Browse Category: kumquat

A Day in Oakland

Yesterday, Kumquat and I spent most of the day in Oakland.

For lunch, we met up with the girls at the usual spot and got to do some catching up. Then once they went back to work, we hung out at Peet’s Coffee. I got to sip my decaf iced coffee and read while Kumquat napped on my lap.

Once she woke up, we headed to Bakesale Betty to pick up a dozen cookies to bring to my co-workers.

At the hospital, everyone was very good about washing their hands or not touching Kumquat if they felt they weren’t clean enough. Kumquat got to play with Sue (my manager), who informally checked her upper body and oral motor skills. KM held her in the classic “Lois Bly” hold too.

I also made a splint for my left wrist to help prevent a strain from picking up a 13-pound (and growing) baby all day. It’s for wearing at night so that I’m not over stretching it while I sleep. I have a tendency sleep with my wrists curled under me, then wake up sore while having to tend to a baby without giving it a chance to warm up. I’ve gotta make sure I don’t end up on disability again from my last “disability”.

After everyone was ready to go, we headed out for Happy Hour to celebrate Teresa’s birthday. I was prepared and brought a bottle for Kumquat to drink for her 7 pm feeding so I was able to enjoy a glass of wine (or two). 😉

Having these girls with me is so nice. They love holding, feeding, and playing with her so I got some “time off” and enjoyed the evening with less to worry about.

To finish the evening, we walked down the street to Fenton’s and got some ice cream. My scoop looks so big next to Kumquat. One day I’ll take her back here for her very own sundae. Can’t wait!

Things I’ve Learned

Right around this time last year, we were seriously considering starting a family.  One year later, Kumquat is 9 weeks and 3 days old and I’ve been off work for just under 14 weeks.  Over the past year, I’ve learned a few things:

  • People in SF aren’t very nice to pregnant ladies.  In the 4-5 months of actually looking preggo, I can only count about 7 different times that someone has given up a seat for me on a crowded bus or muni train.
  • Going to Happy Hour completely sober made me realize that some of my friends aren’t THAT funny and some really are.  I actually had some fun times being the DD.
  • Groupon and Livingsocial deals aren’t that relevant to me anymore.
  • Giving birth really is a rite of passage.  I’ve never felt so much pain and joy in my life.  And I still think that giving birth is way harder than running a marathon.
  • When I’m walking the dog with the baby, people compliment me on my cute dog WAY MORE than my cute baby.
  • I don’t actually need 8 straight hours of sleep to function and naps are awesome.
  • I’m glad that we lived as DINKs (double income, no kids) for almost 10 years before having a baby.  By the time Kumquat arrived, I was ready for the next chapter.
  • I really enjoyed running and miss it.
  • My iPhone has become my best friend this past year.  Not sure how I would have survived the sleepless nights on the couch.  Loved Twitter, Bejeweled Blitz, and BabyCenter while I was pregnant. Now it helps me keep track of everything Kumquat does.  Baby Connect records every poop, every nap, and every feeding and the camera helps me remember every smile.
  • I love being a mommy.  Maybe I was made to have a baby after all.

Lunch with Friends

One of the best things about being on maternity leave is having time to catch up with friends on the weekdays. 

On Thursday afternoon, my two old friends, Elaine and Elaine, rode Caltrain up from the South Bay to have coffee with me and Kumquat.  I hadn’t seen one of them since 2006!

Then on Friday, Stephanie had the day off so she took BART in from her home in Livermore to hang out with us.  We went out for brunch (and mimosas) and Stephanie also fed Kumquat her noon bottle.  Looked like they both had a nice time together.

Do I REALLY have to go back to work in August?!

Weekend in SoCal – Part 2

On Sunday, it was Father’s Day.  We spent the morning at church and Jes’ dad got to show off his prized granddaughter.  Kumquat was pretty good during service but had a minor poopy blowout in the middle of it and I forgot the changing pad that has her diapers in it!  So, I had to go downstairs to the nursery and put on Size 3 diapers on her little butt in the meantime (she wears Size 1).  Oh well, it was better than a stinky baby!

In the afternoon, we hung out at the Magical House with Brother and Joy until it was time for dinner. This was Brother’s attempt at soothing the baby.  He’s gonna need some practice.

My mom gave Kumquat a bath while we went to lunch and even trimmed her nails!

Later that afternoon we found them napping together.

Before dinner, we went back to Buena Park to video chat with Jason and Jia.  They got to wish Dad a Happy Father’s Day and saw Kumquat very briefly.

Dinner was at a Japanese restaurant and Kumquat got to sit next to me in the booth.

On Monday morning, I stopped at McDonald’s to introduce Kumquat to the McCafe crew.

They were in the usual corner and finally got to meet the little baby that my parents have been raving about for the past two months.

Afterward, I met up with Patty and Patti for some coffee and breakfast at Panera Bread.

The rest of the afternoon was spent hanging out at The Magical House.  I brought home Chik-fil-a for everyone and Kumquat got to smell my dad’s tasty chicken sammich.

Later that evening, we took Kumquat to Downtown Disney for the first time.  All four grandparents came along and we had a nice evening stroll with the baby.

By the time we got home, we were all so pooped.  The baby fell asleep and Jes and I finally got some time to veg out in front of our laptops.  My mom took this photo and I didn’t even notice.

On Tuesday, we drove back up to SF with less traffic and made it home within 8 hours including a one-hour stop for lunch and multiple pee breaks and diaper changes.  Not too bad.

Weekend in SoCal – Part 1

This past weekend was our first trip home with Kumquat.  The drive down started out smoothly with Dog in the front seat and Kumquat in the back with me.  Unfortunately we hit construction traffic in Buttonwillow and then super traffic starting in Burbank.  Our trip ended up taking 10.5 hours that day!  Ouch.  Thankfully, Kumquat was on her best behavior and was an eating and sleeping machine.

As soon as we got to Cerritos, we dropped of Kumquat and Koa and got some tasty Mexican food and margaritas at Don Jose.  That really hit the spot.

On Saturday, it was filled with family festivities.  For lunch, we had dim sum at Capital Seafood in Irvine.  Kumquat was the star of the show and got to wear her purple dress again.

While we waited for our tables, we went next door to 85 degrees bakery to try their famous iced salted coffee and it was pretty good!  There was a good turnout and we took up two huge tables in the middle of the restaurant.

For dinner, we had a Thai feast with the cousins at Thai Nakorn as we always do when we’re in town.

Marie and the gang got to meet Kumquat for the first time and so did Pish and his clan.

We all stuffed ourselves silly and even got to snack on Peking Duck-flavored Lays potato chips.

Later that evening, we stopped at Ti and Thilan’s house to visit our “third family”, The Tranandos.  They were having a party for Elise’s birthday and they invited us over to join them.  All the kids got to meet Kumquat and Makenzie still remembered her friend Jesse.  It was so cute when they all swarmed the baby.

I also forgot how fun it is the sing the second verse of the “Happy Birthday” song.

Food Trucks!

Off the Grid came to my backyard last night.  They set up camp across the bridge near the other park that Koa goes to and we had dinner there last night.  Of all the choices, I wanted to try Sam’s ChowderMobile.

We ordered a clam chowder and ate it while we waited for the rest of our food and it was DElicious!

I got a Maine lobster roll, which was tasty and LOADED with lobster.

Jes got a shrimp po’boy and it really good too.  He’s pretty picky about his po’boys and this one passed.  It also came with seasoned fries.  Mmmm…

Jes also worked hard to not drop any shrimp on Kumquat’s head since she was bundled up in the front carrier.

Here she is in the carrier.  Looks comfy.  She has a good life.