Moments: Mommy, More!

New Addiction: Fashion Story

I know this sounds really silly, but lately, I have been addicted to this game called Fashion Story.  It's one of those free online apps you download for your phone or tablet (I so happen to have it downloaded on both :-))

Basically, you own your own fashion boutique. You are given the essentials such as a couple of clothes rack, dressing rooms, tables, and mirrors to start.  You are also given some coins to purchase some clothes and accessories to start selling.  The items each have different prices and time it takes to arrive, which ranges from 1 minute to 1 day.  The longer the item takes to arrive and be ready for sale, the more units you have and the longer it will take to sell down. When the units are sold out, you will need new items to replace the empty rack/table. The objective of the game is to be in-stock and keep the customers happy.  As you collect more coins from sales, you can expand and upgrade your boutique, buy more tables and racks, etc.  It's really addicting because I constantly want to check if my tables are empty and what I need to buy more in the pipeline because it takes time.  My husband jokes that this is exactly what I do in real life anyways!! hahaha

Ok, now you know my current silly addiction - please don't judge me. :-) 

Busy Weekend

We are usually very low key during the weekends. We often don't leave the house until after Sarah's morning nap, dine out for lunch, do some shopping, and then head home in time for Sarah's afternoon nap.  But this weekend, we had a couple of special events, which made for a rather unusual busy weekend. 

On Saturday, we went to my friend, YW's daughter, EW's Red Egg and Ginger party in Emeryville. We had a great time, eating and catching up with kids' talk at our table.  After Sarah had her meal, she was eager to release some of her energy.  And after she had the yellow balloon in her hands, she went on a little sugar high. She walked around and around - falling down and then getting up.  She was having a lot of fun with friend CF.      

Sarah and her Yellow Balloon

Because it was time for her afternoon, we left around 2pm and Sarah quickly fell asleep in the car.  She was tired.  Since we don't go to the East Bay often, we decided to stick around the area for a little bit.  We drove to Berkeley, Telegraph Ave/College Ave area.  SQ went to school in Berkeley so he did a little reminiscencing of his college years there (which is a long time ago!)  Later we drove up to Tilden Park. I've heard about the Steam Train there, but have never been. So we decided that it would be fun to go there since the weather was beautiful.  

By the time we got there, the train was about to arrive for the next ride so we quickly woke Sarah up (she had napped about 1hr by that time already) and hopped onto the train.  It was such a beautiful ride! The weather was perfect as the train went through the forest park.  Couldn't have asked for a more gorgeous day to be on the train.  Here is a picture of us as we came out of the tunnel. Sarah's expression on the picture is simply priceless. 

Daddy and Sarah pose in front of the Steam Train at Tilden Park

On Sunday (Father's Day), our family had a party at Rinconada Park in Palo Alto. We had a Hawaiian-themed party.  The Hawaiian dress that Sarah got as a gift from my sister was still too big for her, so she had to wear another dress.  She was walking on the grass but once she fell down, she didn't like using her hands to get up (the grass was too prickly).  

This park has an outdoor swimming pool, and since the temperature was in the high 80's on Sunday, it was a perfect day to introduce Sarah to the pool. She got suited up and ready to go in the water with Daddy.

Unfortunately, even though Sarah loves taking baths**, she was not happy to be in the water.  She whined and whined ~ she just didn't like being there!! So after a few minutes, we took her out.  We left the park around 5pm and Sarah finally took her afternoon nap.  Because it was so late in the day already, I woke her up after 1/2 hour so she can still sleep at night.  

** Don't know what happened... but maybe Sarah got traumatized by the pool, she is not liking her baths these few days. Every time we put her into the tub, she wants to get out.  Oh no, what happened to my bath-loving, water-splashing baby Sarah??  Hope this is only a phase!! 

Happy "Da-da" day!

A Letter to Sarah at 1 yr 10 days

Hi Mao Mao!!
Boy, you've had so many new developments this past month! You're ONE and you're a big girl now!

1. You now have 6 teeth! The 2 upper ones grew undetected for a while. Whenever you smile, only your 2 lower ones would show, so I didn't even know you had upper ones already... but now they are clearly visible out of the gums.  You also just grew out 2 additional lower teeth!  they are about 30% out right now.  With more teeth, you can eat more things!
2. You love to play with the nesting cardboard boxes.  They are hand me downs, but you love them regardless.  You absolutely LOVE IT when I stack them up in a tower and you in turn knock the blocks down!  No matter where you are in the room, the minute you see the blocks towered up, you come to destroy them.  You laugh hysterically afterwards!  
3. You are now walking steadily! You know how to get up from your knees to your feet without support. You walk everywhere now...even though you continue to do balance checks and periodically fall down on your butt! 
4. You love to dance! Whenever you hear music, you bounce your legs up and down (if you're standing) or you sway right and left (if you're sitting). I love it when you do that!
5. You are constantly curious of everything around you.  You love to touch everything and examine the object with intensity. 
6. You understand the word, "no."  When you're about to touch something I don't want you to touch, I say "no." Although I can see how much you want to touch it, you understand my direction and walk away.
7. I want to start to wean you off the bottle, so I've been practicing with you during dinner time with regular milk.  I haven't been able to find a good straw cup for you yet, so I just use a small milk bottle and a regular straw. You are able to suck the milk out of the straw just fine (you've learned this a while ago). So far, you're only have the patience to drink about 1-1.5oz of milk from a straw.  With practice, you will soon be able to drink a lot more.
8. Not sure why, but lately, you've been throwing up at night around bedtime.  We can't figure out why.  We've tried giving you your bedtime formula earlier, giving you food instead and foregoing the formula altogether - but nothing seems to work much.  The doctor doesn't seem concern since you're gaining weight, which means you must be getting enough nutrients.  We'll continue to try other things. 
9. Your favorite word is 'doh-doh.' Every time you see something interesting, you point to it and says, 'doh-doh.'
10. We always carried you up and down the stairs to and from the garage but never attempted to let you crawl by yourself.  So it came as a surprise that you were able to crawl up the stairs by yourself without practice.  I guess you learned it at daycare??  Don't know.  Right now, we're trying to teach you how to get down from the sofa / bed using your feet first.  You haven't quite mastered it yet, so more practice, my dear!

 I am so proud of you! You are developing so fast and learning things everyday! You continue to amaze us with all your new "tricks!' 
 

Sarah 12month checkup

I brought Sarah for her annual check up this afternoon.  The minute I drove into the parking structure, Sarah began to cry, as if she was afraid of something. I wasn't sure if she was just afraid of the dark winding parking structure or did she have a previous memory of that place, knowing that it led to the doctor's office? Can't be the latter, right?  She's too young to have that kind of association, especially it was 3 months ago since I last brought her to the doctor's!  Sarah continued to cry more in the elevator.  She seemed to be very scared of the confined space especially when the doors closed.  Even when I took her out of the stroller & carried her, she cried hysterically.  She finally calmed down when we got to the waiting room. So when it was time for her measurements and for the doctor's visit, she was fine.  

weight 21 lbs 9.5 oz (57%)
height 30.25 inches (82%)
head circumference 18.7 inches (96%)

Overall, Sarah is doing just fine. She is right along the growth curve, maintaining her weight, height and head circumference for her age.  She is also developing on path.  After the doctor's visit, it was time for Sarah to get her vaccinations.  We waited a while until the nurse called us in so Sarah spent her time walking around the big waiting room.  Then the 3 shots.  She cried and cried and this time, she didn't stop for a long time.  Previously, she stopped crying after the shots came out.  This time, she cried longer than normal... then of course, we had to go into the elevator to get down -- so more crying.  And of course to make matters worse, Sarah had to get her blood drawn to test for her blood count and lead levels.  I had the option of taking the blood test today or at 15 months.  I thought mind as well get it all done.


At the lab, I had to hold Sarah down and basically pin her legs inside my thighs and hold her really tight.  Of course, she resisted. Of course, she was besides herself.  Tears rolled down her cheeks like waterfalls - her face turned beet red.  The nurse had to solicit another nurse to hold her down because she had to prick a needle into Sarah's vein for the blood draw.  And boy, silly girl was STRONG!  Thankfully, the nurse was successful finding her vein the first time around and after a few minutes, it was all done. After a distraction by her blocks, she finally stopped crying. She was so tired from all the commotion that she zonked out in the car on the way back home.

Sarah examining the bandage on her arm from her blood test

June 13

2 things of significance : June 13 was Sarah's original due date but she arrived 8 days early.  June 13 was also the day I checked back into the hospital with a 103 fever and diarrhea. I went into the ER thinking that they will give me some anti-diarrhea medicine and some Tylenol for my fever and I would go back home in a few hours, but I was wrong. I ended up staying in the hospital for the next 24 days.  The doctors thought I had C-difficil, which is a type of infection when the antibiotics kill not only the bad bacteria but the good ones too.  after a couple days of stool samples, C-dif wasn't the problem. the problem was a whole bunch of abscesses have grown in my abdomen due to an infection during my c-section. Although I am well now, I think I will always remember June 13, the morning of, the route we took to the hospital, the time spent in the ER that day....

Sarah goes to the Potty!

Nooooo, I am not a tiger mom forcing my just-turned one year old to potty training already!  As you may remember, say for the past 300 days or so, we bring Sarah to the bathroom every morning when we change her diaper.  We hold up her legs into a sitting position so she can go poop (she poops consistently 95% of the time).  This extra step means less messy clean up for us and it is another way to prevent diaper rash.  As she grew, it was more and more difficult for us to carry her (she got heavy), so we wanted her to sit on a potty.  We started off with a kiddie potty that SQ bought in Chinatown. But the design (and probably the craftsmanship) of the potty was heavily flawed because every time Sarah sat down in the front, the back of the potty would flip up.  So it didn't work.

My sister gave us this kiddie seat since my nephew has since outgrew it. Most kids don't like the toilet seat because they are "afraid of falling into the hole."  But we gave it try.  Luckily for us, Sarah didn't have this fear, or maybe because she doesn't know better at this point?  The first couple of times we put her on the seat, she whined and wanted to get off.  After the 3rd time, she was OK with it.  Then for the past couple of days, she even pee'ed and poop'ed while sitting on it!!  I was truly amazed and couldn't believe it!  Don't get me wrong, Sarah's still NOT potty trained - meaning she doesn't come tell us when she needs to go.  She still needs a diaper to be on her at all times.  We just let her sit on the seat in the morning to go poop.  Hopefully, this will help her get used to the seat so when it's time for real potty training, she won't be afraid of the toilet!

Happy FIRST birthday, Sarah!!

 

We celebrated Sarah's 1st birthday at Canton Dim Sum Seafood Restaurant in the City.  We had about 80 guests and we had a dim sum lunch. We had a lot of fun ~ the venue was perfect.  We had the space private to ourselves so we could mingle yet there were ample space for the kids to run around.  Everyone seemed relaxed and enjoyed themselves. Sarah blew out her candle on a mango mousse cake from Schuberts.  She was curious about the frosting on the cake, but when we gave her a bite of the mango mousse, she spit it right back out! 

Happy Birthday, my silly mao mao!  

Feeling Happy Blue

Tomorrow is my baby Sarah's 1st birthday.  I have many thoughts in my mind today and honestly, feeling a little blue. I guess I can't come to terms that a year has so quickly gone by...! Still remember a year ago, I was laboring at home - in pain - but somehow managed to withstand all the contractions to get to 10cm dilation without any meds. A blink of the eye and it's a year later with Sarah in our lives.  A rough start for me as a mommy of a newborn, but alas, I was able to spend quality time with Sarah before I went back to work.  It was the best time ever and I still miss those days the most.  Although we took tons of pictures and recorded a lot of videos of Sarah during this past year, I always feel like it's not enough and we should have taken more...she has grown so much! Is it silly of me to sometimes wish that Sarah could stay little just a tad longer? :-)

I know that I like to make myself sad by always reminiscing about the happy times in the past. But this time around, I understand that I also have so many more happy times in the future! I can't wait for Sarah to walk (steadily) so I can bring her to the beach, the zoo, Crissy Fields so she can run in the wind.  I can't wait for Sarah to learn how to talk so I can hear her say the darnest things.  I can't wait to see her grow up (slowly, I hope)...

Shared Learning Experience Part II

I'm attending Part III to my leadership workshop.  In the class, I learned that people make decisions not only based on facts, gut feeling, emotions, etc but they draw from their own personal life experiences. In this exercise, we were asked to write down important life changing moments that happened to us, what we learned from them and how it changed us.   I wrote down 3 pivotal events that happened to me so far:

1.  When: Junior Year in College. What Happened: I was the only "A" in a Poli-Sci class of 50.  I felt so proud that as an ESL speaker, from an immigrant family, with parents with no formal educational background, I was able to beat all the Caucasians out there.  Key Learning: I felt empowered and a sense of accomplishment.  I also built self-confidence and told myself that I am in NO way disadvantaged.  I can just be as good as everyone else.

2.  When: when I turned 30. What Happened:  I was married, had a house, was a Manager at work...everything in order, but I asked myself, "what was I most unhappy with in my life at that time?"  It was my teeth.  I decided to get braces and have a jaw surgery. Key Learning:  I actioned on something that bothered me, instead of just being unhappy and complaining about it.  It took me 2.5 yrs for the whole process...which was brutal at times, but the results were worth it. 

3.  When: Summer 2010. What Happened: I got really sick after delivering a baby.  Key Learning:  I am stronger than I think I was.