Flipping Out

Where we live, it doesn't really have sense to have a swimming pool- we'd probably only use it four weeks a year- but we do have sprinklers, which in some ways is more fun. With the dog days of summer upon us here in Oakland, temps topped out at around 85, which was perfect for a few sprinkler runs.  

And with the latest Picasa feature that stitches consecutive shutter releases together like a flip book, we can share the fun.

Selling It

This is not typically my M.O., and Liz was surprised that it I allowed this to happen, but since Liz and Ba Noi were going to get a mani-pedi before Anh and Patty's wedding, I allowed Huelan to attempt to sell me as to why she might have earned a mani-pedi herself.

She was positively beaming during the polishing, and was dancing around for days after showing off her nails.
Gradually over the last six months, she transitioned from a dino-loving, rough-and-tumble girl into a princess watching, necklace wearing, beauty shop playing girly-girl.  That's the way it goes I guess.  She still likes the rough-housing and being tossed around, so I've got that going for me. I might as well stop pretending that I have any control over this at all....

Kickoff

Contrary to reports, I did not get carried away and inadverantly punt him. 

Baby Talk

In the last two weeks, seems like the little fella's discovering that he can use his voice for more than just screaming.  Here's a conversation with Grandma where he seems undecided as to whether he wants to laugh or cry.

Ong Co

Ba Noi's dad (Ong Co) has two great grandchildren- Huelan and Vansen. He and Ba Co recently moved to the US and are expecting a grandchild in just a few months. One of these days we'll have to count the grandchildren, but I'd say it tops 20 pretty easily. 

Cankles

These cankles recently weighed in at 13lbs, 7oz and 24.25 inches. That's 94th and 91st percentiles for two month olds. That's some good home cookin....

We're Back

A month is a loooong time to be away from the blog at this age- Vansen is twice as old today as he was the last blog entry!

We've had an eventful month, highlighted by the road trip to San Diego for Anh + Patty's wedding.  We made a week of it, driving down on the prior Sunday and spending the whole week on vacation.  We've never had a SoCal vacation like this- lazy summer trip without a real itinerary- and it was awesome.

Some highlights of that trip and some other random stuff I remember from the month:

- The drive to OC was 8 hours long, which wasn't actually too bad.  It was a pretty low-stress drive with plenty of nursing stops.  Huelan had the mini-DVD player set up for the first time, so she was pretty stoked.

- Crystal Cove is a perfect little family beach.  It's just young families and the beach is big enough to explore but not so big that you have to worry about getting lost on endless stretches.  Huelan's a big fan of the tidepools, where we held hermit crabs! Then there's Ruby's Shake Shack at the top of the hill- a perfect way to end a sunny day.

- The Natural History Museum of LA.  We never go to LA.  I've been told that LA has restaurants, beaches, parks, and museums, but we've never seen them.  Though Huelan's kind of phasing out of her dinosaur obsession (and into fairies/princesses), she was still stoked to get up close and personal with some fossils.  Maybe her favorite thing about the the fully assembled fossils was pointing out the dino butt. The NHM also has this butterfly tent that was super cool- dozens of interestingly colored butterflies up close and personal.  LA- who knew?

- San Diego. The fam stayed at a house in PB with a deck and a view of Mission Bay, and the wedding was in La Jolla, at a perfect little spot on the beach called the Wedding Bowl, which claims to be the most booked wedding spot in America.  Look at the pictures and you'll see why.  Obviously great to get all the family together for a big celebration.  Huelan reprised her role as flower girl along with Viet's daughter Leah, who is also a major cutie.

- One of my funniest memories is from the rehearsal dinner.  Anh's doing some intros and comes to Huelan. She's been running around with Leah all night, both on fire.  They met everyone in the restaurant.  So Anh unexpectedly lifts Huelan up in the air and introduces her.  She realizes in a flash that she's in the spotlight and instantly turns on her megawatt smile, just positively beams at everyone.  That's Huelan in a nutshell.

- The wedding itself was just beautiful.  One of those times when the perfect occasion meets the perfect crowd meets the perfect setting.  Strangers watching from the path overlooking the Wedding Bowl, hugging and applauding.  The wedding guests in tears.  Gorgeous bride and groom.

- Debonairest Best Man ever.

- The reception was party time.  Huelan led Leah, Francesco and Jay Sondhi around the dance floor sliding all night.  First Dance, Lion Dance, Break Dance.  Great party.

- We were kind of intimidated by the drive back- San Diego straight though to Oakland.  We left at 11AM and pulled into our driveway at 10:30PM, clocking 11.5 hours on the road.  Sounds grueling, but it was actually pretty casual.  We needed to do make nursing stops every 2-5 hours, and stopped for both a casual lunch and dinner.  It was long, but for the most part easy.  Could have been muuuuch worse.

- The following week getting back to life was a challenge, but at least we had a three day weekend to look to  (Cal Game, Triple Birthday Pool Party in San Jose, Vassar BBQ), and a four day work week after that.   We're getting our bearings back now! Let's see how long that lasts.....

Pics here

And here

First Month

 

We're a month in.  Feels like a year. 

At one month, Vansen's starting to fill out nicely.  The kid's got an insatiable appetite that keeps Liz tied up for about a half an hour every two hours or so.  He's packing on the ounces; though we haven't weighed him since the last doc's visit, he definitely feels heavier and is started to get those tell-tale baby chub rolls.  He hasn't fit his NB sized diapers since the second day we brought him home, and he's firmly into his 3mo wardrobe now.  He's going to eat us into debt come about age 13.

Though his limbs still move completely independently and without any semblance of coordination, his neck is getting a little stiffer so that his head only bobs a full 360.  Just side to side now.  He's awake a little more during the day, responding a bit to the faces we make and reacting to our voices sometimes.  Though shapes are supposed to be getting clearer to him, what he really likes are overhead lights, especially the skylights in the kitchen.

At one month, he spends most of his time cradled in the crook of one arm or draped over one shoulder, which is just fine with us.

At 3.6 years, Huelan spends most of her time doing exactly what she wants, which mostly involves outings with Gosia during the day and the exact opposite of what we ask in the evening.  The sweetness is still there, the hugs, kisses, and vivaciousness.  But the tantrums can be fierce.  At times, she's totally, tenderly aware that she's in tantrum mode, but just can't stop doing it.  We're getting a little better at talking her through it, like a spirit guide through a bad trip, but if we fail to come up with the magic words or paint the right picture, she goes deeper toward the dark side.  At this age, the ability to reason is only beginning to form while emotion is raw and unfiltered.  I have a feeling it's going to be a while before that ratio turns in my favor.

more pics here

Yup

Life is perfect. 

Facial

Huelan's not upset that Eva is fixing her hair. This is a selfie, with the phone set up so that she can see herself as she's snapping pics. This girl practices these faces in the mirror, or really, any relfective surface- sliding glass door, car widows, glass case at the supermarket. 

Sometimes she put her hands on her hips. 

It's not always a furrowed look, either. She has Surprised, Pleading, and my favorite, Coy (complete with averted eyes and rapid blinking).  

Deja Vu

Three and a half years ago, we took Huelan out to her first leisurely brunch. Our first real restaurant meal together was at Aunt Mary's, when she was about six weeks old. We've got Vansen out a little ahead of that schedule- Aunt Mary's at three weeks. 

He slept through the entire meal, and Liz and I actually got to talk to one another for a few minutes. Liz decided that she hasn't been missing much. 

This commemorative pic is one of the ones of Vansen where he looks markedly more like a Lee than a Ly, especially juxtaposed with Huelan at six weeks. 

So Far, So Good (Mostly)

Three weeks into this thing! And we're only slightly worse for the wear.  Vansen has been remarkably easy. Yes, I realize that I just completely jinxed us.

I actually remember this phase from when Huelan first came home as well- other than feeding and diaper changes, there aren't a lot of duties.  Of course the feeding and diaper changes happen around the clock with no regard for the circadian rhythms of adults with jobs, but as far as intensity of care, it's not too bad.  And this time, we've already been inoculated to N.A.D., which helps tremendously.  We've barely even picked up a book this time around....

And yet he seems to be thriving.  He left the hospital weighing 7lb, 14oz, but at this 2-week appt had plumped up to 8lb, 10oz.  The kid is insatiable.  In fact, Liz can't keep up and we've been supplementing with formula 2-3 times a day just to keep the feedings close to 2 hrs apart.  Liz generally uses feeding time to read on her iPhone, and I think she's almost finished the internet.

So far, the most challenging part of having two kids is the first kid.  She's super-sweet with her little brother, always angling to get in a hug and kiss, but with us it was tantrum city, especially around dinner time.  We were told to expect some regression, and we certainly got it.  But, like us, she is slowly adjusting and getting back to herself a little each day.

Thanks for all the kind words, gifts, and (most appreciated) visits.  We're pretty home-bound, but it being summer, we've have taken Vansen out a few times already (it was about 5 weeks before we took Huelan out to a restaurant brunch, but that was January).

Some Pics Here

Looks Like

When Huelan was born, the second thing I said to Liz was that she looks like me. An apology of sorts. Though it's very early still, I think this looks like Mama. Especially this pic:

Haha, sorry I can't resist a cheap laugh!

Whirlwind

Lawrence Vansen has been with us for a week already, and we're not sure if it feels like a lot longer or a lot shorter.  It started after dinner at OB Town- spicy and garlicky KFC (Korean fried chicken).  We ended the evening with me apologizing to Liz about the burps that even I had to admit were noxious.

This was the evening of July 2, Anh's birthday, and the Official Due Date.  Since we were put on High Alert weeks ago with no signs of labor, we let this day pass just like the rest and settled in for the night around 11PM.  

The last time Liz went into labor, the initial signs were subtle and the hospital discouraged us from coming in too early (it was the day after Christmas- plenty of time to make a sandwich of leftovers and watch some TV). When we got to triage last time, contractions were still about five minutes apart, Liz was under-dilated,  and they asked us to walk around a little before they would admit us!  This one went down way differently.  

A little after 1:00AM, Liz woke up feeling a little weird.  Maybe it was the KFC?  But after she got out of bed, she noticed something unusual- a series of small puddles on the bathroom floor.  The light was low... could it be? Well, definitely maybe!  She wakes me up, and I call the hospital for instructions (since we have been approaching this pregnancy pretty casually, we failed to go through and drill on all the scenarios like we did last time).  Except the only number I have for the hospital on my phone is to the OR, where a janitor answers and puts me on hold for what seems like 20 minutes.  Finally, I speak with an L&D nurse, and she says if we think the water's broken, come in for a look under the hood.  Hearing this news, Liz promptly has her first contraction.  The next one comes a short three minutes later (!!!) and they continue to pile up at increasingly shorter intervals.  We're both unquestionably awake now, and know it's time to board the baby train cuz it's about to leave the station.

It's a blessing that Nhuanh is staying with us, and that she's not yet fully asleep, because we're now unexpectedly in a hurry and Huelan's fast asleep.  She comes upstairs and takes this picture of us and our hospital luggage. Maybe this is the last ever picture of a pregnant Liz?



(Looks like we're going on vacation)

The scene at Alta Bates was kind of comedy.  We pull up almost simultaneously with two other couples who are obviously headed to the same place as us.  We all head up the path, with each couple alternating between a brisk walking pace and total standstill to brace and breathe. An overhead view would remind you of one the races they show on the big screen at ballgames, where each couple is represented by a colored BART car that jets ahead, then falls behind, wanders around in a circle, and finally gets back on track to jostles for position. We came in second (which kinda bugged both of us).  By the time we got through triage, Liz is powering through contractions less than two minutes apart, and I'm doing my best not to burp in Liz's general direction.

In contrast to Huelan's delivery, this one was rather straightforward.  The epidural was administered without incident (more on this later), and soon Liz's intense waves of contractory pain smoothed out into manageable ripples of pressure and tightness.  After the nurse determined that Liz was at a full 10 centimeters, it was time to push.  (Us being on the imperial system I've attached the photo below to illustrate what 10cm looks like, using an iPhone4 for scale.)



Huelan's delivery was pretty dramatic, necessitating a full staff in the room- probably the OB plus six or seven nurses.  This time was more conventional, comparatively serene, with just the OB and one nurse. Soon It soon became apparent that this kid was also going to start life with a full, thick, enviable head of hair.

Lawrence Vansen Ly joined us soon thereafter- officially logged on Wednesday, July 3, 6:19AM- at a girthy 8lbs, 5.9oz.  He took about a 6 second survey of the scene, sucked in his first deep lungful, then quickly began continuously linking loud, toothless screams end to end until he was plopped down in his exhausted mama's arms.  My garlic breath does not seem to have effected his appetite, and like a true Ly/Lee, he immediately latched and drank hungrily, kicking off a long life of comfort eating.
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It's incredible what slips out of our memories against our will. They say that's the reason anyone ever decides to have a second child- we block out the details of what the first one was like.  For instance, neither Liz nor I remember me cutting the cord the first time, though I'm sure I must have.  It's got a rubbery,octopus like texture that give even the surgical grade hospital scissors resistance.  And the particular color of a newborn, a completely organic purple-gray.  The pointy shape of the baby's crown before the nurse covers it with a baby cap.  The relief-joy at seeing ten fingers and toes and hearing those first primal baby screams.  The heady rush of life flashing before your eyes when you hold your wiggly kid in the first few minutes of his life.
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Lynn and Larry, who left their house at 3AM, were there before the pushing really started in force, and were the first ones in the room after Lawrence was born. Lynn swears that she was dreaming about delivery when her phone rang, and had their bag packed near the door.
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Liz had some minor complications that have stretched out the recovery timeline a little, but she's doing better by the day.  A persistent headache attributed to a combination of a dural puncture and anemia.  Still, she's stronger at her weakest than me at my strongest.  Vansen is eight days old now, and he's been quite easy for the most part.  Speaking as parenting veterans, these first few weeks are relatively easy as long as we accept the sleep deprivation and take extra care not to accidentally sit on the child.

His sister, however, has been dialing up more than enough challenges to keep us busy.

Some pics from our week here.

It's a Boy!!!

That's what my mom and dad said 34 years ago, when Anh was born in Louisville, Kentucky. 

Happy Birthday, Chu Ti!

What were you excpecting?