Pumpkin

Pumpkin is the new food. Oct 23, 2012, Mommy prepared it. Let's hope it goes well.

(this pumpkin is from PorPor's  garden)

You like eating pumpkin :) which is good, because it was a big batch of food. First pumpkin, it was baked in the oven but took too long. Second pumpkin, after peeling it, it was steamed, mashed up with a fork and stored in freezer. Pumpkin has become the new staple food, that needs to be added with every meal. Yummy.

Eczema

It has a been a nightmare, Lina's<3 eczema symptoms has come back. I believe it could be due to the weather. Every time the weather is bad, I have noticed that you scratched more, and your skins becomes redder, patchy, and blotchier. For the past two or three days or so, the weather has been terrible. Mommy is moisturizing you around the clock to help keep your skin baby smooth. Let’s hope that it does not too long

1 Step, 2 Steps, 3 Steps...

My baby started walking today! At 4:55pm in the living room, you took six steps with your little feet, one step after the other before leaping into Mommy's arms while Daddy watched. The first steps was so exciting. I can’t wait until you gets more confidence to walk more :) you are walking by yourself, without support.

Here’s are some pictures of what helped you walked:

Homemade Teething Cookies

Mommy loves to make food for my little Lina<3, as it is the only way, I know what is exactly in the food. Lina<3 likes to eat it as well (when you are not refusing your foods).

Found this teething biscuits recipes that looked interesting for Lina<3 to try. 

Teething Biscuits

Instead of the infant cereal, these can also be made with oats, ground in the food processor to a coarse flour.

1 cup whole wheat, all-purpose, barley or oat flour

1 cup dry infant rice or oat cereal

1 very ripe banana, mashed until smooth

2 Tbsp. canola or olive oil

Preheat oven to 375˚F. 
In a medium bowl, stir together the flour and cereal. In a small bowl, stir together the banana, oil and about 2 Tbsp. water; add to the dry ingredients and stir until you have a soft dough, adding a bit more water or flour as needed until the dough comes together and is not too sticky. (It will depend largely on the size of the banana, and how juicy it is.)

On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out about 1/4-inch thick and cut into smooth shapes (circles or sticks, without pointy edges – squish them a bit with your fingers). Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet for 10-15 minutes, or until golden. Cool completely and store extras in an airtight container.

Of course, Mommy did not follow the recipe to the tee and doubled the recipe.

Mommy used:

2 cups organic whole wheat, all purpose flour 

2 cups organic whole grain oatmeal cereal

2 ripe bananas

4 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

then:
Preheat oven to 375˚F. 
In a medium bowl, stir together the flour and cereal. In a small bowl, stir together the banana, oil and about 4 tbsp. water; add to the dry ingredients and stir until you have a soft dough, adding a bit more water or flour as needed until the dough comes together and is not too sticky. (It will depend largely on the size of the banana, and how juicy it is.)

then:
Mommy did not want to do anything fancy with the rolling and cutting out shapes; decided to stick with the simple circle shapes which is also easier and less cleanup. Once the dough comes together by kneading it, I rolled it into a log, (first picture below) and cut (or separated) into 1/4 thick pieces and rolled it into a ball (second picture below) and flatten with my fingers (third picture below), used flour, if the dough sticks to hands (it is like making burgers-once all the meat is mixed well, make a ball, and flatten). Placed onto a baking sheet with parchment paper (if you want to use an ungreased, then that’s fine too)
Put into oven for about 10 minutes, depending on the size of the cookie that is made, or until golden color. I stuck to small sizes, as it will be perfect for Lina’s<3 little hands. I burnt the first dozen because the size of the cookies were too small, and did not need to be in the oven for long (longer than 10minutes). Transfer to cooling rack, like the picture below, and store after cooling.
The verdict from my little Lina<3:

You stared it for a while before knowing what to do with it (first picture below). Mommy broke off small pieces to put into your mouth, then you got the idea. You started to eat it by yourself and stuffed all the small pieces into your mouth lol, greedy little girl (last picture below) You like it. Yay!

Please note to always watch your child when eating this cookie or any other food(s) due to potential choking hazards and consult doctor about theses ingredients before trying it, if you have any questions.  Please comment if there are other homemade teething cookies that you had tried before and might be good for Lina<3 to try. Thank you.

Note to Lina<3: I hope that last picture at the end of the post will not make you upset or embarrass when you are older and looking at this blog. Mommy loves you and hope that you continue to enjoy Mommy’s home cooking.

UPPAbaby Cruz Stroller

Two weeks or so with the UPPAbaby Cruz stroller, and Mommy loves it. I hope that you are enjoying it as well. From the looks of the pictures below, it looks like you are comfortable. Majority of time, you like to sit upright (there are a few different recline positions, which is a plus when you fall asleep) because it allows you to see everything. We take daily walks when it is nice outside. It was so exciting for the first week that we took walks twice a day. The stroller goes wherever Lina<3 goes and Lina<3 goes wherever Mommy goes, such a great domino effect. We even went to the laundromat (your first time at the laundromat-the last picture).

It is a very practical stroller, easy to use ,and lightweight. It is easy to open and close the stroller, must be facing forward in order for it to fold properly, although it does fold when it is rear facing but it will not be flat like it is suppose to be. There were a lot of comments about the stroller not being able to stand upright when folded, people, you have to leave the handle bar extended for it to stand properly. It is easy to put the seat in a rear facing or forward facing position, (always with my baby not in the seat, you sit after Mommy positions the seat). The wheels on the stroller has good suspension for the uneven sidewalks. The sunshade is fantastic, extends very well to block out the sun, and my little Lina<3 would still be able to see. The different reclining seat positions is fine, and easy to move from upright position to lied down flat even with my baby sitting in it. The five point harness is easy to use even when you are squirming around in the seat and trying to stand in the seat. It is easy to unfold the stroller, I also learn not to scratch the footrest too much by opening the stroller upright, and not when it is flat on the floor, which leads to more scratches on the footrest. Although my stroller, oh I meant Lina's<3 stroller, has some scratches already, boo :( I guess that is just a everyday wear and tear that will come with it. 

Look for more updates on the UPPAbaby Cruz as Lina<3 continue to use it.

Moisturizing Process

The very long moisturizing process is a 24/7 daily, three to five times a day (more if needed) necessity.
The process begins in the morning when you wake up and ends at bedtime, sometimes one more time in the middle of the night if you're extremely uncomfortable. Mommy moisturized you majority of the time, as I am the one who take care of you. On occasions, Daddy will take over.
The process goes like this:diaper changed, cleaned up your diaper area, wiped down your body-head to toes completely with a damp wash rag, used Alba UnPetroleum Jelly on skin first then Cetaphil lotion (only use hydrocortisone cream-1% or baby cornstarch when needed, before the unpetroleum jelly), change out of your pajamas into your play clothes.

After meals, your face and hands are wiped down and moisturized again.
This process sounds easy, right, but it is not, when you rolled, turned, squirm around, kick my hands, push my hands away, and fussy. It is repeated throughout the day, before and after nap time, during diaper change.

Please comment if there's a different way of moisturizing or tips that may be helpful for my little Lina<3 eczema.

obsession with your socks

Socks, what is the deal with them? Lina<3 loves her socks, Mommy's and Daddy's sock, but mostly yours. These socks used to keep your hands from scratching before you learned how to pull them off your hands. These socks keeps your little piggies (toes) warm before you starting taking them off your feet.  Now, it is the go to when you need a distraction. The socks keeps you calm and entertain. You hold it in your hands, drag it around and carry it around while you play. Pink socks, white socks, it keeps you quiet and content, the more the better. You take off the socks on your feet because you want it in your hands instead. Besides holding the socks, you put it in your mouth, put it against your face, put it in your toy box and take it out, toss it away from you and tried to shove it in Mommy's or Daddy's face when either of us is playing with you.

Better Afternoon and Evening

After such a crazy late morning to early afternoon of frantically scratching, it was a piece of cake the rest of the day. Taking a walk helped distract you a lot. It led to less scratching. Preparing for you nap was easy and there was minimum scratching (but a different scratch that you do whenever you are lying down for a diaper changed). The raised bumps, redness, and itchiness on your diaper area, thighs, and neck had disappeared. During the diaper change, you were able to be distracted from scratching with your toys. You were playful, and there was no crying. It was such a relief that you were smiling and in a good mood.
Yay! Lina<3, Daddy and I are glad that you feeling much better. I still do not know what the cause is, it may be the eggs so for the time being, there will no more trying new foods and no more eggs. 

Bath Time

It has always been a fight getting you to take a bath. You cried, and fussy a lot. As you got older, you struggled even more, scratched a lot, and cried hysterically when placed in your bath tub. Now with the support of the Scratch Me Not community (much appreciation to those ladies who had helped with this), I had learned to use the mittens during the bath time so Lina<3 does not break her skin with the scratching. Using a bath thermometer, to test the temperature of the water. Mommy uses extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) in the bath, to help keep you skin smooth and moist. Using a lot of toys to distract you from scratching, and distract from the fact that you are taking a bath. Sure enough after two or three times, of bathing, it got easier, and hopefully more fun. You started to play with toys :)
You do not bathe every day, as it will dry up your skin too fast, which will be bad for your eczema symptoms. Bathing every two to three is enough and does not bathe for long, no more than ten minutes. Things are getting easier, if only you would stop the scratching!

Frantically Scratching, Allergic to Eggs?

Today had been a nightmare, from 11:30am to 1pm. It has been non stop scratching. If Mommy was not holding your hands, (even though you had Scratch Me Not Mittens on) you scratched.
After your nap, you were scratching you a storm. At first, Mommy thought that it was because you had pooped but after cleaning you up, you were still scratching. It was so crazy, watching you scratching, and seeing that you how uncomfortable you were in your own skin. You probably knew how extremely difficult it was to moisturize you and put your diaper back on. Ahh, I am sorry Mommy can not do more to help you. Seeing you scratch in a frenzy (even after the diaper change), Mommy decided to wash you up with Cetaphil Restordam Body Wash. Yet it did not make you feel better nor did it make you stop scratching. You were still going crazy with the scratching, Mommy went crazy with the "stop scratching", "ahh", "stop!!" and tried to distract you as much as possible when trying to moisturize you after the bath. Mommy had you aired out your body after the bath, in hopes of trying to make you feel better and less itchy. Nope, you had scratched so much that your skin on your thighs and diaper area were beet red, inflamed, irritated, bumpy, and hot! Mommy put ice on those areas hoping to make it feel better, and it did for a little while before you started scratching again. On your skin, hydrocortisone cream (1%), unpetroleum jelly (an organic petroleum jelly like) and Cetaphil Restordam Body lotion were applied.
Mommy was wondering what was the cause of all this sudden scratching. Ah-ha you had tried some tiny bits of eggs earlier (hormone free eggs), could that be the reason for all the scratching?  Not sure of the reason but you were still scratching. After the bath, and diaper changed, Mommy hoped that putting you in the play area, it would distract you from all the scratching, but it did not. Mommy kept your mittens on but you still scratched. The way you scratched is scary, you not only scratch but you pinched, grabbed a chunk of skin and pull which sounded painful especially as you pulled your skin. Your feet even helped you scratch, scratched your legs, while your hands scratched your upper body, such coordination, lol
You even had a visitor (a cousin) stopped by and still it was not distracting enough. Scratched a lot. Took off your pants, hoping the cool air might help relieved your skin (with a visitor in the house too, lol). When that did not work well, Mommy applied baby cornstarch on your legs. It did distracted a little bit, you also warmed up to your cousin, and interacted and played with her. Daddy could not distract you from scratching, and could not make you stop scratching. Drinking water helped a little as well, you drank from Daddy's glass. All your toys were not enough to distract you from scratching either. After a visit from your cousin, Lina<3 and I went for a walk and that helped a lot. You did not scratch at all during the entire walk. When we got home, your scratching was a  minimum. I wish I could say that the scratching had stopped.
I think you are allergic to eggs, which lead to the frantic scratching, scratching lead to the raised bumps, redness on your skin, which made you even itchier.  This is the worst scratching/itchiness/allergic reaction ever. If you are allergic to eggs, it will be your third allergic reaction to foods (first, organic pear, second, organic yogurt).
Anyhow, Mommy changed your clothes three times during this ordeal, changed your crib sheet, disinfectant your crib, disinfectant your toys that stay on the crib.

Fall Foliage

A nice Friday for a walk. Time to see the trees' leaves changing colors, time to collect some leaves for my little one :) I do not think you were too interested in the leaves on the trees. You just like being outside so you can look around everywhere, at the cars, at people waling by. You like holding the leaves in your hands and with your foot as well lol. The leaves might taste delicious but Mommy stopped you right away, because it does not belong in your mouth (sorry to spoil your fun). You learned about the different color leaves, yellow, orange, and green.

Playtime

Lina’s<3 playtime with pictures on different days:

(Lina's<3 play area)

(sock in hand)

(solo standing, with socks nearby)

(playing with a beach ball)

(Lina's<3 dome)

Mealtime

Had your first real meal: organic brown rice, wild-caught salmon, organic spinach. Ate most of it.

Made a new batch of food that will probably last a month or so. Trying a new food, pumpkin. Yummy, you seem to like it.


Learning to bite off your organic rice cracker by yourself.

Playing with Morning Os (organic Cheerios) and putting it in the cover of the cup while drinking your milk.

Another real meal: hormone free chicken shreds , organic squash, organic spinach. Ate most of it.


Learning to slurp multi-grain linguine pasta. It was not easy, took multiple tries to slurp it without getting to frustrate.

Shoes...

Your two pairs of shoes, it took you about a week for you to get use to them, on and off your feet. It took you some time to get used to wearing them, and to allow Mommy to put the shoes on your feet. Every day since the first day, you got your shoes, you played with it, you wore it. Now you are pro, you move around in your shoes, and it does not hold you back any more.

(the first day showing off your shoes, it was hard to put them on your feet as you cried very loudly, so we went outside first and then put on your shoes-much easier to do)

(after our walk on the first day of showing off your shoes, Mommy put you down for a few seconds, and you did not move an inch, you were all stiff, and staring at your shoes a lot)

(standing, crawling, and moving around in your shoes, very exciting as you already took Mommy's phone)

Sleeping Better during Nap Times and Bedtime

It has been a long time since Mommy had wrote about your sleeping habits. You are sleeping better...yay! Applause please! lol.
Nap times, you sleep for about two to three hours at a time. Majority of the time, you have two naps throughout the day, one in the late morning and one middle afternoon, depending on what time you wake up in the mornings. Sometimes it is easy to put you to sleep without a nursing right before. Other times it is a struggle, and those times you cry it out but it does not last more than a few minutes. Tried experimenting with one nap during the nap and it did not work too well.
Lina<3, you are still not sleeping through the night, but you are sleeping more than two to three hours at a time. Some nights you sleep for four to six hours straight and that means Mommy feeding you only once a night. Night time nursing had gone from three to five times a night to one to three times a night. Your bedtime routine is more consistent, and almost around the same time every night. You are learning to fall back to sleep on your own, even if it means hearing you cry a little, and hearing you play with your toys on your crib before falling back to sleep by yourself. Falling back to sleep by yourself can sometimes take a few minutes or it can take up to almost an hour and as long as you are not hysterically crying, Mommy tend to let you do what you need to do.

Mommy is glad that Lina<3 did okay with the crying it out method even though it was hard to heard you cry and I hope that it was not too dramatic for you, (probably not, right?). I am still hoping that you will sleep through the night soon but for time being, Mommy will deal with whatever you throw my way, so to speak.

New Pediatrician

The decision to change pediatrician was something that should had been done months ago.
The reasoning for the change of a pediatrician:
lack of attention/concern towards Lina<3
not too thorough during checkups
not too helpful with eczema symptoms and what to do, besides moisturizing
does not interact with Lina<3 well

Lina<3, you met your new pediatrician today. The appointment went well. Lina<3 did not gain much weight (only 4oz) but did get longer in length and circumference of head got bigger (my little big head). You cried a lot because you were in a new environment, and with new procedures being done at the office. The doctor did apologized for making you cry. This new doctor was more receptive towards Mommy's concern about your eczema, and gave us recommendations to see an allergist and a dermatologist. "Control the itch, and control the scratching": doctor said. Mommy and Daddy likes the doctor. The ultimate plus is that the office is within walking distance. Hopefully the next appointment will be easier for my little Lina<3 with less crying.

Shopping with PorPor

Another day spent with PorPor (Cantonese for grandmother). This time, PorPor was taking Lina<3 shopping for winter wear, it was the first time shopping with PorPor :)  Yesterday, it started with going to PorPor’s house in the morning after we ate breakfast, changed, and moisturized. Before leaving the house, she gave you her credit card to hold, and you looked so happy (to go shopping, lol just kidding, you were happy because it was something new for you to hold) with smiles. We went to Gap to exchange a jacket that PorPor had brought because it was a boy’s jacket and not very cute; with something else that was cuter, and girly (that PorPor picked out). It was such a cold and windy day. Lina<3 was dressed in many, many layers. Off the Macys we went in Herald Square by taking the train. We took all the elevators as you were in your new UPPAbaby Cruz Stroller. You had fun watching every thing from your seat in the stroller. You were able to turn your head left, right, back and front. It was also the first day out with the new UPPAbaby Cruz Stroller. Macys, it was your first time, and I am sure you did not even notice as there were so many things for you to focus on, like the thousands of people on the streets and the cars. PorPor brought you very nice things, and you kissed PorPor to say thank you. We also went to H&Ms. After a long day of shopping, we went back to PorPor’s house for dinner, and went home when your Daddy came to picked us up. Lina’s<3 all set for winter, thanks to PorPor.
It was a good day for shopping, although it was cold and windy. Lina<3 had a great time with PorPor as you love spending time with her.
Overall the first day with the UPPAbaby Cruz Stroller was great. It was easy to fold up, and open up. It was easy to move around. It was able to fit into smaller spaces. It looked comfortable for my little Lina<3 which is the most important. The stroller did end up with some scratches, already, on the first day out, ahh, (Mommy and OCD, lol) :( The basket on the stroller is fantastic, and very spacious.

<—Lina<3 with PorPor’s credit card


<—getting use to your shoes, started to move around, it is also your first hoodie
Below pic, standing in your shoes, getting comfortable in them






<—subway station

<—sleeping after a long day in stroller :)

Below pic, sitting in your stroller