Monthly Archives: August 2010

Visit to CAL

Day 172

Dressed up with shades on, ready to head out for the day.

It was move-in day at UC Berkeley so it was tough finding parking. But once we did find a spot, our first stop was Caffe Strada for a bianca mocha. A fresh dollop of whipped cream makes the drink, otherwise, it would be way too sweet to drink.

Next, The Campanile for a photo opportunity. We were last here in December 2009 when Simon was still in my belly. Now he’s all decked out in his CAL gear with a big smile.

Simon sitting up by himself near the plaque declaring the campus a historic landmark. He’s concentrated on reading (which is even harder because it is upside down).

Then to Sather Gate with a view of Sproul Plaza.

This Daily Cal newspaper stand in Sproul Plaza is where Ron and I met for the first time face-to-face. If that coincidence had not happened, Simon may not be here today.

It may look like we’re grooming Simon to go to CAL but he really is free to go wherever he wants. We will go to Stanford at some time too to take photos.

After our visit to Berkeley, we met up with my parents in Oakland Chinatown for lunch. First stop at the pharmacy to say hi. Check out his protruding stomach!

We went to Restaurant Peony for lunch. They have very delicious Portuguese egg tarts. Flaky crust (lots of lard…) and egg-y creamy custard.

It was fun to walk around campus again. I can’t believe it’s been 10 years since my graduation. I hope it won’t be too long before we go back for a visit. I have a craving for chili cheese fries from IB Hoagies.

Spiderbaby

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Day 171

Today might be the last day that Ron will ever need glasses… BEFORE photo:

AFTER photo to be posted later.

I had the day off today to take care of Simon as Ron rested after his surgery. It was really fun to hang out with him all day. He is such a sweet baby. I always just want to kiss his chubby little cheeks. From this photo though it seems like he’s getting sick of me always kissing him. Already acting like a teenager embarrassed by his mom.

Simon is learning how to grip harder so that he can hold this large round soft ball. He also can use those fingers to pinch you! His nails are a bit sharp right now so when he grabs onto me, it actually hurts. At his next nap, he will need a fingernail trim.

Simon showing you his “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!” pose. He was sitting up playing with Moo-Moo then toppled backwards and got squished.

My spiderbaby sitting up on the bed.

It still amazes me he can sit up like this. Look at him grabbing his little feet! I can hardly stand it sometimes! I just want to kiss those chubby little feet.

I’m finally up to date! Sorry for those who religiously follow our blog. There are weeknights that I just don’t have enough energy to get to it. I usually go to bed shortly after Simon goes to bed! Figuring out a routine has been tough but I think we’re almost there…

Poop update! Don’t read below if not interested in hearing about poop!
I haven’t talked about Simon’s poop recently but actually it’s been pretty interesting. He was only pooping every 3-4 days after we started solid foods. From what we read, that is actually pretty normal but that doesn’t mean we’re still not worried. It’s actually quite funny how Simon poops. He will usually be playing in his jumper or exersaucer. Suddenly he’ll get really fussy and start complaining and straining and making “unnnhh” sounds. We don’t ever hear the poop but can smell something when we get close to him. Since he takes a few days to poop, it seems to be quite a large amount and is quite solid (at least compared to his watery poop before) but still soft. His poop does resemble the meals he had the previous days which is weird but also normal. I think he is getting more regular now though, pooping maybe every 2 days and even twice in one day! At least I hope it means he is more regular, I really don’t want to have to use suppositories on him. So for now, it’s apparent he hates the action of pooping but is getting used to it. It’s also a big cleanup for mommy and daddy as it can get messy depending on the volume and consistency.

Hi!

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Day 170

Just one picture today taken by me of Simon’s OOTD. He’s growing out of these shirts and we’re finally getting some use out of Huggies Jean Diapers. It’s been too cold recently to let Simon be only in a diaper but since it was warmer today, I thought we’d better use them before he grows out of them!

In the evening time we went to Inner Fog Wine Bar for a gathering to say farewell to our friend Patrick. He is moving to Singapore to marry his lady love and will be staying there for a few years to work then hopefully be on his way back to the US after a few years. We’re sad to see him leave but happy for him that he’s moving there for love and that we’ll have another reason to visit Singapore again. Vicki was the photographer for the evening so I’ll steal some photos to post here once she sends them out. The wine bar is pretty nice and cozy. Simon fell asleep for a bit but woke up and got a little fussy. He was probably wondering why he wasn’t in his bed yet. We didn’t stay out too late though so he wasn’t over stimulated and could easily fall back asleep in his own bed. That’s one thing I think we’re really lucky with, Simon can fall asleep at night on his own and can usually fall back asleep if he is startled awake for a moment.

First booster seat

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Day 169

When I play with Simon in the morning before I go to work, he always doesn’t seem quite awake yet and ready to interact. He enjoys playing quietly by himself and will tire quickly. He usually only stays up for an hour to an hour and half before wanted to go back to bed. He’s so concentrated in this photo…

I guess he was really tired today as Ron caught Simon falling asleep while he was eating his breakfast.

Simon went to the grandparents again today and they took him out for a stroll in their jogging stroller. It has big sturdy wheels so goes over bumps better. Simon is almost fitting into it now without the car seat. Now that he can pretty much sit up by himself, he seems more comfortable. He’s growing so fast!

We’ve also upgraded him to his own booster seat for meals. When we first tried feeding him solids, we used the Bumbo with the tray but he hated sitting in it and kept on squirming. Then we fed him while he was standing in his Exersaucer seat because he seemed to tolerate that better but probably not a good habit. So Ron bought this portable booster seat that straps onto a chair, has a tray table that can be used for food and also for play. Simon will get his meal first then we put on the play tray table for him after eating. It has a “stamp”, something to draw with on the surface, and a little mirror.

Kids need so much stuff!

Tickle Tickle Tickle!

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Day 168

I really like this picture, not sure why, just funny that Simon looks kind of PO’d… like, “why are you taking my picture? I just woke up!”.

OOTD and with a smile.

Fifteen minutes later when daddy realized he forgot to put on a bib.

A little tickle session with daddy:

Grandpa Chung fed Simon lunch today. NOM!

Here is the food we made for Simon. Mostly white corn and some yellow squash. This a mini brownie bite silicone mold, much cheaper than those specialty baby food silicone molds. Unfortunately, we won’t be feeding him these just yet. The yellow squash seems to cause Simon some stomach discomfort with digesting it so we’ll wait until next month or so to try again. For now, I’ve popped them out of the mold and put them in sealed plastic bags with proper labeling.

In the evening, I played with Simon and his toys. The shape sorter that Suanty gave us has a dome that we use as a bowl for his toys and also makes a great hard hat!