Snoozin' with Izzie

We have been blessed with a generally good sleeper. From the start, Izzie was a textbook sleeper. She snoozed a lot as a newborn, became a little bit more fussy at around 6-8 weeks, and at exactly 2 months she started rewarding her parents by sleeping through the night. From 2-4 months, although she slept at an insanely late hour (around midnight), she slept a consistent 8-10 hours every night. From day 1, I co-slept with Izzie. I never really had a preference to a certain ideology to "sleep methods" - co- sleeping* was just so easy. Being the textbook baby that she is, at exactly 4 months, she entered the wakeful period. She started to really notice her surroundings, and she developmentally just exploded with so much growth - and this affected her sleep. Our consistent sleeper, started waking up again once or twice every night. Once again, co-sleeping came to the rescue. Whenever she would wake up, I'd just roll over, nurse her and doze off again. Well, finally, Izzie has started to sleep better at night - and Al and I have decided to put her down to sleep in her crib. Izzie is doing great and the transition has been very easy (lucky, I know). She busted out another 10 hours the night before AND she is going to sleep earlier. On the rare occasion she does wake up during the night (and this is after 6 hours of sleep), I just bring her back to bed like the good old times. While this means having to kick Albert out to the living room couch, I do love waking up next to her. Sometimes she'll be up too, in a good mood, babbling away. And sometimes, she'll still be asleep, and I'll just look at her for a few minutes, counting my blessings.

*Whoever says that co-sleeping is dangerous - you are greatly mistaken. A mother is so in tune with the baby, its amazing how aware you are of where your baby is while you're sleeping. Besides, if you did roll over your baby, you would notice. Most co-sleeping accidents happen when the mom is either drunk or high.

Eating Solids

What a fun milestone!

Izzie did great! She looked confused on her first try, but she pretty soon got the idea. As soon as the spoon would head towards her mouth, she'd open it in anticipation. Her first meal of her choice was rice cereal. Before I had a kid, whenever I heard kids eat rice cereal - I honestly thought people were giving them rice krispies. Turns out, they SELL baby rice cereal - which is just ground up rice. I mix in a good amount of breastmilk with the rice cereal - and Izzie was good to go!

Here's her first bite:


And her second bite:



And the happy girl afterwards:



We'll try rice cereal for a couple more days and then we're off to the fun stuff - I think her next food item will be sweet potatoes. Before we know it, she'll be kicking it with her parents and eating her way through New York!

Getting Ready to Eat Solids

We're going to start feeding Izzie solids very soon - this weekend will be the big day! We got a booster seat and some bowls and spoons. Here is Izzie trying out her new seat:



Honestly, I'm so proud and happy that she's about to reach this new milestone, but I'm also a teensy bit wistful and sad that I will no longer be her sole source of nutrition . She's growing so quickly!

Izzie's 6 Month Doctor's Visit

Today, Albert and I took Izzie to her pediatrician's 6 month well baby visit. Our little girl weighed in at 15 lb 13 ounces and a whopping 26.75 inches. Her weight percentile is dropping, but her height percentile is being pretty consistent - she is definitely leaning out. Being the paranoid person I am, I asked if her weight percentile dropping is of any concern - and the doctor said "No, we have too much of an obesity problem in this country."

Everything else in on track. We got the official go ahead to start solids, so I think we'll make our first attempt this weekend. Fun stuff ahead!

Happy Birthday, Albert!

Today was Albert's first birthday as a father.



Al just wanted a really mellow day - and he said he wanted to eat homemade pizza. Here is our spread:


And the finished pizzas:


And the cake that I baked (with a LOT of help from Lisa):


We had a lot of family time together today - and Al and I had a lot of fun talking to each other about what we were like in high school. I always felt like high school was not that long ago - after all we're only 24. As I was sharing details about my past shenanigans, I was having trouble remembering a lot of stuff. And thats when I realized high school was almost 10 years ago! I guess I've gone through so many different life stages and changes since then, its kind of surreal to think of high school or even college. I guess its hard to think of what my life was like before I got married and had Izzie.

Anyway, happy 24th, Al - I love you very much.

Izzie, you're 6 months old today!!!

Dearest Boo Boo,

You are half a year old! 6 months! We can't believe it! We are so blessed to have you in our lives. You have truly developed into your own little person. You light up when Mommy or Daddy enter the room, and you demand that we hold you. You laugh at the silliest things - Mommy and Daddy can spend hours and hours just trying to get you to laugh. It is the best sound in the world. You are also trying to sit up on your own, and when you're on your tummy you try with all your might to crawl. You're not quite there yet, but I'm sure you'll be mobile really soon. Right now, your favorite food is still leche de madre but we will start you on solids very soon. You know, we are very proud to be able to say that you were exclusively breastfed for the first 6 months of your life. Especially after the rough start and Mommy's cancer, we never thought we'd last this long! But you were such a champ - and we made it this far. You take 3 or 4 naps a day, and (generally) sleep pretty well at night. Ever since you've become more aware of your surroundings, it has been a little more difficult getting you to go to sleep at night (we understand - everything is so interesting!). Daddy likes to strap you in the Ergo, and then he walks around and rocks you to sleep. It is Daddy's favorite time of the day. We're so glad and grateful that you're happy and healthy! Keep up the good work!

Love,

M+D

Happy Anniversary to Us!

Exactly 2 years ago, Albert and I got married. These are the flowers that Al sent me today at work:



And a wedding photo:

Happy Father's Day

Yesterday was Al's first father's day. We started the morning by doing a just-woke-up photoshoot:



And then some videos. Sorry that its so creepy dark. I didn't want to flip on the lights as Al was still (kinda) sleeping:





And then I cooked some seafood stew:


And we taught Izzie how to sit by herself. She's getting the hang of it:


Sadly enough, we forgot to take a picture of father and daughter together, but here is a good one that we took on Al's first day of work:

Weekend Adventures

Last weekend, with the triple digit weather, we camped inside the apartment (with the exception of Ko) with the A/C on full force. We were very lucky to have Annie, Brice and Wilson come visit. Al and I felt that Izzie has finally grown out of her Fisher Price Aquarium Swing (bye bye magical swing), so we were more than happy to pass the swing on to Miles for (hopefully) many sleep-full nights for the Wilson family. Annie and Brice insisted that they get Izzie a jumperoo in return and we happily obliged. Anyway, Annie and Brice took Miles, the car seat, the Snap n Go to Buy Buy Baby. They bought the jumperoo, and brought the jumperoo, Miles, the car seat,m the Snap n Go and made the trek all the way up to Boringside Heights. Aren't they amazing? And on the way back, they took our swing, and the rest of their cargo and Miles and took the bus back home! Did I mention we were experiencing a heat wave at the time?


The obligatory side-by-side picture. Miles is catching up! Look at the thigh rolls that he's developing!


Hello friend!


Al and I were afraid that Izzie was going to whack Miles with her flailing arms, but she was surprisingly gentle.

Izzie likes her jumperoo! She doesn't quite get the concept of jumping yet, but she sure likes to play and talk to her toys:




So yesterday, inspired by the Wilson's family bravery, Al and I decided to take Izzie and stroller on the subway for the first time. We usually just wear her in our Ergo, but we wanted to get some errands done, so we decided walking with the stroller would be best. Right before we left, I told Al to take the rain shield out of the stroller basket so that we had room to put in all of our goodies. We walk to the station, get on the 1 train, and we're doing well. I'm getting cocky and thinking "This is easy!" We get off on 79th street, and it is thunderstorming! I can hear the thunder from underground! After 10 minutes of waiting around (remember? stroller rain shield at home), we decide to go back home. I don't want to get out of the subway and cross the street to go uptown, so we get back on the downtown train to 59th street and then took a different express subway back home. Of course, by the time, we got back the rain had stopped (briefly), so we were able to walk home quickly. We didn't get what we wanted done, but it was nevertheless quite the eventful day!

A Me Update

So here I am sitting here at 5:24 am. I've been up for 2.5 hours already. Izzie woke me up, but she fell right asleep again, and here I am, sitting like an idiot, not able to fall asleep again.

Cancer has been on my mind lately.

I hate my cancer, and I really miss my thyroid. My perfectly working thyroid that apparently did everything in my body - control metabolism, help me sleep, help with body temp control, help keep my hair - now gone because of that dang flippin' cancer. Did I mention that I hate cancer?

Anyway, lately, I've been feeling mighty sorry for myself. And one of the biggest reasons that I'm in this funk, I have to admit, is quite vain. I am dieting in a very good, nutritious and firm (no cheating) way, and I am not losing the weight. I was on a good roll before my surgery, but after my thyroid was taken out.... the scale has not been moving much. I really detest being this big, and having nothing in my closet fit me, and I feel I'm not in control because all the things I am trying...its just not working that well. I blame cancer.

Did I also mention that a whole host of other things that is plaguing me because of that dang flippin' cancer? Hair loss is one of them - not fun. I'm so tired all the time (not Izzie's fault, Cancer's fault). I get hot flashes and I'm only 24. I am freezing when other people are warm (WTF?). I never sleep...ever. Oh, and did I mention that I am still fat because of cancer?

You can tell, once the self-pity party gets going, it really gets going.

Le sigh.

So what do I do when I decide to throw myself a self-pity party? I take a deep breath and I go read this.

Wow.

And I start to list all the things that I am thankful for:

Izzie. Besides the fact that she's my daughter, and just the cutest baby in the world...if it wasn't for her, the cancer would probably still be growing happily inside of me. Her pediatrician noticed the swollen thyroid and told me to go check it out.

Albert. What an awesome husband and an awesome father. He has to deal, first-hand, with my self-pity parties, and always has wise words that help me get out of my funks.

Health insurance. If there is one thing I realized during my whole ordeal...it is an absolute privilege to have good health care in this country. I have access to the best doctors - and I can afford them. Sadly, too many people in this country cannot say the same.

Family. I have family that rallied around me and was ready to pitch in in any way that they can. They also kept my spirits up.

Friends. Once again... awesome. The generosity is mind-blowing.

My health. While I often wish (as you can see above) that I didn't have cancer, I'm so glad and grateful that the kind of cancer I have is non-threatening. I don't have to get chemo or really invasive treatment. My quality of life won't suffer because of this. Once I weather these post-op changes...I am sure I will be back to my normal self, and I am so thankful for that.

And there are many, many more. A lot.

So there you go. That's my update. I throw myself pity-parties, and then I remind myself that I have absolutely no right to think that I am better than anybody else or that I deserve to have perfect health with a perfect life. (Seriously, read the link that I provided.) It is a never ending cycle...but I hope that one day (soon), it'll stop and I'll truly be grateful and even delight in my situation (God has a plan, right?).

So next time, when you ask me, "How's it going?" and I answer "Good"...in reality, I am good, but this is the whole story.

And remember...when you see me...and you think "Dang, why is she still fat? Isn't her baby 6 months old now?" just remind yourself "Its the cancer." (You can see, that I probably need to go read the blog post again.)

Silly Izzie

Lately, Soph and I have been noticing that Izzie likes to smack her lips, and make silly sounds. One day, Soph started to imitate her, and Izzie thought it was the funniest thing in the world. In fact, making this fart-like sound, will even stop her from crying and get her laughing. How great is that?

Rah-Chang Look-alike Meter

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Family history software - Geneology

Ko

Last night, Albert and I had our *first* date night since Izzie was born. I had been feeling like crap the last couple of days, but was still determined to go out for our planned dinner. As we headed out, after giving kisses to Izzie, we talked about how it was our first real adult dinner by ourselves without Izzie. I remember that one banging time Al and I went to my doctor's visit together and we had lunch at Casa Mono after I had just found out I had cancer - not exactly the romantic date.

For those of you that don't know, Momofuku Ko, is the hottest ticket in town. I've been a fan of Momofuku Noodle Bar and Ssam Bar for awhile. If it wasn't so flippin' far away from our place, I'd go a few times a week. Ko is David Chang's new baby. An online-reservations-only-12-seat restaurant where Noodle Bar used to be. (Well, there were 3 empty seats next to us, but one of the cooks said it was "very rare" and "reserved for friends of David Chang.") I tried so many times trying to get reservations at their website, and lo and behold, last Sunday, I finally got one. After doing a ridiculous dance in my living room (Al joined me just for kicks, the only thing I could say or talk about the rest of the week was howIgotareservationatKodon'tyouwishyouwereme).

The food was amazing. 8 courses with 3 extras. Here they are in order:

Chicaron with Japanese spice.

English muffin slathered with pork fat with chives

Fluke in buttermilk and Sriracha, with poppyseeds and chive blossoms.

Albert got the pork belly on greens and oyster in kimchi consomme.
I got the Lousiana crayfish, with wild mushrooms in pea soup.

A smoked soft-boiled egg (cooked sous vide) with caviar on a bed of onions with fingerling potato chips.

House-made lasagna with snails, porcini mushroom, dehydrated broccoli rabe with some ricotta cheese foam.

Lychees and Reisling gelee topped with shaved frozen foie gras. (!!!!)

Grilled trout on bacon puree with pickled radish and almonds.

Chicken roulade with morels and ramps, on Swiss chard with a spring salad.

Albert got the kiwi sorbet with mango spice.
I got the cantaloupe sorbet with a praline.

Albert had rhubarb with yellow-cake ice cream and chocolate.
I got the cereal milk panna cotta with corn flakes and hazelnut with avacado.

Amazing.

I would've gotten some pictures, but one of the cooks said no pictures. I guess it could be annoying to other guests, but I thought nofairthisismyfirstmealoutinmonthsandIsawtonsofphotostakenheresowhywon'tyouletme? But I didn't want to be annoying, besides the dude was making my meal, so I obliged. If you want to see some pictures of what I ate, I found a link here. I also had my first glass of wine in over a year last night. I don't know if it was the heat, or not drinking for that long just lowered my alcohol tolerance, but after just a glass of wine (yummy) made me tipsy and tired!

After dinner, full and content, Al and I grabbed a cab and headed home. It was nice spending a few hours without Izzie, and acting like normal people, but after all that I was ready to go home and meet our gurgling and happy daughter (who was wide awake at 9pm).

So.... aren'tyoujealousthatIgottogotoKo?

Baptismal Fashions

Izzie is getting baptized in July (we'll post later on how we came to the decision to get her baptized). I am already thinking about potential baptism outfits. I was never into those really long white gowns. This dress would've been a good candidate, but it looks like she'll grow out of it soon, no?

What Korean Babies Look Like

Back when Izzie was first born, my mom brought over a few outfits that she and some family friends had gotten for Izzie. These are beautiful clothes - great fabric, cute and just really well made. Last week, I came home from work, and my nanny had taken the clothes from Korea, and had Izzie do a little fashion show. How cute is she?



My short analysis of the American baby textile industry is that, we like to dress our babies like baby versions of kids. If you blew up any kind of baby clothing, it wouldn't look really that odd on a kid or even an adult. But not Koreans.... they take advantage of the fact that babies don't care how you dress them - and they put them in the cutest little outfits ever that adults would be horrified to be in. But you're only a baby once - so why not dress them this way?


Do I look good?


Yeah? Okay!