Monday, January 30, 2006

Daddy's milk

This morning I wasn't too hungry, so I only ate for a few minutes during my morning feeding. While I falling asleep, a curious thing happened--I saw mommy pull out a machine and start feeding it instead of me! To make sure I wasn't dreaming, I only took a little milk in the afternoon, and she confirmed my suspicions by feeding the machine again.

I wasn't sure what was going on, but because I hadn't eaten much all day, I was really hungry by the time evening rolled around. I nursed and nursed, but after a little while (half an hour actually) mommy said that she was out of milk. It was that machine that took all my milk! Daddy tried to console me while mommy made more milk, but I was too mad about the whole machine thing. I was very hungry and upset, and I was crying vigorously.

Then a second curious thing happened. While daddy was holding me in bed and I was crying, he stuck something in my mouth, which made me suck. When I sucked, milk, glorious milk came out! Daddy said it was called a bottle.

The milk was actually coming too fast, and I was so surprised, I gagged a little. But I was happy to have something in my stomach. I'm not too sure where daddy's milk came from, but it tasted pretty much the same as mommy's and it held me over for an hour or so.

In the middle of the feeding, grandma came in and said that I was smarter than daddy because daddy couldn't figure out the bottle when he was a baby.

I'm going to keep an eye out for this machine, and I'll keep you posted on its activities. A word to babies everywhere though--don't let your mommy feed anyone else except you.



Mommy and daddy's interpretation of the events:
Well, we were trying to pump and store up some milk in the freezer so that Mike might feed Owen occasionally in the middle of the night starting next week. We read that if we didn't try to introduce the bottle around then, he might not want to take it, and Mike does want to feed him now and then. Unfortunately, the pump was a little too efficient and Nan ran out of milk at Owen's peak feeding time. Next time, we'll only pump once a day, maybe in the morning.

Sunday, January 29, 2006

Descanso Gardens

Today we took another expedition. This time we went out to Descanso Gardens, where mommy and daddy had their first date, got engaged, and got married. I guess they like that place.

I got them to push me around in the stroller, and there was so much to see! I liked the camellias and the Japanese tea house. I got hungry a couple of times, and I discovered that I like eating al fresco.


Mommy and me on the lawn where she got married


I think I need a diaper change here


After diaper change, it was time to eat


And then after eating, it was time to eat again


I'm not sure why people kept saying I was a pretty girl. Clearly, I like blue.

Saturday, January 28, 2006

Saturday out

Since it was a nice day today and Daddy had his first day off in 10 days, we went out for a walk on the beach. At least that's what they told me afterwards since I was passed out the whole time. Mommy tried to show me all the little doggies on the boardwalk, but I was too comfortable to notice. I wish I had been awake to see the cute fluffy puppies. But I'm glad I was asleep when we walked by the big guy in the American flag Speedo.

Tonight we went to Grandma's house for Chinese New Year's dinner. Lots of the family was there, but it was kind of overwhelming for me. After taking lots of photos with the peeps, I passed out on my fancy changing pad.


I am so floppy and sleepy.


Little mohawk doggies that I missed


This is not what it looks like.


The clan celebrating the Year of the Dog


Resting after a hard day's work

Friday, January 27, 2006

Gym time


Today I was awake for a while after dinner, so mommy and daddy took out the gym for me to work out. At first I was a little overwhelmed.


But then I figured out how to move the monkey and the giraffe with my hands and feet. I was so excited my right sock almost fell off.


I was having a good time, even though daddy kept taking pictures of me working out...


Then I got tired and decided to call it a night. Maybe we'll work out again tomorrow.

Thursday, January 26, 2006

My due date

Twenty days of life, and I am finally now past my due date. As they say in Uncle DK's favorite place, I have a "corrected gestational age of 40 and 2/7 weeks."

Despite daddy's paranoia of letting me go out before one month old, mommy and grandma and grandpa have been showing me around town. Nothing exciting to mention, just these "errands" they keep talking about. Dry cleaners, groceries, lunch out, and the diaper store they call Target.

As I've mentioned before, I've also been gaining weight at an astonishing pace. Daddy was at work all day and all night yesterday, and when he came home, he didn't recognize me (or so he said). I seem to have gained all the weight between my chin and my chest, where my "neck" used to be.


Me and my chins


Daddy wearing me in my yuppie baby carrier, which I love to sleep in

Monday, January 23, 2006

Three generations of Ching men


I am the first son of a first son of a first son. I hope I'll be taller than my daddy too, like my daddy is taller than his. I'm on my way... Today I made it to 7 pounds. That means mommy and daddy have to empty out my Diaper Champ twice a day!

Sunday, January 22, 2006

Tummy time


Daddy, where were you all day? What is this "job" thing?


Hmmm....How can I get more feeding time and more sleep?


Hand regard is a developmental milestone of 12 week old babies. I'm only 2 weeks old. I am so smart!


Or maybe not...

Lately mommy and daddy have been trying to put me on my tummy while I'm awake. I'm not quite sure whether I like it or not. The last few times, it's been okay at first--kind of a novel experience, you know. Then after a while, I get tired of it. Here's a video of me trying to figure out what this belly down thing is all about. I'm not very happy here.

Saturday, January 21, 2006

A nice walk and baby acne!

Nothing much to update. Since it was such a nice day today, I decided to see how long I can stay awake. After my morning feeding, I stayed awake for 4 hours! Since mommy and grandma couldn't get me to go to sleep, they gave me another bath (wah!) and then we went for a walk around the neighborhood. When we got back to the house, I still didn't want to sleep. Mommy thought that I might like playing with my baby gym -- well, it didn't last too long since I was very hungry. I finally went to sleep after a short feeding.


Also, mommy is starting to get worried about my skin condition. I've started to break out already. Daddy says that baby acne is normal and it will go away in a few weeks. I hope so... since I don't want to ruin my complexion for all the pretty girls.

Thursday, January 19, 2006

Growing pains

Looks like things are settling down around here. I'm getting bigger, and my newborn diapers are getting kind of tight on my belly. Good thing daddy only bought a week's worth because maybe by next week I'll be able to graduate to size 1! I'm still smaller than the average newborn, although I have 5 days left before I was supposed to come out. Maybe by then I'll be 7 pounds!

As you can see from this photo, it seems that this bathing thing is going to be more often than I was hoping for. I am so sad when I am cold and wet.

Wednesday, January 18, 2006

I'm growing



My dad's mom and dad came from Hawaii a couple of days ago to stay with us and help take care of mommy. They seem to be nice people, except when they're giving me a bath. Here's a picture of my grandma holding me for the first time.

Today because mommy can't drive and daddy was at work, grandpa drove us to the pediatrician. I gained a little more weight. I'm now 6 pounds and 2 ounces now. If you count back to last week Wednesday, when I was 5 pounds and 5 ounces, that's almost a 2 ounce weight gain every day this week. I guess I said that before. Daddy was very proud when mommy told him. All this waking up is worth it. Now, what was I just doing? Oh yeah, it's time to eat again!

Tuesday, January 17, 2006

Bathing baby

Okay, so maybe I hadn't taken a bath in a few days, but I didn't think that I smelled that bad. Well, I guess mommy thought otherwise because she decided that today was the day for my first basin bath. As you can see, I didn't think very highly of the experience.

Where's the water?


I'm glad that's over with!


Wait, what's this? Did I win the Super Bowl?


Waah! I wasn't expecting that!

Monday, January 16, 2006

Who do I look like?


Nan, sometime after one month old


Owen, a few days old


Mike, three months old

Too bad we couldn't find photos of daddy when he was even younger to compare with my picture. Anyway, I don't think I look too much like him or mommy. I'm much better looking...

Yesterday daddy was at the hospital on call, and he came home today to be with mommy and me. Last night he slept from 2:30 a.m. to 6:30 a.m., and even though he got up several times, he said that it was easier than it used to be to get up in the middle of the night. I guess he's getting good practice at home.

Still, when daddy's tired, it turns out that it's not too hard to trick him. The other night, I was pretending to be sleeping while he was changing my diaper. When he wasn't looking, I peed all over his sleeve. Too bad I was lying on my side, or I could have got him right in the mouth. I thought he would have learned from last time, but I will have to work on him some more.

When I was last checked at the doctor's office 4 days ago, I was 5 pounds and 5 ounces. Yesterday mommy weighed me, and I'm up to 6 pounds. That's more than two ounces a day! At this rate, I'm finally going to start fitting into some of my clothes.

Saturday, January 14, 2006

In and Outs

An update from Owen about his talents:
Now that I have this feeding thing down, I've been eating quite a bit. Every time I feed though, I have a little problem--I poop. I poop quite a lot. I would say that mommy and daddy have been changing diapers at least once or twice every time I eat, sometimes three or four times. As a result of this, mommy and daddy have been talking about how many diapers I've been going through. Here's about a day or two's worth of diapers. Yesterday, I pooped 17 times. Yum!

Also, I am beginning to take control of the feeding schedule. Mommy and daddy were feeding me every three hours, but tonight I'm going to stay up and eat every half an hour to hour. In the last few hours I've eaten three times. I don't think they're very happy about it, especially since daddy has to be on call tomorrow night in the hospital. Oh well, I have to grow! And I'm sure that daddy will get plenty of sleep at the hospital. Now... time for more food!

Friday, January 13, 2006

Prints

Today Mom and Dad had a project for me to do. They wanted to take an impression of my hands and feet for some reason. So they fed me, made sure I was quiet, and then pressed my hands and feet really hard into this soft rubbery plastic material.

It took them a long time to figure it out, and the fact that, as a newborn, my hands naturally close whenever someone touches my palms didn't make it easy for them. A few of their tries came out with me looking like I had four fingers on each hand and ten toes on each foot.

Finally, I decided that I would help them out, seeing as they're sleep deprived and kind of clumsy. Here are some of the photos that Grandma took while they were doing one of my hands.


What is this, char siu bao?


Good enough, mommy?


Their best effort...

Thursday, January 12, 2006

Things I can do

Daddy and mommy took this short video of me when we were still in the hospital. Check out what I can do. I'm so talented that I can yawn, cry, and sneeze -- all in less than 20 seconds (click on the triangle to view the video)...

Wednesday, January 11, 2006

Doctor's visit

Last night I gave mom and dad another break, and I let them sleep two whole hours between each feed. I also got daddy pretty good. He was cleaning my circumcision site and I took aim and peed like a fountain. I almost got him in the eye, but he ducked, and I got his nightshirt instead. Too bad--next time he'll know better.

Today we went to the doctor's office for the first time. The nice pediatrician checked my weight and measured me from head to toe. It turns out that I've gained about 80 grams, or almost 3 ounces, since leaving the hospital, which she said was good for a breastfed baby. I said whatever--I'm still in the 5th percentile for weight. I'm going to wake mommy up extra tonight to get in some more feedings.

Afterwards dad developed some photos from the hospital, and he wanted to put some up here. Now that I'm taking control of this site, I limited the number of delivery room pictures he could put up to prevent future embarrassment.


Since I was in the frank breech presentation, it felt better to have my legs like this when I was born.


Daddy and me in the hospital


All my hats were too big so mommy made me this one


The car ride to the doctor's made me sleepy


My doctor putting me down. I'll see you next week, doc!

Tuesday, January 10, 2006

A full day at home

More from baby Owen:
Last night was fun keeping mommy and daddy up, but today I let them relax a little. I ate a lot, and I took nice long naps so that they could take naps too.

Actually, I don't think they were sleeping too much because there was all this noise. I think grandma and they were doing laundry all day. Too bad--tonight they're going to wish they slept...


How you doing?


Grandma and me playing. Why do my shoulders look like they have football pads underneath?

Monday, January 09, 2006

Home from the hospital

Today was another eventful day in Owen's life. We'll let him tell you about it...
After getting jabbed in the foot yesterday for some blood tests and then getting these clicky, sticky plastic ear muffs put on for some kind of hearing test, I thought today was going to be quieter. Little did I know that mom and dad had some plans that involved the OB, a scalpel, and something below my belly button. I didn't mind so much when they were doing it because they let me suck on some sweet pacifier goo, but now, it stings!

After the cutting thing, mom and dad packed me away and we went out of the hospital to what seems to be my new home. While there's lots more room and stuff here, I'm still trying to make up my mind if I like the new place. Just to test mommy, I decided to pretend that I forgot how to breastfeed just when her milk was making her breasts hurt. She didn't like that.

Right now, I'm ready for bed, but before I go, here's some photos that my dad took of me before we left the hospital...



The camera is so close!


Ichiro means "Number 1!"


Did I just eat or should I eat again?


Ok, let's eat again...


Mom breastfeeding me. No peeking!


Grandma wants to play with me


You cannot resist me