Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays, everyone! We had a special gathering at Auntie Rounda's house with a lot of relatives a week before Christmas. Auntie Rounda and Uncle Steve made a lot of yummy food, and we saw the newly engaged Stephanie back from Hong Kong! Congratulations Stephanie on your engagement!

Melissa behaved well and was sleeping most of the time. When she woke up, everyone played with /held Melissa a little bit. Most of them said Melissa looked like John or Auntie Sally more than Mommy =O

On Christmas eve, we got together with Huei & Julia and Joe & Shuhan for a delicious lunch at Fish Market. Melissa played for a long time by herself in the stroller during lunch. She is very good at grabbing things these days, sometimes she can even grab things when wearing mittens.

Auntie Sally visited us this Christmas break. Thanks to Auntie Sally for helping out and babysitting Melissa. I think Melissa really enjoyed Auntie Sally's accompany because after Auntie Sally left, she hasn't slept well these few days....

It's amazing how time flies, and Melissa is already 3 1/2 month old. Thank you, Melissa for bringing so much joy and laughters to our lives.

Melissa Likes High Five!!!

Melissa seems to like high five very much! She laughs a out when mommy plays high five with her =)

Melissa's Second Trip to the Restaurant

Yesterday we met with Auntie Susan, Auntie Anna, and Uncle Ben for dinner to celebrate Christmas. This was the second time for Melissa to be in the restaurant. She behaved pretty well, we only held her in the beginning and then she was sleeping in her stroller so Daddy and Mommy could eat =) Melissa was very interested in the whole surrounding and kept staring everywhere. Thanks to Auntie Susan, Auntie Anna, and Uncle Ben for joining us at Fatima Restaurant. We had a great time! Melissa got Pampers Size 2 diapers for Christmas present, isn't it very practical? =P

Melissa’s Major Milestone 2-3 Month

Melissa is 3 months old! Here are some major milestone when Melissa is 2-3 month old:

• Can stand up with her own feet for a couple of seconds with support. She usually does that while we try to burp her on our shoulder.
• Not as gassy as the previous month.
• Giggles and smiles back to us when we smile a lot of times.
• Looks at the mirror and smiles.
• Starts eating her fingers and hands a lot.
• Grabs things accidentally and has no control on the movement.
• Can keep her head up for 45 degrees during tummy time, but she does not like tummy time.
• Likes to sit in the swing and bouncer and often falls asleep in it.
• Likes to lifts legs up while changing diaper.
• Listens to us reading books.
• Wakes up every 3-4 hours to be fed at night.
• Seems to sleep better late morning (7am to 11am) than at night.
• Often naps at 1pm for 3 hours in the afternoon
• Able to fall asleep without pacifier sometimes

Melissa Laughs out Loud!!!

Uncle Sybor came to visit Melissa and while he was playing with Melissa, Melissa laughs out loud!!!

Melissa’s New Toy

Daddy bought Melissa a new toy - a SWING last week! Melissa likes it very much, she falls asleep on the swing most of the times. This swing has 5 speed and 7 different kinds of music. Melissa seems to get tired of the old toys easily and need new things to stimulate her. Mommy better hides away some of the toys she has been playing with last month…

Melissa’s Major Milestone 1-2 Month

Here are some major milestone when Melissa is 1-2 month old:

• Spits sometimes when hiccupping and burping.
• Wakes up every 3-4 hours to be fed and sometimes 5-6 hours at night.
• Starts listening classical and children music.
• Smiles more comparing to 0-1 month.
• Curiously looks at everything.
• Starts to drool.
• First laugh-like action (without voice and with voice).
• Grabs our hand, hair etc accidentally.
• Shows interests in her toys.
• Needs pacifier to fall asleep most of the time.
• Loves sucking pacifier and her fist (or Mommy and Daddy’s fingers).

Melissa Playing With Hanging Toys

Melissa is growing so fast, it seems like every week (or even every day) she is learning to do something new.

Just a few days ago, she put her hands together by herself on top of her chest. Unfortunately by the time we got the camera, it was too late.

Today, I brought out an old toy to see if she would be able to play with it a bit more. To my pleasant surprise, she started playing with it right away :) Melissa was entertaining herself by trying to touch the middle mouse and make it move.. Not sure why she was so focused on it, maybe it's because of the little duck also strapped to it, or maybe it's because it's the hardest one for her to reach and she's trying to challenge herself :).. It is pretty tough for her to reach because she still has a little difficulty bring her arm across her body, but she's doing a pretty good job :)




Here's another clip...



part 3, it's a trilogy..

Story Time

Mommy tries to read little Melissa story this week. Melissa doesn't understand the story but she keeps staring at Mommy when Mommy reads to her and interacts with Mommy actively!

Melissa's First Visit to the Public

Mommy has been taking Melissa out for a walk in the neighborhood and park everyday this week, and Melissa enjoys going out quite a lot. Yesterday, mommy took Melissa out to the supermarket for the first time. Melissa seems to know that we are going for an outing once mommy puts her on the stroller. She actully slept pretty much all the way in the car and supermarket. She only opened her eyes when she heard kids screaming at Mitsuwa supermarket but quickly fell back to sleep. What a good baby!!! Thanks to Auntie Shu-Han for helping us out with grocery shopping.

Thanks Again :)

It's only been a few days since Sandy and I are "on our own" and we're finding it pretty tough (even though we're still work through food prepared for us by Aunt Susan and Mom and haven't really had to even shop or cook much)! It's made us realize how much help grand parents are and made us appreciate it even more:)

Just want to say it's great having all the support! Definitely making the transition to parenthood easier.. Here's another video of Melissa for those of you that can't get enough of it :D

THANK YOU

Grandma Alice went back to Taiwan last night. We missed her already. Now, Mommy and Daddy are really on our own! Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa for visiting us and taking such good care of everyone.

Grandma Diane came early September and stayed until Melissa is 1 month old. Grandma Diane probably went through the toughest time because when she was here, Melissa was just a newborn baby and required a lot of attention and swaddling. Grandma Diane didn’t get much sleep for the whole month…

Grandma Alice came early October. She held Melissa a lot and spent lots of time entertaining Melissa. Grandpa Fu-Ming took a lot of great pictures for Melissa. Grandpa Timothy is coming during Chinese New year to see his granddaughter for the first time, we cannot wait! Aunt Sally came early September and helped out Mommy and Grandma Diane; she ran so many errands for us and helped out taking bath for Melissa and swaddled Melissa when she cries.

Also, thanks to all the relatives and friends who visited little Melissa, especially Aunt Susan, Aunt Anna, and Shu-Han who either made/brought so much yummy food to us.

THANK YOU SO MUCH, everyone, Mommy, Daddy, and Melissa are so lucky to have your love and care.

Tummy Time

Doctor wants Melissa to have some tummy time to develop her tummy muscle. Mommy tried to put Melissa on her tummy during her play time, but Melissa doesn’t seem to like it. Baby push up is a lot of work, just like adult trying to do push up requires a lot of upper body strength =P

Melissa’s 2 Months Check Up

Melissa had her 2 months check up couple days ago. Here is a quick summary of her growth and development:

Weight: 11 lb 2 oz (62%)
Height: 22.5 inches (64%)
Head Circumference: 38.1 cm (39%)

Melissa is healthy and growing quite fast these days as breast feeding is going well between mommy and Melissa. At her 2 weeks check up, Melissa’s weight is only at 30 percentile and now she is at 62 percentile. Now, Melissa’s weight and height are slightly above average, but her head seems to be smaller in proportion. Melissa did not cry at all this time when she saw the doctor, and she even smiled to the doctor. Melissa also got a few vaccination shots at this doctor’s visit. She only cried for 10 seconds when the needle went into her leg. What a brave girl! Melissa had fever for a day after getting the vaccination shot, but she is back to a normal healthy baby in a day =)

Playing Time

Mommy and Grandma Alice have been trying to train little Melissa to be a little more independent. We tried not to hold her as much and instead, we let her lie on the bed by herself. Melissa is gradually able to play by herself now for about 5 minutes although she still prefers attention! Melissa loves people talking to her and playing with her. She coos when we talk to her =)

Melissa's Visit to the Park

Mommy and Grandma Alice took Melissa to Ponderosa Park since the weather was nice and quite comfortable to stay out. Ponderosa Park is only 3 minutes walk away from us. Mommy loves sitting in the stroller as a baby. Melissa was fussy in the stroller when she was one month old. Now she is two months old and can sit more straight up so she seems to enjoy sitting the stroller more. She didn’t cry at all at this stroller ride, yay! Mommy was hoping that Melissa would fall asleep, but Melissa was wide awake during the whole ride. She was tried from the ride though and fell asleep shortly when we got home.

Bath Time

Melissa used to cry a lot during her bath time when she was 0-1 month old. She is starting to enjoy more of her bath time now. She didn’t cry at all recently when Mommy and Grandma Alice took bath for her. She is still a bit nervous as she closes her fist tightly, but she seems to enjoy the warm bath now. Melissa’s hair spikes up after bath, and she looks different!

Melissa’s Major Milestone 0-1 Month

Here are some major milestone when Melissa is 0-1 month old

• Successfully latches on for breastfeeding on day 0.

• Feeds every 2-3 hours.
• Quite gassy.

• Sleeps very heavily even in a noisy environment.

• Smiles or Smirks.

• First bath, first time going out in her stroller.

• Starts to be more alert.

• Her eyes start to follow us and things.

• Shows facial expressions.

• Moves her legs and arms actively while she’s awake.

Melissa Smiles :)

Melissa was in a good mood and Sandy took a couple pictures of her smiling :)

She is also starting to play with the hanging toys a little bit, will add a video of it soon :)

daddy loves disturbing sleepy melissa

Melissa's starting to smile now.. but it's hard to capture it on video or in photo.. will keep trying and capture the magic moment :)

Update

Or not :( Unfortunately just been way too busy.. working 70hr+ weeks the past few weeks + another 16hr on saturday gone for mba = no time for anything..

Oh, got plenty of pictures, and even videos. And Melissa is looking very pretty even :) No more baby acne.. Yes, I know.. what a tease, but I just don't have time to do anything much at all..

Anyways, maybe Sandy will post an entry or two or upload a few video on youtube so I can turn it into effortless blog, heehe..

Pictureless / Videoless Update.. Boring...

Melissa has been growing very nicely. We think she’s about 9 lbs now. Don’t have a fine grained scale, so this is just some one stepping on the scale, getting a weight in, then stepping on the scale again holding Melissa. So it may be off by a half a pound or so, but regardless, it’s pretty clear that Melissa is getting bigger and bigger :)

Recently, Melissa’s got a case of baby acne, and maybe that’s why we haven’t taken as many pictures. But fear not, more pictures are coming soon. Apparently baby acne is pretty common (affects about 40% of baby, according to the books, and usually starts from about 2-3 weeks old and goes away on it’s own around 4-6 weeks old).

Yesterday, my parents arrived from Taiwan. They’re here to replace Sandy’s mom, who must be exhausted by now, heehee. My Dad is stay for less than two weeks, but my Mom should be staying for about 1 month. It’s great to have the grand parents (and aunt) helping out, hard to imagine how we’d get by without the extra help.

Looking sharp

Alert and in a good mood :)

Melissa with Toy

What is this thing.. am I supposed to be interested in it?

Melissa waving arm

Look at me! I can flail my arm all over the place and make grumpy faces :P

Sponge Bath for Little Melissa

Argh.. I don't like bath!

Sleepy Melissa

A big yawn! Auntie Sally is talking nonsense to me and I'm getting bored.. =)

Baby Melissa

Melissa Sophie Wu

DOB: 9/9/2008
Height: 21 inches
Weight: 7lb 2.4oz

She loves to flail her arms and kick her legs! Currently, her skin is flaky and peeling, but hopefully soon that go away.. Here's a video of her flailing her arms about! She can semi-turn herself already too! Wonder what she'll be doing next.. maybe it's Dada :D

Father's Day Card :)

Make a Smilebox greeting

belly update

It's time again for the monthly belly bulge update! Getting bigger by the month :)
Actually supposedly it's not quite as big as it probably should be.. Mommy needs to eat more and put on a few extra pounds, hehe..

Only 1 more of these monthly updates if I keep it at the roughly monthly schedule, can't wait for the baby to arrive!

Baby Shower - Part 2

Baby Melissa is going to get spoiled! She's got a whole bunch of toys, clothes and other things before she's even arrived!














We received lots and lots of presents from friends and relatives for the baby shower! It really makes both Sandy and I feel very special that everyone is so happy for us!
















Here we have pictures for just some of the presents. We also got several red envelopes and gift cards to get stuff for baby Melissa as we figure out just what we're missing.












In addition to all the presents we received during the baby shower, many people who couldn't make it due to other commitments sent us things! A special thanks to Don and Marlene for dropping by with baby crib/changing table/ and a whole load of toys and clothings even though they couldn't stay for the shower. We both feel so fortunate and loved :)