It’s funny how in a publicly traded company, time is measured in a quarter… and depending on how things go, that quarter can whiz by in a blink, or take forever to finish.

I think our “quarter” is a bit of both- it’s gone by very quickly, but at the same time, it’s been jammed with a lot of events.  I’m sure some days go by pretty slowly for E, and the weekends are always a blur for me.

So how has e changed?  In the beginning, most things were pretty instinctual- eat, sleep, diaper change, look at stuff, etc.  About 5 weeks ago, she started making a fist and staring at it like it was a Monet.  Shortly thereafter, she started to visually track things- especially faces… even from a distance.  I’m sure her vision is now better than Mom or Dad (without their glasses).  You can tell that she studies things like the ceiling, features of different rooms, and especially the Poppy painting we have on our mantle.  She definitely recognizes her room, and that bouncy seat thing. 

She’s also been smiling for at least 6 weeks,and about 3 weeks ago, started babbling.  I think these two features have been the coolest, and makes baby even more interactive.

So it’s been a good first quarter… and I based on that, I think we can give even more positive guidance to the street for Q2.  🙂

Ok, first is an unsolicited product placement.  The photo on the left shows our counter after we’ve sterilized all the bottles we typically go through in a 24 hour period.  Then my sister got us this unit from Skip Hop that organizes the chaos. 

Having done the parenting thing for a few months, here are some of my observations:

1. Why, oh why do diaper shirts and sleepers have 3 dozen snaps?  Snaps down the front; snaps down one leg; snaps down both legs; extra snaps for the backdoor vent; etc.  What’s wrong with zippers or Velcro?! 
2. Whacked out sizing.  We just uploaded some pics of e in a snowsuit for a 6-9 month old.  It’s so big, I swear E has a chance of fitting in it.  In general, it seems some manufacturers are way off in their sizing.  e is almost 3 months old, and fits in a 6 mos diaper shirt… so it makes you think your baby suffers from Gigantism.  As an aside, I think this trend is reversed in womens wear… 🙂
3. Pockets- why do baby clothes have pockets?  I guess it’s the same as asking why do they make clothes for dogs?
4. Tight diaper shirts… ok, there are these diapers shirts we used when she was a newborn.  When put on, they are very fitted, but getting it on over her head and her arms through the sleeves is like a contortionist’s act. 

In the end, I really like the ‘Maggie Simpson’- a bag with a hole for the head and arms.  Simple, easy to put on, and very roomy!  Now if they only made them in adult sizes…

For those who knew lester since childhood, I encourage you to compare the photos in the previous post.  One day I’ll figure out how to implement a polling feature.

We’re starting to get around a bit more these days.  e’s sleep/eat patterns are predictable, so we usually time our trips that way.  Sunday was a nice day, so we went out to N Van, and back to Costco/Safeway in Burnaby.  On the way back, we stopped by Forest Lawn to visit our Grandmothers and Goo Bak. 

I can’t describe how it was to introduce my daughter to her great-grandmothers, and great-great grandaunt.  Somehow I felt that introductions weren’t really needed… that in some way, our grandmothers live on through her.  Kinda like the Disney movie Mulan where all the family Ancestors know their decendants and look out for them.  🙂

But there was a tinge of sadness in that we know how beyond happy they would have been to meet her and hold her.  Imagine, seeing 4 generations of your family!   

As e grows older, one day we will begin to tell her stories about her great-grandmothers and the rest of the family.  One thing for sure, she’s got quite the heritage.  🙂   

I added a Gallery of photos I took of Grandpa’s house before it was torn down last year.  It took me awhile to look at them again, simply because every room held so many memories for all of us.  It pretty much was home for all of us at one time or another. 

It’s the house I was born in and learned to walk.  It was there that all my cousins played hide and seek, and many other games throughout our childhood.  It’s the home where our family had many important conversations and celebrated many happy events.

It was hard to look at the pictures for sometime, and it still is.  In every photo, I can recall at least a dozen conversations that took place.  It’s a bit sad to see the house emptied out, but I hope it brings back some good memories for everyone.

Today Erica turned 8 weeks old… and went for her shots and weigh-in.

For the weigh-in, she’s now 9lbs, 8oz, and has a double chin to show for it.  🙂

As for the shots, she was given a series of 4 shots- 2 on each thigh.  E couldn’t watch, so I had to hold her legs down while the shots were administered.  The first syringe was at least half full… and given the size of her leg in relation, it seemed like a lot.  e’s reaction to:

Shot #1 was “Hey, owww… what did you do that for?” 

Shot #2 “OW!  Hey you did it again!

Shot #3 “WAAAH! You poked me in that leg already!!”

Shot #4 “OK, OK that’s IT!  You want real tears, you GOT it!  BWAAAAHHHHH!!!!”

Thankfully she was ok taking the Infants Tylenol, but you have to wonder about giving so many injections to someone so young, especially when her immune system is still developing.  But that’s where trust with your healthcare provider comes in. 

So here’s something interesting we learned.  If you were born before 1984, chances are you got a smallpox vaccine- the one that leaves a round scar on the arm just under the deltoid.  Smallpox was “erradicated” in the early 80’s which is why kids nowadays don’t need the shot.  I remember growing up and seeing everyone with the mark, but I guess this is one example of how vaccinations actually work!

just uploaded a few new photos of before/after bathtime.  I’ll have to spend more time getting the AWB (white balance) right on the photos, and figuring out how to organize gallery better.  To view the photo gallery, there’s a photo tab at the top right of this page, and I’ll put a link in the link section.

E took e to get weighed today, and she’s putting on the weight.  The other night, she finally slept through the night!!  I think E should buy a lottery ticket.  Of course we were up at 4:30am wondering what was going on.  😐 

Alas, it was not to last… she was up at 4am last night.  I think putting her on a schedule definitely helps as she usually dozes off around 11-midnight, and goes for about 4.5 hours on average.

Looking back, I can see that this blog is heavily weighted towards the pregnancy/birth/baby topics, and I KNOW how exciting that is for non-parents.  Now that things are settling into a routine (sort of), I’m putting together a list of non-baby things to write about for the future. 

So if I could write and send a letter back in time to myself, to say a year ago, how would I describe the first 39 days of being a parent?  Hmmm, excellent question.  I think I’ll just start by brainstorming random topics/questions and see what comes out.

1) How hard is parenting?  I think our neighbour said it best.  It’s not that any of the tasks are that difficult (exception- breast-feeding).  Changing diapers, burping, mixing formula, bathing baby, etc.  But the hard part is in having to do it almost around the clock.  There are things that are easy to do during the day, but when duty calls at 4:30 am, and you’re in a very deep sleep… that’s hard.  And that’s if you know what to do.  Sometimes there are situations where we don’t have the answer… experience just takes time to gain.  At least E and I can tag-team and take shifts, I don’t know how single parents manage sometimes. 

2) Sleep, and getting baby to do it during the night.  I think the most telling stat is how quickly the frequency of posts dropped off in the past month.  Not that we didn’t have things to write about, but the fatigue factor (mostly mental) set in.  I can remember when something interesting happened, but between starting a new job and dealing with a new baby, the last thing I wanted to do was sit in front of the computer.   Looking back, getting baby on a flexible schedule was a very good idea.  Feed roughly every 3 hours, and in the hours between 9-11, stuff her full of formula so she can have a good sleep.  I think our record is 6 hours! 

Here is a pic of e after drinking 4 oz.  No, I’m not throttling my daughter, it’s how you hold her when burping.  Just to relate, 4oz for her is like an adult downing a Super Slurpee cup full of formula… every 3 hours!

3) Hobbies/Exercise?  What’s that?  Yep, haven’t been able to do much exercise or spend any time on our hobbies.  I’m amazed my tropical fish haven’t turned on each other, and that our houseplants haven’t grown roots over to next door in search of sustenance. 

We definitely miss things like playing tennis, swimming… I miss hockey, going to the range, etc. but I think that those and other activities will slowly come back in a few months time.  Some things, like learning to ride a motorbike, might be on hold for a few years, but we’ll play it by ear.  I also suspect some of our old hobbies will be replaces by new ones to do with raising a family!

I think the challenge for us right now is to figure out a way to get some physical activity in.  It’s important, otherwise we’re going to get run down quickly, but exercise is usually the last thing on your mind after a long night. 

Thankfully the weathers been fantastic, so we can go for walks, but it definitely can be a production just to goto the mall.  I remember the days of being able to run multiple errands and being very efficient about it… but taking her around means planning the proper logistics, etc. 

Here’s a photo of her strapped in and ready to go.

4) Obsession with Life Channel and Nanny 911.  This is just my observation, but it seem like when I come home, E is watching something about giving birth or raising kids on TV.  Of course this is in addition to her regular TV lineup.  I remember flipping right by these shows before having kids, but now, some of it seems strangely relevant.  I still think a good book beats any of these TV shows, but finding the time to read is also a challenge.

5) Pooh.  I don’t know why, but the last month seems to be centered on this topic. 

– At the hospital, it was “when did she last pooh, and how much and what color?”  We had to carefully log everything, and it was obvious we lacked the necessary vocab to describe it all.  Like the Inuit having 40 different words for snow, my vocab is pretty limited on the subject.  However we adapted and came up with our own descriptive terminology- “black tar, dark seaweed, grey poupon, french’s mustard”  I avoided any food requiring condiments for quite some time.

– At home.  We’ve relaxed on the recording this sacred event, but it’s still very much a current topic.  Since she upped her formula intake to 4oz a feeding, she’s been able to overflow any diaper.  OH THE HORROR.  There have been occasions where I have to call a code red- meaning we need to get the bathtub ready. 

 Personally, my life seems to revolve around this topic on a daily basis.  Here are some common phrases to give you an idea of what I mean, and keep in mind that we also have 2 cats with very active bowels.

 “I think the baby poohed”… “Can you collect the garbage, and don’t forget the cat pooh and diapers”… “That cat pooh really stinks, can you scoop the pooh now?”… “We need to clean the pooh off the (insert any surface or fabric)”… “Ugh, can you smell that pooh?!”… and my favorite- “I think the pooh leaked out”

 I think I’m beyond desensitized. 

 And finally in closing, here’s one more baby picture.  She’s always had a strong neck, from the day she was born she had some control over her head, but being a baby, her head/neck was still pretty floppy.  Yesterday, E was carrying e, and she lifted her head up to look around.  It may not seem significant (certainly to non-parents, believe me, I understand…) but for us it was kind of a milestone.  She’s starting to interact with her world and take notice.  As a parent, it’s a great feeling, and is just the beginning of many wonderful discoveries.  A few seconds after the photo was taken, her head flopped back like a Muppet… but don’t worry, everything’s ok.  🙂

Welcome to our new site!  Thanks to Lester for helping set everything up.  After a cursory look around, there’s a lot of features to take advantage of, and of course we’ll be posting to a pretty cool photo gallery… once I get time to figure stuff out.

So back to Erica… In some ways, it’s been the longest month in recent memory, but at the same time, it’s gone by so quickly.   

Looking back at older photos, it’s amazing to see how quickly things are changing.

Yesterday we had her 30 day dinner.  At first, we were debating whether or not to have it.  I think this custom, and probably a lot of other Chinese traditions concerning babies has a lot to do with the high infant mortality rate a few generations ago.  If your baby makes it to 30 days, it has a good chance of survival, and so it’s cause for celebration!

For us, we debated back and forth about this… and two factors stuck out.  First, you only get one chance to have a celebration of this type, and years from now we didn’t want to regret not having one.  But more importantly, Erica is the first grandchild for both our families… and there were a lot of first time Uncles and Aunties as well.  Erica managed to sleep through most of it, but it was good to see both families present and smiling as they got to see and hold her.  

It’s one of those things, but the timing was such that my parents and sister couldn’t attend… and due to the short notice (big sidebar story about that) Uncle Albert/Aunt May and my maternal Grandad couldn’t make it. 

I spent most of the night just standing back and observing everyone interact with her- Erica is one lucky girl.  I see the happiness that she brings to everyone, and how quickly our relatives have bonded and accepted her.  Everyone has been very generous and very gracious. 

So for our baby, our relatives, and our friends, we were pleased to host this dinner.  For those that could not make it, we’ll be sure to visit soon… or put her in front of a webcam.  🙂

Here’s an interesting thing we read from the Baby Whisperer.

From the first few days of life, you can see clues as to what type of baby you have. The types are:

1) Angel
2) Textbook
3) Touchy
4) Spirited
5) Grouchy

The labels are pretty descriptive, so I won’t go into detail as to what they mean.

As with most personality tests, the categories are not mutually exclusive. There are 20 multiple choice questions that are answered by both parents to generate a raw score for each category.

E and I both answered the questions, and came out with very similar results so at least we both agree what e is like.

Drumroll… apparently we have a mostly Textbook baby, with some Spirited Angelic qualities thrown in. So she’s fairly predictable- we can calm her down as long as we figure out what it is she needs, and she’s pretty good natured. Loud noises, new environments, and strangers don’t really startle her.

So here’s the interesting thing. The author states that these traits are evident later on in life, even well into adolescence and beyond. So can your baby personality be a strong predictor to what you are likely to be later in life?

My little experiment was to ask my mum to read the 5 descriptions, and apply them to myself and Vennie. Mum described Vennie as being an “Angel” while I was a “Touchy” baby. Sigh, still to this day my Sister still have my parents completely swindled…

Ok, so the book says that an Angel baby has an easy going disposition and easily adapts to structure. Is this my sister today? I’ll let those who know her decide that, however my Mum now says the roles have reversed. As Adults, she’s the touchy one while I’m now the Angel. :->

As for Touchy babies, they need a structured, predictable routine. Hmm, I will admit that I work best when my day is structured, and I would say my sister is better at adapting to change.

This isn’t to say that I must have tri-color pasta with meat sauce every Wednesday at 6:25pm, but I think this is an interesting spin on the Nature vs Nurture discussion. The book’s view is that a lot of our personality is due to our environment and upbringing, but there seems to be a base portion of our behaviour that is set in our genes.

I’m sure this will generate a lot of discussion among parents, especially those who have (supposedly) finished raising their kids. 🙂