9 Months!

It's been a busy few weeks for us- Nicole turned 9 months(!!!) yesterday.

I've had my hands full leaving my old job and ramping up at Intuitive Surgical. Leaving this job was a difficult process, but I am very excited to have a cool opportunity lined up. With robots. I get about 4 weeks of home study, which I am excited about because I'll get to spend much of it close to home with Huelan.

One of the big events of the last few weeks was Huelan's christening at St. Brennan's. Father Dan, the priest who married us, performed the baptism. The dress Huelan wore for her baptism (above) is the one Grandma wore sixty-something years ago!

Ba Noi came up for the ceremony and stayed with us for about 4 days, which was great because Huelan is so interactive now. She can easily crawl wherever she wants, and we do a lot of chasing (a game she loves). She's not satisfied with just crawling though- she likes to stand up holding on to the couch or walls and walk around from place to place.

Every day she's doing something different. Right now, she is loving being close to other kids. She makes these grunting noises in an attempt to communicate, which is hilarious, then she'll try to reach out and touch their faces. There are a number of kids in the neighborhood ages 3mos-3years, so it's fun to take Huelan out and see how they interact.

Here are some more pics from the past couple of weeks. There are also a bunch on David's Blog (link to the right)

Three Day

We were inspired by perfect weather and great friends to make the most of the long weekend. G and Carreey had this idea to get out and do something different everyday, so we hatched a plan that included Cal's home opener, Lake Chalet, Golden Gate Fields, Takara Sake Factory, Vik's Distributors, and BBQ at Kim and Adam's place. We packed it in and had a terrific time, got a ton of sun and few beverages.

here are some pics

Toothy

Even though she started teething about a month ago, we couldn't really see the teeth until about two weeks ago, and this is the first pic we've managed to snap of her chompers. And they are sharp!

Sunday we were at Skates on the Bay, where we had a joint birthday brunch for Grandma and Auntie Laurie. Huelan had a big smile on her face because the wind was blowing pretty hard outside, and she loves watching the leaves rustle.

Here are some other pics from the weekend, including Karen's baby shower.

8 Months

Sneaks up on you quickly! Both the time and the little crawler. We went to the doc this week for her check up (and shots) and it looks like she is doing great. 28 inches and 19 lbs, which puts her on the bigger side of babies her age. Must be all the pho I've been giving her while Liz is at work.

As you can see from the vid, she can pretty much get wherever she wants, and if you're in the way she'll try to go over you. She's easily pulling herself up to standing now, so we've had to elevate everything out of her reach, which she considers a challenge to her reaching ability.

I am usually around when she wakes up in the morning, when she has the most epic bed head, and it cracks me up. Her hair in the vid is actually pretty tame, even if it is huge. It's almost like seeing vintage photos from the 60's and 70's when people rocked hair helmets and beehives. Undoubtedly from the Lee side of the family tree.

Meanwhile, in other news, Randi had her baby boy- Casey on Wednesday. He looks like his mother. Welcome!

Here are some pics from the last week or two.

Hella Heart

We went to brunch with Helen on Saturday and there was a real small baby sitting next to us- about 6 weeks. Tiny little thing. Huelan's doing so much stuff we almost get the feeling that she's no longer a baby!

Teething seems to be getting better, until the next tooth comes in. This one seems to be growing in a little crooked- she gets that from dad.

Some pics from the weekend.

Explosion

A few weeks ago, I was commenting to a friend how sometime between months 5-6, Huelan exploded in physical and emotional maturity. Little did we know what she had in store for us for her 7th month.

Last week we met the SoCal contingent in Lake Tahoe for a five day vacation. The last time we packed for an extended trip Huelan was less than 4 month old, and she had a lot fewer accessories. This time, we had more equipment than even the Murano could handle and we had to rely on Anh's truck as overflow.

Ba Noi was stoked to be able to spend 5 whole days with her grand daughter. Huelan was just as excited, and she showed it with her new, ear-piercing scream. All night the second night. We thought maybe it was a little karmic because people always ask how she sleeps, and we're so happy to tell them that she's very consistent from 8:30 to 6:30. Then we thought it was the arid altitude making her crusty and congested. Or maybe it was just a different house and bassinet. She settled down a little after that second night, but she continued to push the decibel needle.

Well, when we got back, Gosia figured out that Huelan had a tooth coming in! At first, it was impossible to see or even feel, but when Gosia put a spoon in her mouth, we could hear it knocking against a little porcelain nub in the bottom of her mouth! That was about a week ago, and now the tip of the tooth is visible just breaking through her gum line. People tell us to expect the same thing for every tooth…. We are scared.

Another thing that’s got us scared is that she’s learned to get to her feet. She’ll crawl around until she can find something to grab onto, pull herself up to look at it, then all of a sudden she pops up and is looking around. At first she could only do it once or twice then get tired a sit back down, but in just a couple of days she’s pretty much got it down.

Tonight we’re putting her in her crib for the first time because she can probably climb out of her bassinet. The first time she’s sleeping in a different room from us! She’s also trying to feed herself little cereal puffs, starting to wave hello/goodbye, and trying to make some simple consonant sounds. So compared to her 6th month, this 7th month has been really crazy, and I don’t think she’s slowing down anytime soon.

The most recent pics here.

Seven Months

Today marks Nicole Huelan's seventh month with us! I know I always write about time feeling like it's flying, and it does, but there's another side too. Though it's "only" been seven months, it feels like she's been with us a whole lot longer.

In the past few weeks, she's almost perfected eating (at vid was taken about 2 weeks ago), can sit up pretty confidently, and wants to crawl on hands and knees (though she stilll resorts to army crawl when she is in a hurry).

The biggest changes, though, are in her personality. She is curious, always looking around and trying new things. She is trying to communicate (grunting counts we think). And when she hears keys jingle in the door, she knows that someone is coming to play with her and looks around expectantly. We love coming home!

Mommy and Ba's night out

Viv and Jason's wedding at the City Club SF. We're so blessed to have been to some great weddings and this was up there with the best of them. One of my favorite afterparties.... don't judge me.

Learn On

Huelan is just a 10 days shy of being seven months old, and in the past 3-4 weeks her growth has just exploded. It's great fun to watch her physically grow, gaining length and strength, and add new skills. Her legs are getting buff from all the boucing she's been doing in her hew jumperoo, and she gets around pretty efficiently now so we have to keep a close eye on her. She's very curious, and is especially interested in trying to find out what's under the couch, coffee table, and TV stand. She has mastered working her rattles, and we've found that she loves books (to eat). We challenge her by putting obstacles in front of her and watch her try to figure out how to get where she wants. She's kinda like one of those Roomba robot sweepers- when she bumps into something, she backs up and tries to approach it from another direction. Endless enterainment for us, which is why we had her.

Even more fun to watch is the growing that she's doing mentally. She recognizes multiple people, and her favorites are greeted with big smile or laugh and excited leg kicks and arm waves. Her concept of object permanance is forming, and she looks for people and things when we hide them. She is always down for a good game of Peek a Boo. I think that she recognizes when we call her name, which can be confusing because we regularly call her by at least 3 different names.

Along with these changes have come the first real necessity for parenting. Most of what we've done up to this point has been to meet basic physical needs- food and comfort, stuff that we felt we were just getting the hang of. Now, with her baby brain forming, we're got a vastly more difficult responsibility- helping her balance her first concepts of possibilities vs. boundries. And right now, all that she sees are possibilities.

Some recent pics here.

Free Will

Been away from the blog for a while, but it's been a busy month. And what a difference a month makes! When we last posted, Huelan was about 5 months old. Now that she's 6, she has a whole new bag of tricks. Though she is obviously still a wee baby, she is developig her own sense of what she wants to do. There is not turning back now. I was stunned to see her army crawl across her blanket to get to her toy basket, tip it over, and go for her favorites. And she laughs like crazy.

With her newfound mobility, she's been exploring every crevice. If we let her, she'll crawl across the rug and try to shimmy herself under the couch or coffee table, her favorite spots. Looks like it's time to babyproof the living room.

In addition to the physical changes, this month she's become a lot more interactive. At this age, she constantly wants to look around and interact with stuff. She recognizes people, places, and toys. The babyfood thing is going well; she's not too picky (like her dad), though she sometimes makes a face at first (like her mom).

She checked in at the doctor last week and got her shots, which she tolerated very well. She weighted in at 16lbs,6oz (60th %tile) and almost 27inches (90th%tile!).

We've defnintely got her out and about this summer- hope to see you!

Here are the most recent pics.

Gettin Out

The weather these last few weekends has been fantastic. 75-80 and sunny, even in parts of SF. That's made it really easy to take Huelan out and explore, which she is really digging. She's got a growing curiosity, and likes being out of her stroller when we walk, her head on a swivel checking everything out.

Walking around with a baby puts you in this whole different world. You know when you learn a new word and suddenly hear it used everywhere? It's kind of like that except there are babies everywhere. Among parents, there is tons of knowing eye contact, a fraternal nod and smile. And mnay parents are thankful for any brief opportunity to engage another adult for a few minutes, even if the topic is children. I actually have to be careful when I don't have Huelan with me because I don't want to be taken for a weirdo smiling at other people's kids.

And people on the street are always doing double takes at Huelan, stopping us to check her out. The comment that she gets most is about her lux hair; she rocks a barrette like few 5-month-olds can. It goes without saying that she gets her hair from her mother.

Here are some recent pics.

Now-stalgia

Now that she's a little bigger, it seems like a lot more things happen. In the past few weeks we had Mother's Day, went to some parties, and had Ba Noi in town. She was even sick for a while, which was terribly sad. But she's back to herself now, and she's picked up a few new skills- rolling over left and right, getting her toes in her mouth, and blowing wet raspberries. She tries to sit up on her own, but inevitably gets transfixed by her feet and slumps foward.

She's also been staring at us while we eat, so we figured she might want some too. We tried spoon feeding her for the first time last night- some rice cereal mixed with milk, barely thicker than the milk alone. She's good at getting the food off the spoon, but doesn't yet know what to do with it from there, so most of it ends up dripping down her chins. If she's anything like her mom and dad she'll be get the hang of it sooner rather than later.

Over the weekend, my cousin was here from Houston, telling us about her son, who is just under 2. We are having a great time with Nicole, and it's awesome to hear about all the fun stuff there is to look forward to. Of course everyone says that time just flies by and advises us to soak up the baby-essence as much as we can right now. Is it possible to have nostalgia for something as it's actually happening? Evidently so.

Most recent pics here.

Super Baby

She loves this ("Bay" means fly in vietnamese).

thanks for the vid Uncle Jay.

Mother's Day

Huelan says, "Thanks Mommy. For gestating me, birthing me, nursing me, and loving me. I love you too. Happy first Mother's Day. Here is your present."

Success!

She's had been right on the cusp for 4-5 days, with an occassional successful attempt, but this weekend it looks like she mastered it- the RollOver!

The difficultly with this manuever is that her left arm gets in the way when she is just about over. Sometimes, she would get 80% there and get flung back because that left arm gets in her way and she doesn't know what to do with it. But it looks like her master plan with all those extra ounces of chubb onto her thighs was to use them to leverage herself onto her belly.

She only likes to roll over her left shoulder, so I think that she's going to be goofy-footed.

She's so funny- once she figured it out consistently, she is doing it all the time. She'll be on her back, I go to get some water, and when I come back she's on her tummy. But she doesn't really like being on her tummy too long and hasn't figured out how to get back yet, so she'll just get tired after a while and start to cry.

I guess that'll be her next trick.