Monthly Archives: September 2013

Trying to Stay Awake

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Iris’ outfit of the day, along with a little smile.

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Apparently she was quite funny today and was tired but didn’t want to nap yet so tried to stay awake as long as possible. Here she is out in the backyard for a little stroll.

Awake:

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Sudden big yawn:

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I guess we do this even when we become adults. We deny ourselves sleep because we feel like we are going to miss out on something or really have to stay awake to get something done. I wonder what Iris is thinking that she needs to do?

So Simon had a rough drop off this morning. He cried, screamed, and tried to run away again. He was fine until we got stuck at the last stoplight before his school then he started panicking a little which spilled over until we got to the classroom. But he did manage to eat half his lunch and take a nap so that’s a little better than usual.

Lunch of bagel dog, apple pear, strawberries, cheese, animal crackers, ritz, and fruit snacks.

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Every evening he is so glad to be home.

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Iris is very good at sucking her thumb these days. I found her contently sucking as I finished making dinner.

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She comforted herself to sleep tonight by sucking her thumb. I had put her in her bed with the mobile on and she cried quietly for a few minutes then found her thumb and dozed off to sleep. She hasn’t been sleeping more than 4 hours straight the last few nights so not sure why that’s happening (maybe a growth spurt?) but it makes for one tired mommy. I do what Iris did today, in the morning I wake up and make myself stay awake even though I’m tired. Looking forward to the weekend to just be able to sleep a little longer and enjoy quality time with our little family.

Monkeying Around

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Simon had a better drop off at school today. I had him promise that he wouldn’t scream and wouldn’t try to run away when it was time to drop him off. I explained to him it made me anxious and worried about him. So this morning he just cried a little loudly but didn’t scream nor run away. He even took a nap today and ate most of his lunch: dinosaur chicken nuggets, waffle fries, vegetables, honeydew melon, white nectarine, string cheese, low sodium crackers with fruit snacks.

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Today they did a craft which I think are birds (that’s what Simon said).

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Traffic was terrible in the morning and the evening today and poor guy had to sit in the car for 40 minutes in the morning and 45 minutes in the evening. Not to mention I had an additional 45 minutes in the morning from his school to work and 40 minutes from my work to school. He gets bored in the car and traffic can put me in a poor mood.

Iris definitely makes me smile. I only have time to take pictures of her when I get home before she goes to bed. She is warm and cozy in her monkey footed PJs.

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After playing and nursing, she is fast asleep. She nodded off during breastfeeding so didn’t have a chance to let her try falling asleep on her own in her bed.

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Each day school seems to get a little better for Simon. Tomorrow I asked him to try not to cry so loudly. It’s okay to be sad and miss mommy and daddy but no need to cry so loudly. So we will see how it goes. But he’s definitely happy to be home and will even smile for photos when I ask him to. Big change from just a few months ago when he refused to take pictures. He still refuses sometimes but at least not every single time.

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Too Tired

Monday, September 16, 2013

This is what happens when Simon doesn’t take his nap at school. Too tired to eat dinner after falling asleep on the ride home.

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He probably was anxious all day and just wanted to go home. When I dropped him off the morning, he didn’t want to get out of the car so I had to carry him. Then when we got inside, he wanted to leave so he kept on running toward the door. In the classroom, he was holding onto me, not wanting me to leave until the teacher took him in her arms and I left and closed the classroom door behind me. So tough to leave him like that but there was no way that I could calm him down before I left.

He didn’t eat much of his lunch. Chicken quesadillas, carrots, cucumbers, apples, strawberries, animal crackers, babybel cheese, and fruit snacks. Plus a snack of dried cranberries, apple chips, and crackers. He only ate one triangle of the quesadilla, the cheese, the animal crackers and fruit snacks, and one piece of apple.

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Iris had a better day than Simon. A peaceful slumber.

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A happy smile for me when we got home.

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A little Bumbo time while the rest of us ate dinner.

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She drank like a champ today. Mostly 4 ounces at a time when she usually just drinks 2-3 ounces here and there at more frequent intervals. She even drank 8 ounces in an hour time frame. So about 16 ounces while I was at work. So far I’m still keeping up with her demand and storing some every few days. It’s only been the first few weeks back to work but I hope I can keep this up.

She also successfully put herself to sleep. After bath time, a feeding, and some cuddling, I put her in her bed while she was getting drowsy and turned on her musical mobile. She watched it turning for a little while, then started sucking her thumb, and made some fussy noises but near the end of the song, she was asleep. I think it runs for about 10- 15 minutes but I’ve never timed it. I’m proud of her but also a bit sad that she doesn’t need me to hold her to help her fall asleep. Well it’s only the second night she’s fallen asleep peacefully by herself so we will see how that goes tomorrow.

Kids Love Water

Sunday, September 15, 2013

Weekends always go by too quickly. It was good to sleep in and have a relaxing weekend with family.

Saturday, September 14:
Just chilling on the bean bag chair.

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Simon attended the monthly Lowe’s build and grow clinic. He was so excited and happy that it was a fire truck.

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We headed out to the Peninsula to have lunch with Ron’s family. We had a good Taiwanese lunch at Joy Restaurant in Foster City. Iris with Uncle Henry and Auntie Betty.

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Iris with Uncle William.

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After lunch, we went to Hillsdale Shopping Mall and Simon got a Hello Kitty lollipop for a treat.

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We hung out at the grandparents house for the rest of the evening. Both kids needed a nap but Simon wouldn’t fall asleep and Iris cried (loudly) for almost 15 minutes before calming down and falling asleep.

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Hi Mommy! I’m just quietly watching the fish tank while you finish dinner.

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Sunday, September 15:
Our little flower.

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Iris’ nails grow so fast. It’s hard to keep up with the trimming. So poor thing scratched herself in the middle of the night.

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Simon enjoying our dim sum lunch.

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Iris really likes watching Daddy’s fish and water movement.

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She tracks the fish a little as they swim around.

Simon is less interested in Ron’s fish tank but prefers to be hands-on with water like swimming, water tables, building sand castles, water fountains, etc. Today, he helped Ron to wash the car!

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He helped to wash both cars and happily did it. Our cars now look super shiny and finally clean! A nice way to start a new week 🙂

Iris, Happy 4 Months!

Friday, September 13, 2013

Simon’s lunch of pizza rolls, chicken and broccoli pasta salad, white nectarine, edamame, babybel cheese, animal crackers, and a few fruit snacks. I think Simon is eating more lunch, in part, due to the little treats like fruit snacks. I also packed an afternoon snack of apple chips, goldfish, chocolate bunny cookies, and brownie cookies. Only things left were the edamame and pasta salad. I didn’t have time to try making onigiri this week so that will be next week’s goal.

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Sweet little Iris this morning. She was surprisingly in a good mood considering she had immunizations yesterday. She was a little warm but not anything close to a fever.

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After school, Simon was so happy to see our neighbor’s grandkids. They had started school too so haven’t been over to visit in the last few weeks. Simon wanted to go over and play right away and they were willing to watch him while I went inside to make dinner. I found him in their backyard “fishing” (pool noodle) for “sharks” (pool boogie boards).

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One happy camper with his s’mores cupcake.

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Iris, happy 4 months!

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It was difficult to get a good picture of her with the sign since she kept on grabbing hold and trying to put it into her mouth. Her grip is getting pretty strong and likes to grab onto lots of things like clothing, hair, toys, burp cloths, your finger, etc. She is starting to recognize people and get startled when it’s not who she expects. Like yesterday with the doctor, she kept on staring intently with big eyes as the doctor examined her. She didn’t cry but just stared as the doctor talked and would turn toward me if I said something. She will search for Ron when he says something nearby and give a smile if she sees Daddy looking at her. When I get home from work and picking up Simon, she will also look for me once I start talking to Annie. She kind of bobs her head around, craning to see. Her neck and back aren’t completely strong yet so it’s cute to see her trying so hard to find us. *heart melting*