Toby is here!

Auntie Iris had Toby this evening. ManyCongratulations, Auntie Iris and Uncle Johnny! Congratulations on becoming a big brother, RJ!

Vikki started the day for Cupcakes, Kiersten and Mia with story time. Cupcakes had a good morning but a really rough afternoon - cried on and off. When Mama got there to pick her up, she was having tummy time. Cupcakes did not eat or nap much today. She cried every time she coughed after we got in the car. Ahma wanted Mama to give her something to prevent the situation from becoming too serious. Mama turned around on the way home and picked up something homeopathic from PCC. Of course on the way home Mama panicked and called both Auntie Jeannie to see what she gives her kids and suggestions on over the counter medication and Auntie Boo for suggestions on additional natural remedies. Cupcakes was patient for Mama and Daddy to have washed her butt, changed her diaper, washed her hair, changed her onesie twice and put on a fresh outfit. Within an hour's time after Cupcakes got home and went to bed she had three doses of the homeopathic remedy and stopped coughing when she had been coughing about every ten minutes during the hour. (Mama was able to give Cupcakes the remedy without waking her up. It's funny how tightly she keeps her mouth shut when she sleeps.) She did not cough for another hour and half after that. Mama and Daddy also turned on the humidifier for her for the first time. She had coughed a little bit and slept a lot better when she slept in Mama and Daddy's bed last night. Tonight she's able to sleep in her crib. We hope that Cupcakes will feel better soon!!

Vikki's husband had a liver transplant last year, and fluid is accumulating in his stomach. It happened once last month and happened again over the weekend. Please join me in praying for a great recovery. Thank you!

Easy Sunday

Cupcakes slept in until 9:30 Sunday to make up for having stayed up late. Mama took her out for a walk in the early afternoon. When Daddy got home from church, he and Uncle Eric waited for Cupcakes to wake up from her nap to take her out for another walk. Cupcakes had napped since two from being a little under the weather. (Otherwise she's only been taking half an hour to hour long naps.) By five o'clock Mama suggested that they wake Cupcakes up before her nap ran into her bedtime. When Cupcakes came home Mama read "You're My Little Love Bug" from Carla while Uncle Eric held her. Uncle Eric thought the book was awesome, and the lights in the book got Cupcakes' attention. Thank you very much for the sweet gift, Auntie Carla!

Visiting with Loving Cousin Sarah

Saturday morning Cupcakes got up, and Mama put a matching bib on her. As we were heading out of the door - wait! We need to get a bib to match the hat. Thank you, Grandma Becky, for the cute stuff!

Mama and Daddy took Cupcakes to Metropolitan Market to meet Auntie Karen. Cupcakes fell asleep after lunch.

Doesn't Cupcakes make the perfect crab with that crabby face and her own claws at Costco? (Daddy and Mama love this picture!) When Mama put the sheep to her face, Cupcakes had the body language of okay-Mama-you-play-by-yourself and facial expression of can-we-go-now?!

Cupcakes snuck in some tummy time while Mama and Daddy unloaded the goods from Costco.

Auntie Angela is having her second baby at the beginning of May, so we visited them in Bothell before she got too busy. See Cousin Sarah love her Mama! Auntie Angela said to Mama, "Uhhh, Cupcakes' shirt is really wet!" It was a good thing that we brought an extra outfit today as we have not in a while! Cousin Sarah will make a very loving big sister!

Mama was (and still is) very surprised that Cupcakes managed to stay up until 9:30 without fussing. We were able to go out to dinner to celebrate Uncle Steve's birthday. Cousin Sarah would come over and stick out her hand. Cupcakes would reach out and hold onto her fingers - super cute and sweet!

We had a great day visiting with Auntie Angela, Uncle Steve and Cousin Sarah!

Cupcakes rolled over!

Mama got Cupcakes ready for school, telling Cupcakes that we didn't want to be late for story time like we did Thursday when Cupcakes slept in. Mama remembered that Vikki wasn't going to be in until later because she had to take her husband to the hospital when we didn't see Vikki. There was no story time. Mama took a picture of Cupcakes having tummy time, and the next thing Mama knew Cupcakes was on her back! Mama checked with Elspeth in the baby room, and she said that that counted as a roll over! Elspeth explained that Cupcakes probably didn't know how she did that exactly and might not reproduce it right away. Mama tucked Cupcakes in the exersaucer with her favorite book with the rainbow colors before she left for work.

Friday evening Vikki told Mama that Cupcakes has a favorite sucking toy. (We are not sure whether Cupcakes is teething, but she is drooling a lot and liking to suck on the back of her hand.) The teething toy is shaped like a hand, and Cupcakes had sucked on it for half an hour that day. Mama looked online for it. Fisher Price had produced it in 91-92. Mama found no toy but another person looking for it - funny!

Cupcakes speaks Alien!

In the middle of the night Cupcakes couldn't breathe, so Mama got up to clear her congestion. When Mama finished Cupcakes spoke to Mama. Mama was kind of freaked out. From the bedroom Daddy said, "Cupcakes is speaking to you." When Cupcakes woke up, Mama offered to feed her. She rejected and spoke to Mama. Mama decided to get used to this. Daddy took Cupcakes for a bit while Mama got ready for the day. When Daddy brought Cupcakes around, he said, "Cupcakes is an alien!" Mama freaked out the first time Cupcakes spoke to her because it sounded like Alien!

On the way to daycare Mama put Cupcakes' coat over her. Cupcakes got a hand into one sleeve and observed her own trickery.

After Cupcakes cried all day on Monday. Mama was worried for her the next day she went back to daycare. She was learning fast at daycare, but daycare actually has asked parents to remove their children due to too much crying. Mama consulted Auntie Liz and asked Vikki to institute a schedule for Cupcakes. Unfortunately they don't have the resources to implement schedules in the baby room.

At the end of the day Mama learned that Cupcakes had a better day. Mama was very relieved after worrying at work all day, especially with Cupcakes crying when Mama handed her to Vikki first thing in the morning. Cupcakes got better as the day went on. She is probably still adapting to the noisier environment. She cried a lot this past Sunday, and Mama realized that was the first time that we've had the TV on with Cupcakes around.

Mama cleaned up Cupcakes swiftly, and Mama and Daddy decided to take Cupcakes out for a quick walk. It was too windy, so we turned around. (We post a picture of Mama and baby in response to inquiries.) Cupcakes was ready for her feeding and bedtime when we got inside. When we laid her down to swaddle her, she spoke a little. Daddy and Mama immediately recognized Alien, haha.

Cupcakes is using her hands!

With Vikki's encouragement for Cupcakes to use her hands for the last few days, Cupcakes learned to hold things and venture out to touch. Mama was most impressed that Cupcakes held onto a toy. While nursing at the end of the day she reached out and felt along an arm of the chair with one hand. Cupcakes is learning fast!

However, Cupcakes cried most of the day. There are other babies that Vikki needs to attend to, Cupcakes. How come crying?!

Cupcakes loves you, Chris Shushu!

Uncle Chris loves Cupcakes. He showers Cupcakes with his attention whenever he visits - even when she glares at him. (Darn those genes from Mama!)

From the first picture Cupcakes may have Uncle Chris wrapped around her tiny fingers!

shushu = dad's younger brother in Mandarin

Cupcakes!

Cupcakes had a rough morning. When she woke up at her normal time, Mama was too tired to get up to play with Cupcakes. Mama put Cupcakes down next to her. Cupcakes slept some more with Mama until Daddy put her back in her crib. Cupcakes woke up, and that was that. For the rest of the morning Cupcakes cried. Cupcakes doesn't nap as much as she did before she went to daycare. When she is hungry or tired the signals are not always clear anymore. She cried on and off for the morning, and it was a little difficult giving her the bottle. Mama saw what Vikki was talking about when she said that Cupcakes cried unless held or just fussy in general.

Uncle Chris spent the night and taught Cupcakes to count in German.

Cupcakes calmed down around the time we were meeting Auntie Brooke for lunch. We had lunch at Mae Phim. We missed Jeab. She doesn't work on the weekends. See Cupcakes eye Auntie Brooke's phad thai - she may be ready for solids already. We heard that Uncle Scott is bummed that he doesn't get to see Cupcakes more often. Cupcakes says, "Hi, Uncle Scott! I look forward to meeting you, and I hope you stay updated with my growth via the blog!" After lunch Auntie Brooke treated everyone to Starbucks.

Afterwards we went shopping at Costco. Look at Cupcakes in the new stroller that Uncle Michael and Auntie Penny got her! Mama needs to read the instruction manual to see when Cupcakes can start riding in it*. It's very awesome. Mama can push Cupcakes around with one finger, and it's super easy making 360-degree turns. Thank you very much, Uncle Michael and Auntie Penny! It's a treat for Mama! The stroller has a great hood to shield Cupcakes from the sun. Uncle Michael and Auntie Penny, when will we receiving the cover for the rain? We live in Seattle after all.

We had hoped to visit with Aunties Kim and Yvonne and maybe take a walk in their neighborhood. They had company. Aunties Kim and Yvonne, Cupcakes is growing very fast!

When we got home, Cupcakes let Mama and Daddy clean her up, and she passed out in no time. She didn't even drink very much milk! Daddy had hoped to take Cupcakes out for a walk in the gorgeous weather, but he will have to wait for another day.

Auntie Angela's second baby is due soon. We'll want to visit her soon!

* Supposedly as long as a baby can hold up the head, s/he can sit in the BOB as young as 6-8 weeks old.

Visiting with Ahgong & Ahma

Cupcakes had a great day visiting with Ahgong and Ahma. We hung out around the house for Cupcakes to nap as much as necessary. Cupcakes took the bottle beautifully. Mama is working on giving Cupcakes the bottle during the weekend so that she wouldn't have as difficult of a time taking the bottles at daycare come Monday.

Cupcakes visited Olive Garden for the first time. Ahgong and Ahma wanted to treat everyone to Anthony's new restaurant Hart's Fire, but it was not open for lunch and fully booked for the evening.

Cupcakes had a great Friday!

Cupcakes got up early at six - the same time that Mama and Daddy got up, making it a little hectic for Mama to get ready for work. Vikki shared with Mama that Cupcakes liked to look at the rainbow in the plastic book that Kiersten had. Kiersten was too busy to join Vikki and Cupcakes for reading this morning, so Vikki read the ducky book to Cupcakes while waiting for Kiersten's milk to warm up. Mama wiped Kiersten's nose before running out of daycare. She had to run to the next stop after parking the car and managed to catch the bus.

On the way home Mama bumped into Uncle Tim on the bus. Uncle Tim picked up Cupcakes with Mama. Cupcakes had just woken up from her nap when we got there. They now swaddle Cupcakes to help her sleep. Someone did not remove the pacifier after Cupcakes fell asleep. . .

We visited with Uncle Tim and Auntie Robin while they had dinner at Pegasus before Cupcakes' bedtime.

Cupcakes looked so sweet asleep, but Mama woke her up to take her to Bellingham to visit with ahgong and ahma. Mama learned to soothe Cupcakes in the car seat on the way up. Cupcakes slept most of the time. Ahgong and ahma got to visit with Cupcakes for a little while before Mama tucked Cupcakes in for the night. When Mama went to bed, she put Cupcakes in bed with her. It was Mama and Baby Sleep Together Day, a special treat for Mama.

All better!

Cupcakes and Mama went shopping at PCC at seven this morning. We looked for something for gas. Daddy requested a natural remedy. Someone that works at PCC recommended grape water, which worked for her sister's kids. If it's known to work and it's natural, we are getting it. We also picked up some shortbread cookies that looked like lady bugs for Vikki. When we got there Kiersten was learning to pick up cereal with her hands. We heard that she picks up carrots and peas with no trouble!

This afternoon Mama learned that the grape water worked great for Cupcakes. Cupcakes did not cry all day. Additionally, Vikki and Mama are noticing that Cupcakes likes to have a nap around 11! Vikki is starting to swaddle Cupcakes with the blanket that Auntie Liz made for her because Cupcakes seems to be able to nap longer when she has it around her. Than you, Auntie Liz! And thank you Vikki for your attention to detail in taking care of Cupcakes!

Cupcakes is drinking about 9 oz at daycare.

Everyone comments how cute pink outfit from Auntie Mary Ann is. Thank you, Auntie Mary Ann!

Auntie Heather recommended Blue Lizard sunblock for babies under 6 months old. Mama got Cupcakes some from Amazon. Thank you for the suggestion, Auntie Heather!

When Mama picked Cupcakes up. . .

Cupcakes is tired most days when Mama picks her up from daycare. She's the only baby that maxes out on her allocated ten hours there - poor thing. She's cried all the way home after she got in the car once. Most days she's quiet. Mama took an extra minute to take a few pictures of Cupcakes today.

Cupcakes was fussy Tuesday. Vikki asked whether we hold her too much at home. We tuck her in soon after she gets home, so Vikki didn't think that was the cause. This morning she was good until eleven. Then she cried on and off until three. Vikki is guessing that Cupcakes has more gas than most babies. She was a gassier baby than most even on breast milk for the first two months. Vikki asks Mama to bring in simethicone to help with gas. I wonder whether she's tired because she is still not napping much at daycare. To be continued. . .