Pics of the Day

Since Friday is technically the weekend, I thought I'd commemorate it by taking a few snaps of the little one and post them for the few of you who are still following (the moms and potentially Erika).

These are a couple from her early feeding tonight which is now her only evening feeding.



That's right, we have eliminated the 9:00 pm one over the past two nights and she's still making it through to 6:00 so we've got our fingers crossed that this is it - the start of sleeping through the night.

Now if we can only get her to not wake up until 8:00 AM, that'd be just about every fantasy fulfilled.

More Mid-Week Posting

This morning with a pillow in her lap
I've been unable to keep myself from snapping pictures of Margaret these past few days because I simply feel like we've had more photogenic moments from her these past few days than from the past few weeks.

I feel like there was a week or two week period where Margaret's features were funky and I wasn't as inclined to take photos. However, it seems like we turned a corner near the end of last week and she seems irresistibly cute to me again.

I hope that doesn't make me unconscionably shallow.

She loves her formula tin drum
Tonight, when I came home from work, Margaret was in an incredibly smiley mood. I don't know if it was the drum, or the presence of Daisy's friend Grace whom Margaret seemed to become almost instantly attached to, but Margaret was simply a joy to watch and be with.

We had time to read a book before SAM came home to feed Margaret.


Now we've got George's brother Tommy here and we're going to enjoy a dinner of meatloaf and salad and we're all looking forward to it.

Gratuitous post

Looking kinda' peaked here, but I think she likes the book
I was so filled with love from this evening's 9:30 pm feeding that I simply had to run to the computer and post.

She was so tired when I picked her up from her crib, that I couldn't help but want to snuggle her close and never put her down again. Her cheeks were just the right temperature and tension against mine as I felt her arms around my neck. *sigh* There really is nothing better.

Her Mommy knows just how to make her laugh
In the above photo, you can see how happy her mom makes her. There's nothing as heartwarming as the laughter of a baby, and neither SAM nor I could get enough. All SAM had to do was make funny faces at her and tickle her tummy and Margaret would laugh and laugh. We spent a good few minutes at this and we three were all in a better mood for it.

Finding her own toys to play with this morning
Margaret went to sleep with her mom in our bed last night as I was out with colleagues for dinner. Coming home to find my girls in bed was just about the best welcome I could imagine.

Though Margaret had to make the move to her own bed to make room for me, it was still nice to get to see her and snuggle her for a brief moment before sending her off.

Aaah, Margaret. I hope it's not too sickening to you out in the blogosphere!

Quiet Sunday Afternoons

Making eyes at Daddy during breakfast
Margaret let us sleep until almost 8:00 AM this morning (she normally wakes around 6), which, if you're a parent, is an incredible luxury.

Those days of laying in bed until eleven or even noon are but a distant memory, relegated to the same place we've put late nights out on the town and those 31 inch waist jeans I used to wear.

Watching bigger kids at the playground
Such was the late hour of her waking that it had the unintuitive effect of starting our day earlier than it normally would have.

By giving us two extra hours, neither of us needed to go back to sleep, so we were able to get our breakfast (French toast) squared away and get Margaret changed, fed and back to bed for her morning nap by 10:00 AM.

Unheard of.

Thinking about who to call
The rest of the day has been quiet (with the exception of when I stuck my hand in Margaret's poop by accident). With Sarah working on her reports, I took Margaret to the park for a swing after she awoke at 11:00 and was home for Margaret's lunch by 12:30.

SAM and I enjoyed a pizza (home made with pita bread crust) lunch and have since been enjoying an afternoon of such quiet that it's sometimes hard to believe we have a baby.

Hard, but not impossible, however. It's now time to get her up from her nap. That's okay, though... Margaret is most fun after her naps.

Lunchtime! Open wide!

The Weekend Update

Waking up mom to go on a walk on Saturday morning
Not a lot happens in our lives between weekends besides work, these days, so though I apologize that I haven't posted since last Sunday, I can honestly say that not much has happened to fill you in on.

"Why yes, I am ready to go."
Our lives seem to have fallen into a pattern now. On weekdays, SAM and I get up together at around 6:00, she gets ready while I prepare breakfast. Then, if Margaret hasn't woken up yet, I get Margaret changed and ready while SAM eats.

After SAM's breakfast, she feeds Margaret hers while I get ready. By this time, It's nearly seven, and Daisy will arrive and take Margaret off our hands while SAM heads out the door.

"First, a drink."
Daisy will then prepare my breakfast, which I eat while reading the paper Daisy has brought in. I'm usually out the door by 7:30 - 7:45 and at my desk at 8:15 at the latest.

Sarah is usually home by 5:30 pm, in time to feed Margaret solids, bathe and nurse. I usually come in by 7:00 pm around when Margaret is going down, and then it's sitting down to a dinner prepared by Daisy.

After Margaret's 9:00 PM feed, we get ready for bed, and are usually asleep by 10:30.

Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

"Can you help me with the cap?"
Throughout all this, Margaret, like the un/watched pot that she is, continues to grow and change.

She is ever steadier on her butt, and now can now roll down onto her tummy from a sitting position to move herself a fair distance and get a toy or other object. However, once she's in that position, she can't recover back to sitting and she'll scream until you come and pick her up or sit her back up again.

She's also learned to lower her head and look coyly up in that uniquely feminine way. I don't have a good photo of it, but Daisy calls it her, "Japanese eyes."

This morning, Sarah asked me where Margaret could have possibly learned that while giving me that very same look. She laughed when I called her on it.

"Crap. All wet, and right after Daddy dressed me."
On our end, we are now trying more and more to speak Chinese with Margaret when we're home after realizing that Margaret was essentially never hearing it.

We hope we can maintain it.

"That's okay, I can just dry off on the sheets."
The weekends are the fun times and this one lived up to its promise.

The Koo Clan, Tommy and our friend Shan joined SAM and I for Indiana Jones IV. The movie was loads of fun, and everyone came over after for carrot cake and Margaret time.

Below, you see Margaret and her cousins.

"Help!"
Besides behaving incredibly well for the visitors, Margaret also managed to eat an incredible amount of solid food. From rice cereal, to squash, to apple sauce and sweet potato.

Margaret chowed, which was very fun.

Feeding her is so often a joy as she is typically not a fussy eater (I hope saying so doesn't jinx this). You simply put a little food on her spoon and hold it up. As soon as she sees the spoon, she opens wide. When her mouth is open enough, you insert the spoon and pull it out while scraping the food off using her top gums.

While she works on swallowing, you scoop some more food, and when Margaret is ready, she'll open wide on her own ready for the next cycle.

Again, wash, rinse, repeat, until food is gone.

So lucky, we are.

Bathing beauty
Now, SAM is out at a "Hen Party" tonight, otherwise known as a bachelorette party in American.

I hope she has a great time, because I'm looking forward to having Margaret all to myself for her feeding tonight.

Speaking of which, it's time to go get the bottle ready.

Mustn't keep Margaret waiting.

'Till next time!

Showing off her pearly whites

Busy as Bees

Saturday bath time. Sometimes, I think she resembles the duck.
It has been a lot longer than usual between posts for us. With me jet-lagged and digging out from a week away from my office, it hasn't been easy to find time to take pictures of Margaret much less post on the blog.

Working on Saturdays again also takes a bit of the steam out of my sails in terms of having personal time.


The weekend was a whirlwind, actually. Well... for us.

SAM and Margaret actually met me at work on Saturday afternoon and got a tour of the office and met everyone there. After having lunch near the office, we took a long walk by the Tsim Sha Tsui promenade and went home (after ice cream) via the Star Ferry.

Date night was spent, essentially, collapsed at home. Daisy was sick, but luckily, she had left us soup, curry chicken and rice so we still ate well.

Unfortunately, Daisy wasn't the only one not feeling well yesterday. Margaret was very fussy yesterday. We suspect that she might be cutting another tooth as she keeps wanting to stick hard objects in her mouth and bite on them.

There's been a lot of fussing and screaming. Of course, this is compounded by a new effort to try to get Margaret to wake up later in the morning by reducing her naps during the day.

My Godparents, Howard and Margaret
Today turned out to be unexpectedly full.

SAM had Margaret this morning which allowed me to sleep in until the incredibly late (for us) hour of 8:45 AM. Mommy took Margaret to the park for an early morning swing and found it nice and quiet.

After Margaret's nap until 10:00, it was, of course, my turn.

Incredibly, by noon, we'd all had breakfast, read a few books with the little one (Going on a Bear Hunt) and had Margaret down for our nap. Such efficiency has heretofore been unknown to us.

Margaret sharing a moment with Howard
From about 2:00 - 3:00, my Godfamily came for a wonderful visit and brought the most delicious fruit.

Margaret made googly eyes at Uncle Howard that had her Daddy jealous!

Sadly, they had to leave by quarter after 3:00 so we took Margaret out for her second trip to the park and swings.


Unfortunately, Margaret was, again, fussy in the afternoon. I think that, again, the lack of sleep is compounding some other discomfort (perhaps teething). But we'll have to wait and see what it is.

She was so fussy that, while Sarah was getting groceries, and I headed off to change Margaret, complete strangers were trying to give me advice on quieting her down, telling me to either feed her, hold her, pat her, change her or some combination of all of those.

Eventually, holding her and giving her a pacifier did the trick.

Actually, what really did the trick was coming home and feeding her a smorgasboard of pureed foods. Immediately upon arriving home, she quickly devoured a meal that included copious amounts of apple, potato, zucchini, sweet potato and rice cereal.

She was again, as on Saturday, fussy during her bath, but took to her post-bath feeding happily and enthusiastically.

Margaret and Mommy, sharing a moment
Margaret was awake long enough to welcome Molly and Bill with whom we had a wonderful (take-out) Vietnamese meal that included everything from noodles to spring rolls and everything in between.

SAM is feeding Margaret in bed as I write and I can't wait to wash up and crawl into bed with them. Waking up early tomorrow morning and going to work again, I'm looking forward to less.

'Till next time...



Bye bye!

Mondays with Margaret

Looking much longer than she used to
Back from a week out of town, I came back to a clean home, a warm wife and a baby I could barely recognize, such were the changes!

Not only is Margaret longer than she used to be, but her dexterity and her all around acuity seem to have improved. She is purposeful now in what she does and what she reaches for. She can feed herself a rice cracker. She can use her mesh feeder by herself to suck on an apple slice without dropping it. She can push a bottle out of her mouth, look at it and reposition it. She can remove and replace her pacifier now.

Happy to be out with Mommy
She can sit up stably for long periods of time now and she can reach far out front and to her sides - and even behind her for things.

But most impressive, to me today, was that we discovered that she will wave back at people when they wave at her.

Over the past few days, Sarah noticed that she was starting to open and shut her hands and wiggle them at the wrists. At the time, it didn't seem like she was doing it for any reason other than to try out her limbs. Today, however, at the grocery store, a little toddler started waving at her and, lo and behold, she looked at him and waved back. Then, later in the afternoon, our friends Shan and Sarena stopped by and when they were leaving and waving at Margaret, she looked at them and waved back as well. As if THAT wasn't enough, while Sarah took her to bed tonight, I said, "Goodnight, Margaret" while waving at her and she waved back again.

It has been simply breathtaking to watch the process of her learning a movement, then attaching meaning to that movement.

Sitting up well these days
Today was, thankfully, a holiday here in Hong Kong which I was extremely thankful for. After a week of traveling between Hong Kong, Norwood, MA, Peoria, IL and back again, it was good to have another day to de-jet-lag.

Tomorrow, it's back to work with a trip into China. After a weekend day like this past one, with gorgeous weather and such an incredible time with my family, it's always tough to think about going back to work.

But return I shall, and look forward to next weekend.



Close up of her two teeth. The one on her right is the clearest and you can see the hint of the other one on her left.

My beautiful girls

An apple a day ...

Keeps the doctor away?


Chewing on an apple in the mesh feeder

Well, not exactly, in this case. There's just no avoiding the six month check up and shots (notice tell-tale thigh bandaid in previous post). Margaret has passed her check with flying colors, and although she seems to be moving lower on the stockiness index, she is decidedly higher on the narcissist scale (as evidenced also by recent behavior):

weight: 7.6 kg (17 lb) 75th percentile
length: 69 cm (27 in) 94rd percentile
head circumference: 44 cm (17 in) 90th percentile

We're just happy that she seems healthy. She took the first shot with not even a moan (NOT her mother's daughter), although she did have a good cry with the second one. Mom is glad that round of needles is over with!

Narcissist?

What's Margaret doing?


Sucking rubber ducky's eyes out

"Who is that fabulous baby?"

"Oh, wait, it's me, reflected in the toilet paper holder!"

Escape attempt number two

Margaret and Freddie were at it again yesterday, trying to escape from the watchful eyes of their mothers (see previous attempt here). Fortunately, the security camera picked them up, conversation and all:


"Come on Freddie, now's our chance!"

"Wait a sec, Margaret, that camera is ON!"

Dad's Away...

... and it's taken Mom 'til Thursday to get any photos up. But here they are! Margaret has just cut her second tooth, which explains the 4am crying every night since John's been gone. I pushed our bed against the wall and she's come to sleep with me in the early hours every night this week. Disruptive of sleep, perhaps, but cozy :-)

Some photos from yesterday:


"this tooth thing feels wierd"

"but I'm ok with it!"

"what's that you say?"

"pbbth!"

Home Alone

Margaret and her Mommy this past Tuesday
Well, I'm home alone for the first time since probably this past summer and while it's nice to have some quiet space, I do miss my girls.

They're safely in Taipei and are having a grand old time. Margaret got to sit on grass for the first time at my mother's house and visited with her Great Grandmother who was apparently just absolutely tickled.

After five previous grandchildren, my mother's house is apparently fully stocked for Margaret. With a play mat, toys, high chair, feeding utensils and even, apparently, clothes, Sarah said that Margaret could move from Hong Kong to Taipei without needing to bring luggage.

She seems to be adjusting well.

For a more current photo update, my nephew, Philip, is keeping his blog updated with photos of Margaret HERE (click on this link).

Enjoy!

Thursday Night Blues

Just a quick post today, Thursday, as I have to run out to have dinner with some work colleagues on the "other side, " aka TST.

Margaret's a true tooper - she's been sick these past few couple of days with plenty of snot and congestion which is a first. We even have a photo of her and a snot bubble this morning.

She hasn't let that get her down, however. Aside from some fussiness which has made her prone to high pitched shrieking when she's tired, she's managed to keep her spirits up and keep smiling.

The above photo is from Sunday night and the ones below are from today.


Today, being international Labor Day (May 1st) was a public holiday which meant we could get up late and hang about the house all day. Actually, we went shopping for baby stuff and groceries, but, still, it beats working!

Margaret and Sarah are off to Taipei tomorrow morning since they have Friday off as well, leaving me behind to hold down the fort in Hong Kong. I am very jealous that I have to work tomorrow, and now half day Saturdays again.

I wish I could go visit my family in Taipei too!

So unfortunately, there will be a break in the weekend updates until my girls return.

I assure you, however, I'll have it worse than the rest of you in blog-land!