New pictures added - Dec 24

I just added a bunch of new pictures from the last week! Chris' family is flying in today so I don't have time to post anything, but I wanted to get the pictures up.

Merry Christmas to you from all of us!

Pictures: December 24, 2007

Members only club

I found that after Zachary was born, I missed being pregnant (I'm sure this has a lot to do with the fact that, due to Zachary's early arrival, I didn't experience the 10th month and barely got to the point where I felt really uncomfortable). I missed my belly and how, for the first time since adolescence, I felt totally comfortable with my body. I missed the feeling of peace, contentment and fulfillment I felt, knowing that I was growing this miracle inside of me. I missed how "easy" it was to take care of this baby -- how my body fed and protected him. And I missed the smiles I got from other women, pregnant or not...how random female competitiveness had turned into comradery and support.

Now that I'm able to get out with Zachary, I'm finding that I don't have to miss all of that. Sure, I'm back to feeling insecure about my body (and then some, now that it's a post-baby body). And it's a lot more work to take care of him. But I still feel that fulfillment, knowing that this is our precious little boy. And I've found that, as long as I have Zachary with me, I'm part of this new club! I'm a mother, and all the other mothers I pass in the street or store or sit with in the Nordstrom lounge as we nurse are in the same club. And our secret handshake is a smile -- very similar to those smiles that made me feel so content when I was pregnant.

It's pretty neat.

Not quite ready for civilized society

For a little guy, Zachary sure produces some impressively loud (and rude) fang pi! Chris and I just roll our eyes while Zachary roots around under the Hooter Hider, grunting, slurping and fang pi-ing without a care in the world. We really need to work on his table manners.

New pictures added

I've added a few pictures from the past week! I also have pictures from our outings this weekend, but I think I will add those to my other blog since that is where I document our family life and events.

Pictures: December 16, 2007

I think we're alone now

Well, we're on our own now! A-mah and Opa left yesterday morning, so now it's just us. Although we have really appreciated the help and support of our families, it's kind of nice to finally have a chance to settle into our own rhythm. Now we can see how things are really going to be from now on. It's a bit intimidating, but also a bit of a relief to finally have a chance to stabilize.

I know, I know...you just want to hear about Zachary! He's doing well, don't worry. He still hasn't added much to his repertoire of skills (eating, sleeping, fussing, soiling) but he is focusing more on faces and following objects with his eyes. He does more gurgling and cooing, and his spontaneous smiles are more numerous. I think I saw a real smile this morning, but it could have been gas pains as well.

We think Zachary might have baby acid reflux. He has most of the classic symptoms, so we've been trying to keep him positioned upright as much as possible to see if that helps. We also caved in and got him a pacifier, because the sucking is supposed to help reflux babies keep the contents of their stomachs where it's supposed to be.

So far, these things seem to be working! Last night was the first night in a long time that we haven't had to spend 2+ hours trying to get him back to sleep after he wakes for his 2AM feeding. We are also borrowing a swing from Robin and Glenda, and today is the first time Zachary has fallen asleep anywhere other than in the baby carrier or in our arms! We don't actually turn the swing on because he doesn't seem to be a big fan of the motion, but he seems a lot more comfortable in the upright seat than he does when we try to put him down on his back.

The jury is still out on the pacifier. Sometimes he takes it and sucks like crazy for about two minutes, but he generally spits it out within 20 seconds. We'll see how it goes.

This weekend will be Zachary's big debut! On Saturday morning, Margaret is going to help me with my first time taking Zachary out for anything longer than a 40 minute walk around the neighborhood. We're going to actually pack a diaper bag, and maybe even try nursing in public! Margaret has offered to create a diversion while I get set up nursing since I'm not very subtle about it yet. Margaret's such a good friend and (fairy) godmother!

Saturday evening, we will head to Jen and Eric's for their Christmas party! Since we still have to be careful with people touching or holding Zachary, we will bring his Ergo and sling to carry him around. Hopefully I will be able to just wear him in the sling all night, but lately he hasn't been very happy about being in there so I'm bringing the Ergo as back-up.

Today I took my first walk with both Zachary and Cowboy! With Zachary in the Ergo, it's pretty easy for me to handle both of my boys. However, handling Zachary, Cowboy, a cup of hot tea, and a piece of quiche in a box at the same time is a bit more challenging... I'm also not quite ready to try the stroller yet. Cowboy is a little wary of it, so I'd rather that be a joint effort with Chris.

I'll post some pictures later this weekend!

5 weeks old

Zachary is five weeks old today! I've posted several new pictures from the past week

5 weeks old

Zachary is five weeks old today! We've spent the last couple days starting to get ready for Zachary's first Christmas -- buying a tree, putting up lights, setting up a life-sized twinkling snowman on our porch (after all, what would Christmas be without a life-sized twinkling snowman?). We've also taken a couple walks around the neighborhood with Zachary in the Ergo carrier. He seems to really like it and falls asleep immediately. We even went to the Pathway of Lights at Greenlake and stopped by Thuy and Fernando's Christmas cocktail party for a few minutes, and Zachary didn't stir once (in spite of the freezing temperatures)!

I'm trying to figure out how I will manage both blogs (mama's blog and this one) because I don't want them to be redundant. I suppose I will merge them eventually, but for now I'll keep them separate. This one will be about Zachary only and I'll start updating the other one with more general posts, such as our Christmas celebrations, visitors, events, etc.

I've added a new set of pictures from the past week. Zachary just gets more and more handsome! I hope that I can catch one of his smiles on camera soon -- it's precious.

Pictures: December 9, 2007

The answer to life, the universe and everything...

...is also the percentage increase of weight that our little Zachary has accomplished since coming home from the hospital!

For those of you who aren't geeks like me and haven't read "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" by Douglas Adams (and therefore have probably not painted a mural from it on a friend's wall during college), the answer is "42". And that is how much weight Zachary has increased in the last 4 weeks: an additional 42%! He is now 6lbs 14oz (he was 4lbs 13oz when we took him to his first check-up). He's almost the size of an average newborn! He's gained 14 oz in the past 10 days . This is really great, especially since we've stopped supplementing him and are doing only on-demand nursing. And boy, is he demanding. But we're glad he is, because we want him to gain weight as quickly as he can! Right now he's only in the 3rd percentile for weight (and 10th percentile for both length and head circumference -- 20.25" and 36 cm, respectively), but the doctor said he'll catch up eventually.

We also discovered that Zachary has the typical birth marks of both sides of his heritage! Not only does he have a "Mongolian spot" (occurs in 90-100% of Asian babies) on the right side of his lower back and bottom, but he also has a tiny little "stork bite" (occurs in most Caucasian babies) on the back of his neck. Way to be an equal opportunity baby.

Zachary spends his days doing pretty much the same things he's been doing for the past month -- nursing, sleeping, and soiling diapers. He has some awake times, but they don't last very long unless it happens to be 2 AM. Then he's ready to party (i.e. fuss and cry) all night long.

He has started to make more noises in addition to his usual grunts and squeaks, and he can hold his head up and turn it from side to side when he's on his belly. He does a little half grin and almost-smile spontaneously, and we are really looking forward to his "real" smile because we can see already that he's going to be a charmer! Also, his little water pistol trick is starting to backfire on him now -- twice he's squirted on his own head. But even that doesn't deter him. He's a crafty one, and every diaper change is an adventure!

Today is Zachary's first Nikolaustag (St. Nicholas Day -- a German holiday) and he woke up to find a crib full of Weihnachten Schokolade (Christmas chocolates) and a new piggy Tannenbaum ornament. Mama and Daddy will celebrate with A-mah and Opa this evening with some Lebkuchen and Glühwein, and Zachary can enjoy his chocolates second-hand via Mama over the next several weeks.

We're getting close to the time when he will be released from his house arrest, but the doctor told us today that we still need to be careful with him. Zachary's immune system is delicate and we are in the midst of cold and flu season, so the doctor recommends that we not let people hold or touch him when we do take him out. So although we plan to start getting him out and about soon, he will be safely nestled in a sling.

So that's the latest news about our little man! I'll try to post some more pictures this weekend.

One month old!

Tomorrow Zachary will be one month old! The last four weeks have been both the fastest and the longest I can remember. It seems amazing that we've had this little man for a month already...and it also seems like he's been a part of our lives forever.

For the past week, Zachary has been enjoying time with another set of grandparents - his A-mah and Opa (my mom and stepdad). We have been enjoying some of my favorite Taiwanese home cooking too, which is fantastic! Cowboy is also being spoiled silly, which he loves.

I've posted a new set of pictures from the last week. One of my new favorite pictures is the one of Zachary's cranky face. He really has some incredible expressions! There are also a bunch of pictures of Zachary in his first snow storm. He doesn't seem overly impressed (or even awake), but we're pretty excited about it. It doesn't snow in Seattle very often, so we wanted to be sure to take advantage of it while we could.

We also wanted to get Zachary on the hill for the first time. It's never too early to learn to ski, right? Granted he can't walk yet. Or hold his head up. But I think you will agree from this picture that he already has great skiing form!



Pictures: December 1, 2007