the beginning of my car's Golden Years in NYC

This is what Chuperman woke-up to before going to work.
Poor hapless Altima parked behind our car:





our car:



Lexus in front of us also sustained damage to hood and bumper. our bumper got scuffed up but our hood was fine. however, front license plate holder sustained a little tear.

Chuperman thought i was going to shed some tears when I saw the damage to my car. Please, give me some credit... I've recently become less attached to material things... seriously, I'm quite down to earth! (ok ppl are snickering at this point).. anyway, all i could say was "German steel". both cars behind and in front of my car are japanese. Enough said. :P


So anyway, welcome to our life in crazy NYC. As you can see, NYC drivers are flippin' out of control. I bet you anything the driver was totally sober too - just a pure moron. sigh..

I know, we are totally lucky that the damage was minor and most importantly no one was hurt!! Thank God.

We usually park our car in a garage. But since it's a pain to actually get to our car (think massive iron gates that we have to manually open, then walk 50yards, and manually open garage - then do opposite when backing out), lately Chuperman has been parking on the street since he uses the car almost everyday to go to work. Chuperman usually bikes to work, but it's been freezing lately.

This is to the moron who crashed into a row of parked cars in front of our building - totaling an Altima,damaged our SUV and Lexus in front of our car:



That's right. Even an infant can detect an ultimate moron. haha.. kidding,this photo was taken a few wks back.

Well, at least NYC has awesome comfort food to make up for the chaos of daily life:

Lucali's - cute romantic pizzeria near our place!!



Nyonya - Malaysian cuisine in brooklyn chinatown (close to chuperman's hospital). this is where we went on our recent lunch date... literally walked there, got seated quickly, ordered quickly, ate quickly (prob spent no more than 30 mins in restaurant), then chuperman had to go back to work haha



Burger Joint - hole in wall hidden behind red velvet curtains at swanky Le Parker Meridien Hotel in Midtown East




ginberbread house contest at Le Parker Meridien:







Lobby of Le Parker Meridien:



Life in the city is absolutely insane but despite the daily chaos, we're loving the food and excitement that keeps us going:)

Parisian macaroons in the Slope!! =D

I finally had a chance to explore our neighborhood after over 3 months of living here! haha. I am sooOOoo happy to announce that today, while meandering through Park Slope (aka "the Slope"), I stumbled upon TWO hidden European bakeries that serve *MACAROONS*.

Almondine Bakery
I was with my girlfriend and I fortuitously spotted Almondine Bakery while walking down a row of brownstones. It was a super late lunch/early dinner/snack (at 4pm haha). I quickly ordered a ham/emmental quiche, black currant macaroon, and a rocher (giant hazelnut truffle.. kind of like ferrero rocher but bigger and badder).

The quiche was delicious -- tasted just like what we had in Paris! In fact, the pastry chef and cashier checker are French - that is authentic enough for me:P It was so tasty that I had to get a slice for Chuperman to try as well. He loved it. Unfortunately, Chuperman has come down with a nasty cold. He has been coughing and coughing and coughing... hope he gets better ASAP, esp since my parents are flying in tomorrow night for Thxgiving!

So back to Almondine... the black currant macaroon was delightful. Ok, wasn't as good as say La Duree of Paris but really good for it being a different continent. My friend got the lemon macaroon and she loved it.

The rocher was insane. Hard to pick out of the 3, what my favorite snack was haha... life is rough..

So I felt pretty guilty after a calorie-laden splurge of a snack... so to make myself feel better, I traversed the brownstone lined streets of Park Slope, wondering (not wishing tho) what it would be like to live in a brownstone. Even though living in a brownstone is the ultimate dream that many new yorkers share, especially in Park Slope - coming from OC, I just can't see myself living in a brownstone, indefinitely, with kids and a car. Don't get me wrong, I love the beautiful historic architecture and the charm of old new york brownstones, but I just can't stomach all of those stairs up to the front door. With a double stroller or carrying bags and bags of groceries, this would be a nightmare. Also, brownstones don't typically come with attached garages. So, you pay like $5M (especially if you renovate - im making up the figure, but u get the idea) for a brownstone and you still have to park your car on the street, that's IF you can find a parking spot. I really don't think that's worth it. That is why car service is very popular for brownstoners. Also, I heard that some brownstoners also have butlers! now that is old school.

Zana Cafe
SO anyway, walking back home I stumbled upon yet another bakery that serves macaroons!! This one is totally under the radar. They don't even have a website nor is it yelp-reviewed. Enter "Zana Cafe". Apparently, Zana Cafe was a result of a bitter divorce. A couple that had a Parisian bakery in the Slope got divorced, then the wife went and opened Zana Cafe. So the bottom line is that Zana cafe has MACAROONS! And they are quite tasty as well. I also got a few dark choc lacey almond cookies and a fudge walnut brownie. In all fairness, I was thirsty and got a diet ginger ale to counteract my ridiculous sweet-tooth hahaa... I should really go back and take pix of this place and be the first to post on yelp!!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!! May you and your loved ones be blessed abundantly during this Thanksgiving.

...in Brooklyn and alive!

this post is still alive.. (though barely).... it's easier for us to post pix on fbook;)

I cannot believe that it's been almost 3 mos since we moved to NYC. It has been an absolute blur. Life is rather hectic on a daily basis - trying to juggle 2 babies, maintaining the apt, and part-time work from home - but super fun when we're able to get out of the apt and explore the city.

Living in NYC is a nice change of pace from OC. I really appreciate how much of NYC is authentic, original, and historic. I feel like ppl here are more "real", not saying that OC peeps are unreal - but the general feeling is that ppl in NYC are more "raw", natural, ambitious, and are survivors in the city that im deeming " city of the survival of the fittest". I feel like OC peeps are overall more into aesthetics and definitely more laid-back.

The Kids. We essentially moved when Micah was just 9 wks old and Jacob was 20 mos. Fortunately Micah has been sleeping through the night and is better at sleeping during the day. The thing is with Micah is that he ALWAYS spits up after each feeding, which equates to endless laundry and endless mopping. As much as I love Jacob, I can't even begin to tell you how difficult he's been behaving around us and when we go out. Can we say TERRIBLE TWO'S and he's not even 2 yet. Poor big brother - he's been teething big time, adjusting to big bro role, adjusting to apt living, and switching nannies. It's a lot of change for jacob but he has fun whenever we're out and about in the city. Overall, we're embracing the change and glad to be here =D

A few things that I'm diggin' in the city:

* GOOD EATS: awesome food that seems to be everywhere. so far i've been lucky enough to eat/hang out in the east village, soho, chelsea, flatiron, park slope, midtown, etc etc.. in fact, two of our fave restaurants are located right in our neighborhood! a colombian restaurant and an italian restaurant -- yummz
* open air markets/street fairs
* endless places to go with or without the kids... we've taken the kids to a few of ny's most bad-ass parks like Central Park and Prospect Park, also the New York Aquarium at coney island....next up, Children's Museum..
* the 4 seasons (hotel).. haha i wish.. i love the fall here and can't wait to see jacob play in the snow! i went to umich for college and endured 4 long harsh winters...
* convenient to meet up with friends here since NYC really ain't that big. luckily i have college friends and other friends that live in the city. pretty much, NYC is like a giant playground for me (when i can manage to get out of the house).
* walkable city: i dont have to hop into my car as much. so far, i've walked to the optometrist and pediacian's office -- super convenient

A few things that rub me the wrong way:
* broken glass on sidewalks - during the first wk within our move here, i took jacob on a stroll wearing flip flops and felt a prick on the bottom of my right foot, knew it was glass, and luckily didn't step all the way down! it wasn't a big deal but still.. i've even seen broken glass at the playground!! grrr...
* grocery shopping ain't so great here. i have to drive through ghetto brooklyn to get groceries at Fairway, which is actually a pretty nice grocery store in it of itself. It's a hybrid of Trader Joe's/Whole Foods/Berkeley Bowl. i try to limit my outtings for errands. plus, the produce here is subpar compared to CA. fruits and veggies cost 50% more.
* grumpy east coast ppl.. not a lot of ppl here are friendly. occasionally i'd get a "hello" or "hi". well after living here for almost 3 months, i can see why ppl ain't so friendly. the city isn't the easiest place to live, especially New york city. the trains can be slow, ppl can be rude, ppl are always in a rush, there's always a long que for something, it's tough to run errands, driving here is insane, traffic on the bridges gets dicey, etc.

A few things that I miss about Cali and the suburbs!:

* S P A C E --> SQ FOOTAGE!!! when both babies are screaming, i want to just cry but can't b/c im so beat and calloused. our apt is modern and new, but is small and echo-ey.. which brings me to my next pt..

* CARPET. i miss stepping on carpet. it's all about wood floors in the city, which is fine. but i also miss my carpet. carpet is not only soft on feet but also helps to absorb a lot of noise. get's pretty frickin loud in here between 7-8:30pm, coincidentally during the bebes bedtime. im pretty sure our floormates can appreciate all the craziness.

* ATTACHED Garage. lugging groceries between our car which is parked in a separate garage 3 doors up is a big pain. i have to use a dolley to go back and forth. did i mention to get to the garage i have to manually open these big side-by-sde iron gates, walk 20 yards, then manually open the garage with my hands?! and we PAY extra for this. i know, im such a suburban princess. the alternative is street parking, but then we'd have to deal with double sided street cleaning. meaning, we'd have to repark the car a few times a week. i dont' think so.

* Parking lots. it's the city - what can u expect, there are none in manhattan unless u want to pay like $10/hr or something. although, on wkends manhattan has free street parking:) during the first month, i was too scared of taking the subways for fear i'd get lost haha.. so i actually drove into the city, which is much more challenging haha. but hey, i prefer to drive. however, now that im okie with taking the train - it's not too bad.
we live in brooklyn, which is a considered a "suburban" borough compared to manhattan. it still requires strategic planning when going out, esp with the bebes.

It can be pretty darn humbling and daunting living in the city with 2 babies. It's such a drastic lifestyle change for me. It really makes me realize what I had in OC is completely fantasy for most ppl. I had absolutely nothing to complain about in OC. I was well insulated by my family from the real world.

I think God had us relocate to the city for a reason: so i can finally grow-up, experience the real world outside of my wonderful bubble in OC, and finally stand on my 2 feet - without the coddling from my parents. The umbillical cord has officially been cut!

Park Slope Mother's Group
Fortunately, I've been blessed with a good network of friends here. Most of them are old college buddies but I've also gotten around to joining a mother's group. It's a small mother's group with day care. So it's great that I can take Jacob for his weekly playgroup while fellowshippin' with other neighborhood moms going through the same stuff. Wonderful group of moms btw. All very smart, tough, and caring.

We are reading Authentic Parenting in a Postmodern Culture by Mary E. Demuth.

I really like this particular chapter titled "A Haven".

"How do we create a haven where we protect our children from the snares of our current culture?"

1)Let kindness reign: parenthood is a balance of both kindness and truth tempered by grace. kind words make a haven. kind words welcome repentence and relationship. avoid harsh words.

2) Welcome hard questions. Jacob doesn't even know how to make a phrase yet - so i'll wait until he can complete a sentence to welcome any hard questions haha.

3) Be There: spending quality time with kids and being available to them. this one seems kind of obvious but hard to do if the mom has to work full-time, etc.

4) Limit media: for me, it's easy to put jacob in front of the tube to buy some time. i think an hr a day should be okie. sometimes i really an hour to feed micah, clean up, or eat.

5) Play Outside: going to the park, camping, hiking, fishing, biking, walking , skating -- all these activities connect us to each other and help us to experience God in a shared encounter.

6) Weep & Rejoice: parents should strive to dress our children's hurts with bandages of attentive empathy while celebrating our children's victories.

7) Cherish childhood: Through toddler tantrums and being covered in Micah's spit up most of the day, I told Chuperman that no matter how hard it gets with the kids, that I'm going to savor each day with them. maybe not the whole day but at least part of the day. There have been a few times during the past few wks where i just completely hit a wall and had it with living here. I really miss how easy everything was in Cali. But then I realized that this is just a phase. It will get better as the kids get a lil older. I just have to stick it out.
So back to cherishing childhood -- It's a great feeling to watch Jacob gleefully run through a bed of fall leaves and to see Micah coo and smile at me with those chubby cheeks of his.
Motherhood has definitely been challenging for me these past few months, especially in the city, but I'm trying to cherish their childhood as much as I can.

22 months Jacob

not quite 5 months old Micah. 18lbs!

8) Read: read to your kids! i try to read to them whenever I can. it's usually during bedtime or naptime. and as they get older im gonna have them read good books. good books teach lessons, not by preaching buy by unveiling a well-told story.

9) Laugh hard - but not at another's expense.

10) Practice God's presence. living life joyfully, even doing the most mundane things like washing dishes.

hope everyone is doing well!! and sorry for being MIA!!

Bday wkend rehash

Big Night with the girls:
First we prepartied a lil bit with a bottle of champagne at Toro's pad in westLA:

(champagne with haribo raspberries)

Then we set out for dinner at Raku .. and drank more hehee
(2 flasks of sake: one was dry and other was sweet - altho to me it all started to blend together) hahaa

The food at Raku was super yummy.
middle dish is mountain potato with sea urchin

high recommended Clam udon!! this was AMAZING

yummy boston crm pie cake! love the flowers!

we headed out to Ma Kai after dinner and had a buncha drinks.. some of us got sick (not me actually! haha) altho i did have a lot to drink considering that i thought my tolerance was ZERO. i think the key was that i paced myself this year hahaaa.
this is what i had to drink: glass of champagne, lotsa sake, some kind of martini, 2 shots of SoCo and lime, Long Island, and 1/2 rum'n'coke (i donated other 1/2 to toro who has highest tolerance out of all of us) haha... GOOD TIMES and gosh, my tolerance is pretty high (maybe b/c i have a higher BMI right now)!

When we got home at like 2am, Toro fried up the most scrumptious potstickers. A big night out cannot be complete without a midnight snack!

Brunch at celeb hang out Shutters in santa monica.. right on the beach!


view from my seat at our table. aww damnit.. im gonna miss cali SO MUCH! so hard to move away from this! :( :(

Toro & toronto inside The Coast (1 of 2 restaurants in Shutters)

on top of each ordering our own entree - we also shared fish'n'chips for an app... we were in total starvation mode!

celeb hang out... DWIGHT from the Office is to the left of my head haha... looks totally normal in person and not as repulsive looking as he is on TV. he was brunchin' with his family.
we also spotted Dylan McDermott (Practice).. who looks better in person as well. he definitely has that star quality.

After a big night of boozing, dancing, and good times with the girls, and then brunch the next day (afternoon), even tho i was beat to a pulp - i still took jacob to disneyland!! After giving birth for the 2nd time, I had this goal of taking to JAcob to DL on my bday. I promised him and myself I would take him - so i just pressed on! I only took a few pix since taking jacob to DL by myself was quite challenging given that i was somewhat hung over haha.

this was taken at disney store in downtown disney. if he gets really antsy, we give him a toothbrush to keep him entertained hahaa

Overall, the wkend was SUPER fun and just what I needed. Disneyland definitely put me over. There were a few moments at DL when it was supercrowded and Jacob didn't want to sit in the stroller, then i had to carry him.. where it felt like I was going to die from exhaustion and claustrophobia (dude, it was frickin crowded last night) haha.

The good news is that Jacob learned how to hold hands at Disneyland last. night I held his hand and dragged him from It's a Small world down to buzz light year without stopping!

And at the Spectrum today, i forgot the stroller and so i made him walk from parking structure to Cheesecake Factory - hand-in-hand. This is a break through for him! Good training for airport and NYC.

We continued the bday celebrations with Tyler and his parents at Chzcake factory. Tyler (almost 3 yrs old) sang Happy Birthday to "Auntie Shell".. it was soo cute!!

Okay, I'm freakin beat! g'night y'all!

First 6 wks with 2 babies!

WARNING: FRICKIN LOOONG POST

Boy o boy has it been crazy! (sorry for the lack of posts but now that everyone is on fbook, i feel that it's just easier to upload pix and videos rather than writing this blog haha, but i figure I should really keep up with this journal to chronicle this intense life stage).. moving fwd...

I can't believe I gave birth just 6.5 wks ago to another baby! I was driving back from an unsatisfactory visit to the hair salon (stylist couldn't follow simple directions and now my bangs are too short..boo) and was thinking "i can't believe i'm a mother of TWO kids!" Everything seems to be happening so fast. And now my whole life will be completedly uprooted to the urban jungle that is NYC in just 2.5 wks! Excited? YES! Nervous? EXTREMELY.

For starters, I am really nervous for the 5 hr plane ride with J&M. It will be their first plane ride. Jacob has the attention span of a fly and is still too young to be reasoned with. I am trying to train him to watch the DVD player so we're not chasing him around the plane. I'm going to bring new toys which I'm 100% positive will end up being chucked on the floor within a minute or two. oi... i have a headache just thinking of the plane ride. Good thing Chuperman will have to deal with Jacob as I have my hands full with Micah. I know how mean ppl can be to mothers with babies on planes. I think we've all seen it or experienced it. I'm going to try my best to tune everyone out (rudeness, looks of horror, etc).

While our apt is brand new, it's quite small for a family of four. We're talking 840 sq ft. Chuperman's pix on fbook are very nice, but quite frankly, make our apt look deceptively spacious. It's only 2 bedrooms and they're side-by-side. Meaning, if one baby cries, he might wake the other baby in the next room... Even in my parent's spacious home, just yesterday, Micah was crying and woke JAcob from his nap. Jacob was PISSED off and was screaming and crying... oi... God help me perservere through the next few years of insanity. I know I can do it -- I just need to tough it out.

I'm looking for a baby-sitter/ live-out nanny. Yes, I know - many moms take care of 2 babies without much help. Well, everyone is different. I need help with Jacob. Especially since Micah can easily take 2 straight hours of my time for cluster feeds, diaper changes, cleaning up his spit up, etc.. very difficult to oversee Jacob in times like this, especially since Jacob can be so clingy and needy too, he still cannot fully feed himself, and really needs 100% supervision when he is awake since he is so rambunctious. I cannot hold both of them at the same time if they're both crying.

Yesterday, I had Micah in the stroller and Jacob almost pushed the stroller over - TWICE! And today, Jacob was shaking Micah's playpen with Micah sleeping in it.

I wish Jacob could learn to hold hands and to stand still. I think we're gonna have to get him a monkey-on-his-back backpack leash, which will prob last 5 mins haha.

Hopefully I can find a good sitter so that I can freely run errands and get things done without 2 babies attached to me in NYC!

30-Day Chinese Confinement: Boy am I'm glad this is over! For the first month after giving birth to Micah, I pretty much stayed home all day long except to go out for doctor appts. Micah also had jaundice and was sent to the NICU for phototherapy for 24+ hrs. It was super hard on me to be away from my baby AND with Chuperman gone. During those 24 hrs the baby blues hit me hard. I cried and cried and cried so hard that I could barely open my eyes. Even the NICU nurse noticed my puffy eyes. She knew that I was sad to be away from my baby, but she didn't know that I was also sad b.c my hubby wasn't around either. Once Micah got discharged, the baby blues quickly retreated as fast as it came. I was fine when I was able to bring Micah back home. Gosh, really wasn't expecting to completely meltdown while Micah was in the NICU. I'm positive it was the friggin' hormones doing their thang! Stupid hormones!

Anyway, in terms of recovery after birth, 2nd time is a cinch! Compared to the first time around, I had relatively no pain. The nurses were even surprised that I had no pain and felt fine after birth. And my energy level came back pretty fast! I even had enough energy to take Jacob to a bunch of bday parties, showers, and outings during the first 30 days. I still need to give Jacob undivided attention without Micah to make Jacob feel special and loved. I think Jacob can be jealous of Micah at times and definitely misses Chuperdaddy. It's a tough time for Jacob too so I try to spend quality one-on-one time with him everyday (in between Micah's feedings).

What is Micah like? So far, my 2nd son is in general more laid-back than Jacob was at this stage. His cries aren't as ear-piercing or urgent, although he does have fussy spells that can last an hour at a time. Micah is a big feeder just like Jacob. I have less milk this time around b/c in the beginning I had the nanny help with feedings at night so that I could rest, which kind of jacked up my supply since I was too tired in the middle of night to pump:/ But after much effort to eat more nutritious foods, drink more soymilk, my milk supply is back up and I still have a slight surplus. I currently have about 4 or 5 gallon freezer bags of milk in the freezer (takes up more than 1/2 of freezer). The last time I had so much milk that I had to purchase a deep freezer that sits in the garage! I'm less inclined to pump as much this time simply b/c our freezer in our new apt is TINY. Where are we going to store ice cream and dumplings if the freezer is jampacked with Micah's milk?!

So back to Micah, I think he drinks like 5-6 oz at each feeding which I believe is quite a lot for a 6.5wk old. The only thing that is kind of annoying is that he spits up after each feeding, prob b/c of my oversupply. Hopefully Micah will grow out of this as it adds to more laundry.

Micah has slept through the night twice already starting this past week! He slept from 11pm-6:45am one night, and the next night he slept from 11:30pm-7:45am! Last night was 2:20am - 9:20am... we're talking 7-8hrs between feedings -not bad stretches! He still wakes up in the middle of night, but I just pat him down and give him a pacifier;) Oh, I think Micah is addicted to the soothie. JAcob was not. With Jacob, I had more patience to go without a pacificer. It's definitely soo much easier with a pacifier. Saves a lot of times. I just hope Micah grows out of it SOON so he's not too dependent on it.

Oh wow, this is what happens when I don't post on a regular basis -- my post is out-of-control SUPER long. This is a frickin saga of a post. Congrats if anyone read down this far!! I'll try to post on a more regular basis.. sheesh! It's so hard to keep up between fbook, email, and this blog:P

Have a good wkend y'all!

I'm turning 31 on Sunday.. booo!! Chuperman won't be here to celebrate.. booooo!!! Although to kind of make up for his absence, he sent me abuncha beautiful roses today =D

Welcome Baby Micah!!

So, I ain't preggo any more - woohoo! We made it! After much effort to self-induce - we succeeded and met our goal of having Chuperman meet Micah before Chuperman left THIS very morning to head out to NYC for residency. Good thing Micah was delivered 7 days ago so that Chuperman could meet Chuperbebe #2 and have a few days to bond together. Phew!

*WARNING: SLIGHTLY GRAPHIC MATERIAL*

Tiramesu's L&D experience of #2 Chuperbebe:

Let's get to a timeline. Last Tuesday, I felt very desperate and frustrated that I wasn't feeling any real contractions, afterall, we obviously wanted Chuperman to be at the birth before he flew off to NY. So I decided to do JUMPING JACKS. Yup, I did about 30 jumping jacks to help kick-start contractions.

And sure enough later on that night at 2:45AM, Wednesday, June 17, Chuperman and I heard a loud snap or twang - really sounded like someone plucking a violin string "D" note to be exact, to signify that my water broke! I quickly waddled to the bathroom and changed into Depends (hahaa). Since I have a history of having my water break out of nowhere, I thought I'd better be prepared this time and sure enough these senior citizen diapers were quite useful. Especially on the car -ride to the hospital where water kept on gushing out! I also had 2 beachtowels layed out beforehand on the passenger seat for this very reason.

After my water broke, I immediately started to feel very queasy, but excited and happy that God answered our prayers of having our baby's birth day come early!. Contractions at 4-5 minute intervals took over the next few hours until about 5am where I quickly broke down and got an epidural, which btw, HURT this time. The anestheiologist used a courser more old school way of injected me with anestheia - she pumped 5 different installments into my back - i felt each one of the installments - each one had an acute/burning sensation (ouch!). Luckily shortly after the epidural was administered I was able to breath happily...

Pre-epidural words to Chuperman:

Stop talking, don't touch me, I hate you right now!

Post-epidural words to Chuperman:

I'm soo glad you're here (and not in NY). I love you.

At 6am, I was ready to push but we were waiting for the OB to get to the hospital. My OB finally got to the hospital at around 6:45am. The doc instructed an unassuming Chuperman to gown up, wear a mask/ face shield, and deliver our baby! Chuperman was caught off guard I think b/c he was ready with his big SLR to take pix of the action. Instead, he had to put down his camera and he actually delivered the baby! Chuperman helped to rotate Micah's head and pull out the body, then hand him off to me! But the downside was that no pix were taken of him delivering the baby b/c my mom didn't know how to switch from video to still photo on my point on shoot.

So after a few pushes, Micah came into the world, all 8 lbs 5 oz and 20", at 7:18am, Wednesday, June 17, 2009!

Because my L&D was so quick, my contractions were actually pushing Micah out without me having to push. Thus unfortunately, Micah sustained some bruising and hemorrhaging in his eyes. His skin is normalizing as we speak, although he has a lil bit of jaundice - so I have to take him to his ped tomorrow.

I also want to add that the anestheiologist shot me up with too much pain medication. I couldn't feel any pressure while I was pushing, thus making it hard to push. I liked my anestheiologist for Jacob's delivery MUCH better. He injected my epidural in a slower, less painful manner, and I could feel the pressure during pushing, thus making it easier to push.

We are elated that Micah's birth day came early so that Micah and Chuperman could meet each other! We feel so blessed with our new bundle of joy. Even though nursing a newborn is quite laborious (and is kicking my butt), looking into Micah's face is like falling in love again. :)

So far Micah is a pretty good feeder and sleeper for a 7 day old newborn. He sleeps every 1.5 - 5 hours. Micah let mommy and daddy "sleep-in" on Father's day which was nice of him. Micah's version of letting us sleep-in on Saturday night were feeding at 9:15pm, midnight, 5am, 9:30am. Each feeding takes me an hour (sometimes 1.5hrs including clean-up, etc) b/c Micah is still sleepy, then of course diaper changes, and I also have to pump since I have an oversupply of milk again, then wash all the pumping apparatus.

The 2nd time around of L&D overall was MUCH EASIER than the 1st time around for me. Even recovery is a lot swifter this time around. I can see how other mom's can have multiple kids. It does get easier, but tricky with a toddler around.

HAPPY FATHER's DAY CHUPERMAN! You're the BEST DAD in the WHOLE WORLD!!

In the middle of the night, Chuperman would still help me with changing Micah's diaper, burping, swaddling, and comforting our new baby even though he was tired from packing and from Jacob being ultra clingy to him. Thanks Chuperman for being our hero!




Welcome home Micah! Thank you Micah and thank you God for having your birth day land on a perfect day and according to mommy and daddy's crazy schedule!

still preggo!

I'm roughly 38 wks now and despite my efforts to self-induce, no real contractions yet, just a series of Braxton Hicks. According to an U/S last Friday, #2 baby already weights 7lb 15oz. Usually these tech's are wrong at estimating the weight - let's hope she's wrong again.

Second time around, we didn't really get a chance to document my pregnancy. We can barely keep afloat with pix of Jacob. I have gained about the same weight +/- 1 lb but my family has politely told me that I look way bigger than the 1st time around haha. With Jacob I gained most of my weight during the last trimester, whereas with this pregnancy I gained most of my weight during the 1st and 2nd trimester. If I hadn't walked all over Paris and NYC, I probably would be at least 10 lbs heavier haha.

This is a group shot of all the kiddies at Lana's 2nd Birthday party from a week ago.




At Jacob's 2nd wedding yesterday! Leland and Vera's wedding at Newport Beach Marriott. Flower girl trying to kiss Jacob but jacob would run away haha:


Jacob's last music class for the quarter. Holding his "go go":


And... CONGRATS to ERIC & FUNG (my bro-in-law and long-time g/f turned fiancee!)! After 9 years, Eric proposed to Fung at the Montage on Saturday. Chuperman, Jacob, and I helped to stage the proposal - it was super fun. I've never seen a proposal firsthand. It was really really sweet to see this proposal and to see Eric take the next step! We're SO HAPPY for Eric & GORGEOUS Fung! I couldn't have asked for a sweeter future sis-in-law!!

quite possibly any day now?!.. and DL pix of J + J;)

As of this morning, at 36 wks and 1 day - I'm already 1-2 cm dilated and 60-70% effaced. My OB thinks I'll have the baby by next week - Woohoo! With Chuperman flying out to NYC for residency on June 23, my main goal until then is to give birth to #2 bebe while Chuperman is still here!! Wish us luck!

I'm officially moving 8-18!

Pix from DL and a playdate with Joey!

...and the adventures continue!

It has been insane since I last posted. I must say that international travel and cross-country trips crammed in the 3rd trimester of housing a baby is probably not recommended. Even though I'm somewhat athletic and pretty energetic, I was definitely pushing myself. At 31wks and 33wks, to Paris and NYC respectively, I got poor sleep and walked-up too many flights of stairs, especially in the Metro and the NY subways. I had to negotiate with CHuperman on a daily basis to take cabs:P
Despite waddling around town with my inflated belly/ 30 extra lbs on my hips, we had a great time in Paris and did what we had to do in NY, which was to secure housing.
The good news is that my weight has somewhat plateaued as I have only gained 2 lbs in the last 4 wks due to all the traveling and walking.

Somewhere in between our trips to Paris and NYC, we celebrated mother's day, attended chuperman's reception, graduation, hosted a friend for a few days, attended a raging party in Santa Monica, and started packing for our move to NYC! PHEW.

It feels GREAT to be home where I can finally relax and then gear up for BIRTH and then the MOVE to NYC!

I'm happy to be posting some pix finally!!!

(these pix are going backwards starting from NYC)

Two nights ago, enjoying a Japanese inspired dessert at Kyotofu in Hell's Kitchen (Manhattan). Warm mochi chocolate cake with creme Anglaise in shotglass paired with their recommended port-like sake. To the right is a sample of their mocha/white sesame swirl soft soymilk ice cream. We should have just gone here for dinner too since they serve some yummy tapas style japanese food. KYOTOFU is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.





Bar Americain, Mid-town Manhattan. I think the general rule of thumb is that while Bobby Flay has some kick-ass BBQ recipes (Chuperman has made the best chimichurri rib-eye steaks from bobby flay), Bobby's restaurants Mesa Grill and Bar Americain are rather mediocre. We ordered the pork chops and lamb chops at Bar Americain, and both we're so tough that we could hardly cut through the meat with steak knives. However, the littleneck clam and sweet potato chowder was amazing. I would not recommend Bar Americain for food, but rather for drinks, as they have a nice looking and spacious bar.












I haven't updated on Jacob in awhile! He is now 16 1/2 mos and doing well! Jacob is learning how to communicate through simple words. His vocab is building by the week it seems.
Jacob's vocab:
Mandarin: go-go (doggie), na na (milk/bottle/cup), baba (daddy), mama (self explanatory), dada (he prefers chuperman over me), hua hua (flowers), ah-gong (grandpa), ah-ma (grandma), ah-yi (nanny), yi - er (1, 2), wa wa (stuft animal)
English: ball, more (to tell me to give him more food), okay, alright, rock, hi, bye, baby (when I point to my belly he says baby:P )
I think he knows more words but I don't remember all of them right now. He understands quite a bit more of course but I'm vocalizing these thoughts will come soon.
Feeding:
Jacob has been skillful with the sippy cup since he was 13 mos old and can feed himself with a spoon and even a fork with assistance for the past month. He also likes using straw cups. Although the nanny likes to spoonfeed him still, whenever Chuperman or I feed him, we have Jacob practice feeding himself in which he does quite well in my (biased)opinion for being so young! Feeding himself is a messy scene but worth the clean-up.
Demeanor:
Jacob is getting more rambunctious and opinionated. Combine that with his myriad of food allergies - we were afraid to take him on our recent trips, esp with me being in my 3rd trimester. We missed him SO much, esp towards the end of each trip but it's better that he stayed home.
Jacob is a friendly kid. He says and waves HI and BYE to EVERYONE haha. He likes hanging out with other kids, especially boys and is intrigued by babies since I think it makes him feel older when he sees young babies. Hopefully, he won't be too jealous when he meets his younger sibling in the next 2-4 wks!

Music class with parachute activity:



Congratulations Doctor Chuperman! We made it through an eventful 4 yrs. The next 3 yrs will be just as eventful if not more insane. Even though it's a rough path and I complain a lot, I know I'm very lucky and blessed overall. =D
















Mother's Day at Banana Boat! Jacob loves his toast!















Everything ends on a sweet note:
Angelina's in Paris (across from the Louvre). Pictured is a mont blanc dessert + hot sipping chocolate = LETHAL. I almost went into a coma after having a few sips of Angelina's famous hot cocoa. Couple that with a few bites of their other famous dessert, mont blanc, which is chestnut puree on top of meringue. Luckily I SHARED this with my friend. Good thing Chuperman was out exploring and taking pix of Paris on foot, he would have been disgusted by our lil high tea session. The hot cocoa is NOT recommended unless you're an extreme chocoholic. It's like sipping watered down hot fudge. I prefer my hot cocoa au lait style or american style - with milk! The mont blanc is DEFINITELY recommended. It actually wasn't too sweet and pairs well with Ceylon tea.

Cancun canceled - Paris here we come!

Chuperman and I are taking a vacay to Paris! We changed our travels plans from Cancun to Paris just yesterday due to the swine flu outbreak. Originally, we wanted to take Jacob with us but lately he's been more of a handful when we take him out and is wearing down even Chuperman. I'm about 30 wks pregnant - so enough said. So, Jacob is just gonna have to sit this one out. We'll miss him so much but it's better (for everyone) that he stays home with grandma&grandpa. He wouldn't remember going on a trip at his age anyway and it would be torture for us to take him on the plane and tote him around romantic Paris.

We're leaving in less than 48 hrs to Paris and staying for 7 nights - woohoo!!! I am SO excited to be immersed in the beautiful parisian culture. My college friend so happens to live in Paris - it'll be fun traveling around Paris with a local.

If we're ambitious enough - we might take a day excursion outside of Paris. Bootie suggested that we go to Champagne Valley which is only an hour away. Since I can't drink - it'll suck for me, but maybe i'll have a few sips anyway (boy do i really need it) haha.

The Big Apple!!!

Sorry for the delay! I only had time to quickly post on facebook before i dashed off to take JAcob to his tumbling class.

At10am, with our hearts pounding wildly, we checked and saw what we've been waiting for and what Chuperman has prophesied in his dream last night. This is what we saw:

Match Results: Congratulations, you have matched!
Pgm Code: 1428110C0
Emergency Medicine
Maimonides Med Ctr-NY

Both Chuperman and I had a gut feeling we'd end up in the Big Apple. I will be toughened up for sure living city slicker style in NYC. On the otherhand, perhaps I can bring with me some sunshine and warmth to all the hardened souls in NYC. Notorious for my happy-go-lucky giggling and attitude, I'm going to count on my sense of humor to get me through the rest of the year.

Surprisingly, I'm pretty neutral with the match. I didn't cry or anything. I was just relieved that we didn't match to PA or CT! If it's anywhere in the EC, i'd want to live in the Big Apple - hands down.

Now on to our next step: looking for housing and figuring out what to do with our furniture. We have to figure out how much it'll cost to move our furniture out there or probably just buy furniture out there.

After we come back from our fam vacay to Cancun in late April, Chuperman and I will make a separate trip out to NYC in May to look for housing!


Girl Scout cookies!!
My order of GS cookies were finally delivered from a GS mom coming from Balboa to my doorstep just minutes after finding out that we matched to the Big Apple. It's already going fast hahahaaa. Oh how I love my peanut butter tagalong sandwiches and caramel delights (somoas)!

1 more day til Match Day!

Today is officially the last day of the Calm before the Storm.

The suspense is overwhelming -- Match Day is tomorrow!

Just some background on Match Day:
It has already been decided where Chuperman matches. On Monday, we found out that he did indeed match. They actually could have told us right then and there but they're making us wait another 3 days so that those who did not match can scramble for a program. Agonizing right? They already know, but why can't they just tell us earlier! Then tomorrow at 10am pacific time is going to be the big unveiling for each person's match!

In 21 hours we will find out where we'll relocate to. In 21 hours, I'm probably going to be crying out of joy or sadness/stress, or just in quiet state of shock, prob a mixture of all the above. In 21 hours, i'll prob poo in my pants like Jacob. Chuperman is taking the day off tomorrow since it's Match Day. This is a huge deal (bigger than St.Patty's day by far haha). No matter what happens, we've (i've) decided that we should take Jacob to Disneyland to blow off some steem(we gotta take advantage of chuperman's day off and the fact that im still relatively mobile). Although, we might be too frazzled to make it out to DL. We do have to take Jacob to his "tumbling for toddlers" class at 10:30am tomorrow (just mins after we find out!).

Last Plea: No matter what happens/ where we end up I pray to God that we'll be able to transition to our new city smoothly. Our new city has already been decided. It's up to me to adjust to the news tomorrow. I need to remember to keep an open mind and a positive attitude. It will no doubt be a physically & emotionally challenging ordeal for me to move to a new city, deliver #2 baby, recover from childbirth, and probably nursing a newborn, on top of caring for a toddler, without help from our families or nanny, and with Chuperman working insane hours. I pray that God give me strength to get me through the rest of the year and that I can stay sane through it all! Lord, help me to be like water and just go with the flow of life. Help me to look at the big picture at all the wonderful things in my life. Help me to be good strong mother to my babies and good wife during the next few years of transition and motherhood x's 2! Have faith in God.

Laguna Beach:
It's a gorgeous day today. 70 degrees, sunny, breezy, what more could you ask for. I'm excited to take Jacob to Laguna Beach after his nap. It would be so therapeutic to listen to the waves crashing. I wish I could get a pre-natal massage at the Montage!! Maybe mother's day? *hint hint hint* =P

Glucose Screening Test:
This morning I had the pleasure of taking a 1-hr glucose screening test. As some may recall, during the last pregnancy with Jacob I had gestational diabetes. I failed the 1 hr glucose screening test AND the 3 hr glucose tolerance test. It was a very annoying condition to have. I hope I pass this time so that I won't have to take the 3 hr glucose tolerance test.

3 more days...!

until Match Day: Chuperman and I just found out that we matched into a residency program but it won't be another 72 hrs until we find out to which program, state, & city! In a few short months, there is a big chance that we'll be relocating to a metropolis such as NYC or as local as LA or in the middle-of-nowhere-USA in central CA, PA or CT with 2 babies in tow! I know that in the grand scheme of things, relocating a family is a part of life and that really we are so blessed. A lot of people in this world don't even have running water and cannot feed their families - and I'm worried about adjusting to a new city in the good ole USA. I should be more thankful for everything that life has offered to me. Just a bit nervous that our fate for the next 3-4 yrs will be decided in 72 hrs!

If I was into biting my nails I think I'd have to get curlex to cover up any unsightly short nail beds.



Moving right along - I'm about 23 weeks pregnant, feeling pretty good overall, the nausea seems long gone, but unfortunately I've gained a few more lbs at this point compared to my 1st time around. Yikes. My mentality is totally different this time around. Given that it's still hard for me to cope that I'm indeed pregnant AGAIN during quite possibly the worst time, my discipline is pretty much out the door and I resort to eating anything and everything that is in arm's length or that I'm craving - anything that will get me through the day.

Speaking of which, I had this vivid dream that I was hanging out at the model homes of Crystal Cove trying to buy cookies from these 2 Girl Scouts haha. Random place to find girl scouts right? Maybe b/c I'd love to live in Crystal Cove one day.. HAHA.. in my dreams!! In real life, I put an on-line order in for 4 boxes of Caramel Delights (samoas), 1 box of PB Tagalong cookies, and 1 box of Thin Mints. I have been patiently waiting but seriously - Where are my GS cookies! And why don't Girl Scouts ever come to my door to solicit business anymore? I use to be a GS who sold GS cookies to my neighbors, so I feel that it is my duty to support Girl Scouts by buying their irresistible cookies haha :P

Anyway, back to some observation regarding my 2nd pregnancy.
I've noticed that being pregnant with Jacob I could feel his lil hiccups. But with #2 baby, no hiccups yet or maybe I don't notice it, but I do feel kicking and punching. It should be pretty funny to see Jacob's reaction to his new younger sibling. I think he'll be jealous if he see's Chuperdaddy holding another baby hahaha.

Jacob's 1st DL trip!

We caved and bought the Southern California Annual Passport (2nd level). I got mine with parking. The weather was a bit overcast but fortunately it did not rain. We were supposed to go to DL after Jacob's nap at around 3-ish and meet up with all sorts of friends (babies: joey, tyler, and other passport holders) but then Jacob's sleeping schedule has been soo off these past few days. I think the likely culprit is teething since he's drooling more, biting his fingers, and is having trouble getting to sleep - then we resorted to giving him baby tylenol at night (after 45 mins of straight crying). Jacob usually sleeps from 8pm-8am, then naps noon-2pm, but these past few days he hasn't been able to fall asleep until around 10:30 pm and this morning he woke up at 10am! So this totally threw off our original schedule of going at 3 since now we had this huge gap in the middle of the day. Even though Jacob had a routine going on for him, his schedule is still unpredictable especially with teething, growth spurts, etc etc.

So after we fed him and got things ready, we finally drove off to DL at around noon. We parked at a far parking lot (next time we need to find a closer one) and walked a great distance to get to the entrance. TIP TO SELF: next time im going to wear SNEAKERS for sure (today i stupidly wore sandals which gave me a blister). After standing in line to buy our annual passes we didn't get into the park until almost 1pm! ANOTHER TIP FOR FRIENDS: you can purchase these annual passes online - i knew we could do so online but it simply slipped my mind (excuse for absentmindedness: i'm pregnant:P )

We were pretty much at DL for less than 4 hours. We were able to stroll around through main street, hang out in fantasy land, then we headed to Frontierland where Chuperman agreed to go on Winnie the Pooh ride as a family. We were a bit paranoid that our Bugaboo would get stolen but thankfully nothing happened to Jacob's transportation. It was so much fun going on the ONLY ride of the day hahaa. This was Jacob's 1st amusement park ride ever and I think he liked it! He wasn't scared or anything, just gazing at everything with great curiosity haha.

After Winnie the Pooh ride, I wanted to grab a snack for myself and baby #2:P, plus it was Jacob's snack time as well. We spent a good hour at Cafe Orleans. Luckily we had a great table with a nice view of the Mark Twain steamboat,etc. We had the best parmesan fries that came with this spicy ranch sauce. I also got the french onion soup which wasn't bad although I like Vie de France better. With an annual passport you get 10% off most DL restaurants. Hey, every bit counts! :P

Then we strolled around some more and made our way up to Toon Town. However, when we got there Jacob was fast asleep in his stroller. So we decided to stroll back down to Tomorrowland to ride the monorail around the park. Couldn't find an elevator for the monorail. At this point our feet were getting tired and decided to stand in line at the Bank on Mainstreet to take our passport pictures before we left the theme park altogether.

One thing that really shocked me was that DL was still pretty crowded today! I naively thought that DL wouldn't be crowded given these economic times and cloudy weather. I really didn't think that many ppl would still be buying annual passports.

Another observation: I am probably generalizing but it looked like most visitors were from socal in which I want to guess that most of them have annual passes. I barely saw any tourists. We also saw A TON of babies (some like 3 mos old) in infant carriers, baby bjorns and strollers EVERYWHERE. One can rent a disney stroller for $12.

More tips: outside water bottles and snacks are allowed into the park. prob can get away with taking a sub-sandwich in hehe. DL charges $7 for turkey legs! I guess they're pretty big legs hehe. $3 for churros... no thx, i'll get my $1 churro at costco. there are plenty of diaper changing stations in DL -- men's is prob less crowded.

Jacob's 1st DL ride! Winnie the Pooh Ride



Fantasy Land



Overall, Jacob had a great time. He really enjoyed all the live music and live entertainment. He would clap and smile and giggle. Jacob had fun ppl watching, especially watching other kids play. On the car ride home, Jacob was "talking" and talking, and kicking his legs (equivalent to a puppy wagging its tail when happy). He especially liked it when I sang the Winnie the Pooh song to him. (warning: pls don't ask me to sing the winnie the pooh song. jacob is the only person on this planet that hopefully appreciated my attempt at singing hahaha)

Looking fwd to our next DL trip with hopefully joey! and tyler and pearson and mommy&daddy's friends.

ooooooooooh BOY

hahaa.. yes, it is true. We are having ANOTHER boy! :P I'm super excited since JAcob just loves watching other kids play and playing with them. He'll even chase other babies down in music class. Who knows if we'll be brash enough later on to try for a girl given Chuperman's crazy schedule and the chance of possibly moving coast-to-coast with multiple kids!

Actually, I already knew the sex when I had an in-house U/S done at 15wks (I am now 20 wks) so I really wasn't surprised today when I saw the lil bebe's crown jewels again, but this time more clearly. During the 15wk U/S the lil bebe was totally crossing its legs but we were able to catch a brief glimpse of the sex. Today, as soon as the U/S machine turned on - the first image was lil bebe totally spread eagle with everything showing haha like he was saying "look at me, i'm a boy!"

I get a cursory U/S from my OB every time I see him which was today. I'm having an official anatomy U/S done with a technician on Friday.

I didn't think I'd be so happy after the U/S. I think today, which is exactly half-way mark at 20 wks - is the first day during this pregnancy where I'm actually excited to be pregnant (during 1st pregnancy i was naively excited) Everyday since I found out that I got knocked up again has been filled with a mixed bag of emotions comprising of regret, self-pity, and feeling bitter haha. But now after today's U/S, I'm really excited to see how Jacob reacts to a new baby bro! I think he'd be too young to really know what's going on. I don't think he'd be jealous cuz by the time he meets his younger sibling, Jacob will still only be 18mos. We'll see tho as babies are still quite unpredictable! haha. We're going to take Jacob to see his lil bro at the U/S appt this Friday;)

DL annual passports?

... leaning towards a YES haha. I've had a surge of energy in recent weeks as I am now almost 5 months pregnant or into the coveted "honeymoon" phase of pregnancy. I feel pretty good for the first time since early November. Also, my outlook for the next year is much more optimistic. I've decided that I am going block out all of the stress until we actually know where we'll end up - then we'll be in major GO GO GO mode looking for housing, moving, preparing for 2nd baby, looking for a sitter! Getting stressed and overwhelmed now isn't going to change anything so I'm just going to focus on spending time with Jacob and Chuperman for now.

I feel happier these days as my nausea is pretty much history (except for really potent smelling meats and fish) and my energy level has picked back up to probably 75% which is better than <25% (my 1st trimester - or this time around 1st 15 or 16 weeks). I even worked out at 24hr fitness yesterday! Not a crazy work out cuz this time around I don't want to get injured again (muscle strain, not being able to walk for a few days).

So anyway, a proposed gift of Disneyland annual passports has been extended to us. I think it would be so great to take Jacob since he's relatively good whenever we go out. Yes, he's still a handful b/c he's only 1 but I think he'd enjoy the music, sights, and merriment that DL has to offer. On the otherhand, Chuperman is against taking a 1 yr old to Disneyland but frankly, I think I've exhausted all the less-expensive alternatives. In the past several weeks, we've taken Jacob to numerous beaches, Fashion Island, Spectrum, SCP, the Grove/Farmer's market in LA, and the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach. We as adults get tired of going to the same places over and over. DL is so huge and we couldn't possible cover even 1/2 the park in 1 day.

The days left in living in utopic OC are numbered for us, especially since I'll be giving birth to #2 in hopefully end of June (the earlier the better) or early July. This will probably be the last time I'll be able to spend one-on-one quality time with Jacob before I have to go through the newborn stage again. I work only part-time and have various meetings and classes scattered throughout the week, but for the most part, I'd be able to take Jacob to DL even during the week to avoid crowds. Plus, in this economy, I've heard from other passport holders that DL is not crowded, even on a saturday.

Even though Jacob won't be able to go on any adult rides and I wouldn't be able to either since I'm with child again haha -- Jacob and I would still be able to go on Winnie the Pooh, Pirates of the Carib, Haunted House, It's a Small World, Tiki Room, Dumbo, the tram, the railroad, parades, Mark Twain, shows, meet disney characters etc... Plus I heard that DL is really family friendly (obviously right?).

So, are there any other (prospective) passport holders out there? Tips, pointers?

Not a momma's boy & the kid really likes to sleep

UNmomma's boy - Jacob took his first steps 10 days ago! He still prefers to crawl most of the time but is gradually taking a few steps on his own here and there. Even before he started taking his 1st steps, Jacob would literally crawl around me to get to Chuperdaddy. Another example is when Jacob wakes up in the AM he likes to stand on his 2 feet and hold himself up against the crib rail. If I stand directly in front of him and if Chuperman stands to the side - Jacob will avoid me and side-step to get closer to his daddy. This happens every time Chuperman and I stand in front of him - it never fails!

Also, since he's been kind of walking - we have Jacob practice his walking skills by having him walk to and from daddy and mommy. In the beginning, he would walk to and from mommy and daddy. Now when he walks from daddy to mommy, he'll take a few steps to me then U-turn to walk back to daddy!! This happened like 10x's tonight. Jacob only walked to me like once and walked to daddy like 30x's. UNBELIEVABLE.



Jacob will choose Chuperman HANDS DOWN over mommy! Unbelievable given that I housed him for 9 mos, delivered him, nursed and pumped for him for a whole year, nurture his mind, body, and soul on a daily basis.... simply unfair that Chuperman takes all the credit.

Chuperman thinks Jacob's funny reaction to me is b/c "you treat Jacob like a rag doll". Admittedly, there might be some truth to this theory b/c when I'm with Jacob I'm always wrestling with him, squeezing him tight, kissing him, tickling him haha... okie I smother him:P I've been called "Aunti Elmyra" before b/c elmyra's mantra is "I just wanna love you and hold you and squeeze you" haha. Whereas Chuperman is more gentle with him and gives the kid more space.

Chuperman's way of consoling me is "maybe the 2nd one will like you better"... THANKS for that gracious comment.



14hrs - Jacob slept another 14 hrs last night. It doesn't beat his personal record but close to it. I think like a month or 2 ago he slept for 14.5 hrs straight. On top of sleeping 14 hrs last night from 8pm-10am, he still napped from 2-4pm and went to bed on time at 8pm again! Maybe he'll wake up earlier tomorrow. Jacob usually wakes up at around 8am.

Feeling better alas!!
The past 10 or so days, I've been feeling better! Most of my nausea is gone - I still have weird food aversions (like i can't eat rice but i can eat rice noodles) and I can't really feed Jacob his foods especially egg yolk and ground meats *puke*, but overall, I'm less fatigued and I feel more like myself:) Since I got some of my energy back, we were able to take him to the beach at least 4x's. We strolled around CDM, Laguna Beach, Balboa Island - Peninsula Park, and Crystal Cove. It's been a lot of fun going out with him since he's more interactive and "talkative" (as in random babbling and singing) now hehe.

Here are some pix from Joey's amazing 1st Bday party!


Mommy and Jacob -- jacob dressed up in his finest threads that day to impress birthday girl:P


Adorable piggy Joey at her 1st bday party!



the blazer is off -- happily playing together!