Johnny Cash's little fan

Y'all wish you could dance like that, don't you? It's genetic. Don't you think he's the cutest! He is.

precious moments

Look what Eli can do now, clapping and giving out high five! It feels funny to high five someone with such tiny hands. The other one was just a silly video of us playing before I tried to put Eli down for a nap. I tell ya this baby is so smart, I'm sure he's going to take over the world someday.

socks suck

The only thing I don't like about the fall and winter is I have to start wearing socks. I recently realized how much I hate wearing socks. The other day it was raining, so I thought I had to wear shoes to keep my feet and toes dry. I was having the most difficult time to find a matching pair. Then I decided to screw it and just let my feet and pants get wet. That was probably my fault, because we put all our clean clothes on the bed in the guest room, and we don't bother to fold them. I also hate wearing socks because they make my feet itch. I have been wearing slippers all summer, and my feet loved it. Now I have to suffocate them with socks. It stinks. So will my feet.

sick again

I'm the blogger of this family. Peter{husband} has no interest in blogging though he used to have a blog. We revisited his old blog today. I told him he should start blogging again because he has great perspectives on things and he's so funny, but he said he doesn't like to advertise his thoughts. By the way, he's sick again, oh no! This is like a sick cycle that never ends. I hope Eli and I won't catch it this time. Contact isolation please.

Looks like I'm going to pick up some extra hours at work to help pay for some upcoming bills. Ah, the joy of being alive and responsible.

night terrors?

We just got woken up again. This is the third night in a row. Eli had been a really good sleeper, but few days ago, he started to wake up screaming in the middle of the night around 2-3. This is very frustrating and confusing for us first time parents. We thought things were going so well. I did some research on the internet while my husband was feeding Eli. Feeding seems to be the solution to every problem we have had with Eli. I'm not sure what is really going on, could it be night terrors? Ladies if you have any similar experiences or suggestions, please do share.

random thoughts

So I was talking to the girls at work last night. I love girl talk. We talked about relationships, friendships, work, just all the good stuff. I miss having my girl friends here. They are back in Hong Kong, and I'm here... None of my friends back home are married. I know many people have trouble to stay connected with their non-parent friends after they have babies. I don't think that would be the case for me and my friends if they were here. We are like family. Even though we haven't seen each other for a few years, we talk all the time online. We care about each other a lot, and they always ask about Eli. We never had problem picking up where we had left off every time I went back to visit. So yeah, I miss them a lot. Lucky me though, I have made some good friends here through church and work. I don't have any asian friends here. Many people think that's strange. Having friends that are the same ethnicity as me is not that important. It's more important to me that my friends have the same faith and similar values as me. We are so blessed to belong to a wonderful church. We have made friends with most of the people there regardless of their ages. Sometimes I feel that having a baby has helped me open up to people more. Maybe it's because I love talking to people about my baby and parenthood.

favorite time of the year

My favorite time of the year has started. Unfortunately I have welcomed it with a cold along with my family. I hope there will be no more cold or flu for the rest of the year. I'm so looking forward to all of the fall and winter holidays this year because they will be Eli's first. First Halloween, first Thanksgiving, first Christmas, and first New Year. Ahh! I can hardly wait.

baptism

Eli and I were baptized together today. It did not go as smoothly as we hoped. That's expected though. There's no way Eli would stay quiet and cooperative the whole time. With all eyes on us, Eli was whining and squirming constantly. My husband was having a hard time to contain Eli in his arms. I was nervous when our pastor took him from my husband's arms. I was worried that he would be kicking and screaming. Fortunately he was captivated by the new face and was quiet and still long enough for the cleansing. He has been showing some attitudes tin he last couple days, which has really drove his parents nuts. At the same time, he does a lot of sweet and cute things daily that completely wipe out all the frustrations we have with him. Tonight my husband was shaking his head, and Eli was copying him. He makes us laugh everyday.

Eli and dad dancing

I have a wonderful husband, and he's also a wonderful dad. Eli loves his dad too. He feels safe and content in his arms. Dad is so in love with Eli, I know because he told me so everyday. Eli loves his dad too. He greets his dad with a big baby grin every morning. Their favorite time together would have to be dancing to their favorite music.

D.A.N.C.E.

Bill Melendez

Those who know me know I'm a HUGE fan of the Peanuts. I love its simplicity and down to earth humor. My favorite characters are Charlie Brown and Linus. I watch A Charlie Brown Christmas and other Charlie Brown holiday specials every year. I read on the news today that the Peanuts animator Bill Melendez has died. I was reading his bio and found out that he also did the Pinocchio and other Disney cartoons. I thought it was interesting how he looked so much like Geppetto.

Bill Melendez was the only authorized person to animate the Peanuts characters. I found this to be interesting too:

"The first special was 1965's "A Charlie Brown Christmas." The show reportedly worried CBS because it broke so much new ground for a cartoon: It lacked a laugh track, used real children as voice actors, had a jazz score and included a scene in which Linus recited lines from the New Testament."

I think I'm going to carry on this tradition with my kids.

sick family

Everyone is sick in the house right now. We all got the cold. It started with my husband coming home early from work last Friday after developing cold like symptoms. He slept for a long time and got better. Couple days ago, Eli started his turn of runny nose and cough. Today, it's my turn, and it seems like my husband is getting a second round of the cold again today. I advise everyone to stay away from this family for now.

slow down

Wait a minute, Eli is eight months old already. We are so proud of him. He's growing fast, and I can't seem to find the slow down button. He's going to start walking anytime now. Very soon, we are going to teach him how to ride a bicycle, then comes elementary school, high school, prom night, college... AH!!! Sometimes the thought of me being responsible for this person, who is completely depended on me really freaks me out.

M.A.C. haul

I went to the M.A.C. counter last week to get a new foundation. I decided to try the M.A.C. studio fix liquid foundation. I have to switched to a liquid foundation because summer is almost over, and I need something more moisturizing for the fall and winter. The studio fix liquid foundation goes on smoothly and stays put throughout the day. Love it! I also bought their primer: prep + prime skin. This stuff is A-MA-ZING. I don't like to put a lot of stuff on my face because I'm afraid they will make my face too oily. This primer is ultra light, dries quickly, and it smooths out your face to create a nice canvas for your makeup. This has quickly become one of my must have makeup. I also got the cult of cherry lipglass and tempting eye shadow compact. They are part of the cult of cherry collection. I love the vibrant colors. Oh by the way, their cult of cherry video is so creative, brilliant, and I was totally tripped out when I first watched it.

allergies

I haven't blogged for a couple of weeks. This is what happened when you are having too much fun in life. First off, a little update on Eli's allergy. He had a blood test couple weeks ago to test for common food allergies in children. It showed that Eli has allergies to eggs, wheat, peanuts, milk, and soybeans. We are going to see an allergist next week. This pretty much sucks. I feel sorry for the little guy. Hopefully he can grow out of some of the allergies if not all. Otherwise, he's a happy healthy baby. Look what he can do now.

Eli likes to play under the table while I'm on my laptop

husband on street view

My husband is famous! Okay, that's not really true, but he's on google street view.

See, there he is.

There he is again.

Just thought I would share this little excitement with you all.

celebration

We went to my friend Mary Ann's graduation party last night. Her boyfriend's family made tons of asian food. At the end of the night, they were bagging left overs for guests to take home. Mary's cousin Nick was chatting with me the whole time. He's probably about ten. I'm not good at telling kids age, especially white kids because they all look the same to me, haha... Anyway, We had a great time. Nick's sister was watching Eli. Looks like Eli just made a new friend.

It's funny how kids just love babies.

When I went to the store to get a card for Mary Ann, I saw this!

and it does THIS!

The music you hear is coming from the card. Sound and motions, how cool is that?! I know I'm a a dork, but this is the most awesome card I have ever seen. I ended up buying this for myself. Hee...

Etsy

I'm a big fan of one of things that are handmade. Months ago, I discovered this website called Etsy. It's an online shop where people buy and sell anything handmade. I have made quite a few purchases there and have been satisfied. My first purchase there was my now wedding band. It's a square sterling band with customized engraving inside of the ring. This is my third wedding ring. My husband still has his second one. We are not very good at taking care of our wedding bands, but I will spare my readers the details. The most important thing is we are still happily married. After the ring, I purchased a stand mixer cover pattern. I had always wanted to get a cover for my kitchen aid stand mixer. I got my fabric and the pattern, all is lacking is my motivation to actually get started. I hope to be able to reveal the final product sometime in the future. Okay, moving on... Recently I have gotten into wearing headbands. I love them. it's the easiest way to dress up an updo. One of my orders came in the mail today. I ordered from two different sells, but I think the other ones are coming soon. This one is made by Bunson Burner.

The little flower is a vintage clip on earring that is removable. Lovely, ihsn't it? She also sent me these scrap papers. Some of them look vintage. I don't really know what to do with them since I don't scrapbook, but I think it's very thoughtful.

Also came in the mail the other day were these lovely nail polish I got from Missha. I love their jewel-like colors.

emergency room- adventure of first time parents

We had our first trip to the emergency last night. Twenty minutes after Eli ate from broccolis that were cooked in alfredo sauce, the left side of his face and upper lip started to swell up, his left eye became almost swollen shut, and his voice was getting hoarse. At first I thought maybe it was from all the crying and scratching his face, but the more we observe, the more scared we got. His breaths seemed slight labor at times. So we quickly grabbed the diaper bag, later found out there was only one diaper left in there, and off we went. Peter sped through traffic. Good thing we only live ten minutes away from the hospital. We were led to the back room right away. Long story short, Eli ended up staying one very long night there. He was released this morning. When we got home, he was still sleeping in his car seat. He was up screaming and crying most of the night. I hope he didn't get his day and night mixed up. Mom and Dad are exhausted, but they are happy to have their healthy baby back.

baby teeth brushing tutorial

I saw this mini Häagen-Dazs the other day. So cute and just perfect size.

We love sweet, but we also love nice teeth. Today, Eli is going to show you how to brush your teeth.

Make sure to get those teeth that are way back there

Smile while you brush

Brush the top

Brush the bottom

Brush to the left

Brush to the right

Now put your clean teeth to good use