When I thought that spring has finally arrived....

It was 75 degrees on Wednesday. The spring has hit us with a bang and I loved it. Two days later, I look outside, and the ground is covered in snow. What more can I say?
I caught a cold two weeks ago from Terran, and although he has recovered completely, I am still suffering from it. My voice still sounds husky and I've had continuous headaches for the past 4 days.
This may be a good time to announce that I am pregnant again. So the headaches, I am told, may be related to early pregnancy. Yes! Although I am sick and dreary right now, we are very excited about our newest member. We named the fetus QP2. Terran in him womb days, was known as QP. I am about 14 weeks and this pregnancy has been a little more difficult than the first. For Pat, he's never had a sibling, so it's a very special thing for him to have more than one child. He is really looking forward to a girl, and if we don't get one, he said we can consider a QP3.... Whatever. I haven't told the bosses at work yet, but I don't think they will be surprised. Since I started there in August, I've seen 2 people go one materinity leave and know of 2 others who are pregnant. It's a very fertile time there.

winter again

The winter is getting worse. We are having a streak of below freezing temperature. It snowed the other day and I was frightened to drive. The most depressing thing is the snow in the city. After a few hours, the white snow turns completely black from the cars. The snow on the side of the streets is just black mush. It makes me sad and sick at the same time.
Out here in NJ, there's not so much traffic so the snow stays white. But it's just unbarebly cold. I can't wait for some warmth.
Other than that, things are pretty normal. I passed my ME exam that I thought I did so horribly. I guess I passed horribly but at least that's off my list.... Moving on to next one.
Terran is becoming more and more conscience out his surroundings. Most days, I pick him up from daycare by 4pm. But on some days, I don't come home until he is almost ready to go to bed. Those days, I just miss him so much and wonder if I am doing this all wrong.
The other day, I had an afternoon meeting in NY and didn't get home until 7. Terran and Pat was waiting for me by the door. Pat said that he opened the door for Terran and when he saw that my car wasn't there, he started crying. He was holding my sweater that I wore the day before (probably picked it off the floor in our bedroom), and waiting for me, looking through the storm door. Having a child is a very emotional experience. This was one that really broke my heart. It felt like I had done it wrong. Two late nights (which is anything after 4) a week is just too much for him. It's definitely a struggle. In addition, I just don't feel like I am doing my job that well. I want winter to be over!

Remember me?

I haven't blogged in awhile. That's because it's just too cold to do anything anymore. In the morning, I see that ice has eaten my car as well as everything around it. They say it's a mild winter; yeah right. I wouldn't describe this as mild at all. I park a couple of blocks away from work and so I have to walk. I've got a stylish but heavy black winter coat, with black hat and a warm scarf. I like the look but it's not enough to block the cold wind. What I really need is a mask. When the icy wind hits my face, I can't help but to let out a small scream. It's just so painful it takes my breath away. People shouldn't have to live in places like this. We should all migrate south for the winter.
Our little Terran is really growing up. He is able to say a few things now. His favorite phrase is "up please!" Well, when he says it, it sounds more like "up eeee!" He's no a baby anymore but he still loves being held. He's been calling Pat "dada" for awhile but he finally started calling me "mama". Before, he would also refer to me as "dada". He's just a really happy, usually easy going guy. He is amazingly similar to his dad, not only the way he looks, but also in his attitude and behavior. I wouldn't put Pat and cool together but Terran definitely thinks highly of him and considers him cool.
Pictures to come....

Meeting in Manhattan

I recently went to my first out of office meeting. The projects that I am working on are in NYC so I went there for a quick afternoon trip to attend the meeting in east coast style. East coast style means that all of the trips are made using trains rather than cars which I am most accustomed to. Since I live in between Philadelphia and Manhattan, I drove to the closest train station with Amtrak and Septa - Trenton. I took Septa from Trenton to Philadelphia to go to work in the morning. Then, from work, I took a cab to the Philadelphia's 30th Station to catch Amtrak to NY Penn Station (1hr 20min trip). Then I took the subway to get to Polshek's Office in the Village. I had about a half hour til the meeting so I grabbed a quick lunch at a cafe before heading over. Very nice! Coming back, I took the subway back to Penn Station and then took the Amtrak back to Trenton and then, drove back to Lawrenceville. I was able to pick up Terran at daycare by 4:30!

From the train, I noticed the fall colors lining along the railroad tracks. It was a true beauty that I have not seen since I left Japan in 1993. The colors are not only red and yellow and orange, but they are so bright that they almost look neon.

Winter is kicking in. We are preparing our home and our outfits for the cold season....

October already

It's been awhile.... Terran has changed so much in the last month. He took his first attempt at walking when we were in Hawaii. He took a couple of steps when he was with Pat, then he fell. Pat thought that it may have been an accident that he did this. After a few days, he did it again. And within 2 weeks, he was walking wobbly across the room. He is a little more stable now. He walks everywhere and doesn't crawl anymore at all.

He sometimes says ma but not as often as da. He calls a banana "nana". He makes car sounds when he's playing with cars. He makes airplane sound (that sounds just like the car sound) when he hears an airplane and points to the sky. He still loves dogs. He loves cars. He's a very happy kid that we love so much. We are so lucky to have him with us.

The other day when I went to pick him up at daycare, I ran into a mother of one of Terran's classmates. Her baby is only 8.5 months old and cries a lot and can't move around yet. She goes to the daycare during lunch to nurse him. She told me that she watches the kids and that Terran is a really nice boy. He would bring toys to her baby, not just one but several, so that he can play, too. I was so happy to hear that and wondered where he picked up that kind of characteristic. I guess some people are naturally sweet.

Today was Science and Art Fair at his daycare. I wondered what little babies like him have anything to do with science and art. I took Terran by his hand and walked up and down the corridor of the daycare to see the projects done by all the kids. We finally found the work from Daisies (that's the name of his class). They had painting done with jello (I guess that's art), and another painting using things picked up from nature (I guess that's science). It was cute. Terran's artwork was beautiful in a kid sort of way.

May favorite pictures from the past 2 months:


We went to pick blueberries and raspberries during the summer. He would eat them faster than we could pick them. He is full of sweetness.


Even though he is becoming more and more mobile, he still loves to be close to me and I still hold him a lot.


At the fall festival. Terran climbed all over the pumpkins that are as big or bigger than him.


Walking around Manhattan. Reyko and Melvyn were with us and they snapped our rare family picture.

vacation in hawaii

I know I just started working. But vacations are essential! We are spending 8 days on Hawaii's Big Island. Patrick has a conference here so Terran and I tagged along and it's been so wonderful. After we got in, Terran fell asleep immediately in the rental car so we decided to go for a little drive. We probably drove 50 miles max. But in those miles, we saw landscape vary from dried lava rocks, scenic ocean view, green rolling hills, gusty wind atop a big vegetated mountain to a small but populated town with traffic. We also immediately noticed that people drive SLOW! The speed limit was 55 and the drivers go at 55 even though there are only a handful of cars in sight. At first, we were inclined to pass the slow-ass driver in front of us. But we quickly realized that that's the way it is here. After understanding that, we drove slowly, enjoying the amazing vocano slowly rising from the sea. Everything is slow.

The resort is built on top of black lava rocks. It's amazing how men can build this lush green luxury mega resort with lots of pools, sandy beaches, palm trees, and 3 gigantic buildings where in natural state, there's nothing but a big black dead looking rock. We felt guilty going in to the hotel, which so obviously tampers with nature's creations. But guilty or not, as we got settled into our new environment, we quickly forgot about what is actually underneath us....

Terran enjoys the ocean view from our room and playing in the sandy kiddy pool. Pictures to come.

The chinese restaurant at this hotel is excellent. In LA, one could get something similar or even better for half the price. But I don't care. We haven't had good chinese food in so long.... Terran even loved it. Pat has dinner at conference tonight so Terran and I are going to the Japanese restaurant tonight. I even have to dress up. I'm going to look silly all dressed up and dining with a baby. Oh well. I crave good japanese food. New Jersey sucks.

I'm a working mom

I like that title: working mom. It says how big and strong I am and that I can juggle like no other. Terran started eating regular food now. He loves tofu, he will eat vegetables if it's with tofu, he eats rice, he eats pieces of meat with rice.... So my duty at home is to cook a healthy meal for all of us. I've devised a very simple plan to make this work and it has been working well so far. I come up with a menu for every day of the week on Saturday or Sunday. I go shopping for everything I need. I wash and chop up all the vegetables and meats that I will use during the week on the weekend. So during the weekday, when I come home after picking up Terran, I just cook and that takes me about 20 minutes. I also have the rice washed the night before so all I need to do is turn on the cooker. Sometimes, I'll use the slow cooker and turn it on before leaving. When I get home, the chicken is nice and tender. Now that's working mom.

Pat and I have been following NPR's "this i believe" since we were in LA. It's now a good collection of short essays written by several famous, including Colin Powell and Isabel Allende, and numerous non-famous people. We thought about writing one ourselves but that never materialised. Anyway, they recently broadcasted an essay written by a 13 year-old Chinese girl from West Windsor, NJ. It's a powerful essay to read, but even more so when you listen to it being read by her. The immaturity of her voice blended with the maturity of context was an eerie and somehow a sad combination. She speaks of duty that drives her life. Being an asian brought up by asian parents, I feel that I do share a part of that feeling of duty to accomplish. But I think at some point, I just got plain lazy and said "f*ck it". Or maybe I just learned the American way of being self centered. I feel a sadness in her voice as she reads her obligations. I wonder what will become of her in years to come. If I run into her at Marketfair, I should say hi.

Trenton Bathhouse

Since I have time, I went out in the 100+ degree heat to visit the Trenton Bathhouse. It is located adjacent to a pool and is still a functioning building for the Jewish Community Center. Because it is a privately owned property, I could not go in. I just took some pictures from the outside. Unlike the Kimbell Museum and the Salk Institute, which are both loved the community, the Trenton Bathhouse appeared old and tired and in need of proper maintenance. There were walls built on the exterior that seemed out of place. The roof and the CMU wall both need some major work.


I was totally missing Terran today and I decided that I really can't stay like this anymore (me doing nothing in particular and Terran in daycare) and I need to do something to get my mind off of him!!! So, I decided to take the job offer in Philadelphia. We are all taking tomorrow off so I get to keep Terran at home with me. I just want to do mundane things with him, like go grocery shopping, maybe go to the library, put him down for his nap, give him lunch.... I missed him so much.

ma!

Yesterday (july 31, 2006), Terran called me "ma!" so clearly for the first time.

We were all having breakfast in the morning and I was reading an article on the paper about Louis Kahn. The bathhouse that was shown in the movie, My Architect, is located minutes from where I live. This project was presented in the movie as one which really needs some work and maintenance. Now, the property is being sold from the origial owner, Jewish Community Center, to possibly some unknown developer. Although the buildings themselves are listed on the National Register of Historic Places and will be perserved, there is no way of knowing what lies in the future of the property. For more information check out www.trentonbathhouse.org

So I was reading this article and totally ignoring Terran's calls and yells. Finally, he said "ma!" really loud in a very Cantonese sort of way. I just stopped and forgot everything about what I had just read. I was eating cheerios with milk and he wanted it. At that moment, I was so shoked and so choked that I gave him my bowl and let him dip his little hands in my bowl. I just love that little guy so much.

birthday weekend

We ended up driving to DC. It was nothing. 3.5 hour total with 30 min break in the middle. It's very satisfying to drive here. You drive a bit, and you can cross the state line. We went from New Jersey, to Delaware, to Maryland, then to DC in that short amount of time. This is not possible in the west where each state is gigantic.
Once we got to DC, we followed our plan of going to the zoo everyday. We had seen the monuments and several other SmithsonianIinstitutes previously and so was not part of the agenda this time. The zoo is also part of the Smithsonian and it was the first time for all of us. Located centrally within the city, it feels more like a city park with bunch of animals. Since it's free to get in, we saw locals strolling through or jogging through the zoo. It's open from 6am to 9pm so it's really wonderful.
We stayed at Omni Shoreham, just a few blocks away from the zoo. Since Terran woke up early, we started our day early and were at the zoo by 8. We woke up the cheetahs and joined the pandas for breakfast. We saw the birds getting their morning worms and having their house cleaned. We took each day nice and easy. Around lunch, we headed back to the hotel, ate a bit, and all took a nap with Terran. Then around 4, we headed out again, to hang out in Adams Morgan and to check out the local playgrounds. I think Terran had a great time. I sure did.



Terran and Pat in front of the Cheetahs early in the morning. They were so close and seemed like they were eyeing Terran for breakfast.... Isn't Terran adorable in this photo? I see him everyday and can't stop thinking about how amazing and wonderful he is. And oh so cute.


The baby panda, Tai Shan, loves to sleep on the tree branches. He climbs way up high and dangles from the skinny branches as he comfortably takes a nap. However, we got lucky on the first day. He made a rare trip to the ground to eat something yummy with his mom. We got to see the mom and the baby side by side and interacting. Although the baby is not that small anymore, over 50 lbs, he is tiny next to a full grown giant panda. Terran curiously watched the two munch away on their snack. Terran and Tai Shan were born on the same day, July 9. The panda caretaker told us that Tai Shan was born around 3 am. Terran was born a bit past noon on the same day. Happy Birthday! I want to give a pat in the back to the mamma panda. I am sure it was a challenging year for her as well.

Terran loves to climb on things. In fact, he is an excellent climber. Even though he cannot yet walk, he climbs really well. Pat propped him up on this giant bird, as he gave me a great smile for my photo.

Almost One

Terran's birthday is coming up (July 9!). He has been a big part of our lives since I found out I was pregnant on Jan 3, 2005. For his first birthday, I thought of throwing a small party for him. But then, there's nap time conflicts. These days, he's up when his friends are sleeping and he's sleeping when everyone else is up. His aunt and uncle are also out of town so it wouldn't be too much fun. So instead, we decided that we will go to DC for the weekend. At the national zoo, his twin baby panda brother, Tai Shan, will also be celebrating his first.

My big question here is to drive or to take the train. Yahoo map shows that it will take us 3 hours to get to our destination. If everything goes well, that's not so bad. But what about traffic? How long does it actually take? I know that we will all have a difficult time sitting in traffic with Terran stuck in his carseat. Another option is to take the amtrak. According to the schedule, it will take us 2.5 hours direct from Trenton station. That's really good and we can also get up and walk around the train. He can jump on the chairs, and crawl up and down the isle like he did on our flight to LA. The negative side to this is that we will have to carry all our crap (and there's a lot of crap to carry when travelling with a baby). The ride is quite pricey; about $360 round trip for 2.

What should I do? How can I find out such information on the web. I should also ask friends and neighbors if they've driven to DC.

Congratulation Patrick!

Last week, we made a trip to LA for Pat's hooding ceremony. He got his PhD in Biomedical Physics. His dissertation title is "Measurements and Caculations towards Quantitative PET and CT Imaging in Small Animals". For more information on Patrick's research, contact him directly. Whatever his research was about, I will never quite understand, but, we are still very proud of his achievement. Here are some pictures of us and Dr. Pat.


The three of us at UCLA.



Waiting in line to get inside for the ceremony at Royce Hall. It started at 7 which is past Terran's bedtime. He seemed pretty tired throughout the ceremony.


Terran couldn't stop looking at Pat in his gown. He's never seen his dad in such a strange outfit.

daycare

I had a job interview today so I took Terran to the daycare for the first time. The daycare is at Pat's work place and that's where he will go when I eventually find a job. When we got there, I immediately felt at ease because the caretaker was nice, in a grandma sort of way. I talked to her for awhile, showed Terran some toys and handed him off to her. As I said my goodbye, he started to cry as did I. We both cried silently with tears in our eyes. It broke my heart.

I was very nervous about the situation so I am not sure if I did all that well on my interview. When I came back at 3, he was sitting in a chair, eating his snacks by himself, while other kids were playing with bubbles. He's hardly ever at one place by himself so this also made me sad. Usually, when he's sitting in his chair, I am always there, sitting next to him, entertaining or talking to him. However, the caretakers told me that he did really well. He didn't cry but was able to play with the caretakers, and also with other kids. They told me that he ate his snacks, loved the books, and loved the bubbles. They said he looked really serious most of the time but was able to get a giggle out of him at one time.

It's hard to say whether I am doing the right thing. But when I finally picked him up, it just felt like he belonged there, in between my arms, and not in a strange baby chair, eating his snacks by himself. I probably do pay too much attention to him, and I probably do hold him too much. This is going to be a very difficult adjustment for me.....

back to normal

The only medicine for a jet lagged baby is time. After one full week of messed up schedule, we finally got back to normal and picked up our routine. And routine is a beautiful thing. I just remembered that being at home shouldn't stop me from posting pictures of Terran.


Terran and Junko, completely exhausted from being jet lagged. Not knowing when it was going to end was scary.


Terran's first time in the pool on Memorial Day weekend '06. He didn't seem to have enjoyed it much here but we've gone a few times since then. And he seemed a bit happier.... The water was a bit cold on this day so we probaby should have waited a bit longer.


I bought new toys for Terran (and Pat). Terran loves playing with his dad. Terran is still very tiny compared to other babies his age. The doctor says it's the genes.... He looks like the smaller version of Pat. But he's matured so much over the last few months. He seems more like a kid than a baby now. He can wave hello to people and smiles often. Very amazing.


A little toy that rolls and makes annoying music. Terran loves to ride on it on the sidewalk with Pat pushing him from the back. On a hot afternoon, he's just in his shirt, diaper, and bib.


Happy camera moment for Terran and Junko. I got him this sippy cup that he actually seem to like to use. He usually chews on the spout and doesn't know what to do with it. Hopefully this one really works.

jet lagged baby

We're back in NJ from Yokohama and this time around, Terran's jet lag is worse. It's been 5 days since we've been back in he is not adjusting. Even worse, he is taking little naps of 4 hours max and no continuous long sleep. Last night, he was up from 9pm to 4am. with a 30 min nap in the middle. We've been getting up and playing with him at night but we are changing tactics today and making him stay in bed. I go to him every 15 min or so to try to calm him down and encourage him to sleep but so far, it's not really working. During the day, he doesn't sleep much either. At most his regular naps. We go out to the park and play and try to stay out in the sunlight. I wonder when it's going to end.... I google for "baby jet lag" but there's really no real advice. tired....

more pictures

Terran and my mom and grandpa's japanese garden in front of the house.

Terran at grandma's, playing with her vacuum cleaner.

Grandpa's calla lily with a little frog.

Terran with his playful naughty face.

Terran and grandma as she offers him more strawberries.

Terran at Yamashita Park in Yokohama on a nice saturday.

a trip to obaa-chan's

Last week, mom, Terran, and I went to Osaka for a couple of days to visit my grandparents. I had not seen them in awhile so it was a trip worth while. It takes a little under 2.5 hours from Yokohama by Shinkansen.

Terran's progress: While at grandma's, he started crawling. What triggered this new trick of his? My aunt brought out a huge bowl of strawberries, freshly picked from grandma's farm. Terran loves strawberries so when he saw them, he just got going. We kept pushing the strawberries away from him, and he just kept moving! Back in Yokohama, he was able to pull himself up to a standing position. I was doing this and that in the kitchen, and when I looked, he was standing, hanging on to some shelves.

At Shin Yokohama station before getting on the Shinkansen.

My grandfather's calla lillies. He has a small farm full of blooming flowers. These were beautiful. He said that in Japanese, they are just called "Calla".

Grandma is giving some strawberries to Terran as he patiently sat and waited for them.

Grandma picking strawberries. They are so sweet and juicy.

Grandpa and Terran. Actually, he would be Terran's great-grandpa. They are more than 80 years apart.

I'm just gonna do photos from now on

We strolled to Akarenga again. Terran is aware of the camera so he's giving me a great pose for the shot.

May 5 is children's day, a national holiday in Japan. Because of this, Yamashita Park was packed with people, especially with children. Terran and I sat on the grass, people/ dog watching. He's not very comfortable on the grass so he's asking me to pick him up.

Here's me and Terran on Children's Day.

Terran is getting more and more acclimated to grandpa. Every morning, the two of them go down stairs to get the newspaper. Today, he is sitting happily on Grandpa's lap for breakfast. Don't you love his orange pants? We just got it for him the other day.

Papa came back from work and Terran was excited to see him.

today's photos

Terran's in a good mood today. Playing at home wearing a compass around his neck.

Today is the first day of Golden Week, 3 consecutive days of national holidays plus Sat. and Sunday. Our neighborhood is packed with tourists today and probably for the rest of the week. There was a parade in Yokohama. It started in Yamashita park so Terran and I walked down to the park to see it. The streets were packed. I've never seen so many people here. It's like being in Shibuya.

After his PM nap, we went to the park again. It was a bit cold but sunny. My mom took this picture of me and Terran. He doesn't usually sit and play on the grass so he seemed uncomfortable.

We talk to Pat every morning via Skype and Yahoo Messenger. We have cameras on both ends so Terran can see his dad and Pat can see his baby and me. When Terran hears Pat or sees him on the screen, he immediately brightens up with a smile. Pat does virtual Peekaboos and wins great big smiles from Terran.

Terran made a new friend during his walk. He played with little "Chai" who is also 9 months old. Terran is not afraid of dogs at all but sometimes, the dogs are hesitant to be touched (also pulled and poked) by a baby.

Mackenzie Thorpe and Terran

We were wondering through a gallery this weekend and came across some artwork by Mackenzie Thorpe. I loved the innocence that he depicted in the big smiles of children. And I loved the colors and the hearts all over his work. Apparently, Terran loved them as well. As I stood there in front on the painting, holding Terran in my arms, he stretched out his hand and moved his fingers, a gesture that he uses when he wants something. I told him that he can't touch it but we talked about how colorful it is and how happy the child looks. I told him that the boy in the painting looks like Terran. Terran was obviously very excited and started talking loudly with a big smile. Then he started clapping his hands. A big sign of approval.

Terran is almost 10 months old. It's hard to determine how much he understands. But by looking at his reaction to the artwork, he showed that he has the ability to interpret the art and appreciate it in his own way. He was also able to express how he felt about it to everyone in that room. I'm a proud mom!