & HF's Wedding

I am so happy for RL and HF who tied the knot this past Saturday.  The weather was perfect, the ceremony was beautiful, the newlyweds were adorable, and baby M got to attend his very first wedding.  M and I enjoyed a brief break from baby duty as everyone wanted to hold him; he got passed around like a football so much that I couldn't even keep track of his whereabouts.  Meanwhile, big sister K had fun dancing at the reception.  At one point, she didn't want to eat her meal and asked to stand in the corner (nothing new to those who've kept up with my blog).  Everyone at the table thought I was giving her a time-out until I explained to them that her "punishment" was self-inflicted.  I'm glad we got to share in RL & HF's celebration, and am hoping that they are now having a blast on their Disneynoon.  Congrats RL and HF!!!

Happy Mommy's Day

K: Happy Mommy's Day, mommy!
Me: Thank you, K.
K: What about daddy's day?
Me: Daddy's day is coming up next month.
K: What about K's day?
Me: Every day is K's day!

Thanks to my wonderful hubby for the beautiful flowers, and for making a special trip to Target with big sister K for construction paper and stickers just so she can make me a card.

 Front and back of the card:

 Inside the card:

Disney Trip Recap

Saturday, 5/5/12:
Our flight to Orlando was delayed as we got stuck on the tarmac for almost an hour waiting to take off.  Baby M did pretty well on the flight there and napped a good chunk of the way.  Big sister K finally got her wish to go on a plane (though this is her fifth plane ride... obviously she doesn't remember the other four times), but I think she expected it to be more exciting.  Everything went fairly smoothly that day.  Once we landed, I fed baby M while M waited for our luggage.  We then found the Disney Magical Express Welcome Center and boarded the bus that brought us to our hotel.

Sunday, 5/6/12:
Our first stop in this week-long vacation was to Magic Kingdom.  This day is such a blur to me now.  The only thing I remember is getting on line to take a picture with Daisy Duck right when we entered the park.  We also took pictures with Mickey and Minnie Mouse, and caught some of the Main Street Electrical Parade that night.

Monday, 5/7/12:
Day 2 of our trip was spent at Animal Kingdom.  Big sister K got to take pictures with most of the Disney characters, including Mickey, Minnie, Donald Duck, Daisy Duck, Goofy, and the Chip and Dale chipmunks.  We met up with SW and family there, and she had a blast playing with JG and MG.  Her favorite part was probably playing in the Boneyard playground, where she loved climbing up a net to go down the slide.  Unfortunately, this was also where she got hurt.  M and I didn't witness it, but we suspect that she was following someone from behind too closely while climbing up the net, and that person's foot accidentally hit her in the face.  She didn't even complain of any pain until I saw that she had a cut right above her eye and was bleeding.  We took her to First Aid, but that proved to be a waste of time.  The Animal Kingdom closed at 6pm, so we didn't get to do much else.

Tuesday, 5/8/12:
We went back to Animal Kingdom since we didn't get to do much the day before.  Our first stop was to see the show Festival of the Lion King since we'd promised it to big sister K.  Similar to last year, we took pictures with Winnie the Pooh, Eeyore, and Tigger.  We also caught Mickey's Jammin Jungle Parade, took the Wildlife Express train, and of course, went back to the Boneyard playground (at big sister K's request).

Wednesday, 5/9/12:
M took big sister K to the pool at the hotel in the morning while I hung out with baby M in the room so that he could get some much needed sleep. We went back to Magic Kingdom in the afternoon and met up with SW and family again.  There was such a short line to the Buzz Lightyear ride that we ended up going on it three times.  Big sister K also took pictures with the princesses (Aurora, Belle, Cinderella, and Tiana).  This time, we stayed for the entire Main Street Electrical Parade that started at 9pm.  Big sister K was so tired that she fell asleep sitting on the double stroller as we were walking to the bus stop.  She had nothing to lean back against, so we were afraid she'd fall off the stroller; I ended up carrying her the rest of the way.  Baby M was also exhausted; he knocked out when the parade started and slept through the loud music (even though he's usually a very light sleeper).

Thursday, 5/10/12:
We spent our last full day of the trip at Hollywood Studios.  Big sister K got to meet and take pictures with Jake and Handy Manny.  M took her to see some shows (Beauty and the Beast and Disney Juniors) while I hung out with a very cranky baby.

Friday, 5/11/12:
Our flight back to Newark was fine until towards the end when we hit some turbulence.  I was holding baby M in one hand, trying to comfort a scared and crying big sister K, and also handing M a barf bag who was nauseous from the turbulence.  I think it will be a while before big sister K asks to go on a plane again.

Overall, the trip was okay.  We spent way too much time at the baby care centers in each of the theme parks.  I felt like big sister K missed out on doing certain things because of that, but she enjoyed watching TV in there.  The time went by so fast each day; we never even got a chance to visit Downtown Disney.  It was a lot of work, but I'm not sure what I would have done differently (other than maybe waiting another six months to a year before going on the trip).

Photo Gallery - Highlights

On the plane with my two munchkins:

Big sister K playing in the pool with daddy:

Big sister K and her mini-Mickey waffles:

Big sister K enjoying her ice cream cone on a hot day:

Photo opportunity with Jasmine and Aladdin:

This is probably one of my favorite pictures from the trip:

Love this face!  Isn't he adorable??

Family photo with Mickey: 

Family photo with Minnie:

 My two munchkins playing with each other.  They adore each other at this point.  Let's hope it continues for years to come!

 Big sister K insisted on taking a picture with the two chipmunks... then decides to look the other way when the camera's on her.
Go figure...

Mother and son... kudos to M for catching my boy with a smile on his face.  He looks so chubby here... like a baby Buddha!

Our most expensive meal of the trip was lunch at Yak and Yeti Restaurant in the Animal Kingdom (I still can't believe we paid $18.99 for beef and broccoli!  Never again!):

Big sister K has upgraded from mini-Mickey waffles to a big Mickey waffle: 

Family photo at the carousel:

My two favorite guys:

Big sister K enjoying her pancakes:

I love these two munchkins!

End of vacation.  Baby M and daddy on the bus ride to the airport:

Big sister K playing with my nook to keep busy on the bus: