Retreat 2025

 Trinity pines

Failure John 21: 1-19

What do people typically do when people fail: 

1) We go back to the familiar. What we knew. Eg in John: fishing. 

After becoming Christian, it gets harder, more convicted, maybe conflict in church, falling out of relationship...then maybe just want to call out old college groups, old friends, go back to what they knew before. When Jesus died, disciples: Go back to fishing. "It's over. Lets go fishing. But caught nothing." 

Cast your net on to the other side... like "did you turn it on? 🤔" 

When they went back to what they were good at, the Lord graciously draws Peter back to Him and reveals himself. Failure is seeing Jesus in a new setting. Is Jesus still gracious and loving when we are the bottom. The more we fail, the more Jesus reveals himself. Show mercy, love. 

Asked Peter do you love me? (Diff words of love, flock/sheep). Jesus is trying to bring him back to the point of failure. Jesus is maneuvering Peter back to the night when he failed Jesus. Charcoal fire: only other time mentioned was John 18 when Peter denied knowing Jesus 3 times. So Jesus asking if Peter lives 3 times matches the 3 times of denying Jesus. Bringing Peter back to the moment of failure so we can feel full restoration. When feel full weight of our failure, so we can feel fullness of grace, salvation, forgiveness. 

Apologize in our culture is downplaying the wrong: im sorry. No worries, no biggie, dont even mention it. But Biblical way is opposite: you really screwed up, that was wrong...but in Christ you are forgiven. 

So we can experience fullness of forgiveness. Counseling is what this is about. Take months to confront memory/reality. Hard because everything about us don't want to go back to that moment. 

4 statements Jesus says:

1) How's that working for you?

Not why you doing that? 

Its a great counseling technique? 

Someone can being doing something harmful for career or relationship and want to control them.... J just asks how is that happening for you? Is it actually good? 

I want to spare Christians all the paths to failure, but that's not how it works...

2) I have an idea. You can try going back to church? When you are fully out of options... 

Be open when they are willing.

3) Bring me what you have. 

Here: fish

Jesus already had fire, fish, bread. Doesn't need it, but he invites us to participate. Do together as disciple.

Not perfect, but bring what you do have. Eg ppl think not good enough to go to church, but ask them to bring themselves anyways. 

4) Let's eat together. 

Something about food and fellowship. 

Many times forgive, but dont hang out. Forgive, but not want to be same small group/sit together. But when Jesus restores us, he goes back to eating and same table. Lord specific about going to tables of tax collectors, etc. 

When we hit rock bottom, he will say these 4 things. 

Feel full weight of our failure so we can celebrate the great joy of our salvation. 

Pruning: 

When do we need pruning? 

Can be pruning what we see as good things in our life, but allow us to be more fruitful. Be better at making disciples. 

W 3y-4y

 3 is such a cute and funny age! Now W can express himself, but doesn't quite understand everything. It's fun to see his little brain piecing everything together and discovering new things and starting to understand more things. 

11/10/24 3 and 2.5mo

He has a better understanding of time and so now we can say we will do something later. But at the same time, he is remembering more, so we have to follow through when we say we will do something after a nap or after a meal. 

He started holding a pencil correctly after AB corrected him. Oh man...just when I corrected him, he stopped wanting to learn..only agreed to change grip when AB also corrected him. But unfortunately, AB's spatially challenged, so couldn't show him the right grip. 😅 Maybe the drawing class at his school helped too. Now he can roughly color in the lines. 

In recent teacher parent conference, teacher said he likes coloring and magnetic toys. He is social and behaves well. One of her best students! Yay! Surprised to hear he also eats about as much as other kids, but certain foods he doesn't eat like meatballs. It's funny he never has tantrums around his teachers and just saves it for us - even on the no nap days. 

We've been bribing him with an outside walk if he naps. But most effective seems to be threatening to take away his bunny. 

11/11/24

Sometimes I spy on W when he sleeps. And sometimes I catch him sleeping with both hands behind his head like he is lounging. Lol. Other times we hear a big thump! -he fell off the floor mattress! And yet he continues to sleep on. Other times he sits up, looks confused, and goes back to sleep. It's funny he puts his entire body on the pillow. 

12/2/24

W made an ornament (free kids workshop from home depot first sat of the month usually), and you can put a small picture in it. When nainai asked him what picture do you want in it? A picture of you? W responded: Mommy and daddy. <3 So sweet!

12/15/24 3y3mo

I went to MZ's fineral, and so AB had to take care of J and W by himself. He took them to in laws place, and that was a lot of help, but tiring for W and in laws. First time away from J (and W). 😢

Into legos. Like telling stories about legos: this is W's room, this is Baba's room...

Talking about classmates: sometimes kids can be bad. Like DL (kid in his school), he pulled a fire alarm. Ab: but DL is usually good. 

These were what W said at this past weekend's visit.

He asked YeYe: Why don't you park the car in the garage? YeYe said I have too many things in there.

After showing the stone wall with poo poo, and told him the Egyptian goose's visit, he asked : Why his friend did not come to join him?

We praised him for making a very impressive Lego bldg, he said: I can make it even more beautiful. 

We mentioned NB, he asked who is N, AB said my brother, your uncle. He asked is uncle N a grown up? AB: yes. W: so he goes to work. Not go to school. Does Uncle N have children?

1/4/25 

Some of my favorite moments with W: 

*When he says "mommy" in a sweet and loving way and gives me a hug. 

*When i was feeling sick and he asked me what's wrong and he gave me a hug.

Went to Seattle area to visit grandparents:

*AB's brother and family drive up from Portland. Chaos with 4 kids under 4 in the house. Brother also came back for a week while he's teaching English in Spain. 

*Went sledding at Franklin Falls Sno- park.  Road before said closed on Google but actually fine to drive. We thought we played on the kids sledding area, but it was the parking lot. 

*Went to bellevue square mall indoor playground and it was packed. 

*Went to pike place market via light rail. Initially not many people because we were really early, but got busy quickly. The new waterfront is pretty cool. Small outdoor play place. Need to remember to book aquarium tickets ahead of time next time. 

*Mom cooked for 11 people for 5 days. So much good food and so much work. 

1/27/25 

He will often say "yesterday..." ...which means sometime in the past. 

We were trying to put together some tracks for him today. He likes to say, "Probably..." like "Probably we can do this." Or "Probably we can put this here."  Seemingly like he knows what he's doing, when he has no idea. Haha

He would sometimes come home with a new Chinese phrase. We think he's learning Chinese from his friend CW at school who only speaks Chinese. 

2/18/25 

We finally took off wes' diaper overnight since he had been dry for several days in a row. And we've been pleasantly surprised that he has stayed dry. Maybe he doesn't drink enough fluids, but he kind of slowed down the amount of milk he drinks at night before bed. 

4/23/25

Lol...today I forgot to put pants on W before going to school. His shirt was kind of long, but still...didn't realize till we were at school and he came out of the car. Told him to hide in the bathroom while I went to get pants from school backup stash..but director still saw him without pants. 😅

5/4/25 

A friend said advice from an elder is that family should be overwhelmingly affirming. Hm, wonder if our family is more affirming than disciplining?

W showing some impressive memory: Christmas photo reminded him of model trains at second baptist. 

5/26 W had his first night time bedwetting last night. So weird... is it bc we went on a trip? Or he was too tired? Drank too much water? Stayed up too late before going to bed as he rolled around? Dont know...thank Goodness for waterproof mattress covers! Just as I thought we were not going to have bedwetting....

5/21/25

W's dream job is to be a baba (dad) lol.

8/14/25

W made a good friend for the summer (lucas), but the friend is going to another school for the fall. W has been enjoying the afternoon enrichment classes. Although communication isn't the best about what he does at the school, he's really enjoying the afternoon enrichment classes like soccer shots, cooking class, silly science.

W is excited about his birthday. He's been talking about it for more than 3 months. 

He loves trains right now. We got a big book all about trains (history, construction, types, etc.) from the library and he's been obsessed. He keeps on asking why he can't have a train (although he does have some at home, like wooden ones but not any with large long tracks). We thought there's no need because he has tracks at grandparents' places. 

Funny quotes: 

W: For nap time, you have to close your eyes.

When we moved W to a floor bed and locked the door when he goes to sleep:

W: Don't close the door so I can go in and out. 

When shown a map of Taiwan:

W: Baba, can we swim there?

W: Baba you go to work to get some money so we can go to HEB to get some food?

W says "when its gotta be clean, it's gotta be tide" because there are ads on our YouTube haha

W: The other mamas and babas are not proud.

Aw (uncle): I'm going to get you!

W: stop, you can not play with me, I am not a toy. 

W: Baba, I'm too tired for sleep time! 

JN: What does Jasper like to play with?

W: Baby toys

JN: Do you help carry the baby?

W: No, I'm too small

1 yr after fall from chair incident:

Yw: We are going to Naomi's house today! 

W: I will not stand on Naomi's chair today.

Ab: what kind of animal is baby J like?

W: A dinosaur

Ab: what kind of dinosaur?

W: A nice one

What does your costume say?

W: Stop, slow, go, and then something.

Today W put on his spider ring and said, "I'm married!" And when AB asked to who? W said, "To Naomi" 🤣

W: I like my baby!

Playing with Dr set:

W: Oh no your blood pressure is too high!

Ab: Oh no! What should I do?

W: You need to get 5 shots! Be strong! 

W: We need to get m&m yogurt and salad. We only need m&m yogurt.

Ab: what if I want to eat some broccoli? Is that ok?

W: that's ok.

When w saw me wearing a mask and I told him bc I was sick:

W: mama, why are you always sick? (Explained I saw a lot of sick kids).

W: If I'm lost and a policeman asks me where do you live? I tell him 5678 Mayfay St.

W: I say why at everything.

W: Where's my baby?

W saw R logo on AB's shirt, and said, "Baba, that's by the number in front of yeye nainai's house."

Ab and w were doing the big united states puzzle and nainai asked: W, Do you know where you are born? W: Yes, hospital!

W started saying rule number 1, rule number 2, like don't break this, no hitting, etc. 

W: Baba, will you love me if I am bad and if I am good?

Ab: ya, I will always love you

W: I will always love you too.

There was an olive in the salad.

Ab: Do you like olive?

W: Ya, I like all of it!

W: Baba, when I sleep a lot and eat a lot I can grow really big and touch the moon!

Ab: no W, the moon is so far away, you can't touch it. 

W: ??? Sometimes it gets bigger and smaller

Ab: you know the moon goes around the earth

W: what is the earth?

Ab: It's what we live on

W: Does Yeye Nainai live on earth?

Ab: yes

W saw a plaque that's for Mr. Hill at the park.

W: Where's is Mr. Hill

Ab: he died, so his body is in the ground.

W: he died???

Ab: Ya, when you get older, or get really sick, then you die. Everyone will die.

W: I will die too?

Ab: yes, but you are really young so you will not get old for a really long time.

W: I don't want to be in the ground.

Ab: that's why we have to eat healthy and get good sleep. 

W: did Mr. Hill have a family?

Ab: ya he had a family 

Ab: If you eat healthy and sleep well, then you won't get sick.

W: but I am sick right now.

Yw: who do you want to pray for?

W: my friends, I missed

W: Mama, why is your friend always sick?

Kp: Was it christmas at your home?

W: Sometimes it's Christmas, not always. 

Breakfast time:

W: I'm not hungry now, but I'll be hungry in cooking class. 

Ab: Oh, your poo poo is loose.

W: I probably ate something bad. Probably garlic. I don't know.

W: Daniel is going to Tony Tonio

Ab: San antonio?

W: yes!

W: I want to find the brown person (talking about a girl who wasn't really brown...but i suppose everyone is dark skinned compared to w)

W: If I eat this and the parfait, my tummy will explode!

W: mama, I want to see God

Ab: yes, when we die, we will go to heaven and see God.

Yw: eat some fei ro (fat meat in Chinese)

W: "fei ro, fei ro, let my people go! (Think Pharoah, Pharoah, let my people go)

Ab: the apple you chose is tasty!

W: It's too tasty! I don't like too tasty!

W: There will be 3 Daddys

Ab: 3 Daddys? You mean you and Jasper will be daddys? Then I will be a grandfather!

Ab: We are going to a wedding, do you know what happens at a wedding?

W: *I don't know gesture*

Ab: We eat food, and there is dancing...

W: And rocks to sit on! And we go wo wo wo and balance and fall!

Ab: yes...some weddings have rocks...

Sees JB dressed up in tie and dress shirt for family dedication

WB: I want to dress up as a robot!

I almost forgot to buckle W:

W: if you forget to buckle me, I will be gone!

YW: If you are gone, I would be so sad!

W: If I fall out, A car would crush me, and there would be no Wesley!

W: Im faster than you!

Ab: why?

W: Because you are too old.

W: Im not a fan of this. (Apparently I say this all the time)

W: I dont want them to visit.

Ab: why?

W: Because I will be tired

Ab: If you are tired, you can rest

W: But they will find me, and say "W do you want to play?" And I'll say "yes!"

W: Baba you are going to die soon.

AB: *shocked, gasped* Why?

W: Because you are getting old!

AB: Im not that old! Im going to live to 100! And im only 40.

W (in robotic voice): Situation...narval

Yw: isn't it supposed to be normal?

W: no, the robot at school says situation narval.

W: When I bless you, I cannot see (w calls sneezes bless yous)

W: Do bat (pretending to be flying bat) and bat (pretending to swing a bat) rhyme?

Ab: you goof ball!

W: im not a goofball, im a serious boy!

Ab: Do you know how to go back home?

W: you turn this way and this way and then you have arrived!

Ab: but what about from far away?

w: i dont know from far away. 

Ab: sometimes baba and mama get lost, we use a map!

W: if i get lost, ill find a policeman. The policeman will help me, they have a map.

Ab: you dont want to be too far from mama and baba

w: when i get angry, i go to my room. 

Talking about when we went to France (before W was born):

W: I was dead.

Yw: do you know why God loves us?

W: He washed away our sins

Yw: yes he washed away our sins, but do you know why he loves us? It's because he made us!

W: but you made me! 

Yw: Yes, but God made it all happen.

W: He pumped me out of your tummy. Your uterus.

W: Oh! J has a tooth!

Yw/AB: Oh really?

W: Oh, it gone away. It was a rice. 

W didn't want to go to school

Ab: why dont you wanna go to school?

W: Because I really really love you 💔 

4yo W to dad: Im almost bigger than you!

We went to vote, and halfway through, Ab's machine went blank...bc W unplugged it!

J 1st year

 J was born 5/30/24 7lb 13oz.

What a cutie! So much hair! Very serious expression in the beginning, and then just slept the entire first day. Not even opening his eyes to feed. He had a good suck and latched ok initially, but then it seemed like he was too lazy to open his mouth wide. 

6/7/24 

Taking of J isn't too bad. He sleeps a lot and eats pretty well most of the time by bottle. Trying to increase milk supply by pumping after breastfeeding and when he bottle feeds. 

Main issue I have now is nausea, stomach fullness/discomfort, and belching whenever I try to sleep/lie down. I've tried Tums, pepcid, and sleeping with head of bed elevated. After I wake up is the worst. And I get a little better after eating a little bit. When its at its worst, I get these dull colicky contraction-like pains in my epigastric area. It would come every few minutes. Hope its not gallstones. But I also get belching with those pains, so i dont think its gallstones. Fits more with reflux. The contraction-like pain also resolves after a bm. Prob will need an appointment. 

Turns out due to constipation. Need more fiber and water! Too backed up. Already taking 1 capful of miralax daily, but will increase to 2. 

9d: 

Pumping with new lansinoh duo discreet wearable pump has been a game changer. What used to be an hour ordeal now takes 20min bc I can pump 15-20min and then just put it back in the fridge. No need for attaching parts or changing to pumping bra. Don't even use my spectra anymore. My milk has also come in faster. Now pumping 1.5-3oz. And also J is able to take in 2 oz when we did a weighted feed. Supplementing aggressively in the beginning seemed to help. 

Also took J out for the first time while dropping W off at school. Everyone was oooing and aaahing about how tiny J was. 

14d: 

Looks like my bleeding may have stopped! But my bowels are still not really moving.  Having to take a lot of miralax.  Tried to eran it a bit but then no bm today, so having to take a colace.  Still waking up with hungar pains, but not as bad as before. It's tough my mom keeps on offering me soup and very low calorie items with the thought that they are good for recovery, but I keep on worrying about getting hungar pains. 

J is doing mostly bf during the day and we give pumped milk during the night. Mom has been so helpful doing the night shift from 9p to 5a. Hard to sleep with j around bc he keeps on making eheh noise during sleep. One time he slept 6 hrs without eating! Almost back to birth weight. 

6/14 15 days: 

Went to 2 week appointment, yay back to birth weight and beyond: 8lb. Got his nbs, and went home. 

6/22/24 3 weeks

Thought bleeding stopped, but still a little spotting restarted...it never ends! 

J doesn't seem to be taking much from breastfeeding anymore. He seems really hungry afterwards, but only takes 1oz and falls asleep and then wakes up soon to feed. Sometimes sleeps for a while. Is it because he ate enough or he just got super tired from bf? Hard to say.... maybe do more weighted feeds? 

Oh man!!! All I did was go take a shower and then I forgot to tell my parents not to bottle feed him so I can try bf, and I come back and they are feeding him again. Sighs...can't sleep and can't shower ever during the day!  After a few min I'm sure it's not gonna seem like such a big deal. 🤦But makes me so stressed, sad, and want to cry right now. Cuz now if he's done eating before I finish pumping, I'm not going to have enough milk got the next feed and will have to bottle feed again. Or at least, that's what my mind is thinking. 

I hate pumping. Even with the wearable pump that's a thousand times easier, it's still not fun. 

6/24 3 week

I would like to breastfeed if possible, but J doesn't seem to effectively take in milk and just sleep/comfort suck. And gets too tired and just sleep after. Tried doing weighted feeds. At 1.5 weeks it seemed like he got 2 oz after an hour. But now it seems like he only gets 1-1.5 oz. In the morning. Afternoon he refuses to even try to breastfeed and cries until we give a bottle. 

Sometimes I feel ok. Sometimes I wanna cry because I just can't seem to bf...I feel so incompetent. 

Meanwhile, I domt feel like I can consult lactation bc last time we had seen one and they didn't help much. AB felt traumatized from lactation because W weight got so low, the attempts at latching correctly cause W to cry so hard, and subsequently, me. I'm sure if I mentioned consulting one, AB would refuse immediately. 

Also, I think a big part is being a pediatrician makes me feel extra incompetent. I don't think I know of any pediatricians who can't breastfeed. I had come to terms with it last time, and before birth, but I think old feelings creeping up. 

6/30/24 1 month

We made it to 1 month! Wow it passed pretty quickly. With my mom's help at night, I got much better sleep and was able to pass the time during feeds, burps, and pumping with Netflix, watching Asian drama, This is Us and How I Met Your Mother. 

J can now focus on our face and very infrequently coo. During tummy time he sometimes pushes himself over the boppy, and has turned over too. So far he is a pretty chill baby except for a lot of gas at night that makes it a little hard for him to sleep well. Calms down when we hold him. He is so cuddly I want to hold him all the time. But then don't want to get into a bad habit where he falls asleep only in our arms. 

Breastfeeding isn't going very well, but I have gotten over it and come to terms with pumping for a little bit. At least this time pumping is so much easier with the wearable. It's still a little troublesome to being places, but doable and takes less space. 

7/19/24 1.5mo

We had our first lunch date out with j To thai bistro. J behaved very well! 

Sometimes jay will sleep a very long time now from approx 1 to 7a. He Would eat quite a lot before he goes to sleep around eight or nine. In fact, during the day, he's quite frequently probably because he doesn't eat that much at night. He makes a lot of grunty noises like he has gas at night, time, which makes it a little hard for us to sleep. And sometimes we mistaken the gas sounds for hunger sounds. 

There's been a few rare smiles in his sleep. I have yet to see him smile a while awake. He has quite a bit of spit up. And sometimes vomits large amounts, probably because i'm too ambitious in feeding him. 

Now, i've leaned pumping to about five times a day. It's definitely much more freeing, So i've been able to go to an astros game, church, take wes to school, etc. However, despite my low expectations for breastfeeding, I still had a period of grieving when it didn't work out. 

This article explains very well, why women can be very unrational when it comes to breastfeeding. https://laleche.org.uk/five-ways-help-breastfeeding-doesnt-go-expected/

I still breastfeed about two or three times a day, only for 10-20min. At this point it's just comfort feeding.

7/26/24 almost 2 mo:

Sleep generally pretty good, sleeps 3-5 hours, which allows to do about 1 overnight feed. But sometimes he has a bad night and wakes up frequently. Taking shifts and sleeping in different rooms has helped us with sleep. I take 8p to 1a, drop him off with AB and AB takes care of the rest of the night. Because we both sleep between 8-9p, we generally get enough sleep. But also we can take a nap during the day. 

It's good to see back and forth cooing. But he hasn't smiled when awake. He often stares at the ceiling lights and fan. 

His feeding: tends to fall asleep and not burp, so it's hard to feed him a lot at once. Usually we give 2 oz increments. And close to night time he may take 2oz every 1 hour.

 Wish I read this before W was born! Haha: 

... about reality of newborns.

Excuse the language...

https://www.prosperitykitchen.co.uk/life-coaching/the-reality-of-a-new-born-baby/

8/5/24 2mo

I reduced pumping to 4 times a day.  Supply dropped, trying to let go.  Every time I drop a session I feel a little bad, but tons of relief.  So much more time.  And more time to cuddle and play with J. Remembering that having more time and less pumping is the best for our family. 

Rarely we catch a smile. But he is getting pretty good at cooing back and forth with us. He does some twitching when going to sleep. I think it's benign infantile sleep myoclonus. Will keep an eye on it.  

8/8 2.25mo

We are trying to spread out his feeds a bit, instead of every 1.5-2hrs. But he will suck his hands and not eat. And sometimes gag on the bottle nipple. So strange. We decided to try to go back to conotomo since I'm not really bf anymore. Maybe once a day one time. Also strange is he only eats 1.5-2oz during the day, then towards end of the day, he will chug all his quota for the day. Now about 27oz. 

Also I'm coming to terms with breastfeeding being bad for W, j, ab, and me. It's bad for everyone. It made my kids undernourished, they didn't latch well, didn't extract milk well, and they were too sleepy. And if anyone asks, did you see a lactation consultant, the answer is yes, and we were traumatized by most of them. W ended up getting jaundice and dropping to 5th percentile. So if anyone says breastfeeding is best, they are lying. Breastfeeding was the worst thing for my kids. 

8/19/24 2.5mo

Fortunately, J has been sleeping quite a good amount at night. He goes to sleep around 7 ot 8p, and I do a dream feed around 11:30p, and then ab will feed him around 6am. Sometimes at 6am he's still asleep. He's such a sleepy baby. Ab likes to call him an angel baby. Very different from W who needed constant stimulation, moving him around. J is such a chill baby. Except still has the occasional reflux/vomit at before bedtime at night. I think it's because we are mistaking his sleepy signs for hungar. 

I've also moved back to our bedroom and now AB sleeps upstairs. And we usually dont need to take a nap now. 

Baby J is holding his head up some when on his tummy. He will smile, but not much social smile. Sometimes. 

Tough part has been doing house fixing. Our AC drain pipe got clogged (thus time master), so took a whole morning and we finally got it unclogged with a shop vac. Meanwhile j got so upset cuz we just left him downstairs and he was crying so hard. At least we got it fixed! 

8/21/24

Wow, miracle. Baby J slept 11 hours 7:30p to 6a. It's possible we were all too tired and didn't hear him, but AB was awake from 1:30 to 2:30a and didn't hear him. Weird thing is after all that sleep, he didn't even eat that much in the morning. We were expecting him to be wolfing down his bottle. 🤷‍♀️

9/12/24 3mo and some

Started laughing when AB said "It's time for sleep NOW!" But it was a mixture of hiccuping and laughing. First time laughing awake. It was so cute!!! Got it on video and the interaction w/AB was so cute! 

He also sleeps around 8p and wakes up around 6:30-7am. With a dream feed around 10p. But sometimes he only eats 1-2oz. 

He likes to eat to sleep...hoping he doesn't get into a bad habit where he needs it. 

He has so many conversations now where he says things like ah-ooo. 

9/20/24 3.5mo

Rolled from front to back for the first time! It was almost like a fall bc of his heavy head. He also really laughed today. Seems like he will do it when he's extra tired. So cute...

11/11/24 5.5mo

He's pretty good at rolling back to front now.  A little trouble going back.  But he is content sleeping on his back. I tried giving a little diluted pb and banana. He hasn't figured out how to swallow it... haha. Mostly dribbles out. We are so lazy to start solids. 

He really likes to laugh when he is tired. Before he always got the hiccups. He especially laughs when we do peekaboo when he's tired. 

He will sleep about every 2-3 hrs, and sometimes sleeps 45min, but sometimes sleeps 2 hrs! He can sleep in the carseat, but doesn't usually tie two sleep cycles together so usually only 45min. He still eats pretty frequently - about every 3 hours. I know we are supposed to eat sleep play, but manh times he eats, plays, eats, and then sleeps. 🤷‍♀️

It's really amazing having a little human be completely dependent on you. Sooooo sweeeeet.  J is such a sweet awake. But I also love holding him when he's asleep. Unlike W, J let's me hold him! What a lovely, sweet, chill baby! Thank you God!  Is so fun watching him sleep and laugh and smile and become bigger.  Hope this continues... so sad these moments pass so quickly. 

We kinda neglected his costume for halloween... but found a small startrek onesie few days later. We also gave him his first haircut today! So much hair... 

Still doing dream feeds, but sometimes he doesn't drink any. But it's always so lovely to be able to hold him while he sleeps. Nothing more peaceful or precious. Watching him be in such a content state with his chubby cheeks and limp body. My precious baby!

11/17/24

Baby started babbling a lot. Especially when he's tired.

11/28/24 6mo:

Started having trouble going to sleep. He won't just quietly go to sleep anymore. We probably have to sleep train him. He would be obviously sleepy, but refuse to go to sleep and keep crying and crying. 

He is also sometimes getting on his knees in a crawling position. He can sit in tripod for a bit.

So funny: when he laughs too much, he will get hiccups. Just like me!

12/17/24

Baby J crawled for the first time!! Once forward with one leg, and once forward with the other! We were all very excited. He rotates around in a circle very easily.

12/21/24 almost 7mo

Babbling so much now: dididi, mamama, nainainai, ...

First word: "Nana"  aka banana. I regret giving him banana. Lol.

1/27/25 8mo

J has been crawling so much. And he tries to stand up now. He'll try to get on anything he can and try to get up with his hands. When we pick him up, he will kick kick kick with his little feet. So cute! Sometimes he's like a little lion trying to tear something with his mouth. He likes trying everything with his mouth. He's talking more now, saying things like mamamama,  babababa. And random sounds. When he was just starting to crawl, he was focusing on that and not very social. Now he's more social again. 

Ab reminds us it's easy to just try to move on from one day to the next and not enjoy the moment. Today we did so many fun things: we had alone time, we played an escape game online, we cooked yummy salmon and ate it, we played Zelda, hide and seek with W, we watched J laughing and trying to stand. Everyone ate pretty well and enjoyed the food. 

5/14/25

Can't believe J is almost a year! People keep asking if we will do anything for his bday, but we feel too tired... maybe something combined with big better W. 

Nick name: Belly Button Baby J

2/11/25 8mo

J's eyes remind me of Little tadpoles. And he has such beautiful flowy locks of hair. When he laughs and giggles, it's so much like baby W. So cute. 

He learned to drink from straw, so that's nice and convenient!

3/30/25 10mo

Jasper is 10 months old now!! He is cruising some, but doesn't seem to be close to walking yet (W was already walking by now). He's a hefty boy though! Average weight on growth chart, but definitely more than W! 

I'm reading Siblings without Rivalry. And I'm learning not to compare like above. Lol. Not putting them in roles. And loving them uniquely. 

5/15/25 11.5mo

Still no teeth! He's an avid stair climber, but doesn't know how to climb down. 

Occasionally J will say mama or baba here and there...but not consistent and not consistently with the right person. Also no pointing, waving or clapping. But he does bang 2 things together. Loves to hold on to the fake carrot and the fake pizza slice. And the diaper cream. 

5/30/25 1 yo!

Made it to 1 year old! We celebrated with grandparents with some muffin and banana bread. He loved them! A friend also got him a little Chantilly cake -so yummy! He ate the strawberry on top! 

Now j will say hiiiii. And has a distinct battle cry:  oooOOOoooOOOoooo

He will say mama...but seens like just when he wants something. And can kind of give hi five. He likes flipping pages of books and uses his pincer grasp to eat meat -his favorite! He can take a few steps from one furniture to another or to us and hes very good at walking holding on to one hand. 

Funny quotes:

AB: He was born with a mullet!

Smiled in his sleep. So cute! 

Yw: what is the barrier to giving him a bath? Not enough time awake. 

Ab: according to this chart this is his maximum time crying it should be 5 or 6 hours a day.

Yw: He's not even awake that many hours.

Neighbor: Does he have something in his mouth?

Yw: no, he just has big cheeks.

Seattle Things to Do

 

See Mt. Rainier on the flight there (like on the airplane). I forgot which side...but best view on the airplane.

* Seattle center. It's got a lot of stuff there: MoPop (museum of pop culture)- it just looks really cool. That's also where you'll find the Space Needle, Chihuly museum of Glass, science center, childrens museum, monorail, key arena, some pavilions/theaters...sometimes they have events there, but it depends. I guess this is more touristy: http://www.seattlecenter.com/events/default.asp

* Pike place is kinda fun - touristy, and kinda like quincy market. First Starbucks and Seattle clam chowder restaurant there -long lines. Also new waterfront walkway and aquarium.

* Boeing plant tour is really cool too - but it might be a bit far, as well as the museum of flight. And I think Boeing doesnt do tours anymore?

* Cool buildings in Seattle: Apple spheres building. Seattle library. All Apple employee parking lots are free on weekends and open to public.

* Seattle Art Museum - not good to visit with kids- but maybe theyll have fun at the outdoor art museum! - it's called the olympic sculpture garden.

* Apparently Kerry Park is where all the postcards are taken: http://www.google.com/images?q=seattle+kerry+park&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=ywL3TM7xFYOB8gaYtO2nCQ&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CCEQsAQwAA&biw=1440&bih=750 Classic picture of Seattle downtown with space needle and Mt Rainier on clear day.

* It's fun to take the underground tour: takes you through what Seattle was like when it was...well, underneath what it is now. http://www.undergroundtour.com/

Hm....I've never been here, but I saw this place featured on travel channel regarding best donut shops: http://www.toppotdoughnuts.com/ looked interesting. 

Best fast food clam chowder in my opinion: Iver's. Also famous one called Pike place chowder near Pike place.

While in Seattle, eat salmon if you can!

May be fun to see the Ballard locks: during right season can see salmon swimming upstream. Also where they fill water in channels to move boats out to Puget Sound. 

Near University of WA you used to be able to rent canoes on Lake Washington. You can also canoe on Green Lake and at Log Boom Park. 

You can take the Ferries for fun. There can be long lines for cars. Easy to walk on.

It's kinda hard to park in seattle (except Apple parking on weekends). But in the city, there is plenty of public transportation. 

There's also a troll under some kind of bridge...i can't remember the bridge's name. it's just a sculpture.

Good hikes:

National parks: Mt. Rainier, Olympic Mountain ntnl pk, Cascades,

Mt. Baker, Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Pilchuck

Closer-ish hikes: Snoqualmie falls, Mt Si, Lake Serene, Rattlesnake Lake, Surprise Lake, Poopoo point, tiger mtn, Bridal veil falls, Blanca Lake, wallace falls, Rachel Lake/Rampart lakes, Mount Baring, Franklin Falls.

I think popular Chinese food is dintaifung, dough zone. And a lot of good Japanese. Sorry parents like to cook, so we don't usually go out to eat when we visit Seattle, so dont have restaurant recs. 

2024 Highlights/Events

 

* Pregnancy and birth of Jasper. Mom came to help 1st month. 

*Kiddos sleeping well. J eating well.

*Driving to almost Dallas to see total solar eclipse with KP

* AB hits a bday milestone

* W turning 3, swimming pool bday party. 

* Cancun babymoon with AB, W, brother

* MZ pass away after few years fight against diffuse midline glioma (DMG) of the brain.

* W goes to new preschool (Faith Lutheran)

* Weddings:  KeL and G (hcc friend), SeL and M (hcc friend), MeS and JY (residency and hcc friend)

* Spending a lot of time together because of paternity leave and PTO

* I changed from working 2 days a week to per diem (about 1 day a week).

* KP and brother visit.

*Visit Seattle for holidays with AB brother's family.  W saw snow for first time and went sledding.