Adam and I attended the Ontario Association of Physics Teachers conference at the Ontario Science Centre Thursday evening, Friday, and Saturday. I don't know how much he got out of it but I don't think I got much. Except that Bob Macdonald's presentation was entertaining, of course. And I learned about two-observer space-time grids for solving special relativity problems. They're pretty neat but it'll be hard to fit them in to an already jam-packed unit.

As of Saturday, bathing Adam just got MUCH easier because he consistently holds his back and head straight when awake. He couldn't do this on Wednesday, when Dion bathed him.

photos

No offense to any other babies,

but I think we have the most
beautiful baby in the world.


Full sized, these photos show the golden brown
sweeping into his iris from the pupil outward.

Everyone has many looks but this one, minus
the tongue, matches my mental image of Adam.


Adam's still not that into tummy time.
He's got to be in the mood for it. My camera
did an amazing job with skin tone here.

Mom finally assembled a baby chair for me
because I'm actually awake now and then.
I'm not so sure about this chair.


It can definitely be fun.

Or overstimulating and scary.
I don't think I've ever lasted 10 minutes in it.


Tighter fits:
the onesie on Adam and Adam in the bassinet.

LOL

These and a few more at http://picasaweb.google.com/dion.lew in print quality. There are 10 here. 15 there. 33 on my hard drive from 60 or so that I shot.

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

poses

Unfortunately, they happen too fast to catch on film but Adam has quite a repertoire of poses. We've given the most common ones names. Some will be easy to envision based on their titles
- Divo - hand rising, palm facing face, arm outstretched
- Champion(s) - two fists above the head, elbows locked
- Half Champion - one fist above the head, elbow locked
- The Wave, aka Touch Down or Field Goal
- Question!- one open hand above the head, elbow locked
- Vogue - left hand on left ear, right hand under left elbow
- I'm Not Listening. - hand flat across each ear
- I Can't Hear You. - thumb behind each, fingers splayed

Adam's cheeks are firmer than they used to be (muscle tone from all that vigorous eating, I guess) and I'm sure our doctor's appointment today will confirm that Adam is already a fair bit heavier.

If time permits today, we will be uploading more photos to http://picasaweb.google.com/dion.lew

Dion says the darndest things.

I had written some of this in a reply to Otto's last comment but I had been meaning to post them anyway; so, I repeat them here.

During my pregnany, Dion often made statements about the baby completely out of the blue, at times when we were just doing our own thing, not conversing. Here are some examples.
"I'm really starting to get excited now" - around 21 weeks, a day or so after Dion first felt the baby move.
"We're a team. This is our challenge. We're going to do this together." - maybe around 25-28 weeks. He denied having read this in one of his father-to-be books. He's not one to even tweak the truth; so, I believe him.
"The baby can come any time now. I'm just waiting." - two Saturdays before Adam was born.

Last night Dion commented that Adam seemed to be "levelling up". His repertoire of facial expressions has expanded and he definitely seems bigger already. It makes me just a little sad that he can't stay just the way he is forever.

Which reminds me. The other day, Adam was being especially sweet while nursing. So, I asked Dion to take a picture, "he won't look like this forever, y'know". No need to take a picture, Dion replied, "That's why you have more." :O

So, I have developed a hypothesis to explain declining birthrates in wealthy regions. Declining birthrates do not follow entirely from the emancipation of women or the availability of reliable contraception. Birthrate is inversely proportional to the prevalence of photographic and video media. Tongue planted firmly in cheek.

Adam Lew

Adam Lew. born Wednesday, April 18, 2007. 7 lb 1 oz. 20.5"

A man on a mission.
11 pm some discomfort.
2 am Are these contractions?
2:30 am Yes, yes, they are.
2 hours of contractions 3-6 min apart
5:15 am call the hospital. "Come in, but there's no hurry."
6 am arrive at the hospital. "Pain relief, please!"
6:10 am "Sorry, too late. You're 8.5 to 9 cm dilated."
7:17 am It's all over.

In the delivery room.

A few hours after birth.


Greatgrandma and Grandparents are all smiles.


With mom's index finger for scale.
Everybody forgets just how small a newborn is.


Sleep. Blissful sleep.


Like father, like son.


I'm okay. Are you okay?


Tummy time is fun. and fuzzy.

Granddad.

Uncle Ian.

Several full size photos are available for download at http://picasaweb.google.com/dion.lew

slowing down

Although my energy is still very good, the treadmill display tells a different story. I just can't get my legs to move as fast as they used to on the treadmill. It takes me longer to hit my stride and I've gone to increasing the incline instead of speed. So I'm back to the old 140 heartrate. But I can still touch my toes! Yes, feet together, knees locked.

PO'd

blogger said it would save a copy of my old template. It did not.

buyer's remorse

When we bought a condo for over $300K and a car for over $10K, I didn't bat an eyelash. But around $500 on stroller/carseat just didn't sit right.

Since the 1st trimester nausea, the worst part of pregnancy has been stroller shopping. Last Saturday afternoon was trying. We spent an hour getting an education at a chichi store in Bayview Village, which was useful. Then we went to Babies'R'Us to purchase. They had lots of models at better prices but no stock of the ones I liked best. So, we spent a long time trying to pick amongst the others. We finally picked one and bought it but I just wasn't happy. So, it stayed in its packaging.

Monday, I stopped by the Bay on the way home from lunch with Rob, Kevin, and Dion. Five minutes later, I walked out with the same stroller in nicer colours, having spent $370+taxes ($85+taxes less than we did at Babies'R'Us). Much better.

Now here's hoping that returning the first one goes smoothly. Babies'R'Us does give a 45-day window, which is pretty generous.

Update: Babies'R'Us handled the return simply and quickly. To reward them, I went into the store and shopped some more.

For the first time in my life...

people are amazed at how small I am!

Here's how we look while "we" are going on 38 weeks (out of 40) pregnant.

Grandma Lew's 80th.

Yesterday was the first time a stranger offered me a seat on the bus. Mind you, I was kinda working for it. I made sure to slouch and stick my belly out as far as it would go. When one side of the bus was not playing, I turned to the other side. It was going to be a long ride - Yonge to McCowan on Steeles.

We were heading to Grandma Lew's 80th birthday celebration. We were running late - a combination of the TNL show running late and my insisting that we absolutely had to stop for presents. Dion understood the need for some jewellery, which we usually get her at Christmas, but needed some convincing on the flowers. See the jewellery is nice but it goes in box. The flowers go on display; so, Grandma can tell all her neighbours that they were from her Grandson for her 80th when they inquire. She need not be so unhumble as to bring up the subject herself.

I'm just a bit concerned because there were a number of lilies, which might stink up her small apartment in a hurry. Ah well, it's the thought that counts and I think the presents had the desired effect. I think Dion's dad scored some points for arranging the celebration and even more for knowing to do it in the first place!

good to know

One of my memory sticks made it through the washing machine alive. It didn't even have a lid on it. Phew. I'm glad it was in the pocket of pants that don't go in the dryer.