Independence Day

And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love. (2 John 1:6)

July 3-4, 2010



Soooo... for all of you who have seen the little Princess in the last, oh say, seven weeks, this should be no surprise to you: Naomi Hope is walking! When she turned one in May, I made a guess that Miss Mimi would be walking around 14 months. Actually, to be more precise, I predicted that she would walk by July 4th. I'd say it was probably a combo of "Mommy knows best", God heard me loud and clear, and Naomi unconsciously reaching a goal I set for her, but baby Ganda officially walked on July 4th weekend! Here's how it happened:

From Independence Day

Leading up to "the big weekend," around the same time that we bought Naomi her new car seat, we also got her one of those "walker" toys to help her practice. Not the kind that she sits in (she already had one of those) but the type that she could push around like a shopping cart. We would hear stories from Teacher Adela about Mimi standing up for a few seconds but not taking any steps. We also saw her take two or three steps at home before carefully sitting down - like she knew that she couldn't balance so she didn't bother trying.



One cute thing that Naomi did before walking was to "knee-walk." She would get in the kneeling position and scoot around on her knees. It was her adorable way of getting around without crawling in a semi-upright position. Of course, she also liked to stand up and furniture-cruise.



I was thinking that she might be one of those babies that just "gets it" one day and takes off running! It didn't happen quite like that, but pretty close. Tita Angeline was staying at our place for the 3-day weekend. We all went to church on Saturday night and watched the service from the "Family Room." Naomi was scooting around on her knees, but she was really determined to stand up and furniture-walk along the chairs. Our friends at Cornerstone were encouraging her as well: Catherine, one of the children's ministry teachers, would hold her hand and walk with her, while Sam, the usher/greeter, extended his hand out for Naomi to reach out to. "Any day now!" they both said.



Little did we know how soon it would truly be. That same night, July 3rd, Richie stepped out to rent a movie while Angie and I played with Naomi in the living room. Everything was just "normal": Angie was chilling on the couch, I was sitting on the floor, and Mimi was practicing on her walker. The magic happened when Angie got up from the couch to go to the kitchen. Next thing I see if Naomi walking across the room to follow Tita Angie! I couldn't contain myself! "Angie! Angie! LOOK NAOMI'S WALKING!" Angie turned around and Naomi just stood for a moment. "WOW! YOU'RE WALKING MIMI!" I guess I must have been too excited, because she sat down and started crying. Oopsies. "It's okay, Naomi, Mommy's just so proud of you!" When Richie came home only moments later, I was delighted to share the wonderful news! It was only about 8 steps, but it seemed like she coulda gone more if there was room and I hadn't embarrassed her.



The next day, July 4th, Naomi was practicing her new skill with a new found confidence. She just needed to get over the initial fear. She liked starting off holding one of our hands and then letting go. Here is a video of our little toddler:



For the fireworks festivities, we walked down to the Emeryville Marina. Even with our jackets and hats and blankets, it was freeeeezing cold! That didn't stop Naomi from having a great time. We had a nice view of the Berkeley fireworks conveniently located just a hop, skip and a jump away. Mimi stayed up for the entire show, but once we put her back in the stroller and strolled home, she was out! She must have been pooped from all that WALKING!!

10 Months already?

We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. (1 John 4:16)

Time Flies! I can't believe that it's been a month since I last blogged. I've been so busy going back to work and just wanting to hang out with Mimi every chance that I get. Lots has happened in the last month including celebrating the first birthday of cousin Weslee and having her first Valentine's Day (which is also Grandma Lily and Grandpa Rally's anniversary).

From Happy Heart Day

Now that Naomi goes to "school" everyday, her development has come a long way. She is officially a crawler! There is a cool tunnel that Ms. Adela puts out every now and then and Mimi used to just scoot into the entrance. Now she can go all the way through and does it several times in a row =)





Now that she's super mobile, we set up some soft foam mats in the living room so that she can crawl around on top of the hardwood. Even though she crawls around, she still seems to prefer to stand up and hold onto her activity table. Now the only problem is that she doesn't like to sit in her high chair for very long. She used to eat a whole meal sitting down... now she'd much rather play while she dines. I can't really complain though because when she's in the chair she clamps her mouth shut but when she gets to move around, she opens her mouth wide and smiles while she eats. =) Looks like she still sits in the chair at school though... at least long enough for a picture:

From Daycare is Fun!

Speaking of which... she's kinda over the baby food. Now we mix her babyfood with our good eats and she's good to go. Also, she is definitely Richie's baby because little girl LOVES her crunchies! Richie loves chips and Naomi loves those little cheetos and recently has fell in love with Veggie Sticks. She chomps on those like there's no tomorrow!

Unfortunately, Naomi got another ear infection since Super Sick Sunday. Apparently it was her right ear at first. Then a couple of weeks ago, she was fussy again at night and had a low grade fever. When it was her turn to see the doctor, she began tugging on her left ear... sure enough, that was the side that was infected! More meds and ten days later, she's back to normal.

Well, yesterday Baby Ganda turned 10 months old and today, Daddy brought her to see Dr. Tracy. She now weighs a nice 16 lbs. The doctor said that she is kinda on the petite side, but as long as she's still gaining weight and is eating well, there isn't anything to be concerned about. This was the first time that Richie was taking Mimi to get her shots and as usual, Naomi was a champ!

We're going to LA this weekend to celebrate cousin Arabella's first birthday. It's gonna be lots of fun. But there's still one more day of school to play with her new best buddies!

Sit - Mimi - Sit..

You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. (Psalm 139:2)

Don't take this the wrong way, but sometimes, I feel or sound like I'm trying to teach a dog a new trick... or in Mimi's case - a cute, cuddly baby with puppy eyes =)

Sit, Mimi, Sit...
Siiiiiiit...
Good Girl!

Okay, now Roll Over...
Roll Over?...
Roooooll Over...

Good Girl! Good job Naomi!

From Sitting

HA! Shame on me! As you can see, Naomi can now sit up, unassisted =) She's actually been doing so for almost two weeks. The weekend of Mimi's Christening, she was hanging out with her cousins... it was mostly Weslee crawling, Bella sitting and Mimi laying on her tummy. Or I would hold her up while she sat. The following day, I tried to sit her up again, and she began balancing on her own! They must have gave each other lessons, because Bella began crawling soon after, too! Now, I get a thrill out of showing other people how she sits. Here she is on the couch, sitting for Grandma Lily:

Another thing that she does a lot of lately is touching her feet. The funniest time has got to be when she was sitting for Richie on the bed. She ended up falling over onto her back. That's when we discovered that not only does she like to touch her toes, but she's been trying to taste them, too!



EVERYTHING goes into her mouth now! Naomi chews on her security blankies and her sleeves. It seems that she enjoys eating the toys on her activity center the most. Lately, she's been trying to eat my hair.

Now if only we could get her to eat/drink out of her bottle! We've finally been able to get her to tolerate it in her mouth. She'll actually reach out and grab the bottle and put it in her mouth, but she makes a funny face and doesn't actually drink. The milk will drip into her mouth and most of it ends up dribbling down her chin! She only really swallows the milk when she's frustrated and crying... and that only seems to get her more upset that she actually had to ingest some of it!

Naomi is already 5.5 months old and pretty much ready to have "solid" food, especially now that she'll be able to sit up in a highchair. We tried giving her rice cereal one time for Auntie Leia and she did fairly well, but we will officially be feeding her solids starting next week. Should be lots of fun!! Here's a sneak peek of what's in store:

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!

Happy Feet :)

"Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have. (Luke 24:39)

Naomi is discovering more about the way the world works... especially regarding her hands and feet. When she plays on her mat, her arms and legs are flapping super fast, knocking her toys around and laughing while they sway above her. She gets tired and takes a short break then does it all over again. She can entertain herself like this for up to half an hour :)

My sister Jasmine told me that sometimes when a baby reaches a new milestone, their sleep habits change. A few nights ago, Naomi woke up in the middle of the night around 2:30am. I could hear her little baby noises, but she wasn't crying or really even fussing. When I looked into her bassinet, I saw Mimi kicking her pink hippo which hangs above her. She was smiling and entertaining herself, so I went back to sleep expecting to hear her cry out at any minute. She kept playing and eventually fell back asleep, too. The next time I woke up it was 5AM and she was flailing her legs around again, but she looked frustrated. Naomi had managed to wiggle her body in a way that her feet could no longer reach the hippo. I repositioned her and she kicked away until she had worked up an appetite and let out a loud yelp to let me know it was time to for breakfast. By this time, it was already a whole 7 hours since she last ate so I knew she was hungry!


Her favorite toy to kick on her play mat is an octopus that has a rattle and a hoop attached to him. I decided to hang it on her car seat on our way to Dean's house to celebrate his 8th birthday. Shortly after we hit the road, she grabbed the hoop and held on super tight. Mimi just stared up at the octopus, but wasn't moving her arm. I shook her arm to let her hear the rattle, but she didn't shake it on her own. I thought that she might have just got stuck and didn't know how to let go, so I pried her fingers off the ring. BIG MISTAKE! She screamed at me and let me know she wasn't done yet. I put the ring back in her hand and she just kept staring and holding it for at least another 5 minutes. The second she let go of it, she closed her eyes and dozed off.

When we got Hercules, we let her play in Weslee's aquarium bouncer. It wasn't too long ago that she would just sit in it quietly while watching the bubbles. This time she kicked the fish and the seahorse with her feet. This activity seemed to bring her a new found joy in sitting in the bouncer :)

Gotta love those HAPPY FEET!

Island Princess

Praise the LORD, my soul! O LORD my God, you are very great. You are clothed with splendor and majesty. (Psalm 104:1)

Our "Island Princess" is now 7 weeks old! A few fun milestones just since last week: Naomi is smiling!!! :) Not just the cute half smiles while she's gassy in her sleep... now it's full gorgeous SMILES from ear to ear with eyes squinting in JOY! She is happiest in the morning. She still goes through her morning ritual of grunting and complaining right before waking up as if to say, "It's rough getting up!" but once she fully opens her eyes and has breakfast, she's all smiles!

I love taking pictures of her, but I had a little more fun with the outfit that Auntie Somer bought her for my baby shower gift. Richie is from Guam, so this Island Princess onesie is perfect! I couldn't help putting a pretty flower that I bought in Hawaii behind her ear and the sun-hat that she wears when we go for walks outside. Also, before she was even born, Richie and I bought her these cute sandals from Target (the Dollar Spot rocks!). Only a month and a half and already wearing her first pair of tsinelas/zorries :)



Another "milestone" she reached is discovering her hands... particularly that they are quite tasty! I've seen her put a couple fingers in her mouth, but Naomi especially likes to chew on the side of her hand so that it looks like she's sucking her thumb, but the thumb isn't actually in her mouth. She's also getting better at gripping things like her rattle. She'll hold onto it very tight and shake it around, but I don't think she realizes yet that she's the one making it rattle. Sometimes Mimi also puts her hand up to her pacifier as if to hold it there so it doesn't fall out. She only uses the binky in the car when it's not in motion (I ride in the back with her when Richie is driving). I have a feeling that she will learn how to hold her bottle to her mouth fairly quickly because she likes to hold onto "me" while she breastfeeds :) It's actually really cute, but you'll just have to take my word for it ;)