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A V-Day card for you

2012-02-14T09:10:00.003-05:00

Happy Valentine's Day! Late last night, I posted about a DIY kids' V-Day t-shirt I made for our son (J). Well, if you didn't like that, how's about a card from J himself?

It's a pop-up card! Took me a bit to figure it out, but here's what behind the photo looks like. It's two slender pieces of card stock.

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Valentine's Day craft: DIY kids' t-shirt

2012-02-13T23:38:00.000-05:00

Valentine's Day is tomorrow. Well, 30-min from the time this post posts. It's a late night! Half of you are super-excited, half of you would rather stick a fork in your eye, and the other half of you wonders why there is such a dichotomy over this holiday.

We had the tasting menu at Tintos in Philadelphia a few years ago and had so much fun with tapas that we planned a nice V-Day dinner at a highly-rated Mediterranean tapas (or mezze) restaurant found via Yelp -- Cava Mezze around here.

Since they don't take reservations for V-Day, we planned to go tonight, and my sister was going to babysit. As luck would have it, our son (J) came down with a fever last night, and we aren't comfortable about leaving him tonight. That's ok because I just remembered I was going to make cards for J's daycare teachers. Well, even if he hadn't of gotten sick, I at least had one V-Day craft done last night.

J is in the Bees Classroom at daycare, so what better way to celebrate V-Day than to make a t-shirt:

My husband was muy impressed that I drew a bee from memory. LOL!

After his approval, I created the image below on my computer using PowerPoint (I have no idea where to begin with Photoshop). Here's the final product.

The t-shirt, which is a 3T and the only size left at Target, will be big on J, so I guess the text will be too. It's ok. People'll be able to read him a mile away!

I also saw this cute button-down at Target (Cherokee, $10) to pair over the t-shirt. Don't you just adore the large checks on the sleeve cuff that contrast with the pinstripes?? Hopefully J will let me take a picture of him tomorrow morning all dressed-up.

If you'd like to make your own V-Day bee t-shirt, follow-along:

Download the awesome awesome graphic below for FREE. I know how super-excited you must be, but, please, contain your excitement.Click on the image, then choose "download" from top menu (or right-click, then Save Image As).
Paste/insert the file into a standard 8.5x11 PowerPoint slide.
Resize the image as needed. Refer to photo above for relative sizing on a 3T t-shirt.
This step is important! Select the image, then on the Drawing Tools >> Rotate menu, select "Flip horizontal". The image is now backwards, which is important if you want others to able to read the text on the t-shirt without holding up a mirror in front of your child. I suggested PowerPoint but you can use whatever program you like to do this.
Make sure the t-shirt transfer paper is fed into the printer with the correct side set to print.
Print. Wait a minute or so for ink to dry/settle. Trim around letters and graphics as needed. Notice that the layout on my son's t-shirt doesn't exactly match the layout on the image file.
I added a teeny copyright on the image in the bottom right corner. I'd be honored if you ironed it on your t-shirt to help advertise my blog but can't possibly hunt you down if you don't, so…
Follow instructions for ironing the transfer on.
Voila!

Since this is a long post already, I'll post the cards I made for J's teachers in my next post. If you download and use my image, please leave a comment here or on Facebook, on Twitter, or via email. I'd love to see it and share it (but only if you want)!

Happy Valentine's Day...or whatever, it's no big deal...

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Must.read.magazines

2012-02-11T11:30:00.000-05:00

Hope you're having a good weekend!

I really should have added "attack my stack of magazines" to my list of New Year Resolutions because who has actual magazines anymore, right *wink*?

I have issues about a year old -- you can maybe see Martha Stewart Living and Allure on the left. In the center are a few issues of Consumer Reports. And over on the right issues of Self, Shape, Glamour, and Parents. The Self and Shape have not helped me lose any weight :(. The good news is that new issues of most of them aren't coming anymore, otherwise I'd have to make another shelf for them.

Luckily the other day, I read through my issues of Martha Stewart Living. I enjoyed reading them in our kitchen nook, with the table finally cleaned off!

Maybe this weekend I'll attack some of the other magazines :).

What are you doing this weekend? Enjoy it!

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Reader appreciation

2012-02-10T08:00:00.000-05:00

Happy Friday, friends! Thanks to all my readers and visitors! I appreciate your time to read and view my blog amidst the sea of parenting blogs out there.

This week's most popular post was A tribute to Dad. Thanks to Lucy's Reality (parenting blog), SoMi Speaks (parenting blog), and Angie from Pandaphilia (personal style blog) for leaving me such lovely comments!!

But I was also surprised by how many people resonated with my Thankful Thursday post about Time. Thanks to Angie from Pandaphilia (personal style blog) and AdamAlexMommy (personal style blog) for leaving such heartfelt comments!!

Remember, you can comment on my posts here on the blog, or on Facebook, or Twitter, or Email. I check 'em all and respond to every comment :).

Apparently, sidewalk street art by manfred stader is still bringing readers here, as well as how to make flan goya. Haha. I burned myself making flan that one time. Oh, and the Link Within widget below all my posts has also been helpful in leading readers to other posts. Read more about Link Within and other ways to expand your readership here. Woo hoo!

Well, have a great weekend everyone!

And thanks again for reading and commenting!

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Thankful Thursday: Time

2012-02-09T17:00:00.000-05:00

[source: Richard Wiseman]

Today, I'm thankful for time. I am thankful that time always moves forward. I make mistakes each hour of the day, and I'm thankful that "time" never withholds a new hour to perhaps right the wrongs or at least learn from them.

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A tribute to Dad

2012-02-08T12:11:00.000-05:00

Today would have been my dad's 97th birthday, but you wouldn't have been able to tell. It's funny to say this, but he didn't look a day over 60. When you're in your 90s, being 60 is a compliment! Speaking of awesome Asian genes, have you seen Vera Wang lately?

What I remember about my dad was that his mind was sharp. He knew Obama was President, that the capital of Pennsylvania was Harrisburg (though he sometimes pronounced it Hershey Park), and that Ellen DeGeneres was gay. Seriously, the last one, how did he know that? He didn't understand English. Was it in some Chinese show or newspaper? But I digress...

I also remember that his body was strong. He climbed the 60-foot tree in our backyard with nothing but a belt securing him to the trunk, he built lots of things around the house using reclaimed wood (that's dazzle-talk for wood scraps), and he put new flooring down for the porch, kitchen, and basement (albeit cheap vinyl flooring).

Also, his sense of adventure unmatched. He'd take public transit to Chinatown jus 'cause (remember, he knew no English), he'd order coffee at Starbucks and pizza at Sbarro because those words sound the same in Chinese as they do in English (you know how some folks in the foodservice industry can be), so yes, not speaking English and ordering is adventurous!), and he'd drive us to every amusement park, beach, orchard, etc. every summer no matter how lost we'd get with mom as navigator. Just kidding, Mom, you tried your best! I'm a worse navigator because my left is Right and my right is Turn now!

Before he was hanging out a home, climbing trees and getting lost on public transportation, my dad was an ah-may-zing chef. No, I did not inherit nor learn any flavors from him (boo!). His way of making food was a little of this, a little of that, and however much you want of it. Um...huh? BUT, I did learn a lot about food prep and knife skills. I write that second set of skills with trepidation because they aren't that great. He could also do that thing with the wok where you hold it with only one hand and flip the contents around. Remember I said he was strong. I can't do that wok-flipping thing. I have no strength in my wrist or forearm. I try to transfer food from the wok to a plate using only one hand, and my wrist goes limp. I have to twist my whole upper body so that the food doesn't fall to the floor. I am quivering at the same time. That's why I am not a chef. BUT, I'd like to think that I'm an engineer because of my dad. He completed his handyman projects with no directions or special tools. He problem-solved. His projects weren't always pretty (or to code -- eek) but they worked, and isn't that what engineers do anyways? Just kidding. We engineer to code.

So I've already covered that I got my health from my dad. If I were a dude, I'd be glad to get my dad's style too because my dad was the original George Clooney -- he always took care in his appearance. My dad wasn't vain, but he was always dressed in a button-down, slacks, shoes, hat, and maybe a tie. His hair was always combed and slicked back. My dad did not like this 90s trend. Isn't he smashing...or is it dashing?

Also, check out the pictures of my mom. She was, indeed, hot milk. Wish.I.still.had.that.sweater.

My dad was also passionate. He especially despised the spokesperson for Liberty Medical. Something about that guy's tone of voice conjured up annoying and lazy in my dad's mind.

[Source: Wilford Brimley Fan Page] [Source: Branding Advice]

My dad despised that guy so much that we'd have to change the channel whenever that guy came on. And he came on all the time on weekday mornings. It was kinda hilarious to watch my dad get all worked up about that guy. He also passionately despised the movie Clueless and the aforementioned 90s trend. Oh, and senseless gun shooting in movies. Yea, I don't like that either.

Lastly, my dad was passionate about plants, especially orchids, even if he didn't have the greenest of thumbs. My sister remembers the stories about his orchids the best. She told me that during an auction of orchids at church raising money for missions, my dad had to have an orchid. I think he paid $50 for one. He brought it home, and of course, watered it everyday. The orchid didn't survive. My dad was so sad.

So, for Christmas, my sister brought home a fake orchid. He watered that too! LOL. The next time she went home, my dad asked her to take him to Michaels. When they get there, he asked her to buy him green paint. And when they get home, he proceeded to paint the stem of the fake orchid because it probably lost its coloring due to sun and overwatering. H.I.L.A.R.I.O.U.S.

Friends were so kind to bring orchids to my dad's memorial service a year ago. My mom, sister, and I all kept one. Here they are blooming again after a year. I wasn't able to photograph my sister's orchid. Hope they'll bloom year after year and remind us of him and of his love, sacrifice, and dedication to his family. He wasn't perfect, but he was the perfect dad.

I feel like we should go out and eat his favorite meal today -- Chinese buffet.

Love you and miss you, Dad!

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Soon to be invincible again

2012-02-07T14:05:00.004-05:00

Here's a test to see if your kids are too sick for school or daycare that I found while searching for this image.

I have a strain of I-live-with-a-two-year-old-it is coined by Mommy Shorts. It's called I-have-an-18-month-old-in-his-first-year-of-daycare-itis because before he started daycare, I never got sick. This is also why I haven't posted anything since Friday.

I remember two times as a child that I was sick. Once when I had chicken pox over Thanksgiving break, and the other time when I had the flu, probably over a holiday break too. As an adult, I only ever got sick from food poisoning. Somehow, I was able to stave off colds, flu, and whatever bug "was going around" at the moment. I'll attribute my good immune system to my mom and dad. Sidenote: It would have been my dad's 97th birthday tomorrow so you can see why I attribute my good health to him. More about him in a dedicated post tomorrow!

Anyways, ever since our 18-month-old started daycare a mere 4 months ago, he's gotten ear infections, sinus infections, viral exanthem, high fevers, stomach virus, and recently a sinus-ear-infection with eye-discharge combo that luckily wasn't conjunctivitis (or pink eye). Grandmas and Grandpa are reading this paragraph while cringing and planning ways to convince us to take him out of daycare for a few months.

Over the last 4 months, I have also been the recipient of the stomach virus and a few colds. I am often in denial about being sick since I didn't grow up being sick. But you can't deny the nausea, sneezing, cough, and mucus. You just can't.

I don't solely blame the kids at daycare either. I blame the unpredictable weather. I blame a lack of exercise...and central heating and air conditioning. Yea, you read that right. The overuse of central heating and air conditioning systems has reduced our ability to adjust to changes in weather. Instead of being connected to the outside and realizing it's getting warmer or colder, and allowing our bodies (and clothing) to slowly adjust, our bodies are shocked when we leave our homes, offices, daycares, and schools. We aren't prepared and our bodies are working overtime to quickly adjust for survival. If it repeats that cycle enough, maybe like a lithium battery, we reach our maximum number of charge cycles and our immune systems suffer. Just a theory of course.

Anyways, back to my claim about being invincible again. Countless people have told me that the first year of daycare is the hardest because your kid is being exposed to new germs. Guess I'm also being exposed. Well, we can't wait for the first year to be over (or at least for spring to roll around) because I am sick of him and me being sick!

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Reader Appreciation

2012-02-03T14:20:00.000-05:00

Taking a cue from Pretty Sparkly Shiny's The Secrets to Successful Blogging (Part I), I am dedicating a post each week to highlight comments and interactions with the readers of this blog. Without you, I'd be talking to myself. Thank you for not allowing that to happen.

Thanks to HapaMama & TalkingThirty for relating to the tribute to my mama!

Thanks to Please Touch Museum for retweeted my post on our visit, and for Whole Foods for responding to my post about organic labeling!

That organic labeling post had the most pageviews this week as well!

Thanks also to the phrase kurt wenner e julian beever because somehow a Google search of it leads you to this blog. Apparently I posted once about this artist's sidewalk art.

Thanks for reading and have a great weekend!

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Mommy Mysteries 002 - reader submitted

2012-02-03T09:14:00.000-05:00

Second in Mommy Mysteries series. This one's submitted by Talking Thirty, a blog about all things meaningful to a girl in her thirties. For the first in the series, click here or here.

Girl, so true, so true.

Be sure to check out Talking Thirty!

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Thankful Thursday: Mom, you're awesome

2012-02-02T14:13:00.000-05:00

Last night, I couldn't formulate a coherent post about anything "relative" for BlogHer's February NaBloPoMo. Today, I feel much better. Throat still sore, but the rest of me ok.

So here we go -- a post about Mom, which is also be a Thankful Thursday post.

At 22, I was a senior in college. My only major concern was what I'd be doing with my life upon graduation. Eh. I told myself I had plenty of time to make wrong decisions about my future. And I did. I was 22 with absolutely no responsibilities.

What was my mom doing at 22? She was married. She had a two-year-old (me). She was living in a foreign country (here in the U. S.) with no friends or family (except my dad and me). She didn't know a lick of English. She didn't have the luxury of making wrong decisions.

In contrast to her "it-takes-a-village" upbringing in Taiwan, she had to quickly adjust to independent living here in the States. I remember my mom taking my sister and me on SEPTA to buy groceries. My dad worked 6 days a week, and she didn't drive. I don't think I've ever taken my son grocery shopping -- and there's only one of him, I have a car and two good legs.

I remember my mom taking English lessons. Could you imagine having to learn a second language as an adult? Sure, we all take that second language in high school and maybe college, but did you need it to survive? I sure didn't.

I remember my mom learning to read road maps -- this was back in the day before Google Maps and GPSs. She never needed a map to navigate around her fishing hometown of Taixi, Taiwan. But she, the navigator, and my dad, the driver, took us to amusement parks, orchards for fruit picking, the beach, and everywhere in between. I depend on my GPS too much and have no sense of direction.

I remember my mom taking us to church, even if we didn't want to go. When I was in college and involved with Campus Crusade for Christ (a Christian group), I looked down on how she practiced her faith. Shame on me because she is one of the most faithful people I know. Through thick and thin, she's never wavered in her faith. She's my example of what it is to be a godly mother, faithful servant, and all-around wonderfully patient person. Girl, she is patient.

I remember when our son was born, she was so happy to hold him. That's all she wanted to do. Whenever he started crying, and I wanted to take him back, she'd put her hand out and say "Just wait a second! Just let me. You rest." She was (and still is) awesome in that straightforward kind of way.

Hey, Mom, if you're reading this, you're awesome.

Am I your favorite daughter now *wink*?

Click here for my (one) other Thankful Thursday post.

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NaBloPoMo: Relative

2012-02-01T22:18:00.002-05:00

Happy February! This month's NaBloPoMo theme is Relative. Today's writing prompt is Tell us about your mother. And I've been trying for the last hour and a half to formulate a coherent stream of thought but can't because my throat hurts, I have a headache, and I just want to curl up into a fetal position and sleep until next week. So, Mom, if you're reading this, I promise to embarrass you another day!

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How you doin' on those resolutions?

2012-01-31T20:00:00.000-05:00

It's Jan 31 and time to look at the progress of my New Year Resolutions (NYRs). Hope you're staying strong!

Achievable:

No more chips or fries -- 31 out of 31 days!
Attending church every Sunday -- 2 out of 5 Sundays
Attending small group -- 0 out of 2 meetings
Reading the Bible and praying everyday -- a handful out of 31 days -- gotta improve!
Date night with hubby at least once a month -- eek -- 0 times
Going to the gym at least once a week -- went once a week for 3 out of 4 weeks

Lofty:

Blog everyday -- 30 out of 31 days
Take a picture a day for capturng.com -- 30 out of 31 days
Lose 8 lbs. -- 0 lbs lost, which isn't surprising since I only went to the gym 3 times this month

Pff! I wish:

Learn to sew -- nope
Develop personal style -- I did start a Pinterest board
Go on The Price is Right -- nope
Go on the Wheel of Fortune -- nope
Get on The Amazing Race -- nope

I'm definitely crave fries when I'm eating out and chips when it's 10pm at night. I need to practice Christianity everyday. We have to have a date night in February -- it's Valentine's Day after all! And maybe I could increase my gym usage to twice a week. January's been a tiring month because my son and I are always sick at the same time.

As for blogging, I'm hoping to continue a post a day. Here's BlogHer's February badge and theme -- relative.

As for picture taking, I hope to continue a photo a day -- I can just imagine the album/calendar/poster/wall art I can create with all those images!

Maybe I'll pick up sewing. Maybe I'll take a class. Who knows. As for the other items on my "Pff! I wish" list, at least I started a Pinterest board. I even bought new items in January to serve as wardrobe foundations.

So, all-in-all, not a bad start to 2012. Here's to always growing, learning, maturing, and improving!

Feel free to share your resolutions and progress too!

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Day 31: Fun at the Please Touch Museum in Philly

2012-01-31T11:51:00.001-05:00

For those that haven't been, the Please Touch Museum in Philadelphia is the size of a serious museum yo (that's Philly talk yo).

Because I'm a geek, here are images of several museums to compare with Please Touch Museum.

Ok, so it's certainly not as big as the Philadelphia Museum of Art or The Metropolitan Museum of Art in NY. But it is almost half as big as the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museumin D.C. I that's pretty big considering part of the footprint of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum is a food court and not all of the exhibits are interactive. Every exhibit in the Please Touch Museum is interactive. There are even mock traffic lights at the entrance to restrooms that can be turned on/off with the push of a button.

But let's compare the Please Touch Museum, apples to apples. Here it is up against two museums of similar concept: National Children's Museum (NCM) Launch Zone in National Harbor, MD and The Children's Playseum in D.C. Wah wah wah. The Please Touch Museum gots them both beat by a (whole lotta) mile! And that's why, it is awesome and worth the $15 admission fee (non-members over the age of one). The NCM doesn't have an admission fee and The Children's Playseum charges $6 (see this short post on our visit).

We arrived on a Monday morning to a fairly empty museum -- niiice. At first, our son was tentative and took some time to soak it all in. As soon as we got downstairs to Wonderland, he was hooked.

He enjoyed running up and down the hallway in Wonderland that gets smaller and smaller.

We moved on to the E.R., and J got to play doctor. It was here that we heard "Maggie. Maggie. Maggie. LOOK. AT. THE. CAMERA!"

For $3, your child and an adult can ride the indoor Woodside Park Dentzel Carousel . J did not want to sit on the horse.

He loved the water at River Adventures! One kid kept asking his mom to get him the BIG boat in the center of the pool that was nailed down. It was funny listening to her try to explain to him why she couldn't.

Our last stop was Flight Fantasy. He loved pushing all the buttons...and pushing the other kids around *wink*. The tall boy on the left actually said to my son (who's 18-months), "You have to share." Um...yea...J gave that boy a blank stare and continued pushing away. In my son's defense, he was there first, and there were plenty of buttons for everyone -- especially the ones higher up that my son couldn't reach anyway.

I thought about saying "you have to share" too in case the parents of that tall boy were within earshot. But they weren't. So I just let the boys figure it out. And they did. There wasn't any hitting or crying.

Speaking of intervening, there was this mom with her daughter by the Nerf-rocket launchers. She was asking the group of parents by the entrance if this boy (pointing to another kid) belonged to any of them.

When they all shook their heads "no", she said to no one in particular, "Well, this boy won't let my daughter push the button, and I didn't want to have to tell someone else's kid to let her."

My reaction was, "Why not?" If this kid's parents didn't care enough to be within earshot of their kid in a public place, I'd totally ask the other kid to let my kid push the button. Or better yet, I'd ask my kid to ask the other kid to let him push the button. Just like the tall kid told my son to share earlier. Not so hard. No one got upset.

Anyways, we had a great time at the Please Touch Museum and would totally make a visit next time we're in town. By the way, we went on a Monday, and by mid-morning, place was rocking. I can't imagine what it's like on the weekends. I'm sure you'd be bumping diaper bags with lots of folks and perhaps even accidentally walk into another kid.

Besides the great interactive exhibits, the staff was also courteous and helpful. I know...I am still talking about Philadelphians! They were helpful in the Supermarket, helping the kids check-out their groceries and putting them away in their right place. They were helpful at River Adventures wiping up water spills. They were helpful in Flight Fantasy catching all the Nerf-balls being launched into the air.

Without the staff, that place would be a mess because you know there are nasty parents out there who wouldn't care where anything went. Ugh.

Last thing, if you're still reading, the food selection is ok. Hot foods include burgers, pizza, and hot dogs. Cold foods include salads, sandwiches, fruit salad, and yogurt. They have plenty of snacks and drinks to choose from also. But you can also bring your own lunch, as many families did.

Ok. End post. Thanks for reading and hope you'll check out the Please Touch Museum if you're in Philadelphia. *Sigh* I wish they had one in D.C. The Children's Playseum just can't compare. We haven't been to the NCM yet, so I'll hold off judgment.

You have any recommendations for kids museums?

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Day 30: What does the "organic" label really mean?

2012-01-30T07:00:00.000-05:00

When I got pregnant, maybe even before then, the hubby and I decided to eat more organically. We dove in head first and starting buying all of our food at Trader Joe's and Whole Foods. Our grocery bills got a bit out of control, so we decided to limit our organic food purchases to meat, meat products, and the Dirty Dozen.

[Source: Eggland's Best]

Recently, I brought home a dozen of Eggland's Best Cage Free Eggs, and the hubby made a comment that the eggs didn't have the USDA organic seal. I was confused because I assumed "cage free" was also organic.

Even more, I was at Whole Foods and surprised that their raw chicken and beef didn't have the USDA organic seal. I believe the chicken was labeled having "no hormones added" and "air-chilled", and the beef was labeled being "grass fed". I also noticed that their 365 Everyday Value store-brand products came in both "natural" and "organic" varieties. It took me forever to make sure I was picking up organic frozen peas. Whole Foods was also selling "conventional" foods next to their organic counterparts. It was so confusing and made my shopping trip so much longer.

So with all the confusion, I decided to go to the USDA website to find out what the label means. So here's the low down:

100% USDA organic: must contain (excluding water and salt) only organically produced ingredients and processing aids
USDA organic: must consist of at least 95% organically produced ingredients (excluding water and salt)
Made with organic ingredients: contain at least 70% organic ingredients and list up to three of the organic ingredients or food groups on the principal display panel. Any less than 70% and product cannot be labeled organic.
There are no restrictions on the use of other truthful labeling claims such as “no drugs or growth hormones used,” “free range,” or “sustainably harvested.”
A civil penalty of up to $11,000 can be levied on any person who knowingly sells or labels as organic a product that is not produced.
And this page says that organic meat, poultry, eggs, and dairy products come from animals that are given no antibiotics or growth hormones. Organic food is produced without using most conventional pesticides; fertilizers made with synthetic ingredients or sewage sludge; bioengineering; or ionizing radiation.

Now, whether or not you believe USDA can enforce and check the validity of all organic labeling is another question.

So, I've come to the conclusion that:

We'll still buy Dirty Dozen that are certified USDA organic.
As for meat and meat products, I'd love for them to be certified USDA organic, but I'm ok also "truthful claims" like "cage-free" or "no hormones" from reputable brands like Eggland's Best and Whole Foods. Nevertheless, I should still read a company's website so that I know what their truthful claim really means.
One last thing, I was at a local farmer's market and wanted to buy USDA organic. A vendor said that he doesn't use pesticides and practices sustainable farming, but didn't have the money to get USDA certified. So even if a local farm doesn't label their products "organic" doesn't necessary mean that they aren't.

Do you buy organic? Are you less or more confused now?

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Day 29: The missing puzzle piece

2012-01-29T07:00:00.000-05:00

I bought this cool wooden puzzle from a nearby second-hand children's store, Emma's Closet. The pieces cover-up light-sensitive sensors, so that with each piece you put down, a phrase of "The Wheels on the Bus" plays. And when all the pieces are in their places, the song continues to "the driver on the bus..."

But Jasper puppy chewed up one of the pieces, so we've resorted to covering up the last sensor with a finger. J's doing a good job here!

Oh, the many kids' toys/homework/projects/etc. that will be chewed up by our dogs in the future. Can't wait!

Have you lost anything of significance to a pet?

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Day 28: Jasper's favorite activities

2012-01-28T10:00:00.000-05:00

I don't talk much about the dogs on this blog, but just had to share these photos of Jasper, the 6-month-old puppy. His favorite activities are:

Getting beat up by Coco. Just kidding! They're just playing!

Licking food off of my son's foot/hands/face/etc.

And destroying my son's things.

Here are our favorites toddler shoes.

They're flexible, easy to wear, and match my son's jacket.

Jasper chewed through the Velcro strap.

I could smack Jasper right now.

But I won't because we just bought an exact replacement.

We will also keep shoes very high off the floor now.

If you can't tell, I have a love-hate relationship with that puppy.

Hope you're having a great weekend!

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Social media overload? Nope.

2012-01-27T10:23:00.001-05:00

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

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Day 27: Those aren't yours

2012-01-27T08:51:00.000-05:00

Here are a few of the dogs' things that my son, J,
has just grown to love "playing" with.

The dogs' toy, the dogs' crate...

...and last week, the dogs' food and water bowls.
I removed the bowls but couldn't help but take this picture

Oi.

Have a great weekend!

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Recent instagrams

2012-01-26T14:27:00.001-05:00

In case you don't have Instagram (lisacng), or don't follow me on Twitter, which is very likely that you don't, but you should, here are some recent snapshots of life taken with my iPhone 4S. Enjoy!

Happy 3rd birthday, Coco!

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18-months!

2012-01-26T12:55:00.001-05:00

This week, J had his 18-month well-visit. He had 0 shot. WOO HOO! The only annoying, but understandable, thing that happened was the doctor stepped out for 15-min to take a call from a specialist about one of her very ill patients. Well, at least it was warm (he was only in his diaper) and J found safe things to play with in the office.

Anyways, J's growth is steady. Still big. Still tall. But at least in proportion. And no concerns about this development either. Yay! Check out J's list of words here.

15 month
Height 33.5 in (75th percentile)
Weight 28 lbs, 2 oz (75th percentile)
Head circumference 18.75 in (50 percentile)
*** Online percentile calculator

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Day 26: Thankful Thursday

2012-01-26T07:00:00.000-05:00

Today, I'm thankful for a happy toddler, and I didn't even have to read Happiest Toddler on the Block.

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Mommy Mysteries 001

2012-01-25T17:08:00.000-05:00

Because every good blog has a "series" of some sort, I'm staring Mommy Mysteries. I even have a link on the left to a dedicated link on the left sidebar.

I was inspired to start this series last night as I was playing with my son and he was poking my belly fat. Let's see how far this series goes. Please share (and receive credit) for contributing your Mommy (or Daddy) Mysteries!

So, without further ado...

--------------------------------

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Day 25: Happy toys

2012-01-25T07:00:00.000-05:00

The hubby made the comment that he likes this monkey because it has a nice smile.

Um...right...because all of the other toys are so vicious.

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Day 24: LOOK. AT. THE. CAMERA

2012-01-24T10:37:00.003-05:00

We traveled to Philly over the weekend for some family Chinese New Year time. Our 18-month-old (officially!) didn't nap Saturday, Sunday or Monday, except in the car for 30-min. Repeat, DIDN'T.NAP! A big thanks to the hubby's parents for letting us nap though.

Anyways, we got home around 9:30 pm on Monday, and after unpacking and having a bowl of ice cream, I was too cold and tired to post anything. Oh well. I'm not beating myself over it.

Since I won't have photos up until later, I thought I'd share a tidbit from our visit to the amazingly fun Please Touch Museum. If you are in the Philly area, I highly recommend it for young kids! When I post photos, I'll give a more in-depth review of the place.

On to the tidbit. We all love taking pictures of our kids, especially when we're in a fun place. But there was this one dad that was just hilarious and borderline annoying. He had one of those low, bellow-y voices that carry across the room no matter what volume he spoke at. But he was speaking loud when he said:

Maggie. Maggie. Maggie. Maggie. Maggie. Maggie. Look at the camera. Maggie. Maggie. LOOK. AT. THE. CAMERA. Maggie. Maggie.Maggie. Maggie.Maggie. Maggie. MAGGIE. LOOK. AT. THE. CAMERA!

At least he didn't cuss, right? Dude, it's ok if she doesn't look.

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Day 22: Crockpot secret

2012-01-22T11:00:00.000-05:00

First off, Happy Chinese New Year Eve!

Soon it'll be the year of the mighty dragon and our mothers will be saying to us:

You should have a baby this year because it's the year of the mighty dragon.

Since I posted yesterday about the possible scandal of whose hands are in Rachel Ray's Look+Cook book, today's post is scandal-free. Today, I'm talking about the slow cooker. I don't know about you, but that was one of the first appliances we put on our wedding registry. I had never used one before but the thought of "setting it and forgetting it" was awesome! I hope have haven't infringed on any trademark with that quote.

We have a Crock-Pot, and everyone who sees it always makes a comment that it's HUUUUGE. It's "family size", ok? Plus, I like to make a BIG batch, eat it for like four meals straight, and save myself prep work and my hubby from doing lots of dishes.

I've only found one really good recipe out of the manual/cookbook that came with the Crock-Pot. It's for Carolina Pulled Pork, and the meat is moist, easy to pull apart, and goes great with vinegar on a toasted bun. But other than that, other recipes just make my house smell like really weird onions, so I've kinda put it away.

However, America's Test Kitchen put out a book last year called Slow Cooker Revolution, and I immediately had to have it! I find any recipe by America's Test Kitchen is foolproof because they've actually tested the recipe several ways to get the best results. So get their book if you want more use out of your slow cooker. They have recipes for stews, soups, casseroles, braises, sauces, desserts, and more.

But here's a tip for beef stew, and possibly other types of stew, from the book: To ensure vegetables get soft, but don't disintegrate into mush, wrap veggies in foil pocket and place on top of stew during cooking.

PERFECTO! We had the yummiest beef stew in a long while. Since I have a toddler at home, I didn't add any spice to it, but I sure do love a spicy beef stew. I topped mine off with some sriracha.

Got any slow-cooker secrets to share?

If you have this book, whadya think?

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Day 21: Whose hands are inside Rachel Ray's new cookbook?

2012-01-21T11:00:00.000-05:00

Back story first. I received Rachel Ray's (RR) 30-minute express lane meals as a bridal shower gift, but don't like it much because (1) it has very few pictures, and I'm a visual girl, and (2) I tried a few recipes and was disappointed.

One day, last year, there was nothing to watch on TV so I tuned in to RR. She was doing a cooking demo and showing off her newest book Look+Cook. It looked pretty cool.

First, there are lots of pictures. It's called Look+Cook because the steps for 80% of the recipes are illustrated by several steps (the other 20% are in back and just text -- she put kid-friendly recipes here). You'll see photos of the ingredients thrown into the pan/pot, other ingredients added later, and of course, the final product. Thus, the concept is that you might not even have to read the directions. You can just look and cook!

Second, you can go online to watch some (or all?) of the recipes in action. I haven't done that yet but seems like a great feature.

Third, her recipes seem much more accessible (read "easier") in this book. No way did I make any of her 30-minute express lane meals in 30-minutes. But the ones in her new book seem pretty doable.

Ok ok ok, so now back to the post title that first intrigued you to click here :P

The only problem I have with the book are RR's hands. If you look at the cover, her hands are super smooth and, I think, airbrushed, but I could be wrong. If you know RR's editor/etc., please set the record straight. I'm not here to slander anyone!

But if you look inside, all the photos show hands that are rough -- almost manly. Now I don't want to say that RR has manly hands, but if they are hers, boy are her hands manly.

But if they aren't hers, why aren't they hers? Unless that's standard practice in the cookbook world. Slap a famous cook/chef on a cover, call the recipes his/hers, but make someone else make all the recipes and snap away. The famous cook/chef doesn't have time for photos for his/her own book.

What do you think?

Whose hands are inside Rachel Ray's new cookbook?

Submit your response(s) below!
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Day 20: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

2012-01-20T09:08:00.000-05:00

Two days ago I told you that my son's favorite word is NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. Here's where it's been in action.

Hubby told me this funny story: We were at The Playseum. Both J and another boy were eyeing the toy shopping cart. Both make a run for it. They get to it at the same time. J lets out his fiercest NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO accompanied by an angry eyebrow furl. The other boy is shocked, scared, and thus runs away.
One of us is reading to J. He likes to sit in our laps. Puppy comes along, wanting some lovin' too. J says NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO and pushes the puppy away. This is MY time! Puppy happily obliges.
Hubby goes to pick up J from daycare. The kids are in the gym. Hubby bends down to say hi to another boy. J runs over, says NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, and (gently) pushes the other boy away. That's MY daddy! The other boy is confused. No boys were harmed in this incident.

He's not a bully, right?

He's just being a toddler and learning to exert his independence?

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Thankful Thursday

2012-01-19T15:26:00.001-05:00

Today I am thankful for open communication between me and my hubby.

On our honeymoon, almost 4 years ago

I'm even more thankful because he's usually the one that says.

Maybe there was some miscommunication. Let's work on it together.

Ok :)

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Day 19: You should know, you're a biologist

2012-01-19T08:57:00.000-05:00

NickMom.com recently posted 9 most unintentionally confusing things mom say to their kids, and it reminded of silly things I say to the hubby. For instance,

You should know, you're a biologist.

Or some derivative of that.

My most recent use was when were giving our son, J, amoxicillin for a sinus infection. We were using a syringe to give it to him. I was in the habit of first pouring the amoxicillin into one of those little plastic measuring cups they give you with cough syrup. I would then fill the syringe from the cup.

[Source: Posion.org]

Well, one time J spit out a good amount of amoxicillin (imagine that). I needed about a 1/2 mL more, so I asked the hubby to get me some. He proceeded to stick the syringe that had already been in J's mouth into the bottle of amoxicillin! Of course I yelled,

You're putting the contaminated syringe into sterile bottle of amoxicillin? What are you doing? You should know better, you're a biologist! Would you contaminate your samples at work like that?

The hubby chuckled because he and his coworkers were just joking about that their spouses use the "you're a biologist" excuse all the time. Hey, in this case, I was justified. Anyone else with me?

Sometimes, I'm not justified. I admit it. Like when I ask about a physical ailment or why the body does such and such. His response is always,

I'm a biologist, not a doctor!

Ugh, there's a difference? Hehehe...

UPDATE!
By the way, I think those little plastic measuring cups are inaccurate because 1 tsp (5 mL) in the cup was about ~~0.75~~ 4.75 mL (thanks for catching that Talking Thirty!) in the syringe. I tend to believe the syringe more because I remember that we should measure our liquids in pipets/graduated cylinders rather than beakers. Anyone else remember this?

Good ol' meniscus [Source: Volstate.edu]

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I created a Facebook page for the blog

2012-01-18T18:00:00.001-05:00

Please "like" us on Facebook :) We like friends!
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Cross-posting to BlogHer worked for me

2012-01-18T18:00:00.000-05:00

Proof that cross-posting to BlogHer and their January "soup" did increase my readership (read this post on how you can do it too)!

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Day 18: How I didn't teach him to talk

2012-01-18T11:47:00.000-05:00

Remember my OCD about tummy time and other milestones? Well, here's another one: talking to my infant (now toddler).

The screaming phase

Don't know if you remember reading this too, but almost as soon as a baby's born, you're ~~supposed to~~ encouraged to narrate the world to them. So I was a good student, and every morning I'd take J downstairs, read to him out of a book, and then walk around the first floor narrating the things I saw.

We're in the kitchen now. Oh, isn't it a beautiful day? What are you thinking? Did you have a good night? Good, because I'm really tired!

And when we went outside with Coco for her walk, same thing.

Isn't it a beautiful day? Do you see the trees? They are green. The sky is blue. Do you hear the cars? I have to bend down and pick up Coco's poo. Let's go home now.

First off, was encouraging me to narrate the world to J really just therapy for me? Seems like it, huh?

Second, the only words he knew before 16 months were Mama, Mum Mum, and Baba. No matter how much I narrated. 16 months of silence! Maybe the bilingual thing slowed him down.

Nevertheless, he spoke when he was ready. And boy, is he ready now! From 3 words all the way to 25 (on last count). His favorite is NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. We really have to stop asking yes or no questions!

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Day 17: Our day off and my online haul

2012-01-17T12:30:00.000-05:00

The day started out with a peaceful, take-our-time breakfast. The hubby and I chatted about photography -- purchasing accessories, new lenses, and possibly taking a course together. Other classes we chatted about were cooking, swimming (low on my list *wink*), and tennis lessons. We're trying to be proactive about spending time together! After breakfast, we went our separate ways because I had some shopping to do and he had some WOW to play!

P.S. I added an effect to my original photo in Picasa! And added a watermark. Who knew?

Sadly, I went home empty-handed after a trip to the mall. It really irks me when that happens, but I didn't let that stop me because I went home and did some crazy shopping online! Here's what's coming in the mail!

Ann Taylor Woodland Cable Crew Neck Sweaters, $15.95 after SHOPANN 60% discount (today's discount is WEEKEND for 40% off). Buy through ebates (referral link) for 2.5% cash back!

Ann Taylor Loft Petite Saddle Shoulder Cardigan, $20 and $16 after SHOPSALE 60% off. Buy through ebates (referral link) for 3% cash back!

All prices after ONSAVEBIG 25% discount (today's discount is NEWYOU for 30% off!)
Old Navy Women's The Diva Skinny Jeans, $22.13
Old Navy Women's Poplin-Stretch Dress Shirts, $19.88
Old Navy Women's Cable Knit Sweaters, $16.88
Old Navy Women's Cropped Cable Knit Sweaters, $12.97, How could I resist for $13? And cropped means it could be a shorter length! Buy through ebates (referral link) for 2% cash back!

So I guess the only thing I didn't get off my wishlist was a gingham shirt. No biggie because I got plenty! I just hope some of it fits! Ah, the risk of shopping online...

Are you taking advantage of any sales today?

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Day 16: The shortest weekend since...since...

2012-01-16T09:00:00.000-05:00

This past weekend seemed like the shortest weekend since...since...since before our son, J, was born. I mean, when you're the only source of entertainment for a little person with a really short attention span, time passes kinda slowly. But J's almost 18 months old, and recently he's been playing more independently. Some of his favorite activities include playing with Mega Blocks, playing with the puppy (Jasper), and carrying bottles between the kitchen and dining room. I can actually just sit back and watch. It's so much easier than having to carry him from room to room, upstairs, downstairs. And so much less tiring than bending down to support him as he went from room to room, upstairs, downstairs.

Also, it's amazing how engaged he is with his environment now! Before it'd be hard even to take him out because he wasn't really all that interested in the world. Again, we'd be his only entertainment. And of course he wouldn't be allowed to crawl around, so you could imagine how bored he was just sitting in his stroller and/or in our arms. I'm still not sure how we got through the hour wait at the department of motor vehicles a few months ago.

So now, we just need to brainstorm more ideas for weekend activities besides the play area at the mall. Luckily, we're around a lot of museums and a lot of them free. Woo! I'm just looking forward to warmer weather since being outside at the playground is one of my favorite weekend activities!

What do you like to do with your kids on the weekend?

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Day 15: The Asian squat

2012-01-15T11:30:00.000-05:00

Last week, on my photography blog capturng.com, I posted a photo of J and titled it "Asian squat". What is the Asian squat, you ask? It's when you can squat with both feet flat on the ground and hold that position for hours at a time. Yea, I said hours. Both images of my boy, J, were taken as part of a 366-photo project at my photography blog, capturng.com. I'm also posting images to Flickr, if you have an account. He's a really good Asian-squatter, isn't he? And I was worried about his development! I mean, and I was not worried about his development *wink*!

I rummaged through some old family photos to see if any one else in our family is a good Asian-squatter. I only found one. I was sure I'd find some Taiwanese cousins, but I must have left those pictures with my mom.

I'm on the left, and my sister's on the right. She's not doing a very good job though. See her knee touching the floor? She's got a lot practicing to do. Plus, look at the spread in those toes! Cheater.

I bet the daycare teachers find the Asian squat very odd. I use it a lot when dropping my son off. It's good for getting down to his level to take his jacket off, put away his things in his cubby, and to receive my farewell hug and kiss. I'm usually pretty balanced, unless I'm wearing a heel. Then maybe I take J down with me as I fall in slow motion. It's ok. We're low to the ground already anyways.

Try the Asian squat. You'll find it very useful!

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Day 14: Why I'm no longer concerned about milestons

2012-01-14T11:00:00.000-05:00

Before every one of my son's wellness checkups, I'd read the relevant chapter in What to Expect making sure that at least he was reaching the "should" milestone and maybe even reaching the "maybe" milestone. He was always behind. Future J, thank goodness you haven't let this define you!

Rolling over at 3 months. Nope.
Playing peekaboo at 6 months. Nope.
Crawling at 6 months. Nope.
Talking at 6 months. Nope.
Walking at 12 months. Nope.

Since I don't have my book with me at all times, I used this list of milestones.

I went OCD trying to help my son rollover when the doc sounded concerned at his 6-month checkup. Every chance we got, he was on his tummy. He still didn't rollover until he was close to 9 months -- when his body told him it was time. No biggie, right? It's not like he wasn't sitting up or anything by then.

Next milestone I fretted over - walking. Everyone in my son's daycare class was walking by the time we started going. Don't get me wrong, he was a very good and fast crawler. He also had his own three-legged gangsta crawl. At his 12-month check up, the doc wasn't too concerned about him not walking, but at 15-months, he gave us the number to Infants and Toddlers.

I wasn't going to call except that the teacher at daycare told me a sad story. She said that when all the kids are running to the door to go outside and play, J's crawling behind them, protesting, because he doesn't want to be left behind. *Cue tears*

I called Infants and Toddlers and a few weeks later, my son was toddling around. Ironic, no?

These days, my son wants to walk everywhere...and on his own...no hand-holding. He also likes to run sometimes!

So hopefully I've learned my lesson and will stop comparing my son's development to what's considered "normal". He'll do what he wants to do when he can/wants to do it. Gosh, I hope I can remember this because the next big thing is going to be potty-training!!!!!!

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Day 13: Goin' shoppin'

2012-01-13T07:00:00.000-05:00

I recently tweeted how awesome it'd be if my hubby and I both had off of work, but our daycare was still open. He said he'd play WOW and I'd go shopping. Don't judge us! We love spending time with our awesome boy, but sometimes Mom and Dad need a day off! Can I get an "amen"?

Well, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is coming up, and lo-and-behold, our daycare is actually open! I'm surprised considering they have in-service days, half-days for Parent-Teacher Conferences, two weeks off for Winter Break, and a week off for Spring Break...but that's my only complaint because otherwise I love them!

So, as promised in my tweet (follow me on Twitter), I'm goin' shopping!

I am currently obsessed with cable knit sweaters and gingham as worn by Extra Petite, Alterations Needed, Petite Little Girl.

J. Crew Honeycomb cable sweater | Gap Gingham Shirt | Gap 1969 Lightweight Real Straight Jeans

Other options are:

Crewcuts Girl's Mohair Cable Popover, as seen on Extra Petite
H&M gingham shirt, as seen also on Extra Petite.

What would you do with a day all to yourself?

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Day 12: The lies they tell expectant moms about sleep

2012-01-12T08:38:00.000-05:00

[Source: Learn Something Everyday]

It's every new expectant mom's rite-of-passage to read a lot books like What to Expect, subscribe to Parents magazine, and gather lots and lots of advice from mommies...at least I did. Besides how many diapers and onesies will I need?, the other questions I had were related to sleep.

How much will my baby sleep? How do I get him to sleep? Do I let him cry himself to sleep? When can I expect to get eight hours of uninterrupted sleep? I know...selfish! And according to What to Expect, if my objective after having a baby was to get him to sleep through the night, I ~~shouldn't be~~ should rethink why I'm having a baby. Uh-oh.

Anyways, I let that particular comment go. Because, very much like that comment, many things that books and magazines and even *gasp* moms tell you about sleep are...wait for it...lies! Ok, maybe not lies but certainly not-always-applicable truths! Let me try to put into one paragraph the lies I was told.

--- If your baby won't go to sleep on his own, try to have as little physical contact with him as possible. Try speaking to him first, then maybe patting his back. If all else fails, you may rock him, but only for the minimum amount of time necessary because if you coddle him too much, he'll never learn to sleep on his own, have sleep issues into his childhood and even into adulthood. He won't survive college (because he can't fall asleep of course) and will move back home with you, where you'll have to rock him to sleep every night. ---

Oh my goodness, I was sooo afraid to coddle my son too much! I talked to him -- no luck. I patted his back -- no luck, especially when he's supposed to sleep on his back! I rocked him for 5 min., let him cry for 5 min. Repeat rinse repeat. No luck!

Sleep-deprived and out of options, I weighed my alternatives. I certainly don't want my son to have sleep issues into adulthood...But I really want him (and me!) to get some much needed sleep...So, I'm just going to rock him as long as needed, and if that doesn't work, I'm going to hold him. I just knew that I'd regret these decisions -- he's going to be 30 years old and still need me to rock him to sleep!

Well, ya know what?! Even after all those combined hours of rocking and coddling, he's been falling asleep on his own pretty well starting around 5 or 6 months. There are times, of course, when he still needs a few hugs at 18 months. And we've been known to sit in the rocking chair sometimes as he tries to fall asleep. When he wakes up in the middle of the night because of nightmares or teething, we do go in and rock him a bit.

But you know what?! I enjoy it most of the time. Sometimes, I just him to hit the sack immediately. I've had a long day and don't have the patience for rocking, singing, and waiting! I enjoy the times I need to soothe him because he rests his tiny head on my shoulder, wraps his arms around me, breathes in and out so deeply -- it's just all so heartwarming. Usually, he'll have "enough" of all the coddling, lean towards his crib, and I'll know he's ready to go back to bed. So it seems like no harm, no foul! Whew!

I know every child is different, and maybe I just got lucky, but I just think that some advice is given with these warnings that are way too exaggerated! I mean that stuff about sleep issues into his college years, I actually read somewhere! So, expectant moms:

Take all advice with a grain of salt!
Follow your instincts and your heart!
Get your baby (and yourself) to sleep anyway you want/can!

P.S. The only advice I really take is try never to wake a sleepy baby! Show some love. Leave a comment below
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Day 11: Boost your readership some more!

2012-01-11T14:00:00.000-05:00

Last November (2011), I participated in blogroll for the event, and I received an all-time high of 146 pageviews! That may not sound like a lot, but hey, it was only like in the "tens" before, so 146 was a big deal for me!

So that's my first word of advice to boost your readership beyond posting RSS and email subscription links to your blog. Post your blog to other sites like BlogHer (for women), which gets many more pageviews that me! BlogHer agrees, by the way! Post your January posts on BlogHer now (which I need to remember to do too!)

After you've boosted your presence, be sure to post to social networking sites. Like I said in my last post, you can automatically tweet your posts and post them to Facebook (or do it "manually" like I do). When you tweet, be sure to add hashtags to your tweet so that people can search that hastag (or aka category) and hopefully find your blog!

Another great way to make your presence known is to read other blogs, perhaps those that blog about similar issues (or not), and build relationships with them! Follow them on Google Friend Connect, Twitter, Facebook, and whatever they're using! Then, read their posts and comment -- interact! It's always fun to meet new people who have similar interests to you. I used to scoff at online dating but look at me now, I'm online friending!

Lastly, a great gadget/widget to add to your site is from Link Within. At the bottom of all my posts, you'll see thumbnails of posts "You might also like:" -- that widget was created by Link Within. They have widgets for Blogger, TypePad, and WordPress (self-hosted). The "Other" option may just give you code that you have to insert somewhere. Glad I have Blogger! Anyways, the Link Within widget encourages readers to click through older posts that they may otherwise not have clicked to using your "archives", "labels/tags", or search engine.

In summary, to increase your readership, my advice was:

Cross-post to sites like BlogHer.
Utilize social networking! Post to Twitter and use hastags! Post to Facebook and include a thumbnail. People love visuals!
Read others' blogs and interact with them!
Install Link Within on your site to encourage people to click to other posts. Hopefully they'll want to subscribe and interact with you!

Again, hopefully this helps and hopefully you'll boost your readership and help boost mine! Happy blogging!

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Day 10: Publicizing your blog

2012-01-10T18:00:00.000-05:00

For me, the way I've improved my blog is by reading other blogs. The really good ones have the following features:

Great & relevant content

Great visuals -- whether in posts, e.g. photos or images

Good blog layout, easy to use

New blog posts regularly

Here are three blogs I draw inspiration from:

A Cup of Jo by Joanna Goddard hosted on Blogger. I love the simplicity and elegance of her posts. They all follow the same format. She finds the most incredible fashionable things around the web. She also blogs about her family and cute son, Toby.

Extra Petite by Jean hosted on Blogger. Her content is always relevant to petite clothing/fashion. Her photos are beautiful. Her blog layout is clean and easy to use.

From Me to You by Jamie hosted on tumblr. I love the graphics on this blog. Her photos are also gorgeous!

Ok, now onto the nitty gritty technical details of...

Expanding readership

How to "burn" your feed (or blog url) so that people can subscribe to new posts using an RSS reader (I use Google Feedburner) -- Read more about feeds and RSS
Other things to do in Feedburner: allow people to subscribe by email -- automatically add links like "email this" or "share on facebook" to the bottom of your feeds -- automatically tweet your posts
Automatically share posts on Facebook

Of course, this is only one way to do all of these things. I decided to use Google products because it puts everything in one place -- easy peesy. If you have comments or other suggestions, please share them in the comments below or email me.

I originally wanted to record a video of my computer/screen clicks, so that the following steps might be more tolerable, but I gave up -- the recordings were messed up. So here it goes.

Allowing people to easily subscribe to your blog
If you use Blogger, you can easily add RSS and Email Subscription "gadgets", as they call 'em:

Go to your dashboard, choose your blog, and then go to "Layout".
Click on "Add a Gadget".
Select "Subscription Links".
To add Email Subscription link, select "Follow by Email".
Presto, you're done! "View blog" to see the results, and go to your Layout to move the gadgets around.
Click to enlarge

The funny thing about the Email Subscriptions link is that you have to activate it first in a feed burner service. Well, at least I had to. I use Google Feedburner because it's got all I need in one place, plus, I heart Google products.

Log-in to Google Feedburner. Your blog's feed will already be listed if you're using Blogger. Click on your blog name. If you don't use Blogger (or if your blog name isn't showing up), enter your blog's url. Choose either "RSS" or "Atom" (format decision. I chose RSS because I feel that format is more common). Keep clicking "Next" until you get to the "Congrats!" screen.
Your feed url can be found under "Edit feed details" at the top. You can edit your feed's url (if name is available). Be sure to press "Save"!
To allow people to subscribe to your blog by email, click on the "Publicize" tab on the top.
On the left menu, click "Email subscriptions" and activate it.
Now the email form already on your blog should work! FeedBurner also has its own Blogger widgets. Test them out, you can always remove them later!
Lastly, you can also activate the "Ping Shot" so that FeedBurner will update your feed in almost real-time. Otherwise, FeedBurner checks every 30 min. or so for a new post.
UPDATE: On the "Optimize" tab on top, click on FeedFlare. You can automatically add links like "Email this" and "Share on Facebook" that will appear at the bottom of your feeds. It will make it that much easier for readers to share them!

Tweet your blog posts and post them to Facebook ...automatically!

To automatically tweet your posts, activate on "Socialize" in FeedBurner. Link your Twitter account. Whenever you publish a new post, it'll tweet about it too!
To automatically tweet your posts to Facebook, just log in to Twitter. Under "Profile", link your Facebook account.
And voila, all done!

Since I drafted this post, I stopped using the automatic tweet and Facebook options for the following reasons:

FeedBurner allows you to either add words to the beginning or end of your tweet. For example, I could add "New blog post!" to the beginning of each tweet (which would be my post title and url) or add hashtags to end of each tweet. But I wanted both, so I'll just tweet posts myself. Plus, I can customize each post's hashtags. I just recently learned what a hashtag does!
I like to include a thumbnail when I post to Facebook, which Twitter can't do.

Like I said before, these suggestions are only my way of doing things. You may have other and probably better ones, so please share so I can blog better :)! Since this post is rather long, I'll share additional ways to expand blog readership next time.

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Day 9 : The answer to "what's that smell?" is "I have an 18-month-old"

2012-01-09T08:00:00.000-05:00

They say that the sense of smell is heightened in pregnant women, which is why some of them are constantly fighting their gag reflex. Lucky me, my sense of smell is heightened all the time! It must be because I have impeccable taste (*cue cheesy drum roll*) (if you don't get my joke, too bad, I made myself ROLF anyways *wink*).

Back to the question that'll forever be asked (whether out-loud or silently) of passengers in my car...

What is that smell?

Now, I can't blame it entirely on J -- my almost 18-month-old -- because it's not his fault. He was sick. But it only takes one "situation" for that smell to forever impregnate the interior of a car. No matter how hard you try, you're going to miss a spot on the carpet, upholstery, and/or car seat (seriously, how many nooks and crannies are in this thing? I really don't want to ~~make my husband~~ uninstall it and take it apart to clean it).

So, currently, my car smells like:

Lysol dual-action wipes | Resolve carpet cleaner | Febreze
Plus, I believe, oatmeal, milk and goldfish crackers

By the way, the Lysol dual-action wipes were great because one side of the wipes is rough (has "teeth"), which was good for trying to dig out what's encrusted into the nooks and crannies of the carseat's safety belt. Gosh, why can't they be smooth, like the belts they use in cars? Is there another industry for making child safety belts/harnesses? Did they all decide that the belts have to be grooved and thus harder to clean? Thanks so much!

Anyways, even though I'll be knocked senseless every morning by the mixture of smells, because of my impeccable sense of taste *wink*, I'll get used to it within a minute. Isn't the nose/brain both amazing and kinda easily fooled?

Making a paste of baking soda and water
is too many steps, even if it'd help. So...
Please only share your easy suggestions
for getting that smell out of my car ;).

Day 8: Parents brag-plaining

2012-01-08T09:00:00.000-05:00

What's brag-plaining, you ask? It's when someone is speaking in a complaining tone but actually bragging at the same time. And anyone can do it, not just parents.

Wired Momma listed 8 pretty hilarious parenting brag-plains (this only a partial list):

1. Why can’t my kids ever sleep until 8AM?
I would always complain that J only slept until 5:30am or 6:00am, but then I read what Wired Momma wrote, and I felt bad -- there are kids out there that only sleep until 4:30am!? And I'm talking about after a kid is sleeping through the night, like mine at 10 months, not sleeping until 6:00am at 6 months or anything.

The next two aren't really brag-plaining, but still annoying to hear ;).

7. I’d like to think my attentive parenting is the reason Annie never throws a tantrum.
Oh, I'm certainly attentive. At 17 months, I know what sets J off into a tantrum -- don't touch that, don't play with that, don't go there, don't don't don't. You'd be annoyed too, right? If your kid doesn't throw a tantrum, congrats because he/she is just pushing it off until he/she's older *wink*. Psych. I don't know.

8. Little Sarah is just so advanced. Of course, we read to her every night, play puzzles and never let her watch TV.
Sometimes I buy into the whole "TV is bad for kids after 2" research. Sometimes I remember back to my childhood and how much TV I used to watch -- I turned out fine. So I'm going to try not to feel guilty if I let J watch Sesame Street for a few minutes, or if he wants to YouTube his favorite songs again. You should see the size of the smile that comes on his face when we watch Hot Potato or Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. You should also see the tantrum/tears that start when we have to pull him away from it!

Alright, so maybe I'm a bit cynical. You can't stop parents from bragging about their kids! I do it. I know!

But sometimes the awesome Facebook posts and the I-love-being-a-new-mom posts in the blogosphere are just reminders of how surprisingly extreme parenting has been for me -- high highs and low lows. Though one wise parent pointed out to me that bragging about the positives of parenting is good for the survival of the species. Imagine if all we ever heard were complaints, we'd certainly stop procreating! I know I was duped *wink* -- nah, just kidding, I wouldn't trade being mom to J for the world!

Though please stop me if I ever start brag-plaining or bragging too much! I'm trying to keep a real picture of parenting here!

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Day 7: Hopefully it's a short-lived stomach virus

2012-01-07T14:03:00.000-05:00

For those with a weak stomach, feel free to click-away from this post ;).

J, my 17-month old, threw up twice yesterday -- once on the way to daycare. Great, now we're never going to get that smell out! So I cleaned him up when we got to daycare -- changed his clothes, gave his jacket a rinse in the sink -- meanwhile, one of the teachers whispers to me There's a stomach virus going around. Yesterday, so-and-so had diarrhea...so I'm just telling you...we'll call you if anything happens.

GREAT! Right after J gets over his sinus infection, another illness comes right along to take its place. I just knew that I'd be receiving a phone call from daycare later that day. I did.

I spent the rest of the day slowly giving J water, which he threw up half hour later. I also gave him yogurt, which he threw up an hour later. And that night, he threw up again. It's a good thing we have a good supply of sheets and SleepSacks.

Luckily, he seems to be doing better this morning. He's keeping down milk, water, Cheerios, rice and potatotes. He's napping right now, and I'm hoping he doesn't throw up and we can all get some rest! I mean, look at this face! I wish I looked this good with a stomach virus. I feel a bit queasy, but I was sure to wash my hands a lot yesterday and today so hopefully I stay well.

via Instagr.am (lisacng)

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Day 6: Life-lessons from Dr. Seuss

2012-01-06T12:30:00.000-05:00

The only Dr. Seuss book I've really read is probably Green Eggs and Sam.

I will not eat them in boat. I will not eat them with a goat.
I will not eat them here nor there. I will not eat them anywhere.
I will not eat green eggs and ham. I will not eat them, Sam I am.

Ok, so I may have ~~made up~~ paraphrased…

Anyways, we were at a local church's yard sale and picked up J's first Dr. Seuss book and it wasn't Green Eggs and Ham. Wah wah wa.

Oh, the Places You'll Go!

Have you read it? I was surprised by the poignant lessons in it...

that Bang-ups and Hang-ups can happen to you...

Except when they {referring to good things} don't. Because, sometimes they won't

What a great book! It teaches that yes, the "world is your oyster" but sometimes it won't give you pearls. And that's ok because...

Step with care and great tact and remember that Life's a Great Balancing Act.

If this book makes it through J's childhood, meaning it's not ripped to shreds, I'm going give it to him for his high school graduation...not that I'm thinking about that day already now or anything.

Any lessons in children's books you were surprised to find?

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Day 5: Work-life balance schmalance

2012-01-05T18:00:00.000-05:00

I was in graduate school when "work-life balance" entered my vocabulary. I'm sure I'd heard it before, but it wasn't until I was married (and wanting kids sometime in the future) that I paid attention to the phrase. As such, anytime I was on a panel with other female engineers/researchers speaking to a group of young women, the topic of "work-life balance" always came up. We would say things like:

Work-life balance means not having to do it all. It's ok to ask for help.
Work-life balance means having a helpful and supportive significant other.
Work-life balance means working with your schedule so that you have time for xyz.

Sounds easy, right? Sounds doable...

But then I read a series of posts from A Cup Of Jo. She interviewed a few moms, who work full/part-time from home and have young children, about work-life balance. They all seemed to take the last piece of advice above about rearranging their schedule for xyz. Only one mom, I think (I didn't get a chance to read all of them again), mentioned making sacrifices in her life, which brings me to a fairly recent article about the misnomer, "work-life balance".

Believing that work-life balance is possible promotes one thing: self-flagellation...When asked to self-score themselves as parents, on a scale of 1-10, a mere 28% of full-time working moms gave themselves a score of 9 or 10. 41% of part-time working moms gave themselves a 9 or 10 and 43% of at-home moms gave themselves a 9 or 10.

On the path to raising good, decent, law-abiding and respectful children, why do we perpetuate this expectation of parenting perfection instead of accepting good enough -- and being proud of what we do accomplish?

...there are choices and those choices have consequences...Own your choice, accept that on some days it might not be great for your kids...but you might enjoy your career. And in other weeks, your career might be compromised but your children's needs aren't.

Isn't it not surprising that moms who work full-time (outside the home, presumably) ranked themselves lower as parents than stay-at-home moms? It's also a shame because no matter where you work, or what you do, you are the best parent that your child has!

So for all you moms and dads out there, remember that "work-life balance" is a misnomer. You can't give 100% of your time to both work and family -- you only have 100% of your time, right? Like the article says, you're going to have to make sacrifices in one area or another. One area will hurt today and another area will hurt tomorrow, and that's ok, that's normal. So just go out there, and do your best in "work" and "life". Don't compare yourself to other parents. And above all, enjoy yourself 100% of the time!

As a test, rank yourself as a parent below -- anonymously, of course! Hopefully, we're all 9s or 10s!

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Day 4: Starting a blog

2012-01-04T12:00:00.000-05:00

I started this blog because I wanted to document my pregnancy for my family and friends. Then, I wanted to document J's growth from infant to toddler and now beyond. I can't even imagine what I'll be writing a year from now, let alone 5 or 10 years from now! I can't even imagine what J will think of this blog if he ever reads it. Hopefully I haven't blogged anything too embarrassing!

Now that the blog's a little over 2 years old, I thought I'd share some thoughts on blogging, for those of you who may want to start your own or expand on what you've already got. Please share your thoughts in the comments below.

What to blog?
This is probably the toughest question that I still am trying to answer for expandng.com. Like I said, the blog was first of all, documentary. But now, I am considering the following questions:

What audience do I want to reach, if any?
Should I consider changing the style of my writing? Funny? Informative? Currently, I'm mostly just blabbering.
Should I consider narrowing the focus of my content? For instance, I was dabbling in shopping deals for a bit, but then realized that others do it much better, so I stopped.
Do I want to make money from this blog? Personally, it wouldn't matter since I work outside the home full-time (and I don't have many pageviews). But if you want to monetize your blog, read this post from the Feminine Breeder about her blog's earnings.

Where to blog?

The options are ever-growing! This is Blogger, which is a Google product. I find that the blog templates are easy to customize without any knowledge of html or CSS.

I've also tried the free version of WordPress.com. They also have a self-hosted version over at WordPress.org. I found the free blog templates not as easy to customize. You can certainly customize your template with the self-hosted version (meaning you buy space monthly/yearly from another party such as BlueHost).

What I did like about WordPress was that you could tag your blog/posts so that other WordPress users could find your blog under that particular tag. So if I tagged my blog "momblog", other mom-bloggers could find me and vice versa. tumblr has this feature too.

Other places for your blog are tumblr and TypePad (I haven't tried these) to name two off the top of my head. Here's a list compiled in 2009. You can tell because Xanga is on the list -- oh, I used to have one of those!

Your own domain?
If you use free Blogger or WordPress, your domain will look like yourblogname.blogspot.com or yourblogname.wordpress.com.

There are good reasons to purchase your own domain -- yourblogname.com/org/net/etc. -- like if you're a business and .blogspot or .wordpress may just say to clients that you aren't serious about your business.

My reason for purchasing my own domain was just because I wanted to -- and it wasn't that expensive. I got expandng.com from Register.com for $5 (first year) and capturng.com from Network Solutions also for $5 (first year).

Self-hosted?
Let's say you purchase your own domain name, you can self-host it (i.e., create your blog from scratch -- I couldn’t even imagine doing that!), self-host and use WordPress's software (or similar product for other hosting sites), or continue using Blogger (or tumblr) and just direct your domain name there (my choice).

If you self-host, you have the advantage of choosing the storage limit (for a fee) for whatever files you may want to share via your blog -- pictures, forms, html files. I am limited to the storage capacity of say, Picasa, for the pictures I post on my blogs.

Hope these four questions were helpful to anyone starting or wants to start blogging or has a "new" blog like me! Later this week, I'd also like to share some tools/steps/tips that have helped me publicize this blog.

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Happy 2012!

2012-01-04T10:30:00.003-05:00

In this New Year of 2012, I'll be joining L in her adventure of building our virtual home - expandng.com. For those who don't know me, I am L's significant other, commonly referred as "A" (Yes I am just "A", like in the movie Men In Black, just the first letter), and if you have been following L's blog in these past few years, you're in for a treat, because I am officially invading this "woman's cave" and gonna give this place some masculinity. "Muah-hahahahaha"

Silliness aside, coming back to work after the New Year always consist of a bunch of chit-chat with the co-workers about how your holiday went. This great conversation starter always starts with "Hey! How's the holiday, did you have a good break?"

Though this year whenever I get asked this question I actually had a new, mixed feelings. See, before we had J, my response is always "Oh it was fantastic, we got together with the family, saw some friends, ate like a pig and sleep till 10am everyday." And now with the little one, things had dramatically changed. We wake up early for J, and better yet, he's keeping us on our toes for the remainder of the day and we became his entertainment, so it was actually quite stressful. This usually involves reading his favorite Mother Goose book 10 billion times or playing that same music tune from one of his toys.

Then the inevitable question came to mind - Am I a bad parent? Why aren't I "enjoying" this? To be honest, as a new parent I just came to learn about this new feeling (yes, men have feeelings ladies! We just too cool to admit it) It is the fact that being a parent is a bittersweet thing. It has now gives me new insight when people say "I really enjoy watching my son/daughter grow".

See before I was a parent, that statement was simply what it states - watching his/her kid grow and changes. How fascinating, right? Now I am a parent, that statement actually starts to click with me. Watching your son/daughter grow is actually the fruit of the labor. In reality, this fruit actually takes A LOT of hard work and it involves many sleepless nights, stress, tears...etc. Ultimately, you help shape and mold your child and it will take work and dedication.

So, I guess my "enjoyment" for holidays has been redefined. I am thankful that it gave us an opportunity to spend more time with J and caught a glimpse of what our fruit will turn out to be. I should also thank J for helping us learned a lot about our strength and weakness, and teaching us patiences and perseverance.

Anyway, one day when you're able to read this blog J, just know this - Mommy and Daddy loves you, always.

Happy 2012 everyone!

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Day 3: Life lessons from my toddler

2012-01-03T17:30:00.000-05:00

Parents.com talks about 8 life lessons we parents can learn from our toddlers. Below are the 5 that resonated with me, and one more I'm learning right now.

1. Have patience -- don't give up!

The most memorable success in the behavior department is stopping J from throwing food on the floor. We repeated, repeated, repeated, and it finally sunk in though he does regress from time to time. We're still having trouble getting him in the carseat though, and I'm (and others are) still open to advice/suggestions from you!

2 and 3. Imperfection is ok & always have perspective.

I've already come to accept that the house won't be perfectly clean or organized though there are some messes that my husband and I just have to clean up!

4. Don't judge other parents.

Come on, confess, wasn't this so easy to do when you didn't have children? I won't do that when I have kids. Check out what Crappy Pictures has to say about this. Well, I don't think I've judged others' parenting styles when it comes to children, but sure have when it comes to dogs! Haha!

5. Always set a good example.

I have to be careful of this one, considering J's going to start imitating everything we do and say pretty soon. Especially not to lose my temper.

And this one I've added...
9. ~~Sometimes~~ Most of the time, my toddler knows what he needs right now.

J's been sick with a sinus infection. His appetite is poor (or is it he's pickier now?!) but he sleeps great -- 3 hrs in the afternoon, sleeps past 7am though he's been waking up in the middle of the night, boo! Naturally, I'm concerned that he's not eating enough and that he's sleeping too much as if any parent should be complaining about this, right? But what I'm learning from J is that he knows what he needs right now and that's more sleep, less eat so you can chill out, Mom!

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Day 2: Recap of NYE in National Harbor, MD

2012-01-02T21:44:00.000-05:00

Happy 2012 again!
Thanks to everyone who's been following our family on this blog.

Hope you'll continue reading & sharing!

[source: Gaylord Hotels]

On New Year's Eve (NYE), we decided to go down to National Harbor, MD since a few people in our lives have mentioned this place and I always think they're talking about Baltimore's Inner Harbor -- doh! Having only perused their homepage for a few minutes, I came to two conclusions:

The National Harbor is what Penn's Landing (Philadelphia, PA) wants to be when it grows up.
I figured that we'd check out the National Children's Museum Launch Zone and the Gaylord National Hotel & Convention Center since the ICE! exhibit was going on.

[source: Gaylord Hotels]

The National Harbor would have been a nice place to walk around in mid-morning on NYE -- what was it, like 50F? Too bad we had to be at home. The blower on our heat pump needed replacing, which was important since the temperature has since dropped outside. Needless to say, I'm eagerly waiting for warmer weather so we can go back!

We only got to go to the Gaylord because the Launch Zone was closed. Upon seeing the crowd inside and the line that wrapped around the entire length of the lobby, I thought to myself, Wow, this Gaylord must be a big deal!

[inside the Gaylord, taken by the hubby]

We visited the lower level where the "streets" were decorated with lights and garland. J's favorite part was the water show. We saw kids building gingerbread houses and taking pictures with the gingerbread man from Shrek. Cute, but for $79?! We did not go to the ICE! exhibit because it was $35 for adults! WHAT?! I'm guessing that ice-slide up there also costs extra. Pictures with the Madagascar characters also extra.

[watching the water show]

[enjoying the water show with daddy]

Man, really taking those parents' hard-earned dollars, huh, Gaylord?

Later that evening, the hubby and I watched Rise of the Planet of the Apes courtesy of Blockbuster Express. I can't believe I stayed up until midnight after all!

How did you and the family spend NYE?

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Day 1: It's Sunday

2012-01-01T13:30:00.000-05:00

Happy 2012 EVERYONE!

Today is Sunday, and guess where we went? To church (Journey's Crossing in Germantown, MD), oh yea. Check that off my NYR list for today :). See my progress on left sidebar. Please don't tell me that going to church shouldn't be an item that one checks off her list because that's bordering legalism because you have to start somewhere right? Plan to fail, fail to plan, you know the ol' adage.

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Tracking my NYRs (new year's resolutions)

2011-12-30T07:30:00.000-05:00

I Googled and tried out a few online goal-tracking tools. I really like the fancy ones at LifeTick.com. They even have apps for your iPhone or Android devices! The only thing is, the FREE version only allows you to track FOUR goals (for $20/yr you can track unlimited goals). I found a simpler, no-frills one, but let me talk about LifeTick.com first.

First, you create "Core values". I created four: faith, health, family, and hobbies to correspond roughly with my list of NYRs (new year's resolutions).

After you're finished entering Core values, you are directed to the next screen so you can list specific goals related to each core value. Here are my limited four -- you see the goal name, progress (and how many you want to accomplish), as well as the due date.

When you first "Create a goal", the following screen pops up -- you enter the "task" in the first box. Click on the calendar icon next to the second box, and then click the "recurring" option towards the bottom of the pop-up.

You can choose the start date, how often you want the task to repeat, and when you want the task to end.

The last box is how often you want a reminder sent to you about the task.

Easy and beautiful! There are enough nice reports/stats that it generates, but only for paid users. Boo!

Now, onto the free, no-frills goal-tracker, Joe's Goals.

This is the initial screen:

Choose to create a "Goal" or "Logbook". Creating a "Goal" let's you check-off when you've completed a task for a day. Creating a "Logbook" let's you write-in notes for each task each day.

Click on the Goal link and the following screen pops up. Enter the goal name, tags (which are like Core values at LifeTick.com), how important the goal is, whether it's a positive or negative goal, the days you want, and what stats to show.

For a Logbook, enter the goal name, tags, and the days you want.

Click on a day to add notes to a Logbook.

Click on a day to add a smiley (or frown) to a Goal.

No frills, right?! Here are my trackable NYRs (all are Goal types):

You can put a badge on your blog/website tracking your "points":

I've got a score of +2 for 12/28 and 12/29.

Hopefully you find these tools useful! I may consider paying for LifeTick.com because it is so fancy *wink*.

Do you use either LifeTick.com or Joe's Goals?

Suggest others in the comments below!

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testing feed (again!)

2011-12-29T09:29:00.001-05:00

This is a test of the feed service I'm using. If this were an actual post, there'd be content that'd be mildly, if not really, interesting. Again, this is only a test. Happy Thursday!

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testing feed

2011-12-29T09:01:00.003-05:00

This is a test of the feed service I'm using. If this were an actual post, there'd be content that'd be mildly, if not really, interesting. Again, this is only a test. Happy Thursday!
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New Year's Resolutions (NYR) (are you cynical already?)

2011-12-29T06:00:00.000-05:00

[source: Richard Wiseman, How to keep your NYR]

I've grouped my NYRs into several categories:

Achievable:

No more chips or fries.
Attending church every Sunday -- no matter what
Attending small group -- building relationships
Reading the Bible and praying everyday
Date night with hubby at least once a month
Swim lessons for J -- and me too, I guess…
Going to the gym at least once a week (lower on the achievable list) -- so sad!

Lofty:

Blog here 365 days (actually 366 since 2012 is a leap year!)
Take a picture a day for capturng.com
Take a photography class
Lose 8 lbs. (pre-pregnancy weight)
Overseas trip with J (Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan?)
A short getaway for hubby and me...without J or the dogs!

Pff! I wish:

Learn to sew -- so I can alter my own clothes
Develop personal style -- I could definitely start a Pinterest board
Go on The Price is Right -- Drew Carey isn't as annoying as I thought he'd be when he first took over for Bob Barker
Go on the Wheel of Fortune
Get on The Amazing Race -- my friend said my sister & I would be hilarious on this show

It'll be interesting to see if I can cross these things off my list as I accomplish (or know I won't accomplish) them!

Please share your lists in the comments below!

Thanks, Amazon wishlist

2011-12-28T12:30:00.000-05:00

Thank you, Amazon wishlist for being there for others to use even when I've forgotten about you.

My sister (real-estate-agent-extraordinaire) went to the trouble of finding my "kids" wishlist on Amazon and got J....

Splashimals!

By Milliwik

$10.95 per set

By the power of adhesion, these cards stick to the bathroom wall and tube when wet. J isn't old enough to read but he sure loves to put these up and take them down! When he's old enough, he'll be able to create his own animal names, like penphant above. How about a liger (Napoleon Dynamite's favorite)?

What my A-type personality loves most about these cards is that all the drawings line up. The drawing of the left half of that penguin above will line up perfectly with the right half of the elephant. I tried it all different cards and they match every time. I appreciate the company's attention to detail.

Other variations available are:

SplashJack (slap jack for the tub $12.95)
SplashJack Royal (slap jack for the tub but with traditional card faces -- I actually thought it was poker! That wouldn't be kid-appropriate $12.95)
SumBodies (make your own characters $10.95)

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Advice for getting a screaming child into a carseat?

2011-12-28T09:20:00.001-05:00

Last time I told the story of how J turns into a rigid-stick-of-a-boy when I try to put him in his carseat after daycare. It must be because the car seat looks like this to him:

From Parenting. Illustrated with Crappy Pictures

P.S. If you're not reading Crappy Pictures, you're missing out!
She even has her own badge!
Click below:

Please leave your advice for getting J into a carseat below!

How much do you enjoy parenthood?

2011-12-25T08:00:00.000-05:00

Around 10:15am on at Saturday, we got in the car to have lunch with a friend in D.C. I already knew J was tired, so it was no surprise that he fell asleep in the car. My naiveté convinced me that he'd be ok even if we woke him up prematurely. Boy, was I wrong!

He was CRANKY! I mean, whining, crying, trying-to-climb-out-of-the-highchair CRANKY. Normally, I would agree with my husband to let him be, but we were in a fairly nice restaurant and I didn't want to be a bother and kicked out.

[source: MSNBC]

I was noticeably peeved at J's behavior. At one point, I took him to the entrance to try to calm him down, but no luck. Eventually, my husband took him outside and luckily found Playseum across the street to hang out in. By the way, this location is much nicer and larger than the one in Bethesda.

Once the two of them left, my friend asked me how I enjoy parenthood. At the peeved-moment, I said "60/40", which now sounds so sad - only a bit above 50/50?!

Now that I have had time to cool-down, realistically, I'd agree with my husband and say 70/30...even 80/20, but that's on average. Some days it's 100/0 and other days it's 1/99!

Anyways, another new year's resolution for me is to remember to enjoy all aspects of parenting -- the good and bad. Also, to do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that I may become blameless and pure, a child of God (Philippians 2:14-15 NIV).

So...

How much do you enjoy parenthood?

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'Twas the night before Christmas" Mommy version

2011-12-24T20:00:00.000-05:00

I like 'twas 'cause I'm old English on the inside *wink*

'Twas the night before Christmas and all through our home
Nothing was stirring, not even the iPhone

I intended to decorate, to hang lights and hang stockings
But those tasks came second to cleaning and resting
So our home, it does look like it does everyday
Hey! At least there are presents tucked somewhere away!

Our son's in his crib, no one's staying up late
Gosh, wouldn' it be nice if he slept until 8?

When all of a sudden, there arose such a clatter
I barely opened my eyes to turn down the baby monitor
Unfortunately for me, that wasn't it
Then my brained turned back on, "It must be St. Nick!"

Sure enough it was he, trying to be fancy
Backing his sleigh into visitor's parking
I got to the door, before he could ring
The doorbell that'd definitely start the dogs barking

He was dressed in faux fur, from his hat to his shoes
He had a Starbucks in hand, on the phone using bluetooth
He complained about traffic, "That dreaded 270!"
I said, "What'd you expect? People are still shopping!"

He came in and said, "No lights and no stockings?"
"COME ON!...
"Can we talk 'bout his later, perhaps by email or texting?"

I shushed him as he plopped his bag on the floor
Our son stirred a bit, overheard on the monitor
Soon St. Nick was done, out the door he went quickly
Instead of his sleigh, to next door he shimmied

When he was all done visiting our little street,
He got back in his sleigh, hurt were his feet
He had more homes to visit, DC metro is crowded
"Maybe next year I'll use UPS or FedEx it!"

"My GPS's been stolen! What a long night!"
Nevertheless…
I heard him exclaim, while he flew out of sight,

"Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!"

by expandng.com
Show some love. Leave a comment below and/or share this post using buttons below. P.S. Read this mom-version of the classic poem
with a sweet lesson for all moms at the end.

Mashed bananas

2011-12-23T08:00:00.000-05:00

We now know what J was doing when he held his hands together and rotated his trunk in this video...

Mashed banana in The Wiggles' "Hot Potato"

Last night, my husband and I broke into this song after dinner (we're officially dorks now), and the biggest smile came on J's face! He clapped and spun around a few times. It was so heartwarming, I teared up (yep, dork again).

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Spending $271 per child this Christmas?

2011-12-22T17:30:00.000-05:00

When I was growing up, I remember receiving ONE GIFT from my parents. When my sister and I were old enough, we also exchanged a SINGLE GIFT. So seriously, what is up with spending $200 per child these days?!

The survey results of Are your kids spoiled? on Parenting.com shows that:

Parents plan to spend an average of $271 per child on gifts this year, with a surprising one in eight spending between $300 and $400. Despite the tough times, 74% will spend the same amount or more than last year.

The drivers were guilt for not fulfilling their children's wishlists and keeping up with the Joneses. Speaking of wishlists, it was Target that came out with a toy book with checkboxes next to the toys. Really?

This year, we bought multiple gifts for J because we've been dragging our feet on toy-buying in general since J didn't play much with them anyway. Now that he's 17 months, I like him having more options to play with than electrical outlets *wink*.

We bought an American Plastic Toys My Very Own Kitchen Play Set (video of J playing with it here), a Mega Bloks Fill & Dump Wagon, and two toys for the diaper bag (Fisher-Price Stacking Blocks and Tomy Hide n Squeek Eggs). Total is not even close to $271.

Well, there is some good news from the survey:

Almost 4 out of 5 families make an effort to something to counteract the commercialism of the holiday and teach kids the importance of giving back. 70% of parents donate gifts or money to those less fortunate, and 16% volunteer as a family. 36% of families also encourage kids to spend their own money on gifts for others.

Did you hear about the anonymous donors paying off people's layaway accounts at Kmart around the country? The donors often wanted to payoff accounts for families with young children so they wouldn't have to "miss Christmas".

We need to give back to our community. And by "we", I mean my family too.

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Bugaboo Recalls

2011-12-22T13:38:00.001-05:00

The U. S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has issued recalls on two Bugaboo products:

Bugaboo Car Seat Adapter Recalled Due to Fall Hazard

If installed facing forward direction, the baby seat can fall off the stroller frame.

Bugaboo Bee Strollers Recalled Due to Fall Hazard

The front wheels may lock while stroller is in motion, causing stroller to tip over.

Follow the links to get replacement or service kits.

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Giveaway from A Thrifty Mom: Ultimate Date Night Finale

2011-12-22T12:35:00.001-05:00

Enter here --> Giveaway Ultimate Date Night Finale
$25 Regal Gift Card + $30 Olive Garden Gift Card!

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9 things not to say to your child (I confess I've said some of them)

2011-12-20T17:30:00.000-05:00

Read original article on Parenting.com

Don’t bother me. Instead, tell them why you can't attend to them right this moment.
You're such a ____. Meaning, don't label them.
Don't cry. Instead, address their specific feeling.
Why can't you be more like ____. Instead, focus on their accomplishments.
You know better than that. Hey, maybe they actually don't. Make it an opportunity to reinforce something.
Stop or else ____. Instead, focus on positive reinforcement.
Wait until Mommy/Daddy gets home. Instead, address the matter immediately.
Hurry up! Instead, find calmer ways to speed things up.
Great job or Good boy/girl! Surprised by this? Actually, this positive reinforcement is good as long as it is specific to something he/she said/did/etc.

Confession. I've said to J:

Don't bother me, especially at the middle or end of day when we're all particularly tired. I'm learning to tell him why I may need a few minutes/seconds of a break.
You know better than that. I should know better than this. J's only 17 months! He's going to need reminding every time that outlets are not toys.
Stop or else ____. Is counting to three any better? I should learn to redirect.
Hurry up! Boy, do I say this every morning. I'm learning to remain calm though.
Great job! I'm learning to praise him for specific things -- and being cute shouldn't be one of them because then he might connect his worthiness to his looks. I wonder if this is equally true for boys and girls...

What suggestions/confessions do you have?

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$10 off $25 purchase at Macy's today & tomorrow

2011-12-20T08:35:00.000-05:00

$10 off $25 purchase at Macy's today & tomorrow until 1pm, with exclusions of course. Go here to print your coupon! I have a two more things to buy today...

Family photos by A. E. Landes Photography

2011-12-19T23:06:00.000-05:00

Photo Card

View the entire collection of cards.

Right before my birthday dinner with my sister and brother-in-law (BIL), aka A. E. Landes Photography, he agreed to take some family photos for us before the sun set. We made it to the Gravelly Park near the Reagan National Airport. It's right by the Potomac River and where many people go to watch the planes take off. We made the card above using Shutterfly (shop through Ebates {referral link} and get 8% back). Unfortunately, we won't be able to get them out by Christmas so they'll be New Year's cards :).

J was in awe when the planes took off. The photo in the middle above is him watching the planes go by. The one below is 5 seconds later ;). Poor guy -- his knees knocked together out of fear!

Luckily, if Mommy or Daddy was near, J was ok.

Below are some other favorites from the shoot.

J enjoying sherbet at The Dairy Godmother

Thanks again to A. E. Landes Photography, D. C.-area photographer extraordinaire!
He also edited out a scratch on J's nose, so thanks!!
P.S. My husband got the impossible shot of Coco & Jasper both sitting AND looking at the camera!

J's first love

2011-12-19T17:30:00.000-05:00

[source]

Well, J's first love, after Mommy, Daddy, and Milk, of course…

During the parent-teacher conference at J's daycare, Ms. R told us the cutest story about J and his object-of-affection, M.

Of all the girls in his class, M is the only one that allows J to come near her. He loves to gently stroke her beautiful blond hair. They give each other hugs and kisses. He knows which is her cubby. He takes her fleece jacket out everyday to lie on it. When she leaves, he screams, "MmmmmmmMMMmmm" and is very upset. I have to admit, I'm a bit jealous!

This weekend, we met a little girl who also had blonde hair. He kept following substitute-M around. When he finally got close enough, he reached and put his chubby arms around her for a hug. She immediately put out her arms to block him and made a P-U face -- first rejection. It's ok. J bounced back.

*Sigh* Our little guy is growing up so fast!

When did your son/daughter start showing affection for a non-family member?

Use Google Alerts to find online deals

2011-12-16T15:46:00.000-05:00

If you're on the lookout for something, I'd recommend setting a Google Alert. It's not always timely, as in getting notifications as soon as a deal appears, but I haven't missed a deal so far. I've setup Google Alerts for "Pampers Gifts to Grow" so that I can collect free points in my Pampers account. With purchases and free codes online, I've racked up over 3,000 points. I was waiting for 3-in-1 bike, but their rewards keep changing...

What do you think of Google Alerts?

Stride Rite - not as expensive as I thought

2011-12-16T12:17:00.000-05:00

When I asked for advice on soft-soled shoes for J, people recommended Stride Rite and Robeez (free shipping on all orders today for delivery by 12/24 at both sites). I also got a recommendation for Shoe Train at the John Cabin Mall. Apparently, they are the BEST children's shoe store in the area with knowledgable staff and a great selection, especially for kids with specific foot-related needs.

For convenience's sake, my husband took J to Stride Rite and got a great deal! I love a deal!

I was all set to pay $30-$45 for a pair of their SRT Soft Motion shoes. But they were having a 50% off sale and my husband got 2 pairs for ~~$33~~ $40 (whoops, mistake)! I'm not sure if that sale was specific to that store since it was closing, or a recent promotion. Below are the shoes we got and love. J walks so well in them, as if he weren't wearing shoes at all! I'd highly recommend them!

SRT London

SRT Alec

I remember on Black Friday buying size 5 shoes for J. It's only been a month and he's already a 5.5 (and thus wearing a 6). CRAZY how fast their little feet grow. Plus, J has little "man tao" feet, meaning they resemble little Chinese bread buns -- so cute -- just want to eat them up :).

First time with non-family babysitter

2011-12-16T09:42:00.001-05:00

Last time my husband considered hiring a babysitter, my reaction was basically what?! you craazy. It was Valentine's Day. J was 8 months old. Luckily, my sister and BIL (brother-in-law) stepped up to the plate and stayed home with sleeping J while we went out for dinner.

Fast forward 10 months and my husband has an evening company partaaay tonight at some fancy smanshy country club that requires men wear jackets after 6pm. Not that we couldn't bring J, but he probably wouldn't have that much schmoozing with industry folk.

I wasn't looking forward to finding and interviewing lots of candidates on sites such as Care.com and SitterCity.com. Luckily for us, the PTO at J's daycare sent out a list of teachers that are available for babysitting! I guess we could have approached J's teacher ourselves, but we were afraid we'd be stepping on the school's toes or whatever.

Soooo....tonight we are leaving J with his first non-family babysitter.

So, I hope he eats dinner, and plays nicely, and can fall asleep without either one of us being the one to get him to bed....I'm sure he'll be fine since he knows this teacher -- she's right next door and apparently he loves to play with her hair and sit in her lap when it's time to read a book. Aw!

Hope everyone -- me, my husband, and J -- will have fun tonight!

[Video] Walking + what kind of shoes should he wear?

2011-12-12T22:59:00.000-05:00

Here is J taking some steps, though not his "first", just the "first on camera". As you can see, every time I whip the cameraphone to take a video, he comes walking, which means I can't ever get a long enough video!

My sister is always making fun of me because I kept saying that "he isn't walking yet" because he wasn't walking independently until a week ago. Well, now he's definitely walking! He also is definitely falling a lot too -- especially under Mom's watch. I may be testing/stretching his ability too much.

Speaking of walking, I'd like to know....

What kind of shoes should he be wearing as he's learning to walk? Any brand of "soft-soled" shoes you'd recommend?

Just for the record, when he's at home, he's barefoot (as demonstrated in the video). But since the kids go outside while at daycare, they have to wear shoes. Currently, he's wearing "normal" shoes, which may also be tripping him up. The soles aren't flexible and are kinda thick. Any recommendations you can give would be great!

[Video] Rocking out on the guitar

2011-12-07T06:00:00.000-05:00

J is bouncing up a storm to the beats from the guitar. He also does this thing where he folds his hands and rotates his trunk back and forth. It's so cute and hilarious!

Tantrums

2011-12-06T22:23:00.000-05:00

J throws some relatively minor tantrums, compared to the little girl in the video below anyways.

As I posted before, J used to throw food on the floor whenever he was bored/frustrated/done. Eventually, we worked through it, and it hasn't been a problem anymore.

These days, J's tantrums usually involve wanting to be outside playing just a bit longer than Mommy or Daddy want. It all started when J started feeling more confident on his feet. As soon as he got out of the car when we got home, he wanted to take a walk, whereas I wanted to go home. Tantrum! It usually involved J slumping down and taking a seat on the sidewalk.

Well, the tantrum started evolving, and now starts even earlier. Because of J's love for walking and being outdoors, we take the "long" way around the school to get to the car. As soon as I pick him up to put him in the car seat though, he turns into a rigid-stick-of-a-boy and won't let me put him in his car seat.

The first time it happened, I strong-armed him into it. He cried for about 2 blocks.

The next evening, I let him play around in the car for a minute. Then I strong-armed him into the car seat. He cried for about a block. This repeated itself for a few days.

Today, after listening to the Anatomy of a Tantrum on NPR, I held a stick-straight J at the car seat until he calmed down. He didn't seem to want to, so I let him stand in the car and closed the door (and watched through the window). He had some fun playing with the air vents but, not a minute later, he was trying to climb into the car seat while saying, "Up! Up!" No tears on the way home. Whew!

Of course I try to hedge the tantrum by explaining/warning him that we're headed to the car to go home and that he needs to sit in the car seat. But I don't think he's able to really understand that at 16 months. So:

I gotta let J express his anger/frustration/sadness through these tantrums.
After he reaches the peak, which is screaming, tears, and boogers, he calms down and is ready to climb into the car seat.
It only takes a few minutes to run this cycle!

A point that the scientists made that really stuck was that don't try to intervene during the "anger" stage of the tantrum, such as when the little girl is rolling around on the floor in the video. Don't ask questions, don't provide suggestions, don't get angry, etc. Since that level of intense emotion can't be sustained for long, the tantrum will reach a peak, such as when the little girl in the video slams the chair, and "anger" will turn to "sadness", for which the child will seek comfort, i.e., you. Tantrums may seem like they last forever, but the little girl in the video went from screaming to wimpering in less than a minute.

I hope tomorrow, and the next day, and the day after that, J's after-daycare pickup will be smoother and we can go right from the school to the car with few tears.

What's the tantrum-trigger in your house?

Discipline

2011-12-06T21:52:00.000-05:00

I believe at either J's 6-month or 9-month checkup, the pediatrician warned us to start thinking about disciplining J, as he would already be manipulating us...whoa!

Thinking back, his worst behavior was throwing food on the floor when he didn't want it anymore. At first, we didn't mind, allowing Coco to pick up the mess. But then we got Jasper, and the dogs got possessive around the highchair, so we tried to put an end to J throwing food on the floor.

It was really hard to stop J. The more we said "no", the harder and faster he threw food on the floor! We asked his teachers what they do at daycare when this happens so that we could be consistent at home. They said, "No, when you're done with something, you can push it to the side but not to the floor." So that's what we did at home.

You know what? Over time, it worked! J still throws things at times. He thinks it's hilarious. He usually does it when he's been sitting there well into 30 min, so who can blame a toddler? We still say "no" but are probably more likely to take everything off the table and take him out of the chair. We probably should really reinforce the "No, you can push it to the side but not to the floor" like we did before.

Well, now that J's 16 months, he needs to be disciplined a lot more. "Discipline" sounds so negative, as if we're punishing J. But discipline just means rules and order. One alternative is chaos, but I've read plenty that says kids need order/routine in their lives. Another alternative is danger. Of course certain things are off-limits. Lastly, we discipline J in order to teach him useful life-skills for success -- manners, sharing, listening, etc.

The discipline tool kit: Successful strategies for every age on BabyCenter.com breaks down age-appropriate discipline. A recurring theme is helping a child understand why he/she is being disciplined. J may be too young to really understand, but as the teachers say, he understands enough at this age.

It's also important that while disciplining, which focuses on the negative, parents should also remember to reinforce the positive. Example, "I'm so proud of the way you set that aside instead of throwing it on the floor."

The most profound thing from the article was to respective my toddler's "no". It's one of the first words toddlers will master because adults say it so often. We say it a lot to Coco and Jasper! I quote "knowing that saying no carries some weight will stop your child from saying it automatically...The more you respect their no, the less often they use it." Deep.

I won't make this post too long, so I'll save what I'm learning about tantrums for another post.

Ultimate Date Night Giveaway on AThriftyMom

2011-12-06T15:08:00.000-05:00

Ultimate Date Night Giveaway at AThriftyMom includes one $25 Gift Card to Regal Movie Theater and one $30 Gift Card to Olive Garden. Enter now! Entries must be in by Dec. 9, 10pm, MST.

J's first professional haircut

2011-12-05T16:50:00.000-05:00

J's pretty hair was getting a big long everywhere. It was getting in his eyes, ears, and the back was resembling a mullet. I hacked it pretty badly right before he turned one. Sorry! We googled kid-friendly hair salons in our area and turned up some bad reviews. Finally, we just decided to bring him to the place we usually get our hair cut, Beautiful Life Salon. The name is cheesy, but they're in Taiwanesetown, so they have to be!

Faye Ji cut J's hair, and she was patient and had great skills. J had to switch between sitting down in Daddy's lap...playing with new camera toy and iPhone...

...to Mommy holding him (that's J's hair all over me in the photo below).

Surely he is much more comfortable now! Such a big boy with his new haircut!

Some of these photos were posted to Instagram (lisacng) and Followgram. So please be my friend if you use these applications!

Gap: $25 Women's Puffer Vests - Today only

2011-12-02T09:38:00.001-05:00

If you want an additional $5 off, click here for US, here for Canada. Once you sign in, you'll get a code for in-store use only. Enjoy!

2011-11-29T15:55:00.000-05:00

Enter here for the LeapFrog LeapPad Giveaway. But don't even bother because we're destined to win given the image of the device above *wink*.

[Video] New play kitchen

2011-11-29T09:41:00.000-05:00

This video maybe long kinda boring because J is just playing quietly...but he's doing it for 3 min which is like eternity in the toddler world!! The play kitchen was only $20 -- it's a bit wobbly and doesn't have any sounds or lights. Speaking of awesome play kitchens, check out what That'sSoHuang's husband did with an Ikea EFFEKTIV furniture and LED lights. Show-off, just kidding, love them!

From IhackEA (husband's blog), More photos here

Anyways, my husband's like, "Maybe we should buy a more expensive one that has sounds and lights since J likes this one so much...He could have two!" Let the spoiling begin...

[Video] Fun on Black Friday

2011-11-27T13:46:00.001-05:00

We went to the mall on Friday around 9:30am, and thank goodness, it wasn't as crowded as I had feared. Believe me, I was SCARED/NERVOUS, etc. J just wanted to ride the elevator up and down, and up and down again.

What did you on Black Friday?

Attempt at making peking duck

2011-11-25T21:11:00.000-05:00

Remember I traded a guacamole recipe for a peking duck recipe last week? Well...here are some pictures of my first attempt at roasting a duck...

I bought the duckling frozen at a local Korean supermarket. It took me a while to decide how I was going to hang a duck to dry for 6 hours. I looked for metal hooks at the store but couldn't find any. So I decided to use trussing pins (is this what they're called?) and kitchen string.

After several attempts, I stuck a pin through the neck bone, out the other side, and looped the kitchen string around the pin several times. Here's the duck in the just-boiled water. I scooped the water over the top of the duck and the skin started pulling against the duck (tighter, I guess). The underside started cooking a bit.

I hung the duck out on the deck using a very sophisticated system of two chairs and a honing steel from the kitchen knife set. I put a bowl underneath to catch the drippings. Luckily, Thanksgiving was a very nice day (no snow this year on the East Coast) and was actually quite warm in the afternoon.

No neighbors were freaked out because (1) the duck had no head and (2) was hung low enough that you couldn't see it behind the railing of the deck. After 6 hours in the sun, the skin did feel thinner, like paper, and slightly crispy.

I roasted this duck for only two hours in the oven at 375F (the recipe originally called for 300F). The crispy skin was easy to remove. There was still fat under the skin, but it was easy to scrape off. The meat may have been a tad on the dry side. Mmmm...drumsticks!

I served them with steamed (plain) buns, which were thicker than I wanted but fine as a substitute.

I cut up scallion and served the duck with "sweet flour sauce" mentioned in my last post.

The reviews by my husband and sister-in-law were good. If I ever did it again, I'd...

Have a pair of food-tweezers to help with the cleaning process, i.e., plucking the remaining quills.
Wait until after the drying process to remove the quills. After it dries, the quills "pop" out more so they're easier to spot and remove.
Find metal hooks.
Perhaps baste the duck (so many drippings/fat) so that the skin is darker.

Did you try out a new recipe this Thanksgiving?

Man, Coco's getting big

2011-11-22T17:30:00.000-05:00

Me: Man, Coco's getting big
My husband: Yea, I noticed too.

To myself, "I wonder why?" and even before I get a chance to ask the question aloud...

My husband: It must be the extra food I've been giving her -- instead of a scoop, I've been giving her one and a half scoops.
Me: What?! How long have you been giving her extra food?
My husband: Um...a few months now....
Me: Well, I guess that explains it.
My husband: I guess it does...Oops.

Coco's back to one scoop at mealtime, which is still twice a day, so don't be too sad for her.

(Unofficial) face of YoBaby

2011-11-21T17:30:00.000-05:00

Put your child's face on the lids of YoBaby's yogurts. Mine's here. You could also be chosen as one of two weekly sweepstakes winners and get a month's worth of free yogurt plus a real YoBaby 4-pack (no yogurt inside) with your child's photo on it. We could use that -- J eats a yogurt a day! Goooo probiotics!

Reminiscing

2011-11-20T06:00:00.000-05:00

Can you believe that my husband and I were already reminiscing about J? We were saying things like, "Remember when he was xx old and he did this and that?" He's only 15 months! I can't imagine what sorts of things we'll be saying when he's 5 years old, 10 years old, 20 years old...I'm getting ahead of myself.

This blog is sorta a repository for all the memories we have of J, and it's so fun to read old posts. But the number of posts is just going to be too many to read one day, so I've decided to start a list.

Infant 0-6 months:

You were born with the longest, skinniest arms and legs.
Grandpa said you'd be President one day.
As a newborn, you clenched your fists when you cried but always left out an index finger as if to say, "Whaaaat do you thiiiiink you are doooooooing?!"
The first two weeks home from the hospital, nothing could wake you.
After that, nothing could make you sleep!
You hated baths until you were allowed to be submerged.
Everyone loved when you feel asleep in their arms.
You enjoyed your 1-month celebration and weren't bothered by all the noise/excitement.

You had pretty bad eczema. Every morning, Daddy rubbed Aquaphor on your skin while you stared at the jar. You loved that jar.
Daddy also made sure to rub your belly so that you wouldn't have stomach aches. He believed in good circulation.
The first winter in Maryland, the heating system in our rental was messed up for months. It was 85F upstairs but 45F downstairs. You were always dressed in two layers and a cap and maybe a blanket too.

You had (and still have) the most beautiful smile. Grandma still calls you Little Sunshine.

You loved sucking in your top lip repeatedly. Wish we had a video!

Baby 6-12 months:

You sure loved to read with us! The textures, the colors.

You started exploring the world on your own.
Lots of milestones - mastering pincer grip, rolling over, sipping from a cup, crawling, first teeth, standing, and first words.

And of course you did so good on your first birthday! No meltdowns :).

Toddler 12-18 months:

Started daycare. Mommy was so sad (and so were you) when you first started, but now, we both have great attitudes at the goodbye.

Second word - Daddy's favorite ;)
When you got excited, you'd bang your head against the nearest surface -- wall, floor, toy.
You really liked to watch objects spin -- stacking rings, coasters.
Your mode of transportation was pushing a truck or holding our hands.
You played A LOT more with us -- cat & mouse, hide & seek, riding on Daddy's shoulders, chicken dance, dancing in general.

You started feeding yourself with a spoon.
You took your first steps!
You gave hugs & kisses.
You had this love of fleece. You liked to rub your cheek against it! Hahaha...

All dressed up, somewhere to go?

2011-11-19T06:00:00.000-05:00

This time of year all the stores start pushing their pretty party dresses on us girls, and I'm always like That's so cute...except I have nowhere to go!

Well, we have an annual PSU-alum holiday party but that's pretty casual. But I'm feeling like sequins this year (or anything sparkly) even though J will probably yank them all off. I got the inspiration from ExtraPetite.com.

From top left clockwise (you can also click on the images above for the links to the retailer too):
1. Old Navy Sequin-front camis in sandstone, also in black and white, $22.94
2. Victoria Secret's Sequin racerback tank in plum, oyster, cobblestone and black, $59.50
3. Forever 21 Sequined tank top in green, also in red and black, $13.50
4. White House Black Market Allover sparkle top, $78
5. Banana Republic Sequin party shell in bronze, also in black, $49.50, now 30% using BRPARTY

I think they're fun without being too formal when paired with some jeans.

Attending any events for the holidays?

What will you be wearing?

It was nice out

2011-11-18T06:00:00.000-05:00

After J was feeling better, we finally got outside! It was so nice out even though there was no sun. There was no wind. The humidity was just right. And it wasn't cold (see, no jackets!). We went out once in the morning (picture above). And once in the afternoon/evening (eerie picture below). We love being outdoors!

P.S. Love my new iPhone and Instagram. Follow me at lisacng.

First steps

2011-11-17T22:53:00.001-05:00

We're making it official and J has taken his first steps at 15 months! It's so cute to watch him wobble -- first one or two steps, and now five or six. This boy really wants to run before he can walk! And to think, just 3 weeks ago we were wondering if we should be concerned that he wasn't walking yet!

Best guacamole recipe EVER!

2011-11-17T08:38:00.000-05:00

Today, I traded recipes with a co-worker. I'm going to attempt to roast peking duck for Thanksgiving and she's going to make the best guacamole EVER. Thanks for letting me post this, Sister-in-Law!

Guacamole:
You'll have to eyeball/add-to-taste on these ingredients. Believe me, it's gooooood

Avocados, as many as you want - Both my sister and sister-in-law are pros at selecting the best ones, soft but not too soft. They even know the different avocado types! If you only happen upon too-firm ones, put them in a paper bag and let them sit out on the kitchen counter. They should soften up.
Sea salt, Pepper
Garlic, one per avocado
Fresh squeezed lime juice
Paprika
Cilantro
Jalapeno pepper
Plum tomato, cored, one per avocado used

Mash all ingredients with a fork to preserve a chunky texture. Serve with tortilla chips...or my favorite, pita chips!

Peking duck:
So simple, will it work? This preparation is for a 5-6 lb duck and will need 8 hours.

Clean duck.
Fill large wok/pot with water and bring to a boil. Remove wok/pot from heat.
Dip the duck into the hot water for approximately 5 minutes. Or you can scoop the water over the entire duck for approximately 10 minutes. This step makes the skin taunt on the duck.
Hang the duck in a cool place for 6 hours where there will be some air movement. I'll be hanging mine on the deck. It'll freak out the neighbors! The skin should already feel crispy at the end of this process.
Preheat oven to 400F.
Place duck on roasting rack, breast-side up. Beneath the rack place a pan filled with 2 inches of water to catch the drippings. (Maybe the steam from the water will do something too. I don't know. My source didn't divulge.) You can also place an apple inside the duck for a nice aroma.
Roast at 400F for 30 minutes.
Turn oven down to 300F and roast for 2-2.5 hours.
Use sharp knife to cut off crispy skin. Place meat and skin on a prewarmed dish. Serve with ~~hoisin sauce~~ (update: My source tells me that "Sweet Flour" sauce is what peking duck is traditionally served with. Though if you can't find it, hoisin will do fine.), scallions (cut into 2 inch-long pieces), and buns (Chinese or mooshu-type ones).

I can't wait to post pictures at my first attempt to roast a duck!

Starbucks BOGO

2011-11-17T06:00:00.000-05:00

From November 17-20 from2-5 p.m., when you buy one holiday drink, you'll get another one of equal or lesser value forfree. Man, I wish Salted Caramel Frappaccino was still around :(.

[Video] J says, "I may be sick, but I still love my fruit!"

2011-11-16T12:00:00.000-05:00

I may be sick, but I still love my fruit!
Where's the rest of it?
Give me more, woman!

[first video taken with iPhone 4S, exciting]

Stop the time-change madness!

2011-11-14T22:18:00.001-05:00

It seemed like forever ago that we switched back to Eastern Standard Time (EST). The fury that ensued when it occurred is a faint memory now. Maybe that's why no one has ever successfully lobbied to stop the time-changing madness. Once it's over, we move on and forget it about it. But not me! I still hold a grudge.

The switch back to EST was awful because it made our son tired. We'd put him to bed later but he still wanted to get up at his usual time, 6am, which was then 5am to us. So he started his day off earlier and was then tired all day. And this compromised his immune system and he got mad-sick. Ugh!

You know, it wasn't until I lived overseas that I realized that the whole world does not follow daylight savings. Heck, there aren't even time zones in China!

So what's the deal with Daylight Savings Time (DST) in the U.S. anyways? (Well, only Arizona and Hawaii don't follow DST. Another reason to move to Maui right?) Wikipedia says (so does Scientific American, which is way more trustworthy than Wikipedia) something about saving energy and promoting afternoon activities. That's great! So why can't we be in DST all the time? Who needs EST?

You know what happens every time we have to switch our clocks? Google "daylight savings psychology" and you get headlines like Daylight-Saving Time Leads To Less Sleep, More Injuries On The Job and Detrimental Effects of Daylight-Saving Time on SAT Scores. Did someone say SAT scores? Why aren't the Asians revolting yet?

I "liked" three Facebook groups against DST until I realized, with help from a co-worker, that I like DST. It's EST I don't like.

So seriously, how do we get rid of this time-changing madness?

Any political-minded friends out there know?

It's better to be super than to be perfect

2011-11-11T10:48:00.001-05:00

When I was young (not that I'm old now, right?), I dreamt of being the perfect girlfriend. I would put on makeup, dress pretty, act demure, send my BF sweet notes and gifts, and show him what a perfect wife I could be.

Pfff!

When I was less young and engaged, I dreamt of being the perfect wife. I would put on makeup, dress pretty, act demure, send my husband sweet notes and gifts, cook, clean and show him what a perfect mother I could be.

Pfff!

When I was even less young and married, I dreamt of being the perfect mother. I would put on makeup, dress pretty, act demure, send my husband and kids sweet notes and gifts, cook, clean and show them what a cool person I could be.

Pfff!

Some people are either (1) really strangely perfect...or (2) hiding/faking it real well. Bravo to them.

Then there are those that poke fun at themselves, like Ilana Rosengarten, hilarious author of Mommy Shorts (no, they are not the shorts version of mommy jeans like my sister thought). Here's part of her list of Supermom skills. Guess I could be Supermom but not Perfectmom ;).

[source]

I love #241 because it's so true. Kids do love goldfish crackers!
#243 made me crackup because it's like wrestling an alligator, slippery too when he's all covered in Aquaphor, into anything -- PJs, shoes, socks, etc.
#247 my husband and I have been known to catch spoons, bowls, cups, and food in mid-air
#248 hilarious -- I always smell it before my husband does

What are Supermom or Superdad skills?

Importance of reducing a fever

2011-11-10T22:15:00.001-05:00

[source]

This post is gonna be short because it's been a long day. For myself, I tend to either under-medicate or use no medication at all. I admittedly try to do the same for J.

But not after today. Today, I came to fully understand the importance of keeping a fever down in a young child.

Right now, J is on a cycle of ibuprofen and acetaminophen -- we will even wake him up to give it to him. I know, I would gasp too if it weren't my own son.

In brighter news, J tried to take several more steps on his own today. If only it weren't for our puppy, who thought this was an invitation to jump on him, maybe J would have taken more. Oh well! Plenty of time to practice tomorrow as we stay home from daycare.

Small Business Saturday, November 26th

2011-11-09T16:00:00.000-05:00

Vocalpoint has asked bloggers to encourage their readers to shop local on November 26, the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Take the pledge here and be entered to win a $25 American Express® Shop Small Gift Card.

Find local businesses
Like them on Facebook

P.S. If you're a blogger (and even if you're not), join Vocalpoint to get samples, coupons, and share your review of new products!

Update on convertible car seat

2011-11-09T08:00:00.000-05:00

in infant car seat, rear-facing (tight fit, huh?)

in convertible car-seat, forward-facing (he's happier than he looks)

Last week I posted that we bought a convertible car seat. My husband installed it rear-facing because we want to abide by the AAP's recommendation to keep a child rear-facing until he/she is two. But his legs were scrunched up against the back seat, so we decided to switch it forward-facing.

J now has plenty of room, enjoys watching the traffic, and I think, still a bit confused at what he's seeing.

Do you have a child under two sitting rear-facing?

When did you make the switch to forward-facing?

Month 15

2011-11-08T16:30:00.000-05:00

This week, J had his 15-month well-visit. He had 3 shots coming, plus a flu shot.

I asked the doctor if J would need a 2nd one (booster) since it'd be the first time he's getting the flu shot. The doctor said, No, he had two last year.

Me: What?! He did?! How do I not remember that?!

Seriously, how do I not remember that?!

Anyways, J's growth is steady. Still big. Still tall. But not above the 90th percentile anymore!

15 month
Height 32.25 in (quarter-inch longer than at 12 months) (75th percentile)
Weight 26 lbs, 14 oz (two lbs heavier than at 12 months) (75th percentile)
Head circumference 18.5 in (no change) (50-75th percentile)

*** Online percentile calculator

At J's 9 month checkup, the doctor had suggested we call the Infants and Toddler's program in Maryland because J hadn't started crawling or using his pincer grip yet. We didn't call. At J's 12 month checkup, he had another evaluation of his gross motor, fine motor, communication, problem solving, and social skills. He scored well, so the doctor gave us no worries that time :).

This time, he suggested we call Infants and Toddler's because he's a bit behind walking. The daycare teachers say he's fine, he's a boy, and boys just tend to walk (and talk) later. But they'd be happy to host a visit from Infants and Toddlers if we want.

So we're going to schedule a visit, just to make sure. Funny thing is, he took a few steps toward me just two days ago. And my husband and I are "passing" him back and forth while he takes steps. And they practice a lot at daycare...so...I'm sure J's fine. Maybe he's just unsure or really likes to crawl and push his truck around.

When did your kids talk and walk?

We have nothing to worry about, right?

Cost of kids

2011-11-07T17:00:00.000-05:00

According to Parenting.com, J will cost us $29,400 in the first year and $724,000 up the time he graduates college (assuming he goes to private university). Here's their breakdown:

Housing: $202,600, not including the mortgage
Food: $150,000
Transportation: $52,000
Clothing: $28,000
Healthcare: $46,000
Childcare & Education: $48,000 (we're well on our way with this one
Miscellaneous: $60,000
Higher education: $138,600, this estimate goes down to $73,000 if he attends a public university

When someone breaks it down like that, it seems daunting.

But imagine if you could put a monetary value on first smiles, first words, first hugs, first kisses, first steps, first giggles, and all the subsequent ones to follow in 18 years, I'd bet we'd come out on top!

Remembering to enjoy parenthood,
Lisa

Gifts for toddler, gifts for Mom

2011-11-06T08:00:00.000-05:00

For my little toddler who will be 17 months around Christmas...

The Great Big Toys R Us Book (10/30-11/23)

Five Below $1 to $5 toy book (11/5-11/13)

Kmart toy book (now-12/16?)

Of course there will be legos...I'm an engineer!

More trucks, please!

And we would love to find a used kid's picnic/art table -- if you know of any available -- otherwise, we'd buy one.

And now, gifts for Mom...honey, you taking notes?

Please don't ~~me bad~~ be mad that I'm bringing up the holidays already

[Video] Using a spoon!

2011-11-05T08:00:00.000-04:00

When the teachers at daycare said that J was getting good at feeding himself yogurt with a spoon, I really wanted to see it for myself. Unfortunately, it was weeks after this comment that J started doing it at home. First, with oatmeal...and then finally with yogurt! Enjoy!

Making life easier

2011-11-04T08:51:00.000-04:00

If you have kids and/or dogs, heck -- even if you have neither, you know that weekday mornings (and probably other times of the day as well) can be a whirlwind.

We have to feed J breakfast, get him dressed, get his lunch ready, and try to leave at the same time everyday. Luckily, he can't get out of the crib yet so dressing him is relatively easy. But when it comes time for socks, shoes, and a jacket, he can't stop crawling away. Ugh!

We have to take both dogs out to relieve themselves. And they can't seem to keep to their own sides, crisscrossing in front, creating a tripping hazard in the dark. Try finding their "gifts" camouflaged with fallen leaves/branches, also in the dark. And did I mention it's frigid outside? After they're done, the dogs need to be fed. And before we leave for work, the puppy needs to be cordoned in the kitchen with a mentally-stimulating activity so he doesn't chew the place apart. In the middle of the day, we also come home to let the dogs relieve themselves again.

So, yes, we were both stressed...maybe me a little more…

So my husband devised a plan...and then we revised that plan and think we've got a pretty good one.

We've been blessed to both have jobs close to home. We also found a daycare really close to my work, so commuting isn't a factor. I have horrible road rage.

I've also been blessed with a husband that will alternate grocery shopping and cooking responsibilities.

So, the week that _____ cooks:

The other gets J ready for daycare in the mornings.
_____ takes the dogs out in the mornings.
_____ comes home at lunch to take the dogs out.
And this is my favorite part...during lunch, since we live so close to work, _____ has time to prep ingredients for dinner. _____ can wash/cut vegetables, marinate meat, set the timer for the rice cooker, etc. It makes the afternoons soooo much better. We can eat sooner and J is less cranky because of it. And a happy baby is a happy family.

Just goes to show that with a open communication (thanks hubby for initiating this conversation!), we can make our lives a bit simpler and more efficient.

What small (or big) steps have you taken to make your life easier?

Rank yourself as a parent
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	10, I'm the best parent my child has

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