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Peggy's Diary Entries Diary Navigation: Choose A Diary Entry -------------------- Latest Entry: 6/18/01 -------------------- 6/4/01 5/21/01 2/14/01 1/29/01 1/15/01 1/9/01 12/20/00 12/15/00 12/7/00 11/29/00 11/15/00 11/8/00 11/1/00 10/25/00 10/11/00 10/2/00 9/27/00 9/19/00 9/13/00 9/6/00 8/31/00 8/22/00 8/16/00 8/7/00 8/1/00 7/27/00 7/19/00 7/12/00 7/5/00 6/27/00 6/20/00 6/14/00 6/5/00 5/31/00 5/24/00 5/17/00 5/10/00 5/1/00 4/27/00 -------------------- Peggy's Introduction

January 9, 2001

Sorry I missed two entries. I took two weeks off from work to stay at home with Jacob. And I never imagined I would be busier at home than at work. I had no time to log on to the computer, let along write an entry. But we did have lots of things happen during the Christmas and new year holidays!! And hold your breath, because Jacob is almost 1-year-old!!

I am so looking forward to it. Actually in my mind he is already a toddler. I've come out from the pit of sadness and decided it's time to celebrate my no-longer-a-baby's new page of the life journey.

Grandpa's visit
My dad visited us from Taiwan for 12 days during Christmas. We had a good time together. He and Jacob fell in love with each other at first sight. The weather was REALLY BAD here at Dallas, TX the whole time my dad visited, so it was kind of disappointing, so we took him to San Antonio, and Austin (capitol of Texas) for two days. It was sunny down there, and we all had a great time. Jacob was exceptionally good during the drive (four hours one way), and during our stay there. We visited the capitol building, (it was special because OUR governor Bush is gonna be the next president of the United States!!), and my dad kept saying we had to take some pictures of Jacob in front of the governor's office because maybe he will be a governor in, let's say, 30 years!! I just smiled. I don't have that kind of ambition for my baby. As long as he is a happy and normal person at age 30, I will be delighted. We also toured the river walk in San Antonio, the Christmas lights were fascinating, and there were LOTS of people there vacationing. We had Mexican food along the river, sorry to say, it was really NOT good at all (maybe we chose the wrong restaurant). But it was OK. At least the atmosphere was nice. :0) We stayed at a very clean and nice Motel 8 (because all hotels were way too expensive, like $250 a person, a night, a room!!!) We were gonna visit Houston too but since Jacob was having an ear infection, we decided to return home so he could get some rest.

We didn't do much during Christmas, we basically just stayed at home and cooked foods, and relaxed. My dad decided to return to Taiwan a week early (sigh) because he had some business to attend and to be honest, it was REALLY boring for him to stay here. We only have one channel of Chinese TV, we don't have daily Chinese newspapers and my dad was just about to get crazy with the bad weather and being bored. So we said our farewells and sent him to the airport. I feel sad sometimes that my dad can't witness Jacob's growing up, but what can we do, we have an OCEAN of distance between us. I can only try to send pictures and e-mails as often as I can.

Jacob is walking like a pro
Jacob started to walk a day before his 11 month birthday, and now he is just walking like big people. The only problem is he thinks he can run!! So he still falls because he wants to run instead of walk. :0)) Very rarely he would still crawl, if he is tired and wants to get to some place FAST!! I look at my walking boy and try to imagine in my mind the infant who couldn't barely move his head. How fast the time has flown by. This past year has been the fastest year in my life. Just in 6 days of time Jacob will be 1 year old. I still have no clue what we will do for his birthday. I think it will be very simple. I will probably order a cute cake (I won't even try to bake a cake. I am a TERRIBLE cook), and just the four of us (Philip, Jacob, my brother and myself) will light the candle and celebrate our precious son's birthday. I know it will be an emotional time for me as that day comes, but all I want to do is to hold my baby tight, kiss him and sing a song to him just like any normal day.

Our nursing journey
No, I am not gonna end it anytime soon. I can't believe we've come such a long way. My original goal was 1 month. Then it became 3 months, than 6 months, then 1 year, and now it's almost 1 year, I don't see why I should stop this sweet relationship just by the calendar. Jacob has always been an efficient nurser, meaning he doesn't waste time at my breasts, he nurses for 10 minutes, once he is no longer hungry, he instantly gets up. He always gives me a big smile after he finishes feeding, which is the best reward I can get. I enjoy our nursing times because even when the day is crazy, we snuggle up to each other and just enjoy the calm and relaxing moment. It's almost like a time to recharge my energy. Yesterday was the first day Jacob went to a baby-sitter's home, I missed him soooooo much at work. So by the time we got home, I took him to bed to nurse, he wasn't very hungry but he probably knew Mommy needed that nursing time, so while he was nursing, he discovered a new game, he raised his foot to reach my nose, and of course I would make a funny sound to show my objection, and it just tickled him so much, he just kept giggling. It's was too funny and sweet at the same time. I know I am not willing to give up this precious nursing experience yet. Maybe when I become pregnant, otherwise I will let Jacob to initiate the weaning. We are down to one nursing during the night now. I didn't do anything to change it but Jacob naturally cut down to one nursing which is great. So now I am back to work we basically only nurse four times a day. I still pump two times at work but very soon I will cut it down to one pumping session only, just to maintain my supply. I didn't believe in extended nursing before but now I just feel it's so natural, there is no reason for me to stop it.

Sleeping in Mom & Dad's bed
Yes, Jacob is still in our bed. It's soon to be changed though. Philip is starting to urge me to get Jacob to sleep in his own bed, in his own room. We never really set aside a room for Jacob, but now Philip feels the need to let Jacob have his own space. I guess I am the one who loves to sleep beside my baby, but I also know since Jacob is almost 1, maybe it's time we start to transition him into his own room. The other night I just couldn't fall asleep, I was looking at my baby's sweet sleeping face, listening to his and his daddy's breathing sounds, and I held Jacob's hand and tried to keep that moment in my heart so I will always remember that feeling.

What's Jacob eating nowadays
Jacob LOVES to eat yogurt. I was so glad to find that out, because I've always worried about his eating (or not eating) habits. But now he is in love with yogurt and cheese. I cut these cheese cubes into smaller pieces Jacob loves to pick each one up and put them all in his mouth at once. (Don't worry, I do watch him and stop him from doing that) :0) He also eats little bits of our food. He also eats a bowl of oatmeal every morning. So I guess we will never go back to baby foods. :0)) Oh by the way, I just want to note that Jacob is using size 4 diapers, and he weighs 23 pounds now. (I know it has nothing to do with the food topic :-P)

Antibiotics
Jacob has been sick with an ear infection and sinus infection since mid December. Poor Jacob he was put on three different sets of antibiotics because the first one didn't totally get rid of the infections, the second set (two kinds of antibiotics) was too strong and they gave him BAD diarrhea, so now although he seems all recovered, we are still giving him the third type of antibiotics. We were told to finish all medicine so the infections don't come back. And I thought by breastfeeding Jacob was supposed to not get any ear infections … ? Jacob hates to take medicine so we usually have to force it into his mouth. They should taste really good because they smell like candies to me. But I guess Jacob is smart enough to know it's medicine.

Baby-sitter outside of home
Since my mom won't return until mid Feb., we have to find a baby-sitter for Jacob. Luckily an older lady from our church (well, actually she is at my mom's age) is willing to watch Jacob for the time being. She is already watching another 2-year-old boy. Yesterday was the first day Jacob went to her house, and I worried about Jacob the whole day but when we went to pick him up after work, he seemed very happy. I think it's good for Jacob to have a playmate, to learn to share toys and maybe some communication skills, and maybe, establish a little friendship. I am happy that Jacob is well taken care of when my mom is not here and I have to work.

OK, I guess I better stop here other wise it will turn into a book. I took Jacob to take some 1-year-old pictures last Saturday and they turned out VERY well. Look how big my little guy is becoming!!

love, peggy