Upcoming Trip

We are planning to go to China and bring Mia to see her grand parents in a few months. For babies under 2 years old, the airline charges 10% of the adult ticket and tax. I was told that I could ask for a bassinet so she could sleep in it during the trip. It will be a 14 hour long trip and I can hardly imagine what's going to happen. However I am very excited. I think in between, we will probably take her out on a short overnight trip somewhere to see how she will react to new environment.

First Tooth!

After 11 and half months, Mia's finally broken out her first baby booth. Mike pointed it out to me. I was so excited. It was tiny and in the middle of the lower gum.

Happy Year of the Dragon

Today is the last day of the year of the Rabbit. We went to Jasmine Garden for lunch to celebrate with some friends. Jenny is 30 weeks pregnant and will have a baby in March. Our little Mia will turn one in a couple of weeks. How time flies!

I ordered a bowl of egg drop soup for her and gave her table food such as garlic spinach, a little tid bit of ribs and some spicy fish (just the fleshy part without the hot peppers). She ate well and certainly enjoyed the high sodium meal.

Unfortunately we forgot to take a family photo at lunch so we only have one when we got back home. We are both wearing traditional Chinese outfits. I enjoy pairing up dresses with my daughter. It's almost like playing house. This is the added benefit of having a girl.

The Impromtu Seamtress

 This long weekend I became addicted to my new sewing machine. I managed to read thru the manual and spent an hour just to assemble the machine. God knows I hate reading manuals! But once the machine is set up, there was no stopping me. I have never touched a sewing machine in my life but I was a demon with it!!! I made the first sun dress following an online DIY instruction.

I first cut out two squares.

 Then cut the J shape arm hole.

 Then cut the stirps for ruffle and tie.

 Gathered the ruffles.

 Sewed the ruffle with the main dress.

 Made the strip for bow and tie.

 Hemed the arm hole, the body of dress and sewed the casting for the tie.

 Hemed the ruffle.

Fitted the tie via the casting and tied the bow.

Voilà!!!

 Mia did not seem too keen on her new dress but I was very pleased.

Last night I started a new project using the rest of the fabric and designed my own dress without instruction. This time I had to redo quite a few times because the order of things and I lacked of skills such as cutting the right shapes, sewing edges and hemming and most importantly making pieces fit! The dress ended up almost too small but after several alterations, here it is:

Hibachi & Sewing

 We went to Benihana today and Mia had her first Hibachi experience. The smoke might not have been so great for her since she started coughing a little today. It was quick. She had a little bit of scallop for the first time and had some stired fried rice and mushrooms.

We went to Joan Fabrics to get some elastic laces and fabrics. I got a sewing machine from my in-laws for Christmas and it created some enthusiasm in me last night. I decided I was going to make a sun dress for Mia. I am good with handle sewing but I had never sewn with a machine in my life. I found some DIY instruction for making a sun dress online. I am going to attempt to set up the sewing machine myself today. Back in high school, my dream was to become a fashion designer. When I grew up, I still love fashion but not the design part so much. Maybe now it's time to rekindle my old passion and become a baby fashion designer. :)

We also found another gate today so the entire staircase is now fully blocked, bottom and up. Mia is restricted to the 1st floor now.

2nd Fever

It snowed today and was very cold. When I got home I found out that Mia had a fever and did not eat well. I got sick this weekend and probably gave something to her. Or it's because of the music together class yesterday.. She's at sleep now and I feel really crappy myself and had to take Tylenols. Work has been crazy so I can't really take any sick leave. Hopefully we will both feel better tomorrow.

Vision Board

Today I went to Angel's for the 2012 Vision Board Party. Basically we cut out pictures and/or words from magazines and make collages on a paper board to present our own vision for the new year. It's not so much of new year resolution or even goals. It's just a vision of what we may want to be or work on or simply day dreams for the year. For me I made up several themes: Family Life, Love, Health, Work, More for a mom (what I want to do for myself), Friends, Travel and General Mindset. For Mia, I want to be able to enjoy motherhood more and not see it as the end of my life rather a beginning of a new life. I also want to create a safe environment for her, cook healthy food for her and develop good/diverse eating habit for her and simply have fun. For myself, on top of the list, I'd like to go to the beach (does not have to be fancy, just anywhere with water), Japan/China is still on the list but has to wait till work situation settles down. I'd like to do the peacock stance without wall in yoga class and continue to tone myself and regain my flat belly. For relationship, I'd like to go on more dates with Mike, go travel and stay at a cottage somewhere, take a cooking class, and be more loving towards him. I'd like to spend more time with friends and pick up where I left off since I got pregnant... enjoy some cocktails and occassional vodka shots, chocolates! For general mindset, I'd like just being me but pursuing calm, joy, letting loose... and working on not getting late. For work, I want to learn new skills and be ready for change and anything.

Mia's favorite gift

Mia's favorite gift was the music table from me for this Christmas.It has multiple options, you can play music (over 50 songs) when you touch a button or make any movement on the table surface, you can learn Spanish, you can learn ABC, 123, or you can simply play (which produces noises and sounds only). When she first received it, she started swinging her hips and shaking her head as the music went. I think her music class is paying off and she's developed a liking to music. Compared to me who don't even know how to read notes, I really want her to be able to know and appreciate music. Her music class starts again this Sunday. I even learned to sing a few songs now. We go as a family and we all enjoy the 50 minutes of singing and simply silly playing.

Happy New Year!

Today is the first day of 2012. It was uneventful for Mia. We had a walk in the afternoon and carried out our normal business of eating, taking two naps, eating again, playing, etc.

For me though it was the first time Mia offered her food and shared with me. It was cheddar cheese, her favorite food. When I reached over to talk to her, she extended her fist and generously fed a piece of cheese into my mouth. Seeing me chewing and saying thank you, she smiled. That was beautiful to me since she shared her favorite food with ME! To make sure that was not an accident, I waited and she fed me two more pieces in a row. When it came to the last piece on her tray, she was going to feed me but turned half way and shoved it into her own mouth. I guess she realized that was it...

Last night we went to a house party. Years ago, I started a tradition to invite friends over for New Year's Eve. This year it took place at my friend Lu's house. What's funny is every year as time goes by, there is more addition to the party. Lu's already a mother of two boys and I now have Mia. Over dinner, the moms could not eat first but need to feed the young. Good thing was Mia behaved really well last night and ate her meal pretty quickly without a fuss. I passed her to Mike then I was able to enjoy three servings of Lu's mother-in-law's cooking. Shanghai cuisine, home style. Lu's younger son is only two months old than Mia, the two of them played well together. We joked about having a marriage contract for the two of them as what we called in China "baby marriage". How life changes with a child! We left around 7:45PM, not even watching the NYE celebration on TV for a second, let alone waiting for the clock to turn to 2012. Traiditionally we didn't join to crowd and pay premium price to stay at a club to celebrate NYE, so we did not feel too much of a contrast. I do miss my friends though. Now everyone lives far away and even when we get to see each other, the children are tying our hands, we don't get to chat as much. Hopefully when Mia grows up a bit, things will be back to normal.

Daddy's Lil' Girl

It's becoming more and more apparent that Mia prefers Mike. When Mike leaves the house, she would cry, crawl over to him, hold on to his pant leg and cry until he picks her up again. As for me, when I say bye to her, she smiles and waves back bye bye. Since I have been nursing her since she was a new born and seriously gave it all, I feel so "used" even though I like that she's so close to her dad.

Mike told me today when she craweled over to him and operned her arms for hugs, she said "dadda". I am so jealous. So far she hasn't even uttered the word "mama" too many times but she's been babbling "baba" or "dadda" all the time! Sigh!

- Mia wearing daddy's gift of Capital jersey for #8 Ovechkin.

First X'mas

Mia had her first Christmas! For days we have been defending the presents under the tree from being torn up by her. She easily yanked off a few of the bows off nicely wrapped boxes. For now, presents are not important but the wrapping paper is so much fun.

She got a bunch of presents, out of which mine was her favorite - a music table that sings over 50 songs, make animal noises, says ABCs, counts 123s, etc. She's been holding up against it and shaking her head and butt when the music starts. Apparently that's a new trick she's developed, which surprised me.

I have been sick with fever since last Thursday. It was not the most comfortable Christmas for me but it was meaningful with Mia with us.

First Tree

we finished decorating the tree this Sunday. Mia looked like such a big girl in this picture.

P.S. This is what the tree looked like on Christmas Eve before we opened all the gifts. This year it was the first time we had everyone coming over to our house!

Standing

Mia can stand up now with some help. She also knows how to get down, basically just butt flop onto the floor. Today my in laws came for a visit. Mia with grandma's help, climbed up the sun room day bed. When she turned around, she joined us clapping her hands. Now she's becoming really fun.

Tofu

Mia had Tofu for the first time today. I cooked Ma Po Tofu for dinner. Before I put spice in it, I lighted salted the tofu and ground pork and saved some for her dinner. I was completely surprised that she finished a big portion. What's more interesting was she grabbed the spoon at the end and fed herself with a little direction from me THREE pieces of tofu. She's making good progress in her mobile skills. It amazes me to see a little almost motionless thing grow into a little human being full of emotions and her own will.

Children's Holiday Party

We went to the Children's Holiday Party at my work today. Mia is too little to do anything but we took another Santa's picture. This time Mike was holding her and we were all in the picture. She did not cry. There were face painters, balloon people, slides, and a little amuzement park. We just walked around with her.

She was really afraid of the purple blow-up dinasaur that was 9 foot tall. Kids were bouncing in this fenced up play pen with the dinasaur in the center. When we went to the exit where this boy slid out with a scream, Mia started screaming and clenching onto me. I walked away comforting her. I was really curious what went through her mind. She has never seemed to be in fear of anything before.Maybe next year she will be able to enjoy more.

Yesterday evening we went to a friend's house for x'mas party. Mia stayed up till 7:30 and did not get to eat till late. She behaved well. There were ton of kids at the party. It's amazing how your life changes in a couple of years. I remember only a few years ago, I was downing vokka shots at the same party with the same groups of people. Now almost everyone has a baby or two... The basement was full of toys and babies. The host even hired two sitters to watch over them so the adults can have a normal time!

The lights are up (they did not show up magically, kudos to Mike!). We still need to put more ornaments on the tree but we do have the tree. I feel so domesticated now.

Little Critter

Mia has been climbing the stairs. Yesterday she successfully conquered one section of the stairs leading upstairs. As I was filming her, she tried to climb onto the second section of the stairs and she rolled off the stairs (3 steps) and fell on the carpet. I did not catch her. She was ok.

We tried to buy more gates for both end of the stairway going upstairs but Babies R Us sold out. We have to watch her closely before the gates are up.

Cristmas Tree

we selected a 7 foot Christimas tree this past Sunday. Lights are not all up yet. We will decorate with Mia this week.

First Thanksgiving

Mia had her first Thanksgiving this weekend. I had five days off so it was nice to spend so much time with her. We went to my in laws for dinner. We were supposed to be there at 2 PM  but her nap took longer. By the time we went to get gas, she had an "accident". We had to double back home to give her a bath and change her clothes. Nowadays getting out of the house is such a challenge. We found ourselves late for most of our appointments/events. It was also like packing up the house each time we went out. So by the time we got to our dinner, it was already three and they already finished eating (Turkey can't wait!) Mia missed her first pictures with the turkey.

Santa's in Town

I heard that each year, the "Santa" link is extremely long over the weekend. To beat the crowd, we went to the Mall today after work to see Santa instead and of course take Mia's first picture with Santa. When we got there around 6:30, the line was short and in five minutes it was jour turn. However as soon as Mike put Mia in Santa's arms, she started crying. We were not able to calm her down even after waiting for two groups of babies finishing taking their turn. I was hoping to have Mia's picture with Santa as this year's Christmas card picture but look at this!

She clinged to me for dear life in all the pictures with me but she had her good reason. Overall she was a good sport and tolerated us eating diner out even though it was her dinner, bath and sleep time normally. She even waited till I got all my new makeup at Macy's. We rushed by the Thanksgiving shopping crowd. I did not have time to take a glance of all the Sales stuff. It's amazing how your life changes and how you adapt to be efficient and self-sacrificing.

Shopping Together

x'mas is almost here and it's one of the most stressful time of the year for me because I have to search for gifts for everyone in the family.

Sunday evening after a three hour nap with Mia, we went out shopping. The Town Center is well lit with Christmas trees, raendeer, and shops' neon lights. It was the first time I took Mia out in a carrier at night and shopping. We picked out a blue sweater for aunt Lia and a x'mas tree bird ornament for the bird-loving grandpa.