Thursday, January 26, 2006

So Annoying

Here I was sitting, watching "Martha Stewart Living" (is that what it's called? I don't watch it regularly) and a stupid "special" news report interrupts my show. Dum-dum is on TV right now responding to the victory of Hamas in the Palestinian elections, along with some other stuff. That dumbass was talking about he supports the democratic process and he likes the variety of ideas among people. But then he said that Hamas cannot be a partner in peace because they have in the past called for the destruction of the State of Israel. Whatever. America cannot be an honest broker, as they have claimed, in the Mideast peace process if they are so biased towards the Zionist state. Fuckerz. And Bush (in case you didn't realize I was talking about him :-P) also said that we are "living in historic times" and was supporting the domestic eavesdropping and was saying we need to keep America safe... If you wanna keep America safe, stop bein' such an ass and shittin' over the rest of the world!! He also said that we will continue to hunt out the enemy in Afghanistan and Iraq. My goodness - did we really have anything to fear in Iraq before we sent Americans over there and started droppin' bombs on Iraqi heads? I'm annoyed... The news is so depressing to me. Wish I could just escape...

Anyway, I had talked to my physician a week regarding my lab results. It showed that my "good" cholesterol falls within normal limits. However, my "bad" cholesterol is high, thus, I need to go on a diet. So, knowing all this, that very night I had french fries and cheesesteak. :-P Man, I was hunger and I don't eat very well. I actually hardly eat anything, period. That's not good, I know. But now I have to be conscious of what I eat. I never was one to do that. My doctor said red meats, cheese, butter... that kinda stuff is bad for cholesterol. She mentioned that almonds and walnuts and oatmeal were good for you. She said eating oatmeal can reduce your cholesterol 10%. And she instructed me to eat shellfish sparingly, to eat fish (I don't eat fish!), and to eat poultry. I coulda sworn she said to eat it with skin. But then I thought I read somewhere else that it should be without.

I mentioned in my last post that Thevy doesn't crawl. Well, I spoke too soon. Not long after I published the last post, lo and behold!, I saw that little girl transport herself. lol. She can crawl. It's just the lack of opportunity, I suppose, that I never saw her and she couldn't practice. It's funny cuz sometimes it seems she just wants to walk, lifting one knee up so that she's on her hands, one knee, and a foot. I haven't taken a picture of her crawling yet. That'll be my next task.

I believe I talked about in some previous post about how so many people have had babies within the last year and how culturally diverse they were. Thevy's got many contemporaries of mixed backgrounds. There's Taiwanese/Mexican/White, Black and white, Vietnamese/Korean, Filipino/White, Black/Cambodian... One of my former co-workers just had a baby in November who's Persian/Palestinian. And I recently caught up with an old friend of mine who had a daughter about a month after me who's Filipina/White/Black/Thai. Whew. What a mouthful! :-P

Speaking of mouthfuls... Thevy's diet is gonna
be getting varied soon. Though she has no teeth, she's able to feed herself and I give her small bits of food sometimes for her to eat. Yesterday I gave her a little bit of mozarella cheese and chopped-up pieces of grapes. Gerber also has these little cereal-like snacks called Veggie Puffs and Fruit Puffs. They kinda melt in your mouth if you just suck on 'em. But if you just chew them, they're crunchy. They're shaped like a five-petal flower. It's funny when I give 'em to Thevy cuz sometimes they sorta stick to her lips before she gets it totally in her mouth. The result is this:
And I'm glad she doesn't use a bottle. She either gets "boob juice" from the source or juice and/or water in a sippy cup. Have you seen kids that are able to walk still usin' a bottle? Or a pacifier? Thevy doesn't use one of those either. And she doesn't suck her thumb or anything. So, so far I'm lucky. Hopefully, she doesn't develop any of those habits somehow later on. She can also drink out of a regular cup, but with assistance, of course. And she can suck on a straw, but she's not real efficient with that.

Oh, and we had bought a potty chair for her a few weeks ago. She has gone to the bathroom in it a few times. But we're not being real consistent with it right now. Supposedly, potty training doesn't typically begin 'til after age 2, I think. But my mom claims to have potty-trained me at 3 months. It's a Vietnamese thing, I suppose. Ya see, in my mom's day, they didn't have the convenience of disposable diapers, so they had to do things differently. Whereas I leave Thevy in a wet diaper all through the night, my mom said she didn't do that with me. I'm not sure of how the process of potty-training an infant works --Bush finally got off my TV, but now Martha is already over. Just switched to Ellen. That woman is silly.--, but somehow she did it. I remember reading this one Vietnamese American guy's web page and he mentioned this very thing of potty-training a baby, when he took a trip to Vietnam. He wrote and my mom even said something about making the "sssss" sound to encourage them to go. I don't know if that even works, the sound effect, that is, cuz how can they even associate that sound with the act of peeing? Anyway, we'll see if I can't potty-train Thevy over the next several months.

Wednesday, January 18, 2006

Crazy Weather

Last night/early morning, I went to let my dog out and when I opened the door, it didn't even seem cold out. I mean, the temperature usually drops in the evening, right? And then this morning it was all rainy. And now, though it may be a bit windy, it looks all nice and sunny out. But isn't there a winter storm on its way? Anyway, crazy weather. I'ma try and get out the house and take in some of this strange climate.

I've sorta been crocheting lately. I've always known the very basics of crochet from when I was younger, as my mom is an excellent crocheter. But I could never really make anything. So while I was pregnant, I began a project: a baby blanket. I purchased Complete Idiot's Guide to Knitting and Crocheting. It really helped out with learning the sheer basics of these two wonderful arts.

Well... the blanket project never reached fruition. I was no where near done in my last month of pregnancy. I figured I could still work on it after the baby was born. But that didn't happen. I turned that bad boy into a scarf! lol. I tried making a hat for Baby, but it was too small. And I even made a mitten (yes, "a" mitten). It was too small, too, so I didn't bother making its pair. Thing is, though I've learned the crocheting techniques, I don't quite understand stuff dealing with gauge - which size needle to use with which size yarn, etc. and how that effects the size and look of your final product. I did end up making a new hat and mittens for Thevy. The hat's a bit snug, but it fits. And the mittens fit, too, but they don't stay on! :-P This photo is of the "failed" projects.

I don't have a picture of the new hat and mittens, but they turned out okay. :)

Thevy is approaching nine months of age. She still has no teeth and I am not looking forward to teething, which I heard can be pretty bad, with fevers and irritability. She's almost 22 pounds and I think she's gettin' close to being two-and-a-half-feet tall! :) I got her some clothes I bought from a lady who had lost her job and was trying to get some cash. I spent about 40 bucks for approximately 20 pieces. Not too bad. A few of the items were still brand new. The lady I got the clothes from has a two-year-old who weighs about 25 pounds. (Compare her weight with Thevy's, hehe). She was nice. A Chinese woman. Neither she nor her husband are citizens, which makes their situation difficult. Her husband is trained in mechanical engineering, but all the jobs are in government, which requires citizenship. And the woman said it takes about 5 years to become a citizen - once you apply. She's been here six years, but hasn't applied. She doesn't know yet whether they will ultimately stay or go back to China. She would like to stay here for the sake of her daughter. She finds the Chinese education system to be too rigorous (is that really a bad thing? Americans ARE kinda dumb, if you ask me! Sike. I'm just thinking of Americans like me. :-P). And she enjoys the access to different cultural venues around here. Anyway, I hope she and her husband can work everything out. The woman says that maybe after Thevy is one I can bring her over to play with her daughter.

So, yeah, Thevy is gettin' big. She doesn't crawl, but she's quite mobile. She's always reaching for and grabbing things you don't want her to have. Babies also have eagle eyes and so she sees things you don't notice. Examples: I sat her on the bed and put all these distractions in front of her (some toys). But what does she do? She reaches for a coil of hair on the bedspread, that I didn't even see cuz it blended in with the fabric. When I put her on a blanket on the floor with her toys, she moves toward the carpet and tries to pick up tiny pieces of paper or something. Again, she doesn't crawl. It's more like she creeps or slithers or whatever. I'm not sure if she doesn't crawl cuz I don't always put her on the floor to give her the opportunity to practice. But then, some babies skip the crawling step.

She has strong legs and can pull herself up to a stand. She's been doing that maybe a few weeks now. And I think she'll walk early. I, apparently, didn't take my first step until my first birthday. But babies are made differently these days. They reach milestones a lot sooner. I attribute this trend to whatever it is they put in our foods (hormones and what have you). Anyway, Thevy is startin' to get the concept of walking. Before when I used to stand her up and hold her hands, she would just stand there or bounce, or try to sit down. Now, she puts one foot in front of the other and goes. So, right now she can stand with support and cruise a bit. Cruising is when a baby gets around while standing and holding on to something. Like when in her crib (which is more of a playpen than a place to sleep!), Thevy will pull herself up and move around, side-to-side.

And she's got so much hair. She was born with about an inch of hair. She had a little bit of bangs. Now her hair goes maybe an inch under her eyes. I hate when people suggest I cut her hair, like give her bangs. Now why would I do that? I don't want her to have bangs. I want her hair to be all one length. Of course, I will eventually give her the occasional trim. But for now, I want her hair to get longer. It's long enough to put in a ponytail, but the hair doesn't all stay up. I often put a single ponytail on top of her head. My dad and sister don't like it. But screw them!! Everyone else finds it cute. :-P A few months ago my sister suggested I put a headband on Thevy. I'm like, no! That's for them bald babies that people put them on so you can tell they're girls! haha. She thought about it and was like, "True." You know those skinny pieces of cloth with an elastic band and a bow? But then my sis did send the headband that you see on Thevy in the previous entry. That one's much cooler than those headbands that look like garters. =P

Okay, this blog is long enough. I think I'll end with one finally picture(s). This is a collage of Thevy in her first month of life. I've heard that babies are ugly when they're born and just in the beginning in general. That they're wrinkly and have smooshed-up faces considering all they've been through (i.e. the trip down the birth canal). I dunno, but Thevy wasn't any of these things, in my opinion. See for yourself:

Saturday, January 14, 2006

Baby's 1st Christmas

I wasn't particularly looking forward to Christmas, as some would think, seeing as how it was my child's first. Well, I lost the illusion of Christmas some time ago. It stopped being fun, I don't even remember when. But also, I guess it's since funds are kinda (not kinda - they ARE) low, I/we don't really have a lot to give Thevy - materially, at least. :-/ And also, I dunno if this is being realistic or a subconscious way of fooling myself into not feeling bad about it, but the rationale is that she's too young to even truly appreciate the commercialism of the holiday anyway!, which you can see from the following photos.

Ya see, when she pulled at the paper, she proceeded to put it in her mouth! lol. We couldn't get that girl interested in opening presents. She was much more into the wrapping paper, or the boxes the gifts came in, or just anything else! I swear, it seems just about every picture we have of her that morning is her tasting everything. hehe. And she was also still sleepy. I don't really have her on any specific schedule since I'm not currently working, not to mention, I've never been much for order anyhow... :-P So, Baby's been on a stay-up-late-sleep-in-all-morning pattern right along with me. So, we went back to sleep a little after that. So, I wonder if the fact that she was sleepy affected her not really seeming all that excited about getting to tear apart the wrapping paper. She's usually all for ripping up stuff, or trying to.

Anyhoo, I guess it'll be fun to show her the pictures when she's older. This last picture is funny; looks like she's waving, but she's not. :)

Thursday, January 05, 2006

Happy New Year

My New Year's wasn't that great. I woulda been content to just stay home and do nothing, which is what I've done for most New Year's for most of my life. Peter, Baby, and I went to some overpriced dinner. It was sponsored by some Cambodian association at a Chinese restaurant. I do not like Chinese food. It was annoying cuz first, Peter said we didn't have to pay for the $30 tickets cuz a friend was posta get 'em for us. In the end, we had to purchase our own tix, and in the end, they didn't cost thirty, but thirty-five dollars. I hardly ate anything. And when I had Peter bring me a virgin piña colada, that shiet was nasty! Do you know it tasted like coconut and vomit to me! :-(

Peter also said all his friends would be there. I hardly met anybody. One person I did meet was hella annoying. He reminded me of this kid that used to work at the commissary that we laughed about. And this guy was drunk and definitely not someone I was pleased to meet. This fool even threw up a few times at the table. And then, he had the nerve to keep drinkin'!

Also, one of the things Peter told me was that there would be no smoking. Good, cuz I don't like cigarette smoke, and, we also had the baby with us. Then, after the disappointing dinner had already been served, the stupid drunk kid was all of a sudden smoking! Then this other idiot at the next table had a cig in his mouth and asked the drunk guy for a light. That's when I got up and told Peter I was outta there. We ended up leaving soon after. We were at this restaurant for a few hours. But I wish we hadn't gone.

The music was really loud there, too. Actually, it was only super loud when the band played. I didn't like that. I don't want Thevy to become hard-of-hearing! I dunno what it takes for that to happen, but that would be tragic. Anyway, despite the loud percussions and what not, she still managed to take a nap. (see middle picture) :-P

After we left that place, we went to Peter's friend's house. This friend was having a little house party. They were watching the game when we got there. Though I didn't really have anyone to talk to 'cept this friendly Korean chick who liked babies, I felt better there. We rang in the new year there.

So, that was that. Hope everyone who celebrated had a better time than I did!

And about this last pic... Thevy seems to like Dr. Phil. I'm not sure if it's the bald head. Like, on the Disney channel, there's this yellow blob of clay with eyes and a mouth that talks. It's name is "Clay" and it's some short segment that comes on between shows or something. Whenever he comes on, Thevy laughs/smiles. Same thing with Dr. Phil. lol. Well, in this picture, the "Dr. Phil" show is on and I can't seem to get her attention. Funny thing is, during this moment, Dr. Phil isn't even on the screen, but a guest of the show - with hair - is talking. She was engrossed. :)