Nursing blues

I love nursing my babies, I really do.  Once you got over the first three weeks of pain (and of course you have to get the proper latch), breastfeeding is really enjoyable.  It is something that only I can do and provide for my baby.  How cool is that?  And of course, seeing the little one getting all milk drunk in your arms is just priceless.  And all the better if you have a good eater, seeing them growing bigger and bigger each day just warms your heart.  

So when Nate was not nursing well and I started to have pains, I was so so confused and shocked.  Why? Really?  Okay, his bottom teeth came out when he was 4 months old.  Everything was good.  When he was about 5 months, he started to bite me.  Ouch!  Even then, I got it figured out (although it was a pretty painful experience).  But blood?  Really?  Are you kidding me?  What the heck?!  I went to the doctor and called the nurse line and read everything I can (btw, how did people survive without google back in the days?), I realized that his top teeth might be coming out and he was just so uncomfortable that he was doing a shallow latch.  And that was NOT GOOD.  

I had to change to different nursing positions and it got a bit better, still painful, but I could somewhat tolerate the pain.  Hubby and a few friends suggested to wean him off, but I wasn't ready.  Nate does not like bottles (totally my fault) so how can he survive?  People kept on telling me they would figure it out, but I just couldn't do it to him.  I already felt super guilty not spending as much quality time as I did with his big sister and now, I had to cut him off?  Well, turns out perseverance is the key and when the wounds finally healed and his top teeth finally cut though the gums, things were back to normal again.

And then there is the introduction of solids.  Sigh.  Man, why is feeding have to be so hard?  Nate is not a good eater.  He only nurses the bare minimum.  Seriously, sometimes, just a few gulps and he would call it a day.  He is distracted so so easily.  We tried a few different solids and he was just not too interested.  After fighting with him for over a month, I decided to ask hubby to take over instead.  He is a bit more aggressive (totally an understatement) than I am.  He would shove the spoon in his mouth, turn it 90 degrees to pry it open and then push the food in.  I was horrified, but I was surprised he didn't really cry that much (at least not as much as he was with me and I didn't even push that hard).  After 3 days, he started to enjoy the solids a bit more.  At least he would open up his mouth and not cry bloody murder anymore.

To all the moms out there, hang in there!  The difficult phase will soon pass!

Playdate with Isla and Sebastian

Playdates are now an integral part of my life.  Ali really enjoys spending time with her friends and we really enjoy other parents' company.  It's a win-win!  We invited them over for brunch and look at the number of  eggs we had there!!  

The two girls enjoying storytime (or really, just look and find) with daddy:

The boy just want to read Thomas on his own.

The parents (and baby Nate) enjoyed (mostly) uninterrupted conversations, snacking away.

The three musketeers playing together.

Ali sneaking in a kiss with her Sebastian: 

It was pretty tough taking this picture as all the kids were all dying to get off the ottoman.  It's so cute seeing the kids growing up together!

 

Thanks again for coming over and play with us!!!  We will have to organize another playdate soon!

Happy Father's Day!

Father's Day started with a pleasant surprise.  A little elf (my sister-in-law) dropped off three big breakfasts for us!  Yum!!  Because it's father's day, daddy got to sleep in a bit and Ali served him breakfast in bed.

Daddy was super surprised and couldn't stop laughing when he saw Ali with the tray.  What a treat!  

And to top it off, he got a nice book from the little elf, a card from the two kids and a fancy scrapbook too!

Our friend raved about how good the lobster sashimi is at one of the Japanese restaurants nearby, so I took the family there.  So delicious!!!!  And after you finished with the sashimi, they will cook the lobster in the miso soup and udon!  Oh gosh!  So awesome!  Daddy was very very happy that day!  Thanks Angela for bringing us breakfasts (and the book too)!

Mommy/Daddy's Day breakfast

All the Mommies and Daddies were invited to Ali's daycare/preschool for a mother's/father's day breakfast last week.  It was really nice to meet the other parents from her class and chat with the teachers as well.

This would be a nice family shot if only my girl would look at the camera.  

One of Ali's friends is leaving for Texas soon.  She is going to miss you, Colby!

After breakfast, the teachers arranged a special performance from the JK1 class.  The kids sang a few songs for us and it was SUPER cute seeing the kids sing and dance together.  It suddenly dawned on me why Ali was hitting her head with her fist at home.  I thought she was being silly and I had to tell her not to hit herself on the head!  And now I know...it's one of her dance moves!  What do you know?!

I couldn't believe how much my little girl has changed in the past year.  Being a mom is so tiring, but it is definitely worth the work, time and effort!  I love you Ali, good job!

Gym class

Ali has been attending gymnastics classes for awhile now.  The whole idea of enrolling her in gymnastics is to help improve her coordination skills and I believe...it's working!  She is a bit (just a bit) more coordinated and is more willing to try (to a certain extent) more physical type of play.  

Here is the slope for her to practice somersaults.

Trampoline jumping time!

This is one of the few things I am really impressed with - Monkey bars!  Yup, Ali is now able to lift herself up and swing on a bar (for a very short time).  Quite an improvement compared to before. 

Crawling through the tunnel on the balance beam.  

 

At first, I could not tell whether she liked her gym classes or not.  Ali started doing weird moves a few weeks ago.  My hubby and I couldn't figure out what she was doing at first and then it clicked for me.  She was trying to teach us the different coordination poses she learned in her gym class!  (You can probably guess it must be pretty bad since it took me quite some time to figure that out!)  LOL.  Now if she can be a bit less clumsy...

Brunch with the cousins

Babies, babies, babies!  One of my hubby's cousins is giving birth soon and we thought it might be a good idea to do a small get together before the little one arrives.  Ali kept her aunts and uncles busy, showing off her toys and enlisting them to her role plays.

Baby Nate and Baby Dominic hanging out.

 

 Ali the doctor taking care of her "patients".

Emperor Edmund and Empress Andria were very excited to hold the baby.

Baby Nate chilling with his pretty aunts:

Our two kids had so much fun.  Thanks so much for coming over and play with them.  After everyone left, Ali decided to take a nap with her baby brother...in his crib!  Just kidding.  She just wanted to hang out in his bed for once.  The two are just so adorable together!