random pictures... brain farts...

william likes to post these random collections of pics up just so that he can admire them when he is at work. how silly!

anyways, it is so funny how different thomas looks depending on the expression on his face. sometimes he looks like me, most of the times like william. but occasionally he looks like my dad or william's dad. william's mom always thinks he looks like my dad and frets that thomas looks like a "korean baby". (by the way, i have no idea why the fact that he looks korean is something to fret about... he is half korean). on the flip side, my mom claims that thomas looks just like william's dad. you just can't win! it is just the two grandmothers, seeing the other side of the family "oh he looks like the other side of the family" because both grandmothers like to worry and fret "glass is half empty" type of mentality. nothing i can do about that... *shrug* :)

Thomas is now 5 months old. he weighs about 17 lbs and is a little over 26" long. we have discovered it is true that babies have different cries for when they are hungry, or tired or just want your attention. i used to think that was a load of bologna, but after about 3-4 months with thomas, william and i realized that he did have different meanings for his sounds. we also think that thomas is a pretty mellow baby. he loves music (many babies do) but he seems particularly fascinated when william sits and plays the guitar. even when thomas is getting hungry, he will stop fussing to listen and watch william play. so as you can see in the pic, we are trying to introduce a little piano too. although by the look on thomas face, i have a ways to go before he starts to enjoy it. ha ha... i REALLY want him to play classical music first. he can play whatever he wants later, but i believe if he doesn't have a firm grasp of theory and technical skill first, he'll always lack later, regardless of what type of music he plays.

here is a perfect girly picture of thomas. i was getting tired of people asking if he is a boy or a girl. so last Monday, i finally cut Thomas' hair. his first haircut on June 5th! he no longer has those girly little extensions behind his ears on both sides. i didn't save any of his hair, but i wish i took a picture. i cut it while he was sleeping on my lap. it is kind of scary having scissors so close to his head.

constantly changing and our first road trip!

man they were not kidding when they say "don't get comfortable." as soon as you think they have a pattern down, they change on you. after 3 months, thomas was pretty good about falling asleep around 10pm and sleeping until 4am, then sleeping from roughly 5:30 to 8:30. it was a good schedule. for some reason unknown to us, he decided around 4 months that 10pm was not a good time to go to sleep. so he started staying awake until 11 sometimes 11:30pm. BUT he was still waking up around 4:30 or 5pm for a feeding.

we went to audrey & alan's wedding down in LA. it was Thomas' first road trip! as you can see from the pic, he got his own bed and we discovered he LIKES soft fluffy beds. he would fall asleep and sleep every night for anywhere from 7 to 9 hours straight! it was amazing. the little guy saw so many new things each day and met new people that he was exhausted by 11pm and slept a full night's sleep. it was wonderful for william and i the entire 5 day vacation. the only thing that sucked was that i was still waking up here and there after 4am to see if he was still ok. but that is ok! so now the first week back at home, he still refused to go to sleep until 11pm. yesterday, william watched him for a few hours so i could get some stuff done. i usually try to make things fairly quiet and non-active after 8pm to let him know it is night time. but william worked him last night. he had him on his tummy, practice standing, in the bjorn carrier around the house. all kinds of exciting things. so by 10pm he was all tuckered out and fell asleep! so i tried it again tonight. all kinds of activity, right up until 9:30. lo and behold - he was asleep by 10pm again! so i have learned that i need to tire him out if i expect him to get sleepy earlier. i was not expending all his little baby energy the way i was doing it. we'll see if this new pattern can be sustained or not...


on another note, thomas is getting better and better at sitting with a little assistance. i have to find one of those bumbo seat things on craigslist. look at how focused his little face is at trying to maintain his balance.






babies are pretty funny - i think they really know when they are succeeding at something because their little faces reflect so much pride in themselves when they do something new. esp anything that involves movement.

mother's day

just to recap for posterity...

i can't believe we are all mothers! i mean, of course i can, but it is so amazing what a change all of us new parents have gone through this past year. it is humbling and humiliating at times. but at the same time, it is joyful and so completely fills your heart. kind of like becoming christian. before i accepted Christ as my savior, i didn't realize what i was missing,. once i found Christ, it was like my heart was full where it had been empty. with kids, i didn't realize what i was missing out on, until we had Thomas. now i think, wow how stupid was i to think i didn't need children to complete my life. i can not believe we waited so long. we were idiots!
anyways, it was really nice because i received a card, half "from thomas" and half from william. thomas gave me my first mother's day card! :) it was very cute and i kept it in my purse for a week so i could read it whenever i wanted. william said it was supposed to come with a little flower picked from outside, but "thomas didn't quite get to the backyard before i woke up that morning."
then i found out that william's sister, Jenny had been getting on his case on my behalf (thanks jenny!). but to give the william credit, he spent almost three months serving me meals in bed when i was on bedrest so he's off the hook for all future mother's days and birthdays. ha ha...

Some Recent Pics

Crafty Thomas continued! Heh heh I finally gave mom a heart attack because I escaped from the bowl today! I'm so proud of myself when I landed on the ground...luckily mommy put pillows around the swing. Now she straps me in all the time... :(


My BEST friend DONKEY!! Guess what I'm doing? Whispering a secret joke to him or chewing on his foot?

I Can Touch my Toes!!

8 hour milestone (not)

Thomas hit a milestone last night - he slept for 8 hours straight! and i think he would have slept for another half hour but i just had to wake him up. before this he has always done 6 hours or close to 7. wow! i mean wow, i am not sure he will repeat it tonight but it sure made me feel proud of him :)


Interesting Website
have you been to www.zillow.com? if you type in your address, it gives the current est. value of your house, as well as all the other houses in the area. if you click on "See Home Details" it gives year built, sq ft, recent sales history, property tax info and accessed land/building value. recently sold comparable homes in your area... all kinds of info. i know it is all public information, but I think this it the first website that has made it so readily available, all in one spot without having to sign up for anything. kind of addictive... i just spent the last 30 minutes looking up every single house i ever lived in, along with anyone i know that lives in a house. sorry... heh heh i am being nosy! :p

Happy Thomas & Mom

I wanted to post these 2 pictures up of a smiling Thomas and his beautiful mother....happy mother's day! -William

beware hot soup

on Sunday at church i was talking to one of the guys (cindy's husband, andrew). he told me that a friend of theirs had a terrible accident with their 3 year old daughter. they had chinese take out on the counter and she reached up and was able to just reach the soup. it spilled and she got THIRD degree burns from it. THIRD DEGREE BURNS!!! it touched her chin, shoulder, neck and part of her chest. they were trying to help her and run her under cold water and her skin just FELL off. i mean, he said that they said her nipple just slid off along with portions of her poor baby skin. it made me cringe, i mean your heart aches when you hear stuff like that. so they rushed her to the hospital and their poor kid needs skin grafts now. all from a stupid freaking container of take out soup.
just reminded me of how careful we need to be with our precious little ones...along with a good dose of prayer for God to keep them safe when we can't.

Thomas and his cousin Ariana

i was looking at pictures of my little niece that my sister, Anita and her husband, Brian have posted and Thomas and Ariana look soooo alike at certain angles! i tried to get a shot today where he had the same expression as in the photo Brian took, but it was hard. Ariana is quite fixated on tv in the photo he got.... hee hee. plus his camera (costo mucho dinero) takes these awesome, clear beautiful pics. but take a look and tell me they don't look alike to a certain degree. they are definitely cousins. who's who??? :)

Crafty Thomas

Hm...I've learned something new in the last few days. I've figured out that my right hand can touch my left hand. Wow..check out all the fingers I have!









I'm trying to plan my grand escape. After being trapped by my alien parents, I must find a way to get away!









Darn!
My attempt to get away was foiled by the stupid bowl...when alien mommy went away for a few minutes, I tried to escape but got myself stuck! Crafty Thomas' plan is foiled!

wonder woman :)

hey, i finally took the superhero test from johnny's blog. and the best part? it's bound to make everyone feel good about themselves! :)
oh one of you html whizes, please tell me how to get rid of all the space! thanks :)

I am Wonder Woman

a beautiful princess with great strength of character

Wonder Woman 82% Superman 80% Robin 72% Green Lantern 70% Supergirl 67%

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Test


The test for "Which Star Wars Character are you?" was a funnier result for me. it almost rings true... just kidding hubby! :)

You are: Padme
You try to be a good person, but your boyfriend/husband doesn't.
At least you look great.

Padme 76% Princess Leia 69% R2-D2 65% Han Solo 61% C-3PO 60%

Click here to take the "Which Star Wars character am I?" quiz...

tv or not tv

i know a lot of sources out there say tv is really bad. and who knows, maybe by allowing thomas to watch a little tv, i am dooming him to a life of ADD or the inability to sit still. but hey, dad can not sit still either and he seems to be doing ok... :)

about a month ago (after thomas hit 3 months) i started watching sesame street with him. he especially likes elmo's world. usually not more than 10 minutes in the morning before he takes a nap. also when we are watching news, if he watches a little along with us, we don't mind. i do guard him from any images that might be too strong for his little developing brain. and william lets him watch bicycle racing footage when he watches.

when he first became aware of the TV, he would get easily distracted by it, cranning his little neck around to see where it was and giving me frustrated grunts or schrieks when he couldn't locate the source. this was around 2 months old. we were actually shocked at how early babies learn to be fascinated by tv! but now, at 4 months, he usually doesn't look for more than a minute (esp for news... booooring, no bright colors). he doesn't mind not being able to see the tv where he hears it and i can watch stuff i have recorded while he feeds. so for now, the "don't let them know it's not allowed" is working for us. william's mom actually did that to all three kids one halloween. she just let them go to town and PIG out on candy until they all felt sick. after that, none of them were into sweets. she must have been laughing inside watching them all with their little bellyaches. clever grandma.

so we have our own little mini social experiment. most of our friends with same age babies are sticking to no TV until 1 or 2 years of age. i'll have to wait and see if thomas' attention span is shorter than all of them.

God is good! grumpy ladies part 2

God is so good... I went to Joanne's Crafts and there was a different lady there manning the register! thank you Lord! it probably sounds funny to thank God for such trivial things... but then it has happened so often that i know He is there, answering even the smallest prayers.
anyways, what was funny was the grumpy lady remembered me (i have no idea what she has against me) and she actually said "You want to stay in that line" not even really asking me as a question because she didn't wait for me to answer, just pointed a finger at the lady behind me and said "i can take you next".
bottom line, i got to apply my coupon retroactively and got a $100 cut of fabric for $50 YAY!... it is black velvet and should give us some great pics of thomas, especially once we get all his little clothes off :) heh heh...

audrey's bridal shower

this past sunday, we went to audrey's bridal shower. it was really nice to see everyone. cheyene, betty, angela, regina, naomi, liz and of course audrey. alan's sister, amy and audrey's friend, cindy organized the shower. thomas was yet again very coy with all the ladies. all smiles until he got sleepy - and then he fell asleep on audrey's lap. we played some of the usual bridal shower games, but we also got to make flower pens in little pots to keep them upright :) i am keeping mine in the car - a convenient thing to put in the cup holder! she had an arts and crafts theme, so she got a lot of really cool gifts around scrap booking, stamping, and knitting.

thinking about crafts...anyone that does any craft or hobby knows that it is very very easy to go overboard with the supplies that go along with crafts. they make it so easy when you walk into michael's or joanne's to scoop up every pretty thing you see, in all the colors you want and walk out. then you get home and realize that you have $100 worth of new crafts supplies and NO WHERE to store them. luckily i am not into scrapbooking - i was overwhelmed trying to buy audrey a scrap booking-related gift (which was my assignment). there is so much stuff it is mind boggling!! so i focused on wedding themes - so she could put together all of the photos she is sure to receive from friends & family on her wedding day.

i also love crafts, specifically knitting, sewing, painting and gift wrapping. i have 2 HUGE bags full of different yarns and 7 different size kitting needles. a sewing machine, 5 gallon rubbermaid filled with different thread colors, 3 different types of scissors, all sorts of tools to make alterations, and at least 70 yards of different fabrics (all slated for projects around the house of course). plus 2 - 18 gallon rubbermaids filled with ribbons/flowers/giftwrap. another 18 gallon toolbox full of paints and brushes, not to mention several large canvases. i won't even mention all of the other crafts i "just dabble" in. crazy! what i really need is a room, just for all of my arts and crafts.

for you guys out there, it is like the tool box. it starts out as one tool box. then you walk into the auto parts shop and admire all of the gleaming tool boxes and shiny rows and rows of wrenches and screwdrivers. soon you have a garage full of beautiful shiny tools and no where to put more except for on top of the other stuff you have. well hey at least you HAVE a room to put it in - the garage. crafts are trickier. your average house does not have spare bedrooms just lying around. if i could expand this house, it would be to make the kitchen bigger and add a large room just for all of my arts & crafts supplies!

beautiful weather! and grumpy ladies

it is so nice and sunny. finally!! ugh, a little nice weather does wonders for the mood. plus it makes going out to the garden with Thomas so much more pleasant. we have taken short walks outside so far but today we are going to take a longer walk. dad is "working from home" so when he comes back from beer thursday, we are heading over to Hacienda Crossings (maybe a mile away?) to get some jamba juice and maybe stroll around barnes & noble or scan through the sale items at old navy.
last week i bought a large bolt of black velvet from joanne's crafts store so we can get some nice photos of thomas. i was waiting for a coupon, but it has been awhile since they have sent any through email. we no longer get newspaper. so i thought, oh well, just get some - we are going to use it for a long time so it is a good investment.
well, of course, the week after i buy it, i get an email coupon. and it is a good one - 50% off the regular price of any one item. so now i have to go back, return what i bought and buy it back using the coupon. ordinarily, i have no problem returning things. but the ladies that work there are such a grumpy bunch, i am a little apprehensive. i mean, we have grumpy lady and really grumpy lady. we'll see if they let me use the coupon retroactively or not...

Thomas' Diary

Hi,

My name is Thomas and I'm going to write in mommy's blog today.





In the morning I helped daddy do some of my laundry. With my drooling, I go through a lot of bibs and here I'm helping daddy load some washcloths.



Then I helped daddy make some coffee that we ground from whole beans. Starbucks Italian Roast that daddy got free with a coupon from my aunt Helen (she donated some money to KQED and got free coffee in return).



Yesterday daddy William went to Crispy Creme's and bought a dozen donuts. Mommy ate 2 yesterday and 2.5 this morning for breakfast:


After a little bit dad decided to have some fun with 2 of the donuts:

Then I went with Mommy to Auntie Audrey's bridal shower. Lots of excitement there and I smiled at all the pretty ladies. I took a nap on Auntie Audrey's lap. Ethan was there too with his mommy. Then to church, then back home.

It was a long day and I got a warm bath and a big meal. Daddy is burping me but I'm already asleep... Good night!

peaceful sleep

When Thomas sleeps, William loves to just stand there and look at his peaceful face. William says that for some odd reason, watching Thomas sleep calms him down if he's had a hectic day...something very soothing about watching babies sleep....

Home for Lunch & Flying!

Thomas gets almost a daily visit during lunch from daddy who make it a point to come home as often as possible. Having work being only 1.5 miles away, it's a short commute and sometimes he comes home all stinky because he rode his bicycle instead of driving....

Here Thomas is having yet another episode of tummy time. Please note the red suit (his flying suit) and the red fire truck on his bib. If you look closely, you'll see he prodigious drooling... :)

growing so fast

all the parents we have talked to say "take lots of pictures. they grow so fast." sheesh they weren't kidding! here is a comparison shot that william put together. the one on the left is from the day we left the hospital - Thomas was 4 days old and had just been named. the shot on the right is at 3 months/2 weeks. look at what a chunky monkey he is :)

shout out to my mervyn's co-workers

on a different, much more positive note, last thursday, i went to visit all of my mervyn's co-workers. it was really really great to see everyone and catch up with what was going on with them. i stayed a lot longer than i expected... 4 hours! it didn't even feel like it was that long. i was talking to one, josephine, and thought that i had only been there for 1-2 hours and then another, jessica, reminded me that i got there a little after 12nooon. poor thomas was conked out in his stroller by the time i left at 4pm.
i have been out since last September and i kept running into people that i was glad to see. plus thomas was being so great - such a ham - smiling and talking to everyone. he was a very good baby that afternoon - maybe it was all the ladies, who knows!
i definitely miss the people there... just not the job :p ha ha... i'll just have to go visit every once in awhile so i can keep in touch. all the benefits of co-workers/friends without the 8 hour daily grind!



here is a great picture i managed to get of thomas soaking up all the attention with my old dept mgr, Nell. look at his rapt face! nell should sit in the pregnancy desk next :)

my mom... on the move again

as some of you know, my mom has some health issues. i try not to think about it most of the time, but it is a source of great worry for me when i do sit down and ponder her future. i know she is an adult and that she is in God's hands, but while she is still on planet earth, she has no one else for now. she will eventually need long-term care of some kind but for now she is pretty high functioning (she can still pay her bills and make semi-reasonable decisions). so even though she drives me COMPLETELY nuts sometimes, i do my best to stay in touch with her, as my way of letting her know that i care about her. it is probably a little unhealthy - i do have frequent dreams where i am just screaming at her. but at least i can get it out in my dreams and be patient with her in real life. anyways, she is more comfortable speaking korean (even after speaking english for 30+ years) but will probably not find many korean speaking friends in long-term care facilities. it is difficult to find good long-term care and very expensive when you do. blah blah blah, sorry to bore you with the details.

she moved again a week ago. when my parents got divorced in 2003, she sold their home (the home we have had since 1984...which was a little sad) in saratoga in 2004. since then she has moved every 4-5 months. she sold or gave away most of what was in the house so she has very little to pack when she moves. she has always found other divorced or widowed korean ladies to live with but this time she is living with a young korean couple in mountain view with a 2 year old boy and a 6 month old girl. they are in their early 30's just like us. they are all living in a 3 bedroom house and the place is very cluttered to say the least. yikes!
i am not certain about this new development in her living arrangements but there is one very positive thing that has happened. she actually complemented me on the state of my house and told me that i am doing a great job with being at home. wow... i mean WOW! for those of you who don't know, korean moms in general are not good at encouraging in a positive way. they love you but they seem to have this unending need to point out all of your deficiencies and areas where you could be doing better or handling more efficiently. ask anyone with a traditional korean mom. so after spending the day with my mom, i am exhausted from countering all of her criticisms. if you do not have a strong sense of self, it can really wear you down. however, after putting up with their clutter and disarray for two weeks and then coming to visit me, she said that the house was clean and was proud of me for what a good job i was doing with everything. i know she has had to live in a really messy house, so by contrast, mine wasn't so bad anymore. but it was still amazing to hear that from her with no prodding/poking. usually i am saying things to her like "jees mom, don't you have anything nice to say to me?" or "can we make a rule that from now on, whenever you pick on something you also have to say something positive?" then her response is "of course you are doing a good job. i am not criticizing, i am just being a mom". anyways, it is really nice to see her happy when she holds or plays with thomas. she doesn't have much to be happy about these days and i have to admit, lately she looks really old to me - more than her 56 years. sometimes i think her heart is tired.

Being alone with baby

sometimes it is very lonely being at home all day alone with just baby. especially with all of the rainy days we have had, it is tough not to feel a little down. Of course, i talk to thomas but sometimes i forget and it is quiet throughout the house. the first couple months i had the tv on constantly, but there is really not a whole lot on tv during the day so i haven't been watching much. occasionally discovery channel has something interesting, but they have so much chopper and FBI stuff, that got old. usually i will turn it on to check the listings for interesting shows. if nothing pops up, i turn to magazines or books.
on a side note, i just finished reading "the Davinchi Code". it was a fascinating read, very quick (like the harry potter books) but i felt a little cheated when i found out that half of the stuff in the book was made up or exaggerated. i guess that is a very good thing because if it was all fact, i think it would make me go hmmm..... anyways...

ever since thomas has been cooing, when it has been quiet for long enough, he reminds me with a little question mark coo to see if i am still there. that always makes me want to hug him and start up a semi-steady stream of one sided conversation again. before thomas i was a worker bee from 1995 to 2005. that's ten years of being able to do whatever i wanted whenever i wanted. spending days in the office and nights at home with william. from that to being at home 24/7 can make a person go a little batty. i know that i should be very thankful that i can stay at home and watch after him and i am. i thank God that william's salary is enough for our little growing family. but i have always wanted to start my own business. actually, it keeps me up at night sometimes, because i start thinking about business plans and what would work and what wouldn't. all that stuff starts getting my brain excited and then it is hard to get myself to sleep at 10pm or 6am. i just have to be patient and put it on hold for a few years. there are a ton of women out there who devoted themselves to kids and then jumped back in/got advanced degrees after kids were in school and went on to have fantastic careers. kids are truly all about patience.

of course, william comes home in the evenings and weekends, we all get to spend some time together. this photo was a lucky catch as i was snapping away. sorry dad, i cut your face out... wasn't thinking about you at the moment. :)

look at the joy on his face!!! seeing this, even with Thomas asleep in the other room, just gives me the most amazing indescribable feeling, that aching lovey dovey feeling in your heart i guess. words can't describe it.

Another flying picture...babies love flying :)

3 month update with mr. frog :)

look! thomas is as big as mr frog now. wow... he recently learned that he can grab onto things if he can coordinate his thumb with his fingers. so he now grabs at his bib, our clothes, our skin, toys on his bouncy chair and anything else that strikes his fancy. he is not quite a pro yet but it was so neat to see him really grab toys for the first time, with purpose, not the wild, wind milling, smash and grab job he has been doing.

almost all of the parents we know have been telling us "don't get too comfortable. just when you think you have a routine down, they change on you." so for a few weeks now, he has been pretty good about going to sleep between 9 and 10pm and waking up and 4am and 7-8am for food. 3-4 days ago, he has decided that is not good enough. so he still goes to sleep at 9-10pm but he gets hungry around 2am and 4am and 6am and 7am and 8am.... etc...
ok, that sounds funny, but it is not! we are thinking it is a growth spurt. if so, i hope it doesn't last too long. on saturday, we actually watched our first movie since the beginning of the year "Walk The Line" (it was a good movie). so we went to sleep a little late (1am). when i got up at 4am i could barely stay upright. luckily it was a good quick feeding and i was back in bed by 4:30. unfortunately, he decided at 5:30 that he was hungry again. so i stumbled into his room and fed him. well this time, he decided that he was awake. he just would not go back to sleep. i was so tired i couldn't really even walk straight. every time i would try to ease him from an upright position to lying down in my arms, his sweet little face would go from happy alert to red mad crying face. you know i LOVE loooove thomas but there are times when i want to run away screaming, run as far away as i can. poor thomas. william had a funny term for it. he admitted to me this morning that he was impatient with thomas early this morning. so had burped him pretty hard. he said that he was trying to stay calm but that thomas has a secret weapon! what was that? crying. or rather his piercing wind-up screeching. yes at 3 in the morning, that is truly a devastating weapon, even the best are fallen by it.

on another topic, thomas has recently learned how to fly. he learned from his friend sara and he loves it! notice his little arms straight back like little wings. although, he drools so much we have to hold our hands under his mouth to catch the drool... :p

15.5 pounds and rolly polly thighs

i started noticing last week that Thomas' skin gets really red right where the elastic from the diaper closes around his fat little thigh. so we actually decided today to return a pack of number 2 diapers (fits up to 16 pounds) and william picked up two packs of number 3 diapers instead. that claims to fit 16 to 28 pounds. pretty big spread. you know, he is not that long at all (maybe 23 inches) - just sooo very fat! i mean look at this photo - this is his left thigh - i swear i didn't doctor the photo! can you believe those rolls??? :0 it is truly like the michelin man.

the funny mark on his knee is actually the shadow of the camera cord hanging down (not a scar or birthmark). talking about birthmarks, he actually does have a funny birthmark right on his left butt check that coincindentally almost matches one that his daddy has... :) ha ha...

feeling 34 and a new hairdo

thanks to all for the well wishes on my 34th birthday. there is nothing like a baby to make you feel every year of your age. my body is just plain achy... i have come to accept it as part of parenting... *sigh* i wouldn't do anything differently regarding Thomas except for the age factor. sometimes i think it would have been nice to have the baby when i was younger simply because your body tolerates the abuses so much better when you are younger. anyways...

i wanted to change my hair up a little b/c it has been over a year since i have had it cut. so i got a perm today! :p the last time i got a perm was 1988 when perms left you smelling like sulfur for days afterwards and gave you slight burns wherever it got on your face. they were also really frizzy. it took 3.5 hours and half way through (with my head full of rollers and a plastic shower cap over it), i started to get really nervous and thinking "what am i doing?! this is nuts... i am going to end up looking like my horrendous 10th grade picture!" by then it was too late - i was sitting under a heat lamp playing music like the kind you get on baby mobiles. the hair stylist kept reassuring me that it would be just fine. yeah easy for you to say. you are not the one that is going to end up looking electrocuted.

lucky for me, times have changed and when she started taking the rollers out, these nice loose curls dropped down one by one - almost like they had been done on hot rollers. wow! plus it doesn't smell and there was no burning tingling where the solution got on my brow and ears. big difference. and i get a new hair-do that is flattering and not high maintanence. thomas doesn't seem to mind either. whhew...

new exciting things!

Thomas is so full of surprises! about two weeks ago he started really smiling in reponse to our smiles. before that he would smile and immediately stop when he saw how excited we got. he didn't quite know what he was doing except that it made mom and dad very excited. but now - he really smiles - when we smile at him, it brings a smile in return (sometimes even a wide, open mouth, gummy smile) and it is the BEST THING IN THE WORLD! :)

the next exciting thing was about a week ago... he started "talking" to us. it was soooo neat - but he would only talk once or twice a day. so we were constantly trying to figure out how to catch it on the camcorder. as soon as he would see the camcorder, he would stop. same with the camera. he loves to just stare at the camera. he knows it is something funny, just doesn't know what it is for yet. but he knows it is something foreign. so he talks talks talks and as soon as the camera pops into his range of vision - all talking stops. well, something clicked on this past weekend because all of a sudden he talks a LOT now. i mean, right after eating, during diaper changes, when i am carrying him around the house... you never know when he feels like starting a conversation with you. it is SOOO cute. just talking away (all kinds of noises, esp "ou" and "oooo" sounds). we bought a digital camcorder a month ago, realizing that we didn't want to miss capturing his babyhood. i have a feeling we are going to end up with thousands of hours of footage, slowing stacking up through the years, gathering dust in the closet. then we can watch it when we are retired and he is married with his own kids :)

here he is throwing signs with his donkey posse... yo yo yo what's up!

perfect pose... just had to post this one

he seems to get cuter and cuter all the time. just want to eat him up! that's william's eyes and nose and my mouth. but it is hard to tell who he looks like and seems to change all the time. it probably depends somewhat on the expression on his face. below is another funny one - this is right after he has had a nice big meal and has fallen asleep towards the end. i just had to take this pic because from the side, he looks even chubbier. plus he is smiling a little - makes him look like a smiling budda doll.



we were talking about how horrible it is that there are people out there that try to kidnap kids. you just love these little guys so much, it is hard to imagine how it would feel if someone snatched him. you really can imagine killing to keep them safe, or sacrificing yourself to save them. william said that he would shrivel up inside if thomas were taken or disappeared. how sweet is that! one things kids do is bring you closer to your spouse. seeing them love and care for your baby just makes them all the more wonderful. of course, it helps a great deal that we are getting more sleep and have settled into a nice routine now.

on a totally different topic, i still can't understand how people think they can have kids to "save" their marriage. i mean, sheesh, kids put you both under so much stress, there is no way it makes a bad relationship better. even in great relationships, the first month with a new baby tends to accentuate your weaknesses. i stupidly thought that william would magically become more patient once the baby was born and that i would magically be able to efficiently prioritize my day so that everything could get done.
yeah right!! ha ha... in my dreams. :p

st. patricks day in Dublin, CA

we went out to the arts & crafts fair today. dublin always does a parade and festival the weekend of st. patricks day. we missed the parade this year, but we went to join our little community for some food and to enjoy beautiful weather today. here are the boys - including thomas. thomas was sleepy but there was so much to look at he stayed awake almost the entire time we were walking around (close to two hours). he totally crashed this evening and won't even get up now - even though he must be getting hungry.

at church today, we caught some great photos of thomas and two of the other infants at church. thomas lost his socks somehow. we left the house with two little socks. the socks i have are for "3-6 months" but his legs are so fat, that the band is too tight. so i cut the band thinking that would make it looser. it does make it looser... too loose making them fall off at random times. so he went bare foot.

too bad the other 2 couples with new babies weren't there. we could have had all 5 of them lined up! :) Thomas is now 10 weeks old. Little Dylan in the middle is just about15 weeks old. Tyler on the end is 10 months - the big brother.

Sometimes, you just need someone to lean over on. luckily, little tyler on the right was strong enough to put his arm out and support the other two before they all fell over...

chubby christmas

here is a picture from monday. isn't he cute?? ha ha.... i know, i say that way too much. surprisingly the chubbier/more bulldog his face is, the cuter he gets. ok, so i have this little christmas suit from a year ago. i bought it for someone then realized it was the wrong size. then lost the receipt so never returned it. so now, we have a baby and he was born after christmas and by next christmas will be too big. so we popped him into it this week because he is big enough to fit into it (more or less). he was so cute, all smiling, in bright red, that we had to take photos. even though christmas is done and gone, he is the best christmas gift ever~

he had his 2 month checkup yesterday and he is 12 lbs 13 oz and 22.5 inches. at least he is not in the 25% for weight and height anymore. for awhile there, i suspected God was going to give us a short stubby son for all those times william made fun of people who are overweight. what goes around does tend to come back around. and if it doesn't, God still gets you in the end... heh heh...

he got 4 shots yesterday. it was hard watching the nurse stick all these long needles into him. and she did it so fast, just JAB right into his fleshy thigh. and then one fast pump to get all of the vaccine into him. it had to hurt, but he was a good little kid. he just cried while the shots went in and then would stop a couple sobs after. luckily, he didn't develop any symptoms that evening so we are clear.

at his one month visit, he only got one shot but i cried. it was terrible! i think with little sleep and not feeling well, i was so emotionally stretched that i couldn't handle them sticking him with a needle. so all i could do was cry. i am sooooo glad that the first month is over! (thank you God for helping us survive that!) at least now, i am get enough sleep (at least to function) and he is settling into a routine (of sorts). much more managable and such a joy as well!

outings

at 6 weeks, we started taking him on his first outings to church. that week, we also took a stroll through Target and Ross with him. it isn't that bad getting around with him - just inconvenient. at first i tried lugging the baby seat around. that got heavy really fast - it is not the easiest thing to carry around. round and over 15 pounds, it keeps banging into your knees & legs at the wrong time. so i gave in and started using the snap-n-go which is a light frame that the infant car seat can just fit on top of. that's much easier, even has a nice big storage compartment underneath for all your stuff. i just wish it had a cup holder.

we found he likes going out. there is a lot more to look at than at home. he likes to look around as it is - but outside is totally new. it is so funny... we'll be walking around the house with him and he will be nice and calm. then you try to sit down (because you are getting tired and your arm muscles are starting to burn), and if he is not ready to for you to sit down, he will start crying waaaaah, just like that. then there are other times when he is just fine and dandy laying on the sofa by himself like in this photo. just finished eating, nice clean diaper and he will lay there talking, making all kinds of noises and all smiles. he is sooo chubby!

burps, farts and repetitive stress injuries

it is really amazing how loud babies are when they burp and fart. sometimes when i hear thomas from the next room, i can't tell if it is william or thomas who farted. i mean, you would think that since their bodies are so small, that their expulsions would be small. but no, they are loud and adult volume. no masking it in public. i guess the advantage is if you do fart in public and you are holding a baby, you can just smile and say, "he is a loud little guy isn't he?" and no one will know better :) unless they are standing right next to you.

ok, for any of you who don't have babies yet - make sure you keep your arms, shoulders and back in good shape. stretch those muscles and keep up the strength training. william and i both have developed repetitive stress injuries from holding thomas. my wrists, elbows, shoulders and neck are all pretty sore now. and of course, the best treatment for these types of injuries is rest. HA. rest, ha ha ha. so work on those areas now while you can. i used to scoff at ergonomic injuries and people who complained about work-related injuries from bad ergonomics. i thought it was just an excuse, a reason to not work hard. while i still think that people could be better about making sure they are sitting correctly, i take ergonomics very seriously now. i had no idea it extended to baby! my wrists ache in certain positions now. my elbows and forearm muscles ache when i fully extend them and my neck - i can't look down or to the right without feeling the pinch in my spine. terrible! and the worst part is, this is not exercise. don't be fooled. that burn in your bicep is not a work out. it is lactic acid building up in the muscle fibers and that acid has no where to go, because the muscle is not allowed to do reps and rest b/w reps. it is just locked/contracted for long stretches of time with no break in between. and now that it is injured, i have to be careful with regular workouts, i.e. free weights, because overdoing it, will only do more damage. be good to your bodies... we're only getting older, not younger. of course we are still young at heart. at least that we have some control over :)

Big burping pic

william has asked for a big file of thomas so that he can click on it at work and see every single detail of his chubby little face. so mr. silly dad... here you go... :)

Dreams

amazingly i have had some very vivid dreams in the past months despite the lack of sleep. i have always been able to remember certain dreams. i kept track of some b/c i have several since high school that have made repeat showings but have changed as i have gotten older. so here is a sample. obviously some of them have to do with fears regarding thomas :)
the first one is a repeat. i used to dream about walking towards a HUGE tree city. i would be in the desert and in the distance, i see this huge tree that has a city built into it (kind of like LOTR). in college, i would dream about walking up to the base of the tree city and seeing people go in and walk up but never walk into it myself. so last month, i dreamed i was in the desert walking towards the tree city, but william was there and there was a old run down shed. we walk in the shed and it is pretty gross/dirty but there is a horse in there. (wierd!) for some reason we don't ride the horse. we just walk with the horse towards the tree city. then i am alone and walking up into the tree city. it looks like a narrow, densely packed, european cobbled street with houses and business packed in on both sides. then for some reason my mom appears and we walk in a restaurant. we start to eat a meal and she starts nit picking about things. i get really annoyed and start yelling at her. then i wake up!
my second dream was a nightmare. i actually woke up screaming causing william to come running from downstairs where he was watching thomas. he asked me what it was about and i was so sleepy, i just mumbled that i dreamed i was in the room with thomas and something bad was trying to get in and hurt both of us. i don't know what it was, a monster or a demon or someone that broke into our house. then he said that i said that even though i didn't know what was trying to break into the room, but that i had this feeling that it represented my mom trying to break in. funny thing is that i didn't even remember having this bad dream until william mentioned it a day later!
the third one was us trying to escape some sort of natural disaster. the whole region had been given the order for mandatory evacuation (probably my brain processing katrina or a show i am watching "surface" where the the season ender had a tsunami). so we are getting all our stuff together and joining all the thousands of other people fleeing the coast. then i get distracted and enter a building with a long hallway, like a school. there are tables all down the hallway with trays/baskets full of supplies that people have left behind. and for some reason, i am obsessed with picking all of the green markers and crayons out of the baskets. i finally get to the end of the hall and run outside, where i see a stream of people walking down the street (who knows why we all aren't driving) and i look frantically for william and thomas and finally see them in the distance.
the last one is pretty obvious (meaning wise). i dreamed that i took thomas to the doctor's office. there was an assistant there that i had not seen before. she took thomas for his weight/height check and she stuck him on the exam table as if he could sit up on his own. of course he tumbled off unto the hard floor. i freaked out of course, picked him up carefully and he was so shocked he couldn't cry. and he didn't look right. so i started yelling at the assistant and telling her that she would pay for his ER exam and that if he had any permanent damage, i would sued her for every penny she has as well as future wages. just screaming at her! that's when i woke up, thankfully not screaming this time. :)
anyways, those are the interesting ones. i guess now that i am getting 6-7 hours of sleep, i am remembering dreams when i wake up and they are definitely reflective of worries and things on my mind. funny subconscious...