Montage at Palmetto Buff

 Staying at the Montage (for AB's conference) was so luxurious. It's probably one of the nicest hotels I've stayed at. 

We got to stay at a cottage the size of our house. Ok, not that big, but the bathroom was at least the size of ours. And the cottage was probably the size of our first floor not counting the master. 

Very nice things: 

*Bike with child burley attachment to go everywhere, or can call for golf cart to shuttle us around.

*Sauna in our giant bathroom shower stall 

*Yoga, pilates, exercise classes

*All kinds of amenities like insect repellent, slippers, housekeeping twice a day with people coming to "turn down the lights" in the evening. 

*Giant cottages with huge rooms and bathrooms right between the lagoon and bay, looking out onto the water.

*Clay tennis courts 

*Concierge will open doors and take our luggage for us.

*Free cookie and lemonade hour every day. Also s'mores at night 

*AC on full blast with fireplace on in the library.

*2 enormous tree houses

*Water front cabins

Not so nice things:

*Having to care for a 9 month old in a new place that's not childproof by myself.

*Deer flies who suck my blood. They are apparently attracted to dark clothing and movement. 

*Crying/tired baby on a bike trailer when I'm still 10 min from hotel - no way to hold him while biking!

Giant 5 story tree house

Baby 7mo to 1 year

3/28/22 7mo Baobao has gotten more mobile so we are preparing our house accordingly. He's usually very happy, and caretakers and strangers love to smile at him. The caretakers at church talk about how he never cries there. But I'm pretty sure he's going to start having stranger anxiety! This stage of life has been very pleasant for us, because of his frequent laughter and consistent sleep through the night. We also resumed several pre-baby activities recently, including sports, games, and yw's birthday BBQ celebration. These events are still a little tricky because one of us still needs to watch him at all times. Unless he's sleeping, but it's getting harder and harder for him to sleep outside.

Also last day of pumping! So relieved! Not sad at all!! So happy to be not tied and have to carry around so many things! I slowly weaned down for a month (pumping 4 times a day at 6mo, and then 3, 2, 1, after 36hr, stop). 

Now we've tried so many foods! But he's starting to eat less and less formula. Not just a little less but a lot less! 

3/30/30 shortly after turning 7 month, Baobao started crawling! Man, he learned quickly! He will crawl very fast to get his butt paste 🤣.

4/3/22 7.25mo: got his first tooth! Thought only a sliver, but I felt it when he tried to gnaw on my finger. Maybe that's why he hadn't been eating as well or having trouble going to sleep. 

4/7/22 Baobao has been shaking his head when he eats solids. And sometimes with formula. So strange. Does it mean he doesn't like it? 🤷

4/18/22 Every day he seems to do something new. He started taking a few steps while holding the fence. We were worried that he didn't talk very much for a few weeks. But it turned out he was focusing on his motor skills, and once he started crawling and pulling to stand, he started talking a lot! 

Solids have been very messy. Maybe I'm trying to increase the textures too early. He does like and eat the purees really quickly. He also seems to like toast.

Alan still can't hold him in the normal cradle hold. So strange. Yw: "I think it's because I tell you to do it, so you are rebelling."

Ab: my theory is correct that it would be easier for us when he starts crawling because he can entertain himself. We do have to watch him carefully because he tries to pull up to stand on things that are unstable.

4/26/22

Yw came back from trip to NY to visit friends while AB took care of Baobao for 4.5 days. YW was uncertain how things will go, while AB did a fantastic job. How did you do it? AB: I put baobao in the playpen so I could eat and go to the bathroom. Then we would play together for a while. I would feed him simple solid foods, then return him to the playpen while I cleaned up the mess. Last, we would walk outside or read to prepare for his nap. Fortunately, he was well behaved during these four days, and YW got food for me in advance. One time I was tired and just rested while BaoBao struggle to fall asleep. Eventually I did go up and feed him because he got hungry.  YW missed AB and BaoBao so much. 

Baobao 17.4lb. Getting closer to 25 percentile! Maybe 21? Height about 27" (10 percentile) tho...seems to be growing slower? 🤷

5/11/22 8.5 months 

Baobao is getting very good at standing without falling. He is climbing up the stairs. And he is back to talking more like "babamama." He can eat some textured foods and eats some finger foods. But he prefers the purees, which he is very well now.

5/5/22

He is crawling up stairs now! More fun at the playground because he can go up. 

5/25/22 9 months almost 

In addition to two bottom teeth, now he has top teeth (barely)!

Things that he finds funny include: 

"GameStop"

Making farting noises.

Throwing firewood on a fire. 

Sweeping off leaves from a play structure with my foot.

Saying "Amen" really enthusiastically in the "if you're happy and you know it say amen" song.

When AB makes the cicada sound 

Nice dog kisses 

When he's tired and you kiss him on the cheeks

We took him on a trip to HC and SC's wedding in Ohio and AB's conference in South Carolina. Boy was it hard! His sleep was all thrown off so he had a ton of trouble going and staying asleep in the hotel. He was also teething! Plus AB had to be in a conference from early morning to late at night, so I had to take care of him while he was having trouble sleeping 😵‍💫. Fortunately, he was still able to nap a bit during the day so I could catch up on sleep. And also AB's conference was at a super fancy hotel so we could put him in a semi difference section of the cottage and we didn't have to worry about him crying and waking everyone. Also I could use up endless amounts of towels. Also had to figure out how to go to the bathroom and shower myself while keeping him from getting into things.  Ended up putting him on my lap when I went to the bathroom and taking a shower with him in the shower while he poked his fingers in the shower drain holes.

6/7/22 9.25mo

Baobao got sick! We think rsv from visiting a friend who's kid was sick 😷. He has still been pretty active, but he has been getting sleepy earlier. His appetite has also dramatically decreased. Sometimes he would only drink one ounce, when in the past he would drink seven. Got some saline, Zarbees, benadryl, tylenol. But he does not like having things put into his mouth or nose.  Even though it's probably just a cold virus, it's still stressing me out! We hope he will get better soon! 

Baobao managed to climb all the way up the stairs. And he has wanted to do it more times despite being sick! Sometimes he requests us to walk him around (stands up grabbing our leg). 

He babbles sometimes, but recently mostly blowing a lot of raspberries. 

6/29-7/4 successfully went to Grand Teton and Yellowstone. It was difficult going in and out of the car all the time and scheduling around his naps. Fortunately he can have one bad nap a day. 

7/22/22 11.75mo

Baobao can take a few steps by himself and successfully squat and then take a few more steps! So cute! He also likes to open all the cabinet doors and climb on things like stairs, fence, his high chair. He loves playing with the robot vacuum but when it starts vacuuming, he gets scared. He loves playing with water. He loves splash pads and loves stick his hand out to try to grab the water spraying up at Evelyn's park. 

Baobao is starting to have memory of places. Every time we go on the walk and we turn the corner, he knows to stick out his hand to signal that he wants to touch the bushes. Whenever we bring him to the closet, he knows where the little ant bait is and makes a beeline for it, even if he can't see it. 

8/23/22 almost 1 yr

Baobao is walking like a champ!

Few weeks ago, Baobao started throwing little tantrums when he gets a toy (or our stuff) taken away. He will sit on the ground and throw his head and body forward onto the ground and cry. It's actually quite funny to watch such a little bean do this. Can't believe he already throws tantrums. 

We visited Seattle a week ago and went to a retreat at Westport. It was fun but also didn't like the traffic that made the drive 4 hours instead of normal 2.5. Fortunately he slept for a portion of the ride, however there was a long period when he had trouble going to sleep and he was crying a lot. Also being a cabin and outdoors, it was difficult to keep him from chewing on his really dirty hands, since he still falls and puts his hands down on the ground (even if he didn't fall, he would still touch everything on the ground). He really enjoyed the beach and playing with the stand, but he definitely stuck his sandy fingers in his mouth a few times. He enjoyed the waves, but the water was too cold for him to swim in. Back in Seattle, he had fun in the water and the beach. We started giving him whatever food we ate, but cut up. He really loved the food because my mom is such a good cook. He ate so much and pooped so much (sometimes 3- 4 times a day!).

Baobao likes to click the washing machine buttons and watch it spin. But sometimes when it starts, it scares him. 

He is such a good climber! He does pull ups on the freezer bar, climbs the baby fence, and recently climbed up on top of our kitchen island via his high chair. 

Occasionally he would say "Mama" when he wants me to pick him up. And he'll say "baba" too. One time he said "duck duck" - but maybe it was just a random sound to him. He does seem to enjoy searching for his little rubber duckie when I move it around. His most common noise is "onhhhhh."

Funny quotes: 

Ab (speaking for Baobao): "How do you like it when I stick my finger in your nose?". Baobao sticks finger in mom's nose. 

(This is in regards to us always trying to clean out his nose because he has such big ugly boogers.)

While changing baobao's diaper: yw: "A piece of poop just flew away in the wind."

YW: I wonder what it feels like to have teeth on the bottom and no teeth on top.

YW: When he falls, it's almost comical.

YW: One smile, and it makes it all worthwhile.

*Baobao clicks tongue*

YW: Baobao, we don't speak a language that involves clicking!

Ab: Baobao uses his head as a drill.

Baobao got stuck under the bed. And in the chair.

Yellowstone and Grand Teton

Yellowstone and Grand Teton

Used Gypsy app: $15 for a driving tour, gives info and descriptions without reception. Very nice!

Day 1:

Fountain Flat Dr.: see bison with their young crossing the river.

Silex pool beautiful blue in middle.

Fountain paint pots where microorganisms turn minerals into sulfuric acid which then turn rock into clay that bubble up.

Jet geyser shoots up every few minutes. 

We missed Fountain geyser every 3-4hr by a bit.

Clepsydra gyser (pic) that keeps on erupting.

Kepler cascades drops 150m down multiple steps. Right by the road.

Didn't realize Yellowstone is on a huge hot spot and could erupt and be a huge volcano.

Grand Teton

Grand Teton Viewpoint (on drive down from Yellowstone)

Staying at Colter Bay. 

Cabins are close to the bay with a nice Lakeshore trail looking out towards Grand Teton. Didn't realize Tetons are so spectacular because they seem to rise out of the water, without surrounding hills because they are formed by plates shifting over one another, not two colliding. 

Jenny lake ferry hike to hidden lake and inspiration point. We saw a grizzly bear crossing the lake!

Schwabacker Landing: parking right by the river and pond and got to see a Moose munching in the pond!

Sentinel Drive had 2 different viewpoints of Jackson Hole

We saw this Elk right along the side of the road: 

Day 2 Teton

Bradley and Taggart lake hike. About 5mi rt. It had some elevation but pretty easy and very scenic the entire way. The calm water of Taggart and it's reflection of the Tetons was so beautiful. We also met some people from Meyerland, Houston with a 15mo! 

Bradley Lake

Taggart Lake (closer)

Yellowstone

We were lucky when we first got there, there was a old faithful eruption. We only had to wait 5 minutes!

And then we thought that we would be lucky to get see the Grand Geyser, but because Rift geyser had erupted yesterday, it made the timing off. We waited an extra hour out of the waiting period. And then we had to leave cuz Baobao couldn't stand it anymore. But then as we were approaching the old faithful inn, we saw the eruption in in the distance. It really was quite grand.

We want the rest of that upper geyser basin and saw some beautiful springs and geysers.

Infant geyser

Giant geyser hadn't erupted since 2019. But it looked giant.

Sawmill geyser happened to be erupting while we walked by, causing us to get splashed. 

Spa geyser looked very inviting.

Morning geyser at the end was so clear and beautiful. It was totally worth it to walk all the way to end.

Castle geyser looked like a castle 

Grotto geyser was strangely shaped. Theory is that it formed on stumps.

While we were waiting for grand geyser, we saw Daisy erupt and Old Faithful again. And then another time while feeding Baobao. And behive erupted as we were leaving.

Daisy

Old Faithful from the Inn

The old faithful inn was definitely worth a visit! Looks like a forest on the inside! 

Yellowstone continued:

In the early cool morning, all the geysers and steam vents are steamy: looks like a bit kitchen! 

Turquoise Pool: 

Excelsior geyser hasn't erupted in a long time. But last time, it was so forceful, it messed up it's geyser plumbing. 

Grand Prismatic Spring is so impressive. The colors are like the rainbow, formed by super-heat loving organism. 

Better view is from the viewpoint (park at the Fairy falls parking lot).

Bison decided to cross the road when we parked: 

Yellowstone continued (Norris geysers): Apparently these are the hottest geysers in the world!

Steamboat geyser is the largest in the world. But it could erupt anywhere from 4 days to 50 years. We only caught a small splutter.

Cistern spring drains away when Steamboat erupts: 

Most acidic geyser: 

So blue! 

Caught Vixen geyser erupting 

Grand Canyon of Yellowstone: apparently this picture drew people to come to Yellowstone way back in the day. 

In the morning, we saw a bear cross the road!

Big sky resort: nice to have ski lifts to go up see the view of lone peak

Milestones W

Motor

3.5mo: turn back to front left side.

4.9mo: turn front to back few times (rare)

4-5?mo: put things in mouth

5.25mo: tripod Ppl

6 mo: turn front to back. Turn back to front on right side. Sit without tripod

6.5mo: sitting with hands up, but still topple sometimes. Gets on knees and scoots backwards or shifts back and forth.

6.75mo: stand with hands on couch

7mo: few steps forward while crawling. And few days later: crawling!

7.25mo: pulled up to stand! (Very wobbly at first)

7.75mo: rudimentary pincer grasp first time. Took few steps while holding onto fence.

8mo: cruise, turn the page with his hand, bang blocks together

8.25mo: crawling up stairs. Transfer one hand to other.

10mo: standing 10 seconds, first steps! (More like falling) 

10.5mo: few steps

10.75mo: stand and walk! 

13mo: put shapes in shape box

15mo: stack 2 blocks, running

15.5mo: open/close oatmeal lids, climb up chair

18mo: eat with spoon pretty well, drink from open cup. 

3y 1mo: holding pencil correctly

3y 4mo: draw person with head, hair, legs, arms.

Speech: 

2mo: coo

3mo: "conversation"

4mo: deep belly laugh, blowing raspberries

5mo: tons of conversation and babbling. "Dadadada"

7mo: not talking as much. 🤷

9mo: randomly mamma, dadda

1yo: mamma when want me to pick him up

18mo: about 20+ words

22mo: gaining words rapidly

Social:

Born: smile in sleep

1mo: track faces. Smile when awake. 

Between 5-7mo: recognize "Baobao"

6mo: look for us when gone

7.25mo: shake his head when he doesn't like a food

12mo: wave

15-16mo: ask for things he wants like "tu" "baobao"

22-26mo: bad temper, tantrums

Baby 6mo

 2/26/22 (6mo)

This is such a cute age! He is sleeping longer (9-9:30 to 7:30-8), his interacting more, he has little laughing fits, and he is so adorable! 

We are a little worried that he seems to get angry really easily, I'm hoping it's just because he's still a little. Instead of crying sometimes he just makes angry grunts. 

We try some more foods like zucchini, carrots, strawberry. At one point he did have some diarrhea one day, and we thought maybe it was from old yogurt but then he also had eaten a whole tub of recalled formula. 🤷

2/27/22

Petted his first chicken..not amused. 😅

3/4/22 

He started turning to his right! Which makes for difficult sleep time because he would get stuck on his stomach and be upset and not sleep. Prior when he did that only to the left, we would put him close to the left and he wouldn't be able to turn..but now we can't do that since he is turning both sides. First day we had to flip him over. But second day he learned it was ok to sleep on his stomach. And then I saw he learned to turn back onto his back! Hopefully sleeping won't be an issue! 

Since he sleeps after being awake for 2.5 hours, we sometimes run into the night time issue where last nap ended at 4p and next nap starting at 6p. Do we let him keep sleeping and then risk him waking super early or do we wake him for another awake time? Fortunately recently when we've been waking him up around 7:30 to 8:00 p.m., he will go back to sleep around 9-9:30 p.m. Lately we've been feeding him right after waking, when he's a little bit more subdued, otherwise he gets super excited and doesn't want to eat very much. We are still doing some dream feedings around 11:00 p.m., and sometimes even during the day when we see him stirring from his nap. He can rotate 360 on his tummy (like if there is a toy on his left, he can turn there).

We've been trying to give him food after an hour or two hours of milk. We noticed that if he had too much milk before, he might vomit.

His eyes and cheeks have gotten bigger so many people comment on how cute he is, even strangers. Right now he seems like a very happy baby, and he gets so excited in the mornings and after he wakes up. He smiles so much and likes to laugh and kick and jump. He is always breathing hard from his excitement. His cheeks are getting big and jiggly!

I'm happy that I reached 6 months of pumping, so I'm trying to reduce it. I've been slowly moving to pump sessions closer together. At one point I think I went too fast and started having some tenderness, but it resolved after a day after I took some measures: heat, massage, lecithin, probiotics, hot shower, a little more frequent pumping. Now, pumping twice a day isn't too time consuming, and I feel more like a normal person. It's nice that I don't have to worry about it during the day, and I don't have to schedule around it. My supply has continued to drop consistently, which is good for not having engorgement and clogged ducts. 

3/7/22

Started getting on his knees and scooting backwards. 😂

He also has had a major drop in bottle/formula/milk during the day. Int he morning it seems like he is too excited and will drink max 4oz. Hoping he makes up for it in solids, but I'm not too sure. Sometimes we would offer bottle all the time seeing he is making sucking motion with his mouth, and he would refuse 10 times before he will take down 7oz when he is half asleep. So strange that he eats so much better half asleep. Talked to coworker and she says sometimes babies are like that. And maybe see how things go, but may need to wean him off the bad habit. But since his weight has always been low, AB is hesitant to stop dream feeding. 

We were at Teahouse and the waiter came by multiple times to look at him. At a Persian restaurant the waitress said he was "so cute!" And several other people at grocery stores and restaurants made comments too. 

3/21/22

He put one hand forward while on his knees! 

This is really a great time! He is interactive, smiles a lot, laughs, and doesn't move around yet so I don't have to chase him. 😂 Such a cute age! 

Funny quotes: 

Yw: Baobao why are you always breathing so hard?

After tummy time and kicking and Baobao puts his head down to rest: Ab: Baobao got tired. 

Baby 5mo

2/4/22 4.25mo: 

We have been feeding about some solid foods. So far we have tried baby oatmeal cereal, avocado, eggs, blueberry (juice), yogurt. He seems to have tolerated them okay. But it's hard to tell because we have only given him little tiny bits.

He has not been drinking milk or formula very well. It often takes 30 minutes or longer, and sometimes he only takes 4 oz every 4 hours. We've tried singing abc's, counting in chinese, playing the bible, and sometimes it works, but now we are getting tired and just want him to eat.

The good news is, he's been sleeping pretty much through the night. We put him to sleep around 8:30 or 9:00 p.m. Then we would dream feed him at around 11:00 p.m., and he sleeps until 6:30 a.m. sometimes he might cry a little in the middle, but he can go back to sleep on his own. We are thankful he hasn't been turning on his stomach and been stuck lately.

He has also started smacking his lips. We pretend he i trying to give us kisses. 

2/5/22: 

We went to a wedding! We dropped off baobao at grandparents and went to B&M wedding. It was so refreshing not having Baobao round. But then he didn't eat very well that day (only 23oz and usually eats 33oz). I was very concerned, but I guess he survived. Always have to coax him to eat, sighs...

The wedding itself was a lot of fun! Far, but beautiful, well organized, good food and fun dancing. It was an interesting mix of people, and hard to social distance or wear a mask while eating. We shall see... 

2/9/22 

Reduced pumping to 3 times a day around 8a, 4-5p, 11-11:30p. (except work days when I do 4 times a day bc of timing to pump at lunch break). 

2/20/22 (4.75mo):

We are so fortunate Baobao has been sleeping through the night since we came back from Seattle.

One of my favorite times is after dream feeding him at 11p-12 at night when I get to hold him upright a bit cheek to cheek with his warm body snug against mine and he is soundly asleep (no wiggling!). So sweet! 

It's also very fun to watch baobao's cheeks jiggle while we stroll him around on the grass. He's gaining weight! About 15.5lb!

We started a nanny! We were fortunate to be able to do nanny share and she's from church, but she is only available for 3 months, so will have to find someone else. We were worried he wouldn't eat as well since we have to coax him to eat sometimes or dream feed him during the day (well, used to, but now sometimes he falls asleep feeding and continues feeding), but overall even though he does eat a little less, he's doing ok. Some days he eats a majority of his ounces (16 of 30) after 5p. 

Recently he doesn't talk as much as before. Maybe a phase. He also hasn't been as excited to eat solids. Hopefully it'll change. It's been helpful to have bibado bib that covers everything because it's so messy! We give him a spoon to chew on and Alan might also have a spoon to catch "rebounds"of puree. 

2/26/22

Made it to 6mo!

Baby 4 mo

1/1/22: Can't believe it's the new year! We also just turned from front to back with the help of the mat. Still working on doing it without the mat. 

1/2/22 Met up again with AB's brother, wife, and almost 8mo kid. Very cute to watch them look at each other and sometimes reach for each other. He loves his Peter Rabbit that he got from grandma. And mom and dad were very happy he hugged the rabbit when he slept. 

1/4/22 Right when he turned 4 months (12/26/21), he started having sleep regression for the next 10 days. We couldn't take it so we started sleep training. He would need a pacifier reinserted multiple times throughout the night. 

So far sleep training has gone well. We have been doing the Farber methods of progressively longer times to check on him: 2min, 5min, 10min, 15min, 30min.  The first night, we check on him during the 10min and he was already asleep. He was very sad at first, and it was very difficult to listen to it. During the next day for naps he progressively took longer. One of the naps required the 15 minute session. I wonder if he was just not as tired during then. We moved him into the bathroom, and I had to turn off the monitor sometime so I couldn't hear his crying cuz it was too sad. But both nights he slept pretty well; he only woke up for our plan feed at around midnight or 1am.

I went back to work twice a week. I only pump once at work now, which makes it much more doable at work.

1/6/22 He said "dada"!

We are trying to feed him 7oz 5 times a day. Sometimes he doesn't take much, but sometimes he takes 7-8oz. Previously it was 6oz 6 times a day (about 2-3 weeks ago). He didn't usually drink 6oz every time, sometimes he only 3 ounces. 

I also switched pumping to 4 times a day and got rid of the night pump. Such a relief! But this first night my supply sent down from around 26-27oz to 22oz.

1/8/22

We were going through the year in review, and when we started talking about GameStop, Baobao started laughing so hard! And then from then on, every time AB said GameStop, he wouldn't stop laughing 😂.

Grandma and mom don't want us to try to visit China because covid situation is too crazy there. They will quarantine a person with no notice. And they are worried if we get covid, then grandma won't be able to get her treatment. Mom did get visa to go back, so we will try to visit her in Seattle before she goes. 

We noticed when he gets antsy with eating and isn't done with his 7oz, if we play the bible for him to listen, he will calm down and finish his 7oz. Also sing ABC's or count in Chinese while having him do bicep curls.

Baobao has been very interested in his left foot. Often found holding it with his left hand. 😂

1/15/22-1/24

We went to visit grandparents in Seattle! We were nervous traveling with baby. Going to Seattle was a bit messy. He didn't sleep or eat well, and needed to be carried up and down the aisle. Turbulence made it difficult. He ended up eating enough by the end of the day and making up the sleep the next day. 

Things we learned: 

-Aisle seat is valuable to walk baby around

-Baby must be carried through the metal detector.

-The stroller and car seat can be gate checked. 

-Ok to bring breast milk or ice packs. Diaper bag, pump bag all additional bags and dont count as carry on. 

-It's easier to buy diapers and formula at the destination. 

It was our first times being without baby! We got to go to MOPOP (museum of pop culture), and also Chihuly Glass Museum! 

The trip was a mixture. While we got additional help for feeding, using, sleeping, making meals...he was not in his usual environment and his schedule was a little messed up and needed more help eating/sleeping. We tried to stock with earlier bedtime and my mom was able to feed him overnight. 

Week before turning 5mo: he had been turning onto his stomach at night, gets stuck, and cry for a long time in the middle of the night. Terrible 3 nights! Annoying turning him over, and then he would turn back again! Bad 😴!!

Funny quotes:

YW: I feel tired just watching him. (Regarding baby jumping in the jumper). 

Grandpa: Better get movin' (when we told him he likes to be in motion). 

Ab: Let's put him in the mattress! (Referring to the thick sleep sack).

Memories of 2021

*Austin hill country state parks: Colorado Bend, Longhorn Cave, Enchanted rock (raining the entire time).

*San Antonio Sea World and 5 missions bike ride

*Valley of Fire state park and Death Valley National Park

*Houston freeze while we were gone to park, and pipe burst + flooding of our home (drywall, ceiling, wood floor damage). Thankful JL and RW and KL shut off water while we were gone. Hole in ceiling for a while. We found a good handyman who could fix everything rather quickly. Only spoke Chinese! 

*Pregnancy, gradually telling people

*Getting covid vaccines, signing up family/friends (AB signed up 20+ people!)

*As people got the vaccine, doing outdoor backyard birthdays. E.g. mine + RC/gender reveal. 

*Book clubs: this year: Confronting Christianity: 12 difficult questions for the world's largest religion. 

*Going back to in-person outdoor church service (first time Feb 6). Then indoor church service in June.

*First time eating indoors: Bao Shi Yi soup dumplings 2/5/21. 

*Arches, Canyonlands, Mesa Verde trip with church friends in May

*Travel to Iceland and Greece on one trip:

https://eeex101.blogspot.com/2021/06/iceland-geldingadalir-volcano.html?m=0

https://eeex101.blogspot.com/2021/08/greece-days-1-4.html?m=0

*Going back to meeting in person bible study and having people over for dinner. 

*Finishing Pandemic Legacy Season 1 - so surreal. 

*First time feeling baby kick. 

*Went to first wedding in a while in Seattle with Game of Thrones Theme (TL and TT)

*Brother getting knee surgery for 3rd knee dislocation

*Continuing YouTube workouts twice weekly on Zoom, and playing tennis when weather is nice.

*Our baby's delivery!

*Going to a live bball rockets game Dec!

Baby 3 month old

Baobao made it to 3 month old! He is so cute now! But he is still very small (7-8 percentile by weight). 

*Since his weight is still low, we decided to do exclusive pumping and bottle feeding. Maybe nurse once very few days for fun. Since then, he has increased his daily intake a lot! Some days taking 33oz! (I pump avg 27oz). He will take 5oz every 3-4 hours, sometimes more frequently. Sometimes for no reason, he stops early. Sometimes we have to shake his hand while eats to coax him to eat. Strange kid! 

*He loves to lie on his playmat and hit his hanging toys! He will do a little tummy time, but then get frustrated. 

*(3.5mo) He has started to have "conversations" with us. In reality, it's just us gently screaming at each other. At one point, maybe got him to laugh. It was so adorable!

*He has started to turn from his side to facing upwards. One time he was even able to flip from front to back. But I never got him to do it again.

*Sleep: now he's able to sleep 6 to 7 hours at night time. It has helped us get more sleep for sure. But sometimes he still wakes up around 1:00 or 2:00 and requires the pacifier. And occasionally when he gets too much sleep in the later evening or for no reason, he wakes up a lot.

*We got his passport! He is so cute.

*I went back to work part-time. There was some miscommunication about when I can use my continuing medical education time, so now I end up with a bunch at the end to use up in december. Fortunately they let me use it, so it's like I got 4 months maternity leave. In the meantime, it's been a hassle trying to pump at work. I'm only allotted a 20 minute slot, in the morning and one at afternoon, which actually ends up only being 10 minutes each because of overbooking. I decided to use flex time, which means I have to make it up later. On the days that I'm working, Alan has been using up his PTO for the year, and he has been very happy to be at home. 

*We are hoping to have a nanny from February to May part time. We will be doing nanny sharing.

*We found out that my grandmother has gastric and intestinal cancer. We're still waiting on the prognosis, but I'm really hoping that she can see Baobao in person. It will be really hard because I think visa to China is almost impossible, and it will require a 3-week quarantine.

*We've managed to play tennis a few times. We've been lucky that both times baby fell asleep in the stroller so we could play uninterrupted.

*We've been able to go to several events now: Thanksgiving with friends and family, and a holiday musical. All with the help of the freemie pump which I can keep in my pocket. It's not as comfortable or as efficient as the spectrum pump, but it's discreet enough.

3.5mo:

*Still small. 12.5lb (8th percentile) and 24" (10-15 percentile). Eats anywhere from 26 to 35 ounces (that was a record). 5oz once at 4am and then about 5oz about 5 times during the day (q3hrs). 

*He can now turn lying back to his side. And one time he rotated 180 degrees so whole body facing left and then faced right where his feet were. He also started putting his hands together in the middle. So cute! He will also laugh a few times. 🥰

*12/15/21 3.75mo: he consistently turns from back to front now! Earlier in the week I had turned around, and when I turned back he had done it. Now he does it so effortlessly. Even when he's sleeping he spends most of his time on his side, and sometimes does 360s in the bed.

*12/20/21 Baobao is blowing raspberries! How funny! 

*Seems like he is always hyperactive. Really hope he doesn't have ADHD in the future. Especially during eating he kicks soooooo much. And subsequently he also breathes really fast. Another new annoying thing he is doing is he sticks his tongue out all the time now. Even when eating. 

Funny quotes: 

Yw: Baobao is a night owl and a morning person. 

Random kid on playground: "I want to see the baby's face!"

AB's friend's daughter: "I want to hold the baby!"