Dad's day

First of all, a huge thank you to Tee, Margaret's GrandGodMother, for making sure Margaret had the appropriate wardrobe (in the perfect size, no less) for Father's Day. She knows Margaret's mother well enough to know that that would have been well beyond me to arrange :-). John was so touched, and Margaret attracted more than the usual "ooh"s and "aah"s on our day's outing.


"Happy Father's Day, Daddy!"







This evening we headed to the beach for a going away party for some friends. Margaret was a bit sleepy, but loved the attention of the crowd and rose to the occasion:





playing in the sand

Of course, just as I was saying how surprising it was that none of the sand had gone in her mouth yet ...


"awww ... Margaret!"


"What is this?"


"not so bad..."

Reflections of a new father on Father's Day

My maternal grandmother is fond of saying that on your birthday, you should call your own mother to thank her for all that she's done to allow you to even have a birthday. Not the least of which was carrying you to term and going through a rather uncomfortable process to birth you.

It seems to make sense to me, and so on this, my first Father's Day, I want to thank Sarah and Margaret for honoring me with the title of "Father." Without either of them, this would just be any other Sunday.

Without them, there wouldn't be lazy mornings in bed with the three of us snuggled together. There wouldn't be laughter at the park as Margaret arcs through the air on her swings. No scent of warm, sweet, milky breath and no small hand holding on to mine. Warm cuddly hugs of the most perfect squishiness in all the world would never be known to me and neither would the feeling of Margaret's little arms wrapped around my neck.

More than any other change in my life, becoming a father has changed my outlook on life the most.

Father's Day.

I didn't need cinnamon toast made by my girls to make this day special (though it was MUCH appreciated).

I just needed them.

Margaret: An afternoon photo study

Bored with her toys
I'm a little bit under the weather and so will keep the text short today.

Fortunately, Margaret gave us plenty of good shots today, so hopefully, this batch of photos from today will hold you over.

Fishy face while eating fish congee

Negotiating to eat real food

"Et Voila!"

Wonder on the changing table

Focused

"Am-bare-assed.

Pre-bath

Post-bath

Insouciant girls

Mom & Margaret

Margaret's 7 Month Birthday!

Daisy was first with birthday wishes for Margaret this morning
Today, June 10, is Margaret's 7 month birthday!

As her delinquent parents, we ourselves didn't remember, but were informed by an ebullient Daisy when she walked in this morning with birthday wishes for Margaret.

This is what she thinks of some breakfast foods
Our lives are starting to fall into routine now, and while that means that on occasion may forget things like her monthly birthdays, it doesn't mean that we're not noticing her changes!

For instance, she's just starting, over these past few days to hold her arms up when she wants to get picked up. That one's really fun since we love picking her up!


Of course, now that routine is going to be upset by the summer break which is really only sad for me!

Regardless, despite our slight oversight, Margaret will continue to grow and change, and, hopefully, continue on her happy, delightful way.

Getting a closer look

Showing her active reading skills

My Girls

This morning on the couch
Today was a beautiful, clear (on account of the rains), sunshiny day here in Hong Kong and we were lucky enough to have it off as a national holiday.

Sarah had to go to a school event with Margaret at noon, however, so I did the grocery shopping and our US taxes.


Luckily, they were home by 2:00.

Sarah then went shopping for some items I couldn't find while I finished up our taxes.

Dinner was steak and salad.

It was a totally great, relaxing day, the perfect end to a three day weekend.

Wonderful.

Ta dah!

Friends and Family

Last night during her feeding
Today was a very full day.

This morning was my turn for Margaret duty. However, after getting her changed and getting through only about two ounces of her bottle of expressed milk, she started crying and would take no more from dad.

It took her mother waking up and actually breast feeding her to quiet her down. Of course, after the breast feeding, solids was no problem. She powered down her multi-grain cereal with breast milk, papaya and pear with no further issues. I guess she must just want to eat straight from mom in the mornings.

Swing dancing this morning
After her feed, in order to allow mom to sleep, we went out for a morning stroll in the park that included the swings.

Margaret didn't seem too interested in the people doing all their myriad activities from tai chi / shadow boxing practice to meditation, the morning park crowd engages in a markedly less dynamic set of activities than later in the day. Not that there weren't people playing basketball, tennis and soccer, but it was definitely quieter.

Margaret and Daddy in the sun
With teething rusk in hand, Margaret was happy to swing away until the sun came out and Daddy decided not to risk a sunburned baby.

She was back in her crib by 8:45 AM.

Dim Sum with EVERYONE
After an all too brief video conference with Jack and the California Elmers', it was on to the main event, which was Dim Sum lunch celebrating my birthday with the Koos, Shan, Molly, Bill and Tom. There was even a delicious, home made, chocolate birthday cake baked by my very own wife!

My favorite part wasn't the food, however, but that we started feeding Margaret table food.

She absolutely loved it which was extremely gratifying and had all of us laughing at how much Margaret was clearly enjoying her food. Unlike usual, she would actually scream and fuss when you took too much time getting the next bite into her mouth.

She acted like a little baby bird, waving her head around with her empty mouth open until the next piece of bun or noodle was inserted.

Fun and funny.

Margaret and her cousins
After lunch, we went over to spend the afternoon at the Koos, which we hadn't done in a very long time. There were games, snacks and lots of good conversation.

Margaret was a champ, and after a nap in her cousin's bed, lasted all the way through dinner (where there was more table food) until home.

Margaret and her cousins
I'm hoping that with the introduction of table food, her digestive system is now in a place where we can, more and more, have Margaret share with us what we are eating, rather than continuing to have to have a completely parallel menu for her.

I know that for many babies, it might be a bit early, but it certainly would make life simpler if we could just share the same food.

We'll know tomorrow, I suppose, when the results of today's experimentation become... known.

Weather Update

The rain has stopped now, and today has been sunny and beautiful.

However, many in Hong Kong weren't able to enjoy today as much as the rain brought much damage.

Some links for those who are interested.

HERE
and
HERE

At one point, 5.7 inches fell in one hour. Just for comparison, one inch of rain is equivalent to about 12 inches of snow in terms of the moisture content.

Crazy.

Pictures from a Rainy Day Inside

Seeing as how the weather was not cooperating, we spent the morning inside. She did get a bit cranky near the end, so luckily the rain cleared and we were able to take her out.

Some pictures from the morning.

Reading with Mommy

Snuggling with Daddy

Chewing on a teething rusk while on the phone with Mimi

Trying to escape

Tired and DEFINITELY not hungry

Inclement Weather

Above, you see the view from our living room window out on the world this morning. It doesn't look so bad in the photos, but to the human eye, it's pretty bleak. Margaret cried when I opened the window.

The Hong Kong Observatory has hoisted what they call "Black Rain" which means everyone has to stay home. It's like a snow emergency, except for rain.

The Observatory states:

The Rainstorm Warning Signal is now Black. This means that heavy rain has fallen or is expected to fall generally over Hong Kong, exceeding 70 millimetres in an hour, and is likely to continue.

Because of seriously flooded roads and inclement weather conditions, you are advised to take shelter in a safe place and stay there. Parents, students, school authorities and school-bus drivers should listen to radio or television announcements on schools. Do not attempt to travel until the Black Rainstorm Warning Signal is no longer in force and traffic conditions have improved.

Labor regulations state that workers don't have to be at their desks until three hours after Black Rain Signal is lowered.

I'm the boss so I made an executive decision and canceled work today.

It used to be only my dad could do that.

That's pretty cool.

A Happy Baby

Some photos from today.

"Business cards are fun!"

Happy with Mommy

"Look Mommy!

"Yes, Mr. Horse, but then again..."

A long hard day for SAM

Cutting nails during their extra time this morning
A 7:00 AM SMS text message from Daisy let us know that she wasn't feeling well and wasn't going to come in.

After a brief confirmatory phone call with her, we quickly arranged alternate plans with my sister Joy. SAM would go to school a couple of hours late and Joy's helper Linn would come over.

Thank goodness!

The thing is, I'm not sure if it was spending the whole day with a stranger or whether Margaret is simply feeling off (likely both - very very fussy these past couple of days), but despite a seemingly calm time with Linn, from when SAM came home at 4:00 to essentially when I got home at 7:00, Margaret was one unhappy baby.

According to SAM, if she wasn't strapped into the Bjorn, she was screaming her head off.

When I called to tell SAM I was on the way home, Margaret crying in the background all but drowned out SAM.

She ate little, was fussy at her bath and nursed fitfully so that SAM had to pump.

Poor Margaret.

Now she's asleep in bed, but with how little she ate, and how fussy she's been, we'll wake her to feed her, but we're not expecting a calm night tonight.

SAM is exhausted as well. It didn't help that once SAM realized she had three extra hours, she did all the work in the house that Daisy did in a day on top of all the Margaret feeding and entertaining (and grooming).

Poor SAM.

During Margaret and Dad morning time
SAM was a trooper this morning.

After partying it up the night before with her girlfriends and not coming home until 2:00 am (I came home after dinner at 11:00), SAM managed to drag herself out of bed at 6:00 AM to feed Margaret.

I admit, it would have made sense for me to drag myself out of bed, but she was gracious enough to let me sleep in this morning - my only weekend day off.

Chewing on a teething rusk - very messy
Of course, with her taking the early morning shift, I took the late morning one, waking up in time to get Margaret up from her nap at 10:00. After changing her diaper, reading a book, playing for awhile and eating her brunch of solids, SAM joined us in time for lunch.

THEN, we just managed to catch the California Elmers for a bit of online video chatting before Margaret got too tired and had to take her nap.

On Sunday, she ate through one book!
We spent the rest of the early afternoon quietly. SAM had finished her reports so I proofed them for her before we got Margaret up and headed up to school to enter them.

It was fun to spend the afternoon together in SAM's classroom and on the playground. At one point, we had Margaret perched on a table while SAM and I entered grades into the system. Fun stuff.

Playing in SAM's classroom
We finished up at school just in time to get home and get Margaret fed, bathed and clothed before rushing out together to catch 6:00 seatings for dinner. Our first choice was taken, but we still had an enjoyable dinner of Korean barbecue where all the wait staff stopped and wanted to get a glimpse and a brief play with Margaret.

Unfortunately, as good as the food was and as nice as the staff was, there was nowhere to change her, so I wound up spreading the changing pad on the floor of the men's room. Luckily for us, it was a nice and new restaurant so the floor seemed clean.

We walked home via the park and had Margaret topped off with some formula and in bed by 8:15. Then, conversations with Roz and my mom and now we're done.

A full day.