Days of our Laives

Last week Kira turned 4 months old!  I'm so proud =) We had a very productive doctor's appointment.  I had so many questions for him: 1. How do we start introducing solid foods? - Seeing that Kira is 100% breast fed (no formula), our pediatrician suggested that we hold off on feeding her solids until she is 6 months old.  I didn't ask him why, something which I should have done because a lot of my friends with babies started earlier, and those babies were 100% breast fed as well.  Kira's next appointment is when she is 6 months old, so the doctor said he would let me know how to introduce solids at the next appointment. 2. Is it okay for Kira to watch TV?  Is it harmful to her eyes or development? - This question elicited a funny answer from our pediatrician.  He said "TV is baby crack."  Isn't that such a funny way to put it?  He recommends that Kira not watch TV for more than 15 minutes per day, and he allows 15 minutes for the benefit of the caretaker...

When Richard was a baby, he put EVERYTHING in his mouth!  I don't remember exactly when he started doing it.  Well, Kira is just starting to use her mouth to explore things around her.  She pulls on the hanging toys on her playmat and sticks them in her mouth.  At first it seemed that it was just coincidence that the toys would end up in her mouth.  Now, it appears that she is more consistently sticking them in her mouth intentionally.  Trevor's mom bought a funny toy for Kira to play with, and she seems to think that the sole purpose of the toy is to put in her mouth.  It's the only thing she does with the toy.  See for yourself: It only slightly makes me nervous now that she is putting so many things in her mouth.  I guess I'm only slightly nervous because she has only put a select few toys in her mouth.  I never washed or wiped the toys on her playmat.  And, that funny toy never got wiped before she started putting it in her mouth.  I'm going to have to make a ha...

Yesterday was the first time Kira spent most of the time in short sleeves.  Today she's also wearing a short sleeve shirt; and, she's not even wearing socks! I love that the warmer weather is coming.  I can relax my concerns about Kira being cold.  And, it will be nice for Kira to have fewer layers, which allows her to move around easier.  Plus, short sleeve outfits are so cute.  It's going to be such a fun summer picking out outfits for Kira.  It's one of my favorite things to do with my little girl.

Saturday was actually sweet...and then bitter :P I spent about an hour in the morning washing all 8 of my wheels. I started off cleaning my 4 winter wheels so that they'll be ready to go once winter arrives at the end of this year. I then proceeded to clean off the 4 summer wheels currently on my car. I have a german car with 4 large disc brakes, 1 on each wheel. The advantage of having these 4 large brakes is that my car can stop pretty darn quickly, but the disadvantage is that they produce a black dust called brake dust. The brake dust is very black and turns my wheels from a bright shiny metal color to a dark dull finish. If you wait too long to clean off the brake dust, the heat emitted from the brakes tends to melt the brake dust making it difficult - if not impossible to get off. So I cleaned my 4 wheels as well as my car and took a moment to enjoy the clean wheels before heading out to the Atrium mall for Pho Pasteur. I am always cautious driving around in that parking lot ...

Although daily life has gotten better over the past few weeks, there is certainly room for substantial improvement.  There were some dark days for me; I was bogged down with repetition, boredom, and discontent .  But, I have since emerged from the depths thanks to Kira.  Among many things, the greatest improvement with Kira has been the establishment of a daily schedule.  I never imposed a schedule on her, she simply started following a routine all on her own!  Each night, Kira falls asleep anytime between 11 pm and 1 am, a range which works for me because I am a late sleeper.  Sometimes she wakes during the night, and sometimes she doesn't; if she decides to wake during the night, she will start whimpering anytime between 3 am and 4 am.  If she decides to sleep through, she won't call for me until 5 am, 6 am, and on occasion, 7 am.   And the rest of the day goes accordingly: 5/6/7 am - nurse, sleep 9/10 am - nurse, play 11 am - play while I make brunch 12 - nap, or bath then ...

 In no particular order: 1. Strong neck.  She can hold her head up when I put her on her stomach!  It's so exciting!  She looks statuesque! 2. Grabbing.  When Kira is on her playmat, she grabs at the hanging toys and clasps them in her little hands.  Then she waves them around and makes herself laugh! 3. Standing.  Kira loves to use her legs.  When I hold her by her armpits, she stands straight up!  And, she loves to kick when she's on her changing table.  Sometimes that drives me crazy, but it's nice to see that she has strength! 4. Friendly.  She is getting over her attachment phase.  She no longer cries when other people hold her!  It's great.  Not only does she allow other people to hold her, she also interacts with them, and it's so cute! 5. Laughing.  Kira laughs all the time now!  And it is more consistent with specific stimuli.  For example, she laughs when we tickle her, or she laughs when we laugh.  It's so funny! 6. Less crying.  Kira cries a lot less...

I'm finally  feeling better after two days of running a fever.  I haven't had a fever in a long time, and I forgot how it can be so uncomfortable!  It made sleeping very difficult.  And, my throat still really hurts.  Every time I swallow, it feels like a peach pit is going down my throat.  Now my nose is running, too.  Oh well.  I'm just glad the fever is gone! Trevor is about the same as me.  There should be a biological law against both parents getting sick while baby is also sick.  Kira still has a cough and runny nose.  No fever, thank goodness.  I check it every time I change her diaper. What's worse is that the grandmas are also sick.  My mom is recovering from a week-long stint of bronchitis.  Despite that, she stayed with us for two days while I was getting over my fever.  And, Trevor's mom is sick, too.  She almost didn't make it to Mother's Day lunch.  Poor Kira; all of her reserved lines of care are out of commission!  This is not the Mother'...

kira got both me and trev sick. we both have fevers and very sore throats.  i didn't know babies could get adults sick...

It was bound to happen.  It's a shame that it had to happen so soon.  It all started on Monday, the weekend after the Boston Open .  Kira was such a cutie, it couldn't be helped that she was passed around.  And she was such a good little girl.  She smiled at everyone and didn't cry one bit!  Well, someone must have given her a bug, because she's fighting something. On Monday, Kira had a dry cough.  She only coughed occasionally, so I didn't really think much of it.  Then her cough picked up on Tuesday.  That's when I knew something was up.  I emailed her doctor, and he said to watch for a fever, labored breathing, and difficulty nursing.  Kira had none of those, so we just sat tight. By Thursday, she definitely had a cough, and it was a bit raspy.  However, still no fever.  I wasn't really alarmed, but I wanted to take her to the doctor anyway.  If she did have a slight infection, I would rather catch it early rather than have it develop to the point where s...

Two weeks ago, I received forms from Scudder, my 401k manager, to rollover my 401k.  They were somewhat confusing.  After reading the pamphlets and some information online, I understood that I have a few options. 1. Cash out the 401k, but pay taxes and penalties. 2. Don't do anything, and continue investing the 401k. 3. Rollover to a Traditional IRA. I was less confused about how to execute each option and more confused about the consequences of each choice.  I originally thought I ultimately want a Roth IRA, not a Traditional IRA, because I'm hoping Trevor will eventually make $300k/year!  Sounds crazy, but why not plan for it?  hehe.  Hoping that we would be in a higher tax bracket in the future, I would rather pay taxes on my retirement investments now rather than when we have to pay 50% tax (or whatever it is for $300k income).  But my research showed that you can't move a 401k to a Roth IRA, you have to move it to a Traditional IRA.  You can first move it to a Traditio...

Phew.  Yesterday was a long day.  I was tired.  Trevor was tired and suffering with allergies.  But it was all worth it when Kira did this:

It's difficult taking pictures of Kira sucking her thumb.  She does it best when her hand is propped up for her, such as when she is hanging out on my shoulder.

I just realized, I'm fatigued...all sorts of fatigued.  I'm emotionally fatigued, mentally fatigued, and physically fatigued.  I didn't realize it until this weekend.  How did I get here?  I think it was due to weeks of gradual fatigue.  For weeks now, Kira has been developing an attachment to me, which gets worse by the day.  It's *definitely* taking a toll on me.  I guess I knew it was taking a toll on me.  But now, I know for sure it is taking a toll on me.  It's a shame I didn't face it earlier and do something about it.  If I had acted on this feeling, then maybe I wouldn't be here, completely fatigued. Ok, this opens up a lot of questions. 1. Why didn't I weigh the consequences of early fatigue heavier?  If I had taken more seriously how crapy I would eventually feel, I would have acted sooner. 2. What should I have done instead?  Even if I did take my fatigue seriously (early on), I would not know what to do; more "me time?"  What is tha...

Kira is almost 14 weeks old.  Just these past 2 days, she has learned to put her thumb in her mouth and suck on her thumb rather than trying to stick her whole fist in her mouth!  I think it is quite an accomplishment because it takes coordination to stick out the thumb and then stick it in her mouth!  I'll try and post a picture of her thumb in her mouth.  Here are a couple pictures of her trying to stick her whole fist in her mouth.  She tries to ram the fist into her mouth and usually ends up quashing her nose!

I've been a housewife for two weeks.  I already have a list of things I don't like.  I'm not sure if I have a list of 10; we'll see how far I get. In no particular order: 1. Multitasking.  It's not just regular multitasking.  I used to multitask at work.  It's not the same thing.  Multitasking at home is more like...MICRO-multitasking.  Kira will nap for 30-45 minutes at random times during the day.  And during these naps, I do my best to get as many chores done as possible.  So, I try to do things that can continue without me having to watch it.  Like, laundry, and the dishwasher.  But, getting the laundry together will sometimes take anywhere from 10-15 minutes owing to the sorting task.  By the time I'm done and the clothes are in the washer, I only have a few more minutes to do more unitasking things, like writing blog entries, or reading.  And, by the time I get to the "unitask," Kira wakes up 5 minutes into it. 2. Junk food.  Breakfast and lu...