More of Mia

I can't quite remember how it all happened, but little Mia is fast approaching four months! She's gone from a colicky baby with the worst of gas pains to a smiley, social butterfly with an infectious laughter and beguiling smile. I haven't been able to capture her laughter on the Flip, but I'm hoping I will soon. :)

Mia also has her preferred list of nursery rhymes. The ones that never fail to make her smile? Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Ring around the Rosy, The Grand Old Duke of York and The Alphabet Song.

Have a Blessed Christmas!

The past couple of weeks have been really busy - baking, shopping for gifts, wrapping gifts, mailing out cards while squeezing in playdates for the little ones. Thankfully, everyone has been in the pink of health since that awful bout of flu.

I still have a ton to do, but I thought I'd better post this before it becomes old news. Kayla had her holiday party in school on Thursday and the little ones put up a little show for the big people. Considering how much sugar they'd consumed right before the performance (they had gingerbread cookies with frosting; actually it's more like frosting with gingerbread people), I think they did pretty well.

Enjoy and have a very merry Christmas!

ps. The loud loud singing voice in the first couple of seconds of "Oh Christmas Tree" - that's our very own Idol-in-Training, Mikayla.

Self Portrait

Hop on Pop

Kayla reading two of her favorite Dr. Seuss books. :)

If I Had....

If I Had my Child to Raise Over Again
by Diane Loomans

If I had my child to raise over again
I would build self-esteem first and the house later
I would finger paint more and point the finger less
I would do less correcting and more connecting
I would take my eyes off my watch and watch with my eyes
I would care to know less and know to care more
I would take more hikes and fly more kites
I would stop playing serious and seriously play
I would run through more fields and gaze at more stars
I would do more hugging and less tugging
I would see the oak tree in the acorn more often
I would be firm less often and affirm much more
I would model less about the love of power
And more about the power of love.

All Birthday-ed Out

On the heels of Kayla's birthday party on Saturday was Sienna's birthday bash at the park. Sienna's a fellow 3-year-old that we've gotten to know quite well at church and have playdates regularly with. The girls are just six days apart and love playing with each other.

Everyone had a great time at the party, adults included.

The birthday gal blowing out the candles on her "Choo-Choo" birthday cupcakes made lovingly by her mommy and daddy.

Kayla with party toys.

The mystery fishing game that all the little ones loved.

Kayla taking a whack at the pinata.

A group shot of the lovely ladies. From left: Kayla, Sienna, Loralei, Lily and Leila.

The girls having a conference about their goodie bags.

You're Three!

After battling a nasty bout of flu that pretty much kept us all at home for almost three weeks, we all finally recovered in time to celebrate Kayla's third birthday. Again, we opted for a simple family get-together and of course, Kayla wanted to go (again!) to Chuck E Cheese. When we asked her what cake she wanted, all she said was, "Pink with strawberries on top!" so she ended up with a Barbie ballerina cake with strawberries tucked between layers of yummalicious chocolate cake.

Here are some pics!


The day started at Famous Dave's, a BBQ joint in Gilroy where we had some really good ribs and chicken sandwiches. Kayla wanted chicken tenders and of course, being her birthday, I let her have as many fries as she wanted.

Her cousin Emily who is only 7 but almost as tall as me!

After lunch, we went to Chuck E Cheese (sorry, no pics!) and then came home for cake and pressies. Kayla loves every single one of her presents -- a V-tech laptop, dresses, books, a solar-powered cash register, and Chutes and Ladders.

Thank you Auntie Tina, Uncle Ryan, Emily, and Grandma and Grandpa. Thank you too Aunty Evelyn for the lovely dresses you mailed from Singapore!

Vote!

Hello...

Just for kicks..I've entered pics of Mia and Kayla in Parenting.com's Model Search. Here are the links.

Vote for me in this contest!

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Vote, please. :)

Boo!

This Halloween was supposed to be a tad more exciting since Kayla's old enough to understand how the costume/Trick or Treat/candy business works. Unfortunately, she also fell really ill a couple days before so whatever plans we made had to be shelved. She missed the Halloween party at Mike's office, the Harvest Festival celebration at church (complete with bounce houses and all!), and had to settle for a short candy-collecting stroll around the neighborhood.

Mia came down with the flu too on Halloween itself so I ended up staying home with her. Despite the coughing and sneezing, Kayla came home pretty pleased with her candy haul.

Here are some pics from the month of October.

Like last year, we headed to Uesugi Farms to gawk at monster pumpkins while Kayla went on the usual hayrides and pony rides.

What would Halloween be without a monster meal?!

Mia the pumpkin munchkin


Kayla looking dazed here from her drippy nose.

Trick or treat?

After changing her mind like 100 times, she finally decided that she'd like to be a ballerina for Halloween. The other choices: Raggedy Ann, Princess, Witch, and a Mannequin (yes, you read it right, a Mannequin).

See you later, alligator!

If you ask Kayla what she learned in school that day, she'll either tell you "I forget!" or "I don't know!" But from time to time, she'll sing a song or spout a rhyme that we know we didn't teach her. And that's pretty much how we've been figuring out what she's been up to in school. :)

Here's one of those silly rhymes.

Once in a Full Moon

Another installation of Kayla's wisecracks :)

Background:
Most of you know that I've been trying to teach Kayla a little Chinese whenever I find the opportunity too. And not too long ago, we came across the word "月饼" (mooncake) when we were learning about the moon. I told her I'd get her some when the Moon Cake Festival came round. She loved it and has been asking for it from time to time. Here's what happened about two weeks ago.

K: Mommy, I want some Moon-Gao.
Me: Moon-Gao?? What's a Moon-Gao?
It took a while but I finally realized that Kayla had creatively combined the "糕" in "蛋糕" (which means cake in Chinese) with "moon" to tell me she wants mooncake. She had clearly forgotten what mooncake was called in Chinese and decided to make one up herself. I had a good laugh after figuring it out.

Background:
Kayla came down with a nasty flu on Wednesday and skipped school Thursday (She's still sick... sigh). Anyhow, she's been cranky pretty much all week and this happened while I was putting her down for a nap just the other day.

Me: Kayla, use a tissue to wipe your nose, not your fingers.
K: NO!
Me: Kayla, talk nicely. Mommy's just trying to teach you how to be clean.
K: But you're not a teacher!
Me: *Loss for words*

In other news, Mia caught Kayla's bug and is down with a cold and cough too. Please pray they both get well sooon!

Anyway, here's a short clip of Mia two days before she came down with the bug. Enjoy.

Reason to Smile

The past couple of weeks have been EXHAUSTING, thanks to frequent visits from Mr Gas and Miss Colic. Poor little Mia spends most of her evenings writhing in pain and screaming her head off, but it's getting better (or so I hope!) Where did that dream baby we brought home from the hospital go?!

Some say what the nursing mom eats might be the problem and to date, I've cut chocolate (CHOCOLATE!), peanut butter (PEANUT BUTTER!), ice cream (ICE CREAM!), asparagus, broccoli, and everything and anything spicy out of my diet. Poor me. Hopefully, that horrid, painful gas is just a result of her immature digestive system and that it'll get better over time.

Anyhow, here's a video montage of some of Mia's rare calm moments. She's officially 6 weeks old by the way. :)

Doctor, Doctor

Off to the doctor we went today for Mia's one-month checkup. Here are her vital stats:

Weight: 9 lbs 8 oz - 50th percentile
Height: 21.5 inches - a little above 50th percentile
Head circumference: 34 cm - 20th percentile

Her paed says she's doing well and that's always music to a parent's ears.

By the way, this is a new paed. We decided to switch because Kayla's paed always has a loooooong wait time at her clinic, which really isn't the best thing for an infant. She's really gentle and nice, so I guess that explains why her clinic is always busy and crowded. But Mia's paed ain't bad either. For one, I love her spacious clinic and she's pretty good with babies and kids too. The only downside: She's about a 15-min drive away. We figured we'd rather drive than be stuck in a clinic full of sick children. :)

In other random stats,

1293: The amount of diapers we've used so far (kidding, but I think it's got to be in the hundreds at least)
26: The amount of times I've been pooped or pee-ed on
10: The number of times Kayla has called her lil sister "mimi" endearingly
129: The number of seconds I take to change Mia's diapers
24: The number of hours I've slept in the past 4 days (and also one of my all-time favorite TV shows.)
180: The number of minutes Mia spends crying everyday (or at least it feels like it)

... to be continued

A month on...

Finally, a smiley shot...

The thinker

Self-explantory onesie

While I was sleeping, Mommy was busy...

It's tough getting the two to smile at the same time.

A happy big sister...

Just For Now

I desperately need to catch up on sleep... so here's a brief photo update.

Here's Mia at week 2. That teddy bear is tiny, but I guess she's tinier. She weighed in at 7lbs 8oz at her 2-week checkup.

Shots of her at week 3. Kayla never cared for this bouncer... Mia would sit in it but not for long either.

Our artist-in-residence is getting more prolific at drawing faces.

The above-mentioned artist drinking apple juice.

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Happy Birthday!!! :)

Jeremiah was a.....

Kayla had her first public performance on Thursday with her class of preschoolers at her school's Fund Run spirit rally. Every grade level got to put up a performance and the preschoolers boogied to "Joy to the World."

She's the tiny second last one. Pardon the poor quality but it was the closest I could get to the stage and my Flip, unfortunately, doesn't have great zoom capability. Anyhow, I had lots of fun watching her. She even took a bow at the end of the performance!

Enjoy!

Snip, snip!

For the longest time, I've resisted snipping Kayla's tresses, apart from the much needed bang trims. Kayla, too, wanted to keep her hair long, just like a princess.

But with our time stretched so thin these days, keeping track of her hair ties and clips and taming her unruly crown has become a real chore. So I suggested a trip to the salon, expecting some resistance. Surprisingly, there was none.

So two days ago (Sep 18), Kayla and Daddy took a trip to the neighborhood salon (Googooli) that many fellow moms have given the thumbs up to. Kayla had a blast. Not only did she get to sit in a pink jeep, watch Elmo Dvds and lap up a lollipop, she returned with a sockdolager of a haircut. OK, that might be pushing it a little but I thought her makeover was rather fetching. The salon even gave her a "First Haircut" certificate, complete with a keepsake of her snipped hair. Neat!


Messy hair...

At the Salon...

Kayla with her first haircut cert

Pleased as punch with her haircut and lollipop!

A Special Bond

I couldn't be prouder of Kayla who has stepped right into those big sisterly shoes without much fuss. Yes, she definitely has her moments when she demands attention but more often than not, she's been terribly understanding and loving.

Just the other day while I was trying to rouse a sleepy Mia to nurse, Kayla did the cutest thing. She chirped, "Mommy, I'll go get something to wake her up" before running out of the room. I wasn't quite paying attention but when I saw her dragging her little drum set into the room, I couldn't help but laugh. She fished out her drumsticks and proceeded to pound as loudly as she could so her little sister would wake up.

Here's a snippet of the duo sharing a moment.

The First Hours

We were obviously better prepared this time round since it was a scheduled C-section. Here's a chronological photo re-telling of Mia's birth - minus the blood and gore.


We arrived at the hospital at 10.30am and waited as the nurses prepped me for surgery. The C-section was scheduled for 12.30pm.

Weighing station: The official numbers- 6lbs 12.6 oz.

The nurse checking her.

Still has gunk all over.

She gets her first bath in a sink and you can tell she's not liking it one bit. She likes getting baths at home though. She even smiles when I shampoo her head!

Clean and contented.

A drugged-out me post-op. After a brief glance at her in the operating room, I didn't get to see her till probably an hour or two later. I was in the recovery room with a nurse who kept prodding me to find out if the anesthesia has worn off and if I could move my legs.