It's off to work we go & costume ideas

Well, with me going back to work full time; it was inevitable that we would need some help with taking care of our little Sweetpea so that I can actually get some work done. This week was Sweetpea's first week at her childcare. When I dropped her off on Tuesday, her first day, I was sad to leave her. As I drove away and thought about it, I almost cried, but it wasn't so bad. Soon enough, daddy came home and we picked her up together on her first day. It was funny how they discovered Sweetpea's latest thing --- screaming or making a really high pitch noise especially when she is getting tired. Overall, she did pretty well this week.

Because the season of dress up is upon us again, I thought I'd share a few funny costume ideas from the Oct issue of Babytalk magazine. The article is entitled "the lazy mom's guide to halloween: Why spend energy you don't have on a costume? With our tips, you can make one in minutes-seconds!-using stuff you've already got!" Here we go....

You've got diapers
Lazy: Tape a whole bunch of diapers around your baby's arms, legs, and torso. Result: The Michelin Man.

You've got breast pads
Lazy: Color one pad black. Attach to your baby's hair with bobby pins or (if she's bald) use tape. Result: a rabbi
Lazier: same as above, but skip the coloring part. Result: the Pope

You've got baby food
Lazy: Smear green-pea puree on your baby's face, arms, and bare chest. Result: The Incredible Hulk
Lazier: dab strained plums under her eyes until she looks extremely sleep-deprived and a little deranged. Result: you

More Baby Gear

Because our little Sweetpea is growing up so fast, daddy thought it may be a good time to get a new carseat for her to grow into. Her current infant carseat, the Chicco Keyfit 30, still works pretty well for her. Despite the fact that it accommodates babies up to 30 lbs, daddy is concerned that she will outgrow it in length before she reaches the weight limit. Originally, we wanted the Keyfit 30 rather than the regular Keyfit because babies can stay in the seat longer before they need to move up to another seat. In hindsight, a regular Chicco Keyfit carseat would probably suffice for most babies so the extra expense of the keyfit 30 may not be necessary unless one anticipates a big baby. Anyhow, rather than getting an extra carseat base, we had agreed beforehand that we would eventually get Sweetpea a convertible carseat that she can grow into and which we can also use for the other car. We set out to research and view some of our options. We considered the Alpha Omega Elite 3 in 1 carseat since that was one of the highest rated convertible seat in Consumer Reports; however, some of the members of the carseat forums recommended the Britax Marathon or Boulevard instead, stating that most children would be able to use those carseats longer than the Alpha Omega. In the end, we decided to go with the Britax Boulevard (daddy likes the extra headrest that the Marathons don't have) in Regal print.

We also thought it would be nice to get a Bebe Pod or Bumbo as Sweetpea became better at supporting her head on her own. Here's a picture that daddy took when the package first arrived and a picture of her just "chillin" in her new seat.

Unfortunately for us, until today, this is what she has been doing lately when we put her in the bumbo...
Yup, she stretches out and cries "I want out" but she hasn't popped out yet :)

Lastly, we thought we'd prep Sweetpea for the winter especially with our visits to colder climates like Virginia... so the latest thing that came in the mail was her Red Castle Topsit. I was interested in these before she was born and had registered for a Kiddopomus one. When we saw the warmer Red Castle version on mamabargains.com at a great price compared to how much it sells elsewhere, we decided to try it out. It was funny seeing her little head pop out of it, but it seems to be really cozy in there.





































Well, those that know me know that I like a good deal. Why pay full price when you don't have to?! Well, mamabargains is one of the sites that I discovered through a diaper forum that I thought was pretty cool. It's one of those deal-a-day site that offers baby items at discounted price, and they usually offer pretty good discounts. Other similar sites I like to check out are babysteals.com. I just recently found out about tottlers.com from Auntie O and onegoodie from Auntie Ang and babybloop via online search. Now that you also know about these sites, have fun deal shopping!

4 month checkup

Last Wednesday, I had my 4 month checkup where I had to get essentially the same vaccines I got during my 2 month checkup. I came home with two ouchies, one on each of my thighs. It was no fun, but I did get snoopy bandaids to make me feel better :) I still didn't like the oral vaccine and pushed out some of it with my tongue. I was very tired when we went to my appointment because it was my nap time. When the doctor came in to inspect me, I didn't want to let go of mommy. I hung onto the string on her jacket hood and when she unclenched my hand, I grabbed her jacket with my other hand. The doctor said that I was growing pretty nicely. I weighed in at 13 pounds 13.5 oz which puts me in the 50-75 percentile. For length, I measured in at 25 inches which the nurse says puts me in the 75th percentile. The doctor says she looks at the curve and trends rather than the percentile since a small measurement margin can change the percentile; that makes me feel much better since my last appointment placed my length in the 90 percentile and daddy had hopes of me becoming a tall tennis player. Well, that's all the update I have for now. I'll let you know how I do in my next appointment in a couple months.

Sunny Days

Prior to Sa-ee's visit, we got a chance to enjoy some of the last few sunny weekends of the Seattle summer. One weekend, we enjoyed a stroll at Kirkland waterfront followed by a refreshing ice cream shake at Coldstone Creamery. Then, the weekend after that we decided to go North and visit Deception Pass, "one of the scenic wonders of the Pacific Northwest." Sweetpea slept during the whole car ride up. We were surprised how much she slept that day and how she was still was able to sleep pretty easily when we got home in the evening.

Here she is waking up shortly after arriving to our destination.

Of course, we had to take some family outing pictures as well. Looking at the pictures, it seems that Sweetpea was content and preoccupied with eating her hands most of the time :)
Here are more pictures of us enjoying the beautiful scenic views.

On the way home, we got to stop by the outlets, and mommy came home with something she has been eyeing for a while that daddy decided to go ahead and purchase. All in all, it was a tiring but fun day with the family. Now, after a long day, some home cooked meals with our new addition sounds pretty good :)

My first trip out of the country!

My Sa-ee finally came to visit me this past month. It was a really good time hanging out with her. She was here one whole week with me! We took a day trip to Vancouver, Canada while she was here. Our first stop was at a sushi joint where we had all you can eat sushi! We ordered so much that we were afraid we would be charged extra for the uneaten sushi. Luckily we came out without any extra cost. Our next stop was Stanley Park. This park is amazing. So much to do with an aquarium, petting zoo, trains, and other places to play for older kids. Since the trolley was not operating, we just walked around a small portion of the park. Below is a picture of us below at Stanley Park in Vancouver Canada. Afterwards, we visited Richmond Chinatown and hung out at the asian malls. I can't wait for my Sa-ee to come back and visit me again!

Laughing Baby (continued)

Daddy has finally caught a glimpse of the baby laughing today! It was an enjoyable experience. We have been trying to get the baby to laugh since the last time we posted. It seemed that Sweetpea's Lolo had kept repeating the clicking of the roll-a-rounds until she stopped laughing at it, so when daddy got home and tried it, she would no longer laugh at it. She must have thought, "that's getting old" Anyhow, today mommy was trying various things, when to our surprise and amusement, she started laughing. Here's a clip of her adorable little laugh :)



Towards the end, take a look at what she does...


This little one is full of amusing surprises!

First Laugh

Today, our little Sweetpea made her first laugh. Before, she would smile at us and make small sounds, but I couldn't believe it when I heard her. It was so precious and cute. Her Lolo is in town visiting and spending time with her for a few weeks, and he was playing with her when she started laughing as he clunked together the roll-a-rounds and it made sounds. I was searching for the camera so I could capture this momentous occasion on a short video clip but didn't know where daddy put the camera. We'll try again later today and try to post a video then. It was exciting for me to watch Sweetpea reach yet another developmental milestone. I'll be sad if I miss any of her firsts when we start taking her to childcare :(

Sweetpea... three months old!?!

Wow, does time sure fly. It seems like our little Sweetpea was born just the other day! She recently passed her three month old birthday about three weeks ago! Mommy and daddy decided to take Sweetpea for a photoshoot around her three month birthday. We were surprised at the big smiles Sweetpea gave us during this photoshoot! Enjoy the pics!

Here is Sweetpea sitting back and enjoying the view of the camera.



Here is Sweetpea mumbling to us "I love taking photos!"

Here is Sweetpea saying "Look, mommy, I can lift my head!"


Here is Sweetpea just admiring the soft cushy material she is sitting on.