"Mommy, tzo tzo"

I went to get Alex up this morning. She's sitting up in bed. She had taken off her PJs. Her onesie underneath is unbuttoned. Her diaper is half off. She says, "Mommy, tzo tzo." That's stinky in Chinese. I think she would have been naked if she wasn't sitting in a big pile of poop.

Chinglish

Alex understands Chinese.  Alex speaks Chinese.  Alex understands English too.  Sometimes she'll say phrases like, "Where did Daddy go?"  Other times she'll say, "Daddy na li?"  That's "Where is daddy?" in Chinese.  Now she says, "Daddy na li go?"  I suppose that's technically correct.

Things my phone are...

In order of precedence...

1.  Toddler toy
2.  GPS
3.  Camera
4.  Weather channel
5.  Web browser
6.  Alarm clock
7.  Planner
8.  Calculator
9.  Bank ATM
10.  Phone

Sleepy model

First Hair Cut

Wednesday November 16, 2011.  Alex is 2 years and almost 3 months old.  She got her first hair cut... just the bangs.  I love her hair, soft and wavy.  She loves getting her hair done.  When you call her she'll run to the bathroom, stand on the stood, and let you brush her hair and tie it up.  I think it has to do with the fact that I let her play with water at the same time.  She loves water.  Unfortunately it doesn't stay up... she'll pull out the ties or clips whenever you let her go.  So the hair is constantly in her face.  She'll push it out of her eyes, but it just falls back.  She won't let you clip it up... sometimes you can trick her.  But once she remembers that it's up there, it's coming out.  So I finally cut the front.  Now she has cute bangs.  Crooked, but cute.  :)  No fuss, no drama.  I don't think she even noticed that I cut her hair.... she was playing with water. 

It's For My Sanity

We're going to hire a maid service.  I feel guilty about hiring someone to clean my house.  But it's either going to be that, or a dirty house.  Three services are coming tomorrow to check the house out and give me estimates.  I just hope my cheap Chinese side stays out of it.

I feel even more guilty about downsizing the cats.  (Shh... they don't know yet.)  At least they're staying somewhat in the "family".  I'd get rid of Daisy too, but Ryan would divorce me.

Maybe if I wasn't so sleep deprived I would be more reasonable about cleaning and the cats, but it's driving me slowly insane.

Projectile... Puke.

Alex woke up early today.  That's 7AM.  Yes, that's early in this household.  That's okay though, she went to bed at 6:30 the night before.  By 8AM, Ryan was on his way to dropping both kids of at daycare.  A 15 minutes nap sounded great.  I could still lay down for a few minutes and still get to work by 9AM.  9AM is early for me.  I don't even remember closing my eyes, but it was 10AM before I woke up.... only because the Roomba started.  So I had to work late.  Didn't get the kids home until 8:30PM.  Poor Hannah was very hungry.  She downed 3oz from the bottle in a couple minutes, then nursed... before it all came out.  It's been a few days since she had a projectile puke.  I knew I was due for a drenching.  I also knew that she shouldn't be drinking so fast... and perhaps I should have tried to burp her before nursing.  I had to suction the puke out of her nostrils.  She didn't like that... at all.  I've never seen her cry as hard in her short little life.  Two clenched fists under her chin, eyes squeezed shut, red faced, bawling at the top of her lungs cry.  It was a wrap her naked body in a blanket and give her the boob right away cry.  After she nursed some more (much slower this time), we finally got dressed.  Nursed some more and she finally went to sleep.  1 hour. 

Her acid reflux is getting better... or maybe I'm just more used to it.  And since I don't spend the day with her, I don't notice as much.  Plenty of spit ups still though, just not as much projectile. 

Sisterly Love

Alex loves Hannah.  She loves to touch her face.  And when Hannah wakes up, she'll run to her and give her kisses.  Her cousins aren't allowed to kiss Hannah.  Because Hannah is Alex's mei mei.

I hope she feels this way always. 

Everyone's On Board

She has her whole posey with her today. Elmo is in there somewhere.

A Day In The Life Of Luci

6:00AM - Hannah wakes me up for nursing.  This can happen anytime from 6AM - 8AM actually. 
6:30AM - Check on Alex.  Get back into bed.
8:30AM - Alex wakes up.  Ryan gets her milk and gets her ready for the day.  I gather everything that the kids need for daycare.  Ryan takes Daisy out, and feeds her if he remembers.  I get Hannah ready, which usually just means I transfer her from her crib to her car seat.
9:15AM - Load everyone into the car and off we go.
9:30AM - Drop Alex and Hannah off at Dawn's.
10:00AM - Arrive at work.  Buy bad coffee from the cafeteria.
10:30AM - Pump.  Crochet while pumping.  It usually takes me 15-20 minutes from beginning to cleaning.
12:45PM - Pump.
1:30PM - Find something for lunch.  Bad days is eating in the cafeteria.  Good days are either I bring something or I have to drive out to get something.
4:00PM - Pump.
6:30PM - End of the work day. 
7:00PM - Pick the girls up from Dawns.
7:30PM - Arrive at home.  Ryan and Alex plays with Daisy for a few minutes. 
7:30PM - 9:30PM - Snack for Alex.  Ryan gives Alex a bath if she needs one.  I give Hannah a bath if she needs one.  Hannah gets a bottle, then nurses, then rocked to sleep.  Alex gets a bottle while reading with Ryan laying on the floor on her big stuffed dog in her room.  She picks the books from her shelf each time.  The last book is read after she climbs into bed.  Ryan tucks Alex, Pooh, Elmo, and Gogo (Clifford) into bed.  He kisses each of them (multiple times), shut off the lights and leaves the room.  Alex will either roll over and go straight to sleep or sing/play in her bed until she falls asleep. 
9:30PM (sometimes as early as 8:30PM or as late as 10PM) - Ryan and I eat dinner. 
10:00PM - 12:00AM - Clean bottles, gather stuff for the next day.  TV, computer, crochet, shower, get ready for bed.
2:00AM - Nurse, burp, diapers, nurse.  Pump optional.  Check on Alex. 
2:45AM - Back to bed. 
(4:00AM - Nurse, burp, diapers, nurse.  Pump optional.  Check on Alex.)  On bad nights, this timeslot occurs.  
6:00AM - Start all over.

Life With Two Girls

Life with two little ones certainly is interesting.  I really appreciate having Ryan around to help out.  It's never been clearer than now how much of a team we are together.  Since Hannah's arrival, Ryan has been spending more and more time with Alex.  I think that is one of the main reason why she has adjusted so well to having a little sister.  Alex loves Hannah and is very protective of her.  My cousin told me of an incident involving a half eaten banana when Ava (my 4 yrs old niece) gave Hannah a kiss.  Apparently, only Alex can kiss Hannah.  And I just love the way she says her sister's name... Han-na.  For a while there, Dawn thought she was saying it was very cold in the house in Chinese until she realized she was telling her that Hannah was crying.  Our weekday schedule doesn't leave a lot of time for Ryan and I to spend together or to spend with the furbabies.  Poor Daisy, there has been multiple days where we've forgotten to feed her in the morning.

I can't help but compare Hannah to Alex when she was a baby.  She looks just like Alex at the same age... when her eyes are closed.  They have very different looking eyes, but other than that...  I showed a picture of Alex around 2 months old to my mom and she thought it was Hannah.  I'm sure as they grow, they'll look different.  Alex looks nothing like she did as an infant.  Hannah is also a very pukey baby.  Poor child pukes after every meal, and sometimes in between meals.  The doctor said acid reflux is common in babies.  Alex rarely puked as an infant.  She puked more as a toddler.  There's a load of laundry each day just from Hannah's changes.  She's also a crier.  Alex was a sleeper.  She slept for the first 3 months of her life... but apparently preemies are usually sleepers.  Not that Hannah doesn't sleep, she just doesn't sleep as much as Alex, especially during the day.  Honestly, and I'm not sure if I should admit this publicly, but liking Hannah took a little bit more effort than with Alex.  Of course I love the child, but with a toddler around that has so much personality, an unresponsive baby that requires so much work just can't compare.  With that being said, she's growing so fast already and part of me can't wait until she gets to Alex's age.  The other part doesn't want my last baby to grow up.  I love her little doll like lips, especially when she's done nursing and the bottom lip is all pursed and stubborn looking.  That's her signal that she doesn't want anymore and nothing I can do would make her open her mouth again until she ready.  I have a feeling that she's going to be a cuddler... I'm very hopeful that is true.  Alex was never a cuddler and I was very envious my friend Erica when her baby girl just snuggles up with her.  Alex is much more of a cuddler now, not that she snuggles, but her openly affectionate hugs and kisses just melts my heart.  You can't but help be happy with her. 

I'm happy with two girls.  I'm happy with where I am in my life.... though I could use a bit more sleep. 

Fun In A Wheel Barrel

Rain Rain Go Away

Thanks Aunt Susie for the cute rain jacket!

Yummy Froyo

Posing for daddy at the new frozen yogurt shop near our house. Yogopop.

I Just Wanted A Good Family Picture...

Was it too much to ask?

I can't pass up a good deal... or at least what seemed like a good deal at the time.  Livingsocial got me with a $25 deal for 5 photo sheets.  Next time, I need to exercise better restraint.  However, I'll be extra nice and caveat that with "Perhaps I should have planned it better."  I had forgotten that the coupon was expiring.  That out of the way, it was a borderline horrible experience.  Stressful and poorly managed.  We set our appointment on a Friday night at 7PM, the day that the coupon would expire on.  That was the poorly planned part on my side.  Ryan and I rushed out of work to get home in time to get the kids dressed and get to the mall in time for our time slot.  We even got there early like they asked us too.  It still took over an hour before they got to us... by this time, it was after 8PM.  Alex is fussy and when she's fussy, she gets scared.  What was she scared off?  The backdrop cloths that they pulled down.  And when she's tired and fussy, she's not going to smile.  What she wanted was her sister.  Oh... and I made the horrible mistake of forgetting her Pooh.  At least we got one good picture of her with Hannah and a couple decent family photos.  After our shoot, I told them I'll be back another day to look at the pictures, we had to go.  The deal with 5 photo sheets of one picture and we also get a low-res CD.  In the end, I forked over $75 more to get a high res CD.  That's how they get you.  It took way too much effort to only get one picture printed, I wanted the other pictures too.  Was it worth it?  That's still debatable.  I've vowed to never do this again... at least not at Picture People.  It was crowded, you're surrounded by crying babies, frazzled employees, and annoyed parents.  You wait to take pictures regardless of appointments, you wait to look at pictures, and you wait to get your pictures.  Perhaps I did it the better way by coming back another day to look at them... at least that breaks up the annoyance of continuous waiting. 

On a side note.  THANK YOU Kristen Self for taking Hannah's newborn pictures. You are amazing.

Tigger!

Alex gave "Pooh" to Hannah

The Help

Baking for Aunt Karen's wedding

Pognae (POH-G-NEH)

Pognae - adj. 1. A Korean word that means comfort, security, and warmth. 

That's my new baby carrier.  I haven't received it yet, but apparently it's a very popular carrier in Asia.  Made in South Korea, by people who are of slight built for people with slight built.  While I already have the Baby Bjorn and the Moby, I've been looking for a new one.  The Bjorn, while it has quite a following I found it to be rather uncomfortable.  The straps crisscrossed across the back but all the weight still ended up on top of my shoulders and I just didn't want to wear it as a result.  The Moby Wrap is super comfortable and secure and I do like it for those reasons.  However, it is 5 meters long... that's a lot of fabric to wrap around myself.  I thought about shortening it, but it still had other issues.  It's a hassle to put on and once it's on I don't want to take it off just because it's a pain to put on.  As a result, it ends up wrapped around me even when the baby's not in it.  I may use it more during colder weather since it keeps me nice and toasty, but during the summer... it was suffocating.  I had Hannah in it when we went out for some errands last week, she seemed comfortable as she was completely passed out, but I was sweating like crazy.  That's too bad since of all the carriers that I've tried, the Moby distributed the weight the best. 

As I was talking to Karen about baby carriers, she told me that a friend of hers started the USA distribution branch of Pognae.  With the discount (plus additional friends & family discount that Karen had) and the free return policy, I figure I might as well give it a try.  I've heard a lot of good things about the Ergobaby carrier and this is supposed to be just like it, except slightly smaller.  It was perfect since the size and bulk of the Ergo was an issue that held me back from purchasing it... and the $$$.  It's rather expensive.  Hopefully I'll like it. 

My Baby Is No Longer A Baby

Alex came home today after sending her back to my moms last Tuesday since I had a sneaky feeling the baby would come any day. After only having Hannah around for a few days and getting used to how tiny she is, Alex looks huge! She looks like she grew 6 more months since a week ago. She's growing up too fast.

She's TWO!!!

We had a quiet birthday for Alex this year. Grandma and Pop Pop were in town so Aunt Dani came over. We took some pictures outside, had a nice dinner, and sang Happy Birthday to Alex after dinner with a small cake. Daddy helped Alex blow out her candles. How in the world she become two?! Where did the time go? We love watching her grow and seeing how she's learning new stuff each day. But I'm sad that she's not a baby anymore. Shes talking more and more but mostly in her gibberish with Mandarin added. Is quite cute and everyone around the house is starting to pick up her Chinese words. :)

Two Years Update

Height - 70%
Weight - 70%
Head - 93%

Wish I remembered the actual measurements.

How do people pre-Facebook get through confinements?! Not to mention pre-Internet. I wake up in the morning and the first thing I think about is what I'm going to do today. When I realized that I didn't have a project to work on, a mini panic attack set in. With Alex I only had to do 5 weeks of bed rest before she came. This time, I'm already in the 8th week. I was somewhat cavalier about it in the beginning but with each subsequent hospital trip (4 so far), I've been taking it more seriously. So seriously in fact that I've put all my energy into my projects. I've spent countless hours cross stitching Alexandra's and Hannah's name. I've even cross stitched 4 letters of 'Sophia' when we thought that we were going to name the new baby that. It's not going to waste though. Sophia being the most popular girls name of 2011, it has already been claimed. I've then turned my efforts to crocheting.... About 20 adorable hats later, I think I'm done. I need something else to do... Something I can do laying down.

The good news is that this is my last week of strict confinement. Come Monday I'll be 36 weeks and the Drs are happy. I still can't go trapezing around but there's no need to stop the contractions after that. Which mean hopefully the next time I go to the hospital, we're having a baby.

I think I'll treat myself to a pedicure next week.

Giving Credit Where Credit is Due

So I've been a crocheting machine these past few day. There's really not much else to do. Besides TV, cross stitching, reading, and crocheting, there's a limited number of stuff that can be accomplished while laying down. OH! Shopping. Must not forget that.

Anyhow, I've been cranking out adorable hats, even made a few for boys. They're not as fun to decorate, but still pretty good results if I do say so myself. Since I've been using other people's free patterns and work from those, here are the links to the patterns.

Deeply Textured Hat

I really like this pattern. I told Ryan that I really like this pattern cuz I can crank one out in no time. He's like, so you're mass producing them now? Must be the Chinese in you.... :)

Cluster Hat

Beary Cute Hat
 


I make a bunch of these a couple years ago. Again, super easy but takes a bit longer.  How adorable was she??  :)  Sooo chubby then :)


Open Rose

Flower 1

Naked Branch Leaf

Preemie Beanie

While at the hospital last night, I thought perhaps I should make a smaller version of the newborn beanies... a preemie beanie. Just in case Hannah does show up early. So, laying in the hospital I started to make one. Yes, I took a ball of yarn and my hook with me. It gets pretty boring there, and you never know how long it'll take.

So here's the final product. Hopefully it's not too small, otherwise Alex's doll will have a new hat. I used my hand as a size comparison. When Alex was born her head was barely the size of my hand.

Stitchery - Baby Beanies

So I got tired of cross stitching. Whoever came up with the idea of coloring tiny little boxes on a piece of cloth with crosses had a lot of time on their hands. It's completely idiotic. With that said, I will finish the cs of Hannah's name.... Just needed to do something else that seems more substantial for a while.

I've been crocheting up a storm. Baby hats to be specific. I was thinking about booties, but whoever actually wears them?? Been trying out different flower patterns too. In the end, the results are just too cute.

Latest creation. I love the flower and the color contrast.

Round 4 at the Hospital

I can almost expect to make a trip to the hospital when Sunday night comes around. It's not always Sunday but it's definitely always around midnight. At least this time they put us in a regular L and D room instead of triage. The rooms in triage were freezing, I was actually too warm last night. But yes, it's almost routine now. I don't really expect a baby, so I don't get worried anymore. The good thing about last night was that the dr was right there, and he gave me the choice of an IV first or a terbutaline shot first. I took the shot, painful as hell but only momentarily. The IV wasn't going to do anything for me, if I took anymore fluids in me I'd be going to the bathroom every 15 minutes. Nevertheless, it worked and that was the quickest trip ever for us. I wish I could just give myself a terb shot at home whenever the contractions won't stop.

We did do a really quick sono last night to check the baby's position. She down and ready for action. I'm also 0-1 dilated and 20% effaced. But that could also just depend on the dr checking me.

We were supposed to pick up Alex last night. :( I miss her. Looks like she's staying at my moms.

Hopefully no more hospital trips until the baby's out. The goal is 35 weeks, 36 or 37 would be better.

July Update

I'm not very good at this bed rest thing. Although I have to say that I was very good for the past 2 weeks. My daily routine consists mainly of 95% laying or reclining in my nest of pillows, and the rest of the time going to the bathroom every hour due to the obscene amount of water that I have to chug. I only make about two trips downstairs for food and more water... And to take daisy out. But today I cheated... But it was necessary, or so I tell myself. Last night I ran out of specific colors of floss so I had to make a run to Joanns. Thank goodness it was only a few miles away. But I also got some stuff for my next project. That's assuming that I finish with Hannah's name before she shows up.

We are 33 1/2 weeks now. My leave is over August 31st, and I have hormone shots until 36 weeks. My goal is 37 weeks, so hopefully Hannah will cooperate with us. Alex came at 35 weeks, but that's without the weekly hormone shots. So we'll see. I got the steroid shots already so the baby should be fine if she comes early. She's awfully active. I feel like a punching bag on the inside.

There were tons of activities outside my house this afternoon, actually my new neighbors house. The builder and a bunch of contractors were all over the place. I decided to get dressed and walk next door to meet the new occupants since they were moving some minor stuff in. They don't close until tomorrow, but pre signed today. Funny coincidence, they moved from the same exact neighborhood that we moved from in Odenton. Really nice young couple with a 3 year old and a 9 month old. I asked them if it were the gunshots that drove them to move. They knew exactly what I was talking about.

Anyway, having been confined the past month or so, just that little bit of exertion had a big affect on me. And now, after a cool shower I'm back in bed.

On another note, Alex has been at my sister's being watch by my mom. She's having a grand old time, what with her little cousin and aunts and uncles. they maintaining her sleep schedule which is good. And apparently being potty trained. She actually went in the potty yesterday! Maybe she'll be completely trained by the time she gets back... I can hope. :) but oh well, shes coming back this Sunday at least for a few days. I miss the little monster.

30 Shots and Counting...

1 blood test
1 first tri blood draw
1 1 hour glucose
4 3 hour glucose
16 progesterone
4 terbutaline
1 IV
2 betametadone (steroids)

And probably a few more in the future. Good thing I'm not afraid of needles. Although I do hate the progesterone, steroids, and the terbs. They hurt!

Maggoty morning

I noticed little creamy colored things moving around my kitchen floor this morning. Maggots. I don't know where they came from, although the trash was pretty full. I didn't look too closely cus I was scared and completely grossed out. I quickly got Alex's milk while trying to ignore the little monsters. However I did managed to talk myself into vacuuming the few that I saw crawling around before I went to drop Alex off. In the end I did clean them up when I got home. For those of you that knows me, yes i was pretty much in tears. But i did it.

I am still upset at Ryan for not coming home from work to take care of it. I realized that I'm being irrational but I don't care. I did take the trash out, although I'm still not sure if that's where they came from. I hope we have spare filters for my mini vacuum cuz that had to go. The kitchen rug had to go too.

My house isn't filthy, but the roomba did break... And I thought the floor being hairy was the only result.

Now I'm upstairs and am afraid to go downstairs, but I'm hungry.

I have guests coming tomorrow...

Big Girl Bed

Because I didn't want two cribs in the house, we got Alex a toddler bed.

Night 1: We picked her up from Grandma's and she fell asleep on the way home. Woke up at 3AM. I gave her a bottle of milk while she laid on her stuffed dog on the floor where she was falling back to sleep. I transferred her to the bed and she was fussy for a few seconds, but she slept until morning.

Night 2: She did not want to stay in bed and was testing me with requests for hugs and sneakily scooting herself off the mattress. I'd repeatedly put lay her back down on her pillow until I finally gave up and just left the room. She cried for about 10 minutes before it was quiet. She stayed on the bed and slept till morning.

Night 3: She climbed into bed but didn't want to stay. I said good night to Pooh and her and left the room. She fussed for a few seconds but was quiet after that. I was pretty positive she got off the bed, but at least she was quiet. I went to check on her in a hour and she had fallen asleep with Pooh on the king sized pillows that I had placed on the floor next to her bed. I call this a success. :) She slept until morning.

Night 4: She climbed in herself and laid down. When I got up to leave the room, she was in the process of getting up. When I checked on her an hour later, she was passed out on her bed. Yay!

My daughter can get pretty cranky in the morning... unfortunately I think that's a trait she got from me...

Epic Morning

Well she didn't fall out of the bed like I was afraid of but we did have a 3am re-introduction to the bed. She actually wanted to sleep on her big stuff dog on the floor, I wasn't going to start that nonsense. She stayed in her bed until 830 where soon after we had another re-introduction... Her morning bottle of milk. In my haste to get to the bathroom before an even bigger mess happened I nearly killed both of us in the process. Who knew puke was slippery. I'll be sporting some fresh bruises on my knees and face (courtesy of the bathroom doorjam). Alex landed on her butt and somehow I managed to stop her head before it banged on the tile floor. That would have been bad. As it was, she smushed the newly produced diarrhea in her just changed diaper all over herself. Of course this would be the time that the Verizon guy who didn't inform us that he was showing up today to be greeted by me all covered in fresh throwup (hair, shirt, pants, arms, and leg). None on the face thank goodness. But I did catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror before I stripped.... Wow. I'm surprised the guy didn't run.

I'm exhausted. It's time for a nap.

After 2 Years

I finally finished the project I started when I was on bed rest with Alex. It's only fitting that I finished it during bed rest too.

It might take me another couple years to get it matted and framed. Maybe I'll have it done by the time Alex is ready to move out to college...

Once Again...

Apparently Baby S can't wait to show up either. Started getting contractions in the evening that were 7-10 minutes apart. After a couple hours, a shower, lots of water and laying down they were 4-6 minutes. I really didn't want to go to the hospital and was really hoping it'd stop but I caved. At least S was good enough to wait until her grandparents visited to act up. We left Alex peacefully sleeping at home and spent most of the night at HCGH. Contractions were a couple minutes apart but no dilation so that was good. I think bc I didn't wait to go this time it helped. A couple bags of IV and some really painful shot and S finally calmed down. We were allowed to leave around 430. But now I'm on bed rest. At least until Monday. Unfortunately, some test they did at the hospital came back positive saying that there's a higher chance of preterm birth. I think that's what the doc said. Need more research. Medical jargon just washes right over me.

Failed the Glucose Test

My 1 hour glucose challenge test came back "abnormal." So here comes the 3hr test on Monday. Not worried, just annoyed that I have drink even more of that sickeningly sweet koolaid. I believe it's double the amount this time. Sigh...

Talking... Sorta...

Alex talks. She talks a lot. But we don't understand her. She has inflections and hand motions and all the necessary linguistic tools. I think it might be Chinese, but I'm not sure. It's probably just toddler jabber. Sometimes I can pick out certain phrases. I don't know what she's telling me, so I just say "yes honey." We have a book that we read each night. Each page has a picture of a random thing, dog, cat, ball, car, fish, etc. She sees the fish and says "Yu" with the correct tonage. That's fish in Mandarin. She sees the dog and goes "go go, oof oof!", the cat "meeooww", the ball "ball", the car "bee bee". That's supposed to be "beep beep." With how much she jabbers normally, I think she'll be talking my ears off soon enough.

Two Poohs

It's that kind of morning.

Patasco River

All the kids were splashing in the river. They had a blast.

"Walking" Daddy's Shoe

Monkey Business

Chocolate Fun

Sassy Girl

My daughter has an attitude. And I don't know where she learned it from. It's rather cute. I imagine in a year or two, it won't be so cute. She'll cross her arms in front of her and give you a scowl with her brows knitted and her lips pursed. She'll even take a deep breath and "harumph" at you. When it's really good, she'll do all that and turn her back to you.

I hope I didn't teach her to scowl like that... but I might have... I don't know where she learned to cross her arm tho. Do you think it's a learned trait? Or just something kids know?

Baby Terp

Morning!

Sleepy Head

Alex slept from 9PM to 11AM this morning. And a 20 minutes nap before the birthday party. She's back down to bed at 8:30PM tonight. That's my girl. :-P Getting her trained well.

Poohs

Had to have both this morning.

Alex Update

At almost 20 months, she is one energetic child. She runs everywhere and jabbers about everything. She can sing Happy Birthday and will do it often. She can also hum Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Her facial expressions are priceless... she'll scowl at anything when she's thinking or concentrating, she'll pout when she's upset with her lower lips out, and she'll cheese at the camera when it's pointed at her. Other than that, she smiles all the time. She loves to give hugs and kisses. She's a super cautious child or a scaredy-cat. If there's a step, she'll get down on her hands and knees at least 5 feet away from it and back herself to the step. She loves to grab your hand and pull you to wherever she wants you to do for her... starting the Roomba, for example. She loves the Roomba. We can see traits of Ryan in her... she's neat with her toys. She'll stack all her toys into her carts and pull them around with her. She likes to carry more than one thing at a time.... usually 3 or 4 things at the same time. So she'll hold her Pooh(s) in her arms, have something wedge b/t her cheek and shoulder and have something in her mouth. Ryan and I find this comical. She loves to get her hair done and will stand on her little stool in front of the mirror and wait patiently for me to finish. She hates getting her face wiped, but loves to get her hands washed. She's neat like her daddy and sleeps like her mommy. She loves the animals and will pet them whenever she can. She's recently tried to pick up Midas and Mini, and gets excited when they do stuff. She doesn't like to eat very much but likes to use her forks and spoons. She talks a lot, but we understand very little.

She understands quite a bit of words now... most of them in Chinese:
Chi bao bao - time to eat
Shui jiao jiao - time to sleep
Huan pian pian - diaper change
Nai nai - milk
Chi fan la - time to eat
Mou mou - Gently pet (the animals)

She can say:
Tzo tzo - dirty diaper
poo poo - dirty diaper
Daisy - Daisy
Daddy-ah - Daddy
Mami-ah - Mommy
Ma ma - Grand ma
Meimei-ah - little sister (a.k.a. cousin Keira)
Ta da (with a head nod) - Thank you
Pooh - Pooh... or Tigger
Uhoh - Whenever something drops

Sleep Training... Again

Last week, Alex spent Sunday-Friday at Grandma's due to scheduling conflicts. She slept with my mom every night. I didn't think it was going to be a problem since she's been regularly spending 2 nights at week there without disrupting her sleep schedule at home. However, maybe 5 nights in a row was too much. I feel like we're starting with sleep training all over again. She still sleeps through the night, all 12+ hours. But getting her to go to sleep in her crib in her own room is a battle. She's so tired but the second I put her down, she's up and bawling her heart out. Tonight was rough, she cried so hard she threw up. This was after she threw up her dinner right after she ate. Of course, her phlegm-y cough played a factor in it. Sigh... she was doing so well last week too. Hopefully it won't take too long for her to get back into the rhythm of things again.

Teefies

For the longest time she had 8 teeth, 4 top and 4 bottom. Now in the past month it seems like all her other ones are coming in at the same time. Molars, canines, etc. What a trooper. She's still her happy go lucky self.

Sent from my iPhone

Basketful of Fun!

Saturday Morning Cuteness

Swinging

First time on a swing. She doesn't look too excited. Probably because it was way past time for a nap.

Oreos

I thought my pregnancy with Alex was miserable. This one is already worse. Morning sickness is worse, tiredness is worse, pretty much everything is worse. I have this constant hunger that I don't remember with Alex. I keep a box of Oreos in my nightstand drawer. Before that... it was a bowl of oatmeal raisin cookies. I don't think I'm going to be as lucky with my weight gain this time around...

To Paci or Not To Paci?

Just thinking. Alex doesn't take the pacifier, never did. We tried to give it to her, but it didn't stick. The first few months she pretty much slept the whole time and so we didn't need to give her one. So it never took with her. My mom complained about the fact that occasionally when she was really fussy, you couldn't soothe her. But that passed pretty quickly. So... should we give the new baby a pacifier? Is weaning hard? I'm thinking we'll probably give it a try.

Pictures... or Lack There Of

It's very hard to take a non-blurry picture of a toddler that doesn't stay still.

18 months

24 lbs weight
32 in height
19 in head circumference

Cousins

This is what happens when you have older cousins who likes to play with you. LOL.

Tree Down

It fell on a random day, no wind, rain, snow, or sleet. It also did no damages to either house.

Dinner

We decided to give her a the valentine chocolate that her daddy got her. It's on her face.

Baby B #2

Jinxed Myself

I spoke too soon. Or maybe I jinxed myself. She woke up two mornings ago at 630, downed a bottle and wen back to bed. Unfortunately the electricians came at 730! Last night she woke up at 1230 and couldn't be soothed. Finally resorted to a bottle before she slept until 800 this morning. Still not too bad but could be better. But I blame the fever. She's been sick for a few days. I think it's coming to a head today. The girl loves medicine, especially infant Advil.

Tzo Tzo & More

The other day I was laying on the floor of Alex's room dozing while she was playing. The next thing I know, she's standing over me with a clean diaper and says "tzo tzo", stinky in Chinese. Sure enough, there definitely was tzo tzo-iness. She will now regularly (usually) tell me she has a stinky. Now if only she would say it before she goes.

Over the weekend I saw her pick up a small piece of something off the floor, walk over to the garbage in the kitchen, drop it in and continued on her way. My baby is growing up so fast!

We've reached a (huge) milestone in our sleeping habit. She has slept straight through the night with no waking or feeding for he past two weeks. Halleluia! Ok, so there was one night that I did have to give her a bottle, and another night where I had to soothe her back to sleep by rocking her ... But two nights out of two weeks. Those are good stats. I'll take it.

With that said, that doesn't mean that mommy isn't waking up in the middle of the night worrying about her being too cold, diaper too wet, or whatever else. Sigh...

Hairdresser Pt. 1

We had to take a break while unpacking to do mommy's hair. Can't unpack with bad hair after all.

Hairdresser Pt. 2

Hairdresser Pt.3

Look at that expression. Future occupation? She's got the two hand motion going on, one to brush and one to smooth.

Unpacking Buddy