Early To Bed and Early To Rise, Makes This Baby Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise!

Randall fell asleep at a record breaking 7:45 pm tonight!!!  That's the earliest he's ever gone to bed. His morning and afternoon naps have merged into a lunchtime nap.

He's already 10 months now this past Saturday and has hit so many milestones. Randall can stand on his own, cruise sideways, walk comfortably in his walker, and make all kinds of baby talk sounds. He loves to sing at the top of his lungs, squeeze his eyes together while grinning up at you, and just this past weekend, he adopted a new expression where he wrinkles his nose and makes triangle eyes.  His left top teeth coming out to join his existing bottom two. I'm getting the sense that Randall is a very happy jokester since he loves to make people laugh.  He is also going to be quite vocal.  As much as I can't wait till he can talk, I'm also dreading it because he may be a total chatterbox.

He has an easygoing temperament and was perfectly fine when another bigger baby snatched his toys from right out of his little hands at yoga class this morning.  I was surprised and a little awed that he didn't feel wronged or possessive of his toys at all.  He is extremely sweet and nice.

Mom's 37th Birthday

I know this blog is supposed to be about Randall, but I'm going hijack it just this once.  This birthday was pretty much the least eventful birthday I ever had, despite it falling on a Friday.  I woke up bright and early around 6:45 am after having gotten up twice (once at 1 am to change Randall's diapers, again at 3 am because he was crying, but then he fell back asleep).  Pumped breastmilk for 15 minutes, went downstairs and saw Steven eating oatmeal for breakfast.  Asked him if he could make me some, to which he replied, "I have to go to work.  Make it yourself."  As I was going to get the ingredients, he had a change of heart and remembered he was supposed to be nice to me because it was my birthday and made me oatmeal as well.

Afterwards, I went outside, brought it both the Wall Street Journal and the Houston Chronicle.  Ate the oatmeal and read the papers for another hour or so.  Got up, stretched and went back to sleep at 9 am.  Woke up again at 11 am when my mom came over to meet me for lunch.  Brushed my teeth again, got dressed, pumped again.  She drove us to Sweet Paris in Rice Village and my mom treated me to lunch.  We had crepes.  I also got a chai tea latte with nonfat milk.  We made plans to have lunch with our husbands tomorrow to celebrate my birthday.  My mom then dropped me back off at my house, I got in my car and drove to work.

Worked.  Tina bought me a cake, but we left it in the fridge for everyone to eat on Monday since Mr. Wilbanks was out of the office and the girls at the front desk were too busy today to take a break.

Returned home around 6:15 pm.  Pumped again.  Asked Steven what our dinner plans were.  He hadn't made any.  Bounced around a few restaurant options for the next 30 minutes and eliminated them if they were not family-friendly, close by, or had a long wait time.  I was a little disappointed that I had to come up with places on where to eat since I was starving.  Plus, I had done this exercise earlier today with my mom in trying to come up with a place for lunch tomorrow.  I had suggested Osteria Mazzantini, a newly opened Italian restaurant where every dish was delicious, and one in which I wanted to introduce to my family.  However, she rejected it after looking at the online menu saying that the selection of food seemed limited and pricey.  It seemed Steven wanted me to come up with a dinner option tomorrow night too.

Perhaps the highlight of the entire day was a surprise bouquet of multi-colored roses (some even dyed a light green?) and a heartfelt, romantic card that Steven presented to me right before we left the house for dinner.  It was the card that meant the most and I teared up reading it.

We spent the next several minutes driving back and forth along Holcombe from Union Kitchen to Osaka.  Both had full parking lots which meant we would have to wait.  In the end, we went to Black Eyed Pea, a casual family restaurant only a 10 minute drive from our house.  It was a place we would usually go to because there is never a wait for a table, the food is decent and inexpensive, the service is good, I like the booth seating, and their bread rolls are the best - soft, freshly-baked, light, and buttery.  Senior citizens seem to love the place.  However, tonight was the busiest night I had ever seen it.  Fortunately for us, there still wasn't a wait and we got seated right away.  Before Steven's Caesar salad and our entrees arrived but after our bread rolls and drinks were served, we were asked to move to a different booth in the back near the restroom because the sling which was holding Randall and his car seat was blocking a walking area.  We moved over and finished the rest of our dinner.  Steven paid the bill and we headed home.

As soon as we got home, I pumped again.  Yes, I have to pump every 4 hours or so to keep up the milk supply.  I do cheat a little during the nights where I'll go 6-8 hours without pumping.  Steven and Randall started our weekly conference call with his parents and younger brother Jonathan in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.  We chatted for about half and hour and then Steven got Randall ready for bed.

Steven and I caught the tail end of Jay Leno's monologue on The Tonight Show and then Steven fell asleep.  I responded to emails and Facebook messages from friends wishing me Happy Birthday.  I still have 6 minutes left of my birthday and it feels as if I'm too old for them.  It's gotten to the point where it's just another day.

I am blessed that I have everything I could possibly want: an incredible husband, an adorable baby boy, a loving and supportive family, a flexible and dynamic job with an awesome boss and coworkers, lots of good friends (although dispersed all over the world), a beautiful house, a luxury car, and most of all, good health.

Sleeping Like An Adult

Randall slept through the night for 7-8 hours for the last two nights!!!  Hooray!  It is not an anomaly.  I have finally figured out the trick is to swaddle Randall tightly so that he feels warm and secure.  This way, his arms don't involuntarily smack him in the face to wake him up.

Plus, Gloria, the nanny, had mentioned he had only gotten 5-10 minute cat naps throughout the day yesterday because of all the commotion when Ana, our cleaning lady, came over to clean the house.

Unfortunately, I still kept waking up every 3-4 hours since I was so used to it.  It was so strange to hear him so quiet that I worried he may have died in his sleep.  I would hold my breath listening for a sound from him, anything...and usually after a moment, he will resume his deep breathing.  When I woke up at 4:30 am this morning, I didn't hear a peep.  So I went over to his Pack-'N-Play and held my hand up next to his nose to check if he was breathing.  The air moved back and forth every so slightly.  He must have been in a deep sleep.

During my 3-4 hour stints, I kept having vivid dreams.  I had this one dream where my brother and I were trying to get back into our old old old house on 14834 Sagamore Hills Dr.  We were climbing the fence which runs diagonally alongside the covered path between the detached garage and the house when we were attacked by tracker jackets, like the ones in Hunger Games.  However, with each sting, a slim foot-long red needle would be inserted which was coated with a spongy hot pink worm.  I must have gotten stung across my chest and back several times.  I remember trying to yank them out as quickly as possible because if left inside of you, the worms would manifest itself as parasites.  So it was painful both during the sting, and taking out the needles.

My last dream was one where I found knee high leopard print roller skating boots.

Getting Vaccinated

Today Randall had his 2 month check up where he got his shots, all four of them - two in each thigh.  He also had an oral vaccine for Rotavirus which he promptly spat out so the nurse had to give him more.  It was traumatizing having to hold his arms and legs down while the nurse administered the shots.  Poor innocent Randall, he went into the doctor's office all happy, not having a clue of what was to come.

After the needle went in, he started screaming and his face turned bright red.  Just when he was about to take another breath, he would get stuck again, and again, and again, and again.  It was as if he was being tortured, the screams got louder and louder.  The doctor had warned me that it would hurt me more than it hurt him.  I kept apologizing profusely to Randall.  Afterwards, I told Steven that he should be there the next time Randall gets shots at the 4 month mark.

Steven was concerned Randall was gaining too much weight and wanted to feed Randall water.  I checked with the pediatrician and she said Randall is absolutely fine the way he is.  Turns out he weighs 12 pounds and 10 ounces.  She recommended only feeding him breast milk and formula for the next 4 months, but no water.  According to the growth charts which are based on Caucasian babies, Randall is around the 50-60 percentile and is perfectly proportional.  She kept telling Randall how perfect he was and showered him with compliments and Randall would laugh and smile back.

Grandma Judy came to visit when we got back home from the clinic and promptly took off the Wylie E. Coyote bandages per the nurse's instructions.  Randall slept for most of the day.

Sleeping Through The Night

The last couple of nights have been great!  Randall is sleeping for 4-6 hours a night and he has yet to turn one month old.  Granted, in order to do this, he doesn't get much sleep during the day which results in a cry-fest every hour or so.

Yesterday, his paternal grandparents, Dr. Tsung Jen Huang and Mei Yu Huang, came all the way from Kaohsiung, Taiwan via United Airlines with a stopover in Tokyo to visit him.  Perhaps it was the sound of unfamiliar voices in the house, but Randall was throwing fits one after another.  He would get so worked up.  His face would turn bright red and then almost purple as he cried his lungs out and tears rolled across tiny face.  It was definitely not a good first impression for his grandparents.

Here are pictures of Randall on:

Day 26 with his cranky face:

Day 26 in a calmer mood:

Day 28 on the changing table in his room which he likes:

Day 28 hanging out with Grandma Judy:

Day 29 crying hysterically - who wants to be the grandparent of this baby?

Day 29 after Grandma Judy calms him down:

Breastfeeding Breakthrough

Mommy slept most of the day today, but yesterday was a day to remember!

Miraculously, you were able to latch on and we were able to successfully breastfeed!!!  I couldn't believe it!  I was so proud of you and I felt a huge sense of relief.  Being unable to breastfeed you was my only issue with enjoying motherhood. 

We had so much difficulty getting you to latch at the hospital and at home that I almost gave up.  Our previous attempts were so traumatic - with you clawing, punching, and scratching me while you cried and howled red-faced as if you were being tortured every time I tried to breastfeed you.  I felt so rejected that you preferred the bottle over me.  Only when the lactation consultants came over during our 3-night hospital stay did you latch on successfully about 50% of the time.  However, yesterday you took to the breast so naturally as if we never had a problem with it at all.

All this time, I read everything I could about breastfeeding and felt like I was missing out on a terrific bonding experience by not nursing you.  These past few weeks, I did the next best thing and pumped every 3 hours around the clock so that you received the benefits of breast milk.  However, washing all the pump equipment and bottles and even the pumping itself meant time away from you.  I heard other babies that wouldn't take the bottle and needed to be nursed by their mom exclusively.  I tried to comfort myself with the thought that at least others like Daddy, Grandma, our nanny Gloria, and our friends could feed you instead of me being the only one to feed you.

Now that we were able to successfully breastfeed at home on our own, without the aid of lactation consultants, I feel more at peace.  It's strange, but I finally felt accepted by you as a mother and it gave me a boost of confidence that we could do it again if we wanted to.  I was beyond happy!


Here you are, passed out after half an hour of breastfeeding:

Another milestone was achieved yesterday - I was back at my pre-pregnancy weight!

Just for fun, here's a toe-to-toe comparison of my left foot with your right one:

Here are some photos from today, Day 25: Sleepy yawn...

Your usual furrowed-brow look:

Your hands-up! style of sleeping:

"Who me?  Are you talking about me?"

Making silly faces with Grandma:

3 Weeks Old

Happy 3 Weeks-Old Birthday Randall!

To celebrate, Mommy finally created a blog for you!  Here you are dreaming baby dreams with your no-scratch mittens that we got you yesterday.

You're wearing my favorite onesie that I got from Old Navy with the dancing monkey print.


Let's recap your brief life so far...

Day 1: Your birthday!!!  You were born at 3:21 pm on Wednesday, July 10, 2013.  You weighed 8 pounds and 9 ounces and measured 21.75 inches long.  You were such a large, big-headed baby that I had to deliver you via C-section.

The doctors in the operating room were all impressed with how much hair you had and how cute you were.

What a day!  We both look pretty exhausted...

Day 2: Grandma and Uncle Billy oohing and aahing over you when this picture was taken.

Day 3: A professional photographer drops by our hospital suite to take your portraits.  You probably don't remember it at all since you slept through it.  Mommy and Daddy had selected this outfit for you from Janie and Jack several weeks in advance.

Day 4: Fast asleep in the hospital.  You look like a baby angel, all you need are wings!

Day 5: You're awake!  My, what deep black eyes you have!  They match your jet black hair.

Day 6: You're not even a week old, and already you are philosophizing and thinking deep thoughts...Who am I?  What am I doing here?  What is my purpose in life?

Day 7: You're a week old now.  Look at you, bundled like a baby burrito!  I used this picture to email your birth announcement.

Day 8: Mommy decided to take your footprints before you got too old.  Plus, we were about to give you your first full-body sponge bath.

Day 9: A hint of a smile!  Looks like you're just about to wake up.  You love to stretch out your arms.

Day 10:  Looks like you're practicing how to make cell phone calls already.

Day 11:  Grandpa Frank and Grandma Judy came over for dinner hoping to play with you, but you slept through it.

We tried to wake you up, but you were sleeping like mud.  This face looks like you're puckering up for a kiss.

Day 12:  Power to the people!

Day 13: Oops, forgot to take your picture.

Day 14: Bonding time with Daddy

Day 15: Our sleeping prince.

 

 

Day 16: You're awake!

Day 17: This is how you normally sleep - in a hands up position:

Today, your umbilical cord came off.  Now you see it:

 Now you don't:

This all happened when Grandma was burping you.

Day 18: Aww, baby acne sets in and we were worried you might be allergic to something I ate.

But you reassured us with your smile, not to worry!

It didn't seem to bother you much and you went back to sleep.

Day 19: We took you out for a drive since Mommy and Daddy needed to get their eyeglasses adjusted.  Here is your usual studious, furrowed-brow look which always has us wondering what kind of baby thoughts are you thinking?

Here's your "don't bother me" look before you fall fast asleep again.  This time, we hear you snore in your sleep!

Day 20: Here's a picture that Daddy Steven took of you yesterday doing a finger mustache gesture that both Steven and your Uncle Billy often do:

Well, that's all for now!