Sleeping Baby

I hope she's able to breathe.

Look Of The Moment Part I

This is her new favorite expression. She does it all the time.

Look Of The Moment Part II

Little Adorable Brat

Little Devil to Angel

Don't let this innocent look deceive you.

Alex Dancing with Daddy - Dec 2, 2010

Sleepover - Epic Failure

I would consider Alex an awesome sleeper.  She always falls asleep by herself, in her own crib, in her own room, and for 12-14 hours straight... So maybe she does wake up once a night, usually around 6AM, but after a bottle of milk she's down again.  So we're moving in a few weeks and with the anticipation that Ryan and I would take the weekend to move and unpack a little, it might be a good idea for Alex to spend the weekend at Grandma's.  Grandma moved to a new house, and after the previous time Alex had to spend the night at Grandma's (apparently it didn't go well at night), I was asked to do a trial run with Alex at the new place.  This time they have the crib in a separate room, and they put a mattress in the room for me.  So we decided to do this last night.  Alex spent the day at Grandma's while Ryan and I were in VA for the day.  When we got there around 7:30PM, I already knew it wasn't going to be a good night... cuz Alex has been asleep since 7PM.  Anyhow, I hoped she would continue sleeping but wasn't surprised when she woke up a couple hours later.  This meant I didn't put her down to bed until 10:30PM.  It was great until about 1:45AM.  Unfortunately the space heater in the room was a radiating dish and would heat the coil on and off.  And each time it did this, it was quite loud.  Not to mention it also lit the room up.  To make the story short... by 3PM, I decided it was time to pack up and head home cuz she had woken everyone else in the house up.  Nothing I did would soothe her.  A sick and snotty baby, in an unfamiliar environment does not make for a happy and quiet night.  As soon as I got her in the car, she calmed down and fell asleep.  We got home at 4 in the morning, and she was great.  Lets me change her diaper, took a bottle of milk, and didn't wake up until 10:30AM.  However, mommy is stressed, tired, and still needs to study for her final tomorrow.  Baby needs to get over her cold, it's been weeks.  And her diaper rash won't go away.

Glass. It Has A Flavor.

Desktop Distractions

This is my new background.  I can stare at it all day. 

New Day Care

Alex started her first day at her new day care today... with my cousin Dawn. Her daughters were super excited to have a baby in the house. I chatted with Nicole on the phone this afternoon and she told me that Meimei is sleeping upstairs. Meimei is very short. :)

I hope Alex is being good.

Two Cutiest Ever!

Anticipation For The Dolphin Show

See the hands? So cute.

A Bath Usually Follows Lunch

Molluscum Contagiosum

It's not a Harry Potter spell and it's not a zit either. That's what Alex has... one. It's in the same family as chicken pox, caused by a poxvirus. It can be itchy, but right now it doesn't seem to bother her at all. She started out with 4 tiny ones each about a 1 mm in diameter on her face. Three of them are gone after a few weeks. But the one on her right cheek has gotten bigger to about 1/4" and looks red and inflamed. The doctor said it's nothing really to worry about, and should go away in a few months by itself. A FEW MONTHS? As long as it doesn't rupture and spread then it should be good. It's apparently contagious by contact and will spread if it breaks. So now, I have to be careful when I wash her face.

Update

She wakes up around 9 or 9:30AM these past few mornings but plays in her crib until about 10 or 10:30AM. This morning, I was still in bed but I could hear her in her crib. She kept saying "baby." I'm sure she doesn't know what baby means, but it was so cute.

So far, she can say:
dada - when she sees Ryan
baby
boooo - when she wants pooh
bye bye and wave - when she wants to wave to someone
Daiseee - Daisy
eieio
uh oh

She loves to climb the stairs and one of her favorite games is to climb the stairs. I'll stay behind her a few steps and say, "AAAAAAALEx!" She's squeal and laugh, and scurry up faster. She can slide down the stairs. She's getting better at standing by herself and walking around with only only hand held.

The other day I brought out a tupperware box to put her baby toys away. She proceeded to climb into it and sat there for a long time playing with all the toys inside. So now, it's part of her toy collection. She loves sitting in it.

Wheeeee!!!!

Comfy

Alex Feeding Daisy

She loves this dog.

Sharing with Daisy

Today during lunch, Alex was eating grapes. It was going great. Until she discovered that she could lean over her high chair and spit it out onto the floor. At which time, Daisy would come and sniff the dropped food. This would cause her to laugh hysterically. She also realized that Daisy liked deli meat. So she would take them out of her own mouth and give it to the dog. This also leads to hysterical laughing. Last night she tried to give Daisy squash. The joke is on her... Alex hasn't realized that Daisy do not do veggies.

Like Parent, Like Daughter

What Do You Want?

Look Daddy

Look at what I can do!

Here Mommy. For You.

1 Year Update

28 inches - 25%
21 pounds - 50%
head - 75%

I'm Sure I'll Regret This...

One Year Old!

Hi All,

Where did the time go?  Our baby girl is already one!  We can't believe how much she's grown, from a (large) preemie of 5 1/2 lbs and 18 inches to... well we don't really know how long or heavy she currently is, 1 yr check up is on Monday.  She was 27 inches and 20 lbs at 9 months.  We can still remember back to life without Alex and even occasionally miss some aspects of it, like sleeping in.  But we can't imagine life without her now.  She is the joy and light of our life and a complete blessing.  We were blessed to have such a happy child who constantly smiles and beams at you.  You can't help but share in her joy.  Just seeing her personality develop over the past year is remarkable.  She is a studier, an observer, sometimes timid about new things, but will throw herself at it once she's use to whatever you give her.  She loves to watch people and give you a returning smile.  She's not walking yet, but loves to pull herself up on anything and everything she can get to... including shelves, tables, mommy and daddy, etc.  She can crawl but not on her hands and knees.  Although we have seen her crawl on her hands and knees, she likes the basic training manuevers better, on her belly going arm over arm.  She instinctively knows what's off limit and aims for it.  When she sees you coming to stop her, she squeals and wiggles faster.... there have been many close calls and we've probably lost a few years off of our lives each time.  She's an eater, but Luci still worries wondering if she's eating enough. We're slowly working real food and textures into her diet and she will eat just about anything you put in front of her.  Her bedtime is 8PM and will sleeps a total of 12+ hours.  Lately she's only been waking up once in the middle of the night... sometimes sleeping through the whole time.  Her two favorite toys are baby Pooh and baby Tigger.  She'll squeal with delight when you hand them to her, hug them tight and bury her face in their body.  She'll even rock them and pat their back.  She loves music and will rock back and forth to the tune.  When she's really into it, her arms will go up.  Daisy, our golden retriever and our 3 cats (India, Midas, Mini) can send her squealing with laughter for no apparent reason.  She loves watching them and if they dare venture close enough, Alex usually comes away with a handful of fur.  The furbabies have since learned to stay reaching distance away.  She loves her baths, but hates the ocean.  Sand on the other hand is a new found yummy treat. 

We keep updates with pictures on our blog lyblace.blogspot.com (sporatically), photo gallery picasaweb.com/luciwang (rarely) and Facebook (probably too often).  Feel free to check them out.

If you would rather not receive these very rare (if ever again) emails from us on Alex's progress, let us know and we'll remove you from the list. 


Sincerely,

Ryan, Luci, Alexandra, Daisy, Midas, India, and Mini Blace

Food Coma?

We met up wih some friends for an awesome brunch at Eggspectations in
Columbia. Alex loved her eggs and frenh toast.... At least she loved
smearing it all over her highchair.

I wish I can pass out too.

Salmon and Pasta for Dinner #2

She wasn't hungry by this point and pretty ready for bed... where she had 9oz of milk for dinner #3. Dinner #1 was a whole container for baby food with oatmeal.

July 28, 2010

Alex and Daddy

Happy Thursday!

Too Young For This?

Alex The Photographer

I found this picture on me phone this morning. I love it!

Hi!

Future Gymnast?

Done

I'm done nursing! Those 4 little razor sharp blades in her mouth hurt like hell!

Alex & Keira

Toy Box

This keeps her occupied for a long long time.

Alex and Daisy

We have a wonderful dog. Alex loves Daisy.

Happy Baby Is Back

Cuddling With Daddy

Cuz mouth hurts

Teething

Three weeks ago, I discovered that Alex had 1 tooth. I didn't even know she was teething although being almost 10 months old at that time, I knew it was coming. She was just her normal happy go lucky self. No fever, no fussiness, no irritability. She even slept decently.

Well, I think she's teething again. And this time it's very different. She had a fever yesterday and still has one today. If she wakes up with it still tomorrow, it's time to call the Dr. She (and by default, me) slept horribly last night. She went down at 7:30PM and didn't wake up until 3:30AM... and was up every hour after that. Today, she hasn't really eaten or drank. She's thrown up what she has taken in. She's been fussy and isn't sleeping well. We're doing rounds of Tylenol, Motrin, teething tablets, and Oralgel... I'm not sure how much they're helping because the poor baby is still not happy.

I hope this ends soon.

Passed Out

I Happy

Toof!

Alex has one now! Not sure how I feel about that. She's growing up so fast.

Yummy Lamb

Some Old Pictures

Took these a long time ago when Alex was tiny.

From Random

First time to Avalon with Mommy, Daddy, and Daisy.

From Random

Meeting Auntie Frances for the first time.

From Random

Mmm....

The pieces she got into her mouth were yummy.

Fever

Alex had her first real sickness this past weekend with a low grade fever of 101 give or take a few tenths of a degree. It started Thursday night, but we didn't get to take her to the Dr's until Friday evening. We ended up going to RightTime Pediatric clinic at Arundel Mills since her regular doctor was off hours already. They're really convenient and it only cost us (or the insurance) $230 to tell us to watch her. At least she doesn't have an ear infection. Her cousin has one, so that was my initial worry. However, her temperature stayed high all weekend and I've never seen her so fussy before at night. Sunday night, she woke up at 12:30 crying and refused to go back to bed or be soothed anyway. Around 1:30 I finally brought her into bed with me and she was having a great time. Both daddy and mommy were there and they were just happy that she wasn't crying anymore... but neither was she in any mood to sleep. We learned that she can repeat "bye bye" or "bai bai bai bai bai bai..." as she likes to say it. After another hour or so of a combination of soothing her, trying to nurse her, trying to let her cry it out, she finally fell asleep a little after 3. She woke up around 6 to nurse and up for good at 7:30. Mommy's tired.

To top it all off, the Tylenol infant drops that we were using was on the recall list. Ryan went out and got CVS brands. At least she doesn't have a temperature anymore... I think.

Cuddling With Daddy

Waiting for the doctor

Future AA Member - Part I

I want it ...

Future AA Member - Part II

Almost...

Future AA Member - Part 3

Got it!

Silly Baby. Shoes Are To Wear

Only Child?

I think Alex is really close to convincing me to make sure that she's an only child. Her sleeping schedule in the past few nights has been the worse yet... waking up 4 to 5 times and even once not going back to sleep for 2 hours! She's all over the crib. If only she was on her stomach, she'd be crawling right now. She uses her legs to push herself into a corner and then cries cuz she's stuck with her head in an odd position.

The funny thing is, even though she freaks out and cries at night, once I pick her up and stand her up facing me, she automatically shoots me this huge grin... even in the dark.

Why They're So Cute

I think the reason why God made babies so cute is so we as parents don't throw them out the window.

Rough Player

Sigh...

Happy With Mommy!

From Brookside Garden 4/3/10

Things To Look Forward To

After the semester ends I'm ....

Getting a massage
Getting a pedicure
Getting a haircut and color
Get my eyebrows waxed
Going to Vegas
Going to visit Karen in Pittsburgh
Go eat at a buffet
Take Alex out and see the world... poor sheltered child.

... in no particular order.

Final Stretch

Please oh please let both Ryan and I survive the next 6 weeks or so.  Right now, we've barely spend anytime together, much less any quality time with Alex.  He'll graduate this May, and I'll have finished my first full term semester... and if I don't talk myself out of it, one more semester to go.  Our schedule consists of very minimal (if at all) amount of free time.  For him, it's wake up, maybe take Alex to my mom's, go to work, go to school 2 days a week after work, and maybe go back to work, come home and work on school work or work work.  For me, it's wake up, if Alex is still here feed her, play for a little bit, morning nap, then when she wakes up, take her to my mom's, come home and do school work or chores, go pick up Alex, or if it's Tuesday go to school and get Alex at 10:30PM or on Thurdays go to school and pick her up at 7:30PM, come home, feed her, bath time, nurse her, and time for bed, then make/eat dinner, sit down and do more school work, then go to bed around 1AM (or later).  Somewhere in there, I fit in a shower.  Sometimes I forget to feed myself and occasionally I have forgotten to brush my teeth in the morning.  :)  We forget to feed Daisy once in a while, but you can never forget to feed the cats.  They won't let you forget.

I need to get cushions for my dining room chairs...

At Daddy's Office

Yay!

It's amazing what can happen over a couple days when mommy's not around.  Alex now takes the bottle and gulps it down.  She even took it from me tonight.  When I got back from NYC, I nursed her but apparently I didn't have enough for her.  She was wide awake, fussy, and sucking her hands.  After I warmed up the bottle, she actually drank all 4 oz.  She saw the bottle and opened her mouth.  That's amazing to me.  Tomorrow I'll have to go out and buy a couple more Tommee Tippee bottles, these things are great!  Only 2 parts, no leakage, and she doesn't gag.

Big UPs to my mom and Ryan for taking care of her this weekend and getting her to take the bottle.  And major thanks to Kristen for watching my baby while the hubbies went mountain biking.  I really appreciate it.

My Hero

Nap Time

She doesn't like to perform for the camera.  She stops whatever she's doing once she hears the beep.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yh4TR3cU0vg

Sensitive Child

She is such a sensitive baby.  If you talk to her in a scolding manner, harsh tones, frowns, etc... the look on her face is heartbreaking.  She stops smiling and just stares at you with her big brown eyes.  Then her mouth starts to turn down... and if you continue, it starts to quiver and her eyes will gleam.  Eventually, she'll cry.  It's actually kinda fun to watch, but so sad too.  I guess discipline her in the future will be easier right?  :)  She's a cutie.

Oh, and she startles really easily too.

Bottles Update

It was promising... it was.  She took it a couple times from my mom.  And now she won't anymore.  Sigh... oh well.  Next weekend, I'm going away.  She'll have to drink from the bottle or be hungry.  I just feel bad for Ryan who has to deal with her.  I hope they survive. 

Tommee Tippee

We have the Dr. Brown bottles and Avent. This morning I put some milk in an Advent bottle and let her play with it. She chewed on it but didn't cry. I think it was more due to the fact that she wasn't hungry and I wasn't forcing it on her. She went to my mom's for a few hours while I went to school.  When I checked on her later I was told that she ate some solids and took about an ounce from the Dr. Brown's bottle (tricked again, BTW.)

I went to Babies "R" Us in hopes of finding a couple different bottles to try with the dear dear hope that Alex will miraculously take the bottle again. The baby business must be booming... bottles are expensive. I saw in a standalone rack a brand called Tommee Tippee. Curiosity took me over and I noticed that the nipples were what I wanted to try. Wider base and shorter nipple, they were soft and resembled closer to a real breast than anything else that I've seen. What the hell, so I got one. I also got a Breast Flow bottle to try. Again with wider base, soft nipple but it had a harder piece in the middle. Supposedly it makes the baby suck like they do on the breast. Anyhow, when I got back to Alex I put a couple ounces in the Tommee Tippee bottle and let her play with it. She gummed it and milk got into her... or onto her. Oh well. Anyhow, when she got tired, my mom was actually able to feed her with the bottle. She took down 3 ounces, and only cried for a few times at the beginning. And no gagging like she would with the Dr. Browns. My mom said the flow is too slow... otherwise she would have drank more. I did buy a faster flow nipple to go with the bottle but ended up buying the wrong type. But it's looking promising. Of course, I haven't tried feeding her yet. But that's ok, as long as SOMEONE can feed her I'm good with that. But then... that's also try one. We'll see if she'll continue to drink next time from the bottle.

I haven't tried the Breastflow one with her yet... since (double crosses fingers) Tommee Tippee seems promising.  Oh please please please work.

After doing some research, TT are new to the US.  They're one of the top baby products in the UK and just recently introduced to US.  There are tons of great reviews.   Man... if these work, I'm buying stock.

Tough Love

I don't know what to do. Over the last couple of weeks, Alex has gone from not liking the bottle but being able to be tricked into it to rocking her until she's half asleep and sticking the bottle in her to not wanting it at all. Bear in mind, this is what my mom has to do. I have not given her a bottle in months cuz she just freaks out. Well... now she freaks out period. She'll only take solids and nurse now.

Today, I dropped her off at my mom's so I can do hw before going to class. At an hour before I was supposed to leave, I get a call from my mom asking me to come to nurse her cuz she was freaking out and wouldn't drink anything. The other night, she was going to spend the night at my mom's so I could do hw w/o any interruptions... at 10:30PM I get the call to come and get her cuz she wouldn't sleep and wouldn't drink anything and had been crying since 8. Ryan had to go pick her up. Sigh... what are we supposed to do? She doesn't take the pacifier and never has.

I think it's time to tough it up. My goal is to take one week and ONLY give her the bottle. I know it's going to be rough... but hopefully I'll have the will power to do it. I hate listening to her cry. Hopefully she'll eventually get tired and hungry enough to take the bottle. And I really really really really hope I'm not traumatizing her for life. Oh poor baby.

Logan Came To Visit

Look at the size... 6 months vs 6 weeks.

Some Videos of Alex

In the past few months... even weeks, she's grown so much. Developed so quickly. From just laying around to smiling, to giggling, to smiling at everyone, to realizing she has hands and picking things up, to throwing things that she picks up, and so much more. I love this child. I love the fact that she smiles at everyone but beams at Ryan and I.

Here are some videos:
Alex meeting Wendy the puggle for the first time. Wendy is really interested in Alex. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCtmpxLW_Ms


Alex playing on the floor. I'm trying to make her laugh. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kN_2DUOOpv8


Alex is rolling over now! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WU4FIUGENto

Milestones

At 6 1/2 months, for the first time she slept 12 hours straight last night. She's been consistently doing 8-9 hours and occasionally 10 or 11 hours. But last night was a first, 12 hours straight! I hope this continues. Usually she'll sleep a total of 12-14 hours at night.

She also rolls over... if you put her on her stomach she'll do it. She half does it when she's on her back.

She can almost sit up by herself... I think in a few more weeks we'll be there.

She can also do consonant sounds now... especially when she's upset. "Booboobooboboobo" Maybe she'll say "baba" first instead of "mama".

She likes solids and is getting better and better at eating.

Unfortunately, she doesn't take the bottle very well. She also doesn't want to nurse until she's ready... which means when she's half asleep and I've rocked her for a bit. My cue to nurse her is when she sticks her hands in her mouth and eyes are half closed. She doesn't take the pacifier and nothing I can do will make her take it. On one hand I'll never have to wean her of it, but on the other hand she doesn't have anything to soothe her except for me when she's upset. Thanks goodness she's usually a happy baby.

She loves her baths. Putting her in the bath is her cue to start thrashing so all the water is splashed out.

Eczema is a lot better since we've been lathering her up everyday with Aquaphor and lotion.

She doesn't have much of an oral fixation. Meaning... she doesn't really put things in her mouth. She'll take something, look at it, pass it between her hands, look at it more, and drop it. Sometime she'll try to put it in her mouth, but usually it doesn't make it there.

Hope I'm not jinxing myself, but she hasn't gotten sick yet. It's only a matter of time.

Her New Thing

Her new thing lately is pulling her blankets over her face. She especially loves the knitted ones that Auntie Karen made her. They get hooked onto her thumb and she pulls it up and over her head. The other morning I had her in bed with me. And for the next 30 minutes, she'll grab the flat sheet and pull it over her face...and leave it like that. I'll push it down, and she'll pull it over her face again. The other night she nearly gave me a heart attack. After putting her to bed and going downstairs myself, I didn't check the baby monitor. After a couple hours I went upstairs to check on her and notice that the thick quilt was covering her face completely. Usually it's just resting lightly on top of her other blankets. After pulling it off of her quickly I realized that it was just tented over her... but still. It knocked a couple years off of me. I do notice that she likes to sleep with her face burrowed into something... either my arm, side of her carriers, or pillow, etc. I guess the blanket thing is just a natural progression.

Happy With Grandma

Helping Daddy

To solve quantum theory.

Hairclip

Thanks my BFF Elizabeth for the pretty hairclips!