Isabel loves playing hide and seek!

We discovered a few weeks ago that Isabel loves to play hide and seek. In these two videos. I am on one side of the table and hiding my face behind the picture stand on the table and peeking at Isabel from all angles. She just loves it. See for yourself.





- Lei

walking and talking

well, almost...



- Lei

Bear Wrestling

Got Milk?

Not a lot and I am kind of sad about it. I love breastfeeding Isabel. I feel so close to her when I breastfeed her. My favorite moments are when I lie down to feed her and she falls asleep snoring. She sound so happy and at peace and I end up falling asleep with her. I feel like I just got a A+ on a test and I got to sleep through the whole thing :-) (nerdy I know, but true).

I also love breastfeeding her on the rocking chair with the boppy pillow. She sometimes would just drift off to sleep and I can just watch her breathe. Unlike lying down where I can't see her well while she feeds, I can see every single details sitting on the chair. I used to love watching her eyelashes grow over time as I feed her. It's also such a content, serene feeling to just watch her sleep. It's like I can feel all the innocence and wonder in the world through her calm breathe and dreamy expression.

Breastfeeding of course has not been all "hot chocolate and smiles." It was definitely quite challenging at first.

-I had blood blisters for the first 10 days and therefore piercing pain whenever she fed which was about 10 times a day.

-My shoulders and arm used to ached so much because I didn't know how to hold her well when she fed and I was tense that she was uncomfortable.

-She sometimes cried even when she was feeding. It was rare but when it happened I felt so inadequate even though it may not have anything to do with milk. She may just need to burp or sometimes it's because I was dehydrated so milk was coming as fast for her.

-After 4 or 5 months, the TV would distract if I fed her in the living room and it was like a wrestling match to fed her at times.

-I also had trouble pumping milk. It took me four weeks to learn and get used to it. The first time I pumped, my nipples literally doubled in size and hardened. It freaked me out.

- Last, but not the least, breastfeeding means never having a full night sleep. Up until last months, I was getting up still at least once a night to pump as Isabel is sleeping through the night but my breasts were full of milk by 6am and would wake me up.

I am sure there were other challenges as well, although I don't remember anymore.

It all worked out in the end and it is worth all the effort. I was really determined to breastfeed her. There is definitely no substitute that is quite the same. I felt so needed every time she fed. Now that is changing. I was so afraid that she won't reach out for me the same since I have less milk. It turns out to be a silly worry. She is almost 10 months and knows I am her mommy. While I only feed her twice a day and the rest is formula or solids, she still looks so excited to see me at all times. Ahh, what a great feeling to be a mom. Isabel shows me everyday what unconditional love looks like and I am basking in the glow of it.

-Lei

Isabel welcomes her first cousin - Gabrielle Rose Alojado

What a cute family of babies! Emily, Jaime's sister, had a beautiful baby girl just two weeks ago. Gabrielle was born Feb 5, 2009 at 6lb 12 oz and 19.75 inches. That's her on the left. She is about 3 days old, I think. On the right, it's Isabel at around 1 week old. See the family resemblance?

By the way, Emily had a total of 1.5 hours of labor and under epidural the whole time. Lucky bxxxx. I am glad for her. Wish I will have her luck next time.

Welcome Gabby! We can't wait to visit you, cuddle you, and play with you. I am sure Isabel will be super ecstatic to meet her little cousin. Best wishes to the new mommy, daddy, and baby Gabrielle.

- Lei

A Little Performer with Grandma's help

Grandma Lapena has been teaching her this hand motion for a few months now and Isabel loves it. Now when we play music and we start twirling our hands, she will follow. It's so cute.



- Lei

Isabel is 9 month old

and 8 days already. We took her to the doctor last Thursday. She is in perfect health and is a very tall girl at 29 inches and 90 percentile. Her weight is at 18.5 lbs and her head is pretty big for her age, but I forget what the measurement are. They just said that she is at 75% there.

She cried a lot more this time because I think she knows what's happening and is getting scared when Dr. Langston started examining her. She still only cried once during her Hep B shot. A very strong girl overall. We are so happy.

- Lei

A little Drummer in the Making?

- Lei

new sound from Isabel

She just started doing this a week ago and Agnes caught it on Video. Now it's added to the repetoire of her noises.

- Lei

Favorite Quote of the Day!

"You know someone, not based on what other people say about him, but rather what he says about other people"

I am paraphrasing, as I don't know exactly the quote or who said it for that matter, but I thought it was a cool perspective. Next time, you gossip about someone else, it's interesting to reflect on what does that say about you?

- Lei

Signature Hairstyle!

I always loved Superman - he can fly; he looks good in tights, and he always has that strand of hair curled on top of his forehead. While it may not be PC to say that I always wanted Superman's baby, it's ok since Jaime's favorite costume on Halloween is Superman or Clark Kent. He looks good, I might add, and he always makes sure he leaves one strand of hair curled on his forehead.

Well, that seems to be genetic as Isabel definitedly inherited the signature hairstyle (although not curled yet). Ahh, now all my dreams have come true! I have "Superman's" baby - Isabel Mei "Superbaby" Lapena :-)

- Lei

Watching Daddy Play Air Hoop

It's obvious that Isabel adores her daddy so much. Anything daddy does is interesting and sometimes funny. Here daddy is playing air basketball in our living room (off camera) and Isabel just loves it.



- Lei

Our latest toy

You know we can be geeky sometimes. Well this is one of those moments, as we excitedly tell you about our new toy for the house - a Breville Juicer.

We have been eating healthier every day - not all organic just healthy. So this include trying to eat more raw vegetables.

I used to have a juicer that my parents gave me. It broke a few years back and I never replaced it. Our "magic bullet" has a juicer module but it's super weak and really wasteful.

We have been going to jamba jucie to get fresh carrot and orange juice lately, so we decided it's time to invest in a new juicer. We went to BBB and got this one for only $150. The best part is they said we can take it back anytime if it breaks, even if it's 10 years from now and without a box. How cool is that? Well, we have been juicing in the morning everyday since - carrot, celery, apple combo. It's awesome and so good for our digestion.

It's a little loud so we try not to use it when Isabel is sleeping alone but as long as she is with someone, all is cool. We are happy juicers now and highly recommend it!

- Lei

Rays of Dawn

Recently, Jaime and I joined a discussion group that meets weekly to read a chapter from this book called Rays of Dawn by Dr. Thurman Fleet. It's actually fascinating as it evokes quite a bit of discussion on our own perspectives on life. Dr. Fleet wrote this book after going through a 7 day, 7 night enlightenment in the 1930s. His language is quite sophisticated although he himself only finished the 4th grade.

What is really even more amazing is that Dr. Fleet claims that it doesn't matter whether you agree with what he wrote in this book. As long as you think about what he wrote, you can heal mentally, physically, and spiritually. How wonderful would that be if it is true.

As the content is interesting, we decided to join the discussion group. It is led by Dr. Peter Goldman, someone we highly respect and know is a great healer. Since it meets on Wednesdays, it's also a fun way to break up the week and have something to do together.

We look forward to learning something new every week!


- Lei

Peace of Mind is a Myth!

This is actually good news, I think. I always thought that the most enlightened or wise people are those that have more peace of mind. We are told often to have peace of mind as a goal.

My mind goes all over the place all the time, partly because I hate being bored and partly because I am very analytical in nature. If I don't have a huge issue to solve at work or in life, then I will create something in my mind and make it a big issue so I can solve it. Silly but true. Unfortunately, this much activity in the mind keeps me from sleeping well at times. I sometime will go to bed at night trying so hard to calm my mind so I can drift off to sleep, yet I can't. I start judging myself on top of that. Why can't I calm my mind and control it. How I wish I was a kid again where sleep was never an issue. Now, I may stay awake for hours especially when I am tired because I am fretting about how much sleep I need to get and how little I am getting since I can't fall asleep. It's a vicious cycle.

How is the fact "Peace of Mind is a myth!" is good news, you ask then? How is this even related? Well, recently in a discussion group I joined I learned something amazing and eye-opening. I always thought if someone is an enlightened being, like the Buddha, then they have peaceful minds, meaning they learned somehow to control their mind from having random, unstoppable thoughts. I imagined that all they feel is peace and harmony and have pictures of gardens and beautiful scenery in their mind. This is actually not true as I learned. The enlightened ones such as Buddha, actually still have screwed up minds like any human being. What they have mastered is detachment, an ability to watch their mind go crazy and unstoppable without judgment or emotion and still feel at peace.

This is good news because it actually means it's natural and human to have our mind be sometime full of too many thoughts. It is not actually controllable and whoever tries to control it is on a fool's errand. The more I have tried before, the worst sometimes it gets. Instead, I am learning to accept it as part of life and see if I can just watch it do its thing.

The morale of the story - I am not my mind! I may have become quite successful because of my mind's intellectual abilities, but who I am is not my mind's thoughts. I don't need to control it to have peace. I just need to let it be. Easier said then done, but it's somehow comforting

- Lei