Lost

We played at 9 am this morning against USAPM team. We lost four points: 29 vs 33. The rule is strange: it's rally points, 20 minutes and two sides switch at 10 minute point. Since we're co-ed teams, if one side hits the ball more than once to get it over, people from both gender would have to touch the ball.

It's a hot day in Colorado. I never got chances to play beach volleyball when I lived in Florida, yet we're playing on sand in the middle of the country. I'm still not used to it. I didn't take my shoes off while playing. At least I didn't embarrass myself too much. The champion team beat Purchasing/Sharks by 40 points in the first round. They are some professional people that participate in the national tournament.

We have happy hour in the cafeteria today from 5 to 6 pm. Beer, wine, soft drinks and snacks will be served. I have invited Biajee. Laura and I will pick up our boys together and then bring them to happy hour. It's just an excuse of getting out of work early.

Volleyball

I played volleyball yesterday and the day before with my coworkers. My boss caught me and was amazed that I could play volleyball but could not go back to work yet. He briefed me about their having to work both Saturday and Sunday in the past weekend and had to stay till 2 am one night. Well, the company volleyball tournament is next Tuesday and we need to practice for that.

Volleyball is a very strenuous sport, especially when you have to play on sand instead of hard court. My shoes were filled with sand by the end of the games. Biajee picked up Arnold from school two days in a row. Starting from next week, I'll be dropping Arnold off in the morning while Biajee will pick him up after work because I'm expected to work long and crazy hours immediately.

Hard to believe 12 weeks' maternity leave had gone by so fast. Difficult to adjust to the fact that I could only see Arnold for 3 hours every day now - in the morning before he goes to day care and in the evening after he gets home. The rest of day Arnold will be either sleeping or in Montessori.

Yet, I need to go back to work. We need my paycheck. The bank account has been drained down to almost nothing. Not working for 3 months and still spending over $10,000 is a bad situation to be in. We need to figure out our finance condition, for ourselves and for Arnold. We need to invest, start a side business or stay in this rat race forever.

Annual Physical Check

I went to see Dr. Richard for annual physical check yesterday. It was a simple process, mostly conversational.

"I have always been tired after labor. Is that normal?"

"Oh yeah, totally. It'll last for at least 18 years after your kid goes to college."

“I have been having optical migraines before, during and after pregnancy. Each time it’ll last for 10 to 15 minutes. How should we treat that?”

“Pei, the cause of that is that sometimes your blood vessels suddenly shrink to be thinner. I don’t think we need to treat that. If your blood vessels shrink to clog, you would have a stroke. Any medication we have will take 30 minutes to take effect. By that time, your symptoms are already gone.”

"My Chinese friend told me not to exercise for 3 months after labor because the loosen joints and bones will be hurt and cannot go back. Is that right?"

"That's mostly correct. But some suitable level of exercises can actually help you recover quicker. For example, you can do 3 situps every day this month, 6 situps every day next month and maybe 100 situps every day in a year. If you over do it, it'll hurt your body, muscles and system. If you have backache, situps can help. But do the revised crunches instead of full situps. Full situps could hurt your belly muscles and prevent them from going back to original shape. So you can exercise now, just don't do any strenuous things. If you used to run 5 miles per day, try one mile now."

And so on and so on. It's always good to have a 2nd opinion, especially from a doctor. Then my blood got drawn for chlesterol test. Nurse Peggy tried 3 times on my arms and could not poke my veins. Heavens! I thought I had the easiest veins than 90% of the population. Fortunately, she called another nurse for help and ended my suffering swiftly.

It's the first time in my life to have an annual physical check. It is actually recommended by doctors in this country. My goal is to live and see my grandchildren graduate from college. Then I can die peacefully.

An interesting fact is: if a person has a heart attack when he is young, it usually hurts so much that he'd wish himself dead. However, if a person has a heart attack after he is 60, it doesn't hurt that badly and he may die peacefully without knowing anything...

Tough Time

I was sick yesterday. I hadn't been sick for over 5 years except the pregnancy and labor. I've always considered myself healthy and energetic, yet I found I had never been so tired all my life. I have trouble sleeping after I pump every night. I wasn't able to get up early enough to drive Arnold to school.

Arnold demands us to hold him every day after he is back home. I guess he is ignored most of the time at school. There are 9 kids in his room, 6 girls and 3 boys. Three teachers are looking after them. Arnold will learn to flirt with the girls pretty quickly. He finished the four bottles yesterday! Hooray! At least he is getting enough nutrition.

My dear Japanese friend Yoshimi sent me a pigeon milk bottle after Arnold was born. It is most similar to mother's nipple. Arnold has been taking that pretty well. He refuses to drink the other bottles because he has to suck them differently. It's surprising to see how backward the United States is at infant feeding. We still use Vent Aire bottles, which is a pain to clean. The pigeon bottle, however, has Vent Air function built into it. I wish this country spend more time and money on infants than nuclear missiles and war...

Montessori

Montessori is one of the nation's largest school chain, providing care and education to kids from 6 weeks old to high school. Both service and price are premium.

Biajee and I had interviewed three day care facilities before we decided that Arnold should go to this one. I packed 3 bottles of breast milk for Arnold yesterday. By 3pm, the teachers had only given him one. The poor little guy was starving by the time he got home. I scribbled down feeding time on the parent sheet after dropping him off today. Hopefully by the time I pick him up at 3:30 pm, he would have finished the four bottles of milk.

His diaper gets changed quite frequently though. There is no worry for a diaper rash yet. We just want to make sure he is eating enough.

Arnold slept through the night for the first time in his life yesterday - from 9:30 pm to 5:30 am. Biajee and I were really excited. This will comply with our work schedules as long as Arnold is healthy and happy.

First School Day

Today is Arnold's first day at school. We were rushing everything this morning. There was a whole box of his clothes, blankets, washcloths, bibs, wipes and diapers to be taken to Montessori. Biajee and I went together. And of course, we forgot all his milk bottles! Luckily I won't start working until next Monday so I was able to come home and fetch them.

The teacher told me to pack him five 4 oz bottles. We were only able to defreeze three 4 oz bottles. I found that I could pump out 5.5 oz of milk at his feeding time this morning, which means we probably didn't pack Arnold enough milk for school. Usually the supply will equal to demand. He is such a big boy and it's normal if he eats more than other babies. We'll start to pack him 5 oz bottles tomorrow.

And I need to pick him up early from school today because he'll be running out of food to eat. There are six girls in his room. Lucky lad! He can learn to flirt with girls at 11 weeks now. I nursed him at Montessori. It's amazing how noisy it is there. And when I arrived for the 2nd time, Arnold and another baby were lying on the mat, crying hard. This is a brutal world. Sadly our infants have to learn that at such a young age. They will grow up being abused all the time...

First Fever

Arnold had his first fever last night after the vaccine shots. He slept most of the time and cried in between sleeps. We think he has had nightmares. Doctor and nurse said tummy time is really important for him at the moment. It can help reduce gas and build up their arm muscles.

Arnold and I decided to stay home and rest today. We've been going out every day since we came back from Portland. I didn't realize how tired I was till this morning. I could not get up at all no matter how hard I tried. Must be an accumulation of exhaustion.

I broke the hood of the breast pump last night with foot. Fortunately Biajee found a replacement for it on eBay. Otherwise we'd have to spend $300 to buy a new one. We love eBay. I don't think I can concentrate when Arnold's crying. I'm the most deadly terminator when Arnold is fussy: I lost the rings and I broke the breat pump...

Arnold is a trigger for his mommy's mood these days.

Two Month Check up

I had a New Mom's Luncheon with all the ladies who had their babies in Avista Hospital in June today. Almost 20 people showed up with their babies. We had a 3 course lunch - Salad, Pasta and Chocolate Cake. Arnold looks bigger than most other babies.

I went to the locksmith, filled gas and stopped by the bank before I took Arnold to his 3:00 pm Doc appointment. His new measures are as follows:

Height 24-1/4 inches 90%
Weight 13 lbs 80%
Head Circum 15-1/4 inches 55%

Dr. Cavanaugh said I'd been feeding him well and we should continue with the breast milk diet. Arnold was so happy to see the doctor's office. The wall was full of pictures of Piglet, Tigger, Pooh and Yuhrr. The nurse came in while he was smiling and poked his left thigh with 2 needles and right thigh with 1 needle. He got shots for Pneumococcal Conjugate , Poliomyelitis, Haemophilus B, Diphtheria, Tetanus & Pertussis and Hepatitis B today. His smiley face turned into painful crying and screaming as soon as the needle poked through his skin. Pearls of blood came out of his leg and it looks a bit swollen. I feel my heart broken at that moment - nothing else matters then.

He is supposed to have fevers tonight and be super fussy or sleepy. I don't know if I can handle this. It kills me to see him in pain.

Traffic Ticket

We don't like the west coast. We don't think we're ever moving to the west coast. People are generally poor and mean. Well, we totally agree with the theory that when people are poor, they are usually nasty.

Biajee got a ticket for not stopping at a stop sign. It cost us $242. Pretty expensive because the police saw his driver's license is from Colorado. Obviously we cannot go to court on Aug. 25th. Biajee already paid for the ticket.

The screen of our Apple laptop was broken due to rough handling.

Someone took my precious rings away in a restaurant after I washed my hands and left them on the counter in the restroom. The police are being contacted today.

We were glad we came back to Colorado.

We still love traveling. There are good times and bad times in life. The bottom line is we are still healthy, safe and happy.