Lunch with Friends
One of the best things about being on maternity leave is having time to catch up with friends on the weekdays. 
On Thursday afternoon, my two old friends, Elaine and Elaine, rode Caltrain up from the South Bay to have coffee with me and Kumquat. I hadn’t seen one of them since 2006!
Then on Friday, Stephanie had the day off so she took BART in from her home in Livermore to hang out with us. We went out for brunch (and mimosas) and Stephanie also fed Kumquat her noon bottle. Looked like they both had a nice time together.
Do I REALLY have to go back to work in August?!
A couple weeks ago Jes took me to the Nike Store and bought me a Nike FuelBand. It’s basically a fancy pedometer that syncs with the Nike+ site or an app on your iPhone and shows you visually when you were most active. Jes and Jason have had one for a month now and it seems to do what it’s supposed to: motivate you to move. They can actually compare points and see how each other is doing.
This is a picture of what a typical day for me looks like. I manage to meet my goal just by doing everyday things. It starts at midnight and you can see little peaks in the early morning, which is when I get up to feed and change the baby. At about 9:30 am, I walked the dog and then I walked to brunch with a friend around 10:30 am. At 1:00 pm, I pushed the stroller to the Ferry Plaza and back (about 2.5 mi). In the afternoon, I walked the dog again and then at 8:00 pm I fell sleep until 11:00 pm. Neato, huh? On my stay-at-home days (only leaving the house to walk the dog x2), I still earn about 2100, which tells me that being home with the baby still counts for something.
This week I’ve been going out more to take care of some errands and to do a little shopping in preparation for the wedding in Santa Cruz this coming weekend. Kumquat loves to go out for walks and seems to have a happy grin on her face if she’s not sleeping. She looks around and seems to enjoy the sounds and movement.
Jason and Jia were also in town this past weekend so we were out and about with them too. Kumquat has been a trooper out in the big world. She rode in the carrier all afternoon on Sunday and we also took her on her first Muni ride.
Yesterday I took her in the stroller and walked to Union Square where we spent about 5 straight hours outside. It was also a fun challenge trying to negotiate the city with a stroller. Kumquat did great the whole time and despite her size and age, it was nice to have the company. The only hiccup was on our way home. It was as if she knew we were only 2 blocks from home and started screaming. She didn’t stop crying until 20 minutes after we got home and after I changed her, fed her, and rocked her to sleep. Poor baby had a long outing and was just pooped.
UNIQLO is coming to SF. It’s one of my favorite stores in NYC and it’s going to be here in the fall!!
Saw this T-Rex in the store front of the Museum of Craft and Folk Art Store. That T-Rex was almost my height!
I picked up a “snoball” cupcake (chocolate cake with buttercream and coconut) and asked to take it “To-Go”. The girl packed it so nicely in a plastic cupcake holder and cellophane bag like it was a museum piece. Fancy.
Just the other night, I was watching Modern Family and was having a good time just chillin’ and laughing. Then I had a weird moment. I looked down to find my baby girl in my arms sleeping like a little angel and my first thought was, “Whoa, I have a baby.” For a fleeting moment, I had forgotten that I went through the whole childbirth process and that I’ve had a little human relying on me for the past 3 weeks.
Despite the lack of sleep and complete change in my daily routine, this has been a fun adventure so far. I’ve met some pretty cute babies in my life but I have to say that I’ve got the cutest one yet. It’s hard not to stare at her when she’s sleeping and I can’t help gush over her when she’s being super animated. Her farts make me laugh and I really don’t mind using my own pinkie nail to pick out a booger that’s been bugging her. It’s true when people say, “It’ll be different when it’s your own baby.” The crying and poopy diapers are all just part of the adventure and they don’t last forever. The smiles, sneaky looks, and squeaks make it all worth it.
Sometimes I still can’t believe I’m a Mommy and I’ll never forget the simultaneous feeling of shock, joy, and fear the moment the nurses plopped Kumquat on my chest. At that point, life would never be the same again.
Happy Mother’s Day to all of you moms and moms-to-be out there!!
We’ve been home for 4 days now and things are definitely different around here. I’ve taken the night shift, which hasn’t been that bad yet but I’m sure the sleep deprivation will catch up with me soon. Kumquat had really trained me during the pregnancy with sleepless nights already so this routine hasn’t taken much extra energy to get used to. I’ve been urged to take naps when she’s napping during the day but I’m simply not tired in the mornings or early afternoons. It isn’t until evening time that I start to feel the fatigue.
My mom has been a big help with cooking, walking the dog, and keeping the house tidy. Jes worked from home on Monday but went back to work on Tuesday.
When he’s home, he still jumps at the chance to change her diaper and hangs out with her in bed or at the computer while he’s taking work calls. Looks like we’ve gotten a little routine down already. Check out the scowl on Janie’s face. You can really see a resemblance to her dad.
Janie’s been a really good baby. She eats, poops, and sleeps like a champ. She sleeps about 2 hours at a time, which gives me plenty of time to hang out with my mom, do some laundry, catch up on emails, and organize the hundreds of photos that I’ve already accumulated in less than a week.
The only outing we’ve taken so far is to the pediatrician on Monday. We had to strip her naked to get a weight and height and she decided to pee all over the exam table. Nice. Turns out she had already gained back 4 ounces in the first 24 hours of being at home. At the rate that she eats, she should be back to her birth weight in no time!
Janie’s usually wide awake and alert and makes the funniest expressions. We’ve been using FaceTime and Skype to keep family and friends updated and for them to see her live in motion. Family in Thailand have even been able to “hang out” with her. This is when I appreciate modern technology the most.
Ranee also recommended the iPhone app called “Baby Connect”, which has everything you need to record each feeding, diaper, nap, medical visit, and other things I haven’t needed yet. It’s great because it helps me know when her last feeding or nap was and give me a diaper count each day so we can buy our diapers without going overboard.
The grandparents were also around on Monday and Tuesday. My dad drove up with my aunt from Thailand along with Marie’s parents. They were all very excited to meet her. Jes’ parents had also been in town since Friday and stopped by once or twice a day with lots of food. Jes’ mom insisted on cooking fish for me and also brought us some baos, tofu, and veggies. I’m glad they were all able to spend some quality time with their granddaughter before driving back down on Tuesday.
On Saturday afternoon, we got a visit from the Bangs. We hadn’t seen them in a while and Rowan has gotten taller!
The evening was quiet with the exception of a certain little baby girl who was “storming”. She had a hard time settling down between feedings and Jesse even spent an hour doing the “bouncing dance” to calm her down. At one point, it was as if her cry was saying, “Dance, Monkey! Dance!!!” We also had to resort to using a pacifier to help soothe her. The nurses had warned us about this stage but it still worried me that we might have had a really temperamental baby on our hands. Jes and I were up most of the night. In fact, that photo above was taken at 2:30 am. Luckily by 4 am, she FINALLY settled with a 2-hour nap between feedings. From that point on, she was happier and took longer naps for the rest of the morning. Luckily her storm lasted only for Night #2. Phew.
With our new and improved baby who was napping more easily, we were also able to spend our last morning in the hospital together as a family and to take it all in. I was even able to take a few portraits in the morning light. Yay!
When it was time to pack up and leave, we put her in her “going home outfit” and placed her in the car seat. Jes had to wake her in the middle of a nap to change her and she wasn’t very happy about it. But look at how calm Jesse was!! I think he likes being a daddy.
She also didn’t like getting strapped into the car seat but as soon as Jes picked up the seat and walked down to the car, she fell asleep. That movement knocked her right out! On the car ride home, she was comfy but looked a little too small for the car seat. I’m gonna have to rig some head support for her. I also saw the world a little differently too all of a sudden. I also noticed Jes driving more grandpa-style too. Having a baby really DOES change everything.
Once we got home, my mom was home and Jes’ parents had taken the bus to our house. So they were all there to greet us. It was nice but a little overwhelming at the same time…especially because we had to introduce her to Koa, which is a whole other story that I’ll get to later.
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