Elijah Cole's 1st Birthday!

Our little Elijah Cole turned one today! We had a birthday party for him at my parents' house on Saturday. It was ballon/ hot air balloon themed :)

I got some custom made decor from etsy and was overall happy with my purchases. We didn't want to spend too much money on a custom made cake so we just ordered a small cake from Marthas Country Bakery and put cupcake topper on all of the cupcakes for our guests. 

The color theme was teal and green:

Danny, my sister and I prepared all the food and we made too much! Life is a handful with baby so I just wanted to do something simple and not so elaborated.

Eli with Grandpa Lee- his fav!

The birthday boy with daddy at his party:

Here is a family picture of my side of the family with Eli's great grandparents, my parents, and us :)

It was so hard getting a family picture at the party, but here is our first family photo:

 Eli took his first steps this month. We've been encouraging him to walk but he was always too scared. Then out of no where, he decided he was ready and started to walk! Now we play a "walking game"- I would turn him towards the sofa and instruct him to walk there and he would wobble there and then once he is there, he would turn around and wobble back. 

Eli also learned a few more commands this month. One of my favorite is that when asked how old he is (in both English and Mandarin), he would give you one finger:

It's so hard to entertain him nowadays. He is up and about and want to touch/grab everything he sees! We are working on saying "No" to him. It's very difficult, he thinks everything is a game. For example, he loves to lick/chew on his walker, I would firmly say "No" every time but he thinks it's a game. He would on purpose does it while looking at me and when I go over there to stop him he would scream out of excitement. So nowadays I just ignore him. He's so cute though:

Mama look at me!

I'm gonna do it....

see! hahaha

again?

 I am going on a trip to Europe for 10 days with my sister and brother at the end of this week. I'm super excited since I've not been to Europe before (and God knows I need a vacation) but I'm going to miss my little guy!

We feel so blessed to have him in our lives. We are so thankful that God has protected him during his first year of life and I feel like the luckiest mom in the world!

Months 9, 10, and 11 Update

Eli will be turning 11 months old this Saturday! Life has been so good with him.

Feeding- Eli still drinks 4 bottles of formula a day and he eats 3 meals of solids. His favorite food is cheese and loves regular milk. He likes oatmeal, banana, avocado, yam, galbi jimm, scramble eggs and anything my mom makes. He is OK with carrots and he dislikes yogurt and peas. We've been trying to give him a little bit of everything we eat and it's been working. He is not picky as long as the foods are yummy. We tried just blending some beef and carrots in his baby cooker and he rejected it since it's not seasoned.

Sleep- Since Eli has been staying awake longer, we've been taking him out to restaurants since Month 9. He loves to eat table foods so it's easy to keep him busy at the restuarant. At first, we would still  have to rush back home for his naps, but by now, we can take our time and not rush. He is taking two naps now. His first nap is around 9 - 9:30AM for about an hour to an hour and half. His second nap is around 1:30 PM to 2:30PM for about an hour as well. His bedtime is any where from 6:30 to 7:30PM depending on how much sleep he had that day. For the most part I don't have to soothe him to sleep. We usually read a book or two (sometimes I skip that if we are running late), put him in his sleep sack and then I just put him down. He falls asleep usually within minutes. Sometimes though, if he is having trouble sleeping, I would have to go back in and soothe him again but it doesn't happen often. I'm much more relax about going back in since I see that he is not developing bad habits even though I have been going in when he needs me. He usually wakes up around 6AM in the morning and we usually wait at least 30 minutes before going in to get him. He likes to throw his pillow out of his crib to protest! :)

Milestones- Eli can now walk with support. He can push his wagon/walker and walk across the room now. Sometimes when he is reaching for something we are holding, he would be standing without support and not even realize it. I can't wait till he starts walking! Eli also knows a few commands now- jem jem (opening and closing his hands), clapping, shaking his head from side to side, kiss an object (he doesn't like to kiss us haha), looking at the lights, looking at the clock when asked what time it is... etc. He knows all of these commends in both Chinese and Korean, sometimes I sneak in the English version as well. It's incredible how fast he is developing.

Teeth- Eli has 8 teeth total (4 up top and 4 on the bottom). He hasn't been showing much discomfort when he teethes but he sure drools a lot.

Play- We let Eli crawl in our living room now. We just make sure that we mop the floor every week and the dogs are not allowed to play in the living room anymore. Because of that, it's been easier to care for him since we just let him crawl/roam around and he entertains himself pretty well. He still puts everything in his mouth but I'm more relaxed about dirt and germs now. 

When he is in his play area, he likes to throw all of his toys out of the gated area one by one. It's the funniest thing. We try to have his toy bins right outside of the play yard so his toys can land inside the bins and it saves us some trouble picking all of them up... so far... minimal success. 

Since I've been on summer vacation, I take care of Eli most of the time and I've been taking him out a lot. He is friendly and smiles at everyone in restuarants but still doesn't like to be held by people he doesn't know. 

Taking care of him is much easier now in the sense that he is on a good schedule where I can take him out and he sleeps independently. But it is also much harder now because I have to be on 100% when I am with him. He constantly needs to be engaged and entertained. 

He will be a year old in a month!

7 & 8 Month Update

It's been such a crazy few months and I totally skipped the 7 month update! Eli turned 8 month old last Saturday and he is thriving :)

Month 7 was a blur- Eli caught a cold soon after he turned 7 months old. He had a runny nose for about a week. It affected his sleep but he was a little trooper and always slept through the night still. Eli also started to crawl during this month. He started with army crawl and then after a week or so of practicing, he was able to push himself up to be on all fours. Then it took him maybe another week to master crawling.

We were going to set up a play room for him but after cleaning it up we realize it's really a waste of space for him right now. We will set it up later when he is old enough for his play kitchen, art station, etc. So for now, we are using the space in his room and we put a play yard blocking half of the room for him to crawl.

We also turned  our graco pack and play into a ball pit! haha, got this idea from a parenting article online and even though Eli is not too into it right now (he only spends 15 minutes in it before he gets bored), I know he'll love it later.

He also started to pull himself up to kneeling and standing position so we had to lower his crib. I am so surprise at how he is able to pull himself up... this week he mastered sitting up by himself... babies sure grow fast!

I was able to stay at home with him during Easter break. I pretty much took him out every day during the break. We went to visit my parents every day either in their store or at their home. We also ventured out to the mall for the very first time! Eli developed stranger anxiety around the age of 5 month but it suddenly went away right before Easter break. Now when he sees strangers he is all smiles and almost always wants to play with them :)

My little baby is growing up so fast. He is more like a boy than a baby now. He is also very aware of what's going on around him. He wants to touch everything. He would test their purpose by throwing it and then of course gumming it. Oh that reminds me- his upper two teeth are coming in! I just noticed it two weeks ago. He is like a little rabbit now.

Eli also realizes when we are about to leave for work. He does not like to be left at home without his dada and mama! For the first time he is showing a preference. He is currently on team mama. He would prefer me over Danny especially when he is being fussy. I'm not going to lie- it's sweet to know that he knows I'm mama. But it's also very tiring... my arms are always sore after a long day!

He also starts to really babble this month. He only does it when he is complaining about something. And his word of choice is - ma ma ma ma ma. haha! He has no clue what he is saying but he sure knows that saying it gets him what he wants.

Eli loves to play peek-a-poo. He gets bored of his toys easily and would get fussy if he is home for too long. He is also going through a phase where he would sometimes wake up in the morning crying. He has always been such a good sleeper. He used to wake up in the morning and patiently wait for us. Sometimes even falling back to sleep if we are taking too long to get him. Nowadays... he would sometimes wake up earlier than his normal wake up time and just cry. We are hoping it is a phase that will pass soon.

He dropped his 3rd nap this week. His naps started to lengthen for the past two weeks or so. If he does take a third nap it's usually a car/stroller nap at around 5 p.m. which messes his bedtime (usually around 7 p.m.). We are going to try to keep him up so he doesn't take a late 3rd nap.

It's so great to be a parent- there is nothing like it. Even though it's so hard but it's so wonderful. That kiddo can always put a smile on my face :) I can't wait till end of June when I can spend the summer being with him!

Personal Space

While I was pregnant, people often touched my belly without asking me. I did not mind but I know women that get very uncomfortable when that happens to them. I understand where they are coming from. After all, it isn't exactly the norm that you just go up to a person and touch their belly, or in fact, any part of their body. If I know you, a hug or a touch on the arm is nice when you greet me. But really, anything more than that is cutting into my personal space.

Following the belly trend, people love to just touch Eli without any regard to our personal space. It totally freaks me out when people touches him without washing their hands or using hand sanitizer. He is a baby and he has a very weak immune system. I don't know where their hands have been. How do I know you wash your hands after using the bathroom? It is totally not acceptable that you touch my baby's face, hands, feet, etc. And don't tell me that it builds his immune system. Do you take care of him when he is sick? I think not. He is my baby and I don't want him to suffer with a nasty cold. With that said, I know it's very tempting to reach out and show affection towards a baby. I appreciate the loving gesture. But you can simply smile, talk, and play with Eli and that shows just as much love.

I'm not saying you can't touch my baby or any baby at all. Be considerate and be smart. Babies are not toys, they need their space too.

6 Months Update

Eli turned 6 months old last Tuesday! Happy half birthday to my baby boy :)

First Cold
Eli got his first cold this month :( he started showing symptoms on February 7th. He was having a bit of a runny nose and some mucusy cough. I had just recovered from my cold that weekend and my MIL was getting sick so we think Eli got sick from one of us. Despite having a runny nose and coughs, Eli still slept through the nights like a trooper. His worst nights were the first few days of the cold... Friday night was the worst. He was crying for a while before going to sleep :( It was so sad not being able to do anything to help him. Overall he was still his happy self. He didn't get a fever and was completely healed 13 days later.. can you believe that? It took almost two weeks! Now I just pray and hope that he doesn't get sick anymore.

Solids
We started Eli on solids this past weekend and he didn't like it! He kept making weird faces and just spits it back out... For the most part he just played with the food... We are going to keep trying...

It gets so messy...

On A Diet
Apparently, Eli thinks he needs to be on a diet. For the past two weeks or so he has been refusing his bottle. He seems fine besides the fact that after a few ounces of formula, he would stop and refuse to drink! We are not sure what's wrong with him and for the most part we make him finishes his bottle. Dr. Park thinks that it could be his reflux flaring up so we are putting him back on his medicine to see if that helps... Otherwise it would be teething or that he is just going through a phase... boo

6 Months Wellness Checkup
Because of his cold, we delayed his 6 months check up since he can't get his vaccines until he is fully recovered. I brought him in today and he got 3 shots and an oral vaccine. As soon as we stepped into the doctor's office- he started to wail. Eli developed stranger anxiety and it's pretty severe this month. He is usually ok with strangers when they come visit us at home... I guess since it's a familiar environment... but oh boy was he crying today at the office.

Eli weights at 19lb and 3oz and he is measuring at 27inches :) My happy and growing boy

Can you see his two bottom teeth here?

Speaking Chinese
Eli has been hearing Korean from his grandparents since they take care of him during the day when I'm at work. Danny and I have just been speaking to him in English. I'm guilty of not speaking to him in Chinese. So since I'm off from work this week I've also made a very conscious decision to speak Mandarin to Eli as much as possible. Since I'm home with him by myself, it's easier to speak to him in Chinese where as when Danny is around I'm more likely to just speak English. After this week, I think I'm getting the hang of speaking to him in Chinese :) Now I just have to keep it up and hope for a trilingual baby!

Hi! Do I look like a trilingual baby? =D

Starting Solids!

We plan on starting Eli with solids when he turns 6 months (only 2 weeks away!). Last night, I bite the bullet and ordered all the things we will need for that:

I couldn't believe how expensive highchairs are. There are a lot of different options out there but the ones I like are all $200+. After extensive research, we decided to get the Keekaroo High Chair with infant insert:

Here is a popular baby food maker on amazon that I bought. It's definitely not a necessity because you can just use a blender or any food processor to make your own baby food. We don't have a food processor and the thought of cleaning our blender isn't exactly what I want to do frequently. I like how this Beaba unit is small and easy to clean. Also, it's supposed to do all the steaming and pureeing all at once:

 Eli will probably make a mess eating solids so I got these water proof Bumkins bibs :)

 Aren't these Munchkin fresh food feeders so cute? They are great for feeding Eli fresh fruits that are otherwise considered to be choking hazards:

 I also got these OXO Tot Baby Block Freezer Storage units to store away the baby food:

Last but not least.... these soft spoons :)

Can't wait to start Eli on solids!

Eli's First Tooth!

I wasn't going to blog until Eli's 6 months update but so much has changed already so here I am :)

Right after I blogged about how Eli doesn't use his hands to grab his toys... the very next day or so- he started reaching and grabbing his toys! Nowadays, he reaches for pretty much anything that you put in front of him and immediately puts it in his mouth.

I've been suspecting that Eli is teething because he's been drooling a lot and he seems to love chewing on his teething toys. I didn't think he was really teething though because he had no other symptoms... then suddenly this past Saturday morning when I was changing his diaper... I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw a little bit of whites on his gum! I got sooo excited and pretty much jumped up and down laughing and that got Eli excited so he started to laugh too! Here is a picture of his first tooth (or teeth?) with Daddy's help :)

Eli is getting good at rolling! He used to only able to roll onto his right side. What I used to do was put him all the way on one end of floor matt and lay on the other end (on his right side). He would eventually roll all the way to me and then I would put him back again haha but now he is able to roll onto either side, there is no need to do that anymore.

I've been sick with a cold for over a week now. As soon as I got the symptoms, I wore masks and washed my hands 100x a day while taking care of Eli. Luckily, he hasn't gotten sick from me yet and I am at the end of my cold so hopefully he won't catch anything from me. Danny mentioned the other night that it is hard to believe that he did not get sick from me and it's truly a miracle! Must be all those prayers (plus masks plus hand washing) :)

His naps are becoming more regular again. He usually takes 3 naps a day with one long nap in the morning (either his first or second nap). On a typical day, his schedule looks like this:

6:00am- wake up, feed (with dada), play (with dada and mama)
7:45am- first nap (usually a 30 - 40 minute nap)
8:30am- wake up, play with grandma
10:00am- feed (with grandma), and then nap around 10:30am (usually a long nap ending around 12:30pm)
12:15pm- wake up, play (with grandma)
1:50pm- 3rd time feeding (with grandma), then go down for 3rd nap around 2:30pm
3:15pm- wake up and ready to play (I'm usually home around 3:15 and my MIL leaves for the day)
5:00pm- bath, nighttime bottle, bedtime stories, asleep usually between 5:30 - 6:00)

Eli can stay up for 2 hours nowadays in between naps. His total nap time is about 2.5 hours to 3 hours these days. He sleeps at least 12 hours at night. A well rested baby = a happy baby.

It's so much fun taking care of Eli nowadays. He is just so smiley and happy! He understands games now so we can tickle him, play peekaboo, airplane, and much much more. He even holds his arms up for you to hold him when he wants to be held or when you initiate holding him ;) oh the joy of having a 5 months old.