Interview with Kiki

Hubby and I took our little goddaughter out shopping for her birthday gift and cake. We had a small chat in our car:

Move back to Vancouver already!

Ali at 8 months

What??? Ali is turning 8 months! Where did all that time go?? Oh my previous maternity leave, I would hate for you to go away so so soon. Another 5 more months and I have to go back to work. Boy, I don't think I am quite ready for that - marking, making up tests, prepping all the new courses, yelling at students...

Time to do a quick recap and see how much my little tofu princess has grown.

1. Zzzzz.....

Ali is doing really well in terms of sleep. She usually takes 3 naps a day and sleeps from 9 pm to 8/9 am. She doesn't wake up too much at night, which is just great. I told my friend's friend at a birthday party and she started cursing. Well, maybe not at me, but at the fact that she has not slept undisturbed in the night for the last 8 years. Yes, EIGHT years!!! Her two girls love to wake up in the middle of the night wanting mommy. Whenever I hear these kind of comments, I really am thankful that I have such a good baby. I have been told that I will not be able to have a restful night for eternity (until the kids are much older), but so far Ali has treated her parents quite well. She has been a very good, independent sleeper since 3-months!

2. Size

My baby is definitely no longer a Michelin girl, but she is not skinny either. Ali is as heavy as a big sack of rice (18 lb). She is quite long for her age tho, growing out of her 12-18 mos sleepers (maybe her brand is smaller than the others??) Every time I go to a playgroup or a playdate, people always commented on how long she is. I guess that's a good thing. I just hope that she won't be too tall because that would be a little freaky. Whenever I go out with my brothers and their friends (they are all 5 ft 11 in and up), I feel like a hobbit. Seriously, I hope she won't be super tall, average height would be just fine!

3. Books

Ali loves books!!!!! She loves to be read to, flipping the pages, looking at the pictures and of course, licking them! Her favourite books are Play, Go away Big green monster and Llama, Llama red pajama.

4. Food

We tried feeding Ali rice cereal around 5 months. She broke out in hives and because of her eczema, we were asked to stop feeding her solids until 7 months. In the last month, she has tried rice and barley cereal (don't like them too much), carrots, squash, green beans and sweet potatoes. We still have a bit of catch up to do (considering her friends had tried way more stuff than she does), but so far she is eating quite well.

5. Teeth

Yup, those precious pearls are finally surfacing. And my breastfeeding nightmares have also commenced. Ali loves to bite. I have been trying really hard to discourage her from doing that (like saying no firmly) and I am pretty sure she knows she is not supposed to do that. But I guess it must be hard for her to control herself when she is half asleep while she nurses. Man, every time I nurse her, I am so scared that she will chomp down on my boob that I watch her like a hawk to make sure she is sucking and not ready to chomp. It's like playing slap jack.

Baby started drooling like crazy around 3-4 months (I have to change her bib 10 times a day) and after a few painful months, the drooling is much easier to handle (maybe 4 bibs a day?) once the bottom two teeth broke through the gums. She has been pretty cranky the past few days and I can see there are more lower teeth coming out. What happened to the top ones, baby?

6. Baby eczema

By the dermatologist's orders, we have to bathe Ali every night before we put her eczema ointment on. She is doing loads better. Most of the eczema cleared up nicely, except on her body, where it is still extremely dry and bumpy. We were asked to put the Glaxal base cream on hold and use hydrocortisone as a moisturizer. Sad, isn't it? Sometimes, she will have drool rash around her face too. Poor little Ali!

7. Mobility

So far, Ali can sit by herself...sometimes. Actually, that's not true. When we are at home, she is not very good at sitting by herself, but when are at the playgroup, she can sit VERY WELL by herself. I don't know if it's peer pressure or learning from other kids or just too distracted looking at other babies, Ali seems to be content doing tummy time and sit by herself for a long stretch of time when we go out. In other words, she is a super lazy baby and smart in a way (since she knows mommy will be there to help her).

Ali doing leg-ups in the morning:

Uncle Ming and his Coca Cola

Uncle Ming loves his Coke and he likes to share it with little kids. Don't believe me? Just read on! We went to a Chinese restaurant with his family and this is what I witnessed.

Ali sitting comfortably in Uncle Ming's lap:

Ali: (thinking...I want that red can...I want it).

Andrew: (thinking...I wonder if Dad would let me take a sip of the Cola...mmm...How can I persuade him? hmmm....)

Ali: Psssst....Great-Uncle, can you pass me the can of Coke over there? Please?

Ming: Yeah, sure. Just don't tell your mama, okay? She will yell at me.

Ali: Okay, no problem.

Ming: Ali, just look, okay? Don't drink it! What a good little girl.

Ali: Woooooo.....coool!!!!!!!!!

Ming: Crap, your mom is looking at us. Ali, quickly put it down. Do it now!

Ali: Wooooo. Look at the colour.....so cool.

Uncle Ming quickly put the can back on the table and shove the baby back to her mommy, trying to pretend nothing happened. Shortly after, this is what I saw when I looked over. He is trying to give Andrew some Cola!!!

Point proven! Uncle Ming, you are a Coca-Cola monster!

Our new babygroup - ASK

A few babies wanted to do a get-together play date. This is the youngest one of the bunch, Kaley (aka Ms. Michelin).

Baby in the middle is our little Ali (aka Ms. Pouty)

The oldest is Sammy (aka Ms. Energizer Bunny)

The three girls hanging out. Sammy is too mobile for the exersaucer, rocker or the jumper. The other two, however, just enjoyed bouncing around in the exersaucer!

K: Mama said 1+1 = 3.

A: That's not true.

S: What are you guys fighting about?

K: Look, my mommy said 1+1 = 3. I have 1 mama and 1 dada and that make the three of us, see?

A: Sammy, you tell her, you tell her that 1+1 is 2! YOU TELL HER!

S: Uhhh.... Mommy!!!!!!

The three of them had an amazing time and so did the mommies! We should do this again soon!

Dancing Princess Tofu

You can dance, you can jive, having the time of your life

See that girl, watch that scene, dig in the dancing tofu!! Woo Woo...

Oh sorry. I didn't know that you are watching. Ummm...hi, my name is Tofu princess. Today, I would like to show you how to be a cool dancer like me. Are you ready?

Put your hands together. Woot woot!!

Bring your right hand up and the left hand down...Da, da, da, da, da....

Now switch...you can pretend to look up to look more cool...Da, da, da, da, da....

Whew...so tired. Hope you enjoy my dance as much as I do. Thanks for watching everyone!

Hanging out with the Coldhams

The Coldhams came to visit and they brought us some homemade blackberry jam! YUMMM!!"Uncle Ron, what are you doing? You look funny."

"Mommy, he is a little funny..."

but I like Auntie Maria, she is koo...l

All smiles

Ali's kai mama has complained about no smiley pictures of Ali. That's quite true. Our little girl does like to smile sometimes (she is pouty most of the time), but she doesn't do that in front of our camera. Whenever you take out the camera, she is so fascinated and focused on it that she wouldn't smile. What a weird baby. Here are a few moments when she is actually smiling.

When she is on a rocker, she is usually pretty happy but she doesn't usually smile like this. The reason she is smiling is because dada is on the other side doing some stupid moves to make her laugh.

Again, the reason she is smiling is because mama is doing a silly dance.

Alison does like us kissing her - thank goodness!

Ali's superpower

Ali's grandpa is quite peculiar. Whenever we had him over for dinner, he is usually the first one out the door. He does not like to make conversations - well, at least he is not the type that will initiate one. I mean, not that he doesn't like company, but he likes his routine, ie. TV, newspaper and books, way more. Anyways, the reason I am writing this is to illustrate how much he has changed so much since Ali was born.

During dinner, he would constantly "chat" with Ali. Grandpa would make funny faces (which I have no recollection of...at all! I don't even know if he has done that for me when I was little) to make Ali laugh. He would respond to her coos and giggles. Normally, he would be the first one to finish the meal, but when Ali is around, he is last one to finish his food. Mind you, he only eats very little food, but it takes him three times longer to finish his plate. Amazing. He wouldn't even want to leave. He wants to stay and chat and play with Ali while we run around trying to do some house chores. If you have never met my dad, you would think this is no big deal. But if you know my dad, oh my, this is just incredible. I mean, we are talking about someone who doesn't even want to go to his daughter's wedding. Little Ali is going to be soooo spoiled!!

Grandpa "talking" to Ali:

"Have you heard? Canada won 14 gold medals. Isn't that something, Ali?"

Grandpa and granddaughter:

They got the same smile - no teeth! LOL =)