My Lazy Days

Birthday Party at the Bowling Alley

2010-03-04T18:02:00.002-05:00

David was invited last Saturday to Sam's (his classmate) birthday party. It was his first time being invited to a friend's party and it would be in a bowling alley. We had never taken him bowling before, so I wondered how he would have liked it.

So off we went, leaving Liz and James at home last Saturday. It was a decent size party, about 12 kids including their parents. It was actually a combined birthday party for Sam (4) and his older brother, Andrew (6). They reserved 3 lanes for the kids to bowl. So David joined Sam's team in the 4 year-old group. They had the rails up for the kids to play. They all used this bright orange ball, the lightest of all.

I was worried because I didn't think I would be able to show David how to bowl but then my worry proved unnecessary. The kids just had so much fun. They did everything they wanted pretty much. They rolled the ball, tossed it, pushed it down the lane, anything to set it in motion. It was just hilarious. The ball never went gutter. And you would wonder when in the world would the ball hit the pins because it took FOREVER!!! The returning ball went so much faster compared to the kids' throws. But it was just so funny. I couldn't stop laughing for 2 hours.

David loved it. I went with him a few times to stand beside him and explain. Then afterwards he told me to sit and watch him do it himself. It was a fun experience.

My First Homemade Soy Milk

2010-02-13T17:50:00.005-05:00

Can you believe that I actually tried to make some homemade soy milk? I guess that's how desperate I want to drink some fresh soy milk. The only kind that I can find here in the market is the Silk Soy Milk, which is a bit too thick and sweet for me. So after making some calls back home and doing some research online, I decided to give it a shot.

I soaked 4 cups of soy beans over night. They puffed up considerably.

Then, the part that took the longest time for me... removing the soy bean skin. It just seemed to take forever!

When that's done, it's ready to be pureed.

Then I poured the pureed mixture into a big pot covered with cheesecloth. Then squeezed out the liquid.

I repeated that for the rest of the soy beans and set the pulp aside.

When it was done, I started to boil it. Then, I skimmed the foam. I left it simmer for 30 minutes, then I put sugar to taste.

When it's cooled, I'll be able to refrigerate it.

The kids had fun watching me experiment. My mother-in-law just laughed. She probably thought that I was out of my mind! haha.. just watch, next time she comes, she'll bring a soy milk machine with her.

Now it's all chilled. It's ready to be served!

Terrible 2... Already?!?

2010-01-24T23:28:00.003-05:00

It hasn't been easy with Liz lately. I guess you can call it the terrible 2 period... and she is not even 2 yet! Sigh* Well at least she communicates well with us. She can say a lot of things in Chinese and Korean and some English. She uses her vocabulary and she can count. If I say, "1, 2" with her, she'll continue on her own, "3, 4, 5". In Chinese, she knows after 5 is 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. I am very proud of her. But then, if she doesn't get what she wants, she starts crying and smacking me. And if she can't hit anyone, she'll bang her head on the floor. Speaking of bad temper, she sure has one.

Then, she doesn't want to sleep on her own now. She figures that if she cries loud and long enough, some one will come for her. It worked especially, when Po Po was visiting. It wasn't because Po Po would go pick her up at night, but it was because I didn't want her to wake Po Po up every other hour at night. She was tough. Now that Po Po has gone back to LA, she is not as bad anymore.

Even though David and Liz still fight from time to time, they seemed to be getting along better, at least for today. :) They were playing quite peacefully in the morning. David sort of set up a small classroom for Liz. And he took out all his Thomas and friends learning cards to show her. He even made her learn the names of the trains. I caught him teaching her how to say Gordon and that was hilarious. He was so well behaved today that he even helped feeding Liz during lunch. The funny thing was she actually listened to what he said. Kids can surprise you all the time I guess.

David's BIRTHDAY~!

2010-01-14T22:48:00.004-05:00

I can't believe David is already 4! Time just flies by so fast. I'll so sad when he is going off to college... *WEEP*. He was a happy boy that day. I actually did something for him this time around. Before we only celebrated his birthday with early presents and a cake. No surprises. This time, since my mom is here, I had the time to shop around and planned a fun birthday for him. Since he has school now, he actually has friends and teachers to celebrate birthday with him. I brought in balloons and treats and goody bags for the kids. Unfortunately I couldn't stay and see what they did at school together. But I heard from the teacher that the kids went crazy after eating all the candies. And when I went to pick him up, I saw a kid crying grabbing a couple of balloons wanting to take them home all for himself. I feel bad for the teachers. :D At least I didn't have to deal with that.

So yeah, David had a good time at school. They made him a crown for his birthday. He was wearing it for the rest of the day at home. He was easier to please than I thought. He was so busy running around the house with his balloons and crown to care for anything else. Even Liz went wild over the balloons. I guess it's the kid thing.

Then at night, we surprised him with a very colorful cake. He was very happy to see it. But as usual, he likes the frosting more than the cake. Then, it was time for him to open his presents. He got Legos and more LEGOs. I hope he had a great time for his birthday. We love him very much~!

Our Christmas this year

2009-12-28T21:12:00.002-05:00

We did not do much during Christmas this year either. We stayed home and kept each other warm. Being lazy pretty much. David is happy now that he is on Christmas break. Elizabeth is happy too to have his company, even though they fight sometimes. But lately they have been sweet to each other. They'll give each other food. David has been trying to feed Liz yogurt. It's fun to watch though he makes a big mess afterwards. I caught some funny conversation between them two in Chinese. David was trying to get Liz to finish her yogurt. And Liz kept saying that she didn't want to. That went on for over 5 minutes.

We have been getting some lake effect snow since last night. So the snow has been piling up again in our backyard. When the sun decided to show up for an hour today, I hauled them out of the house and took some photos. It was our first photos in the snow this year.

My first Parent Teacher Conference

2009-12-04T23:25:00.003-05:00

Today was my very first parent teacher conference. Honestly, I was a little surprised when I found out that David's nursery school was scheduling a PT conference. It was a preschool after all and it seemed to prep me for the real school already. I was glad that we had it though. I was clueless of what to expect when I went. We were asked to fill out a chart prior to the conference, stating David's strengths, challenges, likes and dislikes. Then during the meeting, the teacher, Ms. Katie, told me what David has been doing at school, how he is doing with his classmates, his achievements and what they are working on as of now. I was glad to get the information because David doesn't tell me anything about school or his friends!

So yeah, Ms. Katie said that David is advance for his class since he draws and writes. He is the only one in his class who can write his own name, full name. So the teachers are trying to keep his interests up in class, giving him more specific tasks, even grouping him in the 4 year-old class.

Then, the bad thing is, he doesn't really use his English in school though he tries to communicate. He has been playing with other kids well (thank goodness). So when the teachers are giving him instructions of what to do, sometimes he doesn't follow them. Either he is being stubborn or not getting it. So I guess they'll be working on that.

Next is... he doesn't sing at all. He never likes singing, which is funny. Liz likes singing a lot more than he does.

So I guess mostly good feedback. I'm a proud Momma no matter what they say.

Surviving October

2009-11-02T17:04:00.003-05:00

I'm finally back. It had been awfully overwhelming the past few weeks. It started off with David getting sick. He was down with a fever for 4 days. Then, he started coughing with phlegm and having runny nose. As he was recovering, Elizabeth got sick too! I was so stressed out, worn out and sleepless. She got it worse. She had high fever for over 6 days, very weak with pretty much the same symptoms as David. And she was very clingy and irritable. Both of them lost weight, poor things.

Glad to say that they are fine now. Eating and playing well again. It was crazy how so many people got sick lately. We are worried about the flu season, especially for the kids. Hopefully we'll get them all vaccinated by next month. Sigh*

It's funny how I'm able to have some sort of conversation with Liz now. She makes me laugh so much. Last night when it was time for Liz to go to bed, she got on our bed and pointed to her dad's pillow.
Liz: "zhe li" (here)
Me: "mei-mei shui zhe li?" (liz sleeps here?)
Liz nodded, pulled up her blanket and made herself comfortable. Then, she pointed at my pillow...
Liz: "mama, mama" (telling me to lay down)
Me: "dui, mama shui zhe li" (That's right, mommy sleeps here) "na, mei-mei shui na li?" (Then, where do you sleep?)
Liz pointed at her dad's pillow.
Me: "na shi baba shui de di fang! baba shui na li ne?" (That's daddy's spot! then where's daddy going to sleep?)
Liz was thinking for a second.
Liz: "chu qu" (out side) She pointed at the bedroom door.
I laughed really loud and went to tell her dad what she said.

Isn't she funny?

Our short trip to Vancouver!

2009-10-03T20:16:00.007-04:00

I am so glad that we made the trip to visit Elisa and her family in Vancouver last week. One week was very short but we had a great time. The weather was unusually gorgeous for the time of the year. I tried to convince Elisa to plan a light week for us, considering there were only Elisa and I to handle 4 kids during the weekdays, I didn't think it would be fun to do anything strenuous or go anywhere very far. So, we went by a very flexible schedule but still try to take advantage of the nice, warm weather by going outdoor.

I was very happy to finally meet my two beautiful nieces. It was a pleasure to get to know them and be part of their routine. David, Liz, Viola and Adelia played very well together for the first 2 days. Then, when they warmed up with each other, they started to argue, and eventually, fight. *sigh* It was very stressful for us, the parents, when they did fight. We had to distract them, reprimanded them, gave them time-outs... anything to bring peace and to get the point across: no fighting, share and take turns!

I also had the pleasure to meet Serene and her boys, Lucas and Linus, Caroline and Jack. They are very nice people and handsome kids. I'm happy for Elisa for knowing such nice and friendly families and living in a beautiful city.

It didn't seem like I took a lot of photos but it did take me awhile to go through them! I miss everyone more and more as I look at the pictures. Thank you again Desmon and Elisa for taking care of us and showing us around! Hopefully one day you guys can visit New York.

Vancouver Photo Album

So, how was your school?

2009-09-14T17:16:00.001-04:00

David's first day of school

2009-09-14T17:00:00.002-04:00

Finally, the first day of school for David has come! We were very excited about it like a month ago. But then David had been constantly nagging about going to school since then and I got pretty tired of telling him that he had to wait. I guess it paid off. He was calm and happy. We were like 20 minutes early and the classroom was empty. So he had plenty of time to settle down. Most important of all, there was no tear!

Liz and I had 3 hours of break so we went to Marshall's and the market and we stopped by the post office. It was much faster going around with just one kid. Liz was asking about David a lot in the beginning. Then, she got used to it and enjoyed the alone time with me. I guess now we have to find a new routine with David in school four days a week.

No, No!

2009-09-11T10:35:00.006-04:00

Elizabeth started saying, "No, no!" yesterday. It was the funniest thing that I have ever seen from her so far. She pointed to David and yelled at him, "No!" as he charged at her. She can't help it I guess. David has been awfully rough with her. It's a wonder how Liz survives his blows and pushes. No wonder she always wants me to be around when they play, so that she can run for cover if David goes crazy. Sigh*

David and I went to the preschool orientation yesterday. It was only for an hour but he did alright. I left him in class and join the parents for the meeting. He did not cry, which is good. I hope he will be just fine next week, when school starts for him. I had to leave Liz with a church friend who lives close by. She behaved and didn't cry, so I was told. :) I am glad of it. I can't wait for David to go to school. He needs to vent his energy else where. He'll love the activities.

Liz's vocabulary update:
English: No!, Poo-Poo, Cheese, Cut, Hi, Bye-bye, Boo-boo, sheep, baby
Chinese: Kai (open), Diu (to throw), Mei-mei (little sister, referring to herself), shui (water), A-i (auntie), Shu-shu (uncle), pa-pa (scared), zhe ge (this), qiu (ball), ma (horse), yu (fish), niao (bird), chuqu (go out), ba (to pull out).
Korean: Appoh (hurt), annyong (hi or bye), onni (big sister), bahp (rice), bbang (bread)

NY State Fair 2009

2009-09-05T21:19:00.006-04:00

The NY state fair is here again. I think it's the biggest fair that I've ever been to so far. We went there last year and it was the last day of the fair and was awfully crowded. So this time we tried to avoid doing that again. We went there last week and we went back again today. We loved it. James and I liked the hot sausages. The kids liked the attractions. :) They had many farm animals. Chickens, ducks, rabbits, sheep, goats, horses, cows, sea lions and other exotic animals. They had a lot of prize games too, though we didn't really play much. The stuffed animals were so colorful that Liz kept staring at them. Last week the weather wasn't so good. We got caught in the rain and were drenched on the way back. This week is so much better. Nice, sunny, not too humid and with breeze.

It's funny how Liz was more daring that David. Liz wouldn't mind being up close with the animals. She even petted a sheep while David watched from afar. And then, they had this fighter jet cockpit for kids to sit in and look around. David was so excited about going in, so we lined up for it. And when it was his turn, he backed out! Sigh* so we just stuck Liz in instead. She was all smiles.

Liz's progress with words

2009-08-28T15:39:00.003-04:00

I am amazed by how quickly Liz picks up words lately. Even though she doesn't say them very accurately yet, she makes the sounds and she remembers names for different things and actions. Her very recent new words are: ca-ca (to wipe, rub), yu (fish), fei ji (airplane), po-po (grandma), gong-gong (grandpa). She even tried to make a sentence by saying: ma-ma, na! (mama, take this).

She is very good compared to David. David barely said anything till he turned 3. Now, he speaks very well, Chinese and Korean. He is picking up English here and there. He is learning to spell words. He is not very interested in numbers or math yet. He gets very impatient when I try to teach him about time on the clock. I always think that my Chinese is very limited. And now, it is very obvious and alarming sometimes. There are so many words that I don't know. It's sad that I can't teach more things to David. And he only knows 'armpit' in Indonesian... 'ketiak'. ay..ay.. I should look for books or maybe some educational videos to further educate myself. geez.

David and Elizabeth are having a cold. They are giving me a hard time at home. With them being sick, I don't really want to take them out. So, I'm stuck with cranky kids that are driving me crazy. I hope they will recover soon. I miss having some peaceful time at home. I'm so tired lately that I can't cook.

O yeah, facebook is great. Elisa got me hooked up with all my family back in Indonesia, Singapore and Shanghai. It's like being connected with my long lost family. I am so happy to find out how they are and see how they look like now. I miss them very much.

I let David baked some cookies a few days ago. Since I am not quite a baker myself, we only worked on a bag of cookie mix. He had a good time experimenting and making a mess. It's the experience that counts!

David's Transformers

2009-08-22T17:30:00.002-04:00

David has been drawing some funky figures on his doodling pad lately. So when I asked him what he was drawing, he said, "It's my robot! and the robot has hair coming out!" It was just hilarious. I must say that he drew it pretty well.

And then, this time he said he drew a Transformer and it's Optimus Prime! So, I asked him to sign his name under it. Sigh, boys...

Here's how he did it step by step.

We took Liz to the doctor yesterday, for her physical check up. She did alright, got 2 shots. It's just that she is a bit small. Liz was OK size when she was born. Then, her curve on the growth chart has been going flat and a bit downwards. Sigh, I am worried about her. She eats well, it's just she doesn't eat a lot. She doesn't like cow's milk either. The doctor recommended some children's vitamin and some high calories food for her. So I guess I'm on a mission to fatten her up a bit. I hope it'll work.

He is writing his own name

2009-08-20T17:34:00.005-04:00

David can write his own name now. I am so proud of him! I guess it helped when I kept writing his name over and over again on the doodle pad. Now he writes his name all over the place.

David's first time in a class

2009-08-18T14:51:00.004-04:00

David joined a class for the first time last week. The preschool has not started yet. It was actually the Vacation Bible School (VBS). It was only for a week. David carpooled with another church family that lives 5 minutes from us. He was really excited. I didn't really know how and what he did the first 2 days because he wouldn't told me. Then the fourth day, I had to drive him there myself and I found out that he was super shy, not really participating in the group singing and he was nagging to go home. Gosh, he was totally a different kid. At home, he was so excited about going there and making friends.

I talked to our pastor's daughter, Grace, who was in charge of David's group and found out how David cried the first day, he wanted to go home. The second day, he got better. So I figured if I stay with him, he probably wouldn't join the class as he would without me. So I told him that Elizabeth could not stay because she was still a baby and I left. When I picked him up after class 3 hours later, he was fine and hyper and sweaty from running around. So it's good. He got to experience being in class. And I got to spend some alone time with Elizabeth.

By the way, while David was in class, I took Liz to a near by Barnes and Nobles. They have great A/C and a Starbucks to supply me with caffeinated drinks. I was happy and so was Liz. We were right on time for the story reading there, which was totally unexpected. Liz was good. She loved it. So I guess, it will be like this later when David's preschool starts.

More VBS photos

Do we look alike?

2009-08-11T14:51:00.002-04:00

We always think that Elizabeth looks just like her Daddy. But lately, we could see me in her too. Don't you think so?

It's My Turn!

2009-07-31T22:04:00.000-04:00

Team Work

2009-07-15T12:55:00.000-04:00

My Little Artist

2009-07-13T00:09:00.003-04:00

David likes to draw. So I took the risk of letting him try to paint. Thanks to those washable paints, David gets to explore something new. At first, he would only make random strokes, trying out the different brushes. Then, he would mix up all the colors and ended up with some sort of muddy color paint to play with. As he was painting, I would ask him what he was drawing. He would tell me things like, "There was an explosion here, the airplane fell!", or "This is Bacon!", "It's a snake!", "Shamu!", "it's raining!", stuff like that. It's funny to see him draw. I did let Elizabeth try it but she ended up painting her hands and the table, so I guess she will have to wait a little longer.

We got this small table and chair from IKEA. It works well for David's height now. Liz loves it too.

How Liz eats her noodles

2009-07-11T17:12:00.000-04:00

4th of July in NYC

2009-07-06T14:09:00.006-04:00

This was Elizabeth's first time visiting NYC. And it was David's fourth time! It was a drastic change from our simple, slow paced life in Syracuse but the kids loved the hustle bustle of the big city. They were so distracted by the constant passing of the emergency vehicles, buses, trains, dogs and people. It was very tiring but a lot of fun. We were glad that the weather was nice and that it was not too crowded during the holiday weekend.

NYC is about 4.5 hours from where we live. We left the house on Friday morning, aiming to get to the city by lunch time. 15 minutes into the drive, David threw up! Eww... it stank up the car. Poor thing was uncomfortable and had some motion sickness. He was all smiles after the vomit. We took an early break, got out at a nearby Burger King parking lot and cleaned him up. He was fine for the rest of the trip.

We were staying at Flushing, Queens. They have a small China town there. I had a great time exploring the area. I was so happy to find a Ten Ren tea store there. I missed having Boba tea badly. The next day, we went into the city, had lunch at our favorite Korean restaurant. Then, we went to Time Square. We took some pictures, showed the kids the huge Toys R Us. They loved it there. So many attractions, so many toys. Our next stop was IKEA. We bought so much stuff there this time. It was crazy. After that, we were just too tired to do anything else. We almost missed the fireworks on TV. We slept early and were ready to leave the next day.

That sums up our short trip to NYC. Hopefully when we go again next time, it'll be much easier without Liz running off on her own! :)

Ge-ge!

2009-07-01T16:31:00.003-04:00

Guess what? Elizabeth is finally calling David, "Ge-ge"! It's really sweet when she says it. If only they behave as sweet as that, my days would be blissful. They are still as wild as monkeys! They love to scream and chase each other around the house. Now Liz is working on saying "gou-gou" for dogs. Too bad it sounds just like "ge-ge" still. haha.

The weather has been warm here. It's just that we are having scattered thunderstorm almost every day this week. I hope the weather will be nicer this July 4th weekend.

David is back in his room

2009-06-24T10:20:00.003-04:00

David has been sleeping in his own room again the past 3 nights. We were so glad about it that we almost celebrated it with champagne. I think it had been almost a month that his room was under quarantine. After the exterminator fumigated the room twice, we took out all his books, seal them up, and washed all the beddings and clothings. We pretty much emptied his room entirely, except the bed and the empty bookcase. I wiped down all the walls with Clorox. I used the Swiffer dry and wet mop for the room over and over again to get the live/dead bird mites out. It was a lot of work and we are very glad that it's done. We had to throw out stuff that we couldn't really clean. David's room is officially sterile, the cleanest room in the house!

We learned a very important lesson from this, which is prevention. James and I were joking the other day that we'll be ready next year when the birds start to nest, we'll make sure to shoot any that would come near the house with a BB gun. But yeah, it's important to spray insecticide around the house, seal up any holes and be aware of any potential pests.

As you can guess, it has been a lot of work around the house. The kids are as active as they can be. I could never clear up the living room because they play there and spread their toys again and again. I wish to take them out more and yet I don't know where to go besides the parks, library, or shopping. Either way, it's very tough because Elizabeth is at the stage where she loves to roam around.

I've been having trouble with online shopping lately. Bad luck. I ordered some NBA champion items from Amazon.com (seller: Champs Sport) and Lakerstore.com. They are both giving me problems. I don't think I ever had any trouble before shopping online. If it wasn't for the gifts for Uncle Sunny, I would have cancelled everything. So if you have a choice, stay away from Champs Sport or the Lakers store.

After the long wait...

2009-06-10T17:29:00.005-04:00

After waiting for over a week, the exterminator finally came yesterday. And he confirmed that the tiny bugs were bird mites! Quickly after that, he fumed the room, sealed it up and removed the empty bird nest outside. We had to wait for 5 hours before we could air out the room. Just for a precaution, I took the kids out for a bit, instead of letting them breath in any fume that might have leaked out, although the exterminator assured us that it was perfectly fine to stay at home. Well, I am just glad that it's taken cared of. I've been doing a lot of research online before he came and I came to the conclusion that they are bird mites, by comparing bug pictures and the bite marks on Elizabeth's body. I hope getting rid of the mites entirely after fuming the room once isn't a wishful thinking. I'm anticipating a lot of laundry washing and vacuuming and mopping for awhile. O my.

Watching Elizabeth lately has been quite impossible. We cannot contain her in a closed area anymore. She figured out how to get her way out. She even found out how to open the gate. Poor David, he got scolded and timed out by mistake because I thought he was doing mischief by letting Liz out. So yeah, she is a handful. She digs through my kitchenware, drawers, cabinets, etc. Then, she would run away with her loots. She still doesn't like to drink cow's milk. So there isn't much of a breakfast for her. She'll cry her way to early lunch in the morning. She is a rice girl and David is a fish boy.

Where am I supposed to sleep?

2009-06-09T13:06:00.002-04:00

With David's room all sealed up, he has been sleeping with us. You can imagine how uncomfortable it is for James and I to sleep every night! Then, last night happened to be pretty hot, so we had the A/C on. The kids all loved it to play in the cool bedroom (Liz's bedroom has no A/C). So yeah, they all fell asleep there and Elizabeth refused to go back to her room. She screamed as soon as I put her down in her crib. It went on till almost 1:30 am. I was awfully tired and there wasn't no room for me to sleep in. Sigh* Why do I have to the be the only peasant/commoner in the house?! There were our King David, King James, and Queen Elizabeth, sleeping soundly.

Rosamond Gifford Zoo

2009-06-06T22:02:00.004-04:00

It was David's third visit to the Syracuse Zoo and it was the first time for Elizabeth. They don't have that many animals unfortunately. But it worked out because it was close by and we didn't have to spend a long time walking.

Sad to say that the kids were so busy snacking that they were more into fighting for food than checking out most of the animals. O well. Our favorite was still the penguins. David kept looking for Shamu. He probably missed Sea World.

We went during noon time and the animals all seem to be taking a nap. I overheard a lady in the zoo saying that the best time to go there was when the weather is cold. I guess the animals would be more active when it's cold. :)

Elizabeth is healing well. Her stitches has come off and she doesn't try to scratch her ear anymore. Her little red bumps are gone too, thank goodness. It has been over a week that David has shared the bed with us. We really can't wait for him to move back to his room again. We couldn't get no good rest! Too bad his room is still sealed up. I am so sick of waiting for the staff to come and kill the mites. If they don't come in tomorrow, I'll totally harass them. Sigh* Does anyone have experience with termites? Mind to share it with me?

May is flying by

2009-05-28T14:31:00.003-04:00

I can't believe this month is almost gone. It has been quite hectic around here lately. I don't know if I should be happy or worried now that I weigh barely 100 lbs again. What can I do, it has been stressful and tiring.

A lot of things is going on at home. It hasn't been very peaceful. Yesterday, we were chained up at home waiting for the maintenance person to come and replace the old A/C in David's room. That old motor is awfully loud and to our horror, we found tiny, tiny mites crawling into the room. They are all over the bed and wall. Man, they freaked us out. I complained and thus, they came promptly to replace it. The room is currently sealed up until the exterminator comes later today. To look at the bright side, this is an experience for us before owning a house, which everything will be eventually taken care by ourselves. Sigh, it still is a nuisance.

Liz is healing well. We went to a follow-up visit this morning and the doctor declared that she can take a bath now. Well, I have been sponge bathing her the past week. So, she's not smelling so bad. But then, another source of worries came to our minds. She has been getting bug bite marks on her body and face since Sunday. I am so worried if they came from the mites. I showed them to the surgeon and he said it couldn't be a reaction to the anesthesia. And he cautioned me to watch out for chicken pox. I really hope that they'll just go away soon. Sigh*

Speaking of the brighter subjects, Liz has been very active. She gives me a lot of workout chasing after her and picking her up from danger zone all the time. She eats well as in, she can sit on the high chair and munch for a long time although she doesn't eat very much (in quantity). She learns very quickly from David, especially the forbidden things. And she does them very happily, knowing that we'll show disapproval and give strong reaction. David and Liz get along most of the time though they still fight on occasions.

Bye-bye Skin Tag

2009-05-24T01:04:00.005-04:00

It has been crazy the past 3 days. I don't even know how I feel right now. I'm just so tired! First of all, I was very anxious about Elizabeth's surgery (to remove the skin tag on her right ear) scheduled on Friday morning. But then, I didn't even have time to worry about it or really prepare for it the day before the surgery. Because, James's dad suddenly called and told me that he was on his way over to Syracuse (from Buffalo) with his friend! It was a surprise indeed. If it wasn't for the surgery and if I actually had time to clean up and be ready for them, it would have been wonderful! I was so caught off guard that I didn't know what to do. Everything was just mumble jumble until they left today. I hope they'll come again, so that I will get the chance to make it up to them and be a better host. I feel so bad because I didn't even get to cook anything for them. My o my.

Speaking of the surgery, it went well. It was nothing big but they did have to put her to sleep. The entire procedure only took 30 minutes. I think Elizabeth knew what was going on because the night before, she couldn't sleep. She kept waking up and cried. I wonder if she was anxious. When the surgery was over, we knew it before the nurse came out to the waiting area to tell us. It was because Liz was crying so loud that I think the entire floor could hear her. The anesthesia was gone, she was uncomfortable and she didn't like the IV poking on her arm. Poor thing. It took us awhile to appease her. I am just glad that we got it over with. I hope it'll heal well and that she won't be scratching it.

Anyways, it has been stressful and sleepless for me. Stressful because of Liz and the visitors. Sleepless because of David. He had to share a bed with us the past two nights and he is a very restless sleeper!

Update: An ear (preauricular) tag is a small skin tag or pit in front of the outside part of the ear.

A glimpse of how they play together

2009-05-19T17:14:00.002-04:00

Happy Birthday, Elizabeth!

2009-04-29T22:38:00.007-04:00

We celebrated Elizabeth's first birthday in LA. She looked really cute in her first Han-Bok (Korean traditional clothing) that I almost wished that I had one just the same. We were so worried about her crying during the party that we were determined to keep her happy as well as we could, which meant that I had to hold her the entire time. Gosh, it was so tiring! I was sweating in my Han-Bok. But at least she was better than we expected. She didn't cry and she kept her hat on (most of the time!). Great job!

With the Korean tradition, when a baby reaches her first birthday, he/she gets to choose between rice (plenty of food in life), thread (long life), money (prosperity), pencil (academic) and these days people even put out more creative objects like the stethoscope, golf ball, toothbrush, etc. And this time around, we got rice, thread, money, pencil, computer mouse, and a toy hammer (for law). We all guessed that she would have picked the rice (because she loves to pick up tiny things from the floor and put into her mouth) or the toy hammer (because it was very colorful and new to her). She was going after the toy hammer but to our surprise, she picked up the pencil instead. So, both Liz and David chose pencils. It was very surprising indeed because throughout the party, she didn't eye on the pencil for once.
Overall, she did good, better than our expectation.

Update on the kids

2009-04-04T23:27:00.002-04:00

David loves to pile up cushions and blankets on the floor. Then he would jump on them, dive into them and sleep on them. Elizabeth would crawl to the pile and put her head down and lay down too. At least this is one of the things they have agreement in.

After weeks of haunting Pottery Barn Kids's website, I finally found a good sale on the soft seats. David now has a new sofa and we can get rid of the old one which he pee-ed and pooped on during those potty training days. He loves it and Liz loves it too.

Liz is pretty good in feeding herself. She has been munching on noodles, rice, chicken and beef on her own lately. The food keeps her busy that we all get to eat peacefully. Though towards the end, she usually pours out the rest of the food and throws down the bowl. Sigh*

Kids are just so sweet

2009-03-29T20:55:00.005-04:00

We took a drive to the Waterloo outlet yesterday. On the way home, the kids were tired and hungry. So David asked for some of Liz's baby snack. As he was eating, Liz reached out her hand and asked him for it. It was really sweet to see David tried to pass her some snack, stretching his arm all the way. And Liz was doing just the same to get the food.

Liz apparently understands some Chinese. When I was talking to David one day and I mention the word 'Shui Jiao' (sleep), we caught Liz doing something funny. She went to the nearest blanket and put her head down as though she was going to sleep. It was just so funny.

Feed me, please!

2009-03-19T18:30:00.001-04:00

Spring is around the corner!

2009-03-16T15:52:00.008-04:00

It's finally getting warmer! After a few months of snow, we are so glad that we don't have to wear so much just to walk out of the door. I've been pretty stressed out and tired lately. So the warm weather really lightened up the heart. So yeah, I've been worried about Liz since last week. She has been getting hives on her face and body. Most likely she's allergic to some food. Sigh* I took her to the doctor and got her some antihistamine medicine. The medicine helped for 2 days and the hives showed up again! I hope it'll go away for good.

We drove down to Ithaca on Saturday. We were craving for the ice cream there. It was a long drive but it was fun. The air quality was so much better in Ithaca. We got some sun and fresh air. Time well spent.

Our Short Trip to Rochester

2009-03-03T16:13:00.003-05:00

I finally got tired of staying home (while James studied) and dragged everyone out for a short trip. So we decided to go to Rochester again. I wanted to let the kids play at the Strong Museum. David had been there before, so this was the first time for Liz. They were pretty good in the car. Liz slept on the way there and back, while David was just sleepy, quite unwilling to leave his toys and the TV behind. We got there in time for lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. The food was better this time and Liz ate a lot. She eats very well whenever we go out. She got plenty of distraction while I fed here. She finished the porridge I brought along. Then she ate the complimentary bread and banana (for the kids). Then she cried for my pasta. So yeah, she was pretty full. David barely ate his food. He was too excited to be there.

After lunch we headed to the Strong Museum. It wasn't as crowded as last time. But still, we had to park very far away. The kids just loved that place. David was as wild as before. He just took off on his own and we had to frantically look for him and get him back. Liz refused to sit on the stroller. So James and I had to take turn to hold her. It was a back breaking business! We all had fun nevertheless. We were wiser this time around and stayed for just 2.5 hours as opposed to 4 hours last time. That place was fun but also very overwhelming for us, the adults!

My Little Monkeys

2009-02-17T17:17:00.004-05:00

The Things Liz Does

2009-02-10T16:36:00.009-05:00

Elizabeth has been a lot of fun lately. She is eager to learn and eager to get our attention and makes us laugh. She likes to:
1. Blow kisses to us every day
2. Clap her hands
3. Point her index finger onto her palm ('dian chong chong')
4. Make fist and open
5. Call Mama and Papa and point to us accordingly
6. Say 'Den den' (light) and point to it
7. Wave bye-bye
8. Bow/nod her head when we say 'Annyong Haseo'

The kids have been playing together a lot and David has been teaching Liz many things apparently. Now Liz knows how to turn on the TV and turn on the DVD player. She loves the TV for some reason. She is always in front of TV. I have to pluck her away from it all the time.
Then, he showed her how to unplug and plug the power cord, which triggered a lot of yelling and panic from us.
Yesterday we caught her climbed on the stool and stood there without support for a few seconds. We dropped everything and ran to her. She probably watches David climbs on things and jumps off every single day. How worrisome!

David likes to throw his toys around, especially his Lego. I guess he likes to see things fall apart, the exploded effect. I don't know how to stop him from doing it. The more I tell him not to do something, the more he will do it lately. Very, very stubborn. I told him that he'll end up teaching Liz how to throw toys around too and break his toys some day. He just doesn't care. Sometimes, he makes Liz do things that he is not supposed to do and he got very excited because he knew we wouldn't scold her. Kids...kids...

My Biggest Fan

2009-02-01T21:51:00.000-05:00

Sink in Snow

2009-01-30T15:38:00.005-05:00

We haven't been out in the backyard for awhile and yesterday we went out because Popo had been wanting to take pictures with the kids in the snow. We didn't know how thick the snow had piled up. The first step out and WhoOpS! our boots just sinked in. It was pretty hard to walk. David had a great time 'swimming' in the snow.

Elizabeth is saying 'mama' now. She uses that to call me and also to ask for food. Her grunting is back unfortunately but it makes us laugh a lot. Maybe that's why she's doing that. She's gaining more weight, which is good, it's just my arms are hurting from holding her so much.
Having grandma around is great for the kids. They get more attention and I get to go out alone more. I left the kids at home a few times and that has made Liz even more clingy lately. She anticipates me leaving anytime I stand up or move. She just clings to my legs and wouldn't let go. It's very funny to see.

Grandparents!

2009-01-23T18:48:00.005-05:00

Yay, Gong gong and Po Po are visiting! I have to admit that I am just as excited as the kids. Finally, I get a break. I don't have to cook and I get massage therapy on my shoulders. My back is just messed up. Liz is getting heavier and I am too tired everyday. Although I smell like Bengay every night, I truly appreciate the massage.

James is in Seattle till Sunday. I can't imagine to be alone with the kids for 5 days. I'm just so glad that my parents came! My saviors indeed.

Sometimes I wonder why I go through so much work and pain every day, taking care of the kids on my own. I could have sent them to the daycare (not that I don't love them!) or get a babysitter or get a cleaning service for the house. I was complaining to James one day. I told him that I am a stupid woman. Instead of enjoying life, I was stressed out and worn out every single day and he was not even helping me! I fell into a very depressing mood for a few weeks. I was brooding over negative thoughts and self pitying state of mind. And I couldn't snap out of it. I was so afraid that I would soon become a bitter old lady! Can you see how depressed I was? I felt like running away but then I couldn't, you know, I can't just leave the kids. I don't need anyone to relief me of my work, sometimes I want someone to sympathize with me. A lot of times, James is very out of touch, too consumed with his work that he neglects everything that happens at home (except the kids!). It is very frustrating! I wish I have a job, so that I get to interact with more people, have more self confidence and self appreciation, more positive and be more social! I think staying at home so much drives me to the wall!

Alright, enough said. I am just so glad that I am out of the dark side. Happy and sound again.

We got David a new car seat, the Britax Frontier. David loves it. It looks very cool too. Now we can pass the Roundabout to Liz. Britax makes very comfortable car seats.

David is very spoiled now that the grandparents are here. He wants to be held a lot of times. He just hangs around gong gong and po po all day. He becomes a baby again. I want to spend more time alone with him now that the grandparents are here. We went to this Toddler Tango class today, just me and David. He had a good time though shy at first. It's time for him to converse in English more, get ready for his preschool in September.

Elizabeth is getting bigger. She knows how to say Ab-ba, for daddy in Korean. She's working on Mama. She crawls every where. She likes to go to the mall. She loves Pottery Barn Kids because it's nice and colorful. I can't wait to buy her the cooking set, the tea set and dolls so I can play with her. I can't wait to buy her those colorful cute bedding set when she's bigger! It's fun to have a girl.

Finally, the Present Arrived!

2009-01-16T22:17:00.006-05:00

We ordered David's gift a little late. So he didn't have a present on his birthday, just the good old cake. He was happy nevertheless. So yesterday, the parcel arrived. We got him a Lego set. His dream fire station. He loves it, and so does Elizabeth. She loves taking it apart and she chews on it.

It's hard to believe that I have been reading a lot of books lately. Since October last year, I finished reading: Jane Austen's 'Pride and Prejudice', Charlotte Bronte's 'Jane Eyre', Charles Dickens' 'Hard Times', Don DeLillo's 'White Noise', Dumas' 'Count of Monte Cristo' (again), Malcolm Gladwell's 'Blink', Emily Bronte's 'Wuthering Heights' and now I'm reading 'The Three Musketeers'. I only get to read when I'm breastfeeding Elizabeth though. I don't get enough sleep but at least I get to read. Why can't I have both, huh.

Happy Birthday, David!

2009-01-14T10:34:00.003-05:00

It was David's Birthday yesterday. He is 3 years old now! I can't believe how fast the time flies by. I miss it when he was a little chubby piggy. And now, he is a jumping monkey. My, my, my.

We didn't do anything special, just dinner and cake at home. It was too cold to go anywhere. It'll even go below zero tomorrow. I almost feel guilty of staying warm at home while others go to work.

King and Queen of Bruises

2009-01-13T15:54:00.005-05:00

David and Elizabeth are practically unstoppable lately. One is purely hyper and the other is just too curious. David jumps up and down the sofa, the stool, the coffee table, the stairs... you name it, he is doing it. It drives me crazy! I have to warn him of falling or getting bruises all the time. Regardless of my warning, he falls and gets bruises every where.

And Elizabeth is crawling and walking (holding onto furniture or wall). She falls tripping on toys and from trying her new skills. She gets bruises too, on her legs and forehead. *sigh* I am so exhausted!

Decoding David's Work

2009-01-05T15:48:00.004-05:00

Liz's Video

2008-12-31T22:54:00.002-05:00

Liz loves doing that. She figured that it's the best way to make me laugh and thus wake me up in the morning.

We got an 'A'!

2008-12-31T11:12:00.005-05:00

Back in college, we used to get very excited when we did well in midterms or finals, especially when we got A's. But last night, our excitement beat all that. Last night, David took a pen from the desk and was hiding for a while doodling on his drawing book under the table. I was wondering what he was up to and if he was doing something he was not supposed to do. So I took a peek and was very surprised at what I saw. David was writing. He wrote A's all over the page. I asked him to write another one for me. The way he did it was first he wrote a 'V' and drew a line in between to make an 'A.' It was really funny. It was 'A' regardless. When I told James that, he said it made sense because when we showed him how to write 'A' before, he always saw it done upside down. I was like.. that's right! So I told David the correct way to write an 'A', which the pointy part on top. Now, he did it just right.

We were so proud of him. James went right away to Dunkin Donuts to get him donuts as a reward.

Even though now he knows how to write 'A', his favorite letter is still 'M' because he loves M&M chocolate! He would do anything for it!

Peek-a-Boo!

2008-12-25T17:39:00.002-05:00

Just to let you know, she only laughs when David says "Peek-a-Boo" to her.

My Thoughts on Stretch Marks

2008-12-25T17:02:00.004-05:00

After giving birth to two kids, I got all these stretch marks, loose tummy skin, and other unflattering things that come with motherhood. I thought they were ugly. I thought they make me look very unattractive. I can't wear anything white or tight. I can't wear a swim suit without a sigh after looking into the mirror. I was a size XS and now I'm a M. I thought it's just too UNCOOL!

But for some reason, my kids just can't leave my tummy alone. David and Liz like to squeeze my loose tummy. It's like their stress relief or something. Sometimes when David approaches me, I expect he is going to give me a hug. But then, the first thing he does is to reach for the tummy. Liz is about the same, it's just she would bite if I don't pay attention.

So I guess, it's not so bad after all.

Liz is not crawling much. She can stand up holding on to furnitures. She started walking along the sofa or the coffee table. She loves it. She likes to explore everything around her now. I'm going to be very busy keeping an eye on her. But at least she won't be as clingy as before.

Chatty Elizabeth

2008-12-18T17:39:00.010-05:00

Elizabeth has been a lot of work and a lot of fun lately. She still sleeps poorly at night, which wears me out greatly. Now that she is more mobile, not yet crawling per se, but she can turn and move around her. I still haven't been able to split rooms with her. We tried the 'let her cry it out' method but she was so persistent that she would cry forever. She woke up the neighbors, so we kind of had to stop doing that. So yeah, she is tough. We are still sharing the same bed which makes me very nervous because I am afraid of her falling. And then... when she wakes in the middle of the night, she would cry, if I ignore her, she would still cry and then crawl towards me. Then, the next thing I know, she would get on top of me and lay down on my chest. For a few times, she actually fell back asleep that way. Talking about being attached huh. This girl is quite extreme!

Okay, for the fun part, she is very talkative! She babbles now and she would go on and on and on. It's cute, as long as she doesn't cry. She knows how to shake her head now. When James tells her to shake her head in Korean, "do ri do ri" she would do it. And when I tell her to shake her head in Mandarin, "yao yao tou", she would do it too. Isn't it cool? I tried in Cantonese today, she did it too!

Elizabeth is very possesive. She isn't any better than David. Sometimes I want to hold David, to give him some attention, so I let James hold Liz. Guess what, she would retreat, and come back to me. Once she gets close enough, she would push David away, get on my lap and put her head on my chest. We were all sitting on the sofa by the way. So yeah, it's like that every day for us.
James actually took Liz on the sled ride the other day. She was not afraid at all. I guess, she didn't know yet.

Sledding

2008-12-12T20:10:00.006-05:00

One good thing about Winter in Syracuse is the SNOW! David loves the sled and James loves it just as much. Sorry, Liz, you can't join us yet this year.

Guess what, David actually went solo! We were just at our backyard by the way.

Caught a Cold

2008-12-08T16:55:00.008-05:00

The past week had been very tough for me. We all caught a cold! That was right after Thanksgiving day, James came down with a cold, then I got too tired taking care of the kids, that I got sick too. It was horrible since I couldn't take any cold medicine. I was so congested and coughed incessantly. I am just glad that it is over, just minor phelgm, and runny nose remains.

The kids are doing fine. We got David an early Christmas gift, the 'little tikes cozy coupe'. He loves it. Elizabeth loves it too. Although it is a little hard to maneuver, he likes to hang around it. He watches TV in it, jumps over it, into it, or jumps through it. It's crazy. By the way, he loves to jump off high places now. Very dangerous indeed.

Silly Baby

2008-11-21T16:32:00.001-05:00

My Experience with a Baby Girl (so far)

2008-11-21T11:57:00.008-05:00

I always thought taking care of a baby girl would be much easier than a boy. I guess I was wrong. Elizabeth is not any quieter or calmer than David. She twists and turns when we hold her. She screams and grunts and yells when we leave her alone. When I shower her, she even wants to climb out of the tub now. She sure is a handful. This morning I caught her attempting to crawl when she saw David's juice and Coco Puff left unattended and they were within her reach. I just can't wait until she can move around. I will have no peace then (not like there is any now)

David and Elizabeth play pretty well together (sometimes). David would do all these funky things to entertain her. Sometimes he would rub his big head on her tummy to make her laugh. Sometimes they just look at each other and they would giggle. It's very fun to watch.

A lot of times they just fight for everything. When I hold Elizabeth, David would come and try to claim me. When James holds Elizabeth, David would go and squeeze in between them. Whatever Elizabeth is playing with, David would take it away from her that she ends up crying. But last night, Liz actually fought back. She pushed David away (on the face), dove onto my chest and hung on tight. sigh*

Winter is here

2008-11-17T16:18:00.006-05:00

Yep, the long, cold, depressing Winter is here again. It seems like this year the snow comes in early. It's already snowing today. It's not cold enough for the snow to pile up yet but it sure is exciting. Just wait till I have to go out with the kids, then it won't be too much fun. :) I remember earlier this year in February I had to drive my mom to the Syracuse airport from Ithaca (Elizabeth was still in my tummy then), on our way back, it was snowing so much that I could not see anything! I had to stop by the church for a few hours until the snow stopped. It was quite scary.

David has been very good lately. I guess it's good to be home again. He feels more relaxed and settled down. He is still quite possessive with his toys. He would choose the toys that he wants Elizabeth to play with instead of us picking one. Sometimes I don't understand him, because he would give her his favorite toys (little cars), rather than the baby toys. I have to explain to him that Elizabeth would chew off the car tires and therefore ruin the cars, hopefully he won't give it to her anymore. :) David is getting better in conversing now. He can get quite polite too. He would say, "Xie xie, mama" whenever I help him with something. It melts my heart!

Elizabeth just got her 6-month shot a few days ago. She is not gaining much weight, which really worries me. She's barely 16 lbs right now. I really hope she'll get chubbier. I don't know if she is getting enough to eat. I was sick twice last month that my milk supply was pretty low. I tried feeding her formula but she really hates it. We started feeding her cereal but it's going slow. I guess I have to be persistent and yet patient with her. Other than that, she is good. She doesn't like being on her own, always wants to be held. If you don't let her have her way or the things she wants, she would GRUNT! haha, it is really funny, because sometimes it sounds like a dog is growling.

I got tired of rooming with Elizabeth because she is a light sleeper. And then, our room is right next to the bathroom. Whenever someone is using the bathroom, she would wake up. So we decided to clear up the office room and make it her room. I'm so glad we did it. She sleeps so much better and we do too. I'm so tempted to decorate her room.. but I guess I shouldn't since we might move again, I don't want to accumulate more stuff!

David's another Milestone!

2008-11-11T16:24:00.003-05:00

I forgot already how much I worried a few months ago when we couldn't get David to say words of 2 or more syllables. Before we went to LA, I finally got him to say grandma and grandpa in Korean, which I thought was the priority at the moment. I guess since then everything else is a piece of cake for him. Now he can converse in full sentences. He could say some words in Cantonese. He even blurted out some words in Indonesian! I was so surprised and I'm so proud of his achievement. So far he can say 'Ngorok' (snore), 'Capek' (tired), 'Garuk' (scratch), 'Sampah' (trash), 'Susu' (milk). It's kind of funny because I don't talk to him in Indonesian usually. I guess for certain words I tend to use Indonesian.

Los Angeles Photos

Fight, again...

2008-11-06T20:06:00.006-05:00

Yes, they fought again and this time it was caught on video. We went to LA for a month and just got back yesterday. It was a fun trip although very exhausting for me. We got sick and I got sick again just before coming back. David had a great time there, it's just Elizabeth was too clingy!

Adirondack Train Ride to Old Forge

2008-10-06T17:47:00.003-04:00

David was barely 10 months old when we went on the Adirondack train ride 2 years ago. This year we decided to go again since David loves trains so much. We had to drive for a little over an hour to Utica train station and from there we headed to Thendara, taking the train. David was so bouncy and excited all day long. He went, "choo choo!" all the time. From Thendara, we got on the shuttle bus to go to Old Forge, a little town near the lake. There were many shops and a few restaurants. It was pretty cold that day but at least the rain was minimal. We had a good time even though it was tough going out with 2 kids. Elizabeth was excited too, she screamed/yelled a lot on the train. It was imposibble feeding her outside because she was just too distracted.

Behling Orchards

2008-10-06T17:24:00.003-04:00

We were able to continue our yearly apple picking trip to Behling orchards last week despite the rain. Seems like it has become a tradition for us. This time, we had Elizabeth joining us! It was fun. David especially enjoyed it. His pants and shoes got all muddy. He abused fallen apples. -__-'' The apples were so much bigger this year. We came home with 3 huge bags of Honeycrisp apples! Great apples!

Do A Little Dance

2008-09-28T22:33:00.003-04:00

Doodling Already

2008-09-26T11:54:00.004-04:00

Elizabeth was barely 5 months old and she already started to doodle! She had her eyes on that toy for a while already I guess, finally she got to try it. It's one of David's favorite toys by the way.

I'm so Beat Up

2008-09-23T10:17:00.002-04:00

I'm so tired and overwhelmed lately that I decided to try the dishwasher for the first time. I had never used one believe it or not. I guess it helped, I got to rest a bit last night. I can't wait to go to LA. I need the break more than ever seems like. I promise myself that I will do nothing strenuous!

David has been good and wild as usual. When he needs the attention, he would do anything to get it, like running like a mad thing around and around the house, screaming, hurting himself, bugging Elizabeth. So yeah, terrible two. He is making good progress with words though. He is saying more Korean. He actually can say grandma and grandpa in Korean now. He has a sense of humor too. He pointed at my butt one night and said, "Mama, pang, pang!" with a grin. He said my butt is fat! I was shocked... and I found no words to say except... "NO, I'm NOT!" We ended up laughing. He knows how to lie too. One time he was sitting right next to James and someone farted. So I asked in Chinese, who farted. Since James didn't know what I was saying, David answered me. He said, "Papa!". Just to confirm, I asked James if he farted... he said, "No". I was like.. "David, you lied to me!" He just smiled slyly. Sigh*

Elizabeth is getting bigger. She makes me want to be an ENT doctor. Because she would often keep me up at night with her stuffy nose. Sometimes I just don't know what to do besides using more saline and then suction. I think Elizabeth has a stronger personality compared to David. Just imagining when she's older gives me a headache. One time, I was eating yogurt with her on my lap facing me. Being jealous, David came squeezing in. He wanted to eat too. As I was feeding him, Liz decided that she wanted to hold on to the yogurt. When I put it away from her, she was trying so hard to reach for it and yell to complain. To the point that I had to get James to take one from me.

Sigh... tiring.

David's bedroom

2008-09-10T13:21:00.004-04:00

I finally made time and organized David's bedroom. It took me awhile, my bad. But I'm glad I did, it looks so much better now. David is happy that the boxes are gone!
I was taking pictures of the room yesterday and David was so excited that he posed for me. He was all over the room, telling me to take a shot here and there. It was just so funny.

David's First Art Work!

2008-09-06T19:50:00.002-04:00

Yesterday, David came up to us with his doddle pad and said, "Jing, Jing!" which is his short cut for "yen jing" (glasses). We both got so excited and took a picture of it. He did a pretty good job drawing a pair of glasses. We were impressed because up to then, he was just doddling random lines and sometimes he could draw fish.

Baby Blopper

2008-09-05T12:10:00.004-04:00

After months of reading the 'Parenting' magazine, I never thought that I would have my own baby blopper stories to tell. Kids are just so funny!
So yesterday, I was at home during the day with the kids as usual. I've been trying to get David to go to the library with me the past 3 days and to my surprise he refused, which is very odd because he loves going out. So yeah, we ended up staying home too yesterday. I had Elizabeth on the swing so I could prepare lunch. She was good for awhile waiting for me. But when I was eating, she got tired to sitting on her own even though David was keeping her company (or more like bugging her/messing with her swing). David turned off the swing and Liz was complaining. So I told David, "yao yao, mei mei yi xia" (go shake/rock little sister for a bit). You know what he did? He went and stuck his finger into her mouth. I'm like... "what are you doing?!" Then I was thinking for a bit.. and started laughing. He thought I told him to let Liz bite him for a bit. Yao as in bite, instead of rocking! Well, I'm glad he didn't bite her instead.

O, So Smiley

2008-09-03T11:25:00.004-04:00

Here is little Elizabeth getting bigger each day. She finally sleeps through the night again (for the past 4 nights), which is a big relief for me. Liz is usually very good when we go out. Everyone is like, "Oh, she is so calm and quiet!" and I would go, "Wait till she gets home!". She screams a lot. I can't wait till we have to fly back to LA. I hope she'll be good all the way. She is quite an angel too. She smiles a lot when we play with her.

Guess what? David and Elizabeth are starting to fight already. David likes to bug her, hugging her, kissing her, touching her face, rubbing his big head on her tummy and lately he is just getting a bit rough on her. She does not like it and she makes sure she gets the message across. She screams at him, frown and pushing and kicking. Sometimes she starts screaming before he even gets closer. Liz is not the only innocent one though. She can be bad too. Whenever she sees David holds on to a toy or food or his bottle, she would really try to get her hands on it. If she's close enough to him, she would just dive towards him. Sigh, wait until she's bigger, there would be no peace at home!

4 Months old

2008-08-23T22:14:00.004-04:00

Here are the pictures of 4th months old David and Elizabeth. David was so much chubbier compared to Elizabeth. But they kind of look alike, right?

Elizabeth hasn't been sleeping well at night the past 2 nights. It has been tough on me. I'm sleepy all the time, getting crankier. The house was a mess and I can't even find energy to clean, getting me even more frustrated. Sigh* So many things I want to do at home! Procrastinate...

It's hot and sweaty lately though the summer has been quite mild compared to last year. We drove to Auburn earlier to have dinner with James' boss. We could see some trees are starting to change color! I can't believe autumn will be here soon. Time flies.

Out and about, Sick

2008-08-17T14:03:00.003-04:00

We have been going out more lately, meeting more people, getting more sun. It's great, but it also means that we get sick easier. James and David caught a cold last week and eventually passed it on to me. I've been getting sore throat and Elizabeth is getting runny nose. It's just not a great feeling when there's so much to do at home. Taking care of kids is enough to wear me out. I don't have much energy left for other things. Sometimes I wish I were more active and energetic like my cousin, Elisa. I still can't believe she could go biking in the summer in her third trimester! Super woman.

David is still very wild and rough. I'm always worried when he is playing with other kids, especially the younger ones. This guy still needs to learn more discipline. I just hope that all our yelling and reprimand would go into his head. I guess that's how it is. Boys will be boys. We went to the Manlius park for a bible study meeting yesterday. As usual, David has many friends to play with. His favorites are always Grace (8) and Jessica (12), Mr. Lee's daughters. But yesterday, he made another friend, Janie. They gave each other a hug (after David ate all of her snack). Janie is 18 months old, very adventurous. David almost pushed her down last week at church. -___- I really hope they'll get along from now on.

As of Elizabeth, she's getting bigger each day. She's popular at church because she's the youngest one. She's fun to play with. She would smile, laugh and make faces when we play with her. And she pays attention to everything that I do. So I started explaining to her when I do something, hopefully she'll pick up words earlier.

Finally, I'm back!

2008-08-06T13:15:00.003-04:00

We moved! Yes, again... Good Bye, Ithaca! *sob sob* I really missed the Cayuga Lake and everything else in Ithaca. But then after I found out how convenient the location of our new place is, I'm glad we moved. We are a mile or two away from all the major stores, like Walmart, Target, Lowes, Home Depot, Bed Bath, Wegmans market, and most fast food places. It's just great. I am a city person after all.

The kids and I have been going out almost everyday. David is too hyper to be kept at home now. He asks to go out every morning. So, the past week, it has been crazy for me. Very tired from moving and organizing and taking care of the two kids, not to mention cooking and packing lunch for James! GOSH! I am spent! Hopefully the place will be more organized soon. James promised me since last week that he'll help out with the organizing but he still hasn't! I want to get rid of the heavy boxes and hide them in the storage room.

We are also back to the Syracuse church. David is very happy about it. He has many little friends and he is well taken care of there. He has been very excited and wild for the past two Sundays. He joins the toddler Sunday school, but I don't think he knows what's going on. He just plays and runs around on his own.

Elizabeth celebrated her 100th day at church this past Sunday. It was a busy day. We ordered a big cake for 75 people, not knowing that there were 2 other birthdays going on. It was also the pastor's 50th birthday and another boy's first birthday. We didn't get much attention because they didn't know it was Elizabeth's 100th day. We didn't really mind either, because birthdays are more important anyways. But guess what, our cake was a sell out. It was the biggest cake and it was gone! haha. We were worried that we might have a lot of left overs. So we were glad.

James and Elizabeth

2008-07-20T16:44:00.002-04:00

Don't you think they look alike? (I know Elisa is going to like this one ;))

The Difference Between The Two

2008-07-20T15:16:00.002-04:00

Elizabeth is sure very different from David, when he was a baby. Elizabeth:
1. is way more vocal/chatty ... she squeals in delight and she yells for attention... she complains even after I pick her up because I don't go to her right away. Sometimes I wonder where the cute, innocent baby cry goes.
2. is a small eater... drinks very little, but more often... she doesn't like the bottle or pacifier, which makes it harder for me
3. has a better neck control... she can hold her up steady when on tummy
4. likes to kick... and her kicks hurt!
5. likes to pull the hair
6. never likes to be swaddled
7. always head butts me
8. never cries when I change her diaper/clothes
9. suckles her fist/fingers very loudly
10. likes the HOT weather

They both have something in common too... they both like to bully the Dad! and they are both so darn CUTE. :)

Elizabeth's 2nd Month Check up

2008-07-12T21:13:00.003-04:00

Elizabeth went in for her second month check up yesterday and she got 4 shots, poor thing! Her weight is now 12 lbs, height 24.25 in., head circumference 15.25 in. So, I guess she is about average size baby girl. She was quite cranky after getting the shots. So we had to grant her more love and extra holding time. She's OK now. The weather is hot and humid, which is perfect for her. She sleeps very well... while I'm sweating like no tomorrow.

Taughannok Falls State Park

2008-07-07T13:43:00.003-04:00

Sad to say that we've been living in Ithaca for months and this was the first time we visited the Taughannok Park. It was on the other side of the Cayuga Lake, about 25 minutes drive from home. Whenever we passed by that park, we kept saying that we should visit it some time. And now that we are moving soon, I insisted on going there at least once. It was the July 4th weekend and the park was packed. Lots of people boating and having BBQ, very lively. David was having a good time there, running around, checking out boats, dogs, people. Busy bee. I wish I could go out more with him, but I'm so tired all the time. sigh*

Elizabeth is getting very talkative lately. She goes "Ah goo goo" all the time. I can't imagine when she starts to talk. It'll be a lot of fun. For some reasons, she sleeps very well in the hot and humid weather, while everyone else is complaining about the heat. Nevertheless, I would rather endure the heat and have her sleeping more. She's getting heavier that my back hurts while holding her, and she's barely 12 lbs!!! Gosh, I'm getting old.

David's Ice Cream Face

2008-06-28T23:57:00.004-04:00

What's best to have during Summer time? Ice cream, of course. Just look at David's face, you'll know how much he loves it. He is doing really well with his potty training. He rarely wets his diaper when he naps or when we go out. He held it pretty well too when we were in the movie theater. Afterwards, he did this funny pee pee dance because he really had to go. He would say, "shuu, shuu" to tell us that he needed to pee.

Here is Elizabeth. She's getting plumier and she still doesn't like the bottle or the pacifier!

WALL-E

2008-06-28T11:51:00.003-04:00

Yesterday was our first family movie outing and we went to watch 'Wall-E'. After weeks of staring at the trailers, it's finally out and it's well worth the wait. David loves it, we love it. I had been debating whether or not to take Elizabeth to the movie since she is still so small. I didn't want her to get scared by the loud sound in the theater. BUT, I really couldn't stay at home with her while James and David went. So we all ended up going together. I am so ashamed of myself! I can't believe that I am a Mom. he..he..

I was ready to leave the theater if Elizabeth started to cry or something. But luckily she didn't really cry. She was sleeping half of the time. I tried to breastfeed her half way into the movie and it was just a mess. It was too dark and the milk was spraying all over her face. Not to mention that I got pooped all over too. Regardless, I thoroughly enjoyed the movie.

In fact, David loves it so much that after he woke up from his nap yesterday, he brought me his sweat shirt and said, "Wall-E?" as in he wanted to go out and watch it again. When I said no, he took off his pajama himself and put on his socks. He cried for a bit when James and I both told him that we weren't going again yesterday.

So yeah, we give the movie 2 thumbs up!

The Summer Tanks

2008-06-22T23:13:00.002-04:00

Now I know what people mean when they say, "Double the pain, double the joy." Though it's a lot of work, we really enjoy having two kids. They are very different and cute in their own ways. David was very chubby cute when he was a baby. And Elizabeth is petite cute, more expressive and smiley compared to David. They grow up so quickly that I keep reminding myself to enjoy every single moment with them.

Elizabeth's Smile and Coo

2008-06-22T22:18:00.003-04:00

All on my own, for real now

2008-06-16T13:51:00.004-04:00

We are finally on our own now, with no family member planning on coming to help anytime soon. It's really tough, but thinking about how this period of time doesn't really last that long, and that I'll miss it very much later on, keeps me going. I haven't been able to rest lately. We were hunting for a place to move to in August. So far we found an apartment in Camillus, 15 minutes from Syracuse. If there's no other good candidate, we'll most likely move there around mid July.

I actually prefer a townhouse to apartment. But the time of availability just doesn't work out. It's really unfortunate but I hope we'll find out what to do with the extra stuff that we can't fit into the apartment, like renting a storage. I am really sad that we can't keep the washer and dryer. Sigh* I don't like using the apartment's laundry facility to wash baby's clothes. O well...

I guess I won't be able to get any rest at all since we have to move out soon. I am really dreading the packing and unpacking. It's not going to be pretty. We accumulated a lot of junk in the past year.

Regarding David's potty training, it's going pretty well. He still wet his pants a few times since I last posted the blog. He did it on purpose sometimes to get our attention. But he has been consistently peeing in the potty. And he actually pooped there in the past 2 days. I'm very happy about that.

As of the little lady, she still doesn't like the pacifier. But she drinks from the bottle now, which makes it easier for me to feed her at night. If she gets enough milk at night, she'll sleep for a longer period. She's growing well. We could actually see her cheeks getting chubbier. Pretty soon, she'll be 2 months old!

About David

2008-06-08T18:18:00.004-04:00

I haven't been writing much about David lately. I would like to share with you some of the things he accomplishes during the past week. My mom is here to help us out again. She wanted to help potty training David. So, 3 days ago she let David go around without the diaper, just his pants on. She kept reminding him, if he needed to pee, he should tell her or go to the potty himself. The first few times, he just wet his pants. The third time around, he would tell us, but he already peed half way. Then, the fifth time around, he started to get the hang of it. He told us and we got him on time to potty. And today, he has been going to the potty himself, taking off his pants, peed, washed his hands, and then putting the pants on. We are so proud of him! Now, we just need to get him to poop there too. He is too impatient to sit for a longer time.

It's good that he doesn't need to wear the diaper during the day. It's getting so hot here that we have to hide in the basement. David still refuses to wear an underwear. So his pants would rise up and get stuck in between his butt cheeks. It's really funny to see him walking and pulling down the pants. I was thinking of getting the underwear with characters that he likes. I took him to Target the other day and made him choose them. He wasn't interested in them at all. -__-;;

This little monkey doesn't really speak in full sentences. As the matter of fact, he would only say words with one syllable. But, 2 days ago we had some bacon wrap shrimps for dinner and I had some extra bacon strips fried for him. For the first time, he said something with 2 syllables. He said, "BA-CON". We were so happy when he said it. And the next day, he said, "PAN-CAKE". He has been trying to say more and more words, so hopefully he'll be able to communicate better with us.

David is addicted to the movie 'Transformers'. Even though he has already watched it numerous times, he still would sit for 2 hours and get mesmerized by it. I can't wait to take him to the theater to watch Wall-e later. He would definitely like it.

Here's Elizabeth, looking more girlish, resting comfortably on grandma's lap.

Don't grow up too fast!

2008-06-04T17:09:00.006-04:00

Here's Elizabeth! She's gaining a little more weight although she's not as chubby as she looks on the picture. She still drinks very little and very often, keeping me busy most of the time. She's very vocal compared to David. When we talk to her, she would often answer back with coos. When she doesn't like something she would scream and yell. And she already knows how to take advantage of her daddy! She would cry until he picks her up (in a few seconds *grin*) whenever she hears his voice. Don't you think that babies are so smart?!

I'd always wanted David to eat/drink more and grow up fast before. But then, after seeing him growing so fast, I miss him being a baby again. So this time around, I am enjoying every second we have with baby Elizabeth. I won't rush her to grow up fast although she probably will be big very soon.

First Month Check Up

2008-05-30T19:33:00.003-04:00

Elizabeth went in for her first month check up today. She's now 9 lbs 9.6 oz and 21.75 in. Not nearly as big as David when he was 1 month old. But she is doing just fine according to the pediatrician. She also got her second Hep B shot today. I feel bad that she has to get all those vaccinations. I know how much David cried whenever he got poked.

I haven't got any sleep the past 3 nights. It seems like Elizabeth is getting the nights and days mixed up. She is very awake when I'm trying to sleep. She would want to drink/suckle all the time, while throwing in some crazy spit ups and poops. She keeps me up till 4:30 am before falling asleep herself. Then, I'm so tired during the day that I would just sleep when she sleeps. When night comes, it happens all over again.

The weather is getting much warmer now. Even though it's tough to go out with 2 kids, I still rather go out than to stay at home. I'm getting sick of staring at the walls and I feel bad keeping David in when it's all sunny and cheerful outside. Hopefully I'll become more proficient in juggling 2 kids outside the house.

O yeah, David flew out of the back door 3 days ago. He scared the heck out of me because I saw how it happened too. When David gets too hyper, he usually likes to run really fast and crash stopping on the wall or sofa or people. That day, the weather was hot so we left the glass door opened with the screen door closed. So, this little monkey decided to crash into the screen door. And out he flew. The screen door didn't break but it was detached entirely, and David landed on the stairs, luckily cushioned by the screen. He didn't hurt himself too badly, just minor scrapes on the head and bruises. *sigh* Boys will be boys. I hope he learns his lesson.

Niagara Falls in Spring

2008-05-25T11:15:00.004-04:00

Finally I'm free from the one month confinement thing after giving birth to Elizabeth. So, we decided to go to Niagara Falls before Po Po goes back to Indonesia. The weather was great after a week of wind and rain. It was very tiring going out with 2 kids. We don't have the double stroller, so we had to bring 2 strollers, though David preferred running around on his own. It was hectic and I had to breastfeed in public, which I wasn't very comfortable doing... in front of so many tourists. But we got through our first family outing and got some nice pictures for Po Po to bring back to Indonesia.

As of Elizabeth, she is doing well. She drinks very little milk and likes to sleep most of the time. She only decides to wake up and stay awake when I'm trying to get some sleep at night. It is also very difficult to feed her because she likes to put up a fight before drinking, unless she is starving. So I hope she'll grow bigger and will start to take in more milk in one feeding.

Po Po is leaving this evening, heading back to Indonesia! We are all very sad that she is leaving so soon, especially David. He is all over her and bullies her all the time. He bugs her more than he bugs me the past month. I can't imagine how I could take care of the kids and the house now that she's leaving! We are thinking of kidnapping her and not letting her go back. I wonder what Gong Gong will react to that plan. *grin* We'll miss her truly.

Introducing: Elizabeth Hee-Sun Jang

2008-04-28T16:59:00.004-04:00

Elizabeth Hee-Sun Jang finally arrived on Thursday, April 24, 2008 @ 8:38 am, at Cayuga Medical Center in Ithaca! She was 7 lbs and 19.5 in.

I thought the labor would be just like when I had David because I was also scheduled to be induced that morning. But then, I started having irregular contractions on Wednesday. The contractions didn't get any closer, then stopped altogether. So, I thought it's a false labor. Then, Wednesday night, I couldn't sleep at all, getting more contractions that were about 10 minutes apart. I was kind of glad that it was night time, everyone was asleep, nice and quiet. Otherwise, I would have been very irritated. Since I couldn't sleep at all, I tried to distract myself watching drama online, the one Elisa showed me. I tried logging the contraction time. But up to a point, it was hurting me so much that I stopped counting. It was almost time for the induction appointment. So I went and took a long shower, more in pain. I woke up James afterwards even though it was still a bit early to leave. I said to him, "Don't ask me any question, I am in pain. Get up, and let's go!" That alarmed him enough that he woke up right away.

So, we left 30 minutes earlier than we planned. And man... the 15 minutes ride to the hospital was awful. The contractions were getting more painful than ever! I barely could walk into the hospital. They sent me up to the maternity ward right away. I guess the previous night was busy for them that they didn't have a labor room available right away. They were still cleaning the room when we arrived. So, they made us wait in the hallway for a bit. When everything was ready and the nurse checked my progress, she was like, "You are 9 cm dilated, ready to push anytime." I was shocked because that means it's too late for any epidural! I was so scared about pushing without any pain medications. It was not what I imagined at all. My OB thought I was going to be induced and she hadn't even arrived at the hospital yet. The nurse tried to reach her and got her to come right away.

When my OB arrived 15 minutes later, she was right on time to see my water break. So yeah, the entire thing lasted less than 2 hours and Elizabeth was born. I'm not going to describe how painful it was to push her out, I was just very glad she was finally out.

Cass Park with Grandparents

2008-04-19T10:32:00.003-04:00

It actually gets pretty hot in the past few days here in Ithaca. That cheers David's grandparents up, since they are not very used to cold weather. So yesterday we went out for a drive, got some ice cream then stopped by Cass Park for a walk. It was hot, but there was a nice, cool breeze by the Cayuga Lake. Everyone was out enjoying the sun. We finally got to see sail boats out in the lake again.

My due date is tomorrow! But I still don't make any progress with labor. No strong contractions what so ever. I am getting very impatient. The baby will probably be like David, won't come out until she is evicted. I'm scheduled for induction next Thursday/Friday, but I really want the baby to come out naturally before that. It sucks to be stuck on the bed during labor and it takes forever! Sigh.

Even more Spoiled

2008-04-14T15:58:00.002-04:00

David has another set of grandparents visiting from Indonesia! Can you tell that he is getting very spoiled?

Venting

2008-04-10T23:21:00.003-04:00

Gosh, I feel so irritated right now. I'm frustrated because there are so much that I want to do but I can't, being big and clumsy just doesn't help. The house is such a mess and we are expecting guests on Saturday, not to mention, Daddy and Mommy are arriving Sunday. I'm overwhelmed. I want to worry about the labor, and that's it! I really hope when Daddy and Mommy arrive, they'll be ready and just say to me, "Don't worry, everything will be taken care of, and you will be fine." But $#*% man, I don't feel very comforted right now. I'm worrying about everything.

There's another thing that really upsets me right now. I'm already impatient waiting for the labor to happen, the last thing I want to hear is if I'm doing enough work out, if I'm walking as much as I'm supposed to, all those ifs that I'm apparently responsible for. Sigh* And James keeps saying that I should get induced soon. I'm like........... arghh... I'm anxious enough as it is. I really don't want more worries! The other night, I was on the phone with Uncle Sunny, I was complaining a lot. But when I hear his response, I felt like crying. Because all he said was, I shouldn't worry at all, stay calm and happy, so the baby will be happy when she comes out. I wish I could do just that.

David is getting more and more difficult lately. But at least, he doesn't torture Grandma as much now. Everyday, he's putting our patience to the test during lunch time. He won't pray, he won't eat, he will make a mess with the food, or just won't be at the dining table. So, he gets a time out during lunch everyday. Isn't it wonderful? We get to hear him cry while we eat. Sigh.

O yeah, and my lovely brother has like this long list of anime movie for me to download. There are like over 12 of them. They are all HD anime. There is already a fight for using the laptop because right now, it's the only computer at home that works. I turn on the downloads, then James will turn them off when he uses the computer. Then he'll complain that the computer is slowing down and some stuff don't work. Sigh, can I not deal with this right now?

Ah, this is endless.

Week 38

2008-04-07T13:25:00.003-04:00

We can't seem to get David out of the shot. So, here you go, that's about how big I am right now at week 38. Gained about 31 lbs so far.

Sunny Sunday

2008-04-06T19:03:00.003-04:00

We have a very nice Sunday today. It was warm and sunny all the way. So, after church, we ate out, went to have ice cream and then stopped by the park. We had a good time, especially David. Hopefully it'll stay warm from now on. But it probably will rain a lot too.

Finally, A Good Night Kiss

2008-04-02T12:46:00.002-04:00

Guess what, the fourth night of sleeping on his own, David finally got the hang of sleeping alone. He didn't cry that much on the second night, maybe about 15 minutes, then for 5 minutes the third night. Then, on the fourth night, he was waving at me and say 'bye bye', his version of goodnight. I was so proud of him. I can actually give him a good night kiss and going to sleep knowing that he will be just fine!

It doesn't take too long to realize his new freedom by the way. Now, he doesn't need to fall asleep right away. He actually stays up for a bit during his nap time, talking to himself, reading more books, making more messes, while I got knocked out in my room like a pig. I just hope he'll sleep fine when his grandma is here. She'll be arriving tonight and David better calls her grandma in Korean this time around.

I'm feeling so exhausted lately. I could barely cook yesterday. I even have the panda eyes even though I think I got enough sleep. Sigh* So tired. This is even tougher than the first pregnancy.

Lack of Sleep

2008-03-28T16:35:00.003-04:00

We were having problems putting David to bed during the past week when David's grandma visited us. He wouldn't stay in bed with grandma and always wanted either James or I to stay in bed until he fell asleep, which was a bit problematic. Not to mention, he would wake up in the middle of the night and came running into our room, screaming when he didn't see us. So, we decided to do something different once grandma left.

We let him cry to sleep again, alone. He cried for an hour last night before falling asleep. And he cried for another hour around 4 am. It was heartbreaking but I think it's necessary. Otherwise, we'll be in trouble when the baby arrives! Today, he didn't cry much when I told him to go nap. So, I hope he'll be better tonight. *cross my fingers*

I've been stressed out lately though I thought I won't have time to worry about it. David has been using more Chinese compared to Korean when he talks. He uses 'papa', 'mama', 'popo', 'gong gong' a lot when his grandma was here. So grandma was a bit frustrated. She wants him to at least call her grandma in Korean. And the stubborn David kept calling her 'po po' no matter how many times we tried to correct him. He just wouldn't listen. I know it made grandma sad but we can't really force things to happen quickly. sigh* So, I think James' parents are a bit upset over the issue. And I guess, the mother is supposed to teach the child, right? sigh* I don't know, I'm already tired being the way I am. Tired of telling David not to do things that he is not supposed to do everyday. And I'm trying to get some English into his head. Not to mention cramming in some potty training. I'm tired! Geez. I guess I should go with the flow and not stress out, otherwise the poor kid will go nuts too!

We went to have an ultrasound today. To check if the baby's head is down and see how her growth is. Her head is indeed down, she is measuring a bit small, almost 5.5 lbs. So, if I eat well and if she's full term, she'll probably be about 7 lbs. Well, I'm not so worried. I don't think I'll be having an 8 or 9 lbs baby, like most people here anyway. David was excited when he went with us this morning. He was so impatient as we were waiting for the nurse to call on us. He kept saying, 'mei mei?', 'mei mei?' until we went in. I guess he is very eager to meet his younger sister. I wonder how he'll be when he actually sees the baby.

Happy Easter!

2008-03-23T22:00:00.003-04:00

Happy Easter everyone! David's grandma is here to help us out for 10 days. Who would have guessed that David is no longer stuck to grandma this time around. He is so clingy to me! And he takes advantage of his grandma! He is so bad. Being so big and heavy, he still makes his grandma hold him.

We got a phone call from one of the pastors from church a few days ago. And we were told how he has concerns about David being rough in Sunday church nursery. Apparently he has been pushing/poking other kids. We were so stressed out after hearing it! So we told the pastor that we'll start paying attention to his behavior at home and correct him right away. So at the mean time, one of us will be hanging around the nursery to keep an eye on him. But today is Easter Sunday, James didn't want to get stuck in the nursery. We took him with us into the congregation hall. At least he behaved today. When the main pastor finished praying before the service ended, David was like, "YaY!!!" The people behind us just giggled watching him.

35 Weeks

2008-03-17T21:12:00.003-04:00

That's about how big my tummy is right now. Sorry I wasn't too excited about posting the color one. My stretch marks are horrible! :) I guess they are going to stay for a long, long time. Sigh* I'm so tired everyday. I wish I could be pampered and encouraged as much as possible. I'm so easily irritated lately! O well... I had a good cry earlier, I feel better afterwards.

Long, long Winter, so it seems

2008-03-08T19:26:00.002-05:00

The weather doesn't seem to warm up for us. It's always snowing or pouring freezing rain. I feel bad for the trees outside. They freeze up, melt down, piled up with snow continuously. So yeah, David and I just camp at home most of the time.

We finally went on the hospital tour. It took me about an hour when touring Methodist Hospital in Arcadia 2 years ago. So I thought it would be about the same this time. We went in and popped out in 15 minutes! How great is that?!? I hope my labor would be as short. :D The maternity section is pretty small. They got everything behind one big door.

I'm 34 weeks pregnant. I've gained 25 lbs so far and I have about 6 more weeks to go. I'm projecting to gain about 30 lbs total, compare that to when I had David... I gained 45 lbs... I still don't understand how I did it.

Well, I just have to hang on for a few more weeks. And then, the real work begins...

Sunlight

2008-02-25T14:38:00.002-05:00

Do you know that they sell T-shirts/sweatshirts here saying "ITHACA IS COLD"? I guess it's cold even for people here. So whenever there's sun, it's a NICE day regardless the temperature.

I'm getting bigger and heavier the past month. I'm tired and sleepy all the time. It doesn't help when David is being cranky and clingy. He is so stubborn and refuses to listen to anyone! By the end of the day, I just don't want to reprimand him anymore. Plainly, out of breath.

And, I can't wait to see our second child!

The Strong National Museum of Play

2008-02-17T17:21:00.003-05:00

We went to the Strong National Museum of Play this past Saturday. It was all the way up in Rochester. We had to drive 2 hours there, originally to look at a dental practice that was on sale. Then we had a fairly good lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. The best part of that was of course the Tiramisu cheesecake. I think I haven't been there in awhile. I was very surprised by the cost of one slice of cheesecake. Over 7 bucks... geez.

The weather was great, although it was in the 20s. David was in a good mood all morning. He got tired in the afternoon but he held on pretty well in the museum because there was just so much to do. When James said that we would be visiting a museum, I was not so excited. You know, museum is usually a bit boring and there's a lot of walking involved! I never knew a museum could be so much fun for kids. The Strong museum was pretty much a giant play house! It was big and full of toys and interesting stuff. David was so excited and busy running around. At one point, we lost him because he ran off so fast.

It was a great a workout following him around. We ended up spending 2 hours there. It was very chaotic because of all the happy kids. We were very tired by the end of the day.

Happy Birthday, PO PO!!!

2008-02-10T00:22:00.001-05:00

Happy Birthday, Mom/Po Po! It's great to be able to celebrate it together this year. We didn't do much, just ate and slept, then ate again. So she said, coming to Ithaca is like staying in a pig farm because she can't lose weight here. ha-ha.

Gong Xi Fa Cai, Xin Nian Kuai Le!

2008-02-07T16:20:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year everyone! May this year bring you good health, prosperity and happiness!

Drama Face

2008-02-06T17:10:00.001-05:00

We were watching a TVB drama yesterday and there was a scene where the dad and son were having a fight. David didn't really like that part. He was trying to avoid watching it but he was curious about it. So, half closing his eyes and half peeking he watched it. It was a very funny sight.

James has a fellowship exam in Las Vegas this week. So off he went today. It was raining hard, most of the flight were canceled. He was stranded in Chicago for awhile so I hope he found his way to Vegas by now!

At least, David and I won't be alone for the Chinese New Year. David's grandma is here again with us. We don't have much plan yet for the New Year but we'll have a good time nevertheless. I don't expect to go out much in the snowy weather so I guess we'll camp at home and EAT!

Amen

2008-01-28T11:11:00.000-05:00

My Second Sonogram Scan

2008-01-25T17:05:00.001-05:00

I went to have my second ultrasound today. The baby looked bigger and is doing well. She wasn't in breach anymore. She had her head down and the legs were very much high in the tummy. When the technician was trying to get a view of her head, I guess the baby felt the pressure and she kicked pretty hard. She seems to enjoy playing with her own toes. Last time we saw her, she was playing with the toes. This time, she was still playing with her toes. Cute stuff. And, she has grown from less than a pound in November 30 to 2 lbs and 1 oz today. So, she is officially back on track in terms of growth. Yay, no more worries for not gaining enough weight. I have gained 16 lbs so far too and I am always hungry.

Having a baby girl sure is different. I can see how I am getting wider, literally... wider to the sides! I hope I won't be too round by the end of the third trimester. My back is hurting since a few days ago. The beauty of 3rd trimester is starting to kick in...