Browse Category: kumquat

Dinner and a Movie

On Tuesday, Jes and I had our first date night.  We never really went to see the movies before Kumquat was born but my mom is home to watch Kumquat and watching a movie is one of those things that you can’t really do with a 3-month-old.  For dinner, we went to Urban Tavern.  We shared French Onion Soup, Arugula Salad, Pretzel and Sausage, and Meatloaf Sliders.  All were pretty good but the big glass of wine that I had with it was even better!

We then walked to Metreon and watch The Dark Knight Rises.  Since dinner was mostly small plates, we got an order of nachos that came with two containers of jalapeno peppers.  Yum.  Paired with an Icee it was perfect for such a fun movie.

I had a great time and it was nice to go out as just the two of us again but when we got out of the movie it was nearly 11 pm and I was missing my baby girl.  I even said it aloud to Jes, which confused him a bit.  It seemed that I had a mini moment of panic and actually insisted that we take a cab home instead of walking.  I don’t know what had come over me.  Was it the fatigue catching up to me?  Was it hormones?  Maybe I’m just not aware of all the different emotions that come with this rollercoaster called Motherhood.  I guess I’ll just chalk it up to the stress of my first week back at work.

Well that kinda sucked.

Kumquat woke up hungry and crying at 4:30 am this morning so I fed her and tried to put her back to sleep.  Ten minutes later she started to cry again and Jes got up to wrap her back up and placed her next to me in bed.  It was nice.  She was all bundled up and happy and I got to snuggle her while she was wide awake.  I think I fell back asleep before she did.

At 6 am, my alarm went off and I snoozed.  When I woke up again and looked at the clock it said 7:28!  What?! That’s the time I was supposed to leave!  After scurrying into the bathroom to brush my teeth and change, I went back into the bedroom and saw Jes’ clock that said 6:34.  WUH? Apparently my clock was playing an evil trick on me.  So I had plenty of time after all.

At 6:55, I sat on the bed watching Kumquat sleep.  She looked so peaceful but I knew that I had to feed her at 7 before leaving for work.  She actually slept through the whole feeding and I was able to place her back on the bed without a single squeak from her.  When I kissed her goodbye for the day, I got a bit choked up.  However, I think having her asleep made it a little easier than if she was smiling or crying.

So I left.  I was on the Bay Bridge driving to work when my eyes started to well up in tears and I had my moment.  I was a mess but got myself back together by the time I pulled up to the parking structure at work.  When I arrived at the hospital it was a bit surreal.  Had four and a half months already gone by?  Sheesh.

After stopping at Employee Health to get my annual TB test, I walked into the gym and found a box on tissues on my desk.  Aw.  How thoughtful.  I was greeted by Teresa and Stephanie and they did their best to greet me without making me cry.  Of course I did anyway.  Those tissues sure did come in handy!  After a greasy bacon and egg sammich and some lighter conversation with my buddies, I checked in with my manager and suddenly got tearful again.  My manager actually got tearful with me too.  Aw shucks.  Once I got hand-off from the therapist that was covering for me, I was off to the races with a full caseload!

Once I got started with my day, I was feeling much better.  My mom sent me a photo of Kumquat doing her morning Tummy Time and I got updates on my BabyConnect app each time Kumquat pooped, ate, or slept.  Both were very reassuring.  Sounded like things went smoothly on Jes’ first day as Mr. Mom (with a little help from my mom).

Pumping at lunch was a little awkward but it was just me being self-conscious.  Working at a hospital is one of the best places to have to do this since 1) everyone around me is so knowledgeable/helpful, 2) we have hospital-grade pumps available for me to use, and 3) all of our past “new moms” have done this and one even gave me her “Do Not Disturb” sign to use on the door of one of our clinic rooms.

By the end of the day, I lost count of how many welcome-back hugs and greetings I received.  I was also back in the groove of things and surprised that my clinical skills had come back so quickly.  Before I left, my co-workers even congratulated me on a job well done on my first day back. I guess if I had to return to a job, this was one of the best situations I could have hoped for.

When I got home, Jes was out on a walk with Kumquat.  When they came home, I said “hello” to Kumquat and she gave me a big smile.  Aaaah…that just made my heart melt.  After showering all the hospital off of me, I got to spend the next 3 hours playing with my little lady until bedtime and it was plenty.  I guess everything is going to be just fine.  Jes will be ok, Kumquat will be ok, and I’ll be ok.

Transition

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It’s 11 pm and I can’t sleep. I’m going back to work full-time tomorrow and I’m so bummed out. This has been the best 4.5 months of my life. It has been awesome starting from the month that I had off waiting for Kumquat’s arrival, to giving birth to my baby girl, to the last 15 weeks of being home with Kumquat and watching her grow and change before my eyes. Now it’s time to hand her over to Jes who will be off for the month of August. In fact, as I’m writing this, he’s giving her the 11:00 pm bottle and putting her back to bed. I know he’ll be great and I know she will be happy but it’s heartbreaking to let go. I’m gonna be a hot mess tomorrow morning when it’s time to say goodbye. Wish me luck.

Aloha Festival

This afternoon we went to the Aloha Festival to watch my hula sisters perform on stage.  Kumquat hung out in the carrier while we ate lunch on the picnic blanket.

Here is one of the Keiki groups.  The youngest little dancer just turned 4 years old!  So cute!

Here’s Dot in one of the performances.  It was hard to get a good shot of her because there was a pole right in my line of sight of her on stage.

This is the whole group during “Aloha Oe”, which is usually our final song and made me miss dancing with them.  One day I’ll figure out how to make time for hula again.

Oahu: Sunday and Monday

On Sunday, we walked about a mile to Rainbow Drive-in for brunch.  It was 10:00 am so it was hard to decide what to eat.  In the end, Jes got spam and eggs while I got teri beef with mac salad.  It rained off ad on but not enough to actually impact our morning.

We then headed over to Waikiki Aquarium.  on our way there, we passed a fire station that had a sign offering free blood pressure testing as long as firefighters were in the quarters and not having a meal.  I’m glad they have their priorities straight.

At the aquarium, we saw lots of fish and it was actually worth taking Kumquat.  She could see the fish and tracked the big fish back and forth.  At one point she seemed delighted by all the activity and it was so much fun to watch her smile and kick her legs.

Jes and I have always enjoyed visiting aquariums and this one is one of my favorites.  It was wonderful to see our little girl enjoying it too.

Afterward, we headed back to the hotel and spent some time at the pool bar before heading to Yoon’s condo.  She picked us up and we BBQ’d on her 9th floor patio and I also took Kumquat into the pool for some floating time.

It must have taken all her energy because she slept for quite a while afterward.  Unfortunately, she woke up suddenly and cried and cried for a good 20 minutes from being either overtired or super hungry or both.

When nothing was working to calm her down at the pool, I decided to take her up to Yoon’s condo to figure it out and as soon as I got up there and placed her in the car seat, she passed out.

I stayed up there with her and ended up falling asleep to the beautiful sunset and Women’s Field Hockey on tv.

On Monday morning, we were up relatively early so I dressed Kumquat in some beach clothes and we took her down to the beach one last time.  I love Waikiki Beach in the morning because it’s shady, super empty, and quiet.  We spent some time playing in the sand, watching and listening to the waves, and just enjoyed our last morning in Hawaii together as a family.

After a quick bath for Kumquat and some last-minute packing, we were off to the airport by 11:30 am.  Getting through security was pretty easy and the flight was an amazingly short 4.5 hours!  Luckily, Kumquat was on her best behavior and she slept for most of the flight and downed two bottles of milk.  Good baby.

Overall, our first trip to Hawaii with Kumquat was a success.  It was so neat to see our favorite place through a little baby’s eyes and I feel so lucky to have had such good flights with her.  This was truly a bittersweet trip for me since it was something that I had looked forward to for a few months now but it was also the mark of the end of my maternity leave.  Oh boo. Can’t wait for next year’s trip.  Who’s coming with us?!

Oahu: Friday and Saturday

On Friday afternoon (7/27), we went to Jes’ favorite ramen place of all time.  Jes also made sure to run across the street for a couple tall boys for the meal.  I had the cold ramen and shared kimchi fried rice with Yoon. Kumquat also enjoyed watching the ceiling fan above us.

In the evening, we took Kumquat to the pool for her first dip.  She looked a bit confused but didn’t cry.  That was all I was hoping for so I consider it a success.

On Saturday (7/28), we went to McDonald’s for the spam and eggs platter.

Then we hung out at a coffee shop until it was time for Jes to go sailing.

Yoon picked him up and they sailed all afternoon in a local race.  They came in 2nd place and Jes had a good time but the water was much choppier than Yoon had anticipated.

Meanwhile, I went shopping with Kumquat and went to Yogurtland for my Tuxedo Sam spoon.  Looked like Kumquat wanted a taste of the frozen yogurt that day.

For lunch, I picked up Yoon’s favorite kimchi fried rice and there was a special that included spicy pork and mac salad.  Yes!  I took it back to the hotel bar, ordered a mai tai, and enjoyed the live music under the banyan tree with a napping baby in the stroller.  Perfect.

Back at the hotel room, I needed to tidy up and Kumquat started to fuss.  I set her down on the bed and turned on the Olympics and she stopped right away!  So much for the No TV Rule.

Later that day, I took Kumquat to the pool by myself.  We hung out in the pool together for a while until it rained suddenly.  It got kind of cold so we got out and I wrapped Kumquat up and took her out to the beach.  It was still sunny and warm out there so it was a good place to warm up.  As the rain stopped, Jes arrived and a rainbow appeared!  So cool!

On our way to dinner, we saw the sunset.  We went to our favorite Japanese place that’s hidden in an obscure hotel near the zoo.  Kumquat was in a pretty good mood at first but then needed to be soothed to sleep.  Luckily they placed us in the the tatami room so she slept on the cushion next to me.