Waverly in Twelve Months

Waverly is turning 1 on Monday! I can't believe how fast her first year has flown by. Having Mason definitely sped that up. I hardly even remember having her nap on me when she was very little. It was wonderful when I just had Mason, and he basically napped on my chest for my whole maternity leave. It was amazing, and it was beautiful. I took so many pictures of him napping on my chest. With Waverly, there wasn't a lot of time for that. She sort of had to grow up. And that's exactly what my little bebe has done.

She's such a joy. I just love everything about her. I love how chunky she is. She's in Size 2T!!! Like, what the heck?! She loves snuggles when she's tired, but don't get in her way when she's not because she is a very busy body. She loves to climb absolutely everything. Even things that she can't climb, her little short legs will try. She's a good eater. She's a good sleeper. She's still on two naps a day. She sleeps 9pm - 6 or 7pm. I wish she would sleep a little later, but I'm not complaining. She loves to play cars with her brother although he doesn't like her playing with his cars. Sometimes she will make the car sounds like her brother. It's so darn cute. She loves to smile, and I love her squinty eye faces. She's walking and falling, but she loves walking and being so independent.

I'm so grateful for my phone for the easy captures! The pictures came out of order :(

How She Became Waverly

Before we had Mason, we discussed his name only a handful of times. And it wasn't like we finally agreed to one name. Our conversations usually started out with one of us asking the other what his name should be followed by the other saying I don't know. We then threw out some names including Mason, and then agreed to think about names some more to be discussed at a later time. We didn't pen his name until the day we left the hospital.

Growing up, my name was always mispronounced, and I have always felt strongly that I couldn't (and consequently didn't) use Hmong names for my children. My name was sometimes a good conversation starter, but frankly, it was just frustrating to have to correct people. And I didn't always correct people either. It depended on whether I was going to see you again or not, and then other times, I just didn't because I could careless. 

With this pregnancy, we approached her name similar to Mason's, although we sort of had a first runner up. I loved the name, and it was not a common name, but one that was already used by a friend for her daughter. They didn't live in town, but with social media, it feels like they lived close by. Nonetheless, we kept that name in mind. I even started telling some friends the name we thought about using. Maybe that ruined it. Anyhow, towards the end of my pregnancy, we started doubting our name choice and stopped discussing her name altogether.

Names are difficult. Names are identities. People name children after people they respected, or thought was nice, or thought was attractive. It wasn't something I looked at lightly. I wanted to see both my babies before I named them, although I'm not sure how helpful that was since babies look like, well, babies. Their faces didn't scream one name or the other. 

Late at night when I couldn't sleep, I would scroll through FaceBook. It was on one of these nights that I found her potential name. It was a list of New York baby names. I was scrolling through when I saw the name Waverly. Three syllables. It didn't roll off my tongue like Mason. Mason and Waverly. Did those names go together? I wasn't sure. I had wanted something southern, since I missed the South quite a bit. But Waverly - that sounded beautiful, but subtle. It sounded calm and poised. It sounded like it could be my daughter's name.

After I had her, Brandon had a name for her, but I couldn't go with it. It was a very popular name, and absolutely beautiful, but that name just didn't seem right for her, for my daughter. We walked away from the hospital with a promise to call back and give them a name. Once we left the hospital, the conversation resumed, but now with a deadline looming on our shoulders. We could never come up with anything new other than Brandon's choice, and my choice. Finally, I decided I just needed to make a decision, and my vote was going to count twice ;)

And that was how she became Waverly.

How did you pick your children's names? This is always a topic that I love hearing about. 

Kaolee

Her Birth Story

I was so unprepared for her. I thought surely she would come a week early like her brother, but she came two weeks early! Here is the story of the day she came into the world.

9:00AM It started out as most ordinary Sundays. Well, maybe not most ordinary Sundays since I snoozed, knowing that we would miss the first hour of church. I had wanted to go since I hadn't bore my testimony in church, and was thinking about bearing my testimony that Sunday. Anyways, by the time I got up, I knew we wouldn't make it to the first hour. I got up, got myself ready, then woke Brandon up while I got Mason ready for church. 

10:15AM We finally made it to church. Mason was having a difficult time in nursery so I sat on the floor while he played around me. On the drive to church, I had been feeling some cramps, but wasn't sure if it was a big deal. As I was sitting with Mason, I started to wonder whether I was having contractions or not.

11:20AM I left nursery, and went to Relief Society. That's when I started feeling the cramps intensify, and decided to start timing the contractions. I texted Brandon that I thought I was having contractions, and that maybe today is the day. It started getting worse, and I thought that maybe I should leave church, but wasn't sure since if I left church, and it was a false alarm, I would be disappointed. The contractions kept going until church ended.

12:30PM We got home and started packing our things for the hospital. I called my midwife, and she suggested walking, and seeing if my contractions are closer together. They were about 4-6 minutes apart. It wasn't very consistent. We walked around the neighborhood, and the contractions became 3 minutes apart. It was getting intense, and we were having to stop until it passed. Once we got home, I called the midwife again, and decided it was time to go in. We had called our cousin, and when they got to our house, we set out for the hospital.

Before I had Mason, I had biscuits & gravy from Hardees. I know, so random! But I worked at Hardees growing up, and always loved their biscuits & gravy. I wasn't sure of a Hardees around here, but was intent on eating some sort of biscuits & gravy. We thought about stopping at Kitchen Table so I could do my ritualistic feed, but with the contractions, we decided against it. We stopped at McDonalds so we could grab some food.

2:30PM We finally got to the hospital, and Brandon parked out front, and then helped me upstairs. Once we got upstairs, Brandon went back to the car to go park it, and bring our food back up since we left everything in the car. My midwife checked me, and I was already at a 7! I cried, realizing that that day was going to be her birth day. Two weeks early! And a part of me wasn't quite ready for it. I was just so nervous, and I didn't even have a name yet, and didn't want to do any pushing! I mean, it was the Sabbath Day - a day of rest! I just wanted to rest! When Brandon got back with the food, the midwife told him, no food!

At this point, the contractions were hitting hard so the hospital staff had to wheel me on the stretcher. Yes, it was that intense! We got to the labor room, and the hospital staff started filling the tub up with water. Similar to Mason's, I had opted again for a water birth. I moved to the rocking chair and the nurse got me a grape popsicle. Around this time, my midwife had me moved to the tub. Seriously, the contractions suck, but in between, the water felt so so so good. I was right where I was again with Mason - zoned out and in peace.

My water still hadn't broken on its own so Brandon and I decided that we would have the nurse break my water. Well, we had a bit of a hiccup when I was getting out of the tub. I couldn't! Every time I tried to climb out of the tub, my contractions worsened. Finally, I was able to get out. This concerned my midwife, and she thought it was best for me to have our baby not in the tub, but on land. I didn't argue with this.

At this point, the midwife checked, and I was at an 8. She broke my water, and the contractions worsened. There were issues with my cervix, and it was basically not allowing our baby to come out. When her head finally popped out, the umbilical cord was around her neck twice. I remember the midwife telling me to not push anymore, but my body was doing its own thing. The midwife was able to cut the cord so that our baby can breathe.

5:32PM After what seemed like forever, she finally made it through the birth canal, and we got to see our baby girl. It was weird to see all that hair on her head since Mason was bald at birth, and for quite a while. She was a bit bruised on her face due to the fast labor. She tested well, and the cord didn't affect her at all, which was what we were worried about.

She came into the world at 6 pounds and 11 ounces and 18 inches. It's unbelievable that she's been with us for 2 weeks now. She's absolutely beautiful, and I have truly forgotten how good they smell. She's getting more alert, and I just love having her around.

Kaolee

A Season of Babies

Looking back in my life, there has been so many seasons. There is the season of late hours writing papers, working on projects with my classmates, giving presentations in class. There is the season of Beta Alpha Psi (accounting fraternity), going to recruiting events, participating in career workshops. There is the season of long, long hours working, learning how to audit, staying up late to cram in CPA studying sessions. There is the season of work trips, teaching staffs, answering client emails.

Then here we are. The season of running around with a toddler, cuddling, kisses on boo-boos. 

There are long days that never seem to end. There are days that we have so much fun, I never want it to end. There are breakdowns in grocery stores. There are days that I smile proudly as he cooperates. No two days are a like, and when I think I have just figured this one out, he changes and I have to learn yet again to change how I approach things with him. 

This is my reality right now. And the realities of many of my girlfriends. And some days, I admit that I look forward to what's next, when he won't be so small anymore, when he will be able to converse with me, when he will be able to take long road trips without tears, when he will start playing sports, and (gasp!) when he gets married. 

And then I think back to all those other seasons before, and how long ago they seem! How short that period was, and how hard some of those experiences were, but yet they passed, and I'm so glad I got to learn from them and grow from them.

This season will pass just as fast as those before, and will I have felt like I have given it all? Will I felt like I enjoyed it enough? There are some regrets for sure during my college years and my working years. There are things I wished I had done, and I wished we had done. And I don't want that for this season. Because though we can do some of those things that we weren't able to do, this little guy of mine (and little girl of mine) will be grown before I blink my eyes. 

Not everyday will be sunshine and butterflies, and not everyday will always be excitement and adventure, but I'm recommitting myself to living with this season. 

Kaolee

Oh, Just Feeling Like a Crappy Mom

Mason's sleep habits are totally crazy these days. He's been waking up at 2am, and he doesn't go to sleep until after 10pm. He does sleep in until 8am, but I need that 10pm to be more like 7pm.

Tonight, I figure I would lay in bed with him and see if he will go to sleep. He thought about it, but that's all that happened. Giving up, I threw him in his Pack N Play (crib is not yet put together). I could hear his cries from downstairs, straining at my heart. I couldn't stand hearing him so I went in the garage to finish staining my shelves. I could still hear him.

That was so hard, and it's always hard to hear him cry. I really just want to get him, and hug him, and tell him that I love him. And would I be doing a disservice to him? I don't know. But honestly, I can't bear it. I love my little guy so very much.

Kaolee

My Little Baby

Sometimes I forget how young Mason still is. Now that he's walking around, signaling when he wants something, saying little words like mama, a part of me feels like he comprehends what I am saying and what is happening around him. I just keep forgetting that at the end of the day, he is still my little baby, and I love that.

Earlier today, we were on our way back from the grocery store, and he had a poopy diaper, and he hadn't had a nap, and he just started wailing in the backseat. I sung to him and the cries just kept getting louder. I explained to him that we were getting closer and he wouldn't listen to reasoning.

He was still a baby, and though he was learning a lot, he still listened to his needs first and foremost, and those controlled his actions. We got home, and got all that needed to be taken care of, and I plopped him down for a nap that he didn't know he needed. And so, the house is quiet, and I can clean up, and by clean up, I mean online shopping and blogging :) Sorry Brandon!

Kaolee

don't ask for what you can't bear

Or something like that.

Mason was previously sleeping at 10pm, which meant he would sleep until 8 or even 9am the next morning. This also meant that once Mason was in bed, we ourselves didn't get into bed until well past midnight.

I casually mentioned to several people that maybe I should put him into bed earlier, say 7pm or 8pm. That way, once he gets to bed, and I finish up the dishes and cleaning up, it may just be 9pm and that will still give me some time to read, and relax.

In theory, it really seemed like a great idea. However, I failed to realize that since he would be going to bed earlier, that also meant he would be waking up earlier. And that means 7am. Ugh. I haven't seen 7am since February, when I was working.

So basically, don't ask for what you can't bear. Or if you do, understand the consequences. It's not all rainbows and butterflies.

And yes, I'm just complaining. But my problem is that I want to relax for 4 or 5 hours, and that turns into midnight. It honestly is nice that I get some evening time to relax and Mason gets to bed at a decent hour. And yes, once he's bed, I'm missing him already and wondering whether I should keep him up so we can play together.

Kaolee

Mason Lately

I won't even sugarcoat it. I baby my baby. He's growing up so, so fast.

He's taken a few steps, but doesn't rely on it entirely. When he needs to move fast, he resorts to his one legged crawl. It's a bit trippy watching him crawl like that. But it works for him and he can get away pretty fast. I admit that I don't work with him a lot on this, and I should. Our apartment is approximately 400 feet, 200 feet for the bathroom + bedroom and 200 feet for the kitchen + living room, so there is not a lot of room for him to do much crawling or walking. He is getting heavier each day, and grocery store trips aren't so fun, me trying to carry him and the groceries in.

I recently put him in a swim class. I know, I know. It may seem a little ridiculous, but we are just around so much water, and I know next summer, we will be out and about with a lot of water activities. I want to get him exposed to the water in a more controlled environment before he has to get into a free roaming environment. There are usually between 4 and 5 babies/kids there. The class is for children between 6 months up to 3 or so. Each parent is with their baby, and following the instructor's direction, we do different things with our baby. We've gone around the lazy river with the mats, blew bubbles, dunk the babies in the water (gently), teach them to get into the pool from the edge of the pool, etc. After this class, I'm considering a more serious class that will teach him to actually swim. I wanted this class first since I wanted him to be more comfortable in the pool first.

Mason is not a snuggler. Every once in a while, he may put his head down on your chest, but that happens rarely (I don't remember the last time this happened to me). The other night, we were hanging out with family, and he did that to his cousin. For about 30 seconds, he did that. So cute. And then off he goes again. He is so, so active. He loves to climb. Stairs, coffee tables, bins, bathtubs, couches, whatever he can reach with his little legs. If it's remotely possible, he'll stick his legs up to the side and try to push himself up.

I sure love him. More and more each and everyday.

Kaolee

A Mother's Intuition

When Mason was only a few weeks old, I came across a shared story on Facebook regarding a string getting caught around a baby's toe, and consequently, the child suffered horrifying injuries to the toe. That same night when I woke up around 2am or 3am to change Mason's diaper and feed him, I remembered that story, and thought, hmmmm, let me just see. I took off the little sock that covered his left foot, and peered down at each little toes, and examined each one carefully. While going through them, I saw that one of my hair strand had gotten wrapped around one little toe. I carefully took that strand off, and put his sock back. 

Not too long ago, I felt impressed to check the bottom of Mason's feet. It was just during the middle of the day while we were home, and he was watching television. It wasn't as though we had gone anywhere or he had played anywhere that I was concerned about. He wasn't in pain. He was playing around as he normally did. When I checked the bottom of his right foot, I saw that he had a visible splinter, and as I ran my finger on the bottom of his feet, I felt another splinter that was very tiny. I was able to get those splinters out, and I felt so bad for my little guy as splinters are the worst!!!

After these two incidents, I really do feel that a mother's intuition is so real. When I think about that hair strand, and those splinters, it makes me feel so bad for him, but for whatever reason, I did look and I am so glad that I did. I truly believe that moms have a gift and a connection with their children. I am so grateful to be Mason's mom, and I love my little guy so so much.

Kaolee

praying with a baby

I love praying around Mason. Mainly because I can peek at him while he looks at us. If I'm within reach, his favorite thing to do is to slap me in the face. I know, rude! He does this same thing if you are sleeping. If you are not within reach, he loves to stare and see what you are doing. He'll look up at your face and stare. His curious little mind is just blown, I'm sure. Once before when we were praying with a group of us, he crawled around just looking at everyone's faces.

Happy Monday!

Kaolee

What Mason Ate

Growing up, we ate whatever was on the table. Oh the things I ate, and loved eating. Eggplant, cabbage, fried ramen, chicken heart, chicken feet, pig tongue, etc. I ate it all.

As a mom, I try to feed Mason a lot of different things, and things that we eat on the daily, which includes all sorts of food, since Brandon and I enjoy most cuisines, and unless it's still alive and kicking, I'll usually eat it. So, I hope our little guy doesn't get too picky as he grows up.

Kaolee

Pseudostrabismus

I had a couple of comments about this so I wanted to address it. In a lot of his pictures, Mason's eyes look crossed. This was something that was pointed out to us when he was 3 months old by his pediatrician. We were concerned, and took him to an eye doctor. The doctor performed a complete eye exam on Mason, and the test results came back negative for any misalignment. We were very relieved.

Pseudostrabismus sounds completely horrific, but it actually just means a false appearance of eye misalignment. Apparently, this happens quite frequently in Asian babies.

We'll continue to monitor his eyes, and get them checked annually. I do appreciate your comments, and thoughts.

Kaolee

Little Eyes

He sees everything. The littlest tiny paper under the kitchen table. His little toy truck underneath the couch. The little cap bottle on the pavement. The lost pen. The little dead bug on the windowsill. The leaves moved by the wind. The little child sitting on another shopping cart.

I wish I could only know what he is thinking as he notices these things.

Kaolee

Happy 11th Months!

How can it be almost a year already? I feel like just yesterday you were looking up at me with those little brown eyes, and laying there, not knowing how to crawl, or open drawers?

You can now stand up in your high chair if I don't strap you in. You can hold onto furniture and walk alongside. You still love when we walk you, your face just turns into the biggest grin. You know to clap when we sing "If you're happy, and you know it, clap your hands." You love seeing other kids when we go shopping, although sometimes you are not so sure of them when you have to play with them. You are very observant, and love to stare. You have gotten good with scrolling on my phone. Daddy wants to get you a touch screen computer monitor, but I'm not so sure I want to get you into electronics yet (You are not even one yet!) You sweat quite a bit when you are hot, so you may not end up with my no-sweat genes. You love to sit in my lap when we read. You don't like loud noises. The other day, I tried to pump up your pool, and you crawled over, head down, with big tears in your eyes. You are very sensitive to noise, and the quietest sound will get your attention. However, you don't care about noise very much when it comes to you doing the noise making. You love to scream, and shout. You love to pucker your lips together, and make the O sound like you are in trouble. You just recently learned that you can do the same but hold the O sound longer to sound like you are understanding. You say mamamamamamamamama. I'm trying to get you to do the same for dadadadada. You don't go down as easily for a nap these days but you take one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Sometimes you will stand without holding onto anything if you are busy; that is, until you realize what you are doing, and then you find the closest thing to hold onto. I hope this means you will be walking soon! I just started feeding you cheerios, and you really like them. You also really like eating off our plates, and your mouth will sometimes water when you see me getting some food for myself. You put everything in your mouth, and though you try to be sly about it, I catch most of them (I hope so, at least!). You are active, active, go everywhere. You love to take things out of boxes, like your diapers. You don't just take them out and move them aside, you are very dramatic and sure about where you are putting them, and that usually means over your shoulder and behind you. You love climbing, on the stairs, on boxes, on me. Whatever you can stretch your little legs to, you will. And I hope you will always climb, no matter the obstacles, to get to where you want to be. I love you always.

-Momma

Things to Consider When Looking for a Daycare Center

Back when we were looking for a daycare center for Mason, we were completely lost and overwhelmed. We didn't know what to look for, and what would fit best with our needs. I consulted with friends and families, and visited a couple of daycare centers, and below are some of the things that we considered when choosing child care for Mason.

1. Look in advance for a daycare. We didn't start looking until five months before my due date, and that was not enough time. Depending on where you live, the best daycare centers will have long wait lists, and may not have open spots for over a year. So even if you are not pregnant now, I would recommend just knowing which daycare centers are in the area you are living. If possible, as soon as you are pregnant, I would call and try to get on the wait list. We weren't able to get into the daycare centers that we wanted, and ended up moving.

2. Tour the daycare centers during the day when they have kids there so you can see how the teachers are interacting with the kids. 

3. Find out about the ratio of adult to child. As the kids get older, that gap increases. 

4. Make sure the hours work with your schedule. If you have to be at work by 6am, but the daycare doesn't open until 6:30am, that may not work. Different daycare centers will have different schedules so just check around.

5. Ask about teacher turnover. If teachers are coming and going, that may be a sign of the center and may be a hard adjustment for your child.

6. Ask about teacher background. You want to make sure that those watching your child are qualified, either by experience or by education.

7. Make sure the daycare center has an open door policy. If you want to visit your child during the day, you should be able to.

8. Could you pay with a credit card? I get miles on my credit card so I try to buy most things on my credit card. You are going to have to pay for it one way or another, so why not earn some miles while at it?

9. Will you be able to pay for it? Childcare to me is one of those things that you get what you pay for. Cheap isn't always the best, so make sure you are comfortable with the people who are actually taking care of your child. At the same time, if you can't pay for it, that will probably not work.

10. If you can't find a daycare center close to your home, consider one close to your workplace. I worked quite far from where we lived and thought about putting Mason in one close to my workplace. Unfortunately, I was not always at the office so that made it difficult. But if you don't have to travel around, consider different areas, not just where you live.

11. Ask around! Your friends, families, and coworkers will know about different places so ask them about it, and ask about their experiences.

It's so nerve-wrecking trying to find a place that will love your child the way that you do. Take your time, and listen to your gut. If you don't feel good about a place, don't take your child there. That's easier said than done, especially when if you are on a limited budget, or are in a location where there are just not enough daycare centers to pick from. 

We were very fortunate to have someone who loved and cared for our son like he was her own. I hope and pray that you will be able to find a place that fits with your family.

Happy 10 Months!

Oh hello sweet face! You cutie you! You are growing so much. You have 4 teeth, 2 on the bottom and 2 on the top. You love to make a mess. You love to take toys out of their bins and books off the shelves. You are ticklish everywhere. You love to point and touch things. You use your feet to help you with everything, from feeling things to pushing things away. You are very aware of your surrounding, and love to look around. Noise attracts you, and so does lights, and electronics, like laptops, keyboards and cellphones. You like when I read to you, and you like looking through your books. You love when we walk with you. You especially love when we run with you. Your face lights up, and your little legs turn. You are so fun, and we love you so very, very much!

The Years Are Short

They say the days are long, but the years are short. And boy, I don't know who "they" are, but they sure are right. It doesn't help that I am in a different place, and I don't know anyone. It doesn't help that I'm also super tired. Who knew taking care of a little boy would be so tiring! Hugs to our daycare lady, and all she did! Not only did she watch Mason, she watched other kids too! We miss her dearly.

My attempt to get out of the house today failed miserably. Not only was the library closed, Mason also fell asleep. So back we came, and I realized I was starving so I am eating while Mason is sleeping. Anyways, presenting the apples of my eyes!