surviving the summer

Every day is survival with a baby. Some lucky days go by with no major problem. He would eat well, play well, and sleep well. Other days I want to quit business, and/or want to just shoot myself in head. Many times I wonder how other people do it, with even more than one kid in the house. Am I trying to be such a perfectionist, trying to do business as usual and be a perfect mother for Taiyo at the same time? I actually feel like I'm not trying enough that business is slow, and other times I just blame it on economy. Last night perhaps for the first time Taiyo woke up in the middle of the night crying uncontrollably without being able to go back to sleep for an hour. Even if he wakes up during the night, he was always able to fall back to sleep rather quickly. He didn't have fever, he just kept tossing about fussing and moaning. I held him and walked around, I put him down on the floor, I laid him down on bed, but he kept crying. I was almost ready to head to an emergency room but eventually he calmed down. I never found out what it was, but concluded it may have been his first episode of nightmare. Good thing is that we enjoyed sleeping late for the first time in months, and he was pretty content for the rest of day. No plans tomorrow- hopefully we can sleep in late again. Supposed to be another steamy summer day.
...on july 18, 2010 @ 12:37 am

that was our week

On Independence Day, Taiyo stood up on his own and clapped hands. He's really getting ready to walk. It was like I picked a wrong week for vacation- serious heat wave confined us mostly indoors. We were still able to enjoy our new jogging stroller in the evening along the river. We took an overnight road trip to Rhode Island to see Taiyo's grandma. Although he hated the long car ride, he enjoyed the company of four little cousins and plenty of toys around the house. He also went to the beach for the first time; he was scared of the waves, but loved eating a peach on the beach. Two days to recouperate from the trip, and we had to get back to work. Usually I'm so ready to go back to work after a little time off, but things are so different with the little guy around. It was just too short. He's beginning to imitate some words I say. It's so fascinating.
...on july 13, 2010 @ 12:10 am

another staycation

Two years ago, I took a vacation but didn't go anywhere. I said, "I'm vacationing in the city." I thought I was being original, but someone said, "ah, staycation." The new word was just beginning to become the norm. I enjoyed doing all the things I hardly get to do, from getting a pedicure to taking a salsa lesson. This year I'm doing a staycation again, which begins tomorrow, this time with my little one! Just in time, the jogging stroller arrived, which I ordered the other night after a few beers and a glass of sake. Ironman Sport Utility Stroller: yes, it is the SUV of strollers. During Taiyo's afternoon nap, I figured out my new beast. Of course as soon as he got up, we went for a test drive to the East River Park. He looked so tiny again in this enormous vehicle. During our absent for the past few weeks, finally they pretty much finished the waterfront promenade. But after so many months of not running much at all, I couldn't even enjoy the full length of the park. We had a little picnic on the lawn and got a little wet at the fountain. Unfortunately Taiyo didn't enjoy the smooth ride as much as I did, but hopefully he'll get used to it since I'll be running around town this coming week! Happy Fourth of July and hope you'll enjoy as much as we would.
...on july 4, 2010 @ 12:43 am

What happened in a week

You try to keep a perfect environment for the baby, but the danger keeps coming at you. Last week on Tuesday I broke a pane on a French door in the apartment while trying to hang laundry on the rack, followed by frantic cleaning. Fortunately Taiyo wasn't beside me. Later a kid customer broke a plate in the restaurant then Taiyo knocked down the tip jar and shuttered it to pieces. The night ended with another broken glass in my kitchen upstairs followed by more frantic cleaning. Luckily Taiyo was already asleep. Wedneday was peaceful until late afternoon Mark had to change his plan and grab Taiyo and head back to Brooklyn while I offered a cooking class. I didn't realize until later that night that my cell was dead after so much chewing by Taiyo. Thursday Taiyo developed fever and became quite irritable. We assumed maybe that's because of his new teeth. Drops of Tylenol didn't seem to help him too much but Amy came for rescue in the evening to watch Taiyo and we all survived the short staffed night at the restaurant. And of course it's always busy when we're short staffed. Friday Taiyo's fever got worse and he was increasingly fussy, but he was almost as active as usual. In the evening I realized his new teenage babysitter couldn't handle him especially when he was sick. While I was dealing with the fussy baby and the awkward babysitter, someone stole my camera left by the computer, with some precious pictures that was never transferred. Saturday morning his fever was down so I decided to to take him for a ride to Babies'r us for necessity shopping but the sun was so strong and he kept crying in the back seat. After I parked the car I realized it was 'no parking except sunday' and I was thinking it was sunday! But I left the car anyway, remembering an old man who once took me out as he pulled up to a no parking zone saying, 'Sometimes, you have to live dangerously.' I safely finished shopping a value pack of diapers, formulas and wipes, but the cashier forgot to take off the coupons so she had to take me back to the return desk to get me some money back. I kept repeating the old man's words in my head: "sometimes you have to live dangerously." Yes, I kept my calm. Then next trip was to a Sprint store where I had to replace the old phone. While we waited for the girl at the store transfering my contacts from the old phone, I had to let Taiyo crawl all over the showcase because he was way too fussy strapped in the car seat. Then she returned saying that she couldn't transfer the data because the connector area was too corroded. By the time we got back Taiyo's fever returned but at least the business was so dead we stayed home mostly in the evening. I realized I lost his new hat I got him this week during the afternoon trip. Sunday his fever was really down but it was so hot outside, but we took a walk to Seaport hoping I could find him another hat at Baby Gap. There was only a rediculously large hat for him that I liked style-wise, and he was so fussy again I had to let him ride on the stroller standing backwards around the store. There was a food fair at the old fish market where we enjoyed a ginger-peach-white-tea-popsicle and a robster roll. Today he was still acting weak and irritable, and I notice rash developing around his neck and body. At least he slept a lot today I was able to finish the recipes for this week's cooking class. After he fell aspleep I accidentally found out what he had on the internet bulletin board- 'Roseola' - a common viral infection for babies. I kept my calm all week but I was scared shitless at the same time because he has never been sick- the first time he had a fever over 100 degrees! But now at least I know what it was and it wasn't serious- maybe I can sleep better. And I am so proud of my baby who would still smile at people even when he's sick.
...on june 29, 2010 @ 01:33 am

The longest day of the year

It was the longest day of the year: summer solstice. Although this is supposed to be the beginning of summer, the fact that the day is going to be shorter from this point on makes me feel like the summer is almost over. We had a low key 'block party' on Suffolk street with live music going on in front of the restaurant this afternoon. Taiyo's top front teeth finally made appearance. Hopefully that was why he's been so fussy lately. Some nights if it's not busy in the restaurant, I would take a walk with him on my back. The other evening on one of those walks, I realized fireflies were out in the neighborhood. Every little garden was filled with tiny blinking lights. I miss my runs, but I cherish these walks with Taiyo very, very much.
...on june 22, 2010 @ 12:16 am

on an off!

At 8 and a half-months, Taiyo has learned to get down from the bed. I was letting him slip down the bed when I couldn't get out of bed but he kept heading to the edge of the bed in the morning. Now he slides down himself to land on his feet. He also learned to climb onto my back which makes carrying him on my back in a carrier amazingly easy. The other day at a music class we attended, I found out that other boys also share the fascination with light switches. A couple of tots kept heading to the light switch, and of course Taiyo crawled across the floor to join them although he wasn't tall enough to reach. Tonight he finally figured out that he could turn the light on and off standing on bed (for a while he was only able to turn off,) and for 10 minutes he kept flipping the lights on and off before collapsing to his sleep. I think I have to go to Home Depot to find more toys for him.
...on june 12, 2010 @ 12:25 am

amazing baby updates

Some things get easier, but as my friend Barbara puts it, "It just shifts to another thing." That's certainly about being a parent. That's why we look back and miss 'easier' days. I do miss the time that I could leave him on bed and not worry about him falling off. It's inevitable that he is going to fall off things many more times anyway, but you do want to avoid it as much as you can. So far he fell off only four times with one bloody nose. I do miss the time that he would most likely to fall asleep within 10 minutes when I nurse him at night. Now he keeps crawling and crawling around the bed - sometimes for hours, even when he is so tired and cranky. Diaper change has been quite a challenge most of the time, because he keeps rolling over, sitting up and crawl- just imagine how it is when he's heavily soiled- and he is quite a big eater to make quite a mess. He is so much more responsive and communicative, but sometimes just too demanding. He hates sitting in a chair too long. Now that he can crawl out of it quite easily, I would have to strap him in belts, which of course he terribly agonizes by crying and screaming. He is already strong enough to fight me when he doesn't want to sit in the stroller. But oh boy, he is still the cutest baby ever. This week he began to wave bye-bye, and claps hands together. He giggles and laughs so much more sometimes I just can't stop tickling him. I'm so looking forward to the long weekend. Maybe another trip to the zoo.
...on may 28, 2010 @ 01:43 am