Days of our Laives

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...