Hannah and David from Silver Springs visit

Hannah and David, friends from Denver, who now live in Silver Springs, MD, came by to visit Elizabeth while we were in Maryland. Elizabeth got to spend some time with them on Saturday afternoon and then again on Sunday morning, when we visited their church, Covenant Life Church. Thank you for taking the time to see our little one. We hope to see you again in February when we're back out in MD! -S

Christmas Photos

During our trip to Maryland, we wanted to get some pictures with my family, especially since it is the Christmas season. Luckily for us, Elizabeth received a Christmas outfit from Seunghan and Bora, Sana's cousins. We took pictures in the family room of my parents house before church. It was kind of difficult to get Elizabeth to smile, but I guess it's hard to get babies to smile on cue, period. Thanks to the timer on the camera, yours truely was even able to get in on a couple shots. -T

Grandma's Birthday

We made a trip out to Maryland to visit my parents. This was also an opportunity for the rest of my family to meet Elizabeth in person. Other than my parents and brother, no one has actually seen or held the baby. They have just seen pictures of her. It also happened that our trip out there was the day after my mom's birthday. We were able to celebrate with a nice fruit pie that the five of us gobbled up pretty easily. We also had a birthday present for my mom as well as Christmas presents for my parents and brother, which they opened right then since we weren't going to be there for Christmas. Frankly, I'm still surprised we fly out there with all that stuff. I think the gifts filled one of our bags. Anyway, it was fun. -T

Flying to Maryland

On Thursday morning, we woke up bright and early at 4:00AM to catch a flight to Maryland. This time, we packed up everything and loaded it up in the car before we went to sleep. We were trying our best to make our morning as simple as possible, knowing that everything moves at a snail's pace when you're sleep deprived. When we woke up, we tried to keep the noise level down, but the baby heard us getting ready and decided to wake up too. So, at 4:30AM, as we're trying to finish packing our carryon bags, the baby was crawling around on the floor and pulling things out of the suitcase. To our surpise, she wasn't cranky or clingly. We put her to bed extra early the night before, around 7:00PM, so she must have gotten enough sleep for the time being.

Back in October, we went to New York and it went so well, we decided to fit in one more vacation before the end of the year. When we went to New York, we had a layover in Chicago, so it was two flights there and two flights back. This time too, we had a layover in Chicago, so it was two flights to get to Maryland.

Elizabeth did very well on the flight. We flew Southwest this time and it was GREAT! The last time we flew, it was on United and we had assigned seats. Tim sat aisle and I sat in the middle, with a stranger at window. We had to hold the baby the whole time we were flying. However, with Southwest, since it is first come, first seating, Tim and I were able to sit in the aisle and window seat with the baby in her own seat in the middle. As long as the flight isn't full, no one will contest the baby having their own seat, for free!

When we flew to New York, Elizabeth practically slept the whole time we were on the planes. This time around, she slept, ate, read books and played hand games. Being a few months older makes a lot of difference. There are so many things to explore and experience. -S

First 30 Days

Remembering the first 30 days...

As I was reorganizing her picture files, I caught myself staring at her newborn pictures. Just wanted to share a few with you. -S

Bipedal independance

No...Elizabeth isn't walking yet. Well, not on her own that is. She can kind of walk if she's holding onto something or someone. What happened today is a good sign that she may be closer to walking on her own. If there is something to balance herself against (e.g. the couch, coffee table, my leg), Elizabeth can and will stand up. She's been able to do that for awhile now. Tonight though, showed that she was ready to start standing on her own without any support.

First, she stood up leaning against her playpen and then took a step back. The result...standing on her own. Also, we were on the couch and Elizabeth was right next to me. All of a sudden she pushed herself to her feet and stood there on the couch for a second before squatting back down. I was rather excited. The last one was really neat. We were on the floor and she propped herself up like usual while holding my leg. Then, she dropped her hands and stood there for about 5 seconds. I wasn't holding her legs and she wasn't leaning against me. It was all her and her wobbly legs. I was ready to catch her if she fell, but instead she just eased herself back down to the floor. Man, she's growing fast. -T

A teething baby

Is no fun. We posted not too long ago that Elizabeth got her first two teeth. Well, she's probably getting more. We think the next ones are the top ones. You know how when you have a bad toothache and your mouth is all sore and stuff? I wonder if that's how it is to be teething. Anyway, between that and having a cold, Elizabeth hasn't been sleeping too well the last few nights.

On Thursday, I woke up at my usual 5:30AM to get ready for work. However, Sana wasn't in bed when I got up. Instead, I found her sleeping on some blankets on the floor in the baby's room. Apparently, Elizabeth had woken up in the middle of the night and was having a hard time going back to sleep. This meant that Sana didn't really get good sleep either.

Well, I got my turn the following night. I woke up in the middle of the night to Elizabeth crying over the monitor. So, I went over and picked her up to try and get her back to sleep. Immediately she fell back asleep on my chest and I thought she was passed out enough to put her back in the crib, but as soon as she hit the mattress, there was the crying. This same thing happened to Sana the night before. As a result, I decided to lay down on the blankets on the floor with the baby until she was sleeping deep enough to move her. I ended up spending the rest of the night on the floor with the baby. When I woke up in the morning, Sana was looking down right over my face probably thinking the same thing I was thinking the night before..."What the...baby couldn't sleep?" -T

Nine months sure does fly by

Being pregnant for nine months is a LONG time. Watching a baby grow for nine months is just a moment. I can't believe it has already been nine months since Elizabeth was born. We went for our nine month check-up today. At our pediatrician's office, there are only two out of five doctors that do nine months check-ups. The others go from a six month to one year visit. We sure are glad to be with the doctor that we have. There were many questions to ask the doctor at this visit and we got some really great answers to some challenges we've been having.

Elizabeth is growing very tall! She is now 28.5 inches, putting her in the 82nd percentile for her age. On the other hand, her weight is only 17lbs 6oz, putting her in the 25th percentile. She isn't loosing weight so the doctor says that it is fine. She says some babies are genetically born to be thinner or heavier than others. Since her birth, she has always been tall and lanky.

For the past month, I've been giving her lots more full fat items, but it appears to not have helped much. Also, she is such an active girl. Moving, jumping, crawling all day long. She probably burns many of the calories she consumes in a day. I'm going to have to figure out a way to put more calories into her meals.

We've been debating whether or not to get the flu shot and H1N1 shot this year. As parents, you want your child to be safe whenever possible, but we also wanted her to be strong on her own and build her own immunity as well. We've been talking about it for months and still hadn't made a decision by appointment time. When we brought the issue up with the doctor, she told us that she was in the lowest risk group and that it was up to us to make a decision. She wasn't going to recommend the shots either way. Well, it turns out that the decision was made for us. They were all out of the vaccines so there was no getting them today.

Outside the doctor's office

Strong heartbeat says the nurse

Head circumference is 17.76 inches

Getting undressed for the examination

After the doctor's office, we went to lunch. The baby must of have tired, because she slept through the entire meal. That has never happened before. This was the first restaurant meal without a third mouth to feed. Tim and I sat around her, making sure she wouldn't wake up or roll over. Elizabeth woke up so refreshed, she was ready to conquer the world. -S

This is a bad sign

A few weeks ago, Sana got a replacement credit card. She took the old card of her wallet and left it on the table to throw away. Well, Elizabeth saw it and had no problems picking it up. I think she smiled while playing with the credit card. We still have it laying around the house and Elizabeth has chosen to add it to her toy collection. I hope this isn't a sign of things to come. You know..."Daddy, can I borrow your card? I need to go shopping." One of my fears...the credit card bill. -T

Go Speedracer, Go

We have this little "car" thing that Elizabeth likes to ride on. She can't quite get on it by herself, so somebody needs to sit her on it. On the flip side though, she has no problems getting off, although one foot seems to always get stuck as she slides off. She can't really move by herself either, so she needs a nice, long push to get around the place. One thing Sana tried and I have adopted as my own is pushing her from behind a bit faster than normal. It is rather amusing to watch her reaction to this sudden burst of speed. She holds on to the handlebar, picks her feet up, and with a big smile, slightly leans back to enjoy the ride. We can tell she likes this activity because there is always a smile for each ride. Sigh...that'll be a great memory. -T