Isaac's New Skill

Some Videos!

8 months!

Above: Isaac lives up to his dinosaur nickname.

Welcome to the 8 month update, chock full of videos which I can't figure how to include in this post.

The videos above are (I can only figure out how to post one at a time):
1) Isaac the city boy discovering grass for the first time
2) Isaac learning the life skill of flushing (now we just need to get potty trained and learn how to wash our hands after touching the toilet)
3) Isaac eagerly dropping his toy and going after a keyboard

So in January, we went to Florida for the wedding of our friends, Diana and Jim. It was Isaac's first flight, and he slept through most of it. He can't wait to go back- he met Pooh and Tigger, went swimming in a pool and saw the ocean for the first time.



Isaac was extremely proud of himself when he was able to pull up on his crib railing and stand. I got this shot right after it happened (7 mos).

Spring is here on Roosevelt Island and the cherry blossoms are blooming! Reminds us of DC without all the insane crowds. This was our first run around the island as a family using the jogging stroller that Dan extensively researched and picked out way back when Isaac was a mere lima bean in the womb.



Other assorted pictures from the past few months.

See you next time!

Half a Year!!

So we have crossed the 6 month mark, hurrah! And so much has happened.....

Let's start with the world of eating. We started with some rice cereal at around five months. After tasting it, he made a face, it all dribbled out of his month, and then he opened his mouth up for more. Not a bad intro to food if you ask me.


Learning what to do with your tongue to push the food back is a big accomplishment. Here we are eating bananas (and yes, I mean "we" because whatever Isaac doesn't finish, I eat! And I actually have a new found appreciation for pureed food)


Here we are having a meal with our friend Hudson who is sitting safely in the Bumbo on the ground. (Hudson is 7 months and crawling so it is a feat for him to stay put.)


Speaking of Hudson, the boys celebrated their first New Year's together (we actually made it to midnight!). Here's a pic of them wearing their New Year's hats. This pic makes Isaac look the same size as Hudson when in reality, Hudson could crush Isaac.

Isaac and Matthias still hang out and now they can "play" together by grabbing at whatever toy the other one has. It's quite funny.


We had a little half-year birthday party for Isaac, Matthias, Hudson and Riley who were all born June-July.


Isaac also made his first trip to Boston to meet Carolina Maria Florez, the daughter of our dear friends, Jose and Lucia. She was born in October, and is an answer to lots of prayers. She is just beautiful and perfect in every way.


We also had Isaac's dedication at church on February 10th. It was a time for us to celebrate the gift that Isaac is to us and to ask God's help in raising him. It's also a way for us invite the support of family, friends and church in raising Isaac.


Lastly, Isaac is starting to really move. He can roll back and forth. And he not only moves backwards and around in circles (like he did for a long while), but now he can move forward! It doesn't look like what you think crawling is, watching it is like seeing a series of many uncoordinated movements that somehow propel him forward.
See the photos documenting his progression towards the toys.



As a side note, this Doctor Mama made her TV debut on the NYC CBS station for two medical news stories this week. Here are the links to them; be prepared to laugh. Good thing for makeup, the interview happened after a night where Isaac woke up every two hours. (Also, the fabulous office is not mine; we filmed it in the medical director's. My office looks more like a typical exam room.)

Questions Women Ask Their Doctors

Artificial Sweeteners

If the links don't work, the websites are:
http://wcbstv.com/video/?id=109282@wcbs.dayport.com
http://wcbstv.com/video/?id=109238@wcbs.dayport.com

Merry Christmas: 5 months!

You probably noticed that Isaac's fourth month update is absent. As you may know, the Number 4 is bad luck in Chinese culture because 4 sounds very similar to "die". Often when people go to a restaurant with a party of 4 they will tell the maitre'd that they have "3 plus 1" instead of "4".

That would be a great reason if I were superstitious. But the truth is, I just got busy and the blog kept getting postponed. So now we have a 4 and 5 month update.

Here's the quick summary for those of you who want to skip the details: Isaac is bigger and more mobile.

Isaac loves bathtime! Here's a pic after the reverie- see contentment written all over his face?


He can lift his head pretty well now and actually plays with toys now! He's a busy boy now with his hands, with a penchant for swiping at our plates during dinner.




Speaking of dinner, below is a picture of Isaac joining us for a dinner one night when he wouldn't let us put him down. This is a BUMBO seat that he is sitting in. It was recently recalled for new safety instructions (i.e., do not use unattended, on a bed or a chair) because kids had been injured through falls off it. As one friend said, "They should recall the parents." NOTE: Isaac was continually supervised while sitting on our table.




Since I started back at work 3 days in November, Isaac has a nanny that comes to watch him those days. Bo is great at getting him to take naps and she sings a lot to him in Chinese.


Over Thanksgiving we went back to Arlington, VA so we could see family/friends and introduce Isaac to them. He did great on the trip down since we drove during his bedtime, but was not so pleased with the very slow 7 hour trip back to NYC which started Sunday afternoon.

Here are pics of the visit with friends- a few are pics not from the visit (including one of a "blowout" for those of you who have never witnessed one)



Here are pics of Thanksgiving day with Dan's family. Isaac got to meet his second cousin, Samantha, from whom he has inherited A LOT of great stuff.


Unfortunately, Isaac got a cold early December which developed into bronchiolitis which was quite scary for us. He was wheezing, coughing and having a hard time breathing. Thankfully, our pediatrician saw us after hours and loaned us a nebulizer to use overnight, saving us a trip to the ER. Here's a pic of him wearing the nebulizer mask.


My parents and sister came in December and we celebrated my mom's 60th birthday. Of course, everyone was really here to see Isaac.




Isaac continues to explore NYC, including one really late night in the subway where we waited and waited for the train. At least I got a few good shots.




Finally, Isaac still hangs out with his buds, Mathias and Hudson (though from the pics they really dislike sharing a seat with each other).


And amidst all the boys in our baby group, there's also this cute girl named Riley. See the boys looking at her already, could be trouble ahead...

Baby Snowflake!

Three Months

I know some of you are expecting an announcement that Isaac has 3 chins now. Sorry to disappoint. Actually, the picture of the double chin really exagerated the extra chin. Some folks were surprised when they actually saw Isaac in person; they said he was much bigger in pictures. Yes, he's larger than life in the blog.

Highlights from this month:
Trip
We took a weekend trip away- our first overnighter with Isaac. We went to the Hudson River Valley to see the leaves changing colors. Isaac was really great in the car (it has the effect of instant snooze on him). Having a baby makes you travel at a different pace. We found ourselves just absorbing the scenery while parked in various places so he could nurse.



Halloween!
Isaac had three outfits for Halloween. A few of them I got in Taiwan at a nightmarket when I was 24 weeks pregnant. I couldn't help it, they were so cute.
He was a bunny, dragon and a Milch Cow. (Milch is the result of bad Taiwanese spelling)





I Spy....
He really likes to look at objects now. This is a pic of him looking at his wall while getting changed.


3 Amigos
He's had many a play date with Hudson and Matthias now. They have a ball being together in their own little worlds.



Going to work with Mom
Here are pics from one of our visits to Mom's clinic. He was chatty the whole time. He loved all the attention from the ladies.


Tummy Time
My neck is getting stronger!!



Car trunk changing table:
He may consider this a low point but we thought it was quite smart. The car trunk is great because it's a flat surface for changing.




Daddy Dinosaur reading to baby dinosaur

Two Months, Two Chins

On September 28th, Isaac celebrated his 2 month birthday while his Auntie May celebrated her 30th birthday.

Isaac's acquired a handsome double chin which requires extra special cleaning to prevent any smelly surprises. Yes, I know, this picture makes my son look like Buddha and he won't like me when he's older for posting it. But it highlights the chins which I'm sure can represent good fortune in the Chinese culture, as everything else seems to.


Here is one of his favorite positions, especially when he's gassy. Dan likes being able to lift weights while surfing the web.


I like the color orange and hence, Isaac gets to wear orange. Dan thinks it makes him look like a highway prison worker. But here you see, it actally makes him look like a pumpkin.


Our friend Meekers has a dog named Bear. Somehow we came up with the rule that Bear could come over once Isaac matched her weight of 9 pounds. Isaac has done so and now they're great friends. You can decide from the pictures of the faceoff whether he's as long as Bear.




This is Dad's idea of swaddling when it's 2 am and all our swaddling blankets are in the wash. (If you can't tell what's happening here; his pajama arms are tied up-- this lasted a whole 5 minutes before he wriggled free)


And here is Isaac with an older woman, Koryn. Koryn and Isaac's parents are currently in negotiations for an arranged marriage. Renata and I decided it make our lives so much easier in the future.


So maybe he's not ready for marriage yet. Especially not when I see this picture of him in the pouch. He loves his pouch. He's just happy sitting in it watching the world go by, and when he gets sleepy, we just tuck him in for a nap. I love this picture. I think we'll hold onto him for a while.


Here is the slideshow from the past few weeks. Enjoy.

(You can manually scroll to go faster. And here's the link if you don't have flash: http://picasaweb.google.com/suwang8/910Weeks)