Finally got around to selecting the better shots and uploading them with some commentary. With the weather we’ve been having, we’re looking longingly at the beach photos. Warning- lots of baby photos included!
Well as of last week, Erica reached the 5 month mark.
When E was preggy, we heard other parents remark that they grow so fast. Boy do we ever believe it. She’s now approaching 15lbs.
Thinking back since our last update, she’s gone from a newborn who mostly eats/sleeps/make dirty diapers to a newborn that well… eats/sleeps/make dirty diapers, but also now has very sharp hearing/eyesight, has full control over her head, can roll over, suck her thumb, and grab her feet. Also giggles and makes a lot of pterodactyl like sounds.
It’s hard to believe that she was 4 months when we took her to Maui. It was on the flight there that we first noticed that she was sucking her thumb, and not “west-coasting” it. One night in the hotel room, we heard her grunting and doing something that was taking a lot of exertion… we naturally thought she was making a big diaper, but when we peeked into her crib, she had rolled herself over! Now she can do it at will, and keep her head up to look around. Her bum is also in the air, so we think it’s a precursor to crawling.
For some time now, she’s been staring at her hands… and it was during the trip that she discovered her feet. Now she has them to stare and grab at.
One thing that’s surprised us is how interactive she is becoming with her surroundings. For sure, her eyesight and hearing is better than ours. While feeding, she can become distracted by the cats walking around, or if I’m feeding her, she’s scanning around to see where mom is. She’s definitely spending more time noticing and staring at the cats and fishtank… and TV. 🙁
She’s also been practising her vocals, babbling, listening to how high her voice can go, making subtle gurgling noises. In short, she’s finding her voice.
There’s also been other subtle signs that show she’s understanding things- like during nap time when I show her a soother, she’ll open her mouth to take it, and grab her rattle bear.
So some photos- the one with Sloan was taken today. Sloan is *almost* 3. The other pic shows Aidan (August 9) and Caden (August 12) and Erica (August 17). Aidan and Caden (and oh yeah, their parents) live in our complex. E sent this photo to me at work and pointed out that e is playing with her two new BOY-friends.
Auuuugh! 😐
Yesterday afternoon I went to see the exhibit down at Scienceworld. http://www.scienceworld.bc.ca/bodyworlds/
To be honest, I wasn’t sure how I felt about the exhibit. Way back in highschool, I wanted a career in medicine, and the subject I had the most interest in was Biology, especially Biology 30 where is was all about human physiology, anatomy, etc. This would be a chance to see the actual biological systems we only got to see in textbooks.
The other factor is how we, as a culture, deal with death. People die and are buried or cremated- the end. The exhibit takes what is private, and makes it very, very public.
On one hand, there’s a fascination with seeing ourselves in a totally physical context… and then there’s the viewing of someone’s remains, that culturally, we cover up.
I think to view the exhibit, I had to detach myself a bit, and not think of them as people or corpses. I don’t think I’m that squeamish- I remember a fieldtrip to the morgue where we got to view a film showing a real autopsy and I was able to have lunch afterwards.
The exhibit.
I would say it is grouped into 4 categories- anatomy and biological systems (organs, nerves, muscles, joints, circulation, reproduction, digestion, etc), diseases, development, and “human aesthetic”
I was floored by how well the exhibit showed the human anatomy. The nervous system started with a human brain at the top, and like a complex root system extending down from the brain stem were all the nerves. You could see the entire spinal cord as well as the nerves branching off to the limbs. I didn’t think that the nerves would be so visible, in fact, it reminds me of the strings on a puppet that a puppeteer would use to control all motion. You could see the nerves running all along the limbs and branching off every which way. The Sciatic nerve was pretty visible. It made me understand how easily a nerve can be “pinched.”
I was wowed by the exhibits showing all the internal organs. You read and see photos about them, but you don’t really understand their size and shape. I was amazed at how small the kidneys and uterus is. It gives me an idea of what surgeons see when they open a patient up and need to navigate through the maze of vessels, nerves, bones, organs, etc. There was one exhibit showing a man standing up, and to his right was all his skin. Just surreal.
The exhibit starts with bones and muscles, then proceeds to add in digestion, brain and nervous system, respiration/circulation, reproduction. I was astonished at seeing how they used cross sections and other techniques to show the particular system. You just have to see this for yourself.
Diseases. Aneurysms, lung/liver cancer, blood clots, hip displaysia, arthritis, alzheimers… the exhibit does an incredible job describing what a healthy system looks like, and compares it to a diseased system. With Alzheimers, you can see how the brain has “shrunk” for a lack of a better word. They showed a lung of a smoker…. and had a “quit smoking” video right beside it. Needless to say, it was a strong motivator.
One thing that caught my attention was “metasticized liver cancer”… which claimed my Grandmother. It showed a healthy liver, and one that was full of tumors. Since the liver has a high bloodflow, it is susceptible to secondary cancer that originated from other parts of the body.
They had a cross section of an obese man- 300 lbs, which showed how hard the extra weight is on the organs. It’s like the internal organs were being crushed and squeezed by the extra weight.
Development- the last section was one of the toughest to get through. It showed embryos from 4 weeks up to 8 weeks. I couldn’t see the embryo at 4 weeks… it was like a spec of sand. At 8 or 10 weeks, it’s the size of a grain of rice, but you could make out little fingers. After the embryonic stage, they had fetuses from I think 16 weeks to 33 weeks. Fascinating to see the development, but hard to see as I could relate it all to E’s pregnancy and e’s development. Especially the baby at 33 weeks.
Human Aesthetic- I’m not sure what to call this section, but they had exhibits where a man/woman would be in a beautiful pose, like an organic statue. For example, they had a dancer “on point”, a skateboarder balancing on one hand, feet and board in the air, a male gymnast doing the splits, a female balancing on a balance beam or suspended from the ankles with an arched back. There were a some exhibits showing a male and a female in a really beautiful pose together, but with an instructional message about the anatomy. Again, really beautiful poses, but very surreal at the same time as it’s a person sans skin, and with some organs missing to show whatever system or structure it was intended to display.
So at the end, how do I feel about it all? I think it raises some very interesting questions- it shows us humans in a very matter of fact manner, and in a very public way. Every system is displayed, and I can say I learned quite a bit in the 90min it took me to go through it all.
The other question is- is that all we are? Are we defined in absolute terms by our brains, nerves, bones, and blood? From a physical standpoint, seeing how we develop from an imperceptible embryo to a full adult, it’s truly astonishing. The other message I learned is that under our skin color, we are all the same.
In the end, as interested as I was in the science, I couldn’t help but to think about the exhibits as people. All the donors are anonymous, because it’s not their identity that’s important. You could tell that some of the donors were older, and not in the best of health. But you could also tell some of the donors were young and healthy and strong. I couldn’t help but wonder what happened to them. What was it that led them to donate their body to the exhibit, to display their body in a most revealing and public manner? For the couples, did they know each other in life?
All throughout the exhibit were signs basically asking everyone to give thanks to the donors for giving us the opportunity to be educated. I’m not sure if it’s suitable for kids of all ages, I personally don’t think I could have fully appreciated it highschool. Should everyone see it? I think it depends on the individual- but I did see a LOT of people, young and old, go through, and everyone looked to be very fascinated and appreciative. And as I mentioned before, I learned a lot in a short time.
The exhibit is now open 24 hours until it closes tomorrow.
Today, my wife and baby were baptized; and for me, my past met my future…
This morning we got up, dressed baby in her baptism dress, packed her up in the car, picked up Grandpa, and went to Chown United for the 11:30 service.
Some of my earliest memories are of Chinese United. My Grandparents have been going there since the 60’s. My parents, Uncle Ron/Aunt Joanne, and Uncle Albert/Aunt May were married there. I was the ring bearer for Uncle Albert’s wedding, and all I can remember is being directed down the aisle with an older girl who knew what she was doing, and looking at a packed church. I freaked. Thankfully my Uncle Foo grabbed me and kinda directed me to where I should be standing.
Vennie and I, and most of my cousins were baptized at CUC.
Years later when I moved back to Vancouver from Calgary, I attended fellowship, met a lot of great families and friends, and was confirmed at 19. I left CUC and went to Burnaby Alliance a few years later. As it was there I met Evonne, I’m guessing it was the right move. 🙂
Now that I think about it, the church actually has been an important part of our lives. Reverend Kao married Evonne and I in 2002, and now he is about to baptize Evonne and our daughter into the Church.
When we arrived, we had some drama over the parking arrangements. The entire area is a bit chaotic due to the RAV line construction.
We were a bit early, so we made our way downstairs to have a seat. The 11:30 service is all in Chinese, and most of the attendees are those in my Grandparent’s generation. A lady came up to us, and she said to me: “I delivered you!” Although it’s been many, many years, I immediately recognized Dr. Madeline Chung, and yes, she did deliver me way back when. It’s not often you get to meet the doctor who helped bring you into the world!
She is now one of the elders, and helps Rev Kao with the service.
As 11:30 approached, more familiar faces- Mr. and Mrs. Ng; Mr. Steven Ho- my Grandfathers long time friend; Mr. and Mrs. Seto; Auntie Garbo; Mr. Henry Ho…
It’s been years, but I remember each of them from when I was growing up. I know their kids as well, but they attend the earlier service in English.
Erica was on her best behaviour- ever alert and ready with a smile or gurgle. We weren’t sure what to expect from her during service, but she’s handled busy public events before.
Back in the 90’s when E and I went to service, we sat in the back, but because we had e, we were asked to sit right at the front. I had my camera all charged up and ready to go when I was instructed to go up with E and e… meaning I had to let Uncle Ron do the photography. Believe me, I had to really look for the best shots. 🙂
After years of not attending, it wasn’t a strange feeling to follow the service rituals- we found the right hymns to sing and the proper passage to read. Everytime I attend an all Chinese service, I do struggle with comprehension because they use the really big words.
Erica really was on best behaviour- a few gurgles and shrieks when the Choir was singing, and during the baptism she just looked at us and Rev. Kao. She took and nearly finished her bottle during the sermon.
Why did I ask to have Erica and Evonne baptized? Well faith is the first reason, but also continuity. It was nice to come back years after, and still see the family friends. Everyone is getting older of course, but that’s all a part of life. During the service, Dr. Chung made the announcements, and said some nice words about Grandpa- that he was a longtime member, and how this was a joyous occasion because his Granddaughter-in-law and Great-Granddaughter were baptized today… and mentioned how she delivered his Grandson- 30 something years ago. She got some polite applause for this comment.
She then spoke in remembrance about my Grandmother- about how she was a long time, active member of the Church who helped in many events. We were genuinely touched by this.
So why did I ask to have Erica and Evonne baptized? For me, I was baptized as an infant, and although I spent years away from the Church, here I am many years later, bringing my daughter and wife back to the Church to be baptized.
For Erica, her whole life is ahead of her. We’ll encourage her to keep an open mind and encourage her to find her own path through life… but that she will always have the Church, and Faith, and friends/family who will always accept and support her.
