Aftermath of Traveling

Mia and I flew solo to LA for my grandmother's funeral the day after Thanksgiving. The flight there was pretty uneventful. We were lucky enough to get a two seat row to ourselves and Mia did extremely well. While in LA Mia's incessant squeals and babbling was a comfort and source of laughter for all. She entertained us by putting her feet in her mouth and having a blow out at my aunt and uncle's house. For the Chinese, there is a phrase that is somewhat equivalent to "Eureka!" or "Strike it Rich" that is used when a baby poops in one's home. Apparently it's a sign of good fortune. But for me it was a bad mom moment.

You see, I had forgotten to replace her emergency outfit in my diaper bag. I used the one from my diaper bag as her PJs the night before since the one footed sleeper I brought to LA was still dryer. And of course, she blew out into her onsie. Now Mia does not blow out often. I've probably only had to change her outfit under 1o times, so it was a surprise to me. I had to run to the KMart near my aunt and uncle's for a fresh outfit.

Of course in the 15 minutes I was gone Mia blew a gasket. She cried almost the whole time. Poor baby. Prior to that she had done well with the relatives. The other thing that was not ideal while we traveled: sleep. Mia was kept up until way past her bedtime each night making it all the more difficult for her to fall asleep in a new place. Each night we'd start the bedtime routine around 8 or 8:30 and each night she would not sleep until 9:30 after numerous attempts. I caved and went back to nursing her down which I had just put an end to only a week or so ago. On top of this I slept with her because I was too lazy to bring the travel crib. UGH!!! Boy are we paying for it now.

Before I go there, our trip back to Seattle was less than ideal. A big snowstorm hit the Northwest and paralyzed the Puget Sound Area. Truthfully there isn't that much snow here, but for some reason people are not prepared for it out here. Our flight was set to land in the midst of it so we were diverted to Portland. Once there we were told that we would fly right back to Seattle after refueling the plane. Then it turned into needing a whole new flight attendant crew. UGH. By the time we made it to Seattle, it was 10:30, about three hours later. Mia was completely wired. While she did not fuss at all, she could not sleep either and left me exhausted after entertaining her for so long. Now while we were in flight poor Papa had to walk home from UW because the buses stopped running and then he was stuck in traffic for about three hours getting to SeaTac. Once we reunited getting the luggage from the N terminal to the Main Terminal took another chunk of time. By the time we made it out of the airport area and back home it was after midnight. Poor Mia. Luckily the next day was declared a snow day at work, so Mia slept in until 10 AM! I tried to get her to take a couple of naps during the day too.

Last night Mia would not sleep on her own. She cried and cried. Finally we went in and discovered that she had vomited. It's the second time she's done that after a crying jag. We felt so bad for her. The vomit was in her hair and required another bath, so we stripped her down and it was deja vu! I felt so bad for her that I nursed her to sleep and it was nearly nine by this time. Good thing we had another snow day at work. Again, I think I could have driven to work with no problem, but the boss said to stay home and I wasn't going to argue with that since Mia had another rough night.

Now tonight, same thing. She cried and cried. I went in a couple of times to reassure her after 5-10 minutes because I wanted to prevent the vomit again. Finally Papa went in and rocked her to sleep. I hope she gets used to sleeping alone in her crib, but I know we have to let her cry it out to teach her again. Knowing how to balance the crying it out while avoiding vomit is the challenge.

So now as I write this, beautiful large snowflakes are falling outside my home. Darn it, why didn't it start snowing when Papa and I were trying to take our annual Xmas photo just a couple of hours ago. We all dressed in festive attire after we decorated our tree and made a fire. Do you know how hard it is to get a baby and a dog to look at the camera? Thank goodness for the new camera because Papa has a remote that will take the photos. So instead of going back and forth to set up a shot, he just has to push a button on a remote. Pretty clever.

Anyhow, I took Kona for a walk just to enjoy the snow. I was brought back to the days of my childhood in NY when we eagerly anticipated the magic of snow. What is it about snow? The pureness? The fun of snowballs and snowmen? The fact that each snowflake is unique? The taste of it melting on our tongues? The hope of a snow day? Such pure joy came over me while watching Kona chasing the shadows of the snow falling on the ground. Growing up snow days were so rare because it took at least 6 inches of it to fall right around the time school would start to make the officials declare a snow day. NYC was always prepared to salt and plow the roads dashing a kid's hope of having a day to frolic in the snow. Tonight I was reminded of that feeling and brought back to childhood. That hasn't happened for me in a long time. I thought for a split second of waking Mia up to take pictures outside, but she's too young to get it and it would just be a disastrous affair.

Breastfeeding Moms Unite

I guess I've been living in a bubble lately, I know because my television consumption has decreased markedly with work, being Mia's primary caretaker, and the contract job. Geesh, I can't remember the last non-baby related book I read. I don't even read the news online, most of my net hours are spent writing and editing. Anyhow, I learned about the most ridiculous incident from another mom at PEPS today. It involved a mom who was kicked off a Delta/Freedom Airlines flight for breastfeeding her child.

Complete and utter BS. The flight attendant was offended by the breastfeeding and gave the mother a blanket to cover herself up. The mom refused. Apparently she was sitting in the window seat with her husband next to her in the next to last row. Um, seems pretty discreet already. The flight attendant had the family removed from the flight and they left without a fight. I can tell you that I would have been less gracious than the mother. My response would have been less calm and rational. The NY fight in me would have come out and I would have told the lame backwards flight attendant about the laws that protect mothers and babies from just this sort of thing. What is wrong with you if you think a breastfeeding mother poses a threat on a flight? I am sure the other passengers are thankful that the baby is eating rather than crying. Gimme a break.

It's now all up to the courts in Vermont to decide what happens and I sure hope Delta/Freedom Airlines receives some consequence for their poor customer service and understanding of the need to breastfeed. I for one will not fly Delta ever AND when I fly to my grandmother's funeral next week, I fully intend to breastfeed Mia upon take-off and landing. She has been on six flights already on Alaska, Northwest, and America West. We have never encountered any problems breastfeeding. I've breastfed in restaurants, in the middle of a mall, on a ferry, a park bench, etc... and I've never at a problem with idiots who do not have better things to do with their time.

If people are offended they shouldn't be watching. So if you see my baby eating her lunch at my bosom and you just don't like it, turn away. No one is forcing you to watch.

Switch-A-Roo

What a day it has been. I woke up to a phone call from my mom. Ken got the phone and from the sound of the conversation I gathered that my grandmother had passed away. I was asleep when she passed away early this morning. It was strange to think about what I was doing the moment life slipped away from another.

Everyone expected granny's death to happen sooner rather than later, but it still is not easy to hear that a loved one passed away. I am glad that her suffering is over. It hasn't been easy these last few months for her or the rest of the family, especially with her bout of sepsis and having a feeding tube placed. Fortunately, we were able to see her in October when we traveled to California with Mia. Ken and I got through the security with the baby, so lao lao got to see her Mia once. I wasn't sure she recognized us, but she did comment that she had not seen us in a long time. So I think she knew who we were.

Well with the passing of a life, a new life advances. Mia reached her latest milestone today. She moved an object from one hand to another. Takes a lot of brain power for a little one to figure that one out. She seemed to have a lot of interest in her new ability. A couple of weeks ago Mia also began uttering more consonant sounds like ba ba ba and da da da. She can be really loud sometimes. Today I swore she was saying "more" while I was feeding her. I don't think she quite attaches meaning to sounds just yet, every parent thinks their kid is advanced.

These last couple of weeks marks the beginning of Mia's destructive stage. She grabs at anything in front of her. She pulled my stack of papers off a table this morning. They were strewn about out of order. At work she pulls the phone off and tries to chew on the cord. It's definitely time to baby proof. And the days of drinking a hot beverage with her in my arms are over as she tries to reach for and grab whatever I have in my hands. It is nice to see her discover the world around her.

With Thanksgiving

As I sit at my computer working into the night (contract gig came through) with Kona nearby and my family fast asleep, God's presence became so real to me. I feel so thankful and blessed today even though I found out my grandpa's tumor is cancerous and at past-ninety, prognosis doesn't look good. Such is the cycle of life, but I am most awed that after a self sufficient life, a life full of burdens and constant stresses, my grandpa has chosen to believe in God Almighty and His Son Jesus Christ. God is good. Our lives are short, we have our family, our friends, our time should be spent making memories and giving thanks to our Lord for each day we have.

Earlier this evening we went to visit our dear friends the Faca's and their new baby Eric who is not so new. He's 7 weeks old and has the same birthday as Papa. Oh, what a lovely feeling to hold such a small little one. Sandra and Vitor appear to be handling their new roles very well. Little Eric slept the whole time we were eating dinner. How I miss the days when Mia was so tiny. Instead of sleeping through our dinner, Mia made tons of noises. See what you have to look forward to.

Now tomorrow we go to visit another wee one, little Elijah Yoon, just over a week old. I love visiting babies! Keep them coming dear friends. Infants are such a reminder of God's love and hope.

Mia after her dinner of avocado and prunes mixed with carrots and oatmeal cereal. Gotta stay regular.  

Hurray Poop Happens!

I have come to accept that Mia won't always be regular. Now being regular is very important to Mama and Papa, but Miss Mia does not appear to care much. She once went eight days without a bowel movement and was happy as a clam. When she finally went, it was massive. Not enough to cover her outfit, but enough to require a change. Then not more than five minutes later during grace before a family meal she let loose again.

Anyhow, not to belabor this point, ever since the start of solids Mia has been very erratic when it comes to going poopy. Last week with each diaper change she would squeeze out a peanut M&M sized nugget the consistency of playdough left out for a day. While she did not look uncomfortable, I could tell she wanted to clean the pipes, but just couldn't show her intestines that she was the boss (recall the reference friends?). Anyhow, I tinkered with her diet--stopped feeding her one of her faves, homemade sweet potato--increased the oatmeal and prunes and viola, she started pooping up a storm. Be careful what you pray for. It was poopy diaper after poopy diaper for a couple of days.

Now I got it down. At least one meal has to have a good amount of prunes balanced by a constipating food like banana or sweet potato to make for soft playdough poop. We like soft playdough poop, cleans up with one wipe!

Mia is precious as can be these days. She has started to babble up a storm and loves to say, da da da da. Papa shouldn't let it get to his head because we refer to him as Papa. Her brain is definitely at work these days as she is figuring all sorts of things out. We're proud that she recognizes some signs. She knows food and milk for sure. Mama is still waiting for the day when Mia uses the sign for milk.