Let there be SIGHT!

In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on men as they slumber in their beds (Job 33:15)

It seems like it's been a while since I last blogged; for those of you who keep checking: thank you for your patience. The reason I haven't been able to write until now (besides being busier with a more active Mimi - more later) is because I couldn't see my computer screen very clearly... until now. AND now I can see EVERYTHING. CLEARLY! To celebrate my birthday, I got LASIK surgery last Thursday. WOO HOO!

So how does this all relate to Naomi? Well, she was the motivating factor in finally taking the leap and getting the procedure done. I used to be scared of the possible pain, but after being in labor for countless hours and birthing a baby, a 30 minute eye surgery seemed like a walk in the park! When Naomi was about a month old, I stopped wearing contact lenses and relied only on my glasses. I was so blind that I would have to feel around for my glasses...only arms-distance away on the tabletop because I couldn't see them. It's even worse in the middle of the night, with only the dim nightlight, trying to latch a baby onto me. Then there were the showers. You know you're blind if you have to wear your glasses in the friggin shower. Lenses getting all fogged up and wet. Not cool.

Anyway, this blog isn't about me, it's about Mimi. So, while I was getting the surgery, Richie was in the waiting room and Grandpa Titong came along to hang out with Naomi. They cruised the hallways and by the time I was done (I was in and out in about an hour), Mimi was missing Mama. I eventually nursed her in the car - with my eyes closed. Easy enough. Afterwards we went to Grandma Lily's home while Papa went to some jobsites in the Peninsula. I was insructed to keep my eyes closed for the next 4 hours. The mission was to entertain Naomi for as long as possible without getting her hungry. I went to sleep and roughly 3 hours later, I hear my babygirl crying in the next room. Instead of Grandma trying to give her the bottle, which would ultimately get her even hungrier, I called out to my mom bring Naomi over to the bed. I cheated and peeked while she situated herself. When she was done nursing, we both fell asleep.

I couldn't see super clearly when I woke up (it was slightly blurry - very similar to the above picture of Mimi sleeping), but I knew it would only get better. And it has =) I woke up the next day and it was sooo amazing! For those of you with great eyes, it's not a big deal, but I've been wearing glasses for 20 years! So that was my birthday gift -> VISION =)

I swear, that morning, when I picked Naomi out of her bed, she tilted her head and gave me that inquisitive look that many of you have seen on her face. Usually, I'm thinking, "hmmm, what is she thinking?" But this time, I felt like I could read her mind: "Mommy, something looks different about you? Is it your hair? Noooo. Is it your nose? No, that's not it, either. Hey! I know! Where are your other eyes, Mommy?" I just smiled at her and explained to her how I could see her now without my glasses and that I would never need to be four-eyes again =) Naomi seemed to understand and smiled with her mouth wide open. It was a great way to start my 31st year of life =)

That night, the three of us went out for dinner. Afterwards, we dropped Mimi off in Pinole while Richie and I watched a movie. When we picked her up, I asked how she did. Grandma Mrs D said that Grandpa was the one who rocked her to sleep. Then when she started squirming in her sleep, Grandma grabbed my nursing cover and placed it in front of Naomi's nose. She got a good whiff and went right back to sleep. Amazing how that works!

On Saturday, we went to South City for lunch. Ninang Jasmine and Ninong Ken were there with cousins Drea and Leia. Tita Eve and Tita Ang were there, too =) When it came time to have cake, Mimi couldn't take her eyes off it. I think it might have been the first time that she was mesmerized by the candles on a cake.

From Mommy's Birthday

The festivities continued the following day in Pinole to celebrate Grandma and Grandpa's anniversary, as well as Ninong Craig's birthday, too. When Mimi is in South City, she gets to be girly with her cousins, but when she's in Pinole, she gets to toughen up with the boys =) Don't get me wrong though... the boys are super sweet and gentle with her. They all like to give her kisses, especially Owen =) It won't be long before Mimi is running around trying to catch up to them. Sometimes being a kid sure does get tiring though! Check Owee out... he looks like a mini-Richie when he sleeps, too!


I can tell Noami likes being around her family. She enjoys everyone's company and seeing loving familiar faces. Mimi is Mommy's JOY!

From Mommy's Birthday

Get Up, Stand Up!

They were also to stand every morning to thank and praise the LORD. They were to do the same in the evening. (1 Chron 23:30)

Naomi has the cutest chubby little legs and they are proving to be quite strong! Every morning, when we do her exercises, she especially likes to stand up and balance on her legs while I hold her hands. She bears her weight on her legs and looks around smiling tall =) Sometimes she'll even try to take a step forward. I've been trying to get her to practice sitting on her own, but she seems to prefer the standing position. This morning, while she was in the sitting position on my tummy, I told her, "Mimi, you've got to learn how to sit before you can stand," and she just smiled even bigger and arched her back, got up on her feet and kept her knees locked. She never seems to get tired of this. When Richie gets home from work in the evening, she likes to stand up for him, too =) One time, he had her leaning to one side and she held her body as rigid as can be. I love when she smiles so big for me "Hey, Mommy, look at me!"

Richie and I finally got Naomi her own ExcerSaucer/jumper/activity center. She's been testing out all of her cousin's and was able to touch her feet on the bottom and enjoy herself. The one we bought had a couple of removable battery-operated toys that we decided to put away for now. We'll bring them out later when she starts getting bored with it or gets more interactive with her hands. We haven't been filming Mimi nearly as much as we should, but I think I will be doing more because time flies and she's that much cuter in action! Isn't technology cool?

Patience, my dear child

But if we hope for what we do not yet observe, we eagerly wait for it with patience. (Romans 8:25)

We are learning more and more about baby Naomi's personality and she amazes me with the amount of patience she shows at times... as well as what happens when the patience runs out! On the way home from South City, Naomi fell asleep in the car, but when she woke up, we were in the middle of a huge traffic jam. She started whining at first, but it progressed until she eventually was full-on screaming as though she was going to lose her voice! I felt so bad for her so I exited in San Francisco popped her in her Snugli and cruised a shopping center for about an hour. I thought the traffic would have died down but due to the changes on the Bay Bridge, we were barely moving. Naomi started to whine again, but when I gently explained to her that we already went for a walk and asked her to please go to sleep, she did listen. Even though it took me an hour to drive what should have been 20 minutes, I was able to get home in peace and quiet =)

Today, on her 4 months birthday, again she showed me two totally opposite sides of herself: extreme temper and gentle patience. Mimi threw her first temper tantrum in our studio. I took her for a walk outdoors in the Snugli and when she fell asleep I came back home and placed her in her bassinet. She woke up in a good mood and it had been three hours since she last ate, so I decided to feed her. After a few sips, she started crying. I tried to calm her down and offer her more food, but that just made her cry harder. NO, Mommy, that's NOT what I want! I changed her diaper and she cried harder. I'm SO ANGRY right now! I tried carrying her several different holds. NOOOO! Mommy, you're making it WORSE! I tried bringing her outside and she was okay for two seconds and began screaming again! Mommy, can't you read my cry!? She was just about as upset as when she was in her carseat in San Diego, but this time, there was no car seat! I then thought of going for a walk again in her Snugli and when she saw me putting it on, she stopped crying. Now, we're getting somewhere, Mommy. When I placed her in it, she smiled =) Yippee, you figured it out! Whew! *wiping my brow* What a relief! She was probably only crying for less than 5 minutes, but it seemed like an eternity! Moments like those, I soooo wish she could already speak, or better yet, that I really could just read her mind and bring her instant happiness.

On the flipside of things, that same evening, Naomi brought much happiness to Richie and myself. Maybe she knew, she had to make up for her temper tantrum earlier =) Rich and I are going to have Naomi baptized at St. Joseph's and they require us to take a class (Fortunately, the godparents that we chose do not have to take the class because their babies were recently baptized) I found out about the class only hours before, so I didn't have the packet with the information regarding the class. Richie and I thought about leaving Naomi at her grandparent's house down the street from the church, but ended up taking her with us. Well, it turns out that she was the only baby there and then when I read the packet, it said "NO CHILDREN: Please, find a babysitter for the evening." OOPSIES! I'm sure the reason they have this rule is because having a baby there could be a major distraction. Attending to a baby could take away from learning in the class. I just hoped she wouldn't end up causing a scene like she had earlier in the day.

Naomi sat in her carrier for the first 20 minutes while facing the rest of the class and didn't say a peep. She played with her "lovey-bear" and her bib. Then when the instructor began writing on the board, we faced her towards the teacher and Mimi began cooing quietly. It wasn't annoying though, it was actually cute... like she was paying attention and responding to the lesson =) Then for the last half hour, the entire class watched a video with the lights dimmed, so Richie and I took turns holding her. She was hardly fussy and didn't cry once in the entire hour that we were there! Afterwards, several people told us/her what a good baby she is =) I had prayed that Mimi would be a good girl... she ended up being an absolute angel! Thank you for your patience, Mimi-Girl!

Happy FOUR months!

We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brethren, as is only fitting, because your faith is greatly enlarged, and the love of each one of you toward one another grows ever greater (2 Thessalonians 1:3)

HAPPY 4 MONTHS TO NAOMI! Our little princess is getting soooo big! There are mornings when I see her and think that she had an overnight growth spurt. Just yesterday, Richie saw her in the evening after works and said that she grew since than that same morning! Check out these cheeks!

When she wakes up in the morning, we do her baby exercises. Some of her favorites are "press-ups" where she holds my hands and does a sit up. Her head is no longer wobbly when she lifts up and she even tries to stand up. Mimi also "rides her bike" as I cycle her legs. Her favorite one lately is "swimming"! As she lies on her back, I place her arms in the positions "Monkey, Airplane, Soldier" while I sing a little song. Then I'll let go of her hands and sing the song and sometimes she'll move her arms around without my help =) She even coordinates her legs to bend as the same time as her arms. She looks like a little froggy!

Mimi is definitely a little water baby =) She loves her bath time, both by herself and with Mommy. Richie and I took her into the Watergate swimming pool last week to cool off from the lovely Summer heat. She has been swimming before, but this was the first time we took her for a dip at our place. Naomi was flapping her arms and flipping her legs like a little mermaid! We also celebrated Naomi's first Labor Day by hanging out at the pool again. Although we didn't go for a swim that day, there was a live band and a yummy bbq with perfect weather.

Yesterday, Mimi and I went to visit Jasmine and her cousins Andrea and Meleia. The 5 month difference in Mimi and Mia's size is getting smaller and smaller, but you can definitely see the changes in Meleia's development. Little Mia is crawling all over now and is already trying to take steps by using an ottomon as her walker! It's hard to believe that Naomi will probably be "in her footsteps" sooner than later =) I've read somewhere that the 3-6 months period is the "honeymoon" phase of having a baby because they are very social, but not mobile! I can still place Naomi in the middle of the bed and not worry about her rolling off, but it won't be long before I have to watch her every move! It seemed like only yesterday that I placed Naomi in a bouncer and her feet dangled. Now, when she sits in Meleia's jumperoo, she can tip-toe and hold her body upright =)

Healthy Mimi

Pleasant words are as a honeycomb, Sweet to the soul, and health to the bones. (Proverbs 16:24)

Our babygirl had her 4-month old well exam with Dr. Tracy last Friday. Naomi now weighs 12 lbs, 9 oz and is a lengthy 24.5 inches long =) The doctor said that Mimi is doing great and once again admired the color of her eyes... they did get darker since her last appointment, but are still more on the gray side instead of brown. Naomi smiled and cooed at Dr. Tracy as she was getting examined to show off her playful personality.

The doctor noticed how strong Naomi's legs were and asked how tummy time was coming along. I let her know that just the night before, Naomi had rolled over for the first time while she was laying on my bed =) It was 4:30AM and I was getting ready to feed her when she rolled in my direction in an attempt to latch onto me. After I fed her, I thought she would go back to sleep like she normally does, instead she kept rolling over from her back to her tummy. She doesn't know how to roll back yet, so I helped her out. Mimi rolled over 5-7 times before getting tired and going back to sleep.

I held Naomi in my arms and the doctor told me that Naomi will already be eating solids by her next appointment. Mimi stared at Dr. Tracy with that intense look written on her eyebrows as though she was concentrating very hard on what the doctor had to say. Before Dr. Tracy left the room, she said, "Bye-bye sweet Naomi!" That put a smile on my heart because the description really does fit her perfectly =)

When it came time for Naomi's immunizations, she didn't do as well as last time. She didn't drink the oral medication as smoothly and then moments after she drank the whole vial, she threw up all over herself...that freaked her out. I had to change her out of her clothes and rub a washcloth through her hair. Mimi calmed down only long enough for the nurse to give her the three shots in a row - BOOM, BOOM, POW! Oohhweee... Naomi was UPSET! We hung out in the room for another 10 minutes while I nursed her and she relaxed. By the time we were in the waiting room scheduling her next appointment, she was smiling and cooing at the little 3-yr old who was also waiting. Way to go, Mimi!