Back from Gap

Sorry for the delay... it's been a long road traveled since our last post on the west coast. We're in the northeast's east coast now and VJ is 19 months old. I'm going to post another collage of pictures from over the past year so the gap can be filled somewhat.

VJ from 3-5 months

Time is flying, and baby VJ is growing up before our eyes. Since our last posting, VJ has learned how to hold things - including his bottle at feeding time. He has also become very oral and loves to put whatever he can in his mouth and drools freely and without prompting. Just in the past three days, VJ has started to drink from a big person's cup (with Mom guiding him)!! Any day now he is also expected to master sitting up on his own - thus the daily practice in the new pea green bumbo seat you see here in the pictures.

When VJ is active, he enjoys playing under his Baby Einstein play mat, reaching for his toys and putting them in his mouth. When winding down, the veej enjoys watching kiddy videos on the computer. His favorite video is called "Baby Noah," which introduces babies to all kinds of animals in the tropics, polar regions, desert, and on the savanna. He also enjoys watching a series of videos called "baby signing times," but this is not his favorite right now. They teach him American Sign Language. He and Mom are learning how to communicate the essentials such as "water," "milk," "cereal," and "diaper."

Two other big things that happened in VJ's life recently is that he got to meet his Grandpop Carolan and Grandma Dempsey (whom we call "Pop Pop" and "Nani") Pictures will be put up soon! Also, VJ got a new baby sitter who comes to take care of him 4 hours per day while Mom works on her dissertation. His Nanny, Lucy, is awesome. When VJ sleeps, she helps Mom with housework like washing bottles, clothes, etc. etc! (What a relief! :o ) Lucy takes such good care of VJ and teaches him many things. In particular, she reads Dr. Seuss books to him and talks to him in Spanish every day.

Tracking VJ

We just started using a website named TrixieTracker.com to track VJ's sleeping and eating patterns. Hopefully this will help us as we try to figure out a good sleeping schedule for him.

The Latest on the Veej

This past week VJ had his 3-month "well checkup". The doctor says VJ looks great. I learned that VJ is now in the 75%-ile for height and weight. Below is a record of his measurements over the past 3 months, which I personally find very interesting. I'm very happy that he seems to be growing well.

Also, incidentally, VJ has just started daycare three days per week this week, as I have had to start teaching my class at UCLA. VJ's daycare provider reports that VJ is a "very very very good boy," which also makes me proud. If asked to describe VJ's personality at the present I would use the following adjectives: calm and mellow (unless he is inordinately hungry or sleepy), very observant and curious, and happy and cheerful.

Signing off,
VJ's proud mommy, Ann Marie

Post Script: Shortly after I wrote this update, VJ came down with his first cold - almost hours after he had gotten a perfect bill of health from his doctor. He is fighting the cold like a trooper - sometimes even giving us short smiles between bouts of coughing, troubled wheezing, and sneezing. Needless to say, it's hard to watch a newborn feel sick - of all the things he has to learn to get used to in the world, we hate for him to think that this cold is "normal". In any event, as to be expected, we can't wait til the little bub gets all better - hopefully in the next couple of days...



2/9/09 weight: 16 lbs 8 oz
head circumference 16.75 inches
length: 25 inches
80th percentile for weight
"average" percentile for height

1/8/09 weight: 14 lbs 12 oz
head circumference 16.25 inches (first time measured)
length: 24.5 inches
75th percentile for height and weight

12/8/08 weight: 12 lbs 7 oz
length: 23.25 inches
60th percentile for height and weight

10/23/08 weight: 7 lbs 13 oz
length: 20.5 inches

10/15/08 weight: 7 lbs 2 oz
length: 20.25 inches

10/7/08 AT BIRTH
- already not sure about this and will have to ask Scott, but -:
weight: 7 lbs 12 oz
length: 20 inches

Note: Although these figures seem promising (I'd like to think that VJ is going to grow up to big and strong!!!), the doctor told me that VJ's current size "rankings" vis-a-vis his peers are NOT necessarily indicative of how big he will be later in life...

Happy Holidays

from VJ

Smiling VJ

More photos of "the Veej" - Weeks 3-7

Dear Friends and Family,

Welcome to the past month of VJ's life. As you will see, he is changing, growing, and developing by leaps and bounds all the time. We cannot believe that VJ is already 13 pounds, nearly twice the size of his birth weight. Once a week, Mom has to go through his clothing supply to take out outgrown garments. More importantly, when she looks through some of these pictures above, she already thinks she is looking at an entirely different baby from the one she has now! (Mom has taken to talking about herself more and more in the third person these days - it apparently helps the baby to acquire his language skills and make sense of who is who...)

In addition to his ever-changing size, you might also notice his changing hair color and head shape. We have apparently given birth to a chameleon: in the bright sunlight, VJ has strawberry-colored hair like his father. In indirect sunlight or bright neon lights, his hair color changes to a rich auburn shade, which reportedly closely resembles that of his great grandfather, Bernard Davis, who also sported dark reddish brown locks. Finally, in warm and shaded lighting, our baby looks like he has dark brown hair ... like his mom's.

Many people comment on the fact that VJ (aka "Veej" or "THE Veej") looks just like his father - and this is true. Nevertheless, Mom likes to point out that he does have olive skin coloring AND he was born with a mongoloid spot, which we assume was inherited from his Asian (Philipino) side of the family.

Some of the things that these pictures do NOT feature is how fast the circumference of his head has grown lately. Only in the past few days, it seems like just his forehead has doubled! Sometimes Mom exclaims that she thinks she can see the head growing right before her very eyes. This, of course, is all very normal.

Something else these pictures fail to convey is what a mellow baby we have in our home. Normally the Veej is quite calm, likes to observe the world quietly, and smiles and coos often on demand. Practically the only time when Baby is grumpy is when he is hungry - and then he demands food adamantly and impatiently. He has a crazy loud bellow, and, according to his nurse, his muscles are so strong that they enable a "death grip."

Speaking of his nurse, VJ just returned from his two-month pediatrician appointment on December 8. Then we learned that our baby is in the 65th percentile for weight and height. While visiting the doctor, VJ also got his 2-month shots, which were not too painful. He mostly struggled with them about 6 hours after the fact, but we learned that Baby Tylenol can work wonders by knocking a kid out...

Another VERY exciting recent development is VJ's ability to present a "social smile," which he most often flashes early in the morning when he is getting his diaper changed. Dad and I feel that he is happiest at this time, because he has stored up a lot of good sleeping time over the prior night.

VJ does smile at other times of the day though. Mom was surprised to learn that VJ already has it in him to be a flirt with total strangers. Just recently when we were at a snack stand, Mom caught VJ catching the eyes of and smiling at total strangers. Who knew that our baby would become such a charmer so early in life.

Finally, a comment about some of these pictures above. As you will see, VJ was a "moo cow" for Halloween. (Mom laughs at the notion that he was cow, milking a human (Mom), whenever he breastfed on Halloween day). We are also very proud that the Veej is living through such a historic moment and has become an "Obama generation" baby. Finally, for Thanksgiving, VJ traveled up to San Francisco to meet many of his relatives on his Grandma Helen's side. Most noteworthy was VJ's introduction to his Great Grandma "Lola Lola" Maria, who is 91 years old. During this trip we learned that VJ makes a very good road-tripper. He was calm and quiet in the car seat and slept most of the ways to and from the Bay area.

Well, we can't wait to keep you updated with the ever increasing changes and developments in our baby's life. If you are not on facebook yet, we highly recommend joining and becoming a "friend of Scott's", because he is constantly sending videos and pictures of the baby there. In fact, he posts so many videos of the baby (perhaps about 3 a day?), that Mom can hardly keep up with them herself. The latest prize addition to Scott's facebook page, though, is a brilliant smile that VJ shot us early in the morning two days ago.

way overdue

pics from week 2 of vj's now 6-week-old life:

2-week checkup

VJ and I are going to the doctor's today for his 2-week check-up. We are hoping that he has gained a little weight this week and is at least back up to his birth weight of 7lbs 10 oz.

I'm actually hopeful that he has gained even a little more weight than that. This week we noticed that the little monkey has gained a bit of double chin. Hopefully that is a good sign that he is aready plumping out and starting to grow up nice and healthfully.

Getting to the doctor's is going to be my first real challenge without Dad, who went back to work on Tuesday (3 days ago). After giving birth, the hospital recommended that I not drive for two weeks - that is, until this past Tuesday. Today will be my first time driving since then - trying to manage getting the baby in the car seat all by myself, driving alone with the baby in the back, and then carrying him in the carrier/sling into the doc's office.

I don't think it will be that hard, but probably will take more time that I expect. We'll keep you posted. The picture here, by the way, is VJ on Dad's lap last night. We just learned in a book called Happiest Baby on the Block that holding the baby on his side or stomach is a good way to soothe him. (Not a good idea for putting the baby down to sleep though, just for when he is awake and alert)

VJ's First Week in the World

To see a full-screen version of this slideshow, plus two home videos
(as part of the slideshow), click here!

The Eyes Have It.

These are Daddy's eyes for sure.

a lymerick written for vj by grandpa bernie

VINCENT JULIAN

Vincent Julian was born the other day.
A warm "Welcome" to him we say.
We wish him health and happiness
And plenty of love and success
All along his way.

VJ is here!!

VJ was born this week on Tuesday morning at 1 am. Mom went into early labor during her sleep before waking up on Monday morning. (She didn't know she was having contractions, but was tossing and turning all night long) At 6 am her water suddenly broke, so she and Dad went to the hospital. Everything checked out fine, so Dad and I were allowed to return home to wait for full labor

Everyone said it, but nothing can prepare you for how much time and energy it takes to care for a newborn. It's so overwhelming (lots of feelings of love, worry, concern, fatigue - both physical and mental, etc)! This "parenting-a-newborn thing" sure is one hell of a roller coaster ride. So so so much work.

But the little one is doing pretty well. He has a small case of jaundice, so we might have to admit him into the hospital this week-end... We hope to send more details about VJ and his birthday when things settle down. Dad and I are both feeling very proud and are already completely smitten over the little guy.

Here is his first picture:

36-week belly

 

It was bound to happen eventually: my new breast pump

A big purchase that we made recently was a breast pump. Once again, I am proud to say that we got a great deal off of craigslist. I bought the hospital grade double breast pump from Medela for about $85 (New, I think they cost around $300). At first Dad and I were skeptical about buying something so special second-hand; we were mostly worried about hygiene. But our birthing class instructor - and my sister-in-law - taught us that none of the parts of the breast pump one buys ever touch the milk or breast. When you buy a breast pump like the one we did, it does not include the tubing and bottles that come into contact with your own milk/body. These extra parts you buy separately - and new, so the consumer can rest assured that everything is clean.

In any event, in commemoration of the big buy, here are some pictures of our new purchase. Now, to figure out how to use this thing (I think we still need to get the accessories before we can actually really see it up and running - not to mention that I'm not making milk yet, so there really is no way to test it on me yet, at least). Doesn't this thing look crazy complicated?

Great Thread on OBs in LA area

It's too late for us now, because we have already settled with the mid-wives at UCLA (which on the whole we think are pretty great), but I found this great thread on mothering.com offering some useful insights on supportive obstetricians of natural childbirth in the area. I'm putting the link here for my own records:

http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?t=419487

I found this on-line when I was actually looking for tips/suggestions on a good pediatrician in LA for our soon-to-be-born baby boy. I still haven't found that yet... and am a total loss on where to start (none of my friends have babies). If anyone out there has any suggests, we'd love to hear from you. Thanks!

My Belly at about 26 weeks!

We took this picture at the West LA Obon Festival this year, already more than 8 weeks ago (on July 26). To see our pictures from that day, have a look at our google photo album! I just fixed this pic up (blurring out the edges) with picasa. You can tell my extremities are kind of swollen (lot of typical pregnancy bloating) by just looking at my hands...

Incidentally, I think this photo proves that my stomach was already pretty big, even before that picture, down below, was taken around 30 weeks.

Around 30 weeks?

We found this picture on Scott's phone, and I like it a lot. Scott and I just figured out that it was taken more than 4 weeks ago, around August 17. I am convinced that when this was taken, my belly was already much bigger than it looks in this picture... I am carrying the baby low (everyone says this is because the baby is a boy), so maybe there is a chance that my right leg is covering up some of the bellly bulge in the picture. In any event, this pic shows how happy Dad and I are relaxing on a beach in Redondo. We had just picked up a crib that a friend of Scott's gave to us (his friend's kid has already outgrown it)!!! After we met Scott's friend, we went to the beach for about an hour to kill time before heading to one of our final Bradley birthing classes.