Post Holiday

Sarah got sick on Christmas Eve's Eve - had a stuffy & running nose and cough.  The silly girl didn't cry much - just a bit more whiney.  She still smiled whenever I sang her favorite songs.  (Lately, it's "Itsy Bitsy Spider.")  She didn't have much of an appetite to eat though.  With the stuffy nose, I can see how sucking on a bottle can be uncomfortable.  We didn't go to Sacramento this year, which turned out to be a good thing.  Sarah got a chance to rest up a little bit. We celerbated Christmas at my sister's house on Dec 25th and it was definitely a fun-filled night.  Great food, caroling, a visit from Santa, performances, games, our annual "must-have" slideshow, tons of pictures and presents!!  Sarah was super tired and sleepy but still managed to stay awake to join in on the festivities. She is such a trooper!!  :-)

Sunday was a "rest day" for Sarah.  You know how when adults get sick, they stay in bed all day?  Yep, that is what silly girl did all day on Sunday.  She stayed in bed. Woke up to feed, stayed up for a little bit, and then went back to sleep.  Today Sarah seems to be a lot better.  She is more lively and smiley. I hope she'll get better soon! Can't wait to see her and hear her laugh again!

Happy Holidays!!

Happy Holidays to all!!

2010 Christmas Card

We took this picture of Sarah on our bed on a random Saturday morning.  We had our shades down, and SQ played around with the aperture of the camera to capture this shot in this lighting.  Sarah had just learned how to sit so it was a fun photo shoot.

We ordered our holiday cards through Pear Tree Greetings.  I would highly recommend this company. Not only do they provide cute quality cards, they have excellent customer service.  They have live chat help and very responsive to emails.

Back to Work

First day back at work, after a 7 month maternity/disability leave... Spent the entire morning mostly catching up with my co-workers.  While I was busy doing that, I downloaded my emails, and there were 1,400+ of them. I guess for a 7-month time frame, that isn't too bad. Many people were actually smart enough to drop me off the list; others continued to email me simply because I was part of the distribution list and they were too lazy to delete me off.  Marked all the emails as "Read" and filed them away without actually reading them. haha.  10:00am - meeting with boss to catch up on work stuff. Unpacked boxes filled with reports and brochures, which I can easily toss since they are now obsolete. Lunch at desk.  2:00pm - business review update meeting with VP who came back from HKG to spend the holidays in the US.  4:00pm - met 1 of the my direct report, and then I left at 5:00pm.  Got down to the MUNI bus station - and lucky me, the L car came quickly.  Not sure if it was running at its normal speed, but I didn't get home until 5:50pm! Picked up Sarah at exactly 6:00pm.  So that was my 1st day back.

I missed Sarah. I missed her a lot today. Don't know why I miss her more so today than I did last week.  I was so so so happy to bring her home today - again, more so than I did last week. I wonder what was the difference, other than the fact that I worked all day today?  She was smiley as always - but she got sleepy at 8:00p after her bath, so she went down for the night.  Today, I barely got to spend any time with her at all.  :-(

I am so rusty at work today. I didn't remember where the files were saved and how to run the reports. And I'm sure that when it's time to use Excel, I would have forgotten most of the functions and shortcuts.  Out of sight, out of mind.  There is a lot to catch up on - but I guess I'm not so excited to catch up... some things at work just stay the same. I wish I could still be at home with Sarah. I hope I'm just going through a phase...and that soon, I will get back to the swing of work and plow ahead...

A Letter to Sarah at 6 months 10 days

My sweet little baby Sarah,
Recently,

1.  I miss you soooo very much when you're at daycare!!  Today is your 3rd day. I think about you very second of the day. When I look at my watch or the clock, I think about what you're doing that very moment.  Are you napping, playing, or are you eating? Are you missing mommy as much as I am missing you?! I'm sure you are doing far better than me because you're are strong, resilient, and adaptable. Plus, you're super adorable so who wouldn't love you lots?!?  :-)
2.  It's almost instinctual for you to roll over from your back to your tummy every time we put you down. You are probably getting ready to crawl.
3.  You seem to have forgotten how to roll back the other way (tummy to back). When you get too tired from being on your tummy after a while, you just cry and cry and get frustrated. Most of the time, you end up falling asleep on your belly.
4.  You can sit for a short period of time especially if we have a toy in front of you (for entertainment and as support). So far you love the Discovery Ball.  It's a toy that you roll around and it plays music.
5.  Your tasting menu has expanded! You have now tasted rice cereal, oatmeal, peas, sweet potatoes, pears, and bananas. Your favorite so far is pears! Baby, you still have so many foods to try!
6.  You are becoming a thumb sucker and I'm not liking it a bit.  You already like to put your fingers into your mouth but lately, you tend to favor your thumb. It seems like you only suck on your thumb when you go to sleep. But I have seen you fall asleep without your thumb before, so you probably don't need it that much.  We can work on this!
7.  You've outgrown all your 6-month clothes, not in width, but in length. You're going to be a tall girl when you grow up.
8.  Still drooling like a faucet and still no tooth yet! It's not that I want to see you teeth - because I still love your gummy smile. I'm just trying to understand the reasoning behind all that drool. :-)
9.  You always smile and giggle whenever we blow raspberries into your tummy.  You must really love that.
10. Your newest gig lately is sucking your lips into your mouth. When you do that, you look like a Cabbage Patch doll.  Sometimes you only suck in your upper lip.  When you do that, you look like an old Granny! LOL

 

Separation Anxiety

Separation anxiety - not Sarah but me.  Sarah will be going to daycare starting next week. A wave of emotions is hitting me and hitting me hard. I never knew that I would actually enjoy staying home and being with Sarah full time.  If you ask me a few months ago, I was so sure that I would rather go to to work. I could never be a stay-at-home mom...so I thought. But these couple of months drastically changed my mentality. Now I understand why mothers leave their jobs to stay home to take care of their kids. I would do it too if I could.  It's special. Spending time with Sarah is absolutely precious and I enjoy every second of it!!   

When I go back to work, I will surely miss our daily walks and outings. We had our routine down to the tee. I could read her like a book. I know when she's hungry, when she's full, when she's sleepy, and when she needs a diaper change... So sad just thinking about how Sarah and I will be separated during the day starting next week.  I spent this week preparing her bag for daycare - diapers, wipes, extra clothes, etc. And each time I add something to the bag, I pause to think about how she will do in daycare. Will the caregivers know all her little quirks and habits?  Will they know that Sarah speaks through her eyes when she needs to poo?  Will they know that she babbles for a good 5 minutes before she falls asleep?  Will they know that she loves looking out the window?  That she loves to hear mommy sing?  *sniff* *sniff* (Uncontrollable waterworks!!)

I bet it's those darn hormones taking the best out of me right now.  I know that I will still see her in the morning and at night, and during the weekends - so I will still get to spend lots of time with her - for the rest of my life! Don't grow up too fast my sweet baby. Wait for mommy!

Solid feeding

 

6-months is such a big milestone for babies.  Not only do they learn how to roll over, they learn how to sit and begin teething, they now need to learn how to eat too.  Apparently, babies only know naturally how to suck.  So what we all think as a simple task of transporting food from the tip of the tongue to the back of the throat and then swallowing the food is actually a learned skill.  Babies need to learn how to do this.  When babies are too young, they have this tongue reflux that pushes the food out.  But when they are older, this tongue reflux disappears, they are now "ready" to eat solids.  

This whole solid feeding thingy is extremely confusing to me.  I don't know why! I actually tried to give Sarah rice cereal when she was 5-1/2 months.  The instructions on the box were 1 TBSP dry rice cereal, and 4 TBSP formula (or breastmilk).  The consistency is really really liquidy. It was barely a solid at all.  But either way, I fed that to her but didn't have much luck actually getting into her mouth.  She spit most of it back out so I thought maybe she's not ready.  I tried again a few days later, and it was still a disaster.  She also had some loose BM so I gave it a rest again. A week later, I gave her oat cereal. This time, I made the consistency a little bit thicker, so it felt a little more like porridge.  She ate the whole 2 TB I gave her!  I was super happy that this is finally going somewhere.  But then my happiness was short-lived.  She refused it the next day I gave it to her.  Sarah is all over-the-place when it comes to solid feeding.  One day she knows how to swallow and loves the cereal.  One day she forgets how to eat and pushes everything back out with her tongue. 

So far I am able to only get 1 solid feeding with Sarah a day.  I want to increase this to 2x a day, but so far haven't had much luck.  She is so good at keeping her lips tightly sealed when she doesn't want any or any more. So besides rice and oat cereal, I fed her peas.  She loved them 2 days ago (ate 2.5 TB), but rejected them this morning.  Ai-ya!! What a tough eater to please!  Please tell me that this is only a phase and that my baby will learn how to love everything I put into her mouth....    

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6-month wellness check up

I brought Sarah to the pediatrician's yesterday for her 6-month wellness check up.  The appointment was at 9am in the morning (again, it's in the middle of her nap time).  Side note: I realize that I have only a short window of 1/2 hour to catch Sarah in a non-eating and non-sleeping mode.  So I gave up.  She fell asleep in the car on the way there, but quickly woke up when I moved her car seat into the stroller.  She's a very light sleeper and doesn't transition at all.  We did the usual measurements (see below) and then the doctor came into the room.  I didn't see the same pediatrician as I did last time due to scheduling conflicts.  But this pediatrician seems to be much more experienced and better at handling Sarah. She didn't cry at bit!! I had a lot of time to ask the doctor my questions.  I was so happy and thankful! I think I might even change the primary doctor to this pediatrician instead!

Sarah took her regular 3 shots & 1 oral vaccinations.  She also took an additional one for the seasonal flu. Poor thing. She cried out loud and had tears rolling down her cheeks.  But by the time I put her back in her stroller, she already stopped crying.  She's such a trooper!! 

Growth percentiles (6 months)

Weight : 16 lb 2 oz (54% tile)

Height : 26.75" (84% tile)

Head Circumference :17.3" (88% tile)

Compared to the experience last time, I must say that today's appointment was wonderful!!  Only if every check up is like this....

Today Sarah's not eating much and don't have much of an appetite for anything.  She normally takes 6 oz of milk every 3.5 hours.  But now she's barely taking in 4 oz.  She was also very whiney and irritated yesterday...today, not so much.  She's really back to her normal self - smiling, giggling, and laughing.  Her thighs must be sore though!!  Poor poor baby! 

Oh yeah, one more thing - no teeth yet. Doctor can't feel anything coming out.  So baby, may I ask you what your drooling is all about?!  LOL

Happy 6 Month Birthday!!

A Few of my Favorite (Beauty) Things

As part of my job, I am lucky that I get to sample a lot of beauty products for free.  The down side is that sometimes I absolutely fall in love with that product...and then I have to shell out my own $$ to buy them when I run out of the sample.  Here are a few of my favorite (Beauty) things!

Clarins Gentle Foaming Cleanser

 
Why I like this:  It really cleans my face - all the make up, dirt, and oil. I feel very refreshed and squeaky clean. Best part is that my face doesn't feel dry at all.  







Chanel Precision Toner

Why I like this:  I actually don't know if toners ever really "tone" my face, but I like this one because it's alcohol-free and it smells great.









Genifique Eye Serum

  
Why I like this: It's super light.  It doesn't make your eyes heavy like some of the other eye creams do.  







Estee Lauder Hydrationist Moisture Cream

Why I like this:  I am in love with this product.  It has the perfect balance - it's heavy enough for my dry winter skin, but yet it's not too oily that my face feels gross.  I apply it 2x a day during the winter months, and my face is silky smooth and moisturized.



Christian Dior Hydra Life Gel Serum

Why I like this:  On hotter months when my face is less dry, this is the perfect moisturizer for me.  This is also good for people with oily skin.  It's light and easy to apply.  The gel texture in a serum formula is a great combination.  





Shu Uemura Eyelash Curler

 


 Why I like this: Because it really CURLS.  I have bought so many of the cheap ones from drug stores before, and it just isn't the same!  Asian lashes are short to begin with, but this curler really can make your lashes longer & curl up!!  I accept no other imitation!   





Helena Rubinstein Lash Queen Black Mascara

 
Why I like this:  The mascara is black-black. Super black. The brush is perfect and can really extend your lashes.  I wrote an entry on this blog about this product before.  Go check it out here.  I absolutely love it!!  







Lancome Bi-Facil Eye make-up remover

Why I like this:  Because it works!!!  Again, I have used other eye make-up removers before, and still can't get all the mascara out. But this one works wonder and it is the best! 

Teaway

I am a HUGE fan of boba milk tea.  I love it more than coffee.  I am lucky that I live near Irving St (in the inner Sunset) because there are so many places to get a good cup of boba.

I think that Wonderful Foods should be considered the originator of this whole boba craze (at least in this area anyways). They were the first to be on Irving St. Their tea is good; they're great in my opinion.  It's full of tea flavor and they use crushed ice, which makes the drink nice and cold. They originally charged $2.50 each cup. There would be lines every time I go there. This is really the "IT" place.  After a while, I found out that if I don't get the boba (which I'm not crazy for anyways), they would only charge me $2.00.  I loved it!  It was the best thing ever!  However, this perk went away really fast.  The next time I went, regardless of boba or not, the charge was $2.50.  I didn't like that a bit.  Then soon after, they moved across the street and began to charge $2.75 per cup. The lady in there isn't all that nice either. Call it Feng shui, call it Fate, call it bad business sense, or call it fierce competition, but this store's popularity dwindled after they moved across the street.

Quickly came about and charged only 99 cents for a cup of milk tea. You can pay an additional 50 cents if you want to add boba.  Quickly's tea was never as good. It doesn't have the rich tea taste - in fact, it's more milky. I don't love it, but it's cheap.  For less than $1, I can satisfy my milk tea craves. So I went here instead. There's always a wait at Quickly too. And that's because there is usually only one person manning both the cash register and making the tea.  When a customer comes in and orders a smoothie or a few drinks, it'll take forever to have his/her order filled.  Oh yeah, there is usually also 1 guy in the back kitchen.  I think he's most likely the owner. Even though the lines are out the door, this man will never come out to help. He will be in the back of the store, chopping chicken.  Yes, I swear that is all he does - chop chicken.  He has no business acumen whatsoever. Customers, me included, have left that place because the lines were too long and have no patience to wait. 


So when Teaway first opened on Irving, I had my doubts. They would be the THIRD store on Irving selling boba milk tea.  The other two stores are just 1/2 block from each other.  There is NO room for Teaway to survive.  But I was totally wrong.  This place blossomed and has taken market share away from the other 2 stores.  At first, I didn't like their milk tea all that much.  Like Quickly's, their milk tea has more milk flavor than tea flavor. It's also very sweet. But what's different at this store is that they allow you to scoop in your own boba. Besides boba, they have different types of jelly. They charged only $1.99 per cup and implemented a customer loyalty program: Buy 8, get 1 free. $2 for a cup of milk tea is the "sweet spot" in terms of price point. Teaway is now the #1 store boba store on Irving.  There is always a line out the door, while the other 2 stores are quiet. I am a regular patron here now!

I guess the lesson to be learned here is that there is always room for improvement and creativity, despite how much competition there is!

Xmas tree is up!

 

It has been years since we put up a Christmas tree.  When we first bought our house in 2002, we set one up.  I remember buying a fresh cut one from Home Depot. But years have gone by, and we've survived many Christmases without a tree.  The reason is we are just too lazy to go get one, decorate it, and then take it down. Plus we normally don't host any parties at our house, so there wasn't really a "need" to get one.  This year's mentality started out similar to the past.  We weren't planning to get a tree even though it would be Sarah's first Christmas.  But it turned out that Target has this tree on sale on Black Friday, for $30.  Yep, a 6' pre-lit tree for $30!  It is a great deal!  But we don't do Black Fridays.  We hate the crowds, the lines, and the madness.  Fortunately, my BIL and his friends are still into the thrills of Black Friday sales. He went and helped us buy this tree.  It is absolutely perfect!! So easy to assemble and it is just the perfect size for a little small living room.  I added extra lights on it to make it more vibrant.  I dug up my old ornaments and hung them on the tree.  Unfortunately, I couldn't find some of the other ornaments & the tree top - so that's why the tree looks kinda bare.  Oh wells. 

I am also going to find a nice Baby's 1st Christmas ornament somewhere and start a new tradition for Sarah. 

  

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Happy Thanksgiving!

Today I am especially thankful for:

• my husband, who loves me unconditionally, and lets me be me
• my sweet little baby Sarah, who continues to brighten my day, every day 
• my parents, who always take care of me and think of me 
• my family, especially my sisters, who is always there for me, no matter what
• my friends, who are always a great company for laughs and fun 
• my health ~ so glad to live like a normal person again!
• my job ~ I am very thankful that my company kept the same job/position for me even though I took 7 months off and continued to pay me all this time!

When I feel down, I shall think of all the wonderful things and people around me. I am truly very blessed!! Thank you! Thank you for giving me what I have...

Have a great Thanksgiving!!   

little visitor

I brought Sarah to SQ's workplace last Thursday for a surprise visit. His coworker shot this picture with her camera phone. I love this picture. It captured how excited SQ was when he saw his little visitor.

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A Letter to Sarah at 5 months 10 days

Dear my sweet little Sarah,

Recently,

1. You learned how to roll over! Oct 31st, Halloween - that's the first day you officially rolled over from tummy to back. Since then, your tummy time has been cut down to only a few seconds each time because you love practicing rolling over! 

2. You are also very close to rolling over the other way too!  You can already position your body correctly but don't quite know what to do with your arms yet... but you will get there, soon enough!
3. Your hand/fingers are now your best friends. You love putting them into your mouth, AT ALL TIMES. You don't like the pacifier - you never did. Mommy still thinks you're teething, but you have now been teething for 2 months...still no pearly whites to be seen yet. 

4. You drool, drool and droll.  You go through 3-4 bibs in a day and even with that, you can manage to get your shirt underneath wet too. The Post Office should hire you to lick stamps with all your excess drool. 

5.  Your baby laughs are contagious. You giggle at the simpliest things...like when I say "Peek-a-boo" in different tones. How was that funny? But I would do anything to make you laugh, even if I have to say Peek-a-boo a million times.  
6. You are beginning to eat solids. This week you are starting off with only 1 teaspoon of rice cereal mixed with formula.  You did great!! Not looking forward to your poop though... :-)

7.  You still love to bath. You take one almost every day before bedtime at 7:30pm.  You don't mind the water splashing on your face.  You don't mind when I spray your hair with the shower sprout. You don't mind how rough mommy gets with you, turning and tossing you around to clean all your little folds...you never utter a peep. You just smile & splatter the water with your legs and hands!  

 

8. You can sit by yourself for a few seconds now when you support and balance with your arms!

9. People are saying that you are looking more and more like your daddy...especially your eyes, forehead and the shape of your face. Mommy is in denial. You used to look so much like me when you were younger!  

10. Mommy is a worry-freak and constantly thinks about you ~ whether you're full, whether you have enough sleep, whether you're too hot or too cold.  My biggest wish right now is that I hope you will get better with eating and don't throw up anymore.

Sloppy mom

I'm walking through the aisle of The Children's Place. A tall beautiful woman in a sleeveless flowery blouse, skinny jeans, and 3 inch heels, holding a Louis Vuitton satchel, stands near a nesting table. She has straight long brown hair; her make-up nicely done. She was pushing an infant stroller with a baby boy sleeping inside while looking at the baby clothes. Dang, she looks fabulous.  And there I was with my crappy, thinning hair, no make up, loose jeans, cheapo crossbody bag, tennis shoes. Gross. We are both moms, yet we look night and day.  I wonder how some moms can get themselves so quickly back to their pre-pregnancy figure and their pre-pregnancy look?!  And how they find time to make themselves look so good before stepping out the door?

Before Sarah, I mentally told myself that I can not get sloppy when I become a mom.  Yes to matching jewelry, to heels, to fashionable clothes, to make-up. Well, that didn't last every long.  Comfort and convenience became the rule of the game. It has became the only rule in my book.  Yes I am a sloppy mom.  Forget all the fancy things - now I considered it a success whenever I can get Sarah and myself out the door without a sudden spit-up and the baby bag adequently stocked!       

Sarah gets a special kiss from her BFF Sophie the Giraffe today on her 5-month birthday, and she's ecstatic! Happy Day my sweet baby ~

SF Giants Win!

The San Francisco Giants won the 2010 World Series!! YAY!!  As a SF native, of course I am proud of the home team.  But don't get me wrong, I am not a baseball fan. And I don't intend to be one "all of the sudden." Majority of the time, I find baseball boring. So does my husband. We've only been to a baseball game once and went because we got free tickets and had nothing better to do that day.  We spent most of our time walking around AT&T Park checking out the stadium rather than watching the game. 

But like many others, I recently got infected by the Giants Fever. I found myself glued to the TV these past few weeks watching the Giants play in the Playoffs, the Championships, and the World Series. The Giants Fever is contagious and it spreads like wildfire. For the first time, I found the games exciting to watch. Heck, I even learned some baseball lingo here and there..."a closer" being one of them.  A closer is a pitcher who goes into the end of the game and pitches the last couple of innings (or last inning).  He is there to seal the deal, close the game. 

So in our family, I am the closer. When my husband feeds Sarah and she gets fussy and refuses to drink the last 1-2 ounces of milk, I go in and feed her. Then she almost always finishes her milk. I seal and close out the deal. 

Happy Halloween

Bag of Junk (Necessities!)

For some reason, my shoulders begin to hurt and I noticed that my bag getting heavier and heavier by the day. Today I took everything out of my Longchamp handbag and this is the amount of junk I found:

1.  My big fat wallet

2.  House key

3.  Purell disinfect handwash

4.  Pocket mirror

5.  Dentyne Ice gum

6.  Extra bib for Sarah

7.  a Pen

8.  Lip balm (blue & white tube next to pen)

9.  Floss

10. Various gift cards to Carters, Target, Old Navy, Borders, Barnes & Noble, Gymboree, etc

11. Sunglasses

12. Wash cloth for Sarah (just in case of any mishaps)

13. Hat for Sarah (in case it gets cold)

14. Aquaphor travel tube

15. Pacifier in case

16. Glasses (in Dior case)

17. Icebreakers sour candies

18. Various Coupons (in the Floppy Disc mailer) 

So you might ask, do I need all this crap??!  The answer is yes!  Believe me, the ONE day that I didn't bring one of these items is THE ONE day I needed it most.  yes, it is just that silly.  Well, maybe I can do without the sour candies, but that's about it!  This is for sure a mommy bag!! Notice I didn't even have any of my make-up stuff in here!! 

What's in your bag??

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TJ products

$4.99 a bag.  According to one of the cashiers, this is TJ's most popular item.  And I must say that I AGREE!! It is really really good.  You can bake them or fry them in a pan.  I pan-fried them and add a handful of green onions before adding the sauce.  1/2 bag (+1 bag of sauce) for 2 people for 1 meal.  They are incredibly delicious!!

$1.99 for 4 bars.  I find these refreshing, but they are not true to the fruit's original taste.  The only exception may be the strawberry one.  These come with little chunks of the fruit and are not too sweet.  I would buy them again for a hot summer day.

I think these are like $6.99/pound (don't remember).  They are marinated boneless beef ribs.  The seasoning is actually rather good - very similar to the Korean beef you eat at restaurants, but the beef was TOUGH.  I cooked it only medium rare, but on a stove top - not sure if it will be tender on a grill?

$3.49 for 8 bars.  Similar to the mango/cream ones.  You can taste the coffee, but it is not strong, maybe because the cream is 50% of the bar instead of 30% as shown on the picture

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Bumbo!

Thank you LK and SKC for this lovely Bumbo chair! It is already put into good use. Sarah can sit on here comfortably instead of the swing. This allows her to continue to balance her head & slowly grow her bald spot back! She does get antsy after 10-15 minutes, but I still think it works!

Nostagic Childhood Candies

I am absolutely grateful that I am still in touch with my elementary school friends.  Yes, elementary school friends!! We've all met as 6 or 7 years old...and over middle school, high school, college, jobs, boyfriends, husbands, and now kids, we somehow all managed to stay in touch.  We don't see each other often, but 2-3 times a year, we try to have a get-together.  This past Saturday, we went to YW's house in Castro Valley.  Our group has grown from us 5 girls, to 10 including boyfriends and husbands, and then now to 15 including kids.  The group will only get bigger in the years to come! :-)

The wonderful host, YW, gave us each a goodie bag.  Inside the bag was an assortment of childhood candies and snacks.  Oh, it was so nice to see (not to mention eat) the candies...sure brought back a lot of childhood memories!! I remember that after school, we would go to this convenient store on Stockton & buy all sorts of candies and snacks! Here are some of the candies I remember buying and eating away... (no wonder I had such bad teeth!!) Do you recognize any of these candies?

Sour Apple Chewy Gummies - I think they sold for 5 cents each

Hot Tamales - similar to Mike & Ike. I think they sold for 10 cents??

Jaw Breakers!!!

Juicy Fruit - 25 cents for a pack of 5!

Lemon Head - they sold for 10 cents a box!

Fun Dip - 15 cents each!

Nerds - I think they sold for 25 cents each?  My favorite flavor is Watermelon!

Smarties - 5 cents each

Sugar Straws (thanks TJ for this reminder!) - sold for only 1 cent each!!

Sugar Daddy - I believe these sold for 5 cents each

      Thanks YW for taking us back memory lane...

A letter to Sarah at 4 months 10 days

Dear my little baby Sarah,
Recently...

(1) You love sticking your fingers into your mouth. Sometimes 2 fingers, sometimes 3. You always leave your pinky out though. I'm sure if your mouth is big enough, you would include the little guy too.
(2) You don't babble as much as before, for some reason. But when you're sleepy, you babble for about 5 minutes, right before your little eyes close. Your grandpa says you're singing a song - I think you're more like yelling at people to shut up so you can sleep! LOL
(4) In exchange for babbling, you love to blow bubbles with your saliva during your wake hours. This is your newest trick and you find joy when people notice you performing your newest trick. What is worst than mommy seeing your bubbles is being able to hear them. That means your saliva is flying off everywhere...
(5) You haven't learned how to roll over yet, but you're getting close I think. Every time you flip over onto your tummy, you squeal with delight.
(6) You still love the ABC song - that still gets your attention somehow. "London Bridge," "If You're Happy," and "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" have been added onto your play list.
(7) Your eye brows are not fully visible yet. But when I look at you close-up, I can see the little hairs. And you have your daddy's brows. Just great. That means you will need eyebrow waxes for the rest of your life.
(8) Your daily routine is Feed & Poo at 6:30am, Sleep at 8:00. Feed at 10:00am, Sleep at 11:30. Feed at 1:30pm, Sleep at 3:00. Feed at 5:00pm. Sleep at 7:30. Feed at 10:30pm. Sleep until next morning. I love your schedule. You are a good baby.
(9) Your bald spot on the back of your hair is getting noticeably bigger, while the rest of your hair still stick up like foxtail grass - super fine and soft...and oh yea, defying gravity.
(10) You are going to be a TIGER for Halloween! This is in honor of the fact that you're born in the Year of the Tiger. But you know, you're always going to be a kitten to me... :-)

Scream-fest!

As a new mommy, everyday is a new learning experience.

I brought Sarah to her 4-month wellness checkup at Kaiser yesterday. Lesson #1: Don't schedule baby's check-up during her nap time. Appointment was at 3:00pm; Sarah fell asleep in the car at 2:30pm. She was a little irritated when we got there, but being so nosy, she kept herself awake and quiet. Nurse called us in and we did the usual measurements. Sarah was absolutely fine during this whole time. Brought her back to the room & then the doc came in. Lesson #2: Do not, I mean DO NOT let anyone look baby in the eyes for a long time when she's at the height of her Stranger Anxiety phase. This was an important lesson to learn!! Sarah went hysterical... she cried, kicked, screamed, had rows and rows of tears falling down her cheeks, turned beet red, coughed, the whole nine yards. The entire Pediatric wing heard her cry & probably thought I am the worst mommy ever...

The screamfest lasted forever. (Well, it's maybe for about 10-15 minutes, but it seemed like an eternity). For the life of me, I could not calm her down. The ABC song didn't work. The pacifier didn't work. The hugging, the swaying, the patting, you name it. Nothing worked. She was besides herself... she has NEVER cried so hard before. Doc had to leave the room so I can have a few minutes to calm her without her being present. I finally put her back into the stroller, let her cry it out while pushing the stroller back and forth. This calmed her a little bit although she would still cry out once in a while. Doctor came back in and we continued our conversation. It was so unfortunate that she wasn't able to examine Sarah thoroughly since Sarah was crying so hard during the examination! But her stats (below) are good & she's gaining weight as projected...so doctor didn't have any concerns. Sarah's vomiting seems to have improved since we switched to Enfamil. Before, she would at least vomit once a day. Now, she maybe vomits once a week, if even.

We proceeded into another room for Sarah's immunization shots. I was thinking to myself, "oh no, here we go again..." But surprisingly, she barely cried at all!! She cried when the 1st shot went in, and then by the end of the 3rd shot, she was already pretty much done crying. 30 seconds at most? I was impressed. Got her back to her stroller & into the car without hearing another peep from her. In fact, she fell asleep before I even made it out of the parking structure. Poor baby - probably too tired and sleepy from all the commotion! She's tired?! She sure tired me out!

Growth percentiles (4 months - 1 week)

Weight: 13 lb 14.5 oz (51%)
Length: 25.5 inches (87%)
Head circumference: 16.7 inches (84%)

Here is a picture of Sarah, in the elevator - tired & worn-out. She normally doesn't take the pacifier, but on this day, she did.

Portraits

As I blogged a month ago, we took Sarah to Sears for her 3-month portraits. Here are a couple of nice ones that we end up buying. She was cranky and sleepy that day = not-so-good pictures. Stupid me made sure she was well fed, but didn't think about her much-needed nap. So she didn't sleep much beforehand, which made the photo shoot somewhat difficult. The other mistake we made was that we brought her there exactly on her 3-month mark, which at that age, her smiles were mostly by chance. Her tummy pictures were also a disaster -- struggling and crying. No good pictures there

Our experience with Sears wasn't all that great either. I could tell that the "photographer" was inexperienced taking pictures with babies. She didn't have any of the props ready and even had to borrow our blanket. At first she was at least patient and took a lot of pictures of Sarah (these were the 1st pose we took). But after she found out from her co-worker that the camera in the other room wasn't working and her co-worker had to use ours, our photographer rushed the pictures. And the sloppy work showed in the poor quality of the pictures. We didn't buy any of those pictures at all. I think I would think twice before going to Sears for portraits again. It could be that I just got a bad photographer, but it could be that they are all like that. For Sarah's 6-month portraits, I think we are trying another place; just for fun.

P.S. This was the outfit I bought for Sarah's Red Egg & Ginger party. But on the day of, she threw up and she ended up wearing something totally different. With babies, sometimes things just don't happen the way you plan it to be...

Sarah is Potty-Trained!

Sarah is potty-trained! Well, kinda. No, she still can't talk and tell us when she needs to go. Good heavens, she's only 4 months old! But what she can do is give us signals that she needs to do her #2... after that, we quickly bring her to the bathroom, release her diapers, hold her legs up in a sitting position and then she just does her thing! The best part is that there is no messy clean-up to do. We just wash and dry her bottom & put on a new diaper. Simple as that. No more sniffing and no more guessing. No messy butt to clean and no diaper rash. All of this mean we have one happy and clean baby! Absolutely awesome!! So I think you might have 2 questions for me:

(1) How did we do it?
We have to attribute all the credit to our friend's mom, who took care of Sarah while I was in the hospital. She potty-trained Sarah and after weeks of the same routine, Sarah knew the drill. I'm certain that it took a lot of work, not to mention A LOT of patience. But the hard work paid off, and we, the parents, got to reap the rewards! Thank you Mrs. Ha!!

(2) What "signals" does Sarah give?
Basics on how the body works - every time we eat, our bowels move. Babies work the same way. So 10 out of 10 times, Sarah does #2 during feeding time. Sometimes her signal is as simple as a fart. Sometimes she gets fidgety and refuses to eat. This will be the time I bring her to the bathroom and let her go. Unless she is constipated, Sarah usually poops once a day in the early morning. If she is not quite done, she will poop again mid morning (never on the diaper - she actually just waits for the next feeding). When I know she's done pooping for the day, I will still take this break during her feed to change her diaper & and let her rest a little bit. It's a lot for her little stomach to take in 6 ounces all at once!

I know we are absolutely blessed to have Sarah pseudo potty-trained. I just hope that when she is ready for the real potty-training, she would be just as easy! *fingers crossed*

P.S. She still pees on her diapies...

Sarah is 4 months today!

Thank you Ticker for reminding me that my baby girl turns 4 months today! She is growing up way too fast!!

Gymboree Play & Music

Today I took Sarah to our free Gymboree Learn & Play session. I actually signed up 1.5 hours before the class because I didn't know how Sarah's schedule would be like today. I fed her at 10am and then she took a nap. By 12:30pm, she was at least awake & ready to have some fun.

There were about 6 other babies in the class, ranging from 2 months - 6 months. During the class, we sang a lot of songs. But I didn't know any of the lyrics! Should have brushed up on my lullabies. We also used a scarf to play peek-a-boo, a paintbrush for touch sensory, and bubbles for hand/eye coordination. We also did tummy time with a big floor mirror. Most babies looked at themselves in the mirror but of course nosy Sarah just looked at everyone else! We also used the big parachute. Overall, she did great although she spent most of the time staring at other people... Towards the end (45 minutes later) Sarah got really sleepy & fidgety. But it was time to go anyways! Sarah ended up falling asleep in the car on the way back home. SQ bought the Groupon for 1 month, so we will go back for at least another 4 more times!

A Lazy Cook's fall-of-the-bone Baby Back ribs

This is a super-easy Baby back rib recipe. I got it from Allrecipes.com.

2 lbs baby back ribs

1 bottle of store bought BBQ sauce

Salt and pepper

1. Cut ribs into single pieces

2. Sprinkle some salt and pepper onto the ribs

3. Cut about 4 pieces of heavy duty aluminum foil (about 15" long)

4. Put 3-4 ribs in each of the foil and smother BBQ sauce all over, fold over into small pouches

5. Marinate for 4-5 hrs or as long as you can (overnight is preferred)

6. Preheat oven to 300 degrees

7. Put the aluminum pouches into an baking pan (in case the sauces spill over).

8. Bake for 3 hours

9. Carefully remove the ribs from oven, and the ribs out of the pouches. Discard the remaining juices inside the pouches

10. Brush additional BBQ sauce on the rib and serve!

The meat will be super tender and will fall off the bone!! Absolutely delicious!! I personally like to use the Hickory Smoke BBQ sauce, but you can choose any you like. There is a lot of variety in supermarkets to select from.

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Sarah ABCs

Sarah loves to hear us sing the ABC song to her. Watch for her “bored” expression before and after the song…and all her smiles in-between! Enjoy

Return to the 80's?

I could barely contain myself when I saw this at GAP the other day. Stirrups!! This is sooo 1980's! My gosh, we used to wear this with sneakers I think, maybe with leg warmers too??...definitely not with fancy heels for sure. It's bold to suggest that the stirrups should be worn like this - no skirt or longer shirt to cover up. Truth is that one MUST have a perfect butt & small hips to wear this... which is of course NOT me! Fell into that trap years ago and learned my lesson. Sorry lovely stirrups, I'm not your buyer! By the way, GAP also has skinny jeans with ankle zippers - remember those??

According to this website, here are the top 10 1980's fashion trends. Admit it, I'm sure you own a few pieces!!

• Shoulder Pads
• Mini Skirts
  
• Leg Warmers
• Big Earrings
• Fingerless Gloves
• Parachute Pants a la MC Hammer pants
• Members Only Jackets
• Units (oh yeah!)
  
• Stirrup pants
  
• Oversized tops
  

I also remember these, especially during the middle school years: Keds shoes, Ciao denim bags, Patagonia jackets, hmm...what else? what else?

TJ products

Garlic Bread - $1.99

This is found in the freezer section. Bread is about 6" long, 1 side only, and needs to be baked in the oven 425 degrees. I find the taste more "cheesy" than "garlicky." It's OK for me, although my husband liked it a lot. The good thing about it is that it didn't give me a nasty after taste. Would maybe buy again, once in a while.

Pork Gyoza Potstickers - $2.99

I love these! There are about 24 - 28 in a pack and it's perfect for a quick meal when you can't think of anything to eat. Don't need soy sauce or any other sauce. They are perfectly seasoned already. Pan fry for 1 minute in high heat, and then add water & simmer under low heat for 5 minutes. It comes out really good every time. Would buy again.

Mango & Cream Bars - $3.49

If you like mango, you would love these. They totally taste like the real fruit! The bar is small, probably the length of your tallest finger. 8 in a box. The bars don't come with a wooden stick so it makes it necessary to eat really fast before it melts 'cuz it can get messy. But you totally can eat this in 3-4 bites because it's really good. Would totally buy this again.

Dried Cranberries - $2.99 ?? don't remember

one of my favorites. They are not too sweet nor too sour. Just right. Perfect. I eat these to snack - although you can also use these to bake. They are really addicting. I can finish 1/4 of a bag in one sitting.

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