Wednesday, October 2, 2013

“Today was super super better!” is what Simon said when I picked him up today. Encouraging but I hope it translates well to tomorrow morning to his willingness to go to school. I mentioned a few days ago that Simon has recently stopped listening to me and it has proven to be a problem in the mornings. Ron leaves for work early now so isn’t able to help get Simon ready for school. After Simon wakes up, he just keeps on repeating, “I don’t want to go to school.” He delays no matter what I say, at times flat-out ignoring me. Eventually Annie convinces him out of bed and he’ll finally go with me to brush teeth and change clothes. He doesn’t want to go to school but almost always has a great day except for the little sadness in the morning when I leave for work. I hope he will figure out soon that school can be pretty fun and be more eager to go.

Ron packed Simon’s lunch last night of various “sushi” (shredded chicken, carrots, cheese), carrots, nectarine, string cheese, milk, and animal crackers. I added the squeezable apple sauce this morning. He doesn’t seem to like this brand of string cheese from Costco. He prefers the babybel cheeses. He didn’t finish everything but made a pretty good dent into his lunch.

Today was picture day at his school so he was all dressed up this morning. He said he did his “gentle smile” so I look forward to getting the results in a few weeks. Reserve your pictures with me now! 🙂

Nyah Nyah na Nyah Nyah!

Iris had a good milk consumption day, a full 24 ounces of milk today during the time I was at work. She was noticeably heavier to me too. She is getting more and more playful hence the funny little face above.

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Wow! October already?! Time is going by so quickly. It will be a busy month of birthdays, moving (more on that another day), racing (Nike Women’s Marathon), and working (Ron started his new job today. Congratulations honey!).

It was a bit of a crazy morning so forgot to take a picture of Simon’s lunch but last night I made mini “pigs in a blanket” and cut up a honeydew melon. For the “pigs” I used little smokies hot dogs and ready to bake croissant dough cut into half pieces so they wouldn’t be too big for the little smokies. Wrapped them up and in the oven for 12 minutes and ready! Easy peasy and he loved them and ate them all! So proud of my little guy.

At school, the teacher has found a way to help Simon get over his panic of me leaving. They both “send me on my way” by walking me to the door and saying goodbye. He still cried at first but it calmed him down considerably and he even blew me a kiss goodbye. He was all smiles when I picked him up and he ate a good lunch so it usually means he had a good day.

Today I treated myself to a pudding milk tea with pearls. Loved the pearls and pudding but maybe not together so much. Simon remembered I work in Chinatown on Tuesday and asked me if I brought him a smoothie with pearls for after school snack. I did and it was honeydew freeze with pearls. He’s old enough to understand how to chew the pearls and loves pearl drinks just like me.

Iris can self play for at least 15 minutes without any encouragement from us. In that time, I was able to eat dinner :). It’s pretty amazing to me that she can focus on one toy for that long but she loves it and just keeps on grabbing at it. She’s also been pulling on her clothes and showing off her little round belly. Today I watched her roll from her stomach to her back all my herself. On her stomach, she can push a little forward with her legs but usually just ends up spinning herself at least 180 degrees. She’s got a powerful lower body but needs to exercise her upper body and arms before she will be ready to crawl.

Big hug for Iris!

She is starting to respond to her name so when you say “Iris”, she will look at you most of the time. Our nanny Annie says she also seems to respond to the Mandarin words “bao bao” which means you will pick her up to carry her and “yu” for fish so you will bring her to watch Ron’s fish tank. She smiles and gets excited when you look at her and say those words. Little girl is growing up. Time really is going by quickly.

Monday, September 30, 2013

Today was “so much better” according to Simon when I picked him up. He didn’t want to go to school in the morning but didn’t cry until it was time to say “see you later!” The teacher took him outside to wave bye to me as I drove off the work and he wasn’t crying anymore by the time he was outside. Although he said he had a good day, he didn’t eat his lunch hardly. Typical for Mondays. But here it is anyways: chicken and cheese grilled sandwich, carrots, persimmons, grapes, babybel mozzarella cheese, and fruit snacks. He also had some roasted seaweed, freeze dried fruits, and milk which he finished all.

They’ve been doing lots of art projects in class and some I missed because they are hanging in the classroom.

And the one I mentioned last week of the person with clothes. One of his other teachers told me about it again and said he was so smart and the only kid to put clothes and a scarf on his doll to keep it warm. I’m impressed he wanted to put his own spin on the project. Proud mama here.

Simon proudly displaying his Lincoln Log house that he built all by himself. Summer nights are winding down so he wants to enjoy as much time outside in the evening as he can.

Little Iris had a hard day with being a bit constipated. She wasn’t into napping since she probably had an upset tummy. She finally had a large poop right before we got home. She was all smiles after that.

Or maybe she just wasn’t tired since she slept an 8 hour stretch last night. I wish I could sleep 8 hours at one time but it would be painful if I didn’t continue to wake to pump. I stopped waking in the middle of the night when Simon was about 11 months since I had enough freezer stash so I look forward to stopping these late night wakings. I am proud that she hasn’t had any formula since she was less than a week old. She had a little formula in the NICU and a little at home before my milk supply came in but that’s it. It would probably be a struggle now anyways if we were to try to introduce formula. She is very particular.

Once I do stop these late night wakings, I’m not sure when I’d find time to blog since I do most of the updates during these times. I really enjoy having these daily photos of the kids to look back on.

Our beautiful sleeping babe during a nap.

Sunday, September 29, 2013

Seeing your kids smile and hearing them laugh are some of the best things in life.

Saturday, September 28:

Iris is a bit spoiled in that she usually ends up in bed next to me by morning. Simon rarely slept next to either of us since we were so cautious with him as our first child. Iris will sleep in her own bed all night but sometimes I’m just too tired to put her back and I love waking up to her coos and smiles.

Breakfast with Iris.

Simon buried in stuffed animals! He was so happy to keep piling them on.

Then also loving his cars and trucks.

In the evening, Simon had a little meltdown. Not including school drop offs, he hasn’t thrown a tantrum in a while. He was over tired since he didn’t take a nap in the afternoon but fell asleep in the car around 5pm until 6pm. When Ron woke him to take him inside, he had a fit and started wailing and stomping his feet. He eventually calmed down enough to have dinner and returned to his normal self. Tantrums can happen at unpredictable times but I’ve learned that they always eventually pass.

Both kids napping in the car.

Mom, I’m ready for bed! No more pictures please!

Sunday, September 29:

Check out Iris’ new smiley pants.

Change of outfit for the day since she wasn’t really into drinking her milk today. She would take the bottle but not swallow her milk, just let it dribble out the sides of her mouth so her other clothes were soaked. When she’s in the mood, she can drink a lot but when she’s not, she just plays with the bottle and doesn’t drink much. Like today, I think she only had about 12-14 ounces from 8am to 6pm. Usually it’s about 16-20 ounces.

Simon enjoyed staying home today playing with his outdoor and indoor toys, hanging out with us, and just making silly faces.

And being a silly elephant.

And mimicking silly Daddy.

He started something new today and a bit difficult for me. He stopped listening to me or doing what I ask and defers to Daddy. For instance, I told him to go wash hands before eating his dessert and he told me he didn’t need to. But he had been playing with his toys and always washes hands before eating anything. So I just said, “Daddy, are Simon’s hands clean?” Ron said no and told Simon to wash his hands and Simon went and did it right away. We are guessing it is the start of a “testing” phase to see if Ron and I agree and who is the “last word” or has the “power” so we will see how this plays out.

Friday, September 27, 2013

All that sleep during the day yesterday led to a night of troubled sleep. Or she really is growing and needing to wake up to eat. She woke up almost every two hours for the whole night. But she had a great big smile for me in the morning which made me smile too.

I am having lots of fun dressing Iris up in her new outfits. This is a gift from Auntie Susan and family.

It’s been a little chilly during the mornings so that’s why she is wearing a hat. It’s been cold enough that our heater kicked on this morning. Flu season is coming so everyone go get your flu vaccinations to protect yourself and your kids!

Today, Ron made Simon’s lunch. “Sushi” with just rice and Ròusōng 肉鬆, pan fried and sliced hot dog, apples, and grapes.

Simon ate everything! He really loves Ròusōng so it makes sense he ate it all. Not the healthiest of lunches but once in a while, it’s ok to indulge. Here is Simon at home eating breakfast.

This evening, Simon’s school had a parent social at a nearby restaurant and they provided childcare for enrolled students. I went to go see him before I went to the social and he didn’t want me to leave. We’ve been telling him the last few days that we had a mommy and daddy meeting for a short while and he would have to stay at a school for a bit longer. He understood but was still a little sad and maybe unfamiliar with some of the caregivers there for the evening. Ron took Iris on the BART for the first time so they could meet up with me to head to the dinner.

Simon was his happy self by the time we picked him up and headed home after a long evening. His teacher was there at the social and told us some little tidbits about Simon during school. Today they made paper dolls by cutting out the body with construction paper, gluing on eyes and beads for fingers. The teacher said he was the only student to say the person needed a shirt to keep from being cold, so he decided to cut out a shirt and glue it on all by himself. Smart and practical kid!