台灣行

這幾天大陸放假 股市不好 但我心情沒有受太多的影響
明天就要帶秉鑫回台灣了 心中某名奇妙的興奮
等了四個多月 總算盼到了這一天
還好颱風都走了
他第一次到台北 跟他阿公見面
第一次去斗六 跟他阿祖見面
第一次去台灣 他媽媽土生土長的地方
心中默默地希望他會對這土地有些認同
(好啦 我知道他還不會表達認不認同
但至少不要他討厭)
雖然台灣有它不好的地方
但畢竟是我心中的寶島
我希望秉鑫能有我愛台灣的一半心 就夠了
希望他會說台語太奢侈
每天我對他嘰哩呱啦的說國語
希望他的中文 可以至少好到可以念金庸的武俠小說就夠了
(呵呵 不能與老公討論金庸小說的情節 一直是我的遺憾
現在只能把這希望放在小寶寶身上嘍)
希望 有太多的希望
比較現實的希望是
他明天坐飛機至少可以比前次有進步

The Apple & The Tree part 2

Chamu Rolls Over, The Movie

20080923163745 - Chamu Rolls Over, The Movie, originally uploaded by Joyce and Jaime.

Floating around

20080921164848, originally uploaded by Joyce and Jaime.

Joaquin goes swimmin'!

20080921164139 - Joaquin goes swimmin', originally uploaded by Joyce and Jaime.

Dairy Scare - Part 2

So it turns out all of my colleagues' babies have been drinking milk contaminated with melamine. They are all worried to death since they have been drinking problem formula/milk for years. I myself have also been drinking some instant coffee that contains melamine and many other dairy products during my years of extensive travel in China. It's scary isn't it? Who'd thought products made by Nestle cannot be trusted. What kind of world is it when people care more about making money than other people's lives?
I always thought Jaime was overly paranoid when it comes to "Made in China" goods and the series of events unfolding seems to only prove him right. It makes me want to reconsider the prospect of having Chamu grow up in Hong Kong.

Dairy Scare

The dairy scandal in China has turned into many mommies' biggest nightmare. Each day there is more babies being diagnosed with kidney stones or kidney problem resulting from questionable formula powder. The more I read about it the more I'm scared about weaning Chamu. Even though it would be a very liberating act for me (especially after he woke up to nurse 3 times last night), maybe I can wait... In the meantime, I will need to continue to chow down a lot of rice each meal like I'm doing now (rumor has it that rice encourages milk production so I have been eating portions similar to that of construction workers)...

JoJomami in LKF

Jaime took me to LKF after having dinner with family friends. It felt so strange that I was in LKF without makeup, high heels, and tank tops. It felt as if I were walking naked. The place looked so foreign to me even though just seven years ago this is where I spent almost every evening (to dawn) partying. Most of my girlfriends are now mommies or mom to be yet the same boys we partied with still party the same. Just as I was starting to get comfortable with the loud music, spot lights and smoky air, I looked at the time and realized it was the time to go home. Cinderella's cut off time is 12 midnight, mine is 11pm when all the glitz and glamour disappears and I turn back to a breast feeding mom who needs to rush home to her sweet child...

Chamu Rolls Over

Four days before Chamu turns 4 months old (young?), he rolls over on his own. He has been trying this new found technique since last week but always got stuck when his heavy big head kept him from rolling over. We'd come to rescue when he started to fuss. Last night we decided to let him try. After being stuck for a couple of minutes, he rolled over and slowly moved his arm from underneath to front to prop his head up! He also accidentally rolled back to face up (we called it an accident since we suspect it was more of gravity pulling his head than his strength). Ever since then he has been rolling everywhere: on our bed, on his play mat, any chance he got!

Joaquin at Toys R Us 1

Joaquin at Toys R Us 1, originally uploaded by Joyce and Jaime.

First time at a toy store, first time on an activity saucer. Loved it so much, threw his first toy related tantrum when we took him off of it.

Jetlagged Boobs

I accidentally left my boobs in NYC after a whirlwind tour (not literally speaking so relax your tilted eyebrows and widened eyes).
I was only able to pump 75ml this morning and 100 ml this afternoon,which was less than half of what I can normally do each pump. This sudden dwindled milk supply got me worried. Could it be that my boobs forgot how to produce milk? or is there something I ate or did wrong? My boobs seemed to have return to their pre-pregnancy size overnight.
When I came home at 7pm and nursed Chamu, he somehow got satisfied (and he eats at least 200ml each meal now). So I guess my boobs were just jetlagged and hopefully tomorrow they will be back on Hong Kong time! Need to keep Chamu's development at above the 98th percentile!

Dai Tou Tsai!

Yesterday we went to his 4 month checkup. The nurse took his measurements and went away. Then she came back and said "I need to remeasure his head, that can't be right". She measured his head circumference again and said "ok, I guess that was right...". Off the charts!

Weight: 17 lbs (95th percentile)
Height: 66 cm (93rd percentile)
Head Circumference: 44.5 cm (98th percentile)

PS. He is only 3 months and 21 days so he would've been definitely off the charts had we done the check up at 4 months!

20080908224702 - Chamu's first game of Peekaboo

20080908224702 - Chamu's first game of Peekaboo, originally uploaded by Joyce and Jaime.

归心似箭

终于了解什么叫做归心似箭 从离开纽约 飞了将近20个小时 总算盼到了香港 一下机 我以跑百米的速度 从机场的最尾端 跑到了出口 满身大汗的上了的士 只希望我到家时 小秉鑫仍在睡梦中

I Miss Chamu

The most unbearable feeling is when you miss someone and you cannot see him. All day I have been suffering from Chamu withdrawal syndrome. I would pull out his picture on my blackberry and look at it every hour.
I just want to kiss his little lips and cute nose, hold his tiny hands, and give him a gentle squeeze.
One more day, then I will be on the plane back to Hong Kong. Still, it's hard to know that I'm still 48 hours from my cutie boy.

First Trip without Chamu

Today I leave Joaquin to go to NYC for 4 days. What used to be an very easy trip is now very complicated. I want to continue breast feeding even after the trip so that means pumping for 4 days straight (and I really hate pumping). I pumped twice on the plane. I slept for 7 hours in between, probably the best sleep I have had for the last 6 months. But in my awake hours, I just can't stop missing Chamu.
We landed at 10pm and it was past 11pm when we got to the hotel when they told us that they have no room for us and needed us to move to another hotel. It's the fashion week in NYC! The hotel we got moved to is a boutique hotel right at the park so we feel hip as we walked in. But breast feeding mothers don't stay at hip hotels so I had to beg them to find some room in their freezer to store the breast milk.
My pump then went out of battery so I had to go to the drugstore to pick up some batteries. On the way out, some dude decided to pick me up even though I was still wearing glasses carrying the airplane scent. I hurried away when he asked if I had a boyfriend (my son is older than your brain dude!)
I still miss Chamu and Dadu dearly as I lie inside the bathtub, taking the first bath in the last 12 months... Can't wait to go back to them...

Chamu's First Trip to the Peak

Chamu visited the Peak today with Tia Lauri and Tio Tim, who are visiting from the U.S. Since he can't seem to see very far yet, he enjoyed the view of the shops a lot better. He was his usual charming and cool self, getting a lot of attention from strangers!

Chamu Sleeps thru the Night - AGAIN

Chamu was a good boy, being able to sleep through the night at Month Two. Jaime and I were so happy to regain some lost sleep from Month One. Month Three, we took him to Vancouver/LA, and it marked the beginning of our sleep-deprived life, again. One week after we are back in Hong Kong, Chamu finally sleeps through the night again. He slept from 9.30pm last night to now (6.15 am) and still sleeping. I have been up since 4am since I was exhausted after the last few nights and went to sleep at 9pm last night while Jaime and our helper so graciously took over Chamu from me. The Sleeping-thru was done at a price. We wanted to put him back on schedule so didn't let Chamu nap much during the day. What Jaime had to deal with was a very grouchy groucy boy... But thankfully it worked! Let's hope we have our little contented angel back today... and let's cross our fingers and hope he continues to sleep through the night.

Bad Habits Die Hard

Joaquin has been spoiled in the last month when we were traveling: being picked up all the time, sleeping next to us and waking up at night. Despite our effort of getting him to sleep in his crib overnight (again) since our return, he keeps getting up in the middle of night. Since we had been too lazy to comfort him to go back to sleep when we were traveling, I made the mistakes of nursing him back to sleep. He now is used to sleeping with me and nurses whenever he wants. This morning, he woke up at 230am and had been sleeping with us until 7am which means all three of ended up not getting enough sleep. We need to put him back on schedule and wean his bad habits (even though I like the fact he likes to sleep next to me). Otherwise I won't be able to function at work...