6 in the Morning. Forget about pumping. I'm gonna blog

I know..... it's bad. I'll get back to pumping later. I promise.It's been a while since I updated the blog. Miss me? I sure have stared at my laptop longingly, wishing that I could have the time and privacy to unload the thoughts that were getting seriously congested in my mind. This is probably the longest I've been away, and I have several good reasons.

First of all, Kai's lower teeth are making their way out, and he's really been a good sport through it all. He almost never cries. He whimpers and whines when it's really bothering him, but a little bouncy-bounce or an ice cube in a cloth can easily distract or sooth him. Also, Kai's at the age when he experiences separation anxiety. That, combined with the discomfort from erupting teeth, has made him (understandably) needier than usual. Sometimes he wouldn't let me do anything else but cuddling and singing to him while we sit on the couch. No walking around and picking things up while carrying him in my arms. Nope! Only cuddling and singing while sitting on the couch would do. His demands could be very specific in times of discomfort.

Last but not least, we've discovered how FUN it is to have play dates! My goodness gracious! Where have all the other babies been in the last 6 months (actually, some older Taiwanese people believe that babies should not be out of the house during the first 6 months of their lives. One of my yoga classmates' mother-in-law is one of those people)?? Speaking of yoga classmates, I reconnected with Chinatsu (it's read Chi-na-tsu, not China-tsu) from my prenatal yoga class. She's also a SAHM and her baby girl, Setsuko, is 4 months old. I invited them to play in our house a couple of weeks ago. It was so cute seeing them together. It was Kai's first ever play date, and he was totally excited and curious about Setsuko. He kept reaching over to smack her (of course, in his mind, he was touching her).

Considering how prim and proper the Japanese are, I wondered if Chinatsu would still come if she had known that she was coming to my messy house to play with my rumbustious baby boy? I mean, we didn't even have slippers for her to wear around the house!! At one point, when Kai was squirming like a worm on a hot plate and I had to wrestle him to pull him away from grabbing Setsuko's hair (all the while he was squealing with glee, which made him seem crazy~~~~~), I thought Chinatsu was gonna grab Setsuko, run out the door and never to return.

This was also my first time ever to play with a baby girl, and it was an eye-opener!! She's so tiny, so quiet and... dainty! I was shocked at how light she felt when I picker her up. Chinatsu said she weighed just over 4 kilograms, and I turned to Kai, who was intently eating his toys and slobbering all over them on the play mat, "Mommy can't remember the time when you weighed only 4 kilograms."
Then it occurred to me: Kai was born heavier than 4 kilograms! The only time he was lighter than that was when we got out of the hospital. Even then, he weighed 3,960 grams. Not that much lighter than 4 kilograms.

We had so much fun at our first play date that we went out again the following week. We decided to take advantage of the lovely early spring weather and went for a walk around the lake on NTU campus. This time, Kai also got to play with their dog, Gong Xi (which means "congratulations" in Chinese). Kai chuckled when he reached out apprehensively and Gong Xi came straight up and licked his hand. Then I guided Kai to gently pat the dog on its head, and both of them liked that. I slowly let go Kai's hand, wondering if he would continue to pat the dog on his own, Gong Xi made a 180-degree turn and now his wagging tail was where Kai's hand was. Kai's eyes lit up. He gasped and grabbed hold of the moving tail with precision. Gong Xi started growling. While I tried to push Gong Xi away from Kai with one hand and pry open Kai's hand on its tail with the other, Kai yanked on it hard a couple of times. Gong Xi yelped. Kai got startled and let go.

Lesson learned. I'm talking about me. Really gotta keep an eye on the baby at all times. You never know what's gonna happen next.

Ah, the little boy's up. I just have to write down one more thing while his dad plays with him in bed.

So when Kai got really antsy from sitting for a while, we walked to the bridge on the lake and watched pigeons. At first, there were a few of them cooing and walking around on the bridge. Next thing I knew, we were surrounded by pigeons and some of them got on the sides of the bridge so they were really close to us. I thought it was great because Kai was totally fascinated by these birds up close. I took out my camera, set it on video, and started recording what was around us. Totally oblivious of the possibility of what happened next.What happened next was one stupid pigeon decided "This is boring" and went "coo-coo" and all the pigeons flapped their wings and took off at once (can you say Alfred Hitchcock?) Kai let a couple of cries and turned to look at me. I laughed and rubbed the top of his hand, "I know... Mommy was startled too. Stupid pigeons."

In conclusion, play dates are fun. They are very very fun.


I've set up a few more play dates with two baby boys who are older than Kai. I'm curious to see how he interacts with them.

Gotta go. Daddy and the boy are up. See you again in..... um.... I'll see you when I see you.