No More Milk!

Today was a milestone for both me and Lukas. Today was the day that I stopped breastfeeding. It's been 16 months since Lukas was born. It's something that I have been sharing with Lukas for every day of his life. I hear that it can be difficult for some babies to wean. Lukas, as usual, was easy. The morning feeding was the last one that we had because I had heard from friends that the evening one would be harder to give up (not at all for Lukas) and because I could at least sleep while nursing in the morning. (If I can do 2 things at once, and one of them is sleep, that is the best option for me!)

So I was mentally prepared for Lukas to protest or at least have a look of confusion when I handed him the bottle this morning. Nothing. He just took the bottle and started drinking. He drank every last drop, handed me the bottle, and said, "All done." And that was the end of breastfeeding. "All done."

Part of me wants him to miss our time together, but it's definitely time. I never had any intention of breastfeeding for this long. My goal was to make it to one year. That's pretty standard. What I found was that at one year, Lukas was still nursing 4-5 times a day. You can't really cut nursing cold turkey and so I had to gradually stop. First, I would mix his bottles with half cow's milk and half breastmilk to acclimate him. We did that for a few weeks until we ran out of frozen milk. Then, I reduced the number of feedings. I was having some painful issues that I will spare you the details, but it meant that I couldn't stop breastfeeding because I needed to remove the milk. Then, Lukas would get sick and they say that you shouldn't try and change things when they are sick. Then, we were going on vacation and we didn't want to do it in a different environment. So, we got home, we are settled and so here we are. Done.

Though I will miss it in some ways, I am also looking forward to the freedom. Being tethered to a nursing pump totally sucks so I was actually happier about being done with the pump than I am about stopping breastfeeding. However, there were a few nights where it would have been nice to not have to race home to feed Lukas. And there were a few close calls at work that threatened travel with an overnight stay. I was just in denial about what I would have done.

Lukas has been talking up a storm. He's been mimicking a lot. He has been saying "outside," "Elmo," and cheese. We have lots of pictures to share, but I still need to add my comments, so I'll hopefully have another posting soon.

Where Have We Been?

I wonder if anyone is still reading this blog. It's been over a month since my last post. It's not that I haven't wanted to post, but it has been so long that I just kept procrastinating. I guess it's like exercising (not that I would know) in that if you do it regularly, it's not that painful. But if you get out of the routine, it's a lot harder to get back into it.

So to keep the pressure low, I'm going to keep this one short. I know I'm behind on sharing photos and videos. We're going on vacation for a week to Miami and Key West on Sunday. I can't wait!

Baby Steps

This past weekend was another nice weekend spent with great weather and even better friends. On Friday, we had dinner with the Banerjees in Walnut Creek. Who knew that it would be so crowded that Tomatina would have an hour long wait? We opted for a Vietnamese place that was clean and had no wait. Figures that all the white people in WC don't want to eat in the tasty hole-in-the-wall restaurant. Got a little ice cream for dessert and by the time we bathed the kids, it was already past 10PM and we had to head home since it was way past Lukas's bedtime and he skipped his afternoon nap.

On Saturday morning, Lukas was G-R-U-M-P-Y. He woke up around the same time at 7AM. I thought he might fall back asleep after eating, but he didn't and was not happy to just hang out in bed while Mom & Dad slept. We had plans to go to the zoo for Tyler's 2nd birthday, so we dragged ourselves out of bed, ate breakfast, and finally got ourselves out the door and headed for the Oakland Zoo at around 11. Spending the day outside in the beautiful weather and with friends definitely improved all of our moods.

We went to the zoo about a month ago, but we managed to do some different things that we didn't get to do during our first visit. Last time, we went to the petting zoo too late, but this time, Lukas got to see and pet the goats. I would have thought he would be scared of them since they were bigger than him and there were swarms of kids, but he just walked right up to the goats with the rest of the kids. We also took him for a ride on the train. He enjoyed it, but not as much as the birthday boy. We saw a few animals that we didn't see the last time, but mostly, we just hung out and talked.

Since we missed Tomatina on Friday, we decided to try again, but this time in Alameda. There was a small wait, but they were able to accommodate all 11 of us. We got more ice cream, bathed the kids again, and then everyone left our house around 11. I'm noticing a trend here. Guess this is what it means to have a social life with kids. Used to be dinner, maybe a movie, or talking until until 1AM. Now everyone is in bed by midnight.

On Sunday, Edwin did a bunch of yardwork while I reorganized stuff in the house. It was such a warm day and Lukas ended up napping for almost 3 hours. I wish I could predict when he will do that. We had dinner at our friends Heather, Shannon, and Katie's house and enjoyed more kid-friendly entertainment.

I also forgot to mention that Lukas has started walking. You would think that I would remember such a momentus event, but it kind of happened gradually. First, he was able to take 2-3 steps. But about 1-2 weeks ago on a Saturday, he started being able to stand from a seated position by doing a downward dog and kept doing that to walk. He was taking 5-6 steps and now, he is walking all over the place. And climbing all over the place. We enrolled him in gymnastics last week so that he could start exploring his new skills. Took some pictures and will upload them later.

Parties, Zoos, & Musems- Oh My!

I'm a little behind on pictures, but here are the photos from last month:

Happy Easter, Lukas!

Here is a little video that Jon took of Lukas during the hunt:

Timing is Everything

When Lukas first arrived, he taught us that timing is everything. We try to time most activities around his naps and nursing schedule. Sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn't. This weekend was a good example of that. On Saturday, we planned to meet up with Edwin's sister and mom. We knew that we would go to either the Oakland Zoo or the Bay Area Discovery Museum. We decided to go to the Bay Area Discovery Museum and to lunch first at Sam's Cafe in Tiburon. It was a nice day eat outside, but by the time Lukas woke up from his nap, we drove over to Tiburon, had lunch, and got to the museum, it was 4PM. The museum closed at 5PM. To make things worse, Lukas feel asleep again and woke up at 4:45. We did take him in for the last 15 minutes since his cousin Freeman was already inside and they wouldn't charge us since they were closing. It was fun and we'll definitely be back because we bought a membership for half price online. This was the day that timing did not work out for us.

For Easter, they have an Easter egg hunt on our block every year. It starts promptly at noon and is usually over by 12:03PM. Lukas woke up from his nap just in time for the hunt to begin. His cousin Freeman, on the other hand, woke up about 5 minutes too late. (It's OK, his dad Jon picked up a few eggs for him and we had a private egg hunt for him.) Lukas didn't realize what was going on with the egg hunt, but his cousin Freeman was very excited to find eggs.

We were invited for a second egg hunt and brunch at Jamie and Kaori's house. We weren't sure if Edwin's family would be up for a second egg hunt, so we didn't know what time we would be able to get there. Though I texted and called to let Jamie and Kaori know that we were on out way (they didn't answer, presumably because they were already eating!), it was too late. We arrived to see the remnants of a delicious ham, egg frittatta, croissants, and fruit. Alas, timing is everything... next time! (We arrived in time for the second egg hunt.) Maybe next year, Lukas will be into collecting eggs in his basket. Pictures will be posted someday! Happy Easter!

Lukas's First Birthday

So I finally got around to uploading the photos from Lukas's first birthday. I can hardly believe that he is already one!

Mom's Visit to Alameda

Last week, my mom came to visit. Since things were slow at work, I stayed home on Thursday and Friday. My mom cooked a lot of food, but that always requires a lot of cleanup. Time went by quickly since she came with us into SF on Wednesday, we went grocery shopping on Thursday, and to the library for singalong on Friday along with dinner with the relatives. Edwin and I managed to see a movie in the theatre on Wednesday night. We went to see Green Zone with Matt Damon. It was OK. The cinematography was very shaky so I only watched about half of it.

On Saturday, we met up with our friend Sully and her daughter Kinsey. We had lunch and then went for a walk along the beach in Alameda. On Sunday, we went on another bike ride to a nearby park. It was a nice day out and very crowded at the park.

Lukas 11 Months

Here are some photos from Lukas's 11th month:

Lukas's First Tooth Brushing and Bike Ride

Another beautiful day out today, so we took Lukas out for his first bike ride. Well, his first ride in his little chariot behind Edwin's bike. He loved the ride, but hated the helmet. Photos and videos to come. I've been trying to upload photos and videos, so here is one of Lukas brushing his teeth (he loves putting stuff in his mouth, so why not give him a toothbrush?) back in January:

Visit to the Zoo

We had a lovely day at the zoo today. The weather was gorgeous, so it was a great day for a stroll. The zoo is only 15 minutes from our house, so we got a membership and will be returning soon since the summer will soon be upon us. The Banerjees tell us that we will appreciate it even more when Lukas starts walking so that it will tire him out. They say that it's even better when you go with Maika and the Schneiders because then they (the girls) go off on their own. (Though I have a feeling that we won't get to enjoy that luxury since I'm sure that Kai will be more likely to lead Lukas to climb over the fence to get a closer look to the animals- that kid has no fear!) Lukas enjoyed seeing the animals (pictures to come later,) but I think his favorite part was when we let him out of his stroller to crawl around on the playground. They had this big spider web made of rope which he loved and he practiced walking on the rubbery and cushiony floor. (Relax, dad, he's not walking yet, but he is trying to take a few steps.) He's pretty close, but I'm hoping that he gives us a few more months of no chasing. I used to think those kid leashes were kind of cruel, but they are starting to look better and better every day....

I like that we spring forward tonight. Hopefully, it doesn't mess with Lukas's sleep schedule too much. Tomorrow, we go into the city for a birthday party. If it's nice, we might need to take a short bike ride to try out Lukas's new bike trailer.

How to Piss Off a Loyal Customer

I am a very loyal customer. If you get me, I'm hooked. I'm still using this shampoo that they discontinued because I bought 3 huge bottles when I realized that they were going to stop producing it. I love Prego spaghetti sauce. That's the only sauce I will buy. I am definitely a creature of habit, so what pisses me off? Change the formula- yeah, how well did that work for Coke? Do they even make the Coke II anymore? If it ain't broke, don't break it! How about discontinuing a product? Yeah, but I understand that will happen. If it's not selling and I am the only person buying it, I get it. But here's what really pisses me off. I find a product that I really like, but they stop selling it and I know that it's not discontinued.

We found a composting bag called Biosak at Costco. It was great. Worked well, got Jeannette to become a fan so that we were buying her bags at Costco too. Well, we are almost out and we have been going to Costco's near and far looking for these bags. Costco doesn't have the labels/pallets for them. Cannot find them anywhere. We went to Target where they told me to check WalMart (huh? I thought you were competitors. And really, do you think that WalMart shoppers compost? I may sound like a snob, but I really don't think that they do.) So I'm checking their site. It's a company in Canada and they have a customer support email. I actually email them asking them where I can buy the bags. It's been a week and no response. If I, the consumer, work that hard to find you, can't you at least tell me how to freaking buy your product? Do you not need my business? I finally found them on Amazon, but then I have to pay for shipping which practically doubles the cost. Even after all this, I still want to buy this product. So, if anyone knows where I can buy these garbage bags at a retail store, ping me. Please. Or tell me you know of an even better composting bag that I should buy.

CA Academy of Science & Oscars

So this weekend was fun... on Friday, we had dinner at the Banerjees with the Schneiders. Always a good time. On Saturday, I had a ladies brunch with Kaori, Nikki, and Corinne. Edwin stayed at home with Lukas. When I got home, we headed out to go shopping at Babies R Us and Bay St. For those of you who are not familiar with BRU, picture Costco but for baby stuff. I really cannot go there with Edwin and Lukas anymore because at least one of them while have a meltdown while we are there since it in nearly impossible to leave in under an hour. We ended up having dinner at Burgermeister which always cheers up Edwin. We would have liked to have gone to see a movie, but we ended up at home watching a movie instead. It's definitely cheaper, but just not the same.

On Sunday, we met up with Jeannette and Freeman at the CA Academy of Science in the afternoon. We wish that we could have spent more time there, but we had an Oscar party to attend and Lukas needed to nap anyways, so we'll just have to go back some other time. Even though we were there for less than 3 hours, we still managed to spend $70. $25 for one ticket since Jeannette has a membership and can get one guest in free. The rest was spent on food. We know the rule about eating beforehand, bringing your own food, etc. But the food was good. Real good. Guess it better be at those prices, right? Lukas had a great time looking at the fish in the aquarium and playing in the toddler area. Pics to come later.

Then, we headed over to Nikki and Dan's for their annual Oscar party. They are the only ones I know that have an Oscar party every year. The only movies that I saw that were even nominated for anything were Avatar, Up, Star Trek, and Sherlock Holmes. It was a good time, but we had to leave early because Lukas did not nap well that day with all the activity. He's definitely getting to that age where he is getting into everything and doesn't want to sit still.

One Year Check-up

Lukas had his one year check-up yesterday at the pediatrician. He's pretty normal-50% for weight (22lbs. 5.5 oz) and 50% for head circumference (46cm), but only 25% in height (29 inches.) He used to be in the 80th percentile for height. I guess his friends have all gotten taller in the last 6 months. He's pretty much weighed the same for about 3 months now, but he looks a little leaner since he started crawling.

Party! Party! Party!

So as most of you already know, Lukas celebrated his first birthday on Friday. I worked from home on Friday and spent most of it running errands to prepare for his party on Saturday. We stayed home on Friday night to clean the house. Saturday morning, we got up bright and early, cleaned some more and started the party at 11. We ended up hosting 20 kids and about 40 accompanying adults. It went by fast, but it was fun.

We had veggies, Cheerios, puffs, goldfish, potato chips, shrimp cocktail, pizza, mac-n-cheese, and cake. Everyone left by 3:30 for their respective naps and we spent the evening at home trying to recover. The cleanup wasn't too bad since we used mostly paper plates and disposables. He now has lots of books, puzzles, and toys to play with. We haven't given him everything so that he'll have some new stuff to play with every few days. He ate cake, but wasn't that fazed by it. To him it seemed like it was just something else to eat, so I guess it will be a while before I give him more of it. Why start a sweet tooth when he doesn't seem to have one?

All in all, I think everyone seemed to have a good time. The kids seemed to like the balloons and the giftbags that we put together. It was a beautiful day outside and we spent it with good friends, so what else could you ask for?

On Sunday, we attended another first birthday for Lukas's friend Katie. They were born about 45 minutes apart and we met them on our Friday stroller walks. Hers was a princess party which was more intimate and definitely less crazy, but still fun.

Pictures to be posted later, but here's a video of when we were in Hawaii:

Congrats Nikki & Dan!

Here are some photos from Nikki & Dan's wedding. Good times, good times!

365 Days of Joy

Happy Birthday, Lukas! Today is your first birthday. You were born one year ago today and it's hard to believe that it's already been one year because it went by so fast. Everyday you make me smile and bring me joy. Your dad and I are the luckiest and most blessed parents in the world. We can't wait until we can celebrate it on Saturday and we are excited to begin 365 more days of joy.

Catching Up

As you may have guessed, things have been busy. First, there was Valentines Day/Chinese New Year/Nikki & Dan's wedding trifecta. Yes, those events were all on the same day. We spent the day preparing for the wedding since I was part of the wedding party. Unfortunately, my "new" camera charger crapped out and so I was not able to take any more photos. (Given that Lukas's first birthday is this weekend, I'm gonna have to figure something else out soon!) Therefore, anyone who has photos of this event, please share!

The wedding was a great time to hang out with friends, eat good Chinese food, and have a good time. There was lots of dancing and lots of alcohol (for Edwin.) Luckily, we had the next day off for Presidents Day to recover.

Last weekend, we went up to Tahoe for the weekend with the Doans and Schneiders. It was a nice, relaxing weekend for the most part. It was the first time that Lukas got to see snow and I regret that I forgot to let him feel snow in his hands. However, the drive back was long. It's usually only 4.5 hours to get back, but it took us about that long just to get to Placerville, which is about an hour drive to Tahoe.

This week, I've been catching up on a lot of things. Since joining Facebook, there have been a lot of people to catch up with. Also, I got a new cell phone this week and so I've been trying to figure it out and get everything configured. It's MUCH BETTER than my old phone, but it still takes getting used to. I have been trying to prepare for Lukas's birthday party this week. He won't remember it, but I still want him to have a good time.

Lukas milestones- he's been waving good-bye, blowing kisses, and he's been trying to talk. He's been saying mama and dada, but he's also been attempting truck, banana, and up/down. Last week as I was leaving for work, he waved good-bye and gave me a kiss. It was so cute. Melted my heart.

Facebook Frenzy

So I finally activated my Facebook this week. I justify my actions by saying that I joined for work. I held off the throngs of requests to be my friend until I had some time at work to do nothing. Anyway, still learning the ropes, but I have 50 friends. If you're not my friend yet, please ask me to be your friend. It's a lot of work looking for people! Hoping that this will help me to keep in touch, but not require too much time. Edwin is still not on Facebook and is hoping that this phase will pass before he has to join. He wants to remain "off the grid."

Not Too Old to Party

Last weekend, we celebrated an early Chinese New Year by having dinner with my cousins in Fremont. We're going to be attending Nikki and Dan's wedding on Chinese New Year and the Chinese restaurants are always packed that day. It's always fun to see how big the babies have gotten and see what kind of development milestones they have achieved since our last visit. They are definitely starting to interact with each other more now since they can reach out and touch each other.

Then, we went shopping on Saturday and attended a birthday party for our friend Steve in SF. We made the mistake of leaving an hour late. The party started at 7:30PM, but you don't need to be there at the start unless you have a baby. It just means one less hour for us to socialize, Lukas is a little grumpier, and there is less good parking. We know this to be true according to our Chrismas party escapades.

On Sunday, we went to Andres's (our neighbor's baby) baptism party. It was fun hanging out with our neighbors and we ended up staying a lot later than we had intended. We also went to Jamie's birthday/Super Bowl party. We had lots of food and got to catch up with friends and see Michelle and Mike's baby Isabella again. Well, it was my second time and Lukas and Edwin's first time seeing her. She looked so little and I can't believe that it was almost a year ago that Lukas looked just like that. Lukas kept wanting to touch baby Isabella which I thought was cute, but I'm sure made her parents a little nervous. When I saw Jamie's cake, I thought to myself, "36? Geez, I thought that Jamie and I were pretty close in age. Jamie is older than I thought," and then I realized that I'm turning 35 myself this year. How did that happen? Am I considered middle aged now? Or does that happen at 40? If you're only as old as you feel, then I think that I am still 30. I remember when I used to be the youngest one in our group of friends and they used to tease me about being young. Not anymore. Happy Birthday and sorry Jamie for thinking you were old. If it makes you feel any better, I guess I am old too. :)

Lukas milestone: he can now stand for about 10 seconds without holding on to anything. He's also eating stuff without it being pureed. We can give him rice, noodles, or cut up veggies. Yay!