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.

5 Months Update

Eli will be 5 months this Saturday! I am writing this post a little early.

Unswaddled!

Month 4 is a big month for us since Eli changed so much! He got out of his swaddle on January 1st (that's his new year's resolution! =P) and he is doing wonderfully without it. We did not have a problem swaddling him but we notice that Eli's head is getting flatter and flatter... we think that it's because of his sleep position. Since he is swaddled, he doesn't get to move around a lot when he sleeps and since he sleeps so well (12 hours at night), the back of his head is so flat. During my winter break, I was obsessing over his flat head and I couldn't even sleep well thinking about how I've ruined my son's head! So we decided to try napping him during the day w/o his swaddle... at first, it was a disaster because he would startle himself as he is falling asleep with his failing arms and most of the time, I have to go back in and swaddle him back anyway. But then after a few days of trial and error, we noticed on January 1st that he was able to nap w/o it! So that night, we did the unthinkable. We decided to go cold turkey! To our surprise, Eli slept so well per usual that night and ever since then, we never looked back. His naps however, became shorter but he makes it up by sleeping an extra hour or so at night and he is slowly getting back to his usual self for naps. We are so proud!

Rolling Over

Eli started to roll to his back while on his tummy back in November when he was only 3 months old. Then suddenly, he stopped doing that all together and would only roll onto his tummy while on his back. He didn't know what he was doing really because he hates being on his tummy and he would always cry for help whenever he rolled onto his tummy and can't seem to roll back. In our attempt to correct his flat head, we've been trying to put him on his tummy as much as possible and give his little head some much deserved rest while he is awake. Because of this, he has had plenty of opportunities to practice rolling over to his back while on his tummy and he mastered it this week! Nowadays, tummy time has been so much harder because as soon as we put him on his tummy, bam! he is on his back. It's effortless for him now to roll onto his back from tummy... he just turns his head and puts all his weight on that side and it's a matter of a second before he's on his back again. Also, since he finally "realized" what he was doing when he was rolling from back to tummy.. he no longer does it! Since he hates being on his tummy and he just outright refuses!

Sitting Up

We finally used our bumbo and at first, Eli hated it. But after a few more tries, he got used to it and he spends a few minutes every day on his bumbo :) 

We also got a jumperoo and Eli absolutely loves his jumperoo! It keeps him entertained and occupied so it frees us up when we have to do some work around the house. I usually put him in there when I am warming up a bottle and preparing him for his bath. He is jumping up a storm in his jumperoo :)

Feeding

Eli was on a feeding strike last week and we thought he was sick! But we brought him to the doctor's and they can't seem to find anything wrong with him. Later, we realized that he was constipated and it affected his appetite -.-

But ever since that episode of constipation, his appetite hasn't been the same. Some days, he eats fine, but some days, he would refuse his bottle after eating only 6 oz out of the 8oz he normally eats. We learn to respect his wishes and not force him to eat anymore. I used to worry that he is not getting enough food since he dropped all of his nighttime bottles since 3 months old. But I learned to not worry because he weights over 17 lb and he is already wearing size 12-18 months clothing! He is definitely not chubby though... more lean and long.

His Hands

Eli is obsessed with his hands. He always has them in his mouth! Sometimes he would make these loud sucking noises that cracks me up. I am worried that he is not grasping his toys yet. He knows how to bring the toys to his mouth when I place them into his hands. But he is not very good at reaching for them yet :( I hope he reach that milestone soon.

My Favorite Month

This is by far my favorite month. 

My favorite time of the day is bright and early in the morning. Eli always greets me with a giant grin and he is always so happy! My second favorite time of the day is when I come home from work in the afternoon. He is usually up from his last nap of the day and ready to play :) He is more and more social and he expresses his happiness more outwardly now. There is nothing like your baby's smile and babble when he first sees you when you come home from work. It melts my heart and I am just so happy to see him! Lastly, I love our time together right before his bedtime. He loves his baths so I love bathing him too. After his bath, if he is not too tired, I would sit on our glider with him on my lap and we would read a few books together. His favorite book is Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You? By Dr. Seuss. When we get to his favorite pages, he would smile and look at me, and then look at the page again. Sometimes he would even imitate the sounds I am saying! 

This month has been so wonderful. I love our little Eli and I am loving being a mom! It still is full of new challenges every day but it's all worth it :)

4 months update

Eli turned 4 months last Wednesday and he had his 4 months check up yesterday. He got his second round of shots and he was so brave!

Ever since I went back to work end of November, things have been different at home. Before I went back to work, I was very nervous about leaving Baby E with my MIL. I was worried that he wouldn't adjust well to this change and wouldn't sleep well. So before I went back to work, my MIL came for a few days to learn how to take care of Eli our way lol. I made Danny stay with her the whole day and show her how we take care of Eli. He made sure she understood his nap schedule and his routine. Then it was time for me to go back to work... I was a bit nervous the first week, but then when I see that both Eli and my MIL are adjusting so well.. I was just so happy to get my life back!

During a normal week day, Danny and I both get up around 5:30 - 6 am... I hop into the shower while Danny takes care of the dogs and warms up the bottle. Eli gets his first morning bottle with Danny at around 6am... then around 6:30 when I am all ready for work, I get to play with Eli for about 30 minutes when Danny gets ready. I then leave the house at around 7am and Danny stays with Baby E until my MIL arrives at 7:30am. I usually get home around 3:30pm.

We keep a detailed log of Eli's sleep, eat, and poop schedule. So when I come home, I can easily see how he has slept and ate the whole day and knows when to put him down for bedtime. Eli takes 3-4 naps during the day nowadays. His bedtime is usually around 6 - 6:30pm depending on when he wakes up from his last nap... some days he sleeps before 6pm and some days he sleeps a little later. Overall, he is such a happy and good baby. He is so easy going and it makes our life so much easier. He has been sleeping through the night since when he was 2.5 months old and it's really a blessing.

His naps are still irregular but one thing for sure is that he has at least one long nap a day. It's usually his first morning nap. We keep him on a schedule so his naps are more predictable. He goes down for his first morning nap at around 7:30am and gets up around 9:30am (sometimes later). He gets his second bottle at 10am... then he goes down for his second nap around 11:30am... after that, he eats at 2pm and has one or two more short afternoon naps. When I get home, he is usually napping. I manage to squeeze in  a shower before he gets up at around 4pm and then it's play time for us :) I really enjoy spending the two hours with him each afternoon. At around 5pm each day, he either gets a bath (or we just washes his hands), lotion, in preparation for bedtime. He gets his last bottle at around 5:30pm and is usually out by 6:30pm.

I get my alone time after he goes to bed. Nowadays my MIL even washes the bottles for us so I don't even have to do baby dishes anymore! (Umma is the best hehe) Danny usually comes home around 7:30pm so I spend that hour usually lesson planning for the next day. He comes home, we eat dinner, watches a bit of TV and I'm usually out by 9:30pm (I know I am such a granny... but I get sooo tired these days!)

Every morning I wake up feeling very blessed because I get my sleep! haha. It's such a wonderful feeling knowing that when he goes down at night, he is down for good. I get to have my "me" time and my sleep.

Life is a bit hectic most of the time with Baby E... but I am much happier now that I am a working Mom. I love waking up every morning going to work. I love my job.

On weekends, it's always a bit busy. We have to take care of Baby E and run a bunch of errands. On top of that, I usually have to do plenty of lesson planning for the week. Sundays are always hectic because we have church. We are still adjusting to life with a baby but so far... it's going well. We try to have date nights every other Fridays. My sister has been so nice to babysit for us :) She usually comes around 6:30pm and we are usually back before 9pm to get her home. 

People always ask- How's it like being a mom? My answer is usually... It's okay... lol.. I wonder if people expect me to say- "Oh it's wonderful being a new mom!".. or "I've never been happier!". I guess I can say that.. but that would be lying lol. Don't get me wrong- I love Eli and he makes me smile and laugh all the time...  But it is SO. MUCH. WORK. being a new parent and there are new challenges every day.

One more week of work and then it's Christmas break! Now that I'm working again, I can look forward to vacation time! :)

12 Weeks Update

Our little Elijah will be 12 weeks this Sunday! Here are some of his updates:

Elijah is definitely more sociable now. He smiles and squeals all the time now! He laughed a few times before but it's hard to make him laugh haha maybe he just doesn't find me funny enough :( he is also getting much stronger. I try to do tummy time with him every day but he absolutely hates it. Once a while though, he doesn't mind as much and I can see that he can hold himself up much better. He also found his fists and constantly sucks on them. The best thing though, is that every time I go in to get him from his nap or in the morning, he would reward me with this giant toothless smile... sometimes he would get so excited that he may even squeal :) He also demands attention nowadays. When left in his bouncer or rocker for too long... he would get unhappy and demands attention from us. I guess he realize we are much more fun than those hanging toys.

His daytime nap has been getting better. As soon as I notice that he is getting quiet (usually an hour and 15 minutes after he has woken up from his last nap), I would swaddle him, put him in his crib, turn the white noise on and leave the room. Most of the time, he would just fall asleep on his own without any fussing.Yay!

He definitely is developing his first morning nap. I can usually count on an hour and half of morning nap. Some days where he is really sleepy, he would sleep for 3 hours! After his first morning nap though, the rest of the day is unpredictable. On a good day, he will have 2 more naps of an hour each and then it will be his bedtime. On a bad day, he will catnap for the rest of the day (20 min - 40 min) until his bedtime. He has also been fighting his bedtime this week. Eli has always been easy to put down for his nighttime sleep. But this week was different. He would protest for over an hour each night! We usually start our bedtime routine at 6ish and his bedtime would be around 6:30 to 7:15 depending on the day. But this whole week he would protest as soon as we put him down all the way until 8pm when he is exhausted from all that crying and fussing. Except today. Today was different. After reading some more books and getting advices from other mommy friends, I decided to push his bedtime earlier thinking he may be too exhausted to sleep at his regular bedtime. So today, he woke up from his last nap at 4:50pm, I quickly warmed up the room and gave him a bath at 5:20, gave him his bottle at 5:30 and he was all ready to go to bed by 6pm. I put him down and he started to protest yet again. I left the room thinking maybe he will go to sleep soon. But no... he screamed for 10 minutes and he spitted up A LOT. So I rushed in to cleaned him up and unswaddled him. I felt terrible because he spitted up so much from all that crying. He stopped crying as soon as I got to him. I put him in his rocker, put on some music with the light dimmed. Left him to do some dishes. The plan was to feed him again at 7:30pm and put him to bed at 8:00pm since he has been falling asleep at 8:00pm every night of this week after crying/fussing for an hour or more. After the dishes, I came into the room and just sat next to him on the glider and started to read my book (healthy sleeping habits, happy child, thanks Tina!).. he was just calmly sucking his fists and looking around the room. Then suddenly from the corner of my eye I saw him slowly closing his eyes! So immediately I swaddled him, placed him in his crib, turn on the white noise, and left the room. He fell asleep immediately and that was 7:00pm! I guess tomorrow, I'll try the same thing, I'll start bedtime routine early.. and just sit with him until he starts to doze off (hopefully) :)

Also, Elijah has been sleeping through the night (hopefully will continue to)! He dropped his night time feeding all together and woke up this morning at 6:45am :) This past week he has been waking up past 5am to eat and this morning totally broke the record! This morning I woke up because Danny kept checking the monitor and I said to him that he doesn't have to worry because we will hear him fuss if he wakes up. He then said to me "I know... I am checking because it's already 6:30am... I have to get up in half an hour to get ready for work.." I was so shocked Eli lasted all the way till 6:45am and he didn't even wake up crying! He woke up and he was happily cooing :)

I can't believe I am going back to work in 3 weeks! It's a bit stressful to even think about going back to work. Mainly because it's going to be so hard leaving Eli during the day. I am going to worry about his sleep! But it's for the best. Afterall, I love my job and I simply can't stand being a stay at home mom. It will surely drive me crazy. Plus, I think I will miss Eli sooo much that our time together will be so much more enjoyable.

Anyhow, it's Friday night and how are we spending it? Danny is bringing home Chipotle and mini cupcakes from Baked By Melissa! We are going to just watch a movie and enjoy some yummy food tonight ;) Oh life with a newborn....