Half-y Birthday!

Dear Mei-mei,

I can't believe you're already six months old!  You have been such a joy to get to know these past months, and I can't wait to learn even more about how you think and feel in the coming years.  Since the day we met you, you've been such a calm, contented baby, happily watching your brother or catching our eye to give us a huge grin.  Even though you still nurse like a pit bull, you have been a sweet and patient girl in every other regard.  You watch us with those startling blue eyes which are so full of curiosity, innocence, and sometimes, steel (you can make it VERY clear when you think I'm being ridiculous).  When I hold you, you grab onto my face, neck, hair, fingers -- whatever you can reach -- and snuggle in.  You coo and babble and you laugh if you see one of us laughing (especially your brother).  You rarely complain and can be consoled with a cuddle or a song when you are unhappy.  You put everything into your mouth, although it seems that your favorite thing to chew on is cloth (a blanket, towel, your cloth dolls, your clothing, my clothing).  When you are tired, you suck on your thumb and curl your fingers around your nose, then cover up your eyes with your other hand.  When you are excited, you kick your legs and screech happily.  I keep trying to take pictures of the top or back of your head so that I can remember your bald spot and fuzzy little noggin, but you always crane your neck around so that you can see me.  So instead, I'll remember how you always want to see what's going on and make eye contact.

I am so proud to be your mother and I am honored that I get to help you grow into a fabulous and strong woman (although my more immediate focus is to help you grow into a fabulous and strong sitter-upper -- you're still a folder-in-halfer when it comes to sitting up by yourself).  Thank you for joining our family and for being my sweet girl.

Love,
Mama

Brown Bear, Brown Bear

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, originally uploaded by Wenmei.

Z loves to have books read to him (especially Dr. Seuss books). More and more often though, he'll say, "Read self!" and read his book out loud to us. And he's quite good.

Now I get it

It’s interesting how some things start to make more sense to me as I go through the various learning stages of being a parent.  I used to think that Smuckers’ Goober (peanut butter and jelly in one jar) was ridiculous.  I mean, is it really that hard to open up TWO jars to make a sandwich?  But now that I have a 2 year old whose idea of eating half of a sandwich means eating the half with the jelly on it and leaving an open-faced peanut butter sandwich behind, I totally get it.  Mixing the peanut butter and jelly together makes it impossible for children to pick out only the jelly.  I make my own Goober by mixing the peanut butter and jelly in a bowl before I spread it on the bread, and that’s been working out really well for us.

Another thing I get is why parents so often leave their shopping cart bound toddlers in the middle of the aisles at grocery stores.  That’s the only place where the toddler can’t reach the shelves on either side.  As long as said toddler is buckled into the seat, that is.  Otherwise, all bets are off.

A-mah says

A-mah Says, originally uploaded by Wenmei.

Zachary likes to talk to himself when he's in his crib, and we like to listen to him over the monitor. Tonight, he was apparently thinking about the fan we put in the guest room when his A-mah and Opa stayed with us for Sophia's birth. He really wanted to play with the fan (it has lights and buttons and moving parts!) but of course, he wasn't allowed to. He would sneak into the room when he thought no one was watching, but A-mah usually caught him and would say "Bu shin!" ("No, don't touch!") before he could push any buttons.

What's a little unnerving to us about this is that he is reciting something that he remembers from last July, which is before he really started talking. In a similar way, he'll suddenly sing a song we haven't sung to him since before he was talking. Or he'll recite a book we haven't read to him in months. We have no idea what he has stored in that brain of his, and we're a little concerned about when and where it will come out...

Slumber party

It’s been busy around here for the past week, as Papa and Grandma Hill have been in town visiting.  I’ll try to update pictures and this blog soon, but I had to do a quick post to announce that Mei-mei slept for 14 hours straight last night!  Of course, now that I’ve mentioned it she’ll never do it again.  But it gives me hope that someday I will be able to sleep for more than 4 hours per night.
Z, on the other hand, has been having a really rough time with sleep.  He’s always been a great sleeper (13 hours at night plus a 2 hour nap), but in the last several weeks, his night sleep has gotten terrible.  It started out with him simply being exhausted during the day (rubbing his eyes and asking to go “night night” at 10:30 in the morning), and we assumed it was because he was having to deal with his sister screaming in the middle of the night.  So we moved her out of their room temporarily, in order to help him catch up on his sleep.  Now she’s sleeping well, but he’s having trouble falling asleep and he’s getting up earlier and earlier in the morning.  During the day, it’s clear that he’s completely sleep-deprived (red-rimmed eyes, on the edge of a meltdown all day, wanting to take his nap or go to bed really early, falling asleep in his car seat or on the couch) but we can’t figure out how to get him well-rested again.  We’ve been putting him down for his nap and bedtime earlier, but he talks and kicks in his crib for a good hour before he finally falls asleep.  He’s not sick and we can’t see any molars coming in, so we’re at a loss.  We just hope that eventually he’ll get back on track.

Roll with it baby

Roll with it baby, originally uploaded by Wenmei.

Redefining normalcy

This morning, Z said, "Kiss Mei-mei" and leaned over to kiss the top of her head.  He does that frequently, but this time it was special because he was bare-bottomed while sitting on the big boy potty.  And I was sitting on the bathroom floor, holding Mei-mei.  And Mei-mei was nursing.  This is not a scene I could have ever have imagined before having children.

mamarazza returns

After a 2-year hiatus, my photo blog mamarazza is back and better than ever!  At least I hope it's better.

I started mamarazza in 2007 as a place to post my favorite pictures of Z, but I didn't keep up with it.  However, I'm newly motivated to refocus* on it.  This weekend I did an overhaul of the UI (well, as much as I could within the limitations of the existing template) and created a new banner, and I've started loading some recent photos.

I added a link to mamarazza on the sidebar under "pictures".  Check it out and let me know what you think!

*pun fully intended

For A-mah

Ni-hao A-mah, originally uploaded by Wenmei.

Chinese school

Yesterday was Z’s first day of Chinese School with the Panda Institute.  The other children have been attending for a while so they are quite a bit further in their Mandarin, but we’re not worried about Z’s ability to catch up.  We are, however, worried about his ability to sit down and pay attention.  He’s a very busy boy and it’s a lot to ask him to sit down when he’s in a new place full of bright objects and books (the class is held in a small K-2 school).  Luckily, Ying Lǎoshī (teacher) is very patient and didn’t mind letting Z run around the room while she taught her lesson.  Both she and the Mike Laoshi said that it’s normal for the children to have trouble focusing at first.  They also said that Z is very sharp, which is something we’ve been hearing from a lot of people lately.  I’m starting to think that’s what people say as a euphemism for “difficult” or “incorrigible”.  It’s nicer to say, “Your son is very quick/sharp/smart,” rather than “Your son is out of control.”

Z was a little confused about Ying Laoshi at first, because I think he associates Mandarin with his A-mah.  When he first heard Ying Laoshi speaking in Mandarin, he stopped in his tracks, stared at her, and asked, “A-mah?”  He called her A-mah a few times during the class, but adjusted quickly (after all, he had much running about to do…no time to worry about why other people speak his A-mah’s secret language).  He was especially fascinated when Ying Laoshi sang “Liang Zhi Lao Hu”, which happens to be the one and only Chinese song I know and which I’ve been singing to him since he was a baby.

In a clear display of his sharpnitude, Z picked up new words and applied them even as he ran around the room.  As he climbed up and down on a stool, Mike Laoshi said, “zhàn qǐ lái” (stand up) and “zuò xià” (sit down -- although the only only audio clip I could find says "please sit down").  Z appeared to be ignoring him, but then ran to another chair and said, “Zuo xia!” as he sat down, followed by “Zhan qi lai!” as he stood up.  He was also very consistent about saying “xiè xiè” (thank you) whenever he received (or acquired) something from Ying Laoshi or one of the other students.

At the end of class, one of the other moms came to me and told me not to worry -- that this was the first time her son actually paid attention and participated in the class.  Her son is nearly 4 years old and they’ve been attending for a year and a half.  I’m not sure if that makes me feel better or worse.

Sunday morning greetings

Sunday morning greetings, originally uploaded by Wenmei.

The second time is easier

I’ve discovered that it’s easier to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight & shape the second time around.  (Note to people who have not been through a pregnancy:  Pre-pregnancy weight and shape are NOT the same thing, and one doesn’t necessarily follow the other.)  Anyway, it has been easier to get back to my pre-pregnancy body this time for a few reasons:

1. I’m chasing a 2-year old around all day, which means I never get to sit on the couch watching soap operas and eating bon-bons.
2. I’m too busy and tired to pay attention to things like my weight, which makes it seem a lot easier when I discover that I’ve lost the baby weight in spite of myself (and in spite of the large part cupcakes continue to play in my diet).
3. I don’t have time to cook for myself or eat regular meals (see numbers 1 and 2 above).
4. My “pre-pregnancy” body this time around is also my “post-pregnancy” body from Baby #1, so the bar is quite a bit lower.  I mourned the loss of my abdominal muscles a couple years ago and I’ve accepted that my days of midriff-baring tank tops are over (to be honest, they probably should have been over before I even had Baby #1).  Right now, I’m just happy to have a semblance of a waist and that my ribcage has shrunk back to its original size.  I’m also happy that I no longer have to turn sideways to get my hips in and out of a public bathroom stall.  (Did I ever tell you about the time when I was pregnant with Z and I got stuck in a bathroom stall at work?)

I think #4 is the main reason it’s been easier.  And it also reminds me how weight gain is just one piece of the changes your body experiences during pregnancy.  Everyone focuses on the pounds, but for me, the more uncomfortable changes happened to my skeletal system:  ribs, hips and pelvis expanding, joints loosening.  Those are also the changes that took longer to correct themselves.

Regardless, my bones seem to be back in place.  Yay bones!

It’s my birthday, I can eat cupcakes all day if I want to

Yesterday was a special day for me:  I celebrated turning 21 and sweet 16!  (Or rather, “plus” sweet 16.  Whatever.)  I got to enjoy a delicious cupcake adorned in her Bella Cupcake Couture finest, I have a mass of gorgeous tulips sitting on my table, a tall decaf soy Cinnamon Dolce Latte in my hand, and I’m looking forward to the “Season of Musicals” at the 5th Avenue Theater.  And throughout the day, I was overwhelmed with Facebook, email, and texted birthday greetings (I love social networking – it makes me feel like I actually talk to adults every once in awhile, rather than just a 5-month old who smiles and giggles but has no idea what I’m saying and a 2-year old who won’t let me get a word in edgewise).  I felt like I was sitting in homeroom on Valentine’s Day and, much to my surprise, received a huge pile of candy grams (because if you knew me in high school, it would be much to everyone’s surprise if I got a huge pile of Valentine candy grams).  All in all, it was a wonderful day!

In the morning, I took Z and Mei-mei to the Children’s Museum, which allegedly has a whole bunch of great exhibits for kids.  I don’t actually know this for a fact, because all I saw were the trucks and buses and the room with all of the balls (Cog City).  Z spent a good 30 minutes driving and riding the city bus and fire engine, and then spent the rest of the morning pushing buttons and collecting ping pong balls in Cog City.  We never made it to the other side of the museum, so we’re going to have to go back in order to check out the rest of the exhibits.  In fact, I’m considering giving up our Zoo membership in favor of a Children’s Museum membership, because so far Z hasn’t been very interested in the Zoo and he couldn’t stop talking about how “very fun” the “mu-zeen” was.

We went for a walk in the afternoon (one of my birthday presents was a break in the rainy weather, so you’re welcome, Seattle) and then headed out to meet some friends for dinner and drinks at the Alibi Room and Zig Zag Cafe.  (Incidentally, whenever I go to the Alibi Room, I have flashbacks to my days as an architect and I feel this overwhelming urge to dress all in black and discuss Derrida’s theories of deconstructivism.)  I had a really good time and enjoyed spending the evening with friends!

It’s been one of those days

When Z throws his toys, they get put into time-out (the bottom of the pack-n-play) until the next day.  Here’s a picture of the time-out bin this morning.  You’ll note that his favorite toys (the blue MP3 player, the music bus, the Mozart music cube, his sister’s talking teapot and the beloved hand-held vacuum cleaner) are in time-out along with the rest of the toys.  This is because I’ve had to add a new twist since Z started throwing his less-liked toys while announcing “time out” himself.  Now when he throws a toy, not only does the thrown toy go into time-out, but I also get to choose a toy to put into time-out.  And I choose wisely.

My favorite birthday surprise

Happy birthday Mommy, originally uploaded by Wenmei.

Compare & Contrast: Auntie Trisha

Z at 4 months (Feb 2008) and Mei-mei at 5 months (Dec 2009), both enjoying their first visit with Trisha.  If the second shot were a bit wider, you'd likely see Z pulling on Trisha's leg while chanting, "Look Aunt TriSHAH!  See Aunt TriSHAH!  Play Aunt TriSHAH!"

Incidentally, both Z and Mei-mei made a trip to LA to visit Trisha while I was 3 months pregnant with them.  So I guess the pictures above show their first postpartum visit with her, while the pictures below (Jun 2007 and Feb 2009) show their first prenatal visit.  And yes, I'm wearing a t-shirt that says "pregnant (not fat)" at Disneyland.

The tipping point

The tipping point, originally uploaded by Wenmei.