Accenture Reunion

Hubby missed his ex-coworkers from Accenture. All his buddies are having kids! We decided to do a quick take out lunch at our place so that the little ones would get a chance to meet each other. We had a total of 6 kids at our house!!! SIX!!!!!!! Three years ago, I would be so scared that I would probably lock myself in the room (kai mama can vouch for that!) Three years later, I am all good!! Kids?? Babies?? Bring it on!

A happy reunion picture (excluding Howie, sorry, you left too early!!)

Daddy and Ali saying bye to her new friends:

Allison and Alison:
Aunt Kelly and cute Megan (Why is Uncle Anthony hiding?? Is he camera shy??)

Allison trying out the Bumbo chair. I think she really enjoyed it.

The lovely Taylor posing for our camera man:

The shy Nolan hiding from Taylor. "There are so many girls!!!!!" said Nolan.

The experienced daddy, Po, seemed so at ease with two girls (Amelia and Ali) in his arms.

It was a super fun playdate/luncheon. We should do that again soon!

Now I am crying, now I am not

Ali likes to be held...A LOT. Here is what happened when I put her down in her Bumbo chair.

I tried to calm her by talking to her, singing to her, giving her a toy, but nothing works! So I busted my camera out, and...

She immediately stopped crying. Look at those drops of tears still visible on her face.

"Alright, I will pose with my toys for you. Look at me, I am so cute. See, mommy, I am not crying. I am such a good girl."

"Why are you taking away the camera??? I am gonna cry now."

"Oh wait, the camera is back! I am not crying. I am a good baby. Keep on taking pictures of me, mama!"

"Back to work - bang, bang, bang.....yippeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Dinner with Nathalie and Lauryn

Now that we are parents, I found that we made a stronger effort to go out with other families who have children as well. A friend of ours came back with her little girl to YVR to visit. We thought we could do a small get-together with the girls.

Bertha with the girls - Lauryn, Ali and Nathalie:

Nathalie is super shy and started crying pretty much as soon as she woke up from her nap!! Lauryn, however, is super outgoing. She loves to play with babies and she was really looking forward to play with Ali the whole day. Her mom told us that Lauryn made her dad pretend that he is Ali so that she can play with "the baby". What a cute girl!!

Lauryn saying hi to our little tofu:

Lauryn showing off her little teeth:

Daddies with their daughters:
All in all, it was a really fun night!! We should do that again soon!!

Dermatologist appointment

So we went to see the dermatologist at Children's. The doctor prescribed some stronger ointments for her eczema and she is suspecting that baby is allergic to certain foods and also it might be genetic as her daddy and uncle both had skin problems. She said it is fairly common as 1 in 5 children develop eczema as well. We need to go back for a follow up in 2-3 weeks time and she is fairly confident that Ali will be 90% better. I hope so too. But the sad thing is this stupid eczema comes and goes, so while she is better one day, the next day it might take a dive again. Pretty darn annoying.

When we went to ER last week, the doctor suspected it might be her drool mixed with the food and it dripped down her neck causing this allergic reaction or that she has a food allergy. He suggested us to put a bit of the rice cereal on her forearm and see. We did that and she was fine. I don't know what's wrong with our little one. Anyways, the dermatologist suggested she should only start on solids when her skin gets better. I was hoping to enroll her in an infant swimming class too, but she axed that as well. *sigh*

Here are a couple of picture of Ali, butt naked, literally. These are taken two weeks back when her eczema was really, really bad. Look at her neck and shoulder area.

The diaper velcro areas are super red. Seriously, if people did not know that she has eczema, they would probably think we spank her (sides) repeatedly at home. Poor baby!

Baby's first solids

Time flies. It is time for Ali to try eating solids!! We were all so hyped about this special event that we taped the whole process. Because the file is too big, I'll put it up some other time.

Ali was very interested in trying out new foods. Her very first food is rice cereal. She would take a small spoonful and chew it a bit and then spit it back out. It was a really messy process, but I think she had a lot of fun (and so did the parents!).

Daddy setting up her high chair:

Taking one of her first bites:

Look at me and my messy face!

On the third night that Ali tried rice cereal, she had an allergic reaction. Her chin and neck were all swollen and red with white bumps (hives?). We were so terrified and worried that it might her breathing might be restricted that we rushed to the ER. By the time we get to see the doctor (after 45 min), the redness has subsided already. Thank goodness! We will stop the solid foods adventure and will resume as soon as get a green light from the doc. Did I mention that Ali finally get to see a dermatologist at Children's this week?? (Finally!!!)

More greeting cards

Ali's kai mama sends out many cards throughout the year. I thought I could return the favour by making her a few handmade greeting cards (since I can't knit or sew). In the past two weeks, I have been working on a few designs.

Here are a few birthday cards.

Thank you cards:

I got the designs for the above from here.

And a couple of random ones:

Put them into good use, Ali's kai mama!

Christmas 2009

Watch Ali grow!

Baby Ali has grown quite a bit in the past little while and is slowing learning about the different parts of her body. It is a lot of fun watching her play and explore various things on her own.

Ali started to get better when doing tummy time. It is funny to watch her face plant onto the change pad when she gets tired...hahha:

Little Ali playing with her feet:


Baby had a bacterial infection on her skin and she was on oral antibiotics for a whole week. At first, she absolutely hated it, spitting it out and started crying. After administering the medicine a few times, she started to like it...A LOT. Watch her suck on the oral syringe ever so willingly:


Ali loves to look at her reflection in the mirror. When I wash her face and head in the morning, she would get very excited and start to play with her own reflections:


Another favorite past-time of Ali's is blowing raspberries. She can do this for hours! I hope this phase will not last too long as my face is often covered with her spit.

Things that I have learned from our little adventure in foggy town

1. Never ordered panini in the morning. Warming up the panini machine takes a long time.

2. Garmin does not work that great when it is a super sunny day. The glare may cause one to take the wrong EXITS!!

3. Putting a nursing pillow in a black garbage bag running around the airport is not a good idea. People will see you as some kind of hobo. A clear one might be a better choice.

4. When doing self check-in, do not print ticket receipts more than once even though the paper is free.

5. Do not attempt to carry the baby in the car seat when going through security. Baby must be taken out of the car seat first.

6. Ticket receipt looks exactly the same as the boarding pass. See point #4.

7. Being the last person to board (when the gate is already closed) is highly embarrassing. Everyone will be staring at you. See the point below.

8. Know what gate check is. When a flight attendant starts to use sign language to explain something, others will probably think you are retarded.

2009

2009 is a very special year for us. There are so many things that our family is grateful and thankful for.

HEALTH:

I have had a relatively easy pregnancy. Only 1 week of morning sickness. Not much trouble besides the fact that I was put on a low fat and low sugar diet in the third trimester. Labour was not too bad (I was expecting to be in pain for 5 days. Yes, I am very pessimistic!) and recovery was relatively speedy.

Baby is healthy. No extra limbs and everything is normal. Except her skin problems, everything seems to be okay. Before she was born, we were worried sick about her health, so so worried about the things that could go wrong. We are extremely lucky to have a beautiful and healthy baby girl.

Anders had appendicitis and recovered nicely. He has been told by the doctor that his appendix actually burst and fortunately, instead of spraying across the abdomen, it resealed itself. By the time they removed his appendix, it was seriously inflamed. We are so so lucky that they caught it just in time!

FAMILY:

My family has not gathered in the same city at the same time for five years. I was ecstatic to see everyone and hang out with them (although the time we spent together was way too short!!). It is nice to have a new addition to our family. Everyone moves up a step in the family tree. It is still surreal to think that I am a mother now and that I have a daughter. It is a very bizarre (but sweet) to see that adorable little baby - Alison, was just a tiny embryo a year ago! And look at her now! A good healthy 16 pounder!

Anders's, Ali's and my extended family has grown as well. We now have two adorable "godchildren" - Kira and Hayden. Ali has two wonderful "godparents" - Yetta and Brett, plus a big sister Kiki and big brother Hayhay!

Ali's kai mama:

Kai mama is trying to sleep with baby in her arms, while kai baba just chillax watching the two:

Ali's big bro:
Ali's big sister:

Tackled by my beautiful and sweet little kiki:

while Anders read to the calm little Hayden:

FRIENDS:

We are so blessed to have so many great and caring friends! My coworkers have been exceptionally supportive too throughout my pregnancy and after Ali was born. So many people have come to visit us and not to mention the number of gifts that Ali has received since birth! Thank you so much everyone for spoiling us and our little baby girl!

A few of our friends have had babies as well. Congratulations to each and everyone of you!! It is very nice to have friends who are going through the same phase as we do and that we can support each other along the way. Happy babies who are also born in 2009 include Trevor (Emily & Simon), Samantha (Wendy & Darryl), Nicole (Joanna & Ewen), Allison (Anita & Anthony) and Kaley (Michele & Jason). BFFs, baby!

Trevor

Sammy

Nicole

Allison

Kaley

Alison, Anders and I would like to wish everyone a very happy, healthy and prosperous 2010. May the year ahead be filled with joy, health, wealth and happiness!