Sleeping Longer

At long last, our baby is sleeping through the night. It only took 3+ months (and felt a lot longer) but it is incredibly blissful for everyone in the house. To know she'll go down at 9:30 or 10 p.m and won't get up until 7 or 8 a.m. is wonderful.

I never thought I would be so happy to be reunited with uninterrupted sleep, or find silence such a beautiful (non) sound.

The best part of this new development is that when Kailyn wakes up from her deep, deep sleep she is always in a GREAT mood, immediately smiling when she sees us peering down at her in her crib. Seeing her happy face is a wonderful way to start the day. Getting a good night's rest probably contributes to that feeling a bit, too. :)

Mama Says

Helen teases me from time to time because I have a good relationship with my parents. She often calls me a 'Mama's Boy' and says I listen too much to them (and by default, not enough to her.)

But I don't think there's anything wrong with having a strong bond with one's folks. I'm sure Helen will want Kailyn to feel strongly about us and heed our wisdom as she grows up. We only want what's best for her, just as my folks only want what's best for me/us.

And honestly, it's not as if I'm as bad as this guy below: (though Helen may disagree)



*UPDATE: Hmmm..didn't realize I was on an Adam Sandler movie kick...

I Now Pronounce You Really, Really Late

It was a little embarrassing that our big trip to Hawaii recently was mainly to attend the wedding of one of Helen's friends...and we completely missed the whole thing! The story goes something like this -

The wedding wasn't until 4 p.m., so we enjoyed a nice relaxing day in the sun, came back to the hotel, took a nap and showered. Around 3:30 p.m or so, Helen's friend came to the door and proceeded to use the straightening iron (not blaming her - hair needs to be straightened and I respect that.) Now, 3:30 would normally be the time I would have been heading out the door to the lobby to catch a cab. But since we were in Hawaii and going on local time, we weren't too concerned that it was almost 4 p.m., we had to catch a cab and didn't know where the ceremony was being held.

Fast forward to the part where we are super late, hoofing it to the chapel to try and salvage some dignity (or at least a portion of the nuptials,) only to run into a friend of Helen's (not in the wedding party) who says, 'You just missed the wedding. It was the quickest one I've ever attended.' So we had a few options: 1) front like we'd been there the whole time, 2) apologize profusely for missing it, or 3) turning tail and leaving before anyone saw us.

We chose option #1, or at least a variation of it. Check out my pic below as the happy couple worked their way to the limo and stopped for a kiss. I screamed out 'You guys look great!' to give the illusion we'd been there longer than we had. Slick!

The Great Moustache Experiment of 2011

Tried to grow a moustache for charity recently. I thought it looked somewhat decent (esp for an Asian guy), until my friend J said it looked like I gave myself a Dirty Sanchez (look it up - or better yet, don't.) So I shaved it off.

The worst part was no one from the charity ever followed up, so I grew it for nothing. At least it was worth a try. Maybe.

Finding Her Voice

One of the new things Kailyn is discovering is how to use her voice. Up until a few days ago, she was relatively quiet, even when crying. It was pretty manageable. But the other day, I made the mistake of engaging her in 'conversation,' and we ended up making noises to one another, getting progressively louder and louder as we 'talked.' It was pretty cute - at the time.

But then that night when she got tired she had a much louder scream than ever before, using the same decibel level as the one when we were playing earlier. I guess she hasn't learned to use her indoor voice yet.

Funny Word Play

A couple of weeks ago on St. Patty's Day, a friend of mine noticed I wasn't wearing green and pinched me. I went home and told Helen about it and she asked where I was pinched. I replied, 'On my nipple,' which was a joke since 1) I wasn't really purple nurpled, and 2) I knew what she really meant was 'in what geographical location did this occur?' I was just trying to be silly. Mission accomplished!

It reminded me of this:

Opposite Gender Parental Bonds

I think I've touched upon this once or twice before while blogging (or at least thought about it a lot,) but I have to reiterate how neat it is to have a daughter. As much as my traditional Asian side would like to have a son to carry on the family name (I'm currently lobbying Helen to consider another baby in the future), the bond between a daddy and daughter is pretty special. Someone said to me I should feel happier that we had a girl than a boy, since the girl may clash somewhat with her mom as she gets older, whereas there will be no such competition with me and my daughter. I'll just give her whatever she wants :)

The look that the baby gives me when I hold her is pretty fantastic. It is one of pure love, loyalty, safety and comfort. It makes me want to be a good father. And while I'm sure Helen feels as strong a bond with her, their budding relationship is different.

Parents, do you think there is something to this whole 'opposite gender connection' with your kids? Moms, do you feel a special bond with your sons, and dads with your daughters? Or is it just as good regardless of whether your baby is a girl or boy?

The Time of Our Lives

My sister and I were talking about an article she read in which the author said that unlike what many of us have been told the golden years are (after you retire and your children are grown) the real golden years are when you are a new parent and are watching your babies and toddlers grow up.

I think the author was saying that early parenthood is a better time compared when you're retired, because you're still young enough to enjoy your time with your children, you theoretically have more money since you're likely to still be working and you're doing things together as a family. Having never experienced what it's like to be a retired person, I can't really compare. But what I can say is that there are many moments I had as a child with my parents and sister, and there are already times I've had with Helen and Kailyn in which I've thought to myself, "These are the times we will remember when we are older."

Long Time, No See

Hello, dear readers (all five of you.) Sorry for being MIA, but life kinda got in the way and I've been busy rearing a child. It feels as if I've not written in a long, long time even though it's only been a month. I was worried that you had all grown up and went away, like that episode of the Flintstones where Fred is 'Rip Van Flintsone,' falls alseep under the tree and wakes up years later, only to miss Pebbles' wedding.

In the time since I last made a blog entry, there have been a few interesting developments with Kailyn -

Three months: The baby is now three months old. Hard to believe she's been in our lives for 90 days.

First plane ride: We took a trip to Hawaii for a friend's wedding (which we missed, but that's a story for another time.) I had anxiety that Kailyn was going to be a terror on the flight, and that we'd be 'those' parents, the ones with the screaming baby who bothered the rest of the passengers. Amazingly, she was the exact opposite, sleeping, eating and being generally well behaved both to and from paradise. She even talked to a few of the passengers sitting next to us.

First laugh: While in Hawaii, I heard Kailyn laugh for the first time. I think she may have laughed before that, but I thought she might have been crying. This time, there was no doubt about it. I laughed, and she copied. I laughed some more and so did she. It was pretty cool.

Much Bigger: Many people think Kailyn is older than she is, mostly because she's a pretty big for her age. It's great that she has a hearty appetite and is already 15 lbs or so and drinks 5 oz. each meal.