Sunny Happy Days

This weekend has flown by. On Friday, Edwin had a Guys Night (aka Drinks Night) so I stayed home with Lukas. I thought it was going to be a lonely night, but there was an impromptu neighborhood block party, so Lukas and I got to spend the warm evening outside getting to know some more of the neighbors. It was very nice because there were so many people who wanted to hold Lukas that I got to eat dinner without holding him. Another bonus is that I didn't even have to cook myself dinner since people had brought the fixings for tacos. People are so nice on our street. The neighborhood is one of the best things about where we live. I never expected to get to know so many of them. I have never gotten to know neighbors like this before. It's like something out of the 50's. They have these impromptu block parties pretty often, but we generally are not able to attend because we usually already have plans.

I had to leave a little early because Lukas started getting a little fussy because he was tired, but he went to sleep without a fight which is a blessing in it of itself. Then, I got to relax and watch one of my favorite movies that was playing on TV, "Sleepless in Seattle." I own the DVD, but there's just something about watching a movie live. Edwin got home before the movie ended, so there really wasn't any time to be lonely.

On Saturday, Steve and Pablo came by to meet Lukas. We had took a walk to downtown Park St. for some lunch at La Pinata which Pablo had introduced to us so many years ago. It was like old times. After they left, Edwin and I did some spring cleaning. We have been meaning to clean out the garage for a while. We have these garment racks that were in our old garage for our suits and outdoor gear that we never put together. The clothes have been hanging in Lukas's closet. We couldn't put the clothes in the garment racks until we found a place to put them in the garage which we needed to organize. We also were able to organize our front closet because we were able to put some of the coats into the garment racks. It felt so good to be able to clean something up. We're still not done. We are having people over for a 4th of July BBQ next week, so it's good motivation for us to clean more. We just need to donate more to the Goodwill. I'm leaning towards just throwing out the boxes of stuff in the garage that we don't know what is in them. Obviously, I haven't needed what is in them for almost 2 years. I would just remove them, but Edwin wants to go through them (probably because it's mostly his stuff!)

Today, we spent another beautiful day outdoors. We went to a Les Nubians concert at Stern Grove. We purchased tickets to see this band a few years ago at Bimbo's (a club near our old apartment) but realized that we couldn't go because we were scheduled to fly out of town at the same time. We were able to sell the tickets on craigslist, but we never got to see them in concert until today. It was a free outdoor concert where you just pack a picnic lunch and lounge on the grass. We were surrounded by lots of other families with young kids. We haven't been to Stern Grove in a few years, but I think that we will definitely be going more often with Lukas. He loved being outdoors and fell asleep looking at all the trees. He took a nice, long 2 hour nap which would have been longer if someone's football falling near us hadn't startled him.

Sniffles

This past week, Lukas has had a slight runny nose. It's not actually even runny. He's just had some mucus in his nose and a little congestion. We're not sure if he was ever really sick because he never complained. We haven't been with anyone who was sick either, so we're not sure where it came from. We haven't given him any medication since it didn't seem to bother him. He's really such a happy baby. We are very lucky. Occasionally, he'll cry when we try to put him to bed, but once he's out, it's OK.

One more week. That's all I have left of my maternity leave. Next week, Lukas starts daycare. I went to his daycare today to fill out some paperwork. His daycare provider's name is Mallory. It's a family daycare, meaning that she runs it out of her home. She's only allowed 4 infants per caretaker and there are 2 caretakers. He'll be the 4th child and 3 of the kids are part-time. Lukas will be the only one who is full-time. One of the reasons I chose her is the low ratio of children to caretakers. I'm sure that she will have more children over time, but at least in the beginning, he'll be getting lots of attention. Another reason, I chose her is that I like her gentle nature. I saw how she interacted with the other children while she was with Lukas. Today confirmed my feelings. She was taking care of Lukas and 2 other children while I was filling out the forms. She doesn't raise her voice, but she does tell the children to be gentle or distracts them with other toys if they want something they shouldn't have. I also watched one of the children who was 14 months say good-bye to her mother. This was not a child who was crying or screaming as mom left. Her mom did not have to sneak out the door while she was distracted. She happily waved good-bye to her mom as she left. Seeing this interaction made me feel a little better about leaving Lukas there. Still, Edwin is going to have to be the one to drop him off next week because I don't think that I can do it. I'll be sniffling even as they leave.

I'm sure that Lukas will be fine. He hasn't exhibited any separation anxiety at all. It will be me who has the separation anxiety. I'm trying to ease my transition back to work by taking Wednesdays off in July so that I'm only away from him 2 days at a time. Then, in August, I get 4 summer Fridays which I'll use. So for 2 months, I'll only be working 4 days a week, but getting full pay.

Here are the latest photos of Lukas and our trip to Pismo Beach:

Happy Father's Day!

So we did another little video for Father's Day. This past weekend, we went to Mason's First Birthday on Saturday. He has changed so much since we last saw him in January. Lukas had a great time watching Mason eat his birthday cake. More pictures to come later. We also got to catch up with Chris, Dana, and Jayden. They come up from Santa Cruz unexpectedly and so we got to catch up with them as well. It was so cute to see the 2 boys together. They are about 2 monthes apart, so we get a little preview to what Lukas will be doing shortly.

Chatting & Pismo Beach

Last weekend, we went to Pismo Beach for Jon & Kim's wedding. Jon has become a good surfing buddy of Edwin's and he worked with both of us while we were at KSA. It was a nice 4 hour drive down to the Central Coast. Pictures will be posted later. It was a good time, so we wish that we had more time there. We stayed in the downtown area and had some great seafood and clam chowder at Splash Cafe and Brad's. We also got to see a few whales while we were there.

Lukas did well in the hotel room that had paper thin walls. We heard the man next door snoring and the people upstairs pacing, so when Lukas woke up crying at 5:30AM, we hoped that our neighbors would be as forgiving.
We just got a new camcorder- the Mino Flip HD. I think that almost all new parents within the last 2 years have this camcorder. It's smaller and lighter than our camera and is good for making videos quickly. I'm pretty sure that we'll be using it often. We have been thinking about getting one for a while and we saw it at Costco, so decided to bite the bullet. Now, we just need to get the HD TV to watch them. Haha. It was actually good timing that we got it because Lukas has decided that he likes to talk now. He had quite a few conversations this past weekend with everyone he met. I'll post that later too.

This week, we got another surprise visit from our friend Bo from NYC. We got to have dinner and dessert with her and Show and reminisced about old times. Bo's blog was the first blog that I had ever read. She's inspired me to create one because she always has an opinion and can always make me laugh. Bo only lived out here for 14 months, but we have many happy memories with her in that short period. We all reflected on how things have changed and still stayed the same in the 5 years that have transpired since she left SF. Hmmm... I wonder who will show up unannounced in the Bay Area next week. I only have 2 more weeks left in my maternity leave, so I welcome more visitors!

Also, I was informed that my videos of Lukas from 2 postings ago were asking for you to become my friend to view them. I think that I have changed the setting so you can view it. If not, let me know that there are still technical difficulties!

Come Visit Us!

So we have had a lot of visitors in the past few weeks. It's been really great to be able to catch up with people and to introduce them to Lukas. Last week, Alex and Flora came to visit from Toronto. I haven't seen them in almost 10 years. It was great fun even though it was a short visit. We made breakfast and took them around for some quick SF tourist spots. We went down Lombard Street, walked around in Fisherman's Wharf, ate some clam chowder, and stopped by Chrissy Field for some photos of the Golden Gate Bridge. We did all of this in 2 hours. I told them it was a teaser tour to make them want to come back to visit soon. Edwin and I love to travel and we love to have friends take us around to cool spots. It's so much faster and much less stressful.

This week, our friend Vicki came for work and to visit. We walked along the beach and in downtown Alameda and just talked for hours. It was a great time. Chatting with Vicki was like food for my soul. Last weekend, I had Girls Night which helped to energize my spirit, but talking with Vicki helped me to feel like I was me again. I'm not just a mom. It's not that being a mom is bad or that I don't want to be a mom, but I think it is really easy to lose your identity when all your energy is spent taking care of a baby, house, and husband. It is a really hard job. When people say that it is hard for a new mom to shower or even to pee, it's not an exageration. You really don't have a lot of time for yourself or to reflect. You feel like you're living ground hog day over and over again where time resets every 2-3 hours based on feeding and sleeping schedules. Talking with Vicki reminded me of all the times when we lived in Chicago and we would meet each week and talk for hours over dinner. It's as if I went back in time. I used to spend a lot of time hanging out with my girlfriends talking about our problems and relationships. Now, there are usually husbands or children or both around. It's not that I don't want either Edwin or Lukas around, but I can't have the same types of conversations or even have the ability to finish conversations sometimes. Girls Night was great because it was a group of girls and we were able to pack in a lot of activities, but talking one-on-one with Vicki was nice because I could focus on just one conversation and we had no agenda. Edwin and I had a similar experience when Ellen came to town for a visit and we were able to go out with her and float around SF without an agenda and just having a spontaneous night hanging out.

I'm not a very spontaneous person. Most people would say that I'm a planner and I don't like to have changes to preset plans, but I love it when we have plans to just hang out and we go place to place with our friends all day long. It's very freeing.

Today, we got another out-of-town visitor. My friend Binh from college came up from LA unexpectedly. She came to visit the Jamba Juice tasting kitchen and we got to have lunch with Nikki. It was a leisurely lunch and reminded me of all the times in college when we would cut class and go shopping. Another blast from the past.

This weekend, we're going to Pismo Beach for a wedding with a former coworker from KSA. So many reminders of people from our past. Then, on Monday, I am meeting another old college friend Amy and her family for breakfast. I try to keep in touch with people and it seems to get harder as the years go by, so I am so happy when people come to visit and call me up when they are in town. I used to feel a little hurt if people didn't call me to meet up when they came to SF, stay with me, or call me last minute since it felt like I was last on their list to call. Now, I don't take it personally. There have been a few times myself when I have not been able to see everyone I wanted to see on a trip or called last minute to see if people are free to meet. Now, I am just happy if our schedules work and we are able to meet up and catch up. I have come to realize that everyone just gets exponentially busier when you add another person to your life such as significant others or kids. Everyone's got a schedule- even when they are only 3 months old.

My point after all this reminiscing? It would make me so happy if you would come out and visit us! And if you can't visit, call me and tell me what's going on with you.

Blink and You Might Miss It

People talk about missing their children's learning milestones while they are at work like their child's first word or first steps. Well, yesterday, I was home alone with Lukas and I missed one. I had put Lukas down on his play mat for some tummy time. I usually will either play with him or come in and out of the room to get other things. Since it's on the floor, he can't really injure himself too much since he can't crawl. So I stepped out of the room to go to the bathroom. Normally, Lukas doesn't like tummy time and will usually complain vocally while he is on his stomach. I noticed that he seemed a little quiet as I returned to the room, but I thought maybe he has learned to like being on his tummy or just stopped complaining. To my surprise, he had rolled over and turned onto his back! I think he was either stunned or just happy to be off his tummy because he was just quietly looking up when I entered the room. I couldn't believe it. I was there and I missed it!

As soon as I realized what had happened, I turned him over on his stomach and told him to do it again. (I'm not sure he understood me, but he probably knew something was up because I was talking excitedly and looking frantically for the camera.) He actually did it again while I was watching this time, but unfortunately, I couldn't get the camera to turn on fast enough and all I got on video was him lying on his back instead of the action of him rolling onto his back. Of course I tried to get him to do it a third time, but was unsuccessful. I tried to get him to do it again today and even demonstrated to him, but he still wouldn't do it. I guess it will be like his giggle- we'll get to see it a few times before he actually lets us catch it on film.

Here are a couple of videos that we did get. This is a video of a giggle session that Edwin and Lukas had before bedtime:


Here is a video of Lukas and Edwin playing Nai-Nai-Nai-Ba which is basically the Japanese version of Peekaboo (sorry it's sideways!):

Girls Night

What a difference a weekend makes. By the end of the week, I am totally frazzled and exhausted. Last night, I had a fun girls day and spent 8 hours away from Lukas- the longest time I have been away from him since he was born. It was both needed and hard. Absence does make the heart grow fonder. We started the afternoon wedding dress shopping with Show. Unfortunately, they wouldn't let us take any pictures at Amy Kuschel where Show tried on all these beautiful dresses. Show looked great in every dress since she's tall and slender. Kaori, Matilde, Jeannette, and Corinne all joined in and we had a nostalgic walk down memory lane as we remembered our own weddings. For a future Girls Night, I think that we should all wear our wedding dresses to a fancy dinner so that we get another use out of them. Unfortunately, that would require us all to open the martinized boxes that they are sealed in. I think it would be great fun, but all the girls thought that it was a bit silly.

We went to a second dress shop, but the dresses were not the right style and we got there too close to closing time, so they wouldn't let her try on any dresses. Nikki and Michelle joined us for dinner at Doobu in Japantown and then had some crepes for dessert. Kaori, Matilde, Show, and I stayed for a little karaoke. It was so nice to be with my girlfriends and be able to finish conversations without the distractions (ie-kids!) We had so much fun that we decided to try and plan a Girls Night every other month. Can't wait until the next one.

Here are some photos from our trip to Chicago for Memorial Day weekend.

Throwing out the Books

Lukas has been such a great sleeper since he was born which I say he got from me. I used to feed him, change him, play with him, and put him to sleep about every 2 hours from 10AM to about midnight. Then, at midnight, he would sleep pretty soundly until around 5 or 6AM which people would say was good. Then I started reading more books which say that he needs more sleep like he should be sleeping 3-4 hour stretches in the afternoons and then like 10-12 hours a night. (We're not worried about him gaining weight or needing to eat since he's 14lb and 5 oz as of last Thursday and 24.5 inches long which puts him in the 75th percentile for weight and height.) I was happy thinking that he was getting enough sleep and I was getting enough sleep. Now I have ruined it all by trying to make him sleep more. He never used to cry when I put him to sleep, but for the past few days, that's all he does when I try to get him to sleep. He just doesn't want to sleep that much. His naps have been getting shorter and shorter so he only naps during the day for 30 minutes to an hour. I know I just need to surrender and let him be. That's how it was with the breastfeeding. There were times when I felt like he was telling me that he didn't need to eat anymore and that he would fight me, but when I started listening to him and didn't force him to eat, it all got a lot easier. (All the books said that I needed to feed him both breasts, but I have a good milk supply, so he only needs one side.) I now know that he's a big boy, so I don't have to worry about him not eating enough anyway.

It's been a struggle this week. I used to rock him to sleep and everyone says that's bad because he needs to learn to sleep on his own. Sometimes he does sleep on his own, but sometimes I think that he still needs help. The one thing that I have done is that he is able to sleep throughout the night without eating. He's been going down around 10 and then waking up around 5 or 6AM to eat. I almost fed him last night at 2:30AM, but I decided to just give him his pacifier (for an hour!) and suck it up. (Ha ha! Pun intended.) He slept through the night without eating just fine. I don't want him to start waking up in the middle of the night and expecting to eat so that it becomes a habit. As a result, we took a morning nap from 8:30-11:30AM. Don't ask me what I'm going to do when I go back to work.

I know that he needs sleep, so I'm going to focus on getting him to sleep more, but these books don't seem to be helping me on the how to get him to sleep more. The crying method doesn't seem to work. That just leaves him so exhausted that he falls asleep after crying for hours. He just gets all worked up and then can't calm himself. If I can rock him to sleep in half an hour, that seems faster to me and then neither one of us is upset. He'll learn to go to sleep on his own some day. I don't expect a 3.5 month old to be able to do that yet. All the kid wants to do is eat, sleep, and play. Sometimes, he'll fall asleep himself if he's just swaddled and given a pacifier, but that doesn't always work, so when it does I should be thankful. If it doesn't, I'm just going to rock my baby to sleep. It's like that lullaby- "If that mockingbird won't sing, mama's gonna buy herself a diamond ring..." Well, maybe those aren't the exact lyrics, but I like them better that way!