Nose Frida

Sarah is still battling her cold. It's been a long while, but she has a few random coughs here and there, and she was still a bit congested.  To help ease her congestion, we have tried using the "bulb."  Sarah hates the bulb.  She turns her head left and right and successfully dodges every attempt I try to make to put that horrific syringe near her nose. So I got desperate and went on-line.  I came upon the Nose Frida on Amazon.  I looked at the picture on the package and thought to myself, "are you kidding me?" One end of the tube goes into your mouth and the other end goes into the child's nostrils??!?  I was appalled.  But this product got over 400 reviews and a 5 star rating on Amazon. On drugstore.com, there were 25,000+ reviews and it also had a 5 star rating. 2600 reviews on diapers.com and yet another 5 star rating. I was still in disbelief.  Did these buyers get scammed and felt so embarrassed and angry that they purposely put a 5-star rating on this product just to get more people tricked?  But I was desperate to provide some relief for Sarah and at only $15, it's worth the try.

Boy, am I really surprised!!!  I couldn't believe how wonderfully this product worked.  Although it's still not Sarah's favorite item, she can actually stay still for a few minutes while I suck, yes, suck her snot out (like a straw).  It's amazing how it comes right out into the tube. And NO, you do NOT eat the snot.  The snot never ever reaches your mouth. The plastic tubing is like 14 inches long and seriously the snot only gets up to the tip of the hard tube. Washing is easy too. The hard tube disconnects and I just power rinse it with water and mild soap.  I am now a true believer of this product.  I would recommend the Nose Frida to all the mommies out there.  This gadget really works.

The Orphan Sock

After MONTHS of holding on to one of Sarah's teeny weeny single sock, I was convinced that I would never find the matching pair. So I threw away the orphan sock. But fate has it that the very next day, I found the matching twin in the laundry...!!! Don't know how, when or why it suddenly appeared after being lost for so long! Maybe he realizes that the hide and seek game is over that his mate is gone forever. :-(

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Sarah's 9 months check up

I was a bit late in bringing Sarah to her 9-month wellness check up.  Normally, I try to schedule it within the week of the actual date, but with the travel going on last week, I didn't bring Sarah in until today.  Before going in, she napped for 1.5 hrs, got fed, and changed into new diapers.  Therefore, she didn't have a reason to cry - but silly girl somehow 'recognized' the office. She started to cry upon entering the elevator and continued to cry on and off when we did the measurements.  

Weight : 19 lb 6 oz (54% tile)

Height : 28.5 inches (74% tile)

Head Circumference:  18 inches (92% tile)

After we did the measurements, I put her down on the bed and let her play around a little bit.  It was a good thing that the doctor was running late, and we spent the next 5-8 minutes just hanging around the room.  She was in much better spirits by then.  She clapped her hands, babbled, wiggled around a bit and even read her own charts (haha, wouldn't that be nice?) until the doctor came in.  She didn't cry and let the doctor examined her.  Overall, she is growing exactly on the projection path, which is great.  She has a mild case of eczema on her face and her neck.  I put dabs of Aquaphor everyday but it doesn't seem to work much.  It's itchy because she will scratch her neck and irritate it even more.  So the doctor prescribed Hydrocortizone to help with the itch.

I asked about her diet and it turns out that I am taking her solid feedings too slow.  Doctor said that by this time, I can pretty much feed her everything!  And here I am, still feeding her Stage 2 foods! And I thought I gave her plenty already - she's gone through all the fruits and veggies. She even tried yogurt.  But I haven't given her any meats or fish yet.  I guess that will be the next food group to try.  She still hasn't mastered the pincher grasp yet so no finger foods either...

But overall, I am happy with her progress and development! Good job, silly girl!    

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Sarah's New Ride

I took advantage of the break in the rain to take Sarah on an afternoon stroll around the neighborhood in her new ride...

After much research and "wishy-washiness" (if there is such a word), we finally bought Sarah the Uppababy 2011 G-Luxe stroller.  Her infant stroller, which she outgrew a month ago was the Graco Snap-N-Go stroller frame, which we used alongside with the car seat.  We loved it and we got a lot use out of it. But since we changed her infant car seat out to the Britax convertible car seat, we can no longer use that stroller.

As you can imagine, we were overwhelmed by the many varieties of baby strollers in the market.  There are some important criteria that we really wanted and some that were "nice to have."  Sometimes the more bells and whistles the stroller has, the heavier it gets - or the price sky rockets.  So we finally chose this stroller because it fits our needs.  Below is listed in the order of importance to us.  

1. Light weight - this stroller only weighs 11 lbs. 
2. 5-point harness - secures Sarah from falling when leaning forward
3. Reclines to 120 degrees - convenient for her to nap in
4. Basket & cup holder - it may sound silly, but this was a must for us!  
5. Not too expensive - only $190 (we bought it with a 15% discount + free shipping + no tax!) 

There are additional features that came with this stroller that I really liked:  

1. Full size seat at 13" wide, removable and washable
2. Suitable up to 50 lbs
3. Turns easily and good suspensions that comes with ergonomic handles 
4. Stroller folds us easily and can stand upright when folded (don't need to put it on the floor)
5. Huge canopy for Sun protection

This stroller is still not perfect - what would be nice to add is a peak-a-boo window on the canopy so I can see what Sarah is doing in the front.  This stroller doesn't have that.  And it also doesn't have a snack tray or a bar in front of the seat for the baby to hold on to.

But so far it's working for us. This is one of the top rated umbrella stroller out there.  Sarah seems to be enjoying her new stroller.  She likes to sit and be able to look around. She hasn't slept in it yet though so don't know how that'll go.  Look forward to using this stroller for years to come.

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Restaurants in Hawaii

Despite hating the long work days and being away from my family, there are great perks when it comes to business travel.  One of them is fine dining.  Because our meals can be expensed, we have the option to go to nicer restaurants that we would not have gone to if the cost came out of our own pockets.  I'm a budget-conscious person by nature, so I  am usually fine with good food, expensive or not.  However, some of my co-workers are a little finicky, so they opted for the coolest restaurants on island.  I tagged along (because I hate dining by myself), and here are a few of the restaurants we tried throughout the week that are really worth mentioning!

(1) Blu Water Grill - my friend brought me here because it was in Hawaii-kai and away from Waikiki. Their food was very good.  I especially liked the Kulua Pork Quesadilla, although the Mango-Guava glazed baby back ribs were also very yummy.  This is a local Hawaiian hang out, a great place for classic dishes.

(2) Merchanko-Tei - This is a sushi restaurant that gives you HUGE portions. I know, Huge portions and sushi usually don't go together, but it is possible, at this place!  The nirigis all have a generous cut of fresh raw fish. I would totally go back here again, even on my own dime.

(2) Morimoto - This restaurant is inside the trendy Edition Hotel on Ala Moana.  As you know, this restaurant is owned by Chef Masaharu Morimoto, one of the Iron Chefs. We went there with a hope that the food will wow us, but I was seriously underwhelmed by the dishes. We ordered a lot of appetizers and a main entree.  Of all the things we ordered, I only enjoyed the wagyu carpaccio and the braised cod.  The others were just "ok." Great presentation, but some of them were simply not that special.

(3) Nobu Waikiki  - I saved this for last because it IS the BEST restaurant of all.  Every dish is an OMG-delicious, and I am not joking!   The taste, texture, and presentation are superb.  Everything was delicious.  Dishes don't come cheap here, but I think it's worth just to try it and experience it. Your taste buds and tummy will be on Cloud 9!

New baby in town!

On March 15th, I welcome the newest addition to our extended family. Hailey is my 3rd sister's newborn daughter.  She is beautiful and looks just like her brother, Tyler. I can't wait to meet her when I get back to SF!

Aloha from Hawai'i

I have been quiet on blogger these past 2 weeks because I'm currently on a business trip in Hawaii (Oahu).  I arrived last Wed, Mar 9 and I leave on Friday, Mar 18.  I've been to Hawaii many times before and it is always bitter sweet to come here for work.  It is nice because Hawaii is so beautiful and gorgeous; there is really nothing not to love.  But when you come here to work, the attitude changes.  Every day I wake up early, get on email, attend meetings all day long, go to dinner, come back to the hotel room and then still have to do my regular office work.  The work day becomes super long, and I have no time to enjoy the beautiful scenery around me.  

This trip was especially hard because it is my first work trip being away from Sarah. I miss her dearly, especially during the weekend when I think about what she's doing.  I have Skype on my laptop so I get to see what she is doing on live video streaming, which is the best thing ever.  Sarah can hear my voice and still smiles and laughs when I call out her name.  Seeing her on Skype brings so much joy to my day!!  Today, I saw her take a bath, drink her last milk, and fall asleep in daddy's arms.  Such sweet moments.  

One more day, and I shall be flying back home. I can't wait to pick her up from daycare and seeing her excitement!     

Lullabies

When I was on maternity and at home with Sarah everyday, I had to quickly learn the lyrics to the popular children's lullabies so I could sing to her. Just today, it dawned on me how sad and how cruel and terrible some of lyrics are!  Oh my, some of these should rated for R for violence.  Maybe you just haven't noticed, but here are some, just to name a few:

• London Bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down  
• The three blind mice got their tails cut with a carving knife (by the farmer's wife)
• None of the stuff in "Hush Little Baby" works, so papa gotta to go buy something else
• The itsy bitsy spider got washed out by the rain
• When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall, and down will come baby, cradle and all  (Rock a bye baby) - absolutely horrifying to a baby trying to sleep! 
• Oh my darling Clementine - thou art lost and gone forever...dreadful sorry, Clementine
• The poor meatball that was on top of spaghetti (all covered with cheese) got lost when someone sneezed
• It rained all night the day I left, the weather it was dry; the sun was hot, I froze to death...Oh Susanna, don't you cry for me!

Happy 9-month Birthday

Silly girl, you turned 9 months old today!!  

Sarah's Giggles

Sarah loves to laugh and she laughs all the time. But the hard part is to capture those moments on video because Sarah is extremely camera-shy.  Once she sees the camera, she freezes.  Her smile turns stoic instantly.  So I am happy that I finally got a decent video of Sarah giggling.  Enjoy this video…

And if you’re wondering what I was doing on the other end of the camera to make her laugh… I wasn’t making funny noises or had any toys with me. I was purely just shaking my head side by side.  Yep, that did it.  She’s just silly like that.