There is a Fungus Among Us...

I hate fungus. It disgusts me so. I hate it in all of its forms...mold, mildew, and even shiitake. Pennicillin comes from a mold. I'm allergic to penicillin. Those brown mushrooms that we eat in pasta...I usually hand them over to a willing partaker. Out of all forms of fungus, I despise mold. Now, I know that mold is one of God's creations and it is necessary in this world for it's saprophytic qualities, but the thought of it makes me shudder....ew.

Today I had my own battle with mold. I fought the fridge and I think I won, for now. There were foods in there that were just unrecognizable. Some large lumpy white chunks, something that I think was once guacamole, and something that I think was chicken katsu.

Now, before you go on thinking that we're the most disgusting people and we live in filth, I have to explain how our fridge became a breeding ground for fungus. You see, when i was pregnant, I had this weird thing about smells...especially the smells emanating from our fridge. Padawanlee had no idea what it was that I was smelling, but every time the fridge opened, I had to gag a little. Therefore, for about 9 months, I didn't dare enter the fridge. So that meant Padawanlee had to do the cleaning of the fridge (which never happened...he would just point at things in the back of fridge, say "ew" and then laugh because it's been in there so long).

So yes, I have cleaned out some things that have been sitting in there longer than Baby Bear has been in existence outside and inside of the womb. Ick.

But the battle rages on...next battle: the mildew on the shower tiles.

Goodbye Little Geo...

I have to put up a post to say goodbye to an old friend. Some of you remember I used to drive a Geo Prism. This was my car the moment that I turned 16 and it faithfully carried me around during my high school years and my college years. Now I haven't actually driven the car in about 6 years, but it still has a special place in my heart.

A couple of weeks ago, it had a little accident. The driver is fine, but the Geo, being about 12 years old, just didn't make it.

So, goodbye little Geo. We know you weren't the sturdiest of cars, but you had great mileage and you managed to carry me from San Diego to LA dozens of times. Your paint was chipping and your insides were being held together with duct tape, but you were a good car until the end. May you be recycled well.

Things I Love About Being A Mom...

My baby finds simple things amusing. I think this is because her mom finds simple things amusing. Here are some things that I love about our baby.

(1) I love when she laughs and her smile is so big that her eyes shrink. It's so Asian.




(2) I love that her cheeks are so big that when I hold her up above me in the air, gravity pulls those heavy cheeks down and puckers her lips together.








(3) I love how her hair looks like a boy's haircut. I don't mind that people assume she's a boy at first impression. Some days her hair is reminiscent of Wolverine on X-men because she gets these funny poimts sticking out.

(4) Most of all, I love that we're a family.

That's what I love about being a mom.

No More Worry...

I guess I caused a little worry because my baby sleeps on her face (see March 16), but for all of you who commented, I just wanted to say thanks for the suggestions and thoughts. I worry some, but perhaps more that she'll end up with a flat nose rather than the possibility of SIDS. I used to worry more when she was a couple weeks old, especially because she would not sleep on her back, and with so much hype to put babies to sleep on their backs (even the diapers have it printed on them!) I felt so guilty letting Baby Bear sleep on her tummy. It seemed to be the only way she would sleep, especially with her bit of colic and her strong Moro reflex (Sorry, I was a Human Development/Biology major - so therefore, I often reference random things like Piaget, Erikson or Maslow).

In the end to help ease my worry and so I wouldn't, as kliao commented, stand by her crib all night, we ended up buying a baby monitor that senses movement when she was a couple weeks old. It works well...perhaps too well. When I take Baby Bear out of her crib, I often forget to turn it off. 10 seconds later I remember as I hear the "weeoo weeoo weeoo" of the alarm.

Honestly, I really don't need the monitor anymore, and I often forget to turn it on. I think I just needed it for peace of mind the first few weeks of being a worried parent. I realize that many of us were raised sleeping on our tummies and SIDS is just another one of those things that they don't know for sure what causes it.

So, no more worries. Well, at least about her sleep. We'll move on to worrying about things like what Padawanlee will do when she starts dating boys.

Baby Bear and Padawanlee watching "The Apprentice" together

(Well Baby Bear wasn't really watching tv, but it just looks like it)

Update...

Baby Bear is officially ready to come out of her harness...she will be weaned off the harness in the next couple of weeks. Yay! Her doctor gave the "okay" this morning.

Speaking of which, I really appreciate all of Bear's doctors so far. Her pediatrician has been really great and helpful. Baby Bear even gave her a smile at the last doctor's visit despite the immunizations. She even turned out to be the mom of one of Auntie Roachyface's elementary school friends. The doctor told me that she remembers my mom from PTA meetings, school functions, birthday parties or the like. How funny.

I also really appreciate Baby Bear's orthopedist. She's really knowledgeable and this morning I got to see her be really proactive. Since the hospital wouldn't give me the films of the ultrasound yesterday due to procedural reasons, the doctor got on the phone herself and had a "discussion" with whoever was in charge of the unit.

So in the end, I appreciate that (1) they caught the hip dysplasia early and (2) Baby Bear is all fixed and ready to use those wiggly legs.

The Crying Baby...

Today we went for a follow up ultrasound of Baby Bear's hips. The technician seemed a little frazzled with Baby Bear crying, so he ended up retrieving one of his colleagues to do the ultrasound. While this new technician (a female) was performing the ultrasound she asked me if it would help to breastfeed the baby to calm her down. I tried, but she didn't want to eat. Baby Bear was beginning to sound angry, and she was kicking her legs so much that it was hard to take the ultrasound pictures. The first technician ended up staying to help hold Baby Bear's leg in place. He just kept saying, "Wow, she is the strongest baby ever." They kept asking me if I brought a pacifier or a bottle. I had to apologize and tell them that (1) The pacifier wouldn't help and (2) a bottle would just make her even more mad. So then the 2nd technician asked, "Is she just mad about the procedure?" I nodded. They finally got it and moved on with the procedure through the howling cries of my baby.

Funny thing, once the procedure was over and the technicians left, Baby Bear immediately stopped crying. I changed her diaper, picked her up and she gave me a huge gummy grin.

What a funny baby.

My Baby Sleeps on Her Face...

Does this worry anyone else besides me? :)

Fun with Daddy...

Sometimes I think Padawanlee thinks we have a new toy instead of a daughter. Yesterday, he "accidentally" put her away in the toy box with the rest of the toys.


At first, she didn't seem too fond of it...


Then again...maybe she was comfortable.


Sleep well, little doll.

Happiness is...

...a smiling baby!

Ignorance...or Parenthood

So I've been writing about Baby Bear being fussy...and I've come to an epiphany this week: She is colicky. I just didn't know because, honestly, I am new at this. I can chalk it up as "ignorance" or I can just say that I'm a new parent and just didn't know.

How did I realize this? I was reading my book (The Nursing Mother's Companion by Kathleen Huggins) and it dawned upon me that baby bear fits into the symptoms of colic, more specifically reflux. Okay, so colic is one of those overlying terms for a bunch of things that could be affecting the baby, but that's the best explanation for her fussiness. I guess I just thought it was normal. Silly me. It took a month to figure it out.

But it is really disconcerting watching her as she goes through her spells. She clenches her fists, kicks with her legs, cries sometimes where she is just inconsolable. It's a good thing we're not formula feeding. I imagine it would be worse.

Well, the experts say that it will lessen as she matures. I hope sooner than later.