ding! gratz!

In the past little while, Adam has levelled in a couple of areas.

- outgrown some clothes and moved from newborn-size to size 1 diapers, which are much cheaper
- eyebrows and eyelashes are much more substantial
- holds head pretty steady when awake and upright
- lets me know when I'm forgetting to sing while he eats
- enjoys making and reading facial expressions
- does not enjoy being alone
- much more purposeful reaching and grabbing
- puts on his happy face much sooner in the eating process, i.e., not just at the last second but as we are walking to the dining room where he has his daytime meals

Plus, because he's awake a lot more, I've had to watch his eating cues more carefully. It used to be very simple. When he woke up, he wanted to eat. When he fell asleep, he was done eating.

full month party

Yesterday was really fun and Adam was even more angelic that his usual angelic self for pretty much the whole day.

I had done a little online research and learned that red eggs and ginger are de rigeur for a full month party. I got up earlyish, fed Adam, and got to Chinatown around 8:45am in search of candied ginger. I assumed that things got going early in Chinatown. Not so. Maybe a fifth of the stores opened at 9am, most at 11am. Two large Chinese grocers were open but they didn't have candied ginger. I was directed to the ginger candies instead. Luckily, I found an open bulk store in Kensington that sold it ($7/kg, I think). I bought eggs and canned beets (for the dye) at Dominion and a Cinnabon as a peace offering for Dion in case my errands took too long and there was a scene, despite my having left a bottle of breast milk "just in case." They were both still fast asleep when I got home. Turns out, Dion didn't even know I was gone, let alone that he was home alone with Adam.

Aside: Adam had a bottle of breastmilk on Wednesday, which he took quite happily. Dion offered the bottle when he wanted to eat _again_ half an hour after having eaten for over an hour straight.
We haven't needed to do a bottle again yet and I'm leary of substituting a regular feeding with a bottle as our paediatrician warned that _my_ going more than 5 or 6 hours without nursing could diminish my supply. Anyway, I've started building up a small stock of breastmilk in our freezer for future use.

continued: Adam being sound asleep, I had time to shower before Adam's next meal and then he went right back to sleep, giving me time to dye the eggs and pack up everything we would need for the day at Dion's parents' place. We cart so much stuff around now that we have a shopping cart to move everything to the car. The beets weren't dying the eggs fast enough, so I turned to red food colouring. It did the trick. I added a little blue because I thought the red alone looked a little orange.

Dion's family was definitely surprised by the red eggs and ginger. It was a big hit with a number of people who couldn't remember the last time they had had a red egg. I got compliments too because the eggs were hardboiled just right and the colour was so vivid. I think the ginger is "supposed" to be pickled, not candied. But I definitely like candied version better and it smells better sitting out all day than does pickled ginger. Before I mentioned the red eggs and ginger, Dion had never heard of it. There is some disagreement on whether Dion's family has done this before. His mother and Aunt Edith say no but his Aunt Leela says that their mother did it for Dion and his cousins. They'll have to settle that themselves. I forgot to ask if there were red eggs for Dion's cousins on his father's side.

We were there from 1 or 2 in the afternoon until about 11 and Adam hardly fussed all day - it just took me a while to settle him enough to get in the carseat to go home. Fortunately or unfortunately, he was asleep the whole day. A little boring perhaps but he was peaceful enough that we could pass him around so that everyone could hold him, even a few people - like Bob here - who are skittish around babies.

Anyway, the day was really fun. The food was terrific and the company was great.

Here are some pictures of Adam that Uncle Yan took at the end of the day, in almost complete darkness. I'm a little envious of his lens. These were taken at an f-stop of 1.8. I love a wide open aperture.

Is he winking?

drowsy Adam

and gone. Notice how the depth of field is so small
that his eyes are in focus but his nostrils are not?

All these photos and more at http://picasaweb.google.com/dion.lew

weight gain

The eating machine went to see his doctor today. The doctor is happy with an ounce of weight gain per day but our eating machine gained two ounces a day for the past 16 days, i.e., 2 lb in just over 2 weeks. Total 9 lb 11 oz.

On being a mother

This post is insired by the mother's day entry by Pam on their blog: http://nathantsang.blogspot.com/2007/05/happy-mothers-day.html

I'm not sure yet how being a mother will change me/ being parents will change us. From what I've observed in other people, there's no doubt that it does. I don't feel any different though. It'll probably take some time and I think the time away from school will make a difference.

I'm all about being a teacher. Not that I won't be a teacher again or that I'm not a teacher now. One of my concerns has been about how being a parent will affect my relationship with my students. Is there a little less nurturing for them? Will I still go that extra mile? Will I still run "open gym" Fridays after school when I have my own child/ren to go home to?

See also http://lewfamily.blogspot.com/2006/06/open-gym.html

fattening

Adam's not exactly chubby yet but he's starting to soften up.

NEW: a fold in each arm and thigh plus an extra chin

very Adam. one of his most common looks. I also like that this pic shows off his hands.

Despite what some of his acquaintances might think, Adam does cry sometimes.

ooooooooou!

These photos appear in print quality at http://picasaweb.google.com/dion.lew. The album is now sorted by date. These photos are last. I couldn't find a way to make it reverse-chronological.

eating machine

Adam has spent about half of the last 5 hours eating. Okay, maybe only a third. But definitely more than a quarter. Growth spurt perhaps.

babysitting

To say that Dion was babysitting while I was out this evening is no slight to the significance of his childcare. The distinction is quantity, not quality. Whereas Dion is an occasional babysitter, I am a full-time babysitter.

Do I have that right?

first word and more photos

It may be polysyllabic, neither English nor Cantonese, but we predict that Adam's first word will be "Gesundheit!" He hears it as regularly as "Hi Adam."

We have posted the following photos and more in print quality at http://picasaweb.google.com/dion.lew

Try a push-up you say? Sounds fun!

Okay, I'm trying.

Oh, forget it. That's way too hard. I'm taking a nap.

This guy's hair looks nothing like mine.
Not that I know what mine looks like.

I must learn from the Master.

Mom made my first toys for me. They crinkle.

a few more photos and weight gain

around sunrise, I think

with dad. quality time?

Wouldn't it be nice to believe that he was actually smiling at 10 days?

completely gorgeous, no? I know, I am biased.

I have about a dozen great shots from this shoot.
I could hardly choose which ones to post.

self-portrait using the bathroom mirror

He makes the funniest faces sometimes.

Poh-poh cannot get enough.


Gung-gung either.

Adam's doing really well gaining weight.
0 days: 3220 g (7lb 1 oz)
1 day: 3035 g
2 days: 3020 g
9 days: 3320 g
12 days: 3487 g (7lb 11oz)

Someday, Dion will get more photos posted in print quality to http://picasaweb.google.com/dion.lew