Ayumi Fu is Born!!

Our second daughter, Ayumi Chloe Fu, was born on November 5, 2009. She was technically a "pre-late term" baby since she was delivered at 36 weeks and 4 days (anything under 37 weeks is considered pre-term). But according to all the nurses and doctors, she appears to be full term and perfectly normal.
It's been four days since she was born. I preparing myself mentally the first couple sleepness nights. Its all sort of fuzzy in my head, but I have memories of Akemi constanly crying when we were in the hospital, so Karen and I never got any sleep. But Ayumi was very quiet for the most part. Whenever she was in her bassinet, she just slept peacefully or made very little noise.
So I was pleasantly surprised with our stay in the hospital. Karen and I actually got to watch a netflix movie on my laptop and catch up on a lot of Law & Order.
Ok...so the hospital stay wasn't too bad. But I still had to go back to reality which was a hyper-active 22 month year old waiting for me at home. I wasn't sure what to expect. Would she be jealous and have temper tantrums? Would she let me put her to sleep (she always wants Mommy)?
Surprisingly, Akemi has taken very well to Ayumi. Of course its too early to say. Even the pediatrician said that the first week would be fine, but once the novelty wore off, we should expect some resistance from Akemi. She let me give her a batch and put her to sleep, despite some crying.
I was also worried about Karen, who was in quite a bit more post partum pain then she was hoping for. Again, I had these fuzzy memories of the first few days home with Akemi, and all I remember was constant crying. But we have been lucky so far today that Ayumi for the most part does not cry very much. This has allowed Karen to actually shower today, have dinner with me and Akemi, and watch some TV (for thost of you who don't have kids, you probably won't appreciate what I am saying).
Today I took Akemi to Kids Space so Karen could stay home and rest. I had alot fun just hanging out with her. I was a bit tired, but nothing a couple cups of coffee and diet cokes, couldn't remedy. I was able to take a short nap when we got back since Akemi knocked out around 12:30 on the way home.
I hope I am not jinxing myself with this blog. Its onl'y been two days since we got home, so its still to early to start planning my next vacation. But so far so good..:)
Jonathan

Akemi is growing up!

Akemi has finally started to sleep in her 'big girl's bed'. Jonathan and I are exstatic! We are finally getting 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep again!!! We put one side rail up and cushioned the other side with pillows so she wouldn't get stuck between the wall and the bed. So far, she hasn't done 180s in the bed and seems to be sleeping in one position.
We both think Akemi have been trying to tell us that she's a big girl now and didn't want to sleep in her crib anymore. We again have to rearrange the room since the bed is next to the shared wall with our room. We're trying to put her as far away from the 'soon to be baby#2's cries.

On another note, Jonathan has been getting stroller envy. We recently went to the 15th Annual Kidspace Pumpkin Patch this weekend and Jonathan was oogling over everyone's stroller. Pasadena family seems to have more of the high-end strollers. We finally went to Rite Start and checked out the Phil & Ted Sports stroller. I had to pull Jonathan away from the store after an hour. http://www.shopphilandteds.com/phil-and-teds-sport-buggy.pro
We're still looking around but let us know if you have any suggestions on a tandem stroller. I already bought one but found out that it went on sale for $99 so I'm going to ask Rite start for the price difference.

Here are pics from the Kidspace Museum:



Akemi was passed out as soon as we arrived at the pumpkin festival.

Tesshin & Akemi playing with the water guns!

Akemi's 1st day at Daycare

Jonathan and I have debated for a while whether to put Akemi back at daycare.
It's been getting harder chasing after little Akemi during the day...especially since I'm 8 months pregnant. I only have this month and next to go!!!

I finally gave in after a full day of chasing her around and nearly giving out my back and placed Akemi at a monessori. She started today!

They have a huge playground in the back and she adjusted right away. I'm hoping her day goes well today!

I'll keep you posted.

Here's the monessori site: http://www.angels-preschool.com/

Akemi the gymnast

In preparation for baby #2 at the end of Nov, Jonathan and I have been sleep training Akemi back into her crib. I have spoiled her the last few months and slept with her in the big bed while Jonathan has been away in Shanghai.

It's been challenging putting her in the crib with my belly and so much easier to let her sleep with me. But I created a really bad habit.

The last few nights, Akemi has been climbing of her crib. With her long legs, she does it with such ease that we're amazed when we witness the 'spiderwomen' action on the video monitor.

Last night, she climbed out at 1am. Jonathan put her in the 'big girl' bed and we later hear her fall off the bed at 3am. Poor thing. We haven't put the side rails up, but definitely will do that tonite.
Finally Jonathan had to go sleep with her.

Any advice on the sleep training will be greatly appreciated!

Shanghai Move postponed

After a week of discussions, we decided to postpone our move to Shanghai till next March. Baby #2 will be due on Nov 28th and will be 3 months old by March.

Just wanted to say Thanks to all of our friends and family that supported us through this entire process. We currently have half of our stuff in Shanghai and even an apartment will 2011! tee heee...

I'm mentally adjusting to being back here and have unpacked all 6 luggages. Just have 5 boxes to go!

M.I.A

So we've been M.I.A (missing in action) for a few months. It's been a crazy few months in the Spring. I was concern with pending layoffs with my company, which finally took place in June. I was not one of them that were impacted. We had 20% of our workforce reduce globally. It was a very 'trying' time, but I'm glad it's over.

On lighter front, we had an opportunity to travel in the past few months, wedding in point reyes, trip to shanghai and tokyo, san diego zoo trip,.... pictures to come eventually.

Akemi is 16 months and babbling and walking like crazy.
Here are the words she says:
- Bubble
- Apple
- Uh oh
- Byeee
- Hiyeee
- all done..
- yei yei = grandpa in chinese
- Iyees= 'Isis' - Kyle's dog
-Ge Ge = give me whatever i'm pointing

Notice she hasn't said 'mama' or 'papa' yet? tee hee.. I'm trying hard to repeat it to her all the time. Wish me luck!

Akemi is too heavy

I threw out my back this morning. It was really sore yesterday but I kept ignoring it. Finally this morning, I couldn't reach back to grab the seat belt when I was getting ready to drop Akemi at daycare. I called in sick and called the chiropractor right away.

I saw him first thing this morning and 'oh man' was he concern. He said that my neck and upper back was swollen and was surprised that I wasn't crying. I guess I have a higher pain tolerance after giving birth. He highly recommended that I stay home tomorrow, but I really need to go into work. He put some ice pack on my back and neck and did some ultrasound, which helped.

I'm soo sore though... I knew something was wrong when I was lifting and carrying Akemi all week. I didn't realize how much it helps to have another pair of hands to carry her and share the 'load'. tee hee.. thankfully Jonathan is coming back today.

I'm off to take a nap and rest...