Half Birthday
Today Kumquat had her half birthday and I had a long Saturday to really reflect on everything that has happened so far. Sounds silly since she’s not even a year old yet but I can’t help feel nostalgic. I already have thousands of photos and videos of my little girl and yet I feel like I haven’t done enough to really capture the experience thus far.
After attending my lactation class this past week, I was impressed that my hospital did such a great job in teaching me and Jes all the things we needed to know regarding feeding and caring for a newborn because it was all repeated in the class. They also provided us with every opportunity to bond with her (by delaying the weigh-in and bath) from the moment she was born, which I think helped her grow into an adaptable and secure baby. Of course we’re also first and foremost lucky to have a baby that is so healthy and so eager to eat and learn from the start.
Six months later, I now have a chubby baby girl who sits up on her own, has two little teef, eats solids, and gives me a big smile when I come home from work. She’s been a pretty easy baby so far and I’ve learned a lot from her already.
Here are some of my favorite moments from the past 3 months:
1. Watching her play with her pal Sophie.
2. Seeing her face light up at the aquarium.
3. Seeing Jes walking back from the lavatory in the airplane with a naked baby.
4. Hearing her cracking up at Koa’s every move.
5. Feeling her first tooth.
Here are my least favorite moments:
1. Leaving her on my first day back at work.
2. Seeing how miserable she was when she got her first cold.
3. Searching for a nanny.
4. Putting away her 0-3 month clothes.
Today I took her on a walk to the new Target down the street and on the way home we picked up a cupcake to celebrate out accomplishments as mommy and baby. We’ve both endured together the nighttime feedings, stuffy noses, and afternoons of being just plain old grouchy. We’ve also shared lots of conversations, giggles, naps on the couch, and new experiences.
So, after her serving of sweet potato, I lit a candle and wished her a happy half birthday in hopes of a smooth second half to the first year of our life together as a family. I hope that we’re doing everything right so far and even if we’re not, I hope she grows up knowing how much we love her.
Happy Half Birthday, Kumquat! We love you!
We’ve had really pleasant weather these past two nights so we went out to eat both nights. On Wednesday, we went down to 
I also love that they have jars of pickles next to the ketchup so you can have as many pickles you want with your burger. Yum. The also serve beer and wine too!
Afterward, we stopped at 
What’s a little weird is that they also have a beer/wine/coffee bar that’s open until 9 pm. So we stopped in for a drink while Kumquat slept.
On Thursday night, we also went out to Paragon for dinner out on the patio. Kumquat loved all the noise, lights, and the Giants game that was on the TV overhead.
She was also really interested in the other people around us and stayed awake long enough to socialize with the waitress and the people seated next to us. It’s good to know that we can still go out once in a while.
It’s Day Two of my 5-day course on Lactation and Breastfeeding. It’s not for me personally since my little fatty is well-fed and eats like a champ but it’s training for work. Being in the Bay Area where more and more mothers are breastfeeding, it’s something that can’t be avoided when I’m working on feeding with the babies at work. So, I’m using my annual $750 education money and my 5 education days to take this course. Perhaps I can use the hours toward getting a certification as a Lactation Consultant one day. Could it be a part-time job for me later on when Kumquat needs me at home more?! Anyway, the photo above is my milk on ice since I still need to pump while I’m away from home and my ice pack wasn’t doing enough to keep the “liquid gold” chilled. Pretty weird that I have to pump in the corner of the room while I’m listening to all the anatomy and physiology of breastfeeding. I sure hope they don’t get the bright idea of using me as a demo.
By the way, the course is being held next to Berkeley Marina at HS Lordships restaurant, which has a huge ballroom upstairs with a 270-degree view of the bay. We also get a full Vegas-style buffet complete with crab legs, prime rib, and a huge assortment of desserts. The view is so nice but makes home seem so far away. OK. Gotta go now…they just put out the veggies and dip for our afternoon break. Heh heh.
It’s Kumquat’s first Fall and Halloween’s coming up so I thought it was time to do the pumpkin patch thing like a good mommy. I debated for a minute but in the end I couldn’t resist and we went yesterday afternoon. Besides, who doesn’t like a chubby baby sitting in the middle of a bunch of pumpkins?!
She was pretty distracted by the pumpkins and the hay and the other kids and the people and the cars and so on. Oh well, she’s still cute. 😉
After washing them, I wrapped them in foil.
They went in the toaster oven at 325 degrees and cooked for about an hour and a half.
Yeah, that’s a long time. I think it needed to be baked at 350 instead.
When they were done, they looked so tasty – like Thanksgiving tasty.
Once they cooled, I cut them in half and they went into the ricer.
It was super easy to get the sweet potato mashed and looked pretty cool when it came out like spaghetti.
The sweet potato came out nice and smooth while all the “strings” and skin stayed in the ricer.
When I mixed it up, it was pretty thick so I thinned out a small portion with a tablespoon of water at a time until it was a thin puree. It’s so simple and nutritious and without anything extra added to it.
After I fed Kumquat and knew that it was passable to her, I prepared the rest of the batch and it all went into the ice cube tray and in the freezer.
When it was all frozen, they popped out so easily!
They all went into a freezer bag and now they’re in little 3/4-ounce portions. Neato.
It’s a little bit of work for a whole lot of awesome. I think Kumquat liked it and as a therapist who feeds babies for a living, this was an exciting day for me too. 🙂
On Wednesday (10/10), Jason and Jia drove up from Southern California after returning from their month-long Asia trip. They moved into their new apartment in Foster City and bought some new furniture. The rest of their stuff arrived on Thursday morning.
We drove down to see them on Wednesday night and helped assemble their dining table set so that we could have dinner together. They live right next door to a 99 Ranch so I walked over to buy some meat and other items and then we sat down for a hot pot dinner. Yum!
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