Luca a crawler, officially

Luca has two teeth coming out!

Yesterday, while watching Maya putting together a puzzle, Luca started to crawl. He could slide before, but this time he was really crawling, tummy up in the air, knees pushing forward, arms keeping the balance. Bravo!

There's still not a lot of progress with Luca's sleep training. In fact, he kept mommy awake until almost 5am. (Not entirely his fault. The bed is too small for four people--Maya comes to mama and pappa's room between 12am and 4am most of the nights; Luca sleeps in his crib first but then mama has to carry him to the bed to feed him when he wakes up. Mama and pappa really need to get a king-size bed.) One of his habits is to play with mommy's hand while he's trying to fall asleep. Mama has tried to give him a toy instead but it doesn't work. Sigh.

Maya the gardener

Waigong started a garden at the sideyard three months ago, and Maya has been helping him taking care of it. There are lettuces, strawberries, tomatos, eggplants, baichai, green onions, string beans, squashes, and bell peppers. Waigong also planted many cucumbers, but none of them survived because worms and bird ate them all.

The first thing Maya does when she comes home is to check the garden. She's excited about every new tomato (fruit) and squash. She's learned from Waigong and Waipo how to take care of the plants. Sunlight, water, food, and plenty of love.

Maya the artist

Maya does quite a bit artwork at school. Here's an example. Pretty good, isn't it?

Maya always likes puzzles. She could do pretty complicated puzzles when she was barely two. On Sat. while pappa went mountain biking with his friends, Maya and mommy did Hello Kitty puzzles at home. Three of them. The most complex one included almost 70 pieces. With little assistance from mommy, Maya finished all the puzzles.

Luca is six months old!

Congratulations, Luca! Does that mean that you can finally sleep through the night now?

Let's see what you're are at now.

You can crawl...sort of. It's more like sliding. And sometimes your limbs are up in air and your whole weight is on your tummy. You look like you're skydiving. But you certainly can get yourself from point A to point B pretty fast.

You can eat solid food...hmm, that's old news. Very old.

Several times (today) you lifted your tummy, supporting your weight with your hands and legs, ready for some serious ab work. That was impressive.

You like solid food. When you see mom eat at lunch- or dinnertime, you open your mouth eagerly. Feed me, feed me!

You like playing the game of standing up and walking. Nice to feel strong, right? You'll surely be an early walker.

You still don't have much hair. But who cares? Baldness is beautiful, baldness is cute.

There's something about Luca

1. Luca was almost nine pounds at birth. No wonder mama had stretch marks this time.
2. The day he was born, he lifted his head momentarily when the doctor put him on mama's chest.
3. He cried the loudest cries after he was born, which made both mama and pappa cry.
4. He was a vigorous eater/biter in the beginning. Ouch!!!! Mama had to go to the newborn club at hospital to get help from exprienced nurses. Mama has to admit that she almost gave up on breastfeeding.
5. He was an earnest talker from early on. When he was barely two months old, he was already doing serious talking. He could talk nonstop for an hour when he was three months old and he loved chatting with you.
6. He's a charmer. The second he wakes up he smiles. He smiles at strangers too. That's why he's so popular among all the grandparents at the park Waigong and Waipo frequent. He rarely cries -- Maya was like that too when she was a baby. Mama and pappa are very blessed.
7. He likes to be out. The first thing in the morning, after the feeding, is a long walk to the park with Waigong and waipo. If there's a delay, he'd make a lot of noises to protest. No matter how fussy he is, as soon as he's out, he quiets down, looking around curiously and eagerly.
8. He hasn't learned to sleep through the night yet, and he doesn't know how to fall back sleep on his own. Sometimes he's even in the mood to play at 2am or 3am. That's why mama has dark circles under her eyes, also why mama now has white hair in her head.
9. He began to roll tummy to back at three months. He's now a pro roller, back to tummy, tummy to back, several rolls on one go, you name it. That explains why it's so hard to change diapers for him these days.
10. For a while he was a screamer. A happy screamer (waipo worried about him hurting his own throat). Now he is a roarer. He roars like a tiger, stamping his little feet at the same time to tell you he means business.
11. He loves Maya. Maya can always make him laugh, and even when Maya ignores him he still watches her without blinking, and as soon as she looks at him he smiles.
12. He's a big eater. His daily meals include breastmilk (8+ times) + formula (twice) + solid food (twice or three times; started that a month ago). As for solid food, he has tried more than 10 different flavors already and seems to like them all.
13. His favorite toy? Boxes of wipes from Costo
14. Wondering why he smells like cheese - just the slightest smell and only pappa's sharp nose can detect that -- sometimes? (Answer: he has so many folds in his neck that it's hard to do a thorough cleaning.)
15. He loves loves loves water. A natural swimmer. Mama washes him in the big bathtub so he can "swim" a little.
16. When Waipo says his name, it sounds like Loo Ka, "green card" in Chinese.

Maya and her school friends

Maya has many good friends at school. If you ask her who are her best friends she'll say Vivian, Ethan B, Clemente, Ethan L...Recently her school began to offer music and soccer classes (for a while there were tumbler gym classes, which Maya loved). Her main teachers are Carol, Yali, and Jennifer Xiaoxue. Yali's good at art and crafts, and Carol is very good at baking.

Photo credits: Jessica (Ethan B's mom) and other parents.

Luca and Waipo

Luca loves Waipo. Sometimes when mama cannot make Luca sleep at 3am or 4am, she hands him to Waipo. No matter how fussy Luca is, he calms down as soon as Waipo's magical hand touches his head.

  

Hiking in Sunol

We visited Kun and Alfonso's place in Sunol a week ago. Some of our friends were there too. There were total eight kids: Mecham, Samuel, Ludi, Luming, Ansel, Ben, Luca and Maya. Maya was the only girl and Luca was the youngest. We had potluck first, then we hiked in the mountain nearby. All the parents and the kids had a blast of time. We stayed until 5pm.

It was hot. Pappa carried Luca on his back. Luca loved the view and the wild flowers. He looked around (he had to wear Maya's pink hat to cover his near-bald head) and smiled all the way. He didn't fall asleep until we were almost home, which was two hours later. Maya went all the way up and down the mountain by herself. Some parts of the road were quite steep. She complained about being tired halfway but then she forgot about her complaint when she saw tadpoles and frogs in the pond near the top. :) Mama and Pappa were really proud of her. Actually she did even better a year ago when she was just slightly over two -- at that time she didn't complain at all and was running most of the time.

During this trip, Maya became very good friends with Samuel, who's a year older. They held hands, laughed and played together.  

Thanks to Kun, Alfonso, Mecham and Samuel for their hospitality. We'll surely visit them again.

Maya the Fireman

Several weeks ago, Maya went to a community event held at the Farmer's Market. She saw a firetruck there and even got inside. Did I mention she won a big girl bike? (Photo to be posted)

Mother's Day

Waigong left for Hawaii on Sunday. Too bad that Waipo cannot go because she doesn't like flying (or is that just an excuse for her to spend every second and minute being with Maya and Luca?). On Sat. night, to celebrate the Mother's Day, we ate at Palace BBQ in Sunnyvale, a popular Korean buffet. The food was delicious. Waipo loved it, but Waipo ate mainly spring rolls, noodles and fruit.

Maya presented mom the gift she made at school. A beautiful box with hearts and animals, and a bracelet. There were chocolates in the box, supposedly for mom. Guess who ate them all? :)

On Sunday night, Pappa cooked spicy Thai chicken for mommy and Waipo. It was very good.

There's something about Mommy

1. Mommy went to Safeway to buy formula for Luca. When she got home she had everything, both the necessary and the unnecessary, but the forumla she had intended to buy. Talk about forgetfulness.
2. Luca is almost six months now, but Mommy still has ten pounds to lose to go back to her pre-pregnancy weight. Breastfeeding doesn't seem to help much with weight loss. Maybe sleep deprivation is to be blame - low metabolism makes it difficult to lose weight. Mommy's wardrobe is filled with new XS and 0p clothes she cannot wear (she had a shopping spree right before her second pregnancy).
3. Mommy is a fantastic multi-tasker. Feeding Luca, entertaining Maya, instructing Waipo what to cook for dinner, shouting to Waigong to tell the gardener to cut the potato trees and the bushes.
4. Mommy awakes as soon as Luca makes the slighest sound. Sigh...she used to be a heavy sleeper.
5. When was the last time Mommy slept three hours straight? She doesn't remember.
6. When was the last time Mommy slept through the night? She doesn't remember either.
7. Mommy remembers clearly the moment Luca made his first tummy-to-back turn, the day Maya stood up in her crib.
8. Mommy is not always patient; she can be quite confused sometimes. When she raises her voice to Maya she feels bad.
9. Mommy is a pretty good photographer. Most of the photos in this blog are taken by her. :)
10. Mommy still dreams of going to Paris to research for her next book.

Maya is diaper free!

For the first time Maya had no diaper at night (her diapers in fact had been dry for weeks but she still insisted on having it at night). She went to bathroom at midnight and then 5am. A big step for her.

As for Luca, he outgrew the cosleeper and slept in the crib for the first time last night. He was okay the first half of the night but was fuzzy after 2am (eyes-closed, kicking, making a lot of noise). He didn't quiet down until Waipo put him next to her and massaged his hands and head for half an hour.

Also, Luca is very vocal this week, screaming happily when you play with him, screaming unhappily when you leave him alone. He was so loud when mommy, waigong and waipo were eating ramen at a Japanese restauran in SJ Japantown yesterday that mommy had to down her food really fast and took him out. But overall he's a very happy baby.

A day for Maya and Luca

Starting at 12am

Maya
2am: Wakes up and goes to bathroom (with mommy's help); cries for Papa; goes back to bed
3am: turns on the light in her room. Five minutes later, she climbs onto mommy's bed and shares mommy's blanket. "Mommy, I love you," she says, and "Mommy, a rabbit's ears are really long, right?" Then she falls asleep after getting a yes from mommy.
5am: Luca wakes her up - Luca sleeps at the other side of mommy. Mealtime for Luca.
7:15am: Maya gets up and goes to bathroom. She declines Waipo's help because she wants privacy. Five minutes later, mommy is awaken by Waipo's voice -- Maya has applied mommy's hair conditioner all over herself. Time for a bath, of course. Mommy has to get up to help out. Maya refuses to get out of the bathtub so mommy has to carry her out (with a little force, mommy has to admit).
7:30am: Maya picks the clothes she wants to wear for school. White-and-pink t-shirt and blue-and-red pants with a hole in the front -- Maya sometimes walks on her knees. Not a great color combination. How about this one? How about that one? Mommy suggests. But Maya has made up her mind.
8am: After making a big mess in the living room, Maya has her breakfast - mix of milk and soy milk and GreenMax porridge (mix of rice, bean, barley, oat, wheat, sesame, nut, and more). She finishes everything within ten minutes. She plays with Luca.
8:50am: waigong and waipo walk Maya to school. Luca comes along too.
5:15pm: mommy and waigong pick up Maya and they walk home. A lot of talking about school and the plants/flowers along the way.
5:40pm: Maya changes into her ballet dress as soon as she gets home. Yoga time. She is excellent following the TV program (yoga for kids). Today's subject is "Hot, hot, hot." After yoga, Maya wants to watch Olivia. But mommy says no, reminding her that she watched one episode yesterday. So Maya plays legos and makes another big mess in the living room.
6:30pm: dinner. She eats a lot of tofu, meat and noodles, but refuses to eat vegetables.
7:15pm: mommy suggests playing soccer and Maya loves the idea. She changes into her zebra dress. Mommy, maya and waigong play until it's dark. Luca and waipo sit near the sandbox to watch, Luca making a lot of noise to show his support. Maya has a fantastic time.
8pm: bath, milk, tooth brushing. After mommy reads two stories (it's a routine), Maya wants more. "Mommy, today is special, right?" So mommy reads another story, or rather, tells a story out of her imagination, the protagnists being a little girl called Maya and a tiny ant who wants to become an elephant.
8:40pm: Maya falls aleep  -- no, she doesn't need mommy to be with her.


Luca
12:30am Wakes up to nurse. Falls asleep next to mommy as soon as he's done. Mommy is too tired to carry him back to his cosleeper.
3:05am Awaken by Maya. Nurses. Falls asleep right away.
5am Wakes up again and is fussy. Mommy nurses him back to sleep.
7am Eyes closed, he kicks and makes a lot of noise. Mommy sends him to Waipo's room, as arranged. He calms downs and continues sleeping.
7:45am He opens his eyes and smiles at Waipo sweetly (according to Waipo). He always smiles when he wakes up.
8:50am after tummytime and playing with Maya (he's so excited when he is with Maya that he screams), he heads to the park with Waigong and Waipo -- Maya needs to be dropped at school first. Waigong and Waipo meet many Chinese grandparents at the park every day.
10:30am Back home. Mealtime. Breastmilk + pureed food (strawberries, bananas, carrots and cucumbers). Huuuuuge diaper. It's hard to change his diaper because he moves a lot and turns. Mommy changes all his clothes.
12pm Falls asleep after playing, tummytime. One of his favorite toys is the box of wipes from Costco.
1:30pm mealtime. He plays with his feet for quite a while afterwards.
4:00pm playing. mealtime.
5:15pm goes to Maya's school with Mommy and Waigo to pick up Maya.
7pm mealtime. breastmilk + solid food. Another big diaper. Mommy changes all his clothes.
7:15pm refuses to eat more because he hears Maya's laughing at the backyard. Waipo takes him out to see Maya playing soccer with mommy and Waigong
8pm takes a bath with Maya. He's a frog in the water, moving his arms and kicking. A natural swimmer.
9pm another meal. Falls asleep.

What a day!!!!! Mommy says.