Return of the Jedi

Today's Mia's first Halloween. To satisfy the daddy's Star Wars dream, we are dressed in a family theme.

 Yoda's reaching for the light sabre.

 Master Yoda is not cooperating!

 Pricess Leia and Master Yoda

Smiley master

Swimming Again

Mom sent two more swimming floats our way. The baby tube Mia has been using since birth is now too small for her neck so we gave up swimming for some time. The new float goes around her waist instead of neck so she can't breathe better. The only down side is her shoulders and upper back are exposed since we kind of use the tub as both a swimming pool and a soaking tub for her. We swam for the first time in the new float yesterday. I poured warm water over her back so she did not get a chill. It took a minute to get the hang of it and start loving it. I was really pleased.

Crawling

Mia's now crawling. Very slowly and not smooth since she plunges down on the way to her destination. Today her favorite game was to destoy the tower we built in front of her using her color blocks. She crawled in front and reached out to pushed the blocks down. If we built it in another direction, she would come straight after it and push it down again. She could not get enough of it.

First Fish

Two days in a row, Mia had Salmon and seemed to like it. I think she's a meat eater just like her daddy. She does not like veggies or fruits as much

First Meat

Mia had her first chicken meal today with spinach puree. I cooked stir fry chicken for dinner and gave her four small chunks. I mashed it with a spoon and fed her with my finger. Because it was marinaded in soy sauce, she really enjoyed it. I hope this is the start of a well balanced diet for the years to come.

Aquarium

I havd Columbus Day off today so I took Mia to DC to meet up with Lu and friend. Three moms, one baby, two toddlers, we met up at the National Aquarium and then went to eat Sichuan food.

It was Mia's first time in DC and it was the first time I ever took baby out in a car on my own (not counting one doctor's visit). It was quite a production to get her ready and out the house. We were supposed to meet at 10:30 and we all got there from different directions at 11:30. With a baby, it's impossible to keep your schedule straight now. So many things are out of your control.

I pushed the stroller for a good twenty some minutes from my work to the Commerce Building where it housed the aquarium. It was tiny compared to the aquarium in Baltimore but just right to keep Mia's attention. She took a nap earlier in the car so she was awake the entire time and was very excited to see the fish, the allegator, the snakes, the sharks, and the rays... For a small aquarim, they offer a decent collection of sea life. We left the stroller at the gate (no checkin) and I carried her in the baby b'jorn. This way she could see what was going on. After seeing Mia so interested in everything when we were walking around in DC and inside the aquarium, I decided that it was about time to take her out more often now that she can appreciate things more.

Lunch was crazy. We got one table and another small table just to accommodate the stroller since I could not leave Mia outside the stroller. I fed her some noodles with tomato and egg broth. She ate some flavored restaurant food. I know it's bad but there is a first time for everything. :) This was her first noodle experience. We ate as fast as we could. I had to leave the table twice to change her and feed her. Now I am starting to see more and more into the hardship and sacrifice of motherhood. In the past I was always first stuffing my face so I don't get cranky. Now she has to come first. Since this is practically where I eat every other day at work. The owner and all the waiters and waitresses know me. They all came to see Mia and praised her for her large eyes. Typical for Chinese who favor large eyes. It was like introducing her to my extended family. I was proud that she did not make a fuss over lunch.

Home Made Baby Food

Julee stopped today to make baby food with me. I went to Whole Food yesterday and got a bunch of organic veggies and fruits. It took us a little over an hour to cook a dozen little jars of food. We made baby peas, pears, apples, squash, sweet potato and carrots. Mia tried a few of them and her favorite of the butternut squash.

Mia has very small appetite and generally does not like the store bought jar food. Hopefully she will eat more  of the fresh food.



Being first time mom, I am ambitious to do my best. Maybe I will be able to keep up with this for some time. Even if it's not every day.

8 months at Oktoberfest

Mia is 8 months today. She's now 18 lbs 9 ozs and quite a handful to handle. She just started propping herself up on her knees and knows how to rock back and forth. Crawling is any day now I think. We went out to lunch at Mon Ami Gabi. I fed her many small morsels of a french baguette. It's the first time she had bread. She seemed to love carbs!!! After lunch, we went to the Oktoberfest at the town center. It was a beautiful Fall day in the mid 80s. There were many food stalls and festivities. People dressed up and danced in what I guess was traditional German outfits for Oktoberfest.

We also waited in line for frozen yogurt. It was yummy. She's now ready to open for month and try my food every time I eat. I let her smell the food and explain what it was and told her she was not ready for it yet. She's experimented with many thing now.

Cold

Mia's been having a cold for a few days. She has runny nose, a cough and sneezes from time to time. The weather is bad lately. It's been cold and raining the whole weekend. We rescheduled her music together class so we will stay in tomorrow. I also got a cold, not sure if she gave it to me or I gave it to her. If she does not get better soon, we will need to take her in to see the doctor.

Vinayam and Dheeram

Last night, after weeks of absence, I finally made it to my favorite Monday yoga class. It was almost a two and half hour class. Since I returned to it, I have been leaving a bit early to get home in time to feed Mia, just in case. My bones were aching for a stretch and I got what I needed. As I tried to focus on my standing pose, I could not help but noticing the writings on the wall. Vinayam (Gentleness) and Dheeram (Patience) in ancient Sanskrit reminded me what I was building up in my practice and how I was in reality. Lately especially when Mia refused to eat solid food after me prepping it time and time again, I got really frustrated with her. I was roughing her and trying to shove food into her mouth, while she resisted with all might. I was practically wrestling with a seven month old who could not yet express herself in words. She was fiercely complaining in her blabbing way but I pretended that I did not see. For years, everyone said children would teach me patience. Mike always said I was the most impatient person in the whole world. It might really be true. Patience does not come over night. I am trying really hard. I often thought when I had my own child, I'be be gentle but the past weekend I was not. Since last night's practice, I thought I'd put myself in Mia's shoes. How would I feel if someone twenty times stronger tried to shove food in my month and I could not even say I did not like it. If I wanted to play with my food because I was curious and I did not understand food was not toy, so what? I thought I'd try harder from now on. First thing is to always be gentle and kind. Maybe then patience will come.

Taste of All Kinds

Mia has been on solid food for almost 7 weeks now. She's tried peach, apple, pear, carrot, sweet potato, peas, avacado, banana, squash, rice cereal, egg yolk, and porridge. Her favorite is the rice cereal and the least favoriate is squash.We do two solid meals a day plus a snack mid morning. She's taking a bit more than a few spoons each time. She also drank water from my cup, hence I gave her the sippy cup.

I went on a shopping spree today at H&M buying Fall/Winter outfits for Mia. Here is her winter hat. She's just like a doll and I have been enjoying dressing her up.

Mike had to work overtime today so I gave Mia a bath myself, two days in a row. I put her in the laundry basket so she could not escape while I got the bath ready. She was quite curious about her new 'nest' which kept her attention for a while.

Music Together 2

We went to Music Together again today. We tried different musical instruments and danced. Mia kept babbling on the way home. She's starting to get it.

Road Trip w/o Mia to Falling Water, PA

I went on an overnight road trip on Friday with the girls to Falling Water, Pensylvania (a home built in 1936 over a water fall for the Kaufmann family by the architect Frank Lloyd Wright). It was the first time since Mia's birth that I did not spend the night with her. It was my first time off mom duty.

It was a great trip. The house was fabulous and ingeneous and visionary for its era. It's so organically designed that it fits right into the surrounding.  In many places, we saw boulders designed as part of the house. It's amazing to see a view of the waterfall running under the house from all the balconies and hear its soothing sound.

 

We went to Out of the Fire for dinner off Hwy 31. I had veal osso bucco and three glasses of Malbec. It was BYOB so it worked out perfectly. This was also the first time I drank wine since I got pregnant. I have missed a glass a red wine so much and last ngiht I got my fill of it to go cold turkey again for a few more months.

On Saturday we went to the Ohiopyle State Park, rent bikes and rode along the Youghiogheny River. The weather just turned a bit chilly but it was a pleasant ride. I haven't ridden a bike for fourteen years and had to do a practice ride. Good thing I did not really forget otherise all those years of maneuvering in and out of traffic in the streets of Beijing would have gone to waste. 

I called home three times to check on Mia. She was behaving like an angel and took the bottle well this weekend. In fact I trusted Mike so much I was not too worried and truly enjoyed the trip. I feel reenergized now to take back on my work and motherhood duties.

Accident

Mia had a swim today in the tub. When Mike put her in her little tub and rinsed her off with a bowl of 'warm' water as our usual practice, he forgot to test the water. I heard a shriek of pain coming out of Mia and I jumped out of my tub. Mike picked her up and I put in my hand in the water and realized it was really hot. I immediately went hysterical and started crying in agony. I am not proud of it as I record this now but I was in total panic. I resented Mike for his mistake. Testing temperature should be parenting 101. After seven months, how can you have a burning incident?! I could not believe it! After much commotion, we finally put some cold towel on Mia to cool her off. Her butt, thighs and legs were red and she was clearly in distress. After the skin cooled off a bit, we put Vaseline on her. I fed her and she seemed to have calmed down by then. Mike was full of guilt and we checked her skin again after her feeding. I think I was more in distress then she was. I hugged her tight after she dozed off and I sang her a lullaby before I put her in her crib. I don't think I ever felt this much guilt and panic since her birth. When she cried out of pain, it was like someone put a sharp knife in my heart. I am not even exaggerating. Oh my god. Parenting is not easy. My little sweet pea is so low maintenance. Since she never complains much, I feel even worse when we do something bad like this. I hope she will be ok.

Music Together

We went to the first Music Together class today. We sang songs, jumped around, and played music instruments. Mia seemed to have enjoyed her first music class. The children there were of mixed age. The oldest was five years old. Mia and two twin girls were the youngest (7 months old).

Mike participated as well since there were many dads there too.

DR's Visit

We had to go in this morning to check on Mia's dry cough. It's been five days since I started her on the hard boiled egg yolk. We were concerned that the yolk might have lodged in her throat. She's been coughing every day as if she needed to clear her throat. In addition to the cough, her left eye also looked infected again.

The doctor listened to her lungs and checked her ears for signs of infection and did not find anything alarming. She thought it could be a post cold symptom and it would go away on its own. We certainly hope so. She looked like she was out of air sometimes when the coughing fix came.

In the afternoon we took Mia to Germantown to meet up with some friends for lunch. We went to a Japanese restaurant for sushi. Because the place was so crowded, for the first time, she could not sit in the car seat. We placed the seat on the floor and were afraid that people would kick her by accident. Therefore Mike had to hold her the entire meal. She was again a good baby and did not fuss once. I guess all this training of eating out and meeting people is paying off. We could actually enjoy our meal without a fussy baby interrupting us every two seconds.

New Food

Today the nanny was on vacation. I took care of Mia while working for the day. She was very good. She napped twice for about four hours and played on the computer room floor while I worked. I made her steamed egg (yolk only) for the first time for lunch and she ate almost half. Then in the evening, we tried rice porridge instead of the boxed rice cereal.  I have to admit, freshly cooked meals taste a lot better. Mia obviously enjoyed the new food. I feel that I should cook more. It does not really take that much energy and some of the jarred food tastes awful. I don't blame her for cringing her little nose each time she has a bite.

7 months today

Mia is seven months today. Lately we've been having a handful. Earthquake, hurricane Irene, tropical storm Lee... I hope these are not signs for the end of the world in 2012. :) Today I was literally two minutes away from home but the one lane bridge leading home was flooded and police blocked the road. I had to take a detour to go home. It took me almost two hours.

As a result, I did not get to spend much time with Mia.  She's been coughing a bit and we don't know why. I started her on egg yolk three days ago and she's been coughing since. I stopped it yesterday, wanting to see if she's allergic to it. Today the coughing seems less but is still present. She's been so active and not eating as much as she should. I am a little concerned.

A Sad Day

I got the news today from my girlfriend whose baby girl passed away after being born prematurely at 6 months. I cannot imagine carrying someone inside for so long and then losing her. I went to Mia's room, picked her up and hugged her tight.

We can't take anything for granted in this world. Having a baby for one, is a blessing and not a right. I am grateful that I have Mia.

Family Dinner

Yesterday we went to my in-laws to celebrate Mia's great grandmother's 79th birthday. We brought the high chair and Mia sat at the dinner table with everyone for the first time. We held hands and said a prayer before dinner and Mia was a part of it. She's now very acrobatic and active.

After six months, Mia's been more frendly with the 'family'. This week her favorite person was aunt Liz. This picture was total coincidence but what synchronization!

 Grandpa was always her favorite since she was tiny. Now she could sit and play with him forever. She was in such a good mood yesterday, she smiled the whole afternoon.