Aaron turned 2.5 today!

I don't know how time flies by so fast after having Aaron. He turned 2.5 today in just a blink of an eye. It's actually a mixed feeling that he's growing up fast. I love watching him grow, talk, play each day and I want to stop the time because I love the innocent little boy the way he is now. Everything he does is terribly cute, well not always but you get the idea. But I know all the cuteness will eventually go away when he's older. I am living in the moment and enjoying him before he becomes all independent.

I feel incredibly fortunate to have Aaron in my life whenever I look at him. He's just a perfect little angel that God has given me. I feel like I can never have enough time with him even though I see him all day long and I didn't know I could love someone so much. I wish he felt the same way about me and become the person he wants to be. Happy 2.5 Birthday, my love!

Aaron's first Trick or Treat

Aaron finally had his first trick or treat this year as he didn't go for one when he was in HK last year. It's actually quite difficult to find him a cute costume as he's not a baby anymore. This is usually the time that I wish I had a girl so that I can dress her up with all kinds of cute outfits. Oh well, I am just thankful that I have one precious little boy after all. I can't imagine life without this little guy anymore. He becomes my world and I do everything for him. I wonder if it is because I am with him 24/7? Does that make a difference at all?

Ok, back to my topic. So I found this cute little costume right before we went back to HK and never really tried it on until we returned. The costume fits him ok besides the hat is super duper huge for a 2 yo. Aaron is at the age that he doesn't just let me put whatever on him. It was tough putting the whole costume on without sweating. By the way, did I mention how warm it is in CA when it's Oct/Nov time? It's unbelievable that we get to live in such mild climate area after all these years in the cold brutal Midwest. Words simply cannot express how awesome I feel living in CA and I seriously wouldn't want to move to anywhere else in the country.

Enough digressing, we went to Valley Fair for Aaron's first trick-or-treat around 5:30 after he woke up from his nap. The traffic was bad and daddy was stuck at work. I knew I had to get him there before all the stores runs out of candies. The parking lot was full and the mall was like a zoo. People were everywhere looking for candies with their kids. As I predicted, most of the stores ran out of candies and Aaron only got to get 4 pieces of candies. How sad! But he didn't seem to care, just be his happy self holding the pumpkin around. Daddy finally came meet us up and we went to dinner at the sushi restaurant before heading home. Overall, Aaron was happy and that was all it matters.

Happy Halloween!

Bronchitis

Aaron has been coughing for a couple days before getting on the plane to HK and I didn't think it was anything serious as he gets sick every now and then. He was in good spirit all along even after we got off the plane. I was thinking to take him to the doctor after we get off the plane anyways to make sure everything is ok.

As I haven't been living in HK for a long time, I don't know how to find a good pediatrician or any doctor in general so I asked my friends who have kids to get their pediatricians' info. Unfortunately, all the doctors my friends recommended were busy/closed. I finally found Dr. Ko in CWB who has good reviews and I took a leap of faith to go with him.

The nicest thing about HK is you can usually get to see the doctor the same day you make an appointment even if you are a new patient. I guess that's the beauty of private practice. You can go to any doctor of your wish as long as you are willing to pay the price. The wait at Dr. Ko was minimal, Aaron was seen right away. Aaron had the routine check and Dr. Ko started lecturing me for not taking Aaron to see a doctor earlier. He was diagnosed with bronchitis and was at risk of developing asthma if it wasn't taken care of properly.

I have never thought that Aaron's condition was that serious as he has been pretty healthy even with his rough start, however, Dr. Ko brought this back to my attention and emphasized the importance to take care of Aaron's condition with extra precaution. I am so glad that I found Dr. Ko as he is not only knowledgeable but caring and thorough with Aaron.  He even noticed little things like Aaron's chest retraction (a condition that he was born with due to the premature birth). I have never met a doctor being so generous with their time explaining everything in detail.  Dr. Ko spent a good 40 minutes with us, which is unheard of with any other doctor I've seen in my life. I wish we had more doctors like Dr. Ko and his thoroughness once again brought up the thought of finding another pediatrician for Aaron in CA, but I doubt I can find anyone even close to Dr. Ko. I hope Aaron will feel better soon so he can enjoy his time in HK.

Still in good spirit playing at the clinic

To be honest, this is quite a bit of medicine for a little kid who is only 2

Mission accomplished

It's quite unbelievable that I actually have the courage to fly all the way to the other side of the world alone with a toddler. I am not gonna lie, the 14+ hour flight is not easy at all. Would I want to do it again? Maybe not. LOL

The good news is we landed safely and no major tantrum on the plane. Aaron napped about 4-5 hours, which I don't quite remember as I was out on and off. It was hard for him to find a comfortable position to sleep even when his head was resting on my lap. He kept adjusting to different position and rolling of the seat, but he was amazingly not cranky about it.

Aaron has been coughing since Saturday and his cough doesn't sound good at all. I think I might have to take him to the doctor today and get checked out. I hope it's nothing serious when daddy is not around.

Ready to take off at SFO

iPad is such a lifesaver!

We landed safely

Moving up to Advanced swimming class

Aaron has been progressing quite quickly in terms of swimming class.  He started taking the beginner's class back in June and now he's starting to take the advanced class. I've been noticing that Aaron does not quite swim in the kiddie pool after he figured out that he can stand in the pool. All he wants is to play with all the bath toys there, which can be quite frustrating. I am trying to help him practice what we learned from the class, but he doesn't seem to be too interested in it. I guess I need to be more persistent with practicing so he can make some improvements.

Daddy agreed that we need to keep letting Aaron learn swimming as it's good for both his health and physical coordination. I am not sure how long it will take him to really start swimming on his own, but swimming class is one of the activities we will keep doing.

Hungry after swim lesson

Gotta love living in California

I definitely appreciate living close to the ocean after living in the Midwest for over a decade. I love that Aaron is not deprived of being able to go to the beach pretty much whenever he wants. He loves playing in the sun, the beach, and the water just like any other kids in Cali. Living close to the ocean has always been just a distance dream when I was stuck in Indiana and didn't know when I could get out. I am glad that it's all over and can live in a place we love. 

It's hard to even imagine how did I survive in the middle of nowhere for so long, yet I've only moved to the West for a few years. I love the food, the weather, the scenery, the activities, and not being a minority in CA.  I don't think I would want to live elsewhere unless we are moving back home. (:

1 more month to go

We have exactly 1 more month to go before heading home to HK.  For some reason I am not as excited as I used to be. I wonder if it's because going on a trip is not as relaxing as before when I was childless. It is definitely hard to go anywhere with a little one when there are so much planning and preparation to do for everything to run smoothly. I am so not looking forward to flying back alone with Aaron as there are so many things to take and he won't be able to sit still for a long period of time. But I guess I can't let that discourage my will to go anywhere as I really need to go home to see my parents.

I have been looking for different kind of activities for Aaron to do in HK so that he won't just be sitting at home all day. It's tough to arrange all these when we are thousand miles away. Luckily I can have my mom to take care of most of it and we already have swimming and playgroup lessons signed up. I hope we will have a better trip this time and Aaron gets to spend more time with his grandparents.

ABCs + First day of swim lesson

Since Aaron turned 2, he has been talking more and more.  It's amazing how much he can understand and speak in both languages, even though English is so dominating that he hardly answers me in Chinese. I blame myself for forgetting to speaking Chinese to him at all times because I have gotten so used to only speaking in English.  I am so proud that Aaron can sing the entire ABCs song by himself today. The little guy simply loves singing and playing with the music instruments. :) I should record his singing so I won't forget how cute he sings!

Aaron started his very first swim lesson today at Waterworks Aquatics in SJ! I have been procrastinating to take him to swim lesson since he was 6 months old as I didn't think I could handle going into the water with him. It's definitely a lot of work to go swimming with all the packing and showering at the swimming pool, but it's 110% worth it after just one lesson. Aaron loves being in the water and isn't afraid at all. He did amazingly well for his first lesson and I am definitely going back with him for more lessons.

Aaron is turning 2!

I don't even know how to describe my feelings that Aaron's turning 2. How did my little baby turn into this 2 year old toddler so quickly? It felt like yesterday that I just found out that I was pregnant. I still remember all the ups and downs of the pregnancy so vividly, and all of a sudden my baby is no longer a baby already. This whole motherhood experience is so real yet feel so surreal at the same time.  I am learning new things about how to raise a child every day. There's no guideline to tell me what's right or wrong. I just have to follow my own instincts and take it one day at a time.

Hello! I am 2 today!

Aaron's 2nd Birthday Party!

Daddy is finally back from NY just in time to help with the last minute tasks for Aaron's birthday party. We are hosting Aaron's birthday party at KidsPark this year and invited all his little friends. I originally planned to book the Steven's Creek location but it was already taken. Fortunately the Oakridge location is still open and it's actually closer to our home.

All the kids we invited showed up and everyone had a blast as they could play and roam freely everywhere. Aaron definitely had a lot of fun running, screaming, and playing with all the toys he has never seen before. Even though he might not remember any of this, I still think it worths all the effort and time. I hope Aaron would look back one day and feel that he had a happy childhood knowing that his mommy and daddy love him.

My silly 2 year old Aaron :D

Birthday Party preparation

I am trying to make some good progress for the birthday party preparations, but it's not easy when daddy is on a trip and I am doing everything from dawn till dusk. I only have a couple hours to work on the party stuff when Aaron is asleep at night. I have quite a bit to finish before the party on Sunday. Things still need to be done -

Water bottle stickers
Party favor bags
Organize party supplies
Pick up balloons
Pick up party food

I hope everything will go smoothly this year as I remember I got everything done pretty late last year and I felt so rush and disorganized. But when do I ever not feel disorganized? Never, right? ;) I don't know how I always live such a chaotic life yet being such a control freak. Oh well...

Aaron's favorite Pororo :D

Single mom days

Daddy went onto the leadership program trip at Cornell and I have been doing everything with Aaron 24/7 like a single mom. It's definitely tiring watching a toddler non-stop all day long. I don't know how single moms do it and I have so much respect for them. You won't know how hard it is until you have to do it yourself. I am lucky that I know daddy is coming home in a few days. I can't imagine taking care of a little one alone without any support.

I have to be honest that taking care of Aaron alone involved some screaming, yelling, crying, and time outs. I don't know how others stay calm when their kids throw a fit and wouldn't listen. I don't know how long can I stay sane taking care of him alone, but I am trying, learning, and listening. I think all SAHMs need a good shrink. =P

time out doesn't seem to work

more screaming and crying

Losing my thoughts

Nowadays I really have to write down my thoughts before I lose them. I am not sure what it is. Is is the lack of rest? Or just being a busy mom? I am forgetting things ALL the time and that's so not me. Or is it? hehe ;)

I have so many things on my mind lately and they are mostly related to preparing for Aaron's 2nd birthday party. I still have quite some tasks to work on before the party. I hope I can get everything done on time and won't be as rushed as last year. Daddy will be going to NY for a week before Aaron's birthday, which means I will have less time to work on things when I have to take care of Aaron solely. I am so not looking forward to daddy going to NY, but what can I say when it's for work? At the end of the day, daddy is working real hard for us and it's unfair for me to whine all the time.

woke up happy seeing his new Pororo toy :D

Feeling defeated

We officially moved into our home for a little over a month now and let me tell you this place is still a mess! I got the kitchen completely unpacked and organized. It's operational and all, but that's pretty much about it. Nothing else in this house is cleaned up yet. I look at the mess everyday and I feel tired already. I don't even know where to start. There are so many boxes laying around and I only have 2 hours tops each day to clean up (given that if I even have the energy after taking care of Aaron, cleaning up the kitchen after each meal, and/or other miscellaneous administrative things). To be honest, I am usually exhausted after putting Aaron down every night. I rarely have the energy to do anything else.

It's so frustrating to see the mess every day though. It definitely doesn't make you feel good waking up seeing boxes everywhere or have to treasure hunt clothes/essentials from a gazillion boxes. This is a vicious cycle that I can never end. I wish I could hire someone to just clean up all the mess for me, but the reality is it WON't ever happen. I better get myself together and start working harder on my own mess. Feeling totally down. :(

What a mess within 2 minutes, literally!

Weaning off the pacifier

I have been thinking about weaning Aaron off binky when he turns 2. He asks for the binky every time before he goes down for a nap. He's been quite attached to the binky since day 1 he was at the NICU. I guess it might be a tough habit to break.

I put him down for a nap as usual today and then I saw him waking up after a couple hours without a binky in his mouth.  I didn't think anything of it as he might have just dropped the binky on the ground or something. Then when I went into his room I noticed the binky was actually on his dresser, which means I didn't even give it to him in the first place. How amazing that he didn't ask for it and went down for a nap normally. I guess I should start not giving him the binky from now on and see how it goes. I hope it won't be too painful for both of us. ;)

guilty!

First Easter Egg Hunt

Update - Aaron has been crying right before going to sleep in his own room. He wouldn't want us to leave him there alone and wouldn't stop crying until I give him the binky. I think he must be scared and needed some sort of security, so I gave in and let him have the binky at night. Daddy has been taking it back out before going to bed so he doesn't have it all night long.  Amazingly, Aaron is already getting more comfortable sleeping alone and hasn't used the binky at night! I love how kids adapt to new things/environment so quickly. 

Auntie Melissa was so kind to invite us over to her place for Easter Egg Hunt. Aaron had such a blast running around the house and the backyard. He was actually kind of interested in hunting for the Easter eggs for awhile before moving on to playing with the water. I can't believe how wet he got by the time we left Melissa's house. I guess that's what kids do right? I guess I need to start bringing a change of clothes for Aaron in case he gets wet/dirty (which seems to happen more and more often as he grows). 

Sleeping alone for the first time

I was planning to setup the pack'n play in Aaron's room and put his crib in our room before we move in, however, the movers put Aaron's crib into his room and packed our room full of boxes that we can't even get through. I guess Aaron has to start sleeping in his own room tonight. I am foreseeing a very unhappy toddler crying before bed and in the middle of the night.

I wonder how many nights will it take him to get used to his own room, on top of living in a complete new place. I really don't think letting him sleep by himself in a new place is a good idea, but oh well I guess he can eventually get used to it, right? ;)

At least he seems happy reading bedtime stories with daddy in his room. Let's see how the sleeping go...

The Big Move

2 days is what we've got for packing up and moving everything to our new home. Our new place is located in the Willow Glen/Cambrian area which is a better school zone for Aaron. Even though this is not a single family home as we preferred, it will be a nice little home for us for the next few years until we find our dream home closer to Palo Alto.

Finally made some good progress in the kitchen, piling up all the boxes and have them ready to go when the movers come. I have no idea how and why I have accumulated all these stuff over the years. I guess I have officially become a hoarder and I need help *LOL* I can't seem to throw away or give away anything, everything seems to have a purpose (somedays). What's wrong with me? I seriously need to stop buying more junk that I think I "might" need to use. It's painful every time we move and apparently we have been moving around quite a bit.

So before we junk up the new place, here are some pictures of how it looks like -

Closing today

We finally closed on the new townhome that we've been waiting for on Friday.  I can't believe it has been taking more than 2 months to close a home in CA, but I guess we are home owners once again. We've been wanting to buy our own home since Aaron was born as he didn't have his own room and there was not much space for him to roam around.

This new home we are moving into has a better floor plan so that Aaron can play on both floors. We are planning to move him into his own room and setup a play room for him on the first floor. I hope he will enjoy our new home and adapt to all the changes quickly. Now the challenge is to finish packing up everything and move in 2 days! Wish us luck.

School keeps Aaron busy

Since Aaron started going to the mommy-and-me preschool, his schedule is pack all week. Going to school 2 days a week, Gymboree 2-3 days a week plus miscellaneous activities at the library are keeping both momma and baby busy busy busy. We don't even have extra time to see friends or to go to the museum like we used to, not to mention how I want to sign him up for swim lessons and music class. I thought I was going to take it easy and let Aaron have a stress free and easy childhood, how did that turn out to be so packed with activities every day? Am I doing the right thing to keep him busy? Or is he doing too much? I wish someone could tell me am I doing things right for Aaron sometimes as I have no idea how to raise a kid at all. It's frustrating to muddle things through but who doesn't do that with their first kid?

Terrible 2?

The older Aaron gets, the more he's driving me insane sometimes as he's having his own mind on doing or not doing the things I want him to do (usually drinking his milk or eating his meal properly).  I am not sure if he's not hungry or he's just not in the mood of eating/drinking most of the time because I can never starve him like other people have told me to or whatnot.  It just seems like this little guy is never hungry and doesn't need any food.  He's quite weird that he doesn't even snack much when I observed how other kids just couldn't wait to finish their snacks at school.

He made me so mad yesterday when he wouldn't drink his milk at all after waking up from his nap. He just wouldn't drink it no matter how hard I tried. I let him look at his books, play with toys, and even watch some of his favorite videos on youtube. Nothing seemed to work and I just had to put him in timeout.  He got so upset and just stayed on the ground for the entire time (probably 20 minutes) until daddy came home to rescue him.

The more I have to deal with these frustrating situations, the less patience I have.  Sometimes I even doubt that if I am qualify to be a mother when I cannot even control my temper that well. I get so flustered whenever Aaron is not listening to me. I feel so lost and I can't help but yell at him. I definitely don't think yelling is going to solve anything as he doesn't seem to respond to yelling very well either. I then found out that he might not have been feeling that well yesterday when he woke up with snotty nose this morning. Now I feel so bad that I yelled at him and couldn't have been more patient with him.

I've always known that I am not the most patient person in the world, but being a mother and working non-stop brought out the worst of me. I get frustrated and lose my temper easily on a daily basis.  I am starting to not feel great about being a mother the way I am. I don't think it's healthy for me nor my baby with my mental state. I know I need to change as it's going to be more and more difficult to take care of Aaron when he's growing into this little person that has his own will.  I think this might be God's plan for me to improve myself in something that I've always lack of. I hope I can overcome my temper issues with God's greatest gift (Aaron) someday.