Emi-chan recently found my Sleepy-Time Hello Kitty (no, I didn't sleep with Kitty). She loves Kitty. She starts to squeal and flap her hands when she sees Kitty. Mostly she loves knawing on Kitty's feet and licking Kitty's night light. I am so proud of Emi-chan. Rick is not so sure. I don't think he wants to live with two HK maniacs. He's trying to foster in Emi-chan a love for NOVA programs and Star Wars novels. We'll see who wins.
I know, you came to see if we posted a new picture of Emi-chan. Instead, you got...what is this? I went to The Simpsons Movie website and created an avatar of myself (thanks Kimbocita).
Ain't I purty? Like my fashionable shoes? And how I tuck my shirt into my pants? Isn't my ducky shirt so cute? I think I kinda look like Milhouse. I also made one for Rick. I hope he likes it.
...you're in my space!
Happy belated Fuddah's Day to all you fuddahs.
A couple of weekends ago, we had to attend 2 birthday parties. It was a crazy day. One was for my mom in San Carlos, and the other was for Marlene in Monterey.
For my mom (Gran-Gran), we got her a St. Honore cake, basically a giant cream puff and whipped cream pie, and took her out for lunch. At first, we tried to get into Hotaru in San Mateo, but it was packed, like always. So, we went down a block to Masu.
At that restaurant, they have an all you can eat lunch buffet. What's different is that you place an order for what you'd like to eat, then they make it for you. It's a little slow, but fresh. Too bad Rick and I ate a huge breakfast. We could have gorged on $12 each. Gran-Gran and Bro Jeff didn't like that idea so they ordered off Masu's regular menu. Gran-Gran had chirashi sushi and Bro Jeff had kalbi.
Right after lunch, we jetted down to Monterey for Marlene's 50th Birthday bash. It was huge, Hawaiian, and cold. But it was a lot of fun. Lots of good food and good people. Rick got to catch up with people he hadn't seen in years. There were a lot of people from Day Camp days, when Marlene was the director and Rick and his friends were volunteers. There were former volunteers, and former day campers and their parents at the party. The youngest of the day campers are starting college soon. The oldest have careers and families. This made Rick, and a few others, feel old. We were having a good time hanging out when Emi-chan had enough people for the day and began crying, so we had to pack up and go home.
We were exhausted by the time we got home, but it was a good day.
Today, I went to Beard Papa in Redwood City. It's like a Japanese Krispy Kreme, but instead of glazed donuts, you get cream puffs. And very good cream puffs. Like Krispy Kreme donuts, you have to eat the cream puffs immediately, or puffs get pretty gross. Like Krispy Kreme, Beard Papa can get pretty addicting.
The cream puffs are filled with either chocolate or vanilla custard, with a rotating flavor of the week. This week, it was pumpkin, but I wasn't interested in that flavor. Next week, it's coffee flavor. Yum! I might need to go back for a sample.
Over Memorial Day weekend, Rick and I took my mom, my brother, and Emi-chan to my dad's niche at Skylawn Memorial Park (the cemetery).
It was a nice, breezy, sunny day on our side of the mountain, but as we got closer to Skylawn, we could see the fog rolling in and the wind kicking up. Once, we got to the top of the mountain, we realized that the cemetery's name was changed to Lifemark and the usual entrance we use was closed off. We took a detour which took us to a part of the cemetery we've never been to. We spent a few extra minutes driving around because we got lost. Good thing we went up in the late morning. At dusk, it would have been really creepy, with the fog curling around the graves.
Finally, we found dad's niche and spent a few moments to put some flowers by his name. It was very touching to see Emi-chan reaching for dad's name. I wish he survived long enough to hold her.
To honor your mother, have some chirashi sushi!
Here is Emi-chan. She just had a bath. She is nice and clean. She no longer smells like old formula and dirty diapers. Her face is scrubbed and pink. Her hair is nice and fluffy. Then, after I put on a new onesie on her, she spit up all over herself. Oh well. Such is life.
This is a quick post. This morning, I went and met some women at Sino at Santana Row for Lauren's bridal shower. Congrats Lauren! It was a small, intimate affair, but a lot of fun and good food. Sino is a fusion Americanized Chinese restaurant started by the same chef that started the Straits Restaurant chain. We went there for dim sum, but at this place, there is no carts that come around where you can take a peek at the food. You get a little check list of what they carry and you mark off what you'd like to eat. I prefer the carts, but the food was still pretty tasty. And a very nice, upscale place.
Vegetable Dumpling. Yum!
Yesterday, April 26, was Emi-chan's 2 month birthday. Happy Birthday! On her 2 month birthday, she had a doctor's appointment and got 4 immunization shots and one oral vaccination. It's been a roller coaster ride since.
Last night Emi-chan was miserable. She would whimper constantly. We could tell she would scream and cry if she could, but was too weak from the shots. She was so listless and pathetic looking. Kawaiso. Papa and I felt so sad for her. Emi-chan had a slight fever so we gave her baby Tylenol so she slept soundly most of the rest of the night.
Today, she was fine during the day. She slept most of the day, but when she was awake, Emi-chan was alert and mostly in a good mood. So I thought. After we got home from visiting Gran-Gran, she turned into the Howling Scratching Monster of Sunnyvale. Papa and I are in fear of this monster we call our daughter. What happened? Where did our poor little girl go? Was she switched with a changeling? Aaagh! When will we be able to sleep! Help me!
Emi-chan: Boy, Blue, I had a really rough day today.
Blue: Oh, yeah? What did you do?
E: I had 8 bottles today, 6 of them the yukky formula. I had 10 diaper changes. I pooed on Papa once and peed on Mama twice. Then I let my diaper leak. Oh yeah, I screamed at the top of my lungs for half an hour every 2 hours...
B: Why did ya scream?
E: I don't know. Just bored. Then I spat up 2 times in a row. I made Mama change my clothes 3 times. I think she was mad. Then, to get back at me, Mama and Papa made me take a bath.
B: Oh no!
E: Yeah! What's worse, they washed my hair! It was awful.
B: Wow. Made my day look tame.
E: What did you do?
B: Sat at the bottom of the toy box until your Mama picked me up.
E: That's not too bad.
B: Yeah, but what made it bad was Lamby was sitting on my head for most of the day.
E: That's a bummer.
B: Yeah...
The tree in our "yard" is beginning to bloom. The petals are falling like snow, covering the ground and covering our cars with pollen.
Here's a picture with Emi and her first friends. As you can see, she's really relaxed around them. Clockwise from the top, is Lamby, Crabby, Mi Amigo the Bear, Miffy, Ensign Bear-Bear of Star Fleet Command, and sitting on Emi's lap, is Raichu, who is related somehow to Pikachu.
Well, I know, we're a little late. Girl's Day, or Ohina Matsuri, is on March 3. We're a little behind. I hope it was a fun day for all the little girls.
Baby pictures on it's way...
After a long wait, here is the wonderful Baby Emily Michika! She was born on February 26 at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford after a 3 hour labor that someone described as "awesome." I don't know whether it was awesome or not, but I do know it was quite painful and caught everybody, including the doctors, by surprise. We were expecting for me to be waiting and in labor for at least half a day because I had to be induced. Well, I didn't make it that far. Emi-chan decided she wanted out NOW.
Once my water broke and the contractions started, all I remember is that there was a lot of action. Nurses running in and out of the room, my OB, Dr. S, rushing in ordering people around, the anesthesiologist informing me about the dangers of epidural (spinal cord damage, etc.). To make things even more interesting, after an hour or so of pushing and nothing happening, the doctor decided to use the vacuum to get her out. Guess what? It didn't work. She was still stuck. So, he had to use the dreaded forceps and she popped out.
Emi-chan came out screaming, and screaming, and screaming at the top of her lungs and wouldn't stop. Once the nurses handed her to me, 3 thoughts hit me immediately. First thought: how much I loved a person that I just met. She was the perfect gift from God and a part of me and Rick. The second thought: she had a BIG head. No wonder Dr. S had to use forceps. Third thought: she's hairy. Just like mama and papa. But, she's so beautiful.
After almost 2 weeks, I'm still healing from the birth, and Rick and I are still learning how to care for Emi-chan. We're delirious from the lack of sleep and we can't keep dates straight, but we wouldn't give up being parent's to little Emily.
I was supposed to go in tonight for induction, but postponed it until tomorrow morning because of my rotten cold. So, tonight, I get to sleep at home and wait. I guess it's for the best. Although I'm not as congested, my cough did get worse. So bad that I pulled a couple of muscles coughing this morning. Oh, well. I'd rather wait at home than at the hospital.
Baby's friends are waiting, too.
On this chilly Friday, I waxed nostalgic about our past Hawaii vacations. Here is a picture of Rick learning how to surf at Waikiki Beach.
He had a blast and I was really proud of him. Hopefully, we can go again soon, after the baby is born.
Baby is due in 2 days.
I was going to blog a little more, but I got sick. I caught a bad cold. Darn! I'm pretty miserable. Baby is kicking up a storm. My body is achy. I can't breathe. I have sinus headaches and face aches. I'm dragging. I feel like I weigh 2 tons. I was so healthy until now. I'm mad at myself.
Baby is due in 3 days.
This past Friday, Rick's co-workers threw us a baby shower. I didn't know what to expect. Was there going to be 5 guys? 20? Food? A deli platter? Will I feel comfortable with people I don't know at all? What kind of shower can a bunch of electrical engineers throw?
It turned out to be a very well attended shower with lots and lots of food. There were about 35 people, mostly men. Some of the women who work there helped pull the shower together, so I didn't have to worry. There was all kinds of food. Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, roast chicken, salads, soups, cakes, etc., etc. There were 3 different cakes.One was the official baby shower cake...
and the other was the joke cake...
Rick's co-workers also gave us a lot of gifts, one which will help us get a head start on baby's college fund. We also got a diaper warmer, a beautiful quilt, and a cute little robe.
Here's a few more pictures from the shower:
...
and here we are showing people "who's the boss" in our family :)
We both had a lot of fun at the shower. It was nice to see how much Rick is liked and appreciated at his work place. We felt so special.
I know I'm going backwards, I'll try to post a little about the other two baby showers before the baby comes.
Baby is due in 6 days!
