Kona Attacked & Mia's First Day

Our neighbors two doors away have a Chocolate Lab who does not care for Kona. They did not have a good introduction with each other. Labs are usually friendly dogs, but Chaja is territorial and was here in our row of homes first. Once I took Kona out to get the mail and Chaja was in the enclosed patio. He was happy to see Kona at first, but Kona started to bark (she does not like big dogs) and that made Chaja very very mad. He began to growl and got very tense. Yesterday, Ken set out to walk Kona and when he left our garage, Chaja was out and unleashed. Kona barked and he charged (Kona peed because she was so scared) and picked Kona up by his mouth. Chaja had Kona by the neck and was probably going to thrash her about, but luckily his owner came out and Chaja let go. Kona did not have any puncture wounds so she's fine. The very apologetic owner offered to pay vet bills, but a trip to the vet was unwarranted. Ken asked him to keep Chaja leashed at all times. Hopefully there won't be anymore incidents to share.

On a cheerier note, Mia and I had our first day at Bright Beginnings. It was rather hectic, but Mia had a grand time. She loved playing with all the outdoor toys and spent most of her time at the water table, pushing around a shopping cart, and riding a police car. At snack time she ate a ton of goldfish and kept asking for more. Below is a picture of Mia with a mouthful of crackers.


Tonight I went to a book club meeting and felt like an adult. It was nice to have an intellectual conversation for a change! We discussed a light read, Anne Quindlen's Rise and Shine. It's about two sisters who are very close, but do not really know each other at all. A simplistic explanation, but you have to read it for yourself.

Trucks are for Girls Too!

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Mia's Week in Review

Curious friends and family have been asking what Mia has been up to in California, so here is a post devoted to our mundane lives here in Sunnyvale.

We've been going out daily to playgroups through Las Madres, a non-profit that sets up playgroups by birth year and city. I was ambitious and as a trial member joined the chapter for our town as well as two neighboring towns. Each chapter has activities and events that the moms plan one or two months ahead. Mostly the events are play groups or field trips with a smattering of mom's nights out and book clubs. Since the groups are rather large, the meeting places are usually local parks. Mia and I go to a park almost everyday to meet with the moms and babies. It has been a great way to force me to learn the roads and check out the local parks.

We are taking Little Panda, Mandarin Music class that meets on Tuesday afternoons. Coincidentally one of our neighbors is in the class and her little girl is two, so we formed a Mandarin playgroup that meets on Wednesdays. A gal I became acquainted with from the Bay Area Wellesley alum listserv, the wife of a friend from college and a woman I met at one of the churches we are considering are part of the group too. We all hope our kids will become better Mandarin speakers than ourselves.

Next Thursday we start Bright Beginnings, a parent participation preschool. Though disappointed that I could not find a true co-op to attend with Mia (and irked after all the legwork I did in Seattle to get into Wedgwood Co-op with Sue and Poppy), I think I am going to like it. Mia, she could care less, she's always game for anything and happy no matter what....just like her Papa. Mia and I will go to Bright Beginnings for 2.5 hours a week. I attended the Orientation tonight. The teacher has 19 years of experience at the school and was a parent who participated with her four children prior to becoming a teacher there. While I observed the school prior to enrolling, I observed a different teacher. However, based on my assessment after Orientation, Teacher Natalie seems to be one of those veteran teachers who is VERY opinionated and authoritative, but deserves to be that way because she truly knows what she is doing. She expressed that her main purpose for the kids is the process and enjoyment of building a community or making friends. Her rules for the toddlers are simple, outdoor toys stay outdoors, indoor toys stay indoors and only eat at the table. There are many more "rules" for the adults. More on that at another time. Parents and adults need to have the kids clean up after themselves while making them believe it's all part of the fun and experience at school. I love routine and structure for the little ones and was that sort of teacher myself so I think I will be getting along nicely with Teacher Natalie. The only odd thing was Teacher Natalie went off--I would almost describe it as a tirade--on filtered water and the bottled water industry saying U.S. tap water is heavily regulated and the safest water in the world so it does not need to be filtered. Bottled water sits on trucks in plastic with the sun beating down on it, blah blah blah. I could let myself be offended by her remarks about third world countries and their tap water versus the safety standards in the U.S., but I'll let that go for now. Anyway, all this after a parent's simple question about how often the school changes the Brita filters. Personally, I found the tap water in Seattle, New York and Boston (all the places I've lived) taste a thousand times better than tap water here in Sunnyvale. So I am not ashamed to own a Brita.

One of the churches we are considering attending has a playgroup every Friday for toddlers that we've enjoyed going to. It's really nice to fellowship with other women and there's something to be said for playing in a home that is a smaller group setting. Mia enjoys the change in scenery and playing with new toys. She always seems to be able to pick out the Elmo toys immediately. Papa is signed up to take Gym Kids (like Gymboree) with Mia on Saturday mornings starting September. I'm still looking into swimming and perhaps Kindermusik, but I don't want to be overscheduled either. Right now our Mondays and Fridays are free for errands, random appointments, and out of town visitors.

Despite all our activity and efforts to make new friends, Mia misses her almost daily play dates and field trips with her first BFF (Best Friend Forever) Poppy. We are sad to not spend more time with Maddie and meet her new baby sister Jaclyn. Little A.J who shares Mia's birthday is also growing by leaps and bounds and we wish we were there to witness it. Papa has a trip planned to Seattle next week and we wish we could join him.

Here are some pics of Mia's life in California.

Playing in her cheapo blow-up pool that Papa blew up with his own breath

At a park playdate with the Cupertino Las Madres group

Lunching at Pebble Beach with Grandpa Song, not a regular event by any means, but certainly exciting and fun.

Outside of San Tung (Ken's all time favorite restaurant in SF) with Ken's cousin Min and his son Johan who visited from Boston.

Differences

For the most part Papa and I see eye to eye when it comes to Mia. We both love her to pieces and that's what counts. However, our approaches to parenting and caring for Mia vary greatly in some respects. It does peeve me when on Papa's watch the following occurs:

1. No sunscreen is applied to Mia's exposed parts. Just because Papa does not like the feel of sunscreen on his hands and does not like sunscreen himself he feels it is okay to let Mia go unprotected from the sun.
2. Mia does not always wear a hat when out in the California sun. Again this is because Papa does not care for hats himself.
3. Papa does not cut skin off Mia's non-organic fruits. Though I try to only buy organic for Mia, it is not always possible. Papa says, Mia can grip fruit more easily with skin intact. I think he's just lazy.
4. Since Papa ingests a very minimal amount of liquids daily, he fails to remember that Mia needs water to travel with her at all times. The need to hydrate oneself is especially important in the summers, but Papa forgets this.
5. Papa has been known to give Mia lollipops or suckers as he calls them. They were on the teller's counter at BofA and he thought it was okay for Mia to have them.
6. Papa has also given Mia brownies and other items with chocolate.
7. Papa does not do a great job wiping Mia's bottom after her bowel movements. I know this because I will change a non-poppy diaper afterwards and the wipe oftentimes contain remnants of stool.

These are just a few examples that come to mind at the moment. Anyone have other tales of how dads are a tad less vigilant or am I neurotic as Papa describes?

What's up with the lead?

Wondering if I should get rid of all the toys we have that are labeled "Made in China" because of the massive toy recall led by Mattel. What about the little companies that do not regularly test their toys? Seems like Mia's entire toy collection was made in China. I think the Waldorf folks are right about something. Just give your kids sticks, acorns, pine cones and homemade felted or knitted toys.

Mia had her lead level checked during her 15-month check-up. It's not done routinely unless you live in an old home or are in some risk group. The lead check is something that I think pediatricians should make mandatory in the wake of the recent recalls. Today vinyl bibs were recalled! I really hope sippy and straw cups aren't next. Mia's lead level was fine, so I'm relieved, but won't let my guard down.

On a side note, a few days ago, I ran over Elmo. Mia's plastic Elmo that lit up (not part of the recall) had fallen onto the garage floor and I forgot to pick it up. He was squashed. Oh well. One less plastic toy to worry about.

15-month check-up & ingesting poison

Mia had her 15-month appointment yesterday at our new pediatrician's office. I was hoping that she would weigh at least 22+ pounds, but she was only 21.4 pounds, 23rd percentile. It really worries me that she does not drink whole milk or eat enough fatty foods, crackers are still her food of choice. At least she will take peanut butter. We hope she doesn't make friends with someone with a peanut allergy. Her height is keeping it's trajectory, she is 32.5 inches tall, 94th percentile. At this rate if she doesn't grow between now and two, reliable predictions put her at 5'5", that's pretty good for an Asian girl.

This is what Mia thinks of cow's milk or moo-moo nai nai. She usually spits it out.



Mia had two shots to catch up with this group's immunization schedule. She was a champ for those and only cried for the actual shots. But then came the blood draw to check her iron levels, crit and other related labs. They needed to fill 4 tubes and of course the first vein collapsed so she went through two pokes. I straddled poor Mia's body on the exam table, one tech held the arm and I held her torso as the other tech drew the blood. She screamed bloody murder from the restraint mostly from what I could tell. I felt horrible for her. So defenseless and not able to understand why it was happening to her. But she recovered and was her usual self at the play group we visited.

We arrived home for Mia's first nap, but I found some interesting remnants on our carpet. Turned out to be the chewed up remains of ant bait. Kona ate the contents! Oh what idleness leads to for a dog. At this point, I am totally panicking and have visions of Kona getting poisoned to death. Who knows what it can do to her? Dogs have odd reactions to things that are safe for humans like grapes, chocolate and onions, so what could ant poison do to her? Good thing we had just received a flier from a local vet in the mail. The vet told us to bring her right over to induce vomiting. Mia hasn't eaten lunch or had her first nap.

I grabbed Mia a cheese stick and load everyone up for the vet. Then I remember that we had an appointment for a quote for window treatments within the hour. UGH!!! Ken calls the window guy for me because I don't have the number. Good thing he's flexible and understanding.

Once at the vet, Kona is quaking her her boots because she is a big scardy cat and Mia does not want to go to the examining room because there are toys in the waiting area. I'm ready to pull my hair out. The tech takes Kona and is very good with her and I pick up Mia. Kona is so freaked out that she pees on the exam room floor. Mia tries to play with it since she loves liquids of all kinds. I catch her in time. Another potential disaster averted.

The vet looks up the poison and says that the active ingredient is not very toxic in dogs, but that it is best to induce vomiting to get whatever was left in the stomach out. They had us wait in the waiting area, so we were spared having to watch poor Kona vomit. About forty-five minutes and a $165 bucks later I am on my way home with a cranky baby, a nauseous dog and a raging headache.

Not so Happy at Happy Hollow & other Boo Hoo Hoo Moments

The above picture was taken at Happy Hollow Zoo while Ken's dad was in town a couple of weeks ago. We joined the zoo and thought Mia--a thrill seeker--would love the rides. Does she look like a happy camper? Although she never cried, she kept saying, "All Done" and had that very unhappy and hesitant look. Doesn't Ken look like he's having WAY more fun?

Well this week Ken skedaddled home early from work to make the Member Appreciation Night at the Zoo. We got there at 6ish and headed straight for the carousel. This time I took Mia on the ride and as soon as I lifted her to put her on a horsey (and she loves to play horsey on our laps), she used all her strength to keep me from saddling her up. In a very anxiety-filled voice, she said, "All done, all done, all done!" My poor baby. We wound up compromising and sitting on a bench on the carousel. She clung onto me for dear life. Then each time we passed another ride, she would say, "No, no, all done!" Poor kid. Ken is hoping she'll go to Magic Mountain and ride the extreme rides with him one day. Probably not going to happen.

Mia's second Boo Hoo Hoo moment of the week happened at Sunday School today. We went to check out Peninsula Bible Church Cupertino. Ken was going to stay with her at Sunday School, but she seemed just fine so he left her to join the service. Well, since she went in with her Snack Trap of Cheerios and raisins, they assumed she had allergies and did not serve her snack. She was quite upset as she kept vigorously gesturing for and asking for the crackers, not understanding why she was not getting any. No tears, but I am sure she wholeheartedly felt the injustice of it all since crackers are her all time favorite treat (or meal when she refuses all that I put forth, but not one to be fooled, I smear peanut butter or plain old butter on them at times, we also call cereal crackers though she's quickly catching on to that one).

Last, but not least, Mia was constipated today despite yesterday's feast of plums and peaches at the Farmer's Market in the Ferry Building. This afternoon she needed to poop and she did the kim chee squat and strained so hard she finally did cry. I felt so terrible for her. The size of the poop--which Papa being in GI, thoroughly enjoyed seeing--was enormous in diameter. Just HUGE. Poor baby. Then just a couple of hours later, she dropped another load while we were out shopping.