Days of our Laives

Some pictures...finally!  Sorry I haven't been posting pictures.  It's been a busy time for the little Lai family.

A couple of nights ago, Trevor and I were reflecting on the past 10 months and talking about the ups and downs of being a mom/dad.  I'm going to blog it so that when times are tough, we'll remember the pros. CONS:  - disgusting poo diapers  - getting peed on, on a regular basis  - trying to keep a wiggly baby still (very tiresome during diaper changes, dressing, and bath time)  - crying in the night (teething, bad dreams)  - worry over doing the right thing (see feeding)  - less time to do things we want to do (hobbies, friends)  - losing what you thought was your identity  - boredom, repetition every day PROS:  - watching Kira grow  - seeing how Kira learns  - playing with Kira  - Kira's laughter  - bringing more joy to family members  - living in the now Trevor and I always get such a thrill from seeing Kira grow.  Every now and then we think, she's heavier!  Or we look at how long her hair has grown, or we notice how many teeth are starting to come in!  She's big...

I think feeding is the most difficult thing to accomplish successfully with Kira, and perhaps with any baby.  What do you feed her?  Is it good for her?  When do you feed her?  How much?  Is she still hungry?  Is she thirsty?  Is the food too cold?  Is it too hot?  What about texture?  Does she want something she can chew on?  Nope, she just spit it out.  I guess she doesn't like that... When we first started Kira on baby food, she hated it!!  It took 4 weeks of force feeding for her to accept cereal.  And, many advised to start feeding her vegetables before fruit so that she would be more accepting of the less sweet veggies, but in the end, we gave her fruit before she was totally accepting of veggies, just so she would eat!  Eventually, from about 7 months of age until about now, she ate baby food very nicely.  I'm actually very lucky that she eats so well.  Regardless, it's still tricky. These past couple weeks she has been refusing baby food, and I'm not exactly sur...

It's so difficult to hold back comparing other babies to Kira.  For inexplicable reasons, I expect all babies at the same age to have the same developmental milestones, despite many sources citing all babies grow and mature differently.  Maybe I will get over it in time, but here is what I'm stressing about at the moment: 1. Crawling.  Friday and Saturday I took Kira to an indoor playground at the Atrium Mall where lots of other babies and toddlers were playing on colorful structures.  We were there because I was looking for activities while Trevor was out of town for the weekend.  (Let me tell you, it's not fun being a parent without a partner!  Trev, we missed you.)   HERE are some pictures.  There we saw another baby girl with her grandmother, and we found out that the baby was about to turn 10 months old in a few days.  Kira turned 10 months old three days ago, so they are very close in age.  The baby girl was able to crawl much faster than Kira, and with greater asser...

Kira does not have many baby friends; and the few who are considered friends, we don't see consistently.  I'm starting to wonder if I should join a baby group so she can see the same babies on a regular basis.  I just need to find one that is convenient for me in terms of time, location, and vibe.  I'm not entirely enthusiastic about joining a baby group because it would just add more to my plate, and although this may sound antisocial, I don't really feel like making more friends right now.  I barely have enough time to keep up my existing friendships!!  But the thing that keeps reminding me to think about it is Kira's love of other babies.  She LOVES other babies.  She seeks them out wherever we go, and when she's found one, she watches with undivided attention or squeals with excitement! Early last week, a former co-worker of mine came over for lunch and her daughter played with Kira.  I think both babies had a fabulous time.  Here are the pictures to prove i...

Now that daylight savings has kicked in, I drive home from work in complete darkness. While driving during the night I always try to recognize cars given their size, shape, and lights.There are a few types of car models that have unique elements that make them stand out from the rest of the crowd. My favorites include Bentley, BMW, Audi, and Toyota/Lexus.Below are some images and descriptions of the eye catchers: 92-98 Toyota Supra These tail lights were way ahead of their time and this car was probably the first car I started drooling over as I started college. These tail lights are arranged horizontally and each section had different light colors. Its cues are still seen in derivatives of the Supra found in the Lexus lineup like the Lexus IS300. Lexus IS300 In some ways this car is an evolution of the Toyota Supra. Lexus and Toyota are really the same company. Lexus cars are luxury branded Toyota's that share the same design principles and in many cases parts. The Lexus IS300 is ...

I found a cool list of tried and true baby toys.  There are a lot of teething toys, obviously because when it comes to putting something in baby's mouth, it's hard to be safe enough!  But the list also has learning toys, like stacking by color, and cars/planes/trucks.  Unfortunately I didn't see any musical instruments.  Oh well.

I hope I remember this correctly because the doctor was talking really fast: Weight: 17 lbs 2 oz (19th percentile) Height: 27.25 in (20-something percentile...27th?) Head: 44 cm (?) (49th percentile) Yay, Kira's head is more on the normal side  =)

Once Kira was about 4 months old, we switched from size 3 diapers to size 4 diapers, and she's been using size 4s ever since.  I remember I went to visit a friend of mine whose daughter was 10 months old at the time.  She was shocked to hear that Kira was using the same size diaper as her 10-month old daughter!  Truth be told, when Kira was 4 months old, the size 4 diapers were definitely on the big side, but they fit A LOT better than the size 3 diapers; furthermore, the size 3 diapers were leaking!  Now the size 4 diapers fit just right.  Keep in mind, the box of the size 4 diapers say they are appropriate for babies weighing 22-37 lbs.  Kira is about 15 lbs. Trevor and I are thinking it's time to switch to the size 5 diapers because she's leaking again.  We've had 3 major poo catastrophes in the past 5 days, and if you count pee catastrophes, then there have been 4 incidents in the past 5 days...that's alot!

Kira is scratching the finish off of her crib with her teeth!

Kira is having sleeping issues.  First of all, as mentioned previously, she had a night terror , and that was pretty disturbing.  Besides that, Kira has learned how to stand up in her crib.  It's like a game to her; the second I put her down, she rolls over, gets up on all fours, shimmies her way to the edge of the crib, grabs onto the bars, and heaves herself up into a standing position.  Yesterday at naptime, I put her down 5 times, and each time she ended up in a standing position.  The major problem here is that she can't possibly fall asleep if she is in a standing position, and furthermore, she doesn't know how to go back into a lying position once she is standing.  That means I can't exactly just leave her standing.  So now I'm forced to hold her and pace back and forth until she is sleepy enough to not want to bother getting up.  After trying to put her down 5 times, I paced for 20 minutes before Kira fell asleep.  At bedtime, I put her down 3 times before I...

Kira just woke up screaming.  I went into her room to check on her and she was trembling (and crying).  Both arms were outstretched and shaking!  Poor thing!  I immediately picked her up and did my best to soothe her, but she continued crying.  I was a little bit alarmed, so I took her into my bedroom where Trevor was just about to fall asleep.  I said to him, Kira is shaking!  And he just drifted off to sleep...what a big help he was!  After a minute, Kira stopped crying, picked up her head, and started looking around.  Eventually, she went back to sleep. I was curious to know whether she had a bad dream; I found these articles: Dr. Greene: The Truth about Dreams, Nightmares and Night Terrors Babycenter Expert Q&A Babycenter Article: Night Terrors The difference between a nightmare and a night terror is that the former happens during REM sleep while the latter happens during "light non-REM" sleep (a stage of sleep following "deep non-REM sleep", which occurs ab...

Kira is 9 months old today and here are some changes that have taken place (as of today).  - Lowered crib mattress.  Trevor shifted it to the lowest setting after she almost climbed out.  It's a scary thought, but if she did climb out, she would have fallen, possibly breaking her neck.  **shiver**  - Big girl carseat.  Kira still fits in her infant car seat , but today we were forced to use the convertible car seat because Trevor drove away with the infant car seat base in his car.  Surprisingly, Kira fit very nicely in the big girl car seat.  I think we'll just keep it in my car and use it from now on.  - Medium flow bottle nipples (an upgrade from the slow flow ones she's been using since birth)  - New foods to try: yogurt, pasta, mashed fruits and veggies rather than pureed

Forgot to mention that Kira can now drink from a straw!!  I'll try and catch it on video.

Last week we had some out of town visitors over for lunch: my friend, Kim, who I've known since Loveboat 2000 , her sister, brother-in-law, and her new baby niece!  Kim's sister is such a great mom; so attentive and it shows in her baby, who is so happy and well-adjusted.  The baby is only about 4 months old, and she's starting to play with toys!  I remember those days with Kira!  I had no clue what toys were good for Kira.  Now, Kira definitely has certain preferences when it comes to toys.  I'm not sure if these toys are necessarily "good" for her, but they are her favorites anyway. 1. Lamaze Chime Garden.  Kira likes this toy because it appeals to all of her senses.  It is very colorful, lights up, plays songs, and "chimes" when she taps the flowers.  The flowers also have different types of fabric for the petals, making it fun to touch.  She also likes to put the flowers in her mouth, so it appeals to her sense of taste, too!  haha.  2. Neptune ...

In a few days, Kira will be 9 months old; she's grown and developed so much!  Here is a list of Kira abilities that I *love*!  In no particular order: 1. Eating Cheerios.  A few weeks ago, my mom put some Cheerios on Kira's highchair tray for the first time.  She could see them, finger them, and once in a while, she could pick one up.  But on her first try, she wasn't able to get them into her mouth.  After three days of coaching, she got one into her mouth on her own!  Now she can pick up Cheerios with her thumb and index finger, bring it to her mouth, and let go so her lips can take over.  It's so cute!  Sometimes the Cheerios end up in her tight, little fist.  In those situations, she opens up her hand and uses her palm to push it into her mouth.  Furthermore, she eats the Cheerios at her own pace, which is so cute.  Sometimes she'll stick two in her mouth.  Other times she'll suck on the one Cheerio, moving it around in her mouth until it dissolves away befo...

I was waiting for Trevor to post about the apple picking pictures, but I guess he forgot. Here they are! If Trevor has time, he may post process some more pictures we took that day. We took so many. Click on the picture to see more.

Hi Everyone.  Kira has been a very busy baby lately.  She is working hard on her crawling.  She has no problem getting from point A to point B as demonstrated previously , and now, she can go a few inches with her belly off the ground!  She gets up on her hands and knees and rocks back and forth as if willing herself to move forward.  Sometimes she actually does move forward, albeit just a short distance! Last week Trevor, Kira, and I went to a dinner party.  We had such a great time, especially because most of the guests had young babies just like Kira.  Trevor and I took turns eating dinner, watching Kira, and chatting, just like the other guests!  It was great to have a social evening with babies integrated.  Nobody  minded that some sentences were not finished because attention was diverted to a fussy baby.  Ever since that night, Kira has been talking so much more than before!  She projects her voice, enunciates her "words" clearly, and varies the type of words.  For exa...

Here are a few pictures to start off the month.   Kira in October . And just in case you missed it: Kira in September .

Kira has always been very vocal , and now she makes distinct "words".  Such as: fwa, whua, wawawa, bwua, shhea, mummum, mama, bababa, etc.  But she never really connects these sounds to any specific object, hence we're still waiting for her to say her "first word". I think her first word is going to be "whoa whoa", which means doggie in Chinese.  Sometimes she'll look at Logan and say "wawawa", or "whua whua".  Like in this video:

A few of Kira's videos have Chinese dialogue; I'm going to try and find some time to subtitle as many of them as I can for readers' benefit, but also for Trevor's benefit.  He doesn't speak the dialect of Chinese that I'm speaking with Kira, namely Toisanese .  It's very similar to Cantonese, the dialect with which Trevor is more familiar, but some Cantonese-speaking people find it very difficult to understand.  I grew up speaking both Toisanese and Cantonese, and in my mind, there is a consistent transfer of syllables and tones between the two; thus, I'm one who finds the two dialects very similar. I chose to speak Toisanese with Kira because I know more vocabulary in Toisanese than in Cantonese.  Both my parents are of Toisanese decent, and before our grandparents passed away, my sisters and I spoke Toisanese exclusively with them.  My mom grew up in Hong Kong and she inadvertently exposed us to some Cantonese.  Living in Boston during the 80s also exp...

This is a bit remarkable.  Last night, I gave Kira her last bottle at 10.  By the time we burped, changed, and tucked in, it was around 11.  It's 10:10 am now and she hasn't woke up even once yet!  I've checked in on her 3 times since I woke up at 9.   She's very sleepy!

We've had house guests staying with us for a few days.  I hate having people sleep on the sofa bed in the living room because it is uncomfortable and because the sun shines in so brightly in the room.  I would much rather have Kira sleep in our room and make available the guest room for our guests, and that's what we did this week.  First, we would have Kira fall asleep in our bed.  After a little tossing and turning, she's fast asleep.  Then we would move her to the pack n play.  Eventually she would wake up at around 6 or 7, at which time she would get her bottle.  After the bottle, she ends up back in the bed for another couple hours until we wake up for good at around 9.  Here is a picture of Kira enjoying our bed  =)  Click on the picture for other pictures of Kira in September .

This is an old video from the beginning of September.  This was the first time Kira had corn on the cob and it started off a ground-breaking solid-eating day .

Kira is showing signs of crawling.  This video is from last week.  Everyday she gets better and better.

The rain came pouring down yesterday. Kira, Logan and I just kept staring outside the window. Eventually, Kira became restless and so I decided we would go to the mall. (We, meaning Kira and me, not Logan!...poor little guy.) I always park in the Nordstrom lot because it keeps us out of inclement weather and, we get to walk through Nordstrom! I found 4 cute things for Kira, and spent $50. That's not bad, right? The bottom two are bubble-hem dresses  =)

Before Kira turned about 5 months old, she had the most awe-inspiring skin.  It was soft, smooth, porcelain, and completely blemish-free all over her body.  Then at around 5-months of age, she developed rashes on both her arms and around her jawline.  At her 6-month doctor's appointment , her pediatrician instructed me to apply hydrocortisone cream for a week, and that successfully got rid of the redness.  However, Kira's skin was still dry and flakey. I found a cream that makes her skin nice and soft again.  I can still feel some dry skin around her arms, but it has improved by 60%.  And her face is perfect again!  I bought it at CO Bigelow in Copley; it's called Mustela Cold Cream Nutriprotector .  I *love* this cream.  Like I said, it works great.  Secondly, it smells so nice; like jasmine or honeysuckle - which only makes me want to put it on Kira even more.

Check out the pictures Trevor took today.  I love them and just had to share: Click on the picture to see more.

Our success was very short-lived. Yesterday was one of the worst days for me; nothing was turning out right and I felt like a failure as a mom. I had previously decided to feed Kira formula every four hours and to feed her solid foods two hours after formula at appropriate times of the day (i.e., breakfast, lunch, dinner). The day started out that way. She had a bottle at 8:30 and I attempted to feed her oatmeal cereal and pureed peaches at 10:30. She was more stubborn than usual and refused to take even ONE bite! I tried again at 11:30, but again she refused to even try it. By the time 12:30 rolled around, I was at my in-laws' house. If I followed the schedule, I should have fed her formula, but I was so hung up on giving her solid food that I fed her 1 TBS each oatmeal cereal and applesauce. She ate all of it. Okay, small victory. But I was still distraught because she didn't have her formula. Here's how the rest of the day went: 8:30 - 4 oz formula 10:30 - ...

I finally found some time to get the pictures up!

The end of August was very busy for our little family.  We had visitors, day trips, projects, and parties.  Here is a quick update on Kira.  - Two top front teeth are coming in  - Sitting up without spotting  - First hints of crawling  - 98% weaned  - Waving (hello and goodbye)  - 85% sleep trained  - New wardrobe (cuz she's getting too big) Hmm... I think that's it for now.  If I remember anything else, I'll update the list.  Let me know if you want to hear any details about the bullet points!  Sorry for the lame blog entry.  I figured I would let you decide what you want me to write about, rather than having me write up EVERYTHING.

I had an epiphany tonight.  I need to give credit where credit is due; it happened with the help of my mom.  For WEEKS I've been struggling to feed Kira.  Although eating solids has improved overall, some feedings are good and some are bad.  When Kira is doing her very best to resist, she clamps her gums tight and purses her lips together.  I didn't know babies could do that.  Over the past two weeks, she has even started to refuse her formula.  She uses the same techniques as when she refuses solid foods, plus she arches her back (I really hate that!). Today was completely and utterly different.  I fed her 1 tablespoon each (EACH!) of oatmeal cereal and pureed sweet peas.  She ate all of it.  The most incredible part was she opened her mouth nice and wide for each and every bite!  Why the change?  Early on, my mom has told me to wait until Kira is more hungry than what she is usually so that she will be more than willing to eat.  But I just couldn't get myself to do it ou...

The seriousness of baby-proofing the house occurred to me the other day when I left Kira in the middle of the living room on her play mat for ONE MINUTE.  She rolls around more aggressively than she did just a few weeks ago.  By the time I came back to the living room (again, only after 1 min), she was under the TV playing with a wire.  Here are some things we are going to have to do in order to accomplish successful baby-proofing:  - tie back all wires  - cover all electrical outlets  - pad all sharp corners  - install gates barring off stairs and railings  - rearrange furniture providing a safer play area  - vacuum more regularly to keep floors free of small debris Until we find the time to complete all the tasks listed, Kira is making good use of her new play mat.  It was very expensive ($135 including shipping).  Click the picture to see it from more angles. Our main reasons for splurging were:  - provides a soft surface (nice for Trev's mom's hard wood floors)  - easy to t...

Hi There.  New pictures of Kira. Click on the picture for more.

We are starting on the 4th week of eating solids.  I've been forcing rice and oatmeal cereal into Kira's little mouth for 3 full weeks.  Some days I just wanted to quit because Kira put up such a big struggle.  She arches her back (Kira's signature maneuver), whimpers (with her weepy eyes), swats the spoon (getting slimy food everywhere), clenches her gums and lips together (preventing the spoon from going in her mouth), and of course, spits food out of her mouth.  Usually, I'll stop when she thrusts her tongue out.  This may happen after the 20th mouthful, or it may happen after the 3rd.  A friend of mine told me that her son started solids at 4 months.  He struggled not to eat as well, and she stopped for two weeks.  Upon the second trial with solid foods, her son ate it up like nothing happened!  Thus, based on her experience, I was tempted to stop. Today was completely different.  Kira opened her mouth!  I got the spoon in her mouth easily!  Then, she closed her lip...

We know an olympian!  One of Trevor's childhood, and current BFF, Bob Malaythong, is competing in the badminton men's doubles event.  Bob's partner is Howard Bach.  We're so incredibly proud of him!  He calls himself uncle Bob for Kira.  She's so lucky to have an olympian uncle  =)   Bob has a blog too: BOB's BLOG After a nice day at Rockport, and a big dinner at Minado, Kira and Logan are sleeping and Trevor and I are enjoying the opening ceremonies.  There's a nice cool breeze coming through the windows.  =) =) =)

What a long day.  Trevor took the rest of this week off to celebrate our anniversary, to rest from his stressful job, and to finish some home projects.  Today we painted our kitchen and our half bathroom.  We've been meaning to do it for ages.  Today was a good day to do it because Richard is home from school and my mom has a day off; she watched Kira while the three of us (Richard, Trevor and I) painted.  We started at 11 am and finished at 6 pm.  It was hard work, but I'm so glad we did it! The house was a wreck even after we finished so we went out for dinner.  When we got home the first thing we did was to let Logan out of his crate; he had an especially tiresome day because he was cooped up the majority of the day.  Unfortunately, the minute he bounded down the stairs he stepped into a pan of paint!  Don't ask me why it was sitting there on the floor.  We all yelped and this only made Logan want to run!  After about 20 puppy steps, we caught him!  There were puppy paw ...

Check it out  =)

We went to Rockport on Wednesday.  It was an extremely beautiful day!  Kira enjoyed the weather and seeing new things.  She was so interested in all the things around her, my Mom had a difficult time getting her to concentrate on her bottle!  We had such a great time that I think we will go again next week with Trevor and Logan!

There are so many people who love Kira and who can't see her everyday.  I'm going to be a lot better about sharing pictures with you guys.  Everytime I download pictures from my camera (about every 1-2 weeks), I will post pictures of Kira; you can see them HERE .  Stay tuned for "Kira in August"  I may update to the same collection more than once per month, so check back whenever you have time. And, whenever you see a picture like this: ...just click on it, and it will take you to a bunch of other pictures.  I hope this helps to keep those far away more connected to Kira and the rest of our family.  xoxo - Vickie

It's been a little over a week since Kira's 6-month doctor's appointment.  Here is where we are so far: 1. Eating solids - C - Kira is not a huge fan of the rice cereal.  She often cringes, spits, and fusses.  The doctor says we can start apples and sweet potatoes after the rice cereal, but we haven't actually done it yet.  And, a friend of mine says her daughter never liked the rice cereal, but she loves oatmeal cereal.  So we have lots to try and we need to get on it ASAP. 2. Using a sippy cup - B+ - Kira is pretty good with a sippy cup.  She sometimes remembers that there is yummy juice inside.  Sometimes she forgets and by chance will suck on the spout and then there is a look of surprise on her face!  It's so funny.  I give her a B+ on this one because sometimes she uses her sippy cup as a tambourine or a chew toy. 3. Sleep training - B - A few days ago, I would have given Kira a D- on this one.  But to my great surprise, she fell asleep tonight on her own!  Tr...

My first bout of mastitis started yesterday morning.  I woke up feeling all out of sorts: my entire body was achy, certain places were tender and painful to the touch, and I had a fever of 99.2.  Later on in the day my fever would go up to 102.  Here's how the day went: 11:30 am - Woke up feeling crapy and called the doctor.  The nurse answered and said the doctor would call me back.  In the mean time, I fed Kira on the unaffected breast (which was engorged) and had some lunch. 1:00 pm - Doctor still hadn't called back, so Kira and I took a nap.  She was such a good girl for Mommy.  We slept soundly until 3:30!  That's a long nap for Kira who normally sleeps only 20-45 mins. 3:30 -  We woke up, and Kira was hungry.  I would have liked to have asked the doctor whether it would be okay to feed Kira on the affected breast.  But the doctor still hadn't called.  So, I fed Kira on the affected breast.  I had a temperature of 102 so I took 2 Tylenols (1300 mg total). 3:35 - Th...

Kira had her 6-month doctor's appointment yesterday.  She's fallen from the 75th percentile when she was born to the 42nd percentile!  I made sure with the doctor that this does not mean Kira is underweight; it simply means she's skinny, which, he added, is not a surprise based her her father's stature. (He mentioned nothing about my stature...) Lots of things we need to start with Kira! 1. Eating solids - we started already, so we just need to keep going.  After a week of eating rice cereal, the doctor suggests we introduce apples.  This will help with any constipation that may occur.  He added that if Kira is indeed having difficulty making poops, I can also feed her 1-2 oz of prune juice. 2. Using a sippy cup - Kira can now start drinking water from a sippy cup!  I need to get one from BRU.  The doctor warns not to give her too much juice other than prune juice for regularity because of the sugar. 3. Sleep training - Kira's doctor says we should try to put her do...

I've spent approximately 4-6 hours cumulatively over the past 2-3 weeks researching weaning.  Surprisingly there is not a lot of medically/scientifically based information out there.   It appears to me that the people who bother to write and publish information about weaning are those who strongly advocate prolonged breast feeding, and "baby-led" weaning.  The technique behind baby-lead weaning is simply letting the baby decide whether he/she is ready to wean.  Typically this takes at least 2-2.5 years, and more likely up to 4 years.  Websites and books will also provide supporting evidence for why nursing a 4 year old is natural and beneficial.  They will also provide arguments for why a mother should not succumb to the pressures of family, friends, and society to wean before baby is ready. The idea of following through with baby-led weaning is disconcerting to me, to say the least!  But with the overwhelmingly one-sided information that's out there, I was starting ...

Today Kira is exactly 6 months old!  Starting today, Kira will be embarking upon two major steps in her little life: eating solid foods and weaning. Feeding Kira solids was an exciting experience.  Watching her figure things out is amazing.  My books and online resources say to feed baby her first solids when she is in a good mood and not necessarily very hungry.  This will make for a better learning experience; the point is for Kira to happily learn what food is and what to do with it, not necessarily simply to get the cereal into her system.  Kira is in the best of moods after her nap, or after eating.  So once she woke up at around 8 pm, I breast fed her a little and then we mixed some rice cereal with some breast milk.  Check out the video.  And pictures HERE (Trevor will be mad that I shared the pictures before he had an opportunity to post-process them, but I just couldn't wait). The video shows the very beginning of the feeding session.  Kira was having a great time; maybe ...

I burned Kira's hand.  The whole thing is still replaying in my head, and I can still hear her distinctive cry of pain. Whenever we go to restaurants for dinner, I usually try to put Kira to sleep.  Half the time she happily dozes off, but the other half of the time she fusses, compelling Trevor and I to pass her between the two of us.  One person eats while the other one holds Kira.  In the mean time, the one holding Kira still tries to eat so that our dinner mates (i.e., family and friends) aren't stuck watching us finish our dinner way after they are done. Yesterday was a "fussy" night.  Both our families (the Lais and the Lews) had dinner together at Shabu-Zen in Allston.  The soup was just ready and Trevor was spooning the cooked cabbage into my bowl and placing it in front of me.  I was holding Kira in the sling.  Despite having many family members around and available for holding Kira, I ended up holding her for quite a while and to relieve my tired arms, I pu...

Who is this guy?...Why am I writing about him? I come across at least a few things each day that tease me in to a quick web investigation. These kinds of things are usually in search of facts or knowledge about people or things that I would otherwise never have come across. This morning I read a short quote that tickled me enough to re-read it a couple more times. It is on a little google gadget on my homepage by GK Chesterton that reads: He may be mad, but there's method in his madness. There nearly always is method in madness. It's what drives men mad, being methodical. GK Chesterton I did a quick wikipedia search resulting in the following page: Click Here I haven't really read much but this is a note to myself to check back later to dig a little deeper! Here are some more of his quotes!

When Trevor reads this he is going to kill me.  I bought another sling!  But this one is so much better than the other one , for two reasons.  One: it's smaller and thus fits me better, reducing back strain and insecurity holding Kira.  Two: it's a light cotton material better suited for the spring and summer.  The other sling is fleece making it unusable in the summer heat. Now that I have my sling, I'm going to try and use it more often and get more things done.  Here is my list of things to do today:  - reply to emails  - blog  - clean up the clutter  - laundry - kitchen linens and whites  - wash the kitchen sink and the microwave  - run the Roomba  - Shopping - bolero for me, new leash for Logan, and groceries  - Quicken

Kira has been slightly grumpier than normal this afternoon and we think we've figured out why. Normally she gets grumpy when she gets over-tired but today she's been fussy even after waking up from her usual naps. When she was laughing I noticed her first left tooth peeking out of her gums! She quickly calms down when we give her some teething toys from the refrigerator!

Wait until the end - there is a victory cry  =)

I just noticed something ALARMING.  I have a blocked milk pore!  (aka milk blister) I think it's the cause of all the back up in my breast, and not a plugged milk duct. There are a few things I can do.  First, I should apply a hot, moist compress.  Then, immediately following, I should nurse Kira.  I tried this, but Kira was too cranky to nurse.  She was both fed up with sucking and overtired.  So I will try again with her later.  Another thing I can do is to apply an epsom-salt soak.  My brother is going out to buy me some epsom salt right now. If that doesn't work, I may have to pop it!   Kellymom says not to do it yourself and to go to the doctor to have it done.

Towards the end of my pregnancy, I noticed strange bruise marks on the back of both calves and thighs.  They were blue and purple, just like a regular bruise mark, except they were linear, like 4-5 wiggly worms lined up next to each other (not end to end). After Kira was born, the varicose veins stayed.  They were there for months and eventually I thought they would never go away.  To my surprise, last night I noticed they are fading!  Yay.  Maybe they will completely disappear. Maybe this is good news for my tummy...

I can't believe it.  I have a plugged milk duct again.  Same place.  Fooey.

During our trip to Toronto , Kira rolled over from her tummy to her back!  It was the first time ever.  She did it three times in a row, but she hasn't done it once since we've been back home.  But that's okay because this weekend she rolled over from her back to her tummy!  That maneuver takes a lot more strength and coordination than tummy to back. Kira had been trying to roll over for weeks.  Finally, she managed to do it in her crib.  It's funny because neither Trevor nor I was able to witness her feat!  We put Kira down to sleep and left the room.  Usually she will toss a little before actually falling asleep.  She was wimpering more than usual so Trevor went to check up on her.  As he walked into her room and peeked into her crib, he saw the back of her head!  It was big, black, and round, and not what he expected to see!  So, he saw the result of her rolling over from her back to her tummy!  Since she was struggling to sleep, he brought her into our bed where I w...