The Story of Hammer Leg

Dear Isadora,

One quirk that you have developed is standing up in the tub during bath time.  Instead of sitting down and enjoying the warm water and playing with your floating toys, you insist on standing and walking back and forth from one end of the tub to the other.  You occasionally throw your bath toys out of the tub and squeal and grunt to mommy and daddy, pointing at the toys so that we can fetch them for you.  (A fun game for you; not so much for mommy and daddy.)

Well, you've added the "hammer leg" move to your bath routine now.  What is the hammer leg, you ask?  It's this:



As you walk from one end of the tub to the other, you swing your leg up and slam it down on the water, making very big splashes.  You do this with even more enthusiasm when mommy cheers you on, screaming "Hammer leg!"

Believe it or not, I told daddy that I think this move is hereditary and that you got this trait from mommy...  When daddy and I bought our first home, we bought two IKEA bookcases to fill the expanse of our living room walls.  If you know anything about IKEA furniture, assembly is always required (and it's not always the easiest thing to put together).  Your daddy and I spent quite a few hours putting the bookcases together.  Toward the end when pieces weren't fitting exactly as expected, mommy broke out the hammer leg move.  It basically entailed mommy kicking the stubborn pieces of shelving together while screaming "Hammer leg!!" in a deep shrilling voice.

You're becoming more and more like mommy every day -- my very own little mini me... Daddy's in trouble.

Love,

Mommy

It's Confirmed..

Dear Izzy,

If you ever had a doubt, here's proof.  You ARE your father's daughter.



Mommy's in trouble.

Love,

Mommy

Splish Splash

Dear Izzy,

Now that you're older, bath times are becoming one of your favorite parts of the day.  An interesting this happened this week.  It was a serendipitous moment - your bottle of baby shampoo accidentally got knocked over one night after one of your nightly baths.  The next day when we prepared your bath, it inadvertently turned into a bubble bath.  It never crossed mommy and daddy's mind that you'd be ready for bubble baths, but you are.  You LOVED it.


Mommy and daddy enjoyed watching you play with the bubbles and touch them ever so gently and then bash them with your fists.  Seeing the world through your eyes is joy.

Thanks for helping us to see things for the first time, too.

Love,

Mommy

New Things, Shiny Things

Dear Isadora,

This month, you started eating rice cereal for the first time.  Mommy and daddy weren't sure when you'd be ready, but we noticed that, lately, you seem to be really interested in what mommy and daddy are eating.  Anytime we eat something, you stare at us intently, studying our food and our mouths.  On top of that, you  started cutting your first tooth!  (It's on the bottom, right in the front.)  Both of these things convinced us that it was time to start you on the path to eating.  Grandma was still here visiting and got to see you enjoy your first bites of rice cereal.  Each time I brought the spoon to your mouth, you held your hands up to grab the spoon closer to you.  Mommy couldn't scoop it into your mouth fast enough.  You still need a lot of practice, but for your first time, you didn't do too shabby.



This week, we also discovered a new interest of yours... shiny wrapping paper.  Daddy opened up some birthday presents this week from grandma, and you went ballistic!  The sights and sounds of the wrapping paper made you just giddy.  Daddy described it best: you had madness in your eyes.  As daddy ripped through the wrapping paper, the sound of tearing paper sent you over the edge.  You started flailing your arms in excitement.  Noticing your excitement, daddy gave you some of the paper to play with.  You became even more animated -- kicking your legs and ripping the paper feverishly apart.  It was a sight to see.




Looks like mommy and daddy know what to tell Santa to get you for Christmas.... Shiny paper!

Love,

Mommy

Look What You Can Do!

Dear Isadora,

You are almost four months old now.  Check out what you can do...

Reaching for your left sock...

Successfully removing and eating your left sock.

How nifty is that?!  You even like to keep both legs up in the air while holding onto your feet while babbling away to anyone who will listen.  (Mommy and daddy are very amused by this behavior.)

Momma learned another thing you can do, too...

Self-inflicted rash/hives from crying so hard when 

that darn bottle takes too long to get to your lips!

Not so nifty.  Although the rash/hive-looking splotches all over your face eventually fade before you finish your bottle, it freaks mommy out to see them in the first place.

Can't wait to see all the new tricks you have left up your sleeve, little one.

Love,

Mommy

Your Talents This Month

Dear Isadora,

You are now three months old.  Within the last couple of weeks, you've been honing some new talents.

The first talent is what mommy and daddy like to refer to as "finger toes."  At first glance, you look like you have normal baby toes.  But upon closer inspection, if someone tries to touch the ball of your foot... BAM!  Like a venus fly trap, your toes come down to grab an unsuspecting finger.  It's really quite amazing. 




Your ability to grab things with your toes is almost monkey-like... And when I say monkey, I mean this kind of monkey:



The second talent you've been working on is hand munching.  About a week or so ago, you discovered you had hands.  At first, you were using them to grab toys or mommy's hair, and mommy and daddy were quite impressed.

But somewhere along the way, you decided your hands were also delicious (in an almost gluttonous kind of way).

Along with your new love for the taste of your hands, mommy and daddy have noticed that no matter how many times you make yourself choke by trying to eat your hands, you keep trying to stick your entire fist  into your mouth.  Daddy even watched you gag and spit up all the while keeping your entire hand in your mouth.  It hasn't clicked for you yet that when you start to choke, you should probably remove your hand.  Mommy's going to keep an eye on this development to make sure you don't grow up to be that weird kid everybody talks about...

Ah, forget it.  If you're weird, you're weird.  We've all got our weird thing.  (Just ask mommy about her double-jointed fingers or ask daddy how he sleeps with his legs bent straight up.)  Love you my little monchchichi.

Love,

Mommy

Carrying on a Family Tradition

Dear Isadora,

I can't explain why, but your mommy and daddy are obsessed with mustaches.  We find them quite hilarious to say the least.



So is it any wonder that we have already passed the baton on to you (at only two months old) to help us carry on this family tradition?



Make us proud.

Love,

Mommy

Tummy Time

Dear Isadora,

Now that you're getting bigger, mommy and daddy have been doing more and more tummy time with you.  Mommy read somewhere that babies that practice tummy time regularly develop the muscles needed for crawling.  You can't be a blob forever, so the least mommy and daddy can do is give the training you need to crawl.  Cue the Rocky theme song...








Good job, Izzy!  You can do it!

Love,

Mommy

A Week of Firsts

Dear Isadora,

Your first week of child care went great!  I think you really enjoy it.  Even after I dropped you off the first day, mommy didn't cry because I knew you would be safe and loved.  Lilis, your babysitter, is a mom herself and knows all the in's and out's of taking care of you.  Her daughters, Julia and Jessica, also like to help take care of you, too.  It's almost like you have older sisters to play with which makes mommy happy.  And though mommy and daddy miss you during the day, we know you are being well cared for.




It was also mommy's first week back at work.  I had to get used to getting up early and staying awake again (no more falling back to sleep after an early morning feeding).  I was tired, but it was nice to see all my coworkers and friends again.  On my first day back, Aunty Angela sent mommy a beautiful bouquet to commemorate the day.  It certainly helped to make the rest of the week go by a lot easier.




On Saturday, you went through your first hurricane -- Hurricane Irene.  Since your Aunty Barbara and Cousin Lennox live at the beach, they decided to come to Raleigh to stay with us during the storm.  I was glad that they came to visit and that we were able to keep them safe.  Lennox really liked spending time with you.  She stroked your head, gave you lots of kisses, and pushed you in your baby swing.  (She is going to be such a good big sister!)  Your Aunty Barbara gave you a bath, helped pick out your clothes, and gave you lots of cuddles and kisses, too.

Since the hurricane wasn't that bad on Saturday, Aunty Barbara took Lennox to Monkey Joe's to jump and play.  Mommy was out helping with a friend's surprise birthday party for most of the day, so you were left home alone with daddy.  Daddy had you all to himself.  Normally, that is good thing and he enjoys that special time with you, but, with everybody gone, that was the first time you decided to poop on daddy.  You didn't do it on purpose, but it really traumatized daddy.  He was holding you in his lap when he noticed a wet feeling.  He lifted you up only to discover that poop was oozing out of your diaper!  It had soaked your onesie and daddy's legs.  As he tried to clean you up, the poop just kept coming out of your diaper.  Poor daddy.  He was able to clean you both up, but daddy just wasn't himself after that. Mommy cut him some slack when she came home that night.

For dinner that night, we decided to go to Seoul Garden to have Korean food.  Your Aunty Barbara and Cousin Lennox never had Korean food before.  It was their first time.  I was worried that Lennox would not like it, but when the bulgogi, Korean pancake, and jap chae came to the table, she ate it all.  She even used chopsticks to eat her food.  I can't wait for you to start trying new flavors and eating with chopsticks, too.








So many firsts and you are only two months old! I look forward to many more firsts with my first baby girl.  Mommy loves you!

Love,

Mommy

A Tale of Terror

Dear Isadora,

I knew that it would happen to me one day.  All of my friends who are parents have had it happen to them in one way or another... I just never really thought it would happen to us like this.

The night before we left for our week long family vacation in Tennessee, I took you to your nursery to change a poopy diaper, not unheard of in our household.  I laid you down gently in your diaper changing station and proceeded to do the task that had become second nature to me.  I opened your diaper and announced in a sing songy kind of way, "You did a poopy." As usual, you gave me a surprised look.  "How adorable," I thought as I grabbed your feet in one hand and used my other hand to grab a wipe.

Then IT happened.  As I lifted your feet in the air to wipe your bum, a powerful spray of poop shot out of you, traveled across the diaper changing station, and hit your closet door.  I screamed in surprise... and then I was just speechless.

Your daddy ran up the stairs, scared that I had dropped you.  But when he walked into your nursery, it was like the music from that famous shower scene from Psycho was playing.  He looked at the horror on my face, me holding your feet in shock, and the poop (oh the poop!) that was sprayed all over the closet door, dripping down to the floor.

"Help me..." I said to your daddy.  The words barely escaped from my lips.  "I didn't know whether to let go of her legs and let her get all poopy again, or wait for you to come up and help me," I said, still shaken.

"I'll clean it up.  You can finish changing her and then feed her," your daddy said.  (Bless that man!)

All the while, you still had the same surprised look on your face.

Afterward, we laughed at the whole thing -- in awe of the power and trajectory of your poopy from hell.

Mommy's reenactment using Paint

And although it hasn't happened since, we've been traumatized by the experience.  Even now when we change your diaper, we do it in record speed.  And if you happen to let out a cute little fart while doing it, we jump at the sound, however adorable it may be.

I hope you aren't too embarrassed by this story.  Sh*t happens.  Plus, it was too good not to share.

Love you!

Mommy

The Day You Arrived

Dear Isadora,

Today's post is brought to you by a very special guest blogger -- your Daddy.  The following is the story of your birth as told by your Daddy.  Enjoy sweet pea.

Love,


Mommy

-----------------------------

It had been almost an entire week since your due date. Mommy and I were getting sick of waiting around for you and started to think you had decided that you were just going to stay in there forever. We had tried everything to get things moving. We tried taking long walks.  We tried spicy foods.  We tried swimming.  We tried playing Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon” to the Wizard of Oz.  We tried everything everyone said would work… They didn’t. 

Mommy and I had decided that it wasn’t going to happen that night either.  We settled in for another lazy night of watching television and waiting for you. 

And then it happened. Mommy let out a grunt and held her tummy. I did what I always did when Mommy did this. I asked, “You ok?”  She said, “Yes,” but this felt different. We started timing her pains and soon realized that the length of the pains and how far apart they were (12-15 minutes) could be contractions. Mommy and I played it cool. I think we both thought that if we didn’t think about it too much, maybe this would be the day.

An hour went by and then something else happened. Your Mommy fell asleep. Since I have never heard of anyone sleeping through labor and birth, I figured it was a false alarm and took your mother to bed for another night of wishing you were here.

A couple hours later, Mommy woke me up and said she thought it was time to go to the hospital. I didn’t know what was going on. I had just woken up, your Mom was yelling at me, there was luggage on the bed, and for some reason Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs was on the television. I got it together quick, looked your Mommy in eyes, and told her something that I don’t think she will ever forget -- “Before we do anything, I have to go to the bathroom.” Once that was taken care of, I moved on to the next step on the action plan I had come up with while going to the bathroom. I texted your Uncle Josh and told him, “It’s go time.” Your Uncle lives hundreds of miles away and wasn’t going to be able to help at all, but I thought this was the next right step. 

Mommy and I got into the car and headed to the hospital. We got to the hospital, and we had to wait in a room for a couple of minutes before the nurse came to get us. They brought Mommy into another room and gave her a gown and a cup to get a urine sample. Mommy went to the bathroom and I waited. And waited… And waited… And waited. I was starting to get worried that Mommy had fallen asleep in the bathroom, or, even worse, that our little miracle was coming NOW! It turns out it was a miracle -- for the first time in four months, your Mommy didn’t have to go to the bathroom. After that, Mommy and I settled into our room and waited for the next contraction.

Your Mommy was doing great. Every couple of minutes she would get a contraction, and we knew you were getting closer to being here. Your Mommy and I would sleep for 3-4 minutes at time between contractions and wake up all of a sudden and breath together and then go back to sleep. Your Mommy wanted to try and have you with no drugs involved, and, so far, she was doing great. She was in a little pain, but nothing she couldn’t handle yet. And then it happened. For the first time since we have known each other, your Mother gave me a look that made it pretty clear that if given the right tools, she could rip my head off and disembowel me in under 20 seconds. Your Mom said she was starting to rethink the use of drugs. I told her maybe we should wait a little longer to see if the next contractions were that bad. Your Mother “respectfully disagreed,” and the drugs were brought in. It didn’t take all the pain away, but it made it a little easier on your Mommy.

By this time your Aunt Barbara and Obaachan (Grandma) had arrived at the hospital. But you still hadn’t arrived, and, to be honest, it looked like you had changed your mind. The contractions were getting further apart and your Mommy wasn’t dilating at a very quick rate. That’s when we were faced with a very difficult decision. In order to keep the labor moving and get you here, we had to break Mommy’s water. It hadn’t broken yet, and it meant you weren’t able to get to where you were supposed to be.  The pain of the contractions was going to get worse once the water was broken. The nurse asked your Mommy if she wanted an epidural. Your Mommy was dreading this moment for weeks. She was very nervous and scared about getting one. We finally decided that we should do it. It was the first time I cried that day. It was so hard to see your Mommy that nervous and worried, but we got through it.

Mommy Post Epidural

That’s when we entered the phase of labor I like to call “smiling, happy, reading magazines labor.” By this time, your Grandma Joyce had arrived at the hospital. So your Mommy, me, Aunt Barbara, Obaachan, and Grandma Joyce settled in to wait for you to arrive.

Grandma Joyce Irene and Obaachan Suemi

At 4 o’clock p.m. the nurse checked your Mommy. She had been checking her every hour or so and there was very little change. But this time when the nurse checked your Mommy, she said you were on your way and that it was time to start pushing. Everyone in the room was shocked. We thought it was going to take longer than this.

Excited to Become Your Parents

Your Aunt and two Grandmas were actually able to stay in the room while your mommy was pushing. I am going to spare you the details of the next hour and 15 minutes. Some of it was pretty ugly. I thought I was going to throw up or pass out, mostly from being so nervous. Your Mommy was doing a great job of pushing and your family cheering section was rooting you on.  Your Aunt Barbara was the first to see you as your head started to come out and go back in.

And then IT happened. You came shooting out. Mommy and I started crying right away. We were so happy. Our little dream come true was here. That is partly why your middle name is Yume (it means “dream” in Japanese). I didn’t know what to do. I was going back and forth between hugging your Mommy and running to you to make sure you were ok. I actually hit my head a couple of times on a light going back and forth. You were so big! 9 lbs. and 1 oz. to be exact, and 21 inches long. Your Grandmas and Aunt Barbara were so happy, too. There was a lot of love in that room for you. And there always will be.

By the way if you ever have a friend who is pregnant and is trying to figure out a way to speed up going into labor, tell them to watch Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. Trust me, it works every time.

My New View of the World

Dear Pickles,

I'm officially 37 weeks pregnant.  Only three more weeks until you make your debut (we think).  Up until this point, I've had a pretty easy pregnancy (knock on wood).  I can't really complain.  Overall, I have really loved being pregnant with you.  It hasn't been until recently that I have begun feeling the discomforts of pregnancy.  Nothing too bad -- just some constant soreness in my right shoulder blade that won't seem to go away. 

I had a check up last week and told the doctor about my shoulder pain with which he promptly suggested treatment with a prenatal massage (bless him).  Although it didn't make all my pain go away, it did help a little.  (I may have to go back again soon...Until then, daddy will have to fill in.)

It's also starting to get hotter outside.  With summer just around the bend, it's getting harder to stay cool, especially at night when I am sleeping.  I sleep with the fan blasting right on me (something I used to hate) and with only a corner of the sheet covering me.

Most of all, you're starting to get bigger.  Although I'm not as big as I could be, it's been interesting carrying you around.  When I sit down, I can feel you on my lap.  When I lay down, I can feel you sink from side to side as I try to get comfortable.  When I walk, I have to lean back to compensate for the pull up front.

Basically, my view of the world has changed:




I know that this view won't last for forever, which partly makes me sad and happy at the same time.  But I know that when you do arrive, I'll have yet another way to view the world -- as your mommy.

Can't wait to see you soon!

Love,

Mommy