A warm evening in September

Sarah's breaking out her dance moves! 

Daycare Week 2

We are having a hard time with Sarah's daycare transition.  This week (Week 2) has been more difficult than the week before.  Everyday this week, Sarah cried at drop-off. She is very clingy and the minute she walks into the room, she cries.  Last week, at least she didn't cry. She went straight to the table for breakfast.  This week, even the sight of food doesn't appease her.  She wants to cling on to me. Seems like she is regressing, instead of progressing... To be honest, I thought Sarah would do better than this since she's been dropped off at a daycare before. She's used to not seeing us during the day.  But I guess the new environment and new faces are enough to throw her off and make her uncomfortable.

It also seems like Sarah is going through her separation anxiety phase right now.  She's also very clingy at home and at other familiar places.  Now she needs to have us nearby or in the same room.  She whines when she doesn't see one of us and then drops what she's doing to look for us.  Sarah has always been an easy-going baby. She rarely cries and fusses.  That's why we can bring her to restaurants, libraries, everywhere because she was so easy. We are definitely not used to this sudden change of personality.  But as my sister said, there are a lot of things that we won't be "used to." Kids change. Welcome to Parenthood!!

A Letter to Sarah at 15 months 2 weeks

My sweetest mao-mao:

Recently,

• you have just transitioned to a new daycare and you're having some problems adjusting to the new environment and the new caregivers.  But I know that you're a very strong baby and soon enough you will get used to the place and make new friends.  Life will be full of changes, and you will find your way to cope with these changes, your own way.
• you say so many words now... about 15-20 of them at least.  You say some words in Chinese, like nai nai (for milk) and mut-mut for socks...and some words in English, like duck-duck, apple, nana (banana).  You're going to speak Chingish! 
• you got a lot more whiney and you cry a lot more lately.  I'm wondering if it's because you're going through the separation anxiety phase or because you're transitioning daycare. You tend to always want to be near us and in the same room. You don't want to be left alone, anywhere.  I hope this only a phase.
• you are now growing your second molar on your right side.  It's about 50% out.  Including that one, you now have a total of 10 teeth!
• you eat just about everything now.  We don't really keep track of what you eat anymore.  You eat pretty decent sized portions too!  I seem to constantly underestimate the amount you can eat!  Just eat up, my little girl!
• you can self-feed yourself. You are getting pretty good at it. You can put a spoon and catch at least 85-90% of the food into your mouth, which is actually great! The only thing is that you can't scoop up the food well...and tend to make a mess that way.  But you're making very good progress.  You can self-feed a whole cup of yogurt by yourself. 
• you respond well to simple commands when we ask you to put things away or give us an object. 
• you either know all of your colors or all your shapes. You are able to put all the wooden shapes into the puzzle.  I'm truly amazed that you are able to do that...though I'm not sure if you can put the puzzle together because you recognize the shape or if you made the connection through the color.  You can do this puzzle all by yourself.  You can even say "oval" and "circle."  
•   

• you continue to surprise us everyday with the new things you can do and new words you can say.
• And you can jump. Or so you think you can jump.  Don't know where you learned it or when. One day, you saw a cartoon kangaroo on TV and you started to jump!  You also know the meaning of the word Jump, because when I ask you how to jump, you jump!!   

15-month Wellness Checkup

We brought Sarah in for her 15-month wellness check up yesterday afternoon.  Overall, it was a relatively good appointment.  She only whined for a little bit and was fine for most of the appointment session.  Sarah is developing and growing on track.  I mentioned a couple of my concerns : Sarah's feet point inwards when she walks (bow-legged) and her vomitting whenever she cries hard/coughs.  Doctor said all of these are not cause of concern and will self correct themselves as she grows older.

Sarah took 2 vaccination shots and 1 flu shot during her visit. For the remainder of the night, she was irritable and had a hard time falling asleep. Woke up today with a slight fever. :-(  

15-month stats:

Weight : 22lbs 8oz (43% tile)

Height:  31.75 inches (85% tile)

Head Circumference: 18.7 inches (89% tile)

She didn't gain as much weight as she did the last few times. She dropped from the 50's percentile to the 40's.  Not a big deal, but I wonder if it's because she's not drinking formula anymore and her food intake is not enough to supplement?  I guess it's fine... she's just going to be a tall slender baby! 

Sarah's First Day at New Daycare

Monday was Sarah's 1st day at the new daycare center.  I purposely took Friday off to bring her to the center so she can get accustomed to the new environment.  Throughout the 1.5 hours I was there with her, she was very clingy and she cried on and off.  She stayed close to me most of the time, played a little bit, and cried when I was not in sight, even though I was only a few feet away.  Given all of this, I was very nervous about her first full day there.

On Monday, we dropped Sarah off in the morning and to my amazement, she was relatively calm.  She didn't cry or whine at all.  She wasn't even clingy.  I led her to the table for breakfast. She sat down and began feeding herself the cereal and bananas.  Both SQ and I then left.  We didn't spend more than 10 minutes there.  I was happy to see her settle in.  I called the center around 10am and they said Sarah is doing fine.  She was napping at that time.  I left work early at around 3:00p to pick Sarah up.  The teacher told me that she's new to the schedule and environment so she cried twice during the day, once after waking from her nap and once after coming back from the playground.  Most kids there have already transitioned to taking only 1 nap in the afternoon. Sarah still takes 2 naps during the day.  

I hope she will adapt to her new place soon.  I know it is overwhelming for a little baby to have such a big transition...but I know she will do just fine.  

Sarah playing in the kitchen

Sarah having breakfast

9/11 Tenth Year Anniversary

Today is the tenth year anniversary of Sept 11. It is one of those events and moment in time where you would always remember where you were and what you were doing when you first heard the news broke out.

I was still living at my parents' house at that time. My sister who lived in Castro Valley called our house around 7:30 am and told us to immediately turn on the TV. The images from the TV are still so fresh in my mind. The news kept on playing and replaying the airplane flying into the 2nd tower. It looked like a scene out of the movies. I called SQ who lived in Berkeley to turn on the TV too.

The magnitude of the event didn't even register on me at that point. I was naive enough to take the bus with my sister to downtown for work. A lot of people on the bus were talking about the attack.

When I got to my building lobby, one of my office facility managers told me to go home. No work today. So I went home. All this time I didn't understand why SF was so on edge since the event happened in NY.

It was only when I got home and began to be glued to the TV did I realize what all this meant.

A truly sad day in American History. A day we will never forget. A day that has changed our lives forever.

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Blogger vs Wordpress

I've kept a journal since high school.  I've written throughout my college years and even after I came out to the real world to work.  I don't call it my diary because I don't write it every day.  I write whenever I have something to say or whenever I'm bored and have nothing to say.  Some entries simply recount what I did that day; some entries are just pure random thoughts.  I've always enjoyed writing, or in recent years typing.  However, since blogging came into existence, I do my journal entries online instead, on this very blog.

I joined Blogger and had this weblog since June 2003. A whole 8+ years! Wow!  I still remember that when this all started, Blogger only provided 1 template and we couldn't post pictures. Now, we can change the templates as often as we wish, attach pictures, videos, links, etc. I've been OK with this blog site but there are definitely things I wish it could do:

(1) let me create separate tabs.  Sometimes I think how nice it would be to have a separate tab just for my Sarah entries...since she is the subject of most of my blog now!

(2) let me password protect selected entries.  For most posts, I don't mind if everyone (yes, including strangers) read it.  But there may be some posts I want to keep some privacy.  Right now, I don't have the option to lock-in selected posts. It is either private-protect the entire blog or nothing.

I know these are 2 things that WordPress allows you to do.  So sometimes I wonder if I should switch over to WordPress... but looking back at the entries I've made here & the history, I voted against it.  I just wish that someone who works for Blogger can make these enhancements so I can continue to blog here!  

Today is our 8 year wedding anniversary! Can't believe that I've known SQ for over 11 years and we have been married for 8 years already! I must say that it sure doesn't feel that long.  Other than me travelling for work, there was not one day that SQ and I are apart. We spend almost all weekends together. His friends are my friends and vice versa. Some couples like their own space, their own separate friends, own time, but for me and SQ, we don't mind each other's company a bit...because we are best friends.

Sure, we get into arguments and fight about the silliest things, but we somehow get over it and move on. There are things we don't like or can't stand about the other, but we either overlook the flaws or find a way to change. Life's not perfect.  It never will be. All I know is that I can always count on SQ to be by my side, through good and bad times.

Cheers to a wonderful Eight years and many more to come!

Happy 15 months, Sarah!

Guess what Daddy got Sarah for her 15-month birthday? a HUMMER!!

** Nah, this was a hand-me down from Sarah's cousin.  It's a battery-operated car that comes with a foot pedal, forward and reverse gears, and a working horn! No joke! No car keys for you yet, little girl!!

New daycare

After being on the waitlist for 1.5 years, there was finally a space at Easter Seals for Sarah. This daycare center is located in downtown San Francisco and has a program from infant care through pre-K.  This means that I don't need to look for a preschool for Sarah after she turns 3.  I have always liked this place due to the proximity to work, the fact that they are in a large facility with ample space, provide meals, and have a preschool program.

The availability caught me somewhat by surprise, and although I'm happy to finally get Sarah in, I am apprehensive about the change. I am a creature of habit and routine, so I often get nervous when things go besides the norm.  We now have to figure out the drop off and pick up schedule, commute hour, commute route, etc. It will be an adjustment for us, and of course for Sarah.  She has been going to her current daycare since she was 6 months old.  She is used to the caregivers, other kids, and the environment there.  Now she will need to adjust to a new place and new faces. She will be in class of 12 with babies within her age group (12-24 months).  I hope silly girl can manage all of this. Her first day is on Mon, Sept 12.