Monthly Archives: January 2011

Making funny faces

Day 315 = January 11, 2011

The first funny face is Simon eating a whole wheat bagel. These are from Trader Joe’s and I can now give Simon a small piece to hold in his hand and he gnaws on it with his front teeth.

Dressed and ready to go to daycare… except that he wants to play with the remote control first.

Arriving home, we received a package which is for Simon. He wants to play with the box.

But then he gets distracted by the foam mats. He likes to pull off the edges and likes the chew on them. Daddy is trying to teach him “no”.

I went to Daiso (the Japanese store where most things are $1.50) and picked up a basket to use as a diaper caddy. We no longer use the changing table on the pack and play since he moves around so much so we change him on the ground but need something to put the supplies in. But first I let Simon test drive the basket.

For only $1.50, it works perfect for wipes and diapers.

I bought some other baskets too for his toys and he really wanted to play with them.

Simon must be teething again because he really wants to chew on everything, including his thumb.

He also seems to like this toy that has rubbery hands and feet. We got this as a gift when he was only a few months old and he didn’t use it for anything but now it seems to relieve itchy gums.

Simon’s next funny face is sticking out his tongue! Or at least playing with his tongue on his lower teeth. We wonder if he picked his up from some other kids.

Nyah-nyah, nyah-nyah!

You can watch him in action and also listen to his new sounds… sounds like ba-ba or va-va.

Cali Pho Nia

Day 314 = January 10, 2011

Some mornings Simon wakes up too early so that I don’t have enough time to prepare his breakfast so I take his high chair into the kitchen with me and make his breakfast and feed him and also make my lunch and pack his food for the day. He seemed happy to spend time with me this morning.

On his way to daycare on this chilly morning. He will soon outgrow this hat!

We were going to pick up Simon from daycare but he was taking a nap so we ended up having dinner beforehand at Cali Pho Nia. They get 1 star for a creative name but lose stars in the service department. We were the only patrons yet we felt like we were being rushed to order and rushed out. We’re not sure if the waitress thought she was being helpful but instead came off as pushy. The best thing about the meal were the lemon grass french fries. The batter they use on the fries has visible pieces of lemon grass and it’s served with a spicy aioli sauce.

I had the vermicelli platter and overall it was pretty tasty except maybe a bit oily and probably should have been served in a bowl, rather than a plate. But for some reason, maybe an hour later, I was extremely exhausted and wanted to sleep. Maybe it has too much MSG? Ron felt the same way after eating his rice plate.

Ron’s rice plate.

I also tried their three color drink which was a bit weird. It tasted like they used whole milk or a mixture of cow’s milk and coconut milk. I ended up taking it to go because I felt really full from the vermicelli.

So I’m not sure how the pho is but I think they only thing I’d eat again are the lemon grass french fries. I’d be a little afraid of eating the other dishes again if it made both of us so tired. Since Simon had a nap, he was wide awake and ready to play when we got home… and we were exhausted… but we did our best to keep him entertained. Simon has started to kneel and play with his toys, rather than sitting. His balance seems to be getting better everyday.

His dexterity is also improving. Now he seems to have no problem taking snacks out of his snack cup.

So many little changes everyday…

Post #1000

Day 313 = January 9, 2011

Wow, this is my 1000th post for this blog. Wow!

Simon just waking up this morning. He slept in this morning until almost 9am. We also all slept in. I can’t stay up late anymore and since we were up late for the movie last night, I was really exhausted this morning still.

We had a free day so had a little walk around town. We walked to get me some coffee for the next week and ended up at Civic Center. Simon fell asleep and had a good nap during out walk. This is the bronze sculpture at Civic Center called Three Heads, Six Arms.

There’s a Farmer’s Market at Civic Center on Sundays so we also picked up some veggies for ourselves before we headed home. It was chilly out so I’m glad we bundled Simon up and he was able to have good warm nap for almost an hour and a half. He was really refreshed so after having a good lunch, he was ready to play.

Ron took this funny picture of Simon standing on his tippy toes.

Simon and I took a nap in the late afternoon. He seemed tired but didn’t want to sleep so was peering over his bed.

He eventually fell asleep after a period of crying and fussing and so I fell asleep too. I ended up sleeping longer than anticipated so Ron had to take care of Simon when he woke up and also fed Simon dinner. I guess I was still recovering from staying up late last night.

Weekends are always too short.

Peekaboo!

Day 312 = January 8, 2011

Simon was too eager to get to his books that he didn’t want to get dressed (don’t worry, it’s very toasty in our apartment so he’s not cold).

Simon’s future Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle costume.

Simon came with me for a coffee run this morning and we came across the Oscar Mayer Weinermobile.

We went to Gymboree for the first time in a month and Simon did not have a good time. He only napped about 40 minutes before the class so was probably still tired. He didn’t want to do anything at the class except hold two balls in his hand and have me walk around with him. If I tried to put him down or do any of the activities, he would cry and fuss. It’s been hard lately to get him to sleep longer before the class so I hope we can move him to the higher level course since he is older now and it is an hour later. So since Simon didn’t have a good time, we just spent a quiet afternoon together. He had a very stimulating week at daycare too so didn’t sleep well all week so probably just needed this quiet day.

After some rest, he was a much happier baby. Now he’s ready to entertain you.

He had a good time playing peekaboo with me behind a blanket on his baby gate.

Peekaboo Part 2.

He his now more interactive with this toys which includes this one that uses air to blow the balls up and out of the toy. Simon tries to grab the balls that are coming out and also replaces them into the toy.

We hadn’t seen Grandma and Grandpa Chung in a while since they were sick and so was Simon so we went for a visit to have dinner. On our way this evening.

Simon is juggling THREE orange tangerines… it’s amazing!! Actually it’s an illusion… one of those tangerines is Elmo’s nose on his bib… haha..

After dinner, Simon ended up wanting to go to sleep early. Since he was asleep, Ron and I went to see a movie! We went to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1. It was the first movie we’ve gone out to see together since we went to see Iron Man 2 when Simon was about 3 months old. The movie is a cliffhanger, I’m looking forward to Part 2. I think I may need to read the book one more time. Simon must have sensed we were coming home from the movie because he woke up about 10 minutes before we got back. We packed him and his stuff up into the car and he fell back asleep soon after.

Once we got home, I unbuckled him and he continued to sleep as I carried him from the car to home. He must be super exhausted since he didn’t even wake up when we changed his diaper and put him in bed.

Future in Finance

Day 311 = January 7, 2011

Simon was really fascinated with my wallet.

It’s likely because it opens like a book plus it also has cards in it that he tries to take out. I hope it’s not indicative of the future that Simon will be using me as the bank.

Sometimes we make fools of ourselves for Simon. During dinner tonight we let Simon watch some Sesame Street while we finished eating. When we realized that Simon was grooving to the music, we started to sing and dance for him to see if he would dance some more. I laughed when I watched and listened to us.

The sippy cup use continues. This time with milk. I had to hold it for Simon at first.

Then he held it by himself.

But with daddy taking photos, it distracted Simon and he stopped drinking. This outfit is from Auntie Katherine and Cousin Chynna, a good one-piece outfit to keep Simon warm this cold winter.

Simon (and I) survived his first week at daycare. He seems to be doing okay and picking up some good things. The daycare has been trying to move Simon’s morning naptime to after their lunchtime (~11:30am) and it is getting better. We also have asked them to try to put him down for a nap around 4:30-5pm so that he won’t be cranky when we come to pick him up. He seems to still need 2 naps a day. Simon has started taking food from a spoon again so this opens up a whole new world of foods that Simon should be able to eat now. Let’s hope this continues, it’s hard just feeding him finger foods. He was becoming a pretty picky eater.