4 Months Old

Mommy was late taking Bella's picture this month. Bella turned 4 months old on Tuesday. Apparently Mommy has no concept of dates. She hardly knows what day of the week it is every since she stopped working.

Bella had her 4 month check-up with Dr. Mason on Friday. She got the same 3 shots as her last visit.
She weighs 13 pounds and 3 ounces with her clothes and diaper on. (25th percentile)
She is 25 inches tall (71st percentile)
Her head circumference is 16 inches (50th percentile)

While waiting for the doctor, Bella kept herself busy with her toes. Lately she has been grabbing for them.

She has been grasping objects like these keys.

Dr. Mason wanted to see Bella do tummy time. She happily showed him how she could hold her head up. Although she fusses when Daddy does tummy time with her.

K and Mason had another dinner date. This time at Uncle Larry's restaurant. Auntie Becca brought the kids yogurt for dessert. They had fun sipping it out of the straw.

Bella was well behaved at dinner. She must have been really tired from her shots. Uncle Ken is holding her in the corner if you can see.

Thanks Uncle Larry for the soup and fish fillet with corn. Two of K's favorite dishes.

A quick update on Bella's sleep. She has been sleeping unswaddled and using a sleep sack.  Mommy put her down awake one afternoon for a nap. Bella whined for 40 minutes, of which she cried hard for 5 minutes and then fell asleep on her own. Every since then, she has been put awake for bedtime too. She whines or cries for 10 minutes, tries to suck on her fingers to self soothe and falls asleep. The last 3 nights she has slept through the night from 8:15pm-6:30am. Mommy hopes it continues and it would be even better if she can sleep 12 hours straight, but Mommy shouldn't be too greedy and will take what she can get. Now Bella just needs to work on sleeping in her crib. Ironically Bella sleeps better than her older sister. K wakes up to go potty or sometimes cries out for Mommy when she can't find the stuffed animal she is sleeping with.

Memorial Day Weekend Festivities

Memorial Day weekend was a busy one. Auntie Stef invited the girls over for a bbq.

Uncle Jason made yummy chicken wings and ribs.

Auntie Stef was an instant babysitter. She is great with kids. She watched and entertained both girls downstairs by herself while she told Mommy and Daddy to eat dinner.

Uncle Ken and Mason came to visit. Bella loved to be held by Uncle Ken. Uncle Ken said it's because he's so cushy.

The girls also spent time with Uncle Derek, Ethan and Ashley.

Good Help Is Hard To Find

Sadly maternity leave is ending for Mommy. Mommy's original plan was to hire a nanny to take care of Bella.  Po Po placed an ad in the Chinese newspaper and screened over 40-50 applicants who responded to the ad.  Many people that called spoke Mandarin which doesn't work since Mommy can't speak the language. Others could not drive and wanted to take public transpiration which is not an option since there is none nearby. Some thought we lived in SF which proves no attention to detail skills. The ad clearly stated where we live. And some were just plain rude during the interview, so those were obviously not a fit. We did end up trying one nanny, but after a week it just didn't work out. Originally Lolita (the daycare that K went to) was not an option since she closes at 5:30pm and with 2 different pick-ups that time is hard to make. After speaking with Lolita, she was kind enough to close an extra 15 minutes for us to help us out. Mommy will have to leave work early each day and end up working at night, but  Lolita is someone we trust and we know she would love Bella as if she was her own baby.

Bella tried out daycare last week for a few hours. Mommy teared up a little when she pulled into the driveway since she realized in a week she had to go back to work and won't be spending as much with Bella, but once Lolita opened the door and took Bella in her arms, Mommy knew Bella was in good hands.

Laura loves babies. She especially loved K and told Mommy that K will always hold a special place in her heart.

Lolita has a new helper named Veronica and she seems to be very sweet with the kids.

These will be Bella's new friends for the coming months.

Bella did well for her first day. She napped and drank the bottle! Lolita said she did not cry. Mommy hopes Bella will continue to like it at daycare and wants Bella to know she cherishes the last 4 months she had with Bella.

What's New With Ms. Bella

Bella's neck is getting strong, so it was time to try the Bumbo. Mommy was unsure if she would cry like K did when she sat in it. K lasted no more than 2 minutes in the Bumbo. K never liked anything that was confining such as the stroller, car seat or carriers. Bella seems a little more chill and actually liked the Bumbo!

K was the chef one evening and served Bella dinner in the Bumbo.

She asked Bella, "How does it taste? Is it good?

Bella's hair continues to grow longer and stick up higher each day. When she woke up from her nap this is how Mommy found her hair.

Bella is a much better nurser than K. She is getting chubs in her legs and arms. Her thighs look like little turkey drumsticks.

She is constantly drooling. Bibs are now part of her daily wardrobe.

Two weeks ago, Bella moved into her nursery. Mommy and Daddy are glad they don't have to tiptoe around their bedroom around anymore. The only problem is Bella does not like sleeping in her crib. She wakes up fairly quick once she is put down in the crib. Mommy's coworker recommended this rocker for babies with acid reflux due to the incline.  Bella has been sleeping in it since she was one month old. She loves how cozy and warm it is. Mommy has been trying to nap Bella in the crib. She will either wake up within minutes or sleep for only 25-30 minutes, whereas the rocker she can nap for 1.5 to 2.5 hours.  Her room is cramp as it is already since the full bed is in there. It will be nice to get rid of the rocker!

The plan of action is 1) Put Bella down awake with no bouncing and let her cry it out 2) wean her from night feedings. She used to only wake up once but has regressed to waking up for 2 times a night. Her feeding hours are any where from 11:30-1:30am and then a second time at 5am. She goes back to sleep and wakes up between 7:30-8:30am. And 3) finally sleep in her crib.

Sleeping training will be difficult since K is a light sleeper. Mommy has tried a couple times and Bella has woken K up. It's awful to have two girls that are crying at the same time wake up in the middle of the night. K has been doing so much better sleeping at night.  Mommy is scared to jeopardize that, but she's praying it will only take a few nights of Bella crying to sleep through. Mommy has a feeling Bella can cry a long time though. Wish her luck!!!

Mommy has been bringing Bella to see her grandparents and Tao Pao once a week while she was on maternity leave. Isn't it crazy to think Tao Pao is 89 years older than Bella?

Mommy can't believe Bella is going to be 4 months next week. Please slow down...don't grow up so fast baby girl!

We Love Playdates!

K and Bella are lucky to  have friends that are close in age which makes play dates fun. Charlie, Nat and Bella had their last play date before Mommy returned to work.

A few weeks ago it was Emi's 2nd birthday. She had a crocodile theme birthday and a bubble machine. How cool is that?

Group photo with the birthday girl and her friends.

Bella brought over lunch to one of Mommy's coworker, Auntie Susan the other.

 

Auntie Susan just had a baby. Paul is 2 months younger than Bella. He was really mellow and stayed in his swing all through lunch. He's a spitting image of his Mommy!

Another baby that was born recently is baby Richard. He is a month younger than Bella. Mommy and Auntie Marlene walked around the mall with the two kiddies.

 The girls have been spending a lot of time with cousin Aiden now that he moved back to CA. The weather was so nice last weekend, the cousins had lunch at Santana Row. Aiden brought his Akita who got lots of attention from strangers wanting to pet him.

Uncle Richard invited the kids over to his place. His complex has a putting green. K brought her golf clubs and practiced her swing.

K and Bella can't wait to see more of their friends! Come over and play!

The Corporate World

Bella paid a visit to Mommy's work last week. These are Mommy's coworkers and some new faces that recently got hired. Bella was good the first 10 minutes and after that did not want anyone to hold her except Mommy.

The week after Bella visited Daddy and met some of his coworkers. She was in a good mood and smiled a lot. Could it be she likes guys better than girls? Hope that's not the case or Daddy would not be too happy.

This is where Daddy sits. He must be a busy and important guy. He has papers every where.

Uncle Derek and Gabby brought over dinner to celebrate Mother's Day.  The girls love spending time with their auntie and uncle!

Uncle Derek read K's new book, Dragons Love Tacos. Auntie Gabby is a preschool teacher and said it's a favorite amongst her students.

Auntie Gabby gave Bella lots of hugs and snuggles. She use to work with infants and misses that age.

 

In honor of Mother's Day, K's class made smoothies for their mommies. She scooped the yogurt and strawberries in the Nutri Bullet.

She tasted her own creation and told Daddy- this taste good!

K made a silhouette of herself as a Mother's Day gift.

Taking care of a newborn and a 3 year old can be challenging and hectic at times. The days can be hard and tiring, but Mommy can't imagine life without them and loves her girls to pieces. Hope all the moms out there had a Happy Mother's Day!

Poop Strike & 3 Year Check-Up

Bella is a baby that does not poop often. She went 12 days straight without having a bowel movement. Mommy emailed Dr. Mason to see if this was normal and he said to bring her in if she had not pooped by the weekend. At the dr visit, he inserted a suppository. Bella did not even flinch or cry. Within a minute, the poop came out. It happened so fast! Mommy will spare you the image of what came out next. Just think 12 days worth of poop stored up and how massive that could be. Here she is letting one rip. Dr. Mason said Bella may just be a baby that poops every 7-10 days which is fine, but if needed we can give her a suppository. He said she might have just had a dry spell, but she's fine.

Bella weighed in at 12 pounds and 14.5 ounces. This means she does not have to wear the insert anymore with the baby carrier, Ergo. Hooray. She measured 25.25 inches tall.

Katelyn had her 3 year check-up with Dr. Mason the following day. She got her blood pressure taken by the nurse for the first time.

At this visit, K weighed 28.4 pounds (25th percentile)

And measured 36.25 inches tall (25th percentile). No shots at this visit, but nurse Carolina said at the 4 year check-up there will be 4 shots! Dr. Mason had a talk with K and told her to go to bed earlier and no more waking up in the middle of the night or the consequences will be a time-out. She said okay. She was proud to tell him when she turned 3 years old, she does not wear diapers to sleep anymore. She does wake up to go pee once a night or a couple times has stayed dried until the morning.

Isabella's Red Egg & Ginger Party

Last Sunday was Bella's Red Egg and Ginger Party. She got all dolled up for her big day.

At the party a hostess was assigned to be our photographer. She took pictures through out the party and burned the pictures on a cd right after the party for us to take home. She captured a family picture for us right when we walked in.

K tried to get her sister to smile by tickling her cheek.

Bella met many friends and family for the first time. She was exhausted half way through the party and ended up taking a nap in Daddy's arms.

There was hand and face painting at the restaurant.  K asked for a spider and a penguin.

Special thanks to Po Po and Gung Gung for hosting and Po Po for making all the favors.

When we got home, K lined up chairs and pretended to be on a train with Daddy and Bella.

Uncle Bau was not able to make it to the party, but stopped by after work to visit.

After all the excitement, K and Mommy went to the library. K picked out 4 Curious George Books and checked the books out herself.

Happy 100 days old Bella!