Browse Month: June 2012

Hula Practice

Kumquat and I visited hula practice today and it was great to see everyone again.  I also had a great time watching their routines for the Aloha Festival that’s coming up in August.  Makes me want to perform again but all the dances look really hard this time around.  Kumquat enjoyed it so much that she was drooling.  😉

Kumquat LOVED watching the uli uli routine and seemed mesmerized.  I wonder if the rhythms sound familiar to her since I was pregnant with her at the time I was dancing with them.  This is a photo of me at Ho’ike last October when I was 15 weeks pregnant.

I still remember watching the little girls perform last year and was so excited to have my own little girl that may one day be able to join them.  Judging from how she responded today, it looks like hula may suits her just fine. 😛

A Day in Oakland

Yesterday, Kumquat and I spent most of the day in Oakland.

For lunch, we met up with the girls at the usual spot and got to do some catching up. Then once they went back to work, we hung out at Peet’s Coffee. I got to sip my decaf iced coffee and read while Kumquat napped on my lap.

Once she woke up, we headed to Bakesale Betty to pick up a dozen cookies to bring to my co-workers.

At the hospital, everyone was very good about washing their hands or not touching Kumquat if they felt they weren’t clean enough. Kumquat got to play with Sue (my manager), who informally checked her upper body and oral motor skills. KM held her in the classic “Lois Bly” hold too.

I also made a splint for my left wrist to help prevent a strain from picking up a 13-pound (and growing) baby all day. It’s for wearing at night so that I’m not over stretching it while I sleep. I have a tendency sleep with my wrists curled under me, then wake up sore while having to tend to a baby without giving it a chance to warm up. I’ve gotta make sure I don’t end up on disability again from my last “disability”.

After everyone was ready to go, we headed out for Happy Hour to celebrate Teresa’s birthday. I was prepared and brought a bottle for Kumquat to drink for her 7 pm feeding so I was able to enjoy a glass of wine (or two). 😉

Having these girls with me is so nice. They love holding, feeding, and playing with her so I got some “time off” and enjoyed the evening with less to worry about.

To finish the evening, we walked down the street to Fenton’s and got some ice cream. My scoop looks so big next to Kumquat. One day I’ll take her back here for her very own sundae. Can’t wait!

Things I’ve Learned

Right around this time last year, we were seriously considering starting a family.  One year later, Kumquat is 9 weeks and 3 days old and I’ve been off work for just under 14 weeks.  Over the past year, I’ve learned a few things:

  • People in SF aren’t very nice to pregnant ladies.  In the 4-5 months of actually looking preggo, I can only count about 7 different times that someone has given up a seat for me on a crowded bus or muni train.
  • Going to Happy Hour completely sober made me realize that some of my friends aren’t THAT funny and some really are.  I actually had some fun times being the DD.
  • Groupon and Livingsocial deals aren’t that relevant to me anymore.
  • Giving birth really is a rite of passage.  I’ve never felt so much pain and joy in my life.  And I still think that giving birth is way harder than running a marathon.
  • When I’m walking the dog with the baby, people compliment me on my cute dog WAY MORE than my cute baby.
  • I don’t actually need 8 straight hours of sleep to function and naps are awesome.
  • I’m glad that we lived as DINKs (double income, no kids) for almost 10 years before having a baby.  By the time Kumquat arrived, I was ready for the next chapter.
  • I really enjoyed running and miss it.
  • My iPhone has become my best friend this past year.  Not sure how I would have survived the sleepless nights on the couch.  Loved Twitter, Bejeweled Blitz, and BabyCenter while I was pregnant. Now it helps me keep track of everything Kumquat does.  Baby Connect records every poop, every nap, and every feeding and the camera helps me remember every smile.
  • I love being a mommy.  Maybe I was made to have a baby after all.

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?!

Burning Fuel

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.

My daily goal is 3000 Fuel Points per day and so far I’ve met that goal about 3 times per week.  To give you an idea of what the points mean, here are a few samples:

Run 3 miles: ~1500
Walk 1 mile: ~ 500
Walk the dog: 300-500 points

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.

By they way, I’m now running up to 3 miles.  It’s a slow 3 miles and I’m pretty beat afterward but I’m making progress.

Weekend in SoCal – Part 2

On Sunday, it was Father’s Day.  We spent the morning at church and Jes’ dad got to show off his prized granddaughter.  Kumquat was pretty good during service but had a minor poopy blowout in the middle of it and I forgot the changing pad that has her diapers in it!  So, I had to go downstairs to the nursery and put on Size 3 diapers on her little butt in the meantime (she wears Size 1).  Oh well, it was better than a stinky baby!

In the afternoon, we hung out at the Magical House with Brother and Joy until it was time for dinner. This was Brother’s attempt at soothing the baby.  He’s gonna need some practice.

My mom gave Kumquat a bath while we went to lunch and even trimmed her nails!

Later that afternoon we found them napping together.

Before dinner, we went back to Buena Park to video chat with Jason and Jia.  They got to wish Dad a Happy Father’s Day and saw Kumquat very briefly.

Dinner was at a Japanese restaurant and Kumquat got to sit next to me in the booth.

On Monday morning, I stopped at McDonald’s to introduce Kumquat to the McCafe crew.

They were in the usual corner and finally got to meet the little baby that my parents have been raving about for the past two months.

Afterward, I met up with Patty and Patti for some coffee and breakfast at Panera Bread.

The rest of the afternoon was spent hanging out at The Magical House.  I brought home Chik-fil-a for everyone and Kumquat got to smell my dad’s tasty chicken sammich.

Later that evening, we took Kumquat to Downtown Disney for the first time.  All four grandparents came along and we had a nice evening stroll with the baby.

By the time we got home, we were all so pooped.  The baby fell asleep and Jes and I finally got some time to veg out in front of our laptops.  My mom took this photo and I didn’t even notice.

On Tuesday, we drove back up to SF with less traffic and made it home within 8 hours including a one-hour stop for lunch and multiple pee breaks and diaper changes.  Not too bad.

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