Birthday 2016 - Southwest Road Trip

We went to White Sands National Monument in July to celebrate my birthday! It is an amazing place. The roadtrip consisted of:

• Scottsdale, AZ 
• Las Cruces, NM 
• Tucson, AZ

 The southwest is really such a beautiful place. There are so many places to discover. Hopefully we get to head back out there. But not in July. Or any month during the summer. It was 99 degrees at 9:00PM in Scottsdale. I like heat but that is a little much for me.

White Sands NM itself did not disappoint. Luca had an incredible time running and jumping on the dunes. The sand itself wasn't hot since it isn't actually sand. It's a gypsum where if you stuck your toes in, it was almost cool! However, he started getting cranky and complained of feeling sick. We thought he was constipated due to potty training stress. But then he was getting kind of listless and his skin was cool instead of hot like I thought it would be in the heat. We became alarmed and left early. I looked up the symptoms and he was likely entering early stages of heat exhaustion which can lead to heat stroke, which is really scary for a little one! So, I'm really glad we left despite spending the least amount of time in the place that was the goal for the entire trip. 

Luca Turns Three: CELEBRATIONS!

We made it a bit of a birthday weekend, whether he knew it or not.

LACMA Rain Room
We took Friday off work to take Luca to the Rain Room exhibit at LACMA. I thought he would really get a kick out of it and run around. I even brought a change of clothes. But he wanted to be held most of the time. He said he liked it afterwards though. He had the most fun at the "noodle" exhibit. (Jesús Rafael Soto’s "Penetrable")



Birthday!
Low key day -- purposely unplanned. We had breakfast and he had a cupcake. We went home and hung out. He did watercolor on the deck.



Party!
I know, I always said he wouldn't have another party until he turned five. But we went to a couple of his classmate's parties and I felt kind of guilty. We kept it as easy as possible. Exactly 2 hours long at Travel Town, on Sunday. Pizza was delivered. My sister generously gifted the amazing cake. I paid for an hour of playtime through the Gift Shop - they set up an area on the grass, in the shade of a giant tree, and put out a bunch of tracks and trains. They had every character from the Thomas story, including the buildings! The kids were so excited. Luca especially loved seeing Cranky the Crane Hook. I'm not sure why but he really loves pointing out cranes. I CAN'T BELIEVE I TOOK SO FEW PHOTOS. UGH. Hopefully some of my friends will send some to me. GoPa Harold captured a really beautiful one of Luca waiting for cake. We were waiting for my dad to get back from the restroom and all the kids surrounded the cake table. They were so well-behaved. Only one tiny finger slowly reached out to poke at the frosting. It was cute.

Luca Turns Three

My sweet, sweet boy. You are the best thing I have ever done. Right now you are flourishing in school, making friends, and having fun. Your potty training at school is going so well, despite refusing to do it at home. There were some tough times right around 2 and a half when your nerves and your emotions were so raw. But right now, you are light and love. One of your classmates refers to you as the laughing or smiling Luca. You've retained your amazing unique little scamper: arms down, elbows locked, hands flailing, short little quick steps. You do an adorable little jig whenever you're happy. You wiggle in your seat whenever you taste something yummy. You're talking up a storm, singing, making up songs and words. You are obsessed with trains. Maybe you'll grow out of it, maybe not. You're making memories with the children of my own childhood friends. You're happiest when surrounded by your family - your PoPo, GungGung, Auntie, and Uncle included. You're a bit of a celebrity at the Dim Sum restaurant your PoPo takes you to - all the waitstaff come over to say hello. You're also bossy right now, and love telling your parents what to do, where to stand, whether to walk or run. Your confidence amazes me. Your joy is like a light. I love you Luca.

Eagle Rock, CA

Occidental College campus, atop "Mount Fuji"
April 23, 2015

Luca Balloon Portraits

As part of Luca's birthday, I took photos of him with some fun balloons. Because why not? Any excuse to get a giant gold balloon.



Or course, one of my favorite of the bunch is the one filled with blurry, cali light magic.





It is not easy shooting a toddler. I have so many more blurry photos than not. But then, you sift through and find this sweet face, miraculously in focus.

Luca Turns Two!

Luca is learning in rapid fire these days. He's so quickly become our little boy. Once in a while, I can capture a moment where he still looks a little bit baby. But for the most part, Luca the kid has arrived.



We surprised him with a trip on the "big" train. He was really so excited. While we were waiting for our train, a Metrolink train passed by, blaring its horn. He was quite stunned. The look on his face...poor guy. Afterward he kept saying, "Scared. Train. Scared. Scared." I had to cover his ears the next time the Metrolink came by.





But actually getting on OUR train, sitting in the chair looking out the window -- was so exciting! Spotting things he recognized as they went by the window was a fun game. It kept him occupied for a full hour we think. With intermittent pauses to climb on the chairs, flirt with neighboring passengers, eat, drink, throw, cry about wanting to go down the stairs....



He even squeezed in a nap before we arrived in San Diego!





We ate pizza and enjoyed the fanciest birthday dessert a two-year-old has ever had.





The day after his birthday we stopped in at his Gong-Gong's and Po-Po's for a birthday wish. He is still getting the hang of blowing out candles. He understands the concept but his technique is not quite right yet. It's more like pursed lip almost spitting.



My baby boy. Happy birthday my sweetness.

January 5, 2015 - San Francisco

Waiting for the trolley car with Papa.

Luca's birth story - Post Script

This is a P.S. to Luca's Birth Story. It's hyper detail that you probably don't need to know. But I want to publish it for myself and this feels like I'm tying up all the little ends from the birth story.

My Worst Period Cramps Ever
In Luca's birth story, I referenced my worst period cramps ever as a benchmark for labor pain. Probably about 8 years ago. My coworker looked up at me and asked if I was ok. My face was pale and turning green. I was literally holding onto my cubicle desk as the waves hit me. I was breaking out into sweats. I rarely take painkillers and hadn't thought to go buy some from the corner store. I also rarely had period cramps at all so this was a surprise. She asked if I wanted her to go find a pill for me and I nodded weakly. She came back with a giant pill wrapped in a tissue. She began to explain what the pill was, in an effort to convince me it would be a good idea to take it. I didn't care. I took that pill and thank god. I don't even know what it was. But it muted the pain significantly. I think I would have passed out if I hadn't.

Things They Don't Tell You

Oh, right, you need a catheter
The thing no one tells you about getting an epidural is that you also need to get a catheter. This may seem obvious to some but I didn't know. I just never thought about it. Of course you would need a catheter if you can't feel your lower body. Now I know.

The thing about a catheter...
The other thing no one tells you is that if you get a catheter, the time immediately following its removal is (to me) one of the most traumatic and scary parts of the entire experience. For some reason, the body "forgets" how to relax enough to pee naturally. Not being able to go when you really have to go is really scary. In fact, they put a measurement cup in the toilet to see how much pee you're able to get out and if you don't meet certain levels, they will reinsert a catheter to relieve your bladder for you. They had to do that to me once. I think I might have cried. Could have been the hormones I guess. But damn it was scary.

Ice is nice. So, so, so nice.
And another thing they don't tell you (thank god our doula prepped us), you basically wear a giant ice pack stuffed into hospital issued bandage/gauze underpants while in recovery to help soothe the pain. In fact, you are incredibly thankful there is such a thing as ice.

BEEP BEEP BEEP
Also, last thing I'll gripe about: sleeping in the hospital after a new baby = not sleeping at all. And it's not really the baby who keeps you up (although, he certainly did his fair share of that). It's all the machines and alarms beeping and then the nurses coming in to turn off the alarms and then to check whatever thing that alarm was set to remind them to do. And of course, NONE of the alarms are synched so when the alarm goes off for my BP to be checked, the baby wakes up. And then, 30 mins later, the alarm goes off for the baby's BP to be checked. And then some other alarm. Oh, and then the IV drip is empty so, you know, the alarm goes off. And then somehow the IV needle slipped out of my arm and is dripping all over me and the floor. And gosh, can they turn on the light just for a second, they can't read the machine in the dark? Oh, did that light wake the baby up who we just got to fall asleep? Gosh darned. This goes on ALL NIGHT. And it's like some sort of sweet, polite torture that every nurse who comes in inevitably tells us we need to get some sleep.

Our Doula: Carmen Bornn
Her life's work has been and continues to be helping families bring lives into the world. She is a truly incredible person who lives her life with such gratitude. And I could not have done it without Carmen, at least not on my terms. I'm fairly certain I would have had the baby more quickly if I didn't have her because I would have gotten the epidural earlier. BUT, my heart was set on experiencing the birth naturally. This is a highly personal choice for every mom-to-be and I'm lucky that I have a choice at all. She helped me try my absolute best and made sure I felt safe. And, she did say that if we were to have another baby, I wouldn't need the epidural. That "lip" is now gone, torn forever. In fact, she joked that if we decide for a second child, we better get on our roller skates the moment I start having contractions and get to the hospital because I would progress even quicker than the first time.

Our Doctor: Dr. Wu
This guy is the rockstar OB at Glendale Adventist. I can honestly say that part of my consideration for another child is if we do want another, we better decide soon before Dr. Wu retires. We would not want to be in anyone else's care. I wanted a doctor who held similar philosophical beliefs we did regarding childbirth. Honestly, I was really considering home birth at one point. But we found Dr. Wu and trusted him completely. This story from Los Angeles Magazine pretty much sums up why we think he's the bees knees. I fully support necessary Cesarean section births. I do also think there are many performed unnecessarily. I didn't want to become a statistic in the latter and I felt he was the right doctor for us.

Luca - Month 12

Our year with Luca has been so whimsical and filled with magic. There have been rough moments too - how else are we do recognize the good if we didn't have bad, right? But right now, as I type, I'm hard-pressed to remember those. It's some sort of mommy amnesia I'm sure. Wait, let me think. Yep, I can think of a few. I'll save those for another post. Right now it's all about how wonderfully our baby is thriving.



On his first birthday, he still had no teeth. But about a week later, my mom spotted a little white nub poking through the front of his bottom jaw. He's not a fan of opening his mouth for us to peer inside but I can feel that sharp little point with my finger.

He is cruising around the furniture now, holding on while "walking" around the room on his feet. He is extremely fast while crawling. I need to basically jog to keep up if I'm not paying attention. I think he waits for me to look away for a second and then he revs up his engine to get as far away as possible before I notice. It's funny. He makes a long wheezy noise with a sharp intake of breath as he scuttles away, gaping wide drooly smile. Sometimes he'll actually try to be quiet as he crawls so slowly away but as soon as he notices I see him, he makes that funny noise and goes faster. He'll crawl over and hold up his arms to be picked up now too. That's kind of new-ish. He might have been doing that the previous month. I can't remember!





He kisses us on the cheek if we ask for a one. His kisses are really just him touching our face with his open mouth and making a "mwah!" sound. They're really slimy. But I love them. For a while there, he thought kisses were head butts. I think he was confusing the head movement with the more nuanced lips part of a kiss. He still does a head butt when he likes something in particular or is really happy. In fact, when he first saw the big Mickey Mouse doll that Alps and Tesh gave him for his 1st birthday, he touched his forehead to Mickey's forehead. The sweetest thing to see. But it can get him into trouble too because he can't really control the force of the head touch. For example yesterday, at Din Tai Fung, he was in the high chair and so excited to be be sitting up at the table with us, he did a head butt right into the table. He was NOT happy after that.







He loves the porridge my parents make for him. They call it baby food because they blend it up into a mush. It's filled with wholesome, fresh ingredients. Meat, veggies, rice, broth. My dad makes the broth from scratch using bones. Sometimes they'll use fish. In fact, Luca hates the store bought baby-food that has meat in it but he yells for more of the porridge. I've tasted it and it's really quite delicious.

His hair is long and I don't want to cut it.

He says dada and mama consistently. He is babbling up a storm now. He makes inflections like he is asking questions, like "da da da daaa?" He'll flip through his books and just spout gibberish. Well, gibberish to us. I'm sure it totally make sense to him.

He loves to watch other kids but doesn't really have a chance to interact with them. We have to be better about booking playdates!

He LOVES books. So much that he eats them. That part is probably because he's teething. His current favorites:

The Pout-Pout fish - he kisses his favorite pages! so cute.
Io Sono Piccola? (Italian/English)
Five Little Monkeys
Brown Bear Brown Bear - was the prime favorite for a long time but has fallen lower on the spectrum
If I were an Owl
Vroom Vroom Cars

I try showing him television sometimes but he's not that into it. Though, I did show him Sesame Street for the first time last week - when he saw Big Bird for the first time he let out a gleeful laugh.

He's all about tossing things. He takes each one of the nesting buckets and tosses them. Sometimes he'll put things back into the container. Then take it right back out and toss it. And he loves to hand items to us. In fact, he'll hand us something only to immediately reach out to ask for it back, and then hand it right back to us less than 2 seconds later.

Impossibly, he still loves peek-a-boo.

He loves it when I sing two specific songs to him: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Itsy Bitsy Spider. I always incorporate the hand gestures I learned in grade school. I marvel that I still remember them. My mom asked the other day how I knew those songs and to make the hand movements. I told her I learned them in grade school. "And now you're singing them to your child," she said. Seems like a simple statement to you but my mom never says things like this. She is not outwardly nostalgic or sentimental in any way. It was a brief but nice moment.



Here's a bit of insight into these monthly sessions. We need to be so quick and it takes quite a few shutter clicks to get one I'm happy with. It takes quite a bit of time to edit through the photos in the end as well. Which is why I'm not sure whether I'll be continuing this monthly tradition. Maybe I'll switch it up - a portrait every 3 months? Do we use the same chair?



Here's a link to the entire set of photos.