Love the lunch from day-care

Yesterday the teachers tried the food from the cafeteria, she loved it! So apparently it's just my cooking. I should really work on it. I still don't know how to prepare a lot of things amy loves, like lasagnea (heck, i don't even know how to spell it!) , for example. Macroni and cheese's another her favorite. I just hope i can find the time to practice this.

Another problem now with amy is that she refuses to take milk from her cup. We tried sippie cup and straw cup. She can take water from those just fine. But not milk. Even when she's really sleepy and hungry and want her milk before bed time, if she sees a cup, she'd protest with arching her back, shaking her head and screaming bloody murder. I sincerely hope this is just a phase.

This past one year has taught me how to tell myself, this shall pass, too! So now let me say it one more time, this, shall pass, too!

Playing with Avory

Avory is one of my favorite babies at Amy's day care. Daven is sweet, too. But for Avory, it's love at the first sight. :p. This morning when i dropped amy off, Avory was trying really hard to pull her shoe and sock off. When she finally did it, she handed her sock to Amy. Amy walked away with it in her hand, really contended. : ) I am so happy to see she playing with other babies.

She doesn't eat really well, though. She practically ate nothing during her lunch in the past couple of days. So today i asked the teachers to try the food from the cafeteria. Hopefully she'll like the change.

Forward-facing car seat

Last weekend my husband changed amy's car seat from rear-facing to forward-facing. It apparently is a huge and great change for her. The minute i put her in that position, she started babbling excitedly. Normally she'd take a nap on her way back from day care. Yesterday she was so busy "investigating" stuff around her that even when we reached our apartment, she's still super happy and alert.
Now that she can see us driving, she figured out "how to drive" herself. Yesterday we took her to Kroger. They have this kinda shopping cart for kids that looks like a racing car. Before, when we put her in there, she didn't pay attention to the wheel at all. Yesterday she grabbed onto the wheel and started to steer it away with this proud expression on her face. Who wouldn't feel proud for her?

Crowd Pleaser

I myself is a notorious pushover. I got this from my mother. She always put others' happiness the highest priority. I teased her about this "worrying for the whole wild world" all the time. However, ever since i could remember, i like to please others, too. Even though some of my friends comfort me by telling me this makes me a super-sweet person, i still really hate myself for this. So when amy walks on the thin fine line between sweetness and crowd pleasing, it really bothers me, a lot.

For example, she knows we like to see her "dance", or make the kissing noise. Everytime we tease her by holding a ball high, or refusing to read the book to her, she'd dance a little, or make the kissing noise, in hoping we'd give her whatever she wants.
Also, she learnt "ah-oh" from other babies in her day care. So she thinks this is a "universal" language among kids. The other day, when i took her to the play ground, she saw a couple of bigger kids playing ball together. She really wanted to join them. So she yelled "ah-oh" repeatedly at them. They didn't notice, or, they didn't understand what she's doing. She's really dissappointed. She even danced a little for them, too.

I know this is natural for a baby her age. But still, i want her to be independent, to have her own mind, to hold her own ground, not to worry about what others think, or, at least, not to worry too much...... Maybe i want too much. Maybe i should set an example for her. Or, maybe, i should just let her be. :p

Another low-grade temperature

This morning Amy woke up around 5:30 and kept whining. I stepped in to check on her and felt that she's really warm. Turned out she got a temperature around 99.5. Damn! When can this bad cold end?! Please Please, let amy get back to her healthy self!!!!!!!!

What makes it even worse is that i got this cold from her. Now i am feeling weary.

Amy likes teachers more than mommy

This morning when we got into the infant room, she opened her arms to one of the teachers, Alma, and wanted to get away from me. I told her, kiss mommy. She wouldn't even listen to me. After Alma took her over, she's so contend as if i was some stranger...
Well, i shouldn't complain about it since this is what i always wanted. And actually i am happy that she likes the day care so much. Her daddy and i don't have that much friends here. I was always afraid she'd be a loner.
Actually... on the second thought, i am having much more complicated feeling than just "happy" towards this whole day care situation... For example, they have this new baby in the room, melissa. She was crying so hard yesterday it almost broke my heart. Amy was like that a month ago. Moments like this reminds me of her first couple of days, which makes me feel really guilty. But i am also very proud of amy that she's doing so well. In the mean time there's also the feeling of "let go". Now she's only 1 year old, and sometime she is not very "attached" to me any more... Like i told one of my friends the other day, damn, parenting is hard!

Any way, amy's getting better and better from her cold. Got a bad diaper rash though.
Hope she won't get sick again in the near future...

Back to day care

Yesterday we switched from formula to whole milk. That's when amy started to take her bottle. She also ate much better yesterday. I took her out for a walk in the afternoon. She was so happy even the cough didn't botter her any more.

So i decided to send amy to day care today. She was so bored at home sometime she just sat there. I was afraid after so many days at home she'd forget all about the place. But she didn't . The minute we walked into the door, she lighted up. She waved at all the teachers as if she was some prime minister coming to another country. When i gave her to one of the teachers, she didn't cry at all. She was so busy looking at things she even didn't have time to wave bye bye to me.
Today's their music lesson day, too. Hope she'll enjoy it.

The 4th day

Yesterday i took her to the ped. Just like what i thought, it's a virus at her throat, and there's nothing we can do about it.
Poor Amy, she became so uncomfortable that she wouldn't even take milk now. It's really hard to keep her hydrated.

Yesterday her daddy taught her how to say "muaaaaaaaaaa", the kissing noise. Everytime we kiss her, we make that noise. Now she can repeat after us. She also tried to say "car" in Chinese. Sometime when we say some big word, she'd look at our mouth really hard, trying to figure out how to say those.

Amy's got a bad cough

Amy didn't really get better today. This afternoon the cough made her so uncomfortable that she had to sleep on my tummy. She hasn't done this since 3 months old. She actually was still very good. At the very beginning, when i put her down for her afternoon nap, she went into sleep pretty fast. But she kept being woke up by the coughs. Eventually she gave up, sitting there crying with her eys closed. When i laid her on my tummy and patted her, she slept so well it reminded me of her newborn time. That kind of closeness is gone forever with the weaning. So i have to guiltily say i did enjoy that 1 hour and half of amy's sick time.

She also didn't eat well. I guess her throat was making her uncomfortable.

Tomorrow i will take her to the ped's office. We were hoping that we could save the trip since amy really hates to go to the doctors. But i can't watch her coughing like this any more. Even though i know the ped probably will just tell us to keep her hydrated blah blah blah... still, some words/reassurance from the professional will make us feel better.

Please, whoever is listening up there, let amy be better tomorrow.

Ah-oh

Amy knows how to say "ah-oh" now. Day care really boosts her vocabulary fast! Last Friday when i picked her up, she kept saying "ah-oh" in the car. I thought she just liked the sound of it and had no idea what that meant. But when we got home, i found out she actually knows when to use it. Whenever she or me or her daddy dropped something on the floor, she'd say "ah-oh". She says it when she falls down, too. She even practiced it in her dream.

Last night her temperature peaked to 102 degree. Praying for her to get better soon.

Amy's sick today

This is the 3rd time since she started day care. She got a temperature on the 7th day after she started. I took her to the ped. It's just a virus on her throat. Then the following week she got runny nose. It went on and off for about 10 days. We were just happy that she finally was ok, now this.

And this time is the worst. She was still pretty active for the last two times, eating ok and also keep playing. Not this time. This morning she got a fever about 100 degree. Even after i gave her tylenol, the temperature was still around 99. She didn't eat much lunch and threw up most of it.In the afternoon for about 2 hours she didn't do anything but lying on my stomach and whining... Poor thing.

I know she's supposed to catch virus from day care and this even is good for her in some sense. But it's still really hard for us.

Hope she'll be better soon. I will take a day off tomorrow.

Amy keeps wanting to go out now

Normally i'd take amy out for a walk after her dinner. The day before yesterday, i was a bit hungry after feeding her. So i went into the kitchen to find something to eat. She didn't follow me right away. When i went to look for her, I found she was sitting in front of the door, waiting for me. : ) . So i told her, give mommy a minute to finish this biscuit. That's when she got really impatient. She decided to push me. With a pair of her own shoes in her hands, she tried to pull me to the door. I eventually gave up and take her out with a couple of biscuit in my pocket. : ).

Then yesterday morning after her bottle, she started to wave byebye to her daddy furiously, as if she can't wait to go to the day care. And when we arrived there, she was so eager to go play she didn't even wave to me. Bad girl. :p

I am glad it only took her 3 weeks to like day care. I guess she is a friendly girl by nature.

Today after i dropped her off, i peeked a little bit. Spence, a 6 month guy, kept following her around. When she finally sat down to play with some toys, Spence even tried to climb onto her. She didn't push him away. Maybe some day she'll be a good big sister. :D

One year check-up

Yesterday I took amy to her one year check-up. Her height is 31'', 97%; weight is 23lb1oz,75% with a big head, 183/4'', also 97%. According to the ped, her developement is between 14 months and 16 months. Good girl.
I took her to the office two weeks ago because she has a mild temperature. Back then the ped sort of poked into her throat, which made her extremely uncomfortable. Apparently she remembered it all. Yesterday she even wouldn't let me lay her on the examination bed. She cried even more furiously when the ped tried to look into her ears. Actually even at home, she won't let me touch any part of her face... werid little girl.
But any way, she's fine. She even didn't have a temperature after the shots. When she was 6 months, her temperature reached 103 degree during the night.

I have to go get some CD. Joyce told me she listened to Itsy Bitsy Spider a lot at day care. I even didn't know what that is. :( I guess that's the problem of having a baby in another country. We'll have to "grow" up together with her. Well, maybe it's more of a blessing than problem.

Amy started to play with other babies~

Yesterday Joyce told me Amy started to play with other babies. I saw her and Avory pointing at each other, too. I am so glad she finally start to socialize with others. I think she enjoys day care now.

Yesterday I took Amy to my office. She even met the Dean. She was in a very good mood, waving and smiling at everybody. Also an indicator that she has adjusted to life there.

Amy can say lamp in chinese

Recently amy has developed this habbit of pointing at things, any thing, dogs, people, cars, trees... especially shiny stuff.
She likes the lights inside our car a lot. Everytime we stop the car, the light will go on automatically. So now whenever we enter or stop the car, she'd look at the light and wait for it to light up. Then she'd point at it and smile.
This morning i was feeding her on the balcony. She likes it there so that she can see cars coming and going. She pointed at the lamps on the balcony. So i said, "deng", that's lamp in Chinese. She said it back. We kept doing it for a couple of times. She enjoyed it very much.
Soon she will be a little chatter box, i believe. I am just wondering if it's a Chinese chatter box or an English one...

Amy didn't cry at all today!

She even waved goodbye to me. Such a good girl~

This morning her daddy found out that she knew how to dance. Whenever we sing "twinkle twinkle little star", she'd swing a little and also bounce up and down.

She learns things pretty fast. Yesterday she even took her formula from her straw cup.

She's still a little bit clingy, though. She'd walk towards me, sit down and then lie on my legs for a couple of minutes before she can go play by herself again.

皮皮一岁了

BIG GIRL了。23磅1盎司。一脸横肉，狰狞笑容像爸爸。个子也不矮。DAY CARE 一个INFANT ROOM里，就属她傻大个子。今天送她去，跟阿姨说我们今生日。一个老阿姨略显糊涂，说，啊，那她两岁了？

走得不错了，偶尔开始小跑。尤其是逃跑的时候。多数时候以摔倒失败告终。下次看到爸爸妈妈来抓还是要撒腿就跑。

会说爸爸DADA很长时间了，只有要吃要睡的时候才会赖唧唧的说妈妈。爸爸说POOH，她就轻轻的吹气说噗～。妈妈说DONE，她就骄傲的大叫DAAAA～。

会的本事不多。拍手招手摇头。偶尔爸爸唱歌的时候会鼓掌。看见活动的物体就招手。摇头只能摇最多两下，好像头太大了摇不动。每时每刻都在乱指，看到什么都指着说啊啊啊啊啊啊,抢东西狠在行，奇形怪状一个相机抓在手里准确无误的捅镜头。大大的一包DIAPER拖着走。

破坏狠积极。抓起门口的鞋子到处扔，插线板的开关有灯捅一下，橱柜里面的东西太多拖出来，垃圾桶有盖子一样打的开，抽屉会夹到手可是如果小心的话里面还是很有意思。截至发稿时止共计毁坏遥控器一个，撕破书N本。

开始耍小聪明，每次妈妈要HAVE SERIOUS TALK WITH HER，就瞄准一个目标乱指，妄图转移妈妈的注意力。不喜欢妈妈碰可是想要妈妈手里面的梳子就绕到妈妈旁边去够梳子以为妈妈抓不到她。妈妈送去幼儿园还是要哭给妈妈看，妈妈一出门口就算了，好汉不能够乱吃眼前亏。拣起什么破烂儿背过身去吃，酱紫妈妈看不见。

今天妈妈会给买个蛋糕，皮皮不爱吃，妈妈吃。

一年的时光一年的牵挂，皮皮嘻嘻一笑，全部都有了回报。

Happy Birthday, Amy!

Happy Birthday, my dear Amy,

You are 1 year old today.

In the past 1 year, you grew up a loooooooot and also learnt a looooooooooooot. roll over... sit up...crawl...walk... You are a big girl now.

Also in the past 1 year, you made us so happy and proud that sometime i can't believe i can have this much emotions.

I love you very much.

I can see myself in her

I still have some vivid memory about my childhood, most of them somewhat embarrasing. One thing i remember is that i always try to "play" my parents but never succeed. Like if they were talking with me about something serious which i don't want to listen, i'd try distract them by saying, "look! mommy! i found something!". Of course, that's when i was really small. After i started school, i figured this never worked. And then i'd just quit listening.

Amy started doing this last weekend. Less than 1 year old! I do hope she won't stop listening to me later on.

It's saturday and after 1 week at day care, she's really clingy. I was cooking and feeling tired. She still wanted me to hold her. So i calmly told her, mommy's busy, go play with yourself. Of course she wouldn't listen and started to scream/semi-cry. After 10 minutes or so, i got really mad at her and just ignored her. Then she burst into her real cry. That's when i tried to have a "serious" talk with her. I was trying to reason with her while holding her in my arms. She just wouldn't listen and kept pointing at one of the pictures we put up on the wall.

I really can see a little me doing exactly the same thing like she. I can't say i am happy about her defying me. But strangely, it did amused me a little bit.

Amy didn't cry too much today

When i dropped her off at the day care, she just made an attempt to cry. And before she started, i was out of the door. So she didn't really make it to a loud cry. yah~

But she still doesn't like to socialize with other babies. She kept to herself most of the time. I guess she'll start to play with others eventually.

Yesterday i took her to my office after the day care. She liked the vending machine on our floor. She'd point at it and say "ah ah ah ah". So i tried to lead her to touch it. But she didn't want to. It's exactly like the time we took her to the playground. There were a bunch of kids who's making a lot of noises. She'd squat down and observe them for a long time. But never tried to get close to them... So i can imagine her "loner" behavior in the day care. Hopefully this is just a phase.

Amy is almost 1 year old

Today i started this blog. Trying to keep track of her growth.

Amy's a big girl now. 23lb 1oz. 7 teeth, the 8th is on the way. There's also a molar coming out, according to the ped.

Started walking around her 11months. Already has the intention of escaping from mommy and daddy.

Know how to say "baba" and "dadda" for quite a while. Only say "mama" when she wants something. When i say "pooh" to her, she'd whisper "pooh". If i say "done", she'd yell "da"!

The 3rd week at day care

Dropped amy off at day care this morning.
After 3 days at home, she thought we'd stopped the day care thing. So the minute we stepped into the infant room, she started to cry furiously.
Last week when i dropped her off, she'd cry only a little bit. Today she cried for half a minute.

She still has a little bit runny nose. Don't know if it'll get worse.

Praying.