Listen, I am talking to you

All of a sudden, a few days ago, Isabel started babbling a lot. I guess now that she mastered turning over on one side, she has moved on to bigger things. It's amazing to see her develop her vocal cords and seeing how she will figure out speech.

- Lei

Waiting for the other shoe to drop

Being a new mom is sometimes like waiting for the other shoe to drop. I hated it when I feel that way, but for some reason I cannot shake it at times. I feel it at least once a week. I wonder if all new moms go through this or just moms who are also type A perfectionists.

Do you know what I mean by waiting for the other shoe to drop? It's the anticipation of something unpleasant to happen. For example, whenever I go do a blood test, I have to look at the needle to see when it will prick me. This way, I can relax until it happens and I know how long it will last and only brace for the discomfort when I see the needle go in. Otherwise, if I was looking away, I would hate the feeling of anticipating that pain but not knowing when it's going to happen. Then I end up suffering for the whole time I am there waiting and when the needle hits me.

Well, it's like that sometime with Isabel. She is a baby, so her sleep schedule is unpredictable. Sometime, she gets up once or none during the night and other times she may get up 3 times in one night. For some reason, some nights, I would feel uneasy and almost wait for her to wake up to feed. That unfortunately translates to very light and uneasy sleep.

I think it's because I associate her getting up multiple times with her being uncomfortable or hurt for some reason. I have tried all kinds of methods to find out what makes her comfortable. Most of which is around the temperature of her room and how much she is wearing. It's obsessive, I know, but somehow I keep doing it. I am getting better as I have noticed no clear pattern. Like a scientist, I have been keeping track of her room temperature and how often she gets up, with no clear answers.

At the end of the day, I think I just need to accept that she is a baby and actually a very healthy one. Her getting up once or many times is random, it's what babies do, and I can't change it even if I want to. I guess it is the control freak side of me that is having a hard time accepting it.

I am not always like this every night. Just some nights, especially when I am really tired. I guess I then try to control her environment hoping she won't get up too early since I need rest. I end up doing the opposite however and worry so much that I don't rest even though she sleeps fine. Ironically, during those nights, I actually am relieved when she finally does get up to feed. It's similary to finally feeling that needle in the arm of a blood test. I end up relaxing and sleeping like a baby after that.

Life as a new mom is definitely different in some ways. I am coping better everyday though. Some of the illogical things I do doesn't even make sense to me, but I guess this is what people mean when they say no one worries the way a mom does for her baby.

- Lei

I am a big girl now

Look at me, I can sit and drink from the bottle now. I hold my bottle with one hand, so no one can take it away. :-)

- Isabel

She is starting to ....

crawl... Wow, it's so wonderful to witness how she is figuring this out. First, she figured out how to use her arms to turn 360 degrees. Now, she is piking up her hips and scooting forward. I am so glad I caught this on video. She can only move a little, but we definitely cannot leave her alone on the bed anymore.

-Lei

Taste like lemons

Imagine you saw someone take a big bite into a lemon, how do you feel? Does your mouth water just a little? I did as I think most people would because our brain remembers how sour it was when we did it before. This is how our brain could make our body feel something (like the taste of a lemon) that isn't actually real.

I was reminded of this when I saw Dr. Peter Goldman and asked him to help me with my left shoulder which seems to always have a tight knot in it. I told him I attribute it to my work injury 4 years old and also now when I stress about anything. I told him it just doesn't seem to go away. I have tried working out, getting massages, going to chiropractor and acupuncture. I would get some relief and then it would just come back as soon as I am stressed about something.

He then told me the lemon story above and told me that in fact I am compounding the issues by thinking about fixing it so much. Every time I stress about this knot in my back and remember my injury 4 years old, my mind actually will tell my body to remember the tightness I felt then. Therefore, it continues to remain tight. He told me instead to know that I have a healthy back now and that the tightness is very temporary. Just touch my shoulder a few times when it's tight and then forget about it. Don't agonize on why it's tight or what causes it. He then adjusted me to put my body back in balance.

Guess what, ever since then, I followed his advice and my left shoulder is a lot less tight then before. :-) It's amazing how the mind can play tricks on the body.

- Lei

Isabel is 5 months old

Isabel is 5 months old today. Wow, how time flies. Still 100% breast fed, she is healthy, smiling a lot, and really enjoys looking around outside. She also can play a lot on her own now, mostly on her tummy. She can move 360 degrees with her arms and use her feet to also move a little distance. Crawling wouldn't be far behind. She is 16 pounds and growing taller every day.

Making her laugh is so fun, that we couldn't resist doing it again. This time Jaime is making sounds with his hands and Isabel just love it. Here is another one taken a week ago.

- Lei

Almost a century apart!

Ernie and Aileen Norback are my parents' good friends from back in the Stanford days. They were actually my dad's English partners when he first came to the states and I met them when I was only 12 years old.

We have kept in touch with them all these years and they literally watch me grow up and now married with a daughter. Isabel, Agnes, and I went to visit them last week and it was so precious to see them play with Isabel.

Isabel is 4.5 months old and both Aileen and Ernie are 94 years old - almost a century apart. What different experiences Isabel will have in this next century. Time is so fleeting if you think about it. For now, it was so nice to see the delight in their faces when they met Isabel. Isabel also took to them nicely. :-)

-Lei

Size 6 and dropping

Hopefully... I have been striving to get into my regular size 6 jeans for awhile now. Finally, 10 days ago, I was able to wear them out without suffocating. :-) Yeah, progress is good.

I have been saving all my size 6 clothes from 4 years old when I was about 130 pounds. Now they are really coming in handy. Now I just have another 12 pounds to go, before getting to my pre-pregnancy weight and around size 2. Keeping my fingers crossed

I am doing Yoga 2-3 times a week, Wii Fit once a week, and crunches 5 times a week. Hopefully, I can keep it up. The best part though is I feel good, like my old self again. Can't wait to go dancing. :-)

- Lei

Laughing out loud

A parent will do anything to get their baby to laugh. We are no different. Apparently, Isabel loves these popping sounds. Enjoy.

-Lei

She recognizes me !

Wow, Isabel is growing so fast. One of the best developments has been that she recognizes people now. She almost always smiles when she sees me now. It warms my heart so much to see her smile. It's an indescribable feeling.

With recognition however, also comes fear. She is now afraid of anyone new to her and becomes anxious and agitated. Unfortunately, pretty much everyone except Agnes, Jaime, and I are new to her. The fear is just a phase I think. As she gets more accustomed to the world, she will get more accustomed to other people and crowds.

For now, Isabel enjoys herself a lot in her own little world, which is exploring this gym mat in our living room. You can also see in this video that she is starting to turn herself around with her arms. I wonder when she will crawl, maybe in a month or so. She is quite a fast learner. We will see. I don't actually want her to learn to crawl too fast as I haven't baby proof the house yet. yeeks.


- Lei

Head, Shoulder, Knees, and Toes

We learned a lot from baby yoga. Although the class is over, we are still doing it with Isabel. Here is a clip on how Agnes help Isabel become aware of her own body parts. It's sooooo cute. Enjoy!


-Lei

Family Portrait

Can you tell who is who? What a cute family, huh?


- Lei

How old am I?

How old do you think I am here? I ask this question because there was so much discussion regarding the age of the Chinese female gymnasts. I don't know for sure whether China faked their ages or not; however, I resent the argument that Americans thinks our gymnasts look underage.

I don't think most Americans have any idea how old a 16 year old Chinese Gymnast would look. Asians in general develop late and we look young (good genes). I remember being mistaken for a 14 years old at 16; while some 16 year old Caucasians could possibly pass for a 18 year old.

On top of that, Gymnasts, due to their rigorous athlete training probably develop even later. I hear most gymnasts get their menstrual cycle much later given how tough their training is every day. That would make any girl look even younger.

Well, my 2 cents. :-)

- Lei

Isabel is 4 months old!

Isabel is so alert and curious about everything now. It's hard to feed her and watch TV or do anything else as she would stop to look. She would check if the TV is on or look at me intently as I drink water. You can tell she is processing what everything is.

What an amazing process human development is. Well, her check up at 4 months went very well. She is at the 90% for her age for both height and weight and around 65% for her head circumference. She is 15.5 1bs, 25.75 inches long, and still 100% breast fed. I am so thankful I still have really good milk for her.

The Dr say she may get to 20 1bs by 6 months if not more. She got 4 more shots this visit and as usual, she was really tough. She only cried for 10 seconds and just stopped. This time, she didn't even get a fever from the shots like last time. Guess she is very healthy. The only thing she had was a bit of eczema on her face and arm. He prescribed a cream for her which worked well. Her skin cleared up beautifully except just one little spot now. No wonder she was hitting her face and head a lot before. She was itchy and we didn't know. Oh well. No one is perfect.

She can wear big girl clothes now, as you can see in the Jeans she wore on the photo. She looks actually much older than she is given her weight, although many people mistaken her for a boy when we go out. Oh well, I guess it's hard to tell. I just take it as it's because she looks so sturdy :-)

- Lei

Already a Dancer

Since Jaime and I both like to dance, Isabel naturally also has rhythm. She is such a cutie when she dances. :-)


- Lei