Getting Ready For Our Family Trip

posted by Mommy
Daddy is going to be taking some bonding leave pretty soon so he can spend some quality time with lil' Erik. So we decided to take this opportunity for a family trip up to Vancouver, Canada! It was supposed to be a trip including Grandpa Tom but for some stubborn reason (which he refuses to tell us), he is not at all interested in going with us. You would think that a normal Grandpa would be interested in coming along and enjoying quality time with his oldest son and his only grandson...but NOPE. So needless to say, we're going to have a grand time with or without him.

Going in his place is Chhimi's little cousin from New York, Kathleen. Well, she's not quite so little any more, a whopping 16 years old!! Sigh! We can't believe she's a teenager already and almost going to be graduating from high school pretty soon. She's our darling cousin no matter what.

Chhimi and I are absolutely excited to be going, especially up to Butchart Gardens in Victoria, BC where Chhimi described it as absolutely superb. We'll see how lil' Erik does on the trip and will keep you all posted.

Another picture - Mommy & Me

Baby Friendly Restaurants and Places

posted by Mommy
Chhimi and I have made it a point to take baby Erik out to restaurants, at least once every two weeks, in hopes that he'll be okay with us going out to places. Of course, we also made sure that we had milk on hand in case Erik gets hungry while we feed and one of us (including Grandma Katy) are willing to hold and cuddle with Erik while the other(s) eat and then do the ole' switcheroo.

So below are a few local places that we found were quite Baby Friendly for other new parents looking to get out of the house. Of course, these are mostly chain restaurants :-)

• Brookfields Restaurant - http://www.brookrest.com


• Chili's Restaurant


• Fresh Choice


• IHOP

We also tried a local Japanese restaurant and that was definitely NOT recommended. They weren't very fast with their service and didn't offer a high chair (we figured out that we can safely put the carseat in a high chair :-D instead of a regular chair). Even though there were kids there, it wasn't baby friendly since customers and staff looked at us funny when we got up to rock Erik to sleep.

Other Baby Friendly Shopping includes: Babies R' Us (This is a given!), Goore's (This is a given too!), IKEA, and Nordstrom's. I was very impressed with Nordstrom's Mommy's Room, it had a private area where I could breastfeed Erik and then change him without other people passing by. With IKEA, in their cafe area, they had Avent bottle warmers for customers to use, which was very handy for Erik's bottle!

We'll try to post more when we go out BUT for parents that are in our area and you know of baby friendly restaurants, PLEASE let us know!!

Mum & Son

My son just Email me! :D

"23k2..;lpij21rrrrrr" - from Erik

He even manages to do some baby talk on the phone when I call home. Darn it!! I miss my son :(

Our Bald Son

more to come on that - PS: Happy Father's Day to all Daddies. (Especially those new Dads)

posted by Mommy
Well, as you can see, our dear Erik is now bald! For the record, I was truly against this but Grandma Katy and Chhimi decided if they shave Erik bald now, his hair will grow even more and much thicker. I have to tell you all that it was VERY emotional for me when I see Grandma Katy shaving his head. I cried during the process because I really hated, even though Erik didn't really know what was going on, I was just very sad to see his baby hair go :-(. WAH!

Afterwards, of course, Chhimi said, OH gosh, we shouldn't have shaved his head bald. Well....TOO LATE NOW!! I just cross my fingers that Erik's hair will grow fast!

I usually hold Erik up to our closet mirrors so he can see himself during the day and he usually smiles at himself and just giggles away. After shaving his head, I swear, he had the most perplexed expression on his face, as if, "WHAT THE $@#!". But afterwards, he went about his business of smiling and cooing away. Sigh! At least he doesn't hold a grudge....YET!

Our Poor Baby

posted by Mommy
Well, today was Erik's 2-month check-up at the Pediatrician's and you know what that means?! It means it is SHOT day. Our poor baby got four big shots today, 2 shot per thight :'-( WAH! I think the shot affected Chhimi and me a lot more than it affected Erik.

When the nurse came in with the needle kit (YES! They actually had a kit to carry 4 long needles), Chhimi and I were so anxious! I tried to keep Erik busy by looking at him and trying to sing to him (itsy bitsy spider) but once the nurse did the first poke, he was howling like mad. He held his breath and his face was flushed bright red then blue. :'-( WAH! The four shots went by quickly and once I lifted Erik up and rocked him a little bit, he stopped crying. The nurses gave him Tazmania Devil and Bugs Bunny bandaids for his shot areas.

Erik was such a brave boy. Within 30 seconds of holding and rocking him, his crying stopped and he was backed to his normal cuddly self. Awwwww! Of course, Chhimi and Grandma Katy were just shakened from the whole ordeal. Sigh! Now we'll have to monitor Erik to see how he reacts to the vaccines. Definitely lots of cuddling and holding for today to let him know that we're all here for him.

Potty Training

posted by Mommy


While I was reading an article from July's issue Parents magazine on potty training for babies, I thought of Grandma Katy's tactics for Erik when he was just a wee lil' baby (less than 1 month). In the article it mentioned that by the time the baby reached 2 years old, she was already potty trained. Then Grandma Katy told us that her two kids were potty trained by the time they were 11 months old.

At first, I was really skeptical as I have never heard of this before. However, as I see Grandma Katy rush Erik to the bathroom every time when he starts to grimace, he is slowly learning to go potty when we hold him in a certain position after his feeding, especially in the morning. Now, at 2 months, he even starts to make grunting noises to let us know that its time for #2. Even Grandma Wai knew about the infant potty training techniques since she used it on my siblings and me when she was a stay at home mom.

I must say that Grandmas are quite wise!! So glad Grandma Katy is here to help us and guide us. Of course, we still have our differences, especially when it comes to sign language teaching but don't worry, I will convert her with my charm ;o)! Hahaha!

By the way, this infant potty training technique is extremely difficult when you do not have full-time help like us since day care providers would probably not know the baby's potty schedule. It is hard for Chhimi and me to even gauge when to go but we're really just working on communications with Erik. It's totally okay if Erik doesn't learn to be fully potty trained until later but at least Chhimi and I gave it a shot.

So a little more information on Potty Training around the world (from Parents magazine):

China
The first 100 days of a baby's life are considered fragile, but training starts shortly afterwards. Parents try to regulate the tming of a baby's need to go based on his feeding schedule. When it's time, a child is held over a pot with his back resting against his parent's chest, with the adult holding his legs. Split plants, which allow a baby to pee or poop without being undressed is widely used.

For us, it was 30 days, but training started as soon as we got home. But right now, we stopped for a little bit because Erik's been having some spit-up issues. If the doctor says he's okay tomorrow, then we will resume the "potty training".

India
In poor, rual areas of the country, training starts when a baby is about 3 months old. Some mothers believe this helps them bond with their baby, but later on, other female family members can pinch-hit for Mom. While they're being trained, babies wear a thin cotton undergarment called a balotu, which resumes a G-string.

Mexico
Most kids begin training at around 6 months, but the porcess is gradual. In areas where there is no indoor plubming, babies are taken outside whenever other family members are using the outdoor facilities.

For more information on Infant Potty Training, visit the links below:

• http://www.geocities.com/trickletreat/


• http://www.white-boucke.com/ifpt.html


• http://babyparenting.about.com/cs/pottytraining/f/infantpt.htm

Erik's First Passport Pictures

Gettig Erik his passpost - our little guy is ready to travel all over the globe.

Hi Ho Hi Ho Off To Daddy's Work We Go

posted by Mommy
Today Erik enjoyed attending the weekly mommies group gathering. We arrived a bit late since Erik had to eat before we even pulled out of the driveway. So I thought "it's better to have a full & happy baby and be late than to have a screaming miserable baby and be on-time"...I'm sure other moms would agree!

Erik slept through the entire group meeting (about 1 hour). Afterwards, Grandma Katy and I went to the local mall to grab some lunch. We ate some sushi, steak sandwhiches, and some Japanese curry noodles. Then, it was off to Daddy's work we go.

Daddy's buddies at work have been wanting to see our precious baby Erik so we packed up Van and went downtown. He missed his normal afternoon nap so he was very very cranky BUT Mommy prepared a secret weapon....called EXTRA MILK! Erik did just fine as he chowed down on a whopping 4 oz bottle of milk. Then, he was ready to greet Daddy's friends: Angelique, Emily, Grace, Mike, Teresa, and Sarah. He even drooled a bit on Emily and nibbled on Grace's shirt. Sigh! Can't take Erik anywhere ;-). Then it was time for home and he just totally zonked out during the car ride home.

It's June --- our little guy is a little over 12lbs 10oz

Mommies Group

posted by Mommy
Yesterday was Erik's first outing to the local Mommies Group. I first joined the group when I was still pregnant with Erik and haven't had time to go after Erik was born. However, I decided that it was time for me to go again and see how all the other mommies were doing.

There were about 30 mommies and babies together in the group. Grandma Katy tagged along too but she felt shy and chose not to join in the group but waited outside in the waiting room and studied her DMV tests instead :-).

Erik slept through almost the entire group but only woke up for a feeding. His eyes were bright and alert knowing that he wasn't home and he heard lots of babies in the room. However, he went about his business of eating and then quickly falling back asleep. :-)

After the group meeting, it was time for a "Grandma, Mommy & Me" lunch at the local mall. We stopped at the food court, chow down quick, and Mommy was even able to do a little light shopping and got some Godiva chocolates to bring home to Daddy. All in all, it was a good outing!

Erik the Yellow