Flower memories

After the 100 day party, I used the flowers from the celebration and took a few snapshots. Here is an artistic view of the pictures. This is the last of the catch-up posts.
-S

Laughing with Daddy!

Elizabeth seems to like bananas

Over the weekend, I was eating a banana and decided to see if she would be interested in getting a taste of banana goodness. At first, she was pretty cautious by just licking it a little. I guess she then figured out that it tasted good because she pretty much went for it. She was sucking on it as if it were one of her pacifiers. I pulled it away a few times and each time put back in front of her, she just went for it and continued trying to eat it. Sana and I were laughing pretty hard because it was so unexpected and amusing to watch. People were saying that babies really like bananas because of the sweetness. I guess it really is true. I don't think we have any banana baby food for her, but I guess we could just mash up a banana and give her some. Elizabeth is definitely eating pretty well, so we're both pretty happy about that.

-T

100 day celebration on June 12, 2009

We had a small 100 day celebration at the clubhouse in our condo building. Friday, June 12th was her actual 100 days since her birth, so it was nice to have the party on the same day. We are thankful to all our family and friends for coming together to celebrate Elizabeth's healthy first few months.
-S

Grandma and Grandpa visit from Maryland in June 2009

First, thank you to grandma and grandpa for sending many new outfits for Elizabeth to wear this coming Fall. We're just about to change out of the 3-6 month clothes, so it was very timely for the season change. We're so thankful for such generous and thoughtful grandparents.

Elizabeth's paternal grandparents live in Maryland and are not able to visit the baby often. This is one of the reasons we started this blog. We promised to send pictures and video regularly, but after the first six weeks, it slowed down considerably and we found ourselves living day to day, without acknowledging the changes in the baby's life. Babies grow so quickly and we found ourselves unable to remember dates and forgeting some of the precious memories. Blogging is going well for us thus far because it is an immediate update to our online diary and the pictures don't stay in our camera for weeks at a time, sometimes months.

Elizabeth's grandparents visited for a week in June and we had a great time discovering and enjoying the beautiful sights of Colorado. We visited Celestial Seasonings and Pearl Street in Boulder, the Garden of the Gods and Seven Falls in Colorado Springs and some scenic areas on I-70 up to Frisco. We had a wonderful time together and the baby really enjoyed spending time with her grandparents. During the time they were here, she found her giggle voice.
-S

Baptism from April 12, 2009

Since we started this blog only a month ago, I am going to post some major events from the past in the next few days. Starting with her baptism.

Elizabeth was baptised on April 12, 2009 by our senior pastor at Korean Christian Church in Denver, Colorado. This day was also Easter Sunday.

One week after we had Elizabeth, we heard that the Korean Ministry was having a large baptism, including infant dedications on Easter Sunday. Since the English Ministry was without a permanent pastor at that time, we decided to have Elizabeth baptised on Easter Sunday by Pastor Song. Two weeks after giving birth, we started baptism classes on Friday nights for 2.5 hour for the next four weeks. On the first Friday class, Tim and I went to class by ourselves. This was our first separation from the baby. My mom, who had come for the baby's arrival, stayed with us for three weeks and helped us tremendously during this time. In the following classes, we brought Elizabeth with us. At this point in her life, all she did was eat, sleep, and poop. Thus, she was a good student in class and didn't make a peep.

Elizabeth was baptised along with three other young children, as well as several teenagers and adults. She, of course, was the youngest. For the most part, she slept through all the activities while we were at church. There was one short period during the baptism in which she was awake. I gave her a pacifier so that she wouldn't cry in front of everyone and that made her fall back asleep. For this reason, all her pictures show her with her eyes closed.

My brother David flew in from Chicago to witness this event and brought Elizabeth a ballerina bunny in a purple tutu for her first Easter and a special baptism picture frame to commemorate the day.
-S

Time for green beans

Izzie finished off her first container of sweet potato, so we decided that green beans would be a good choice for her second veggie. We figured, since Mommy and Daddy like green beans, baby's got to like them too. Let's just say it didn't go as well as the sweet potato. She took a couple spoonfuls and then pretty much said "No". The spoon went in and the green beans came out. After some of that, we put the spoon down and let her soak in the green bean flavor. After about 10 minutes, Sana grabbed the spoon and tried to put it in her mouth, but Izzie had her mouth closed tight. There was no green bean getting in. On top of that, she gave this look that just said it all. Imagine trying something that tastes kind of bad and the face that you make. That was pretty much the look on the baby. It's too bad we didn't get a picture of that.

For dinner tonight, we tried the green beans again. This time, Sana mixed some of it with rice cereal and milk. Izzie didn't seem to want any while I was holding her, but as soon as she went to her mom, she looked like she was enjoying it. She opened her mouth and actually stuck her head towards the spoon. Pretty neat. I guess there is hope for green bean after all.

-T

Washington Park

Elizabeth got a good nap before church today and was very active during the service. She was excited to hear the worship music and listened all the way through the sermon. After church, we went for a walk at Washington Park. It is a great park with lakes, flower gardens, trails, and plenty of open space. Tim and I used to BBQ and hang out at the park often pre-baby.

While we walked, the baby took a short nap and became cranky when we woke her to take some pictures at one of the gardens. She refused to smile in the early pictures and was annoyed at her parents, but after a few minutes couldn't stop looking at the lovely flowers.

Elizabeth is very ticklish and will giggle when you blow on her neck. We do it all the time.

-S

Is that a fake smile below?

Really odd plant with flowers growing on top of each other. Had to share the picture with you.

At the park with Kevin and Ji Un

Everything is going into the baby's mouth these days. She found the exact location of her thumb about a week ago and now instead of being a finger or hand sucker, she precisely sticks her thumb into her mouth, like a lollipop. Tim and I always say, "no" and immediately pull out her fingers but she repeatedly does this, especially if she is sleeping.

We had lunch at the park with Kevin and Ji Un and for the first time, she took interest in my water bottle. She put her hands around the bottle and moved the opening up to her mouth. I tilted it a little bit and let some water dribble in. She's only tasted water a few times before and didn't care for it much, but today, the bottle kept going into her mouth and she had a few gulps of water. Perhaps being out in the sun made her thirsty. She seems to enjoy drinking the water now and playing with the bottle top.

I also let her try a few pieces of fruit. First she licked some watermelon and was hesitant of the taste, but then she realized its sweetness and went after the spongy fruit like it was one of her chew rings. After a few seconds of gnawing, I let her try some melon. There was no uncertainty there, as soon as it hit her mouth the sucking and nibbling began. I only let her taste it for a few seconds, but I can already tell that fruit will be on the menu regularly when she gets older.

Kevin loves to make the baby laugh and loves to see her cry too. He says her cry is the cutest ever and looks forward to her little teardrops as much as her giggles. Here below, he's trying to eat her, he does this often. Doesn't little Elizabeth look scared?

-S

Mmmm...sweet potato..

We started Elizabeth on sweet potato. We decided to start with sweet potato because we have more of it than the other baby food items. We stocked up when Babies R Us was having a 10 for $10 sale on the 2 packs of tubs (not the jars). We bought more at Sam's Club because they had 18 packs for ~$9. So anyway, I heard that when babies start on the veggies and fruits, their leavings smell different. And by different I mean really bad. We got a good sample smell of it a couple of nights ago. She woke up in the middle of the night and Sana started changing her. I woke up at about that time and man, did we get a surprise. That had to have been the smelliest diaper the baby has messed since she was born. It almost knocked me out. I guess it'll only get worse from here. However, her eating food and not just milk is probably a welcome thing for Sana. Baby mama's been doing the whole feeding thing and pumping thing so diligently. I'm proud of her. I can't imagine it being an easy or enjoyable task. Well, I guess it could be worse. We could've had twins. Twice the feedings and twice the stinky diapers.
-T

Staring contest with the sweet potato, unsure what it is

First taste, what is this????

Grandpa makes animal sounds

Elizabeth thinks that grandpa is very amusing. He makes all sorts of animal sounds and sings the "Old MacDonald has a farm" song with all the different animals. She thinks it's the funniest when grandpa makes the rooster/chicken sounds. Elizabeth is all giggles and smiles when grandpa visits. He was here for just two days this weekend, but they had a good time together.
-S

Shopping at the Outlet

The weather was great last weekend and we went for a stroll at the Castle Rock Outlets. It must be clearance time, every store was having a big sale. We looked around at all the baby stores and Carter's had some cute things so we picked up a few items for the Fall and Winter. We found exactly what we were looking for, some long sleeve onesies and a few pairs of pants. We also purchased a really cute, purple floral, fleece pant and vest set. Looking forward to the cooler weather so she can wear it.

Elizabeth now fits perfectly into her 3-6 month clothes and will outgrow them soon. In a few weeks, she will need to move onto her 6-9 month sets, already hanging in her closet ready for her to wear. When I put away her 0-3 month clothes, I took an entire day to wash everything again in sanitary mode (our LG washer is great), fold everything ever so neatly, organize them by type and put them all into a disinfected plastic bin, lined with tissue paper. I wonder if I will be as systematic this time around. It was actually a little sad to put away the "newborn" clothes. The plastic bin sits below her rack of clothes in the closet and occasionally when I glance down, I reminisce over the day we brought her home. The pink striped outfit is on the very top and it looks so small, but on that day, it was so loose on her.

Our little girl is growing fast. Pictures from our trip to Castle Rock. It actually took lots of patience and jingling to get her to look at the camera. She wanted to just stare at the colorful plants and flowers.
-S