Rolling!

At the close of baby A's 6 months old, he's finally ROLLING from tummy to his back (one way). Today is the first day he rolled 4 times, very smooth and very controlled. There were numerous times when he was half way there, but stopped himself on purpose. So hopefully, with continued practice, he will roll with ease. I was almost starting to think he might skip rolling altogether. :)

Oh, and he's got 2 teeth poking through so sometimes, it really hurts when I nurse him.

2011 holiday letter

Dear family and friends,

2011 has been a wonderful, miraculous, and challenging year for our family. We started the year knowing we will have a new baby boy added to our family. Wanting a different and more holistic birth experience, we researched our choices and initially chose to work with midwives through a hospital. But eventually, due to some issues with our midwives, we chose to give birth to A in our home with just the four of us. When I was not convinced that A will come that night/morning as a result of castor oil induction, J and W were convinced and excitedly decided to “camp” in our bedroom with their sleeping bags. Of course, they were right. At 12:29am of 6/6, they witnessed the water birth of their little brother. He came out with his water bubble still fully intact and eyes wide open. Daddy had to pry the amniotic sac open to get the little dude out. Oh, the little boy was so red, like Esau from the bible! And he had just as much hair as his sister J except for the first few months, his hair stood up like magic with long sideburns making him look like a “Chinese Elvis”.

Ever since the birth of A, our lives have changed dramatically. Let’s just say this boy is a real little character and is too much like the energizer bunny. W called him “red hot head” for the first few months. Even now at close to 7 months, putting him to nap is such a challenge and our lives revolve around it. He doesn’t fall sleep anywhere like J and W. Then there is still the frequent night waking and feeding. I have just read about all the baby sleep books and tried all the recommended methods with no lasting success. But we still all absolutely adore him. Balancing a new baby who sleeps little and homeschooling is really hard. As a result, I changed our homeschool curriculum so the kids can work more independently. They are such troopers and rose to the challenge with much grace.

As a result of visits to the midwives, J added MIDWIFE to her long list of future career choices. From the beginning, she is a natural little mommy and a great help. She lavishes love and attention on Alex while learning to care and diaper change him (even the poopy ones). For W, there has been a learning curve but he has come a long way and can now be counted to hold/entertain A w/o getting too excited or crazy. It’s truly a joy to see how much they love A.

This year has been an exciting and busy year for J. There were dance classes and rehearsals in preparation for dance competitions, raising sponsorship fees and competing in National American Miss (winning in talent for her dance) in the spring/summer, auditioning, rehearsing and dancing in the Broadway style show of CC Christmas Spectacular in fall/winter. The best part is she loves every minute of it and works very hard at her art. We are really seeing her blossoming in many areas including a knack for working with technology. Who Knew? Daddy calls her “little techie”. J also enjoys playing piano, drawing/designing beautiful clothes and writing/illustrating short stories. This year she also tried weaving through her homeschool class.

W is also discovering who he is. This year, he has narrowed his career choice from artist to COMIC ARTIST. There’s not a day that goes by without him working on some kind of comic drawing or reading some comic book. Some of his favorite comic includes Tin Tin and Stone Rabbit. He continues to participate in soccer and Boy Scout. He also participated in archery and tried his hand at clay this year and enjoys them very much.

Daddy's company got bought this year so he’s now working for a new company. We’re thankful for all that God has provided and just an amazing year.

Wishing you and your family the very best in 2012!!

Baby A - 6 months update

Thanks to " The Sleep Lady's Good Night, Sleep Tight" book by Kim West, we have made some progress in getting baby A to sleep through the night. The book made me realize that baby A shouldn't need to eat during the night and he was probably waking up simply because food is available.

The first 2 nights were really rough, with A screaming for a long time numerous times wanting to nurse or maybe even have a bottle. I think he was really mad that we had decided to stop feeding him at night. Daddy was really great and stayed with him and didn't get much sleep. We almost gave in numerous times and I actually did once.

But by the 3rd night, baby A slept mostly through the whole night waking up only one time around 6 o'clock. Last night was the 3rd night he has slept through the night. Weeks before that, he was waking up multiple times a night and won't go back to sleep until I nursed him making me a very tired mommy. Now before we stopped the night feeding, we did up his day time feeds by giving him more cereal and more baby food. We watched our home video of when J was A's age and realized we gave her a lot more cereal (2 -3 tb spoon) than we had given to A (1 tb spoon).

We are also watching the clock really closely and putting him to nap every 2 hours. So far, baby A has been sleeping much better. His naps are more like 1 1/2 hours - 2 hours like how they should be. Previously, I was luck if he slept for 45 minutes. Now putting him down to nap is still a big struggle. He really fights it and usually won't sleep unless he cries for about at least 20 minutes. And it doesn't matter if I hold him or not. It's like he really wants to sleep but just don't know how to settle himself. Poor baby. I'm trying to get him to get attached to a lovie but so far he's not attached to anything. Pacifier also stopped working a while back.

Other than that, he is doing well. He's getting better with tummy time but still refuses to roll over. We got an ONYA carrier and use that when we are out shopping and sometimes around the house. He does really well in that. He loves to hear me sing the alphabet song as well as the Chinese phonetic song. He's always got a smile when we blow his hair. And he absolutely loves bath time, esp. if he takes one with me. We always give him an infant massage after bath and he really enjoys that. Baby A is also a good eater. So far, he likes all the food we gave him and is very interested in what we are eating.

Showing preference

Baby A is starting to have stranger anxiety and showing preference for who he wants. At first, mommy didn't believe it. But after numerous tries, she is convinced. It is so cute to see him leaning his head and upper body toward mommy when he sees her. Baby A is also very vocal and makes lots of babbling sound. Oh, how he love to blow raspberries. One thing he refuse to do is to turn over when he is on his tummy. It seems like he is really resistant. Guess all in good time.

Baby A loves is to hear the ABC and Chinese phonetic song. He always smiles when he hears it. He also loves it if you fly him like an airplane over head.

For some reason, for last couple nights, he is acting like a newborn and waking up multiple times a night. So it is making mommy very tired. Good thing he is so cute. Big brother/sister just love to hold him. In fact, they fight over it.

Today, mommy made some apple puree and baby A got a little taste and like it. Looks like he's definitely ready but we'll still wait a little longer before we give him solids on an everyday basis.

Baby A's first baby food

Baby A is definitely showing sign he's ready for solids. So yesterday, we gave him some homemade butternut squash puree and he LOVE it. Today, I gave him some more, and he ate it all up that I had to give him seconds, all straight out of the fridge. He's also got a super strong grip. We have got to be careful about holding him while at dinner table.

We knew for a long time he recognizes people but today, we really got to see it in action. Grandma held him and he soon started crying. Back in the arms of sister, and he was fine. With grandpa, daddy was holding him while grandpa looked and talked to him. Baby A studied grandpa intently for about 5 seconds, before wailing like he was really scared.

He's sleeping mostly through the night, but day time nap is still very difficult and random. Sometimes, he'll start crying just as we are taking him into his room because he knows we are putting him down for his nap. And of course, he's getting cuter and cuter day by day. We especially love to see him laugh and squeal in delight. He is very aware and gets excited when we take his clothes off to give him a bath. He hasn't been splashing as he use to do and but he does seem to really enjoy his massage.

We are just so grateful for baby A. Love ya, baby boy!

He loves this teether and pacifiers.

Given the choice, baby A prefers to sit up than lie on his back.

Baby A - 3months old

Here is baby A at just 3 months old. He is a big baby, weighing at 15lbs and wearing 6 months old clothes. He is a pretty happy baby and very curious and alert. He usually only takes one nap during the day which make mommy's life pretty hectic trying to balance homeschooling and taking care of him. But despite all the craziness, we all love baby A to pieces. Everyone smooches him way too much. Just looks at those cheeks!

Love this song- All Your anxiety

This is a Celtic arrangement of the old hymn "All Your Anxiety", from Anne MacCallum's album "Shine". The message of the song is pretty much the same as we hear in the familiar hymn "What A Friend We Have In Jesus" : we don't need to carry our burdens, Jesus will carry them for us if we will only let Him.

Here is the link- click here.

Little update

Life .......has been hectic with the newest addition to our family.

Thank goodness.......... for J for being such an awesome helper (What would I do w/o her) and for W being patient and loving to his brother.

Milestone.......baby A had his first chiropractic adj. 7/5/2011

Glad........ I got to shop while wearing a newborn and pushing a stroller with a cart pushed by my boy (finished in 45 minutes including changing a diaper in the restroom)

Funny saying......Upon passing a cemetery, W asked if it is a "graveyard" while J said, "Mommy, when you die, I will decorate your grave really pretty."

Making progress.... with breastfeeding A, breastfeeding A while sleeping, and co-sleeping with A

Today is special......... because it is J's birthday and she is having one of her best friend stay overnight.

Special gift.....amethyst geode given to J by her massage therapist Jody.

I'll always remember......... baby A gave me the biggest smile this morning for at least 10 seconds (maybe it's the co-sleeping?)

Feeling.... thankful for all the blessing God has given me and my family.

Meditating Mamas

By Rebecca Cunningham and Susan Whelehan
Issue 105 March/April 2001(Mothering.com)

I found this article while searching "postpartum" on mothering.com and really liked it. Hope it will help others as much it helps me.

(This is only a partial list and includes meditation for anger, breathe, crying, hands, laughter, mess, mirror, night, perfect mother, time, tiredness, worry)

anger

There are times when anger accompanies me through the day. It slowly simmers as the third shirt of the morning is covered with spit up. It steams while I juggle you, the groceries, the stroller, and the front door keys. It is close to boiling over when a dirty diaper lands face down on the carpet and there are no clean ones close by.

And then you work your magic. With a glance, a gurgle, or a giggle, you invite me to let anger go: to join you and enjoy you on today's journey.

I let anger go. I come with you.

breathe

I listen for your breath without knowing I am listening. It is the changing rhythm that accompanies my day. I hear the echo of your first breath as you climbed to the surface of this world. It echoes when you catch your breath in the depth of a dream. It is there as you struggle to breathe and gulp in nourishment. It is there in the moment before the wave of your crying.

Short, quick breaths. They show you fiercely grasping onto life. Breathe... Keep breathing...

I hear your breath. I give thanks.

crying

Before it comes there is the breath that holds the silent pause. A moment of warning. Now the torrent of cries comes thundering forward. Crying. It swirls into the nooks and crannies of my bones and the sinews of each muscle. I'll try to stay calm. This is the only way you have to tell me what you need.

What is it? What are you asking? I am listening. I am ready to learn your language.

I am calm. I am listening.

hands

Your tiny hands guide me on today's path. They beckon me to journey with you. With wild, flashing fingers you translate your impatience. Hunger shows itself in clenched seed fists. They open into exotic flowers, frozen in a gesture of satisfaction when your belly is full. And when you sleep, your hands, like stars, guide me along your dream-traveling.

Only if I pay attention can I decipher your signing. I must watch closely.

Your hands invite me on today's journey.

laughter

Oh, to see and hear and feel you laugh. Such delight! Such presence! You pass it around the room. You make strangers smile. You lift my spirits and help me remember what is really important. Such is the power of laughter. Your laughter lifts my spirits.

mess

How is it possible that such a tiny person can create such a mess? Mountains of laundry, dangerous piles of dishes, and spit up everywhere. How did it get on the curtains? It must be a testament--this mess--to your life force.

It has been sent--this mess--to challenge my obsession with conquering chaos, with cleanliness. It is here to remind me that a growing life cannot be managed, organized, buffed, polished, folded, or otherwise straightened up. This mess is a sign of your life.

Bless this mess.

mirror

The mirrors in my home capture many truths of my everyday life. Indeed, Myla and Jon Kabat-Zinn say that parenting itself is a mirror in which we get to see the best and worst of ourselves.

May my mirror today reflect courage, humor, kindness, patience, gratitude, wonder, respect, and, at the end of the day, forgiveness.

Parenting is a mirror. What is mine reflecting?

night

I can count on night coming, but I cannot count on how much sleep I'll get. I can count on night coming, but I cannot expect hours of uninterrupted rest. I can go to bed worried that I will be up soon, or I can go to bed and know that I will get some sleep. Yes, night has changed for me. And it will someday change again. I will make the most of it now.

I am in the moment. I relax.

perfect mother

Too often I begin my day with the holy grail of "Perfect Mother" hovering before me. I vow to be confident with every gesture. I pledge my allegiance to eternal cheerfulness, cleanliness, and competence. I devour how-to parenting books living in the fantasy world of super-momdom.

Enough! I will be gentle with myself as I grow into this new role. I will recognize today's quest as an opportunity to learn how to be your mother in this moment, now.

I will be gentle with myself.

time

Nothing I ever did could have prepared me for this reality, for this moment. Sometimes I waste time worrying about your future, your schooling, your career, instead of enjoying you now.

Perhaps the greatest gift I can give you is my presence. It is so hard to be in the present. But you ground me. Perhaps that is your present to me. Let us be together now.

I am in this moment. I give thanks.

tiredness

This moment's tiredness spreads itself across my shoulders and into this day. Like a yoke balanced on my spine, it holds both a witness and a warning. As a witness it sees the magnitude and monotony of daily routines. It also warns me, this tiredness, to recognize my limits when frustration easily flies from my lips.

I know that I will not always be this tired. But, for now, let this tiredness remind me to seek rest and acknowledge the loving work of mothering.

I am strong. I rest.

worry

Worry taps on the window and lets itself in before I've opened my eyes. It skitters underfoot and settles in for the day. You haven't eaten enough...you've eaten too much. You didn't nap long enough... you're sleeping awfully long. You seem fussy...you're too quiet.

I will sit face-to-face with worry. I welcome conscientious caution. I reject paranoia. I will open the door and let worry out.

Open the door. Let worry out.

Both elementary school teachers, Susan Whelehan and Rebecca Cunningham live in Toronto , Canada . They each have two children. As new mothers, they felt a need for a book of brief meditations to help them along the way; when they couldn't find one, they decided to write it themselves, and so Meditating Mamas was born. Artwork by Novalis, Saint Paul University, Ottawa, Canada.

A new baby boy

Baby A was finally born on 6/6/2011 at home in the water. First baby in our family to be born at home and in water. He came out eyes wide open and alert.

Attended by mom, dad, sister and brother who loves him very much. Many people prayed for him and waited many days for his arrival.

We praise and thank the Lord for baby A!

Day 1 photos

1st dance competition

Both J and W competed in their first dance competition this weekend. Boy, were they excited! They both loved it and can't wait to do it again.

They did really well; getting "High Gold". J even brought home her team's trophy as she was captain of her team. I think they will get little trophies from the studio this week.

Hopefully, I'll be able to post some pictures later.

getting ready for baby with cloth diapers

I'm so excited that I finally bought some cloth diaper. So far I have got

Prefolds (18 infant and 4 premie size)

various diaper covers (1 Bumis Super Whisper wrap, 3 Thirsties in XS)

1 snappis (need few more)

2 white Thirsties AIO (for outings)

1 tiny Heiny pocket diaper (for outings and night-time)

I think I still need to get a wet bag(check), and pail liner (check). Later, I'll probably get 18 more prefolds (check) , 3 more Thirsties in S (got 2) as well as 1 or 2 Duo Wrap in size 1 (check) , and 3 Duo Wraps in size 2 (got 1 for now) and 1 Bumgenius 3.0 (check). And maybe some additional inserts for night time (check- got 2 Flip covers and 6 organic inserts). That should take me from birth to potty training for about $300- $350 (spent $308). Depending on how it goes, I might get some more AIOs and pocket diapers and diaper liners for convenience.

I'm also planning to use mainly cloth wipes (thirsties Fab baby wipes-18-check) at home and make my own detergent (Castile baby soap- check) . This is all very new to me but luckily I have a good friend who's guiding me through this.

sweet reminders about homeschooling

Homeschooling as anyone who does it can attest has its' challenges at times, but during those times, I want to be always reminded by what W said 2 days ago (even after a rough morning when I just seem to got up in a bad, maybe hormonal mood and did some yelling at the kids),

"Homeschooling is the best! "

Tonight, J told me her friends at dance studio had said,

"I wish I can be homeschooled"
and

"You're lucky."
when she told them she is homeschooled.

Her friends and teacher are also curious about our green lemonade and "Color the Classic". So next week, we are bringing in the CD and maybe even some samples of green lemonade.

Climbing Mt. Everest

Yes, it is winter where we live. Here are the only pictures I have from this winter. This is one day when W was playing outside and he's pretending he's climbing Mt. Everest. It is freezing. I think only kids want to be outside longer than 10 minutes. The adults would all rather be inside. One thing we have loved doing is sitting by our front door when the sun streams in usually during lunch time. And that's where we have our lunch.

Pretzel making

We finally got around to making these AA's pretzel.

Rolling the dough was fun!

Look, it does look like a pretzel.

So proud.

Yum!

Almost all gone.

Keeping busy

J and W has both been sick. Today, they finally seem to be getting better, no more cough. The absence of it's sound is very sweet. I'm hoping we can run some errands as we have pretty much stayed inside for many days. We are still unschooling and the kids keep themselves plenty busy. Sometimes, when I get a little nervous, I ask them to do a little math practice or little grammar. But I think they are happier learning on their own and doing what they like to do.

W has been drawing and reading a ton. He can probably do that all day and the concentration is just amazing to watch. I think the boy is happiest when I leave him be with spurts of hugs and kisses. He also requested for some animal books and reads them as soon as he can. We also read a couple of Enki fairy tale at his request and he enthusiastically retells it to me the next day w/o me asking.

J is similar though she has been lying on the couch resting for a lot of time. If she feels not so drained, she likes to design, color or draw. I can tell when she's not well since she didn't ask to go outside and she's not putting on music to dance. When she's just resting, she'll ask me to read her a Chinese story. Other times, she watches Chinese cartoons. She has requested ballerina books, and her favorite dancer after reading many is Alicia Alonso. She also wanted more Sherlock Holmes books. Today she is making soap on a rope.

One thing they are not is bored and asking me what they should do.

I have been working hard to speak Chinese to them, though there is still a lot of English spoken. I guess this will be a work in progress for me. I was surprised they liked writing Chinese characters. I guess it's a little like drawing.

Why Chinese Mothers are Superior....WSJ article

My friend forwarded me this interesting article...definitely has some points in regard to cultural differences, though some are on the extreme side. ThoughI think some of the beliefs are partly due to the economic state of China and being an immigrant in another country, i.e. survival of the fittest.

It explains sometimes why I have a hard time over riding my own cultural background while living in the States and reading about schools like Sudbury Valley or some of the other alternative schools. I still believe there needs to be a balance in everything though balance can certainly be elusive at times.

Finally!

After 1 year and 2 month, J's 6th tooth finally came off. Yeah! Her adult tooth has been waiting patiently for a long time for it to move out of the way. Glad our dentist choose not to pull it off.

Over the Christmas season, W's 2 front tooth fell off within days of each other.

Lego bug

I brought W a big set of Lego, over 1,600 pieces. Both kids have caught the Lego bug and have been building and creating and playing. Sometimes, they try to replicate a design in the brochure, but most of the time, they make their own creations. Then they play and build some more.

We keep the creations and their Lego world on our coffee table. It's a joy to watch them and sometime I join them. :) But house duties calls. I wish I had a house cleaning and organizing fairy to help me.

Changes

After reading "Free at Last" by Daniel Greenberg, a book about Sudbury Valley school in MA, I'm making some radical changes to our homeschooling.

I'm letting the kiddos take their own responsibility for their own learning. We have had a talk about what it means and they are off!

It's a little too early to tell how long this will lasts, but so far it's going pretty well. They actually pace themselves pretty well. The first day, W clean up his room in the morning. Mostly he vacuumed. I also noticed both kids make their own beds every morning even though the rest of the room esp. their clothes could still use some organizing instead of piling on their bed.

J, out of her own initiative still wants to do her math when she have time while W plays, draws, and reads. Even though W dropped his math worksheets, he made improvements in telling time. And he frequently wants to add the money (bills and coins) in my wallet. They also still out of their own initiative, practice their instruments, and their dance. They haven't watched any TV but did want to play some computer games. Even that was very telling. I tried to encourage W to just explore the different buttons on computer assuring him nothing disastrous will happen if he presses some wrong button.

They also determine when they want to eat and make their own breakfast and lunch. If they need help, they ask. W made coffee for me all by himself this morning. When he took a little long, I was a little anxious and almost asked J to go down and see if he needs some help but he showed up a little later all smiles upstairs with my coffee.

J had an idea about Chinese today. She said we can speak English during the day, then from 4:00-4:30 learn Chinese and then speak Chinese for the rest of the night. We'll certainly give that a try.

I'm going to just take one day at a time and enjoy the ride and see where this leads us.

Future career choices

I'm always interested in what children want to be when they grow up, so I ask J and W that question last night.

J (8) previously wanted to be a (kindergarten) teacher, now she is changing her list to midwife, actor, dancer and daycare provider. She was a little shy in telling me her choices, but actor is the one that surprised me. I think after seeing a 10, maybe 12 year old play Annie, she feels she would like to do that too. This morning, she also added, "explorer". What kind? I asked, "of the world", she said with a smile.

W(6, almost 7) still sticks to his gun with (computer) Engineer (adding an if clause: if he can do those really hard math problems correctly) or Artist (now narrowing to comic strip artist).

A boy named Alexander

We found out few days before Christmas that we are having a boy. Even though that is not a total surprise, since when I asked the baby, he told me he is a boy. But it still feels surreal that it was true. Now when I asked, Alex told me more details so we'll see if it comes true.

We even have his Chinese name picked out and it will be Kai-Xiang, similar to his brother Kai-Xuan.

Alex has been getting lots of kiss from brother W while sister J has been teaching him though my tummy. I mostly listen to some bedtime lullaby in hopes that he'll sleep longer times than his brother and sister who woke up every 2 hours and wore mommy and daddy out very fast.

Happy New Year

J and W had a fabulous New Year Eve. They went to three separate events on New Year Eve, ringed in the New Year 3 separate times and had lots of fun. They stayed up past 1 o'clock playing with their friends until the adults were ready for bed. I have been pretty tired out even though I'm in my second trimester. So even though camera was in my bag, I completely forgot or didn't care enough to take any. This morning, they both got up at 10am while their friends were still snoozing soundly at 11:12am. :)

Anyway, here is a toast for a fabulous 2011!