Tata Cathy! Or is it Aunty?

This weekend, my Tata Cathy came aaaaaallllll the way from Boston to come visit me. Isn't she nice? She could only come for a few days because she has two little boys of her own, and apparently if she leaves them too long with their dada they will eat him alive. Yikes! Boys sure are different. I think I'll stick to milk!

My Tata Cathy loved me soooo much. And she really helped Mama and Dada a lot!! Not only did she cook us a lot of wonderful food, but she told Mama and Dada lots of important parent stuff, like how much to react to my moods, and how to give me an interesting and stimulating environment. Looooove Tata Cathy. She tells me stories, and sings to me, and watches Warren Miller Extreme Skiing videos on television with me. She told me I can do extreme sports when I get bigger, but I'm not so sure Dada agrees. Anyways, we had such a lovely visit. She got Mama and Dada to set up this Baby Einstein play area for me. I sit in the Boppy and look at all this cool stuff. In fact, on the last day of her visit, I even figured out how to bat at some of the toys with my hands. Sometimes. It's pretty hard! But Mama and Dada were SOOOOO excited, so I'm going to keep trying really hard.

I should mention that Tata Caty is apparently on the fence as to whether she is a Tata or an Aunty. At first, she thought Tata, because cousin Tyler apparently likes the parallelism of his mama being my Tata Cathy and my mama being his Tata Pinky. But this weekend, she seemed to be having second thoughts. I think maybe she relates more to the

"Aunty" title. She even went so far to say that maybe she would be my Crazy Aunty Cathy. I'm not sure exactly what that means, but I think I like the sound of it. It seems to suggest that mischief might be involved.

The only sad thing about her visit was that it was soooooo short. As you can see, I asked her pretty pretty pretty pretty please stay forEVER, but she loves her own babies to much to abandon them. Of course, I think a simple compromise would be for her to bring her babies HERE, but apparently it's not that simple. Siiiigh.

Love you, Crazy Aunty Tata Cathy! Thank you for coming to see me! I miss you, hope I can see you again very soon!!

I visted my Nana and Nono! Nono HELD me! Lots!!

Hi, everybody! Dada says I can use his computer to blog, but I have to be VERY careful. No spit-up on the laptop!

Dada mentioned in his last post that we went up to visit Nono and Nana in Cerritos. Dada was kind of nervous about it because he was worried how well I would adjust to a new environment. Silly dada! I was FINE! Although I suppose it helped that they brought most of my things, including my bed. But mostly what made it special was all the loving I got! On to pictures!

As you can see here, Nana gave me really good hugs. And don't I actually look kind of like a lily in this picture! Nana always give me snuggles, but what was really special is that now Nono does too! At first he said he was scared to hold me 'cause I'm so little, but I'm not so small now. I'm almost seven pounds! Considering I'm only just today supposed to be born, I think seven pounds is pretty darn good. Anyways, I know I look like I'm mad in this picture with Nono, but actually, I was just making sure everyone knew what was happening. "Everyone come look NOW!!!"

Actually, lots of people came to visit me those two days...Aunty Char, Aunty Patti, Tata Rina, Toto Kevin, Uncle John, and my cousins Madi and Mallory, what fun! Unfortunately, once again Dada wasn't totally on the ball and didn't take pictures of everyone, so you'll have to take my word for it. But it was SO nice to meet more of Mama's friends and family! I even got to go shopping with Tata Rina, Mama and Mallory. You know, this whole shopping experience is oddly alluring...I get the oddest feeling that I'm really going to get into it in the future, once I can do things like talk, walk, and use credit cards.

Love,

Lily

Our first week "alone", except not so much...

Hi, all! It's getting increasingly difficult to do these blogs in a timely fashion. Sorry! All I can say is, between baby and trying to at least make a show of going back to work, finding time to sit down in front of the computer is getting more and more challenging. But here's the scoop on the week just past: Sadly, Po Po and Gung Gung, after a long and much appreciated visit, finally had to head home to Albany. The gods ALMOST conspired to keep them here by dumping about 20 inches of snow on upstate New York in a freak late winter storm, but those Albanians are just too darn resilient, and had resumed normal operations by Saturday. Before they left, we did have a nice outing together, having lunch at the same resort where we had our wedding reception (otherwise known as "the scene of the crime"), but even bribes of food proved insufficient to make them stay. Wah!

So, then we were all alone, except all our friends have rallied to make us feel not so lonely. Matt and Amy brought us dinner again that evening. We met up with Michelle & Charlie and their little ones for breakfast the next day. That evening, Bill, Erica, and their huge baby Mitchell brought us a spaghetti feast. On Thursday, Marcus' HP colleagues threw them a shower (with Lily being quite dwarfed by her cake!). On Friday, Mike and Jenn came over for dinner and Mike FINALLY held Lily (note Lily's clear expression of surprise)...we don't know what the problem was, he's a natural! She loved it! Today, Ron and Lisa visited us with yet another giant baby (Clara this time), and Emily stopped by later on in the afternoon. So many friends! So much loving!!

But most importantly of all, there is family. We went up to Cerritos to stay a couple days with Nono and Nana, and now, Tata Cathy is visiting. I'll close this entry for now, because this is getting a bit long and I want to give those happy events the proper attention. :-) More hopefully soon!!

Love,

Marcus, Pinky and Lily

P.S. One last thing: in anticipation of Tata Cathy's visit, we gave Lily an admittely overdue bath, and used a special blanket made by Auntie Leslie to cuddle her up afterward. Ain't she cute?

The many faces of Pinklet

You may have noticed that a disproportionate number of Lily's pictures ever since we got her home are of her sleeping, eyes firmly closed. This is not so much because she sleeps all the time, but rather that when whe's up, she either needs some sort of maintenance (i.e. diaper and/or food), or she's just so cute we forget to take her picture.

Well, one day, we decided, by gum, we need a nice picture of her with her eyes open. So the next time she woke up, we're like, "ooh! Get the camera!" Thing is, babies don't exactly smile on demand. Not only that, when you're flashing a bright light in their faces about once every three seconds, they can tend to get a bit perplexed. Anyways, long story short, we didn't exactly get the quintissential photo of Lily being alert and inquisitive photos that we had set out to take, but I think the ones we did get are awfully funny. So I thought I'd share. Enjoy!

Visitors and visitees

Wow, am I behind on this! Well, today's theme is to discuss what a social butterfly our Lily has become of late. Photos ahoy! Although we somehow managed not to get a picture of the first visitor of this run. The fun started Saturday morning, as Uncle Victor from Hawaii paid us a visit! As luck would have it, Uncle Vic was in town on business, so Lily got to meet the first of her Po Po's siblings!

Our next visitors arrived just later the same day...Mama and Dada's friends Matt, Amy, and Valorie came and brought us wine, dinner, and much appreciated adult interaction. Again, somehow we missed getting Valorie, but you see here that Matt and Amy are quite adept at baby snuggling. Careful, guys! These things are contagious!

Tuesday brought with it MORE of Po Po's siblings...Uncle Fred and Aunty Elaine came to visit, and even stayed with us overnight! Yay! They were taking care of some family business on the west coast (including visiting their daughter Margaret in San Francisco, who's SO close she's bound to visit any time now, hint hint). Since Uncle Fred and Aunty Elaine live in Boston just like Tata Cathy, we'll probably see them a lot, but it was still wonderful to see them, and I think a treat for them to be able to see Lily while she's still so petite!
(by the way...5 pounds 11 ounces as of Tuesday morning. Gaining over an ounce a day! We're trying for an even 6 by the weekend)

Then, while Uncle Fred and Aunty Elaine were still there, Michelle and Charlie ALSO stopped by, with Charlie's uncle and aunt from Minnesota and, of course, baby Andy. Every time I think Lily's getting big, I think about "little" Andy and get my expectations promptly recalibrated. Now THAT'S a solid baby! For those of you not in the know, Andy is Lily's future husband. Their parents have it all figured out. But shhh! Don't tell them! If they get any idea, youthful rebellion will spoil our plans! Once they get a bit more self aware, we'll need to get more formal about our reverse psychology, but for now, we can get away with posing them for embarassing pictures like these that we will eventually trot out at their rehearsal dinner.

All these visitors coming to see us made us feel a bit braver, so we actually took Miss Lily out to my singing rehearsal Tuesday night. She protested a bit as we were putting her in the carseat, but like most babies she settled right down once the car was in motion. And oh, the loving she got! Everyone was very happy to see her, and she got special snuggles from Aunty Carly and Aunty Susan. Aunty Carly also presented her with her first tennis shoes. Pink, naturally. :-)
But her favorite snuggles of all are still Po Po and Gung Gung. They're not visitors, they're FAMILY! Poor Lily will be sad I think when they finally head back home this Saturday, but that just means we'll need to find a way to reunite them soon.

Phew! That was a long one! I actually have a lot more cute pictures, though, so I may have to do a follow-up post soon.

How things change

One day, 18 days, 38 days...it's continually amazing to me...

If you watch carefully, you can see me grow...

Today we had another pediatrician checkup for Lily...the big new of the day is that we have officially crossed the five pound mark! Five pounds, three ounces to be exact, plus at 18 inches long we have grown 3/4" in the last week. Dada says we're shooting to be over 6 pounds by her original due date, and it seems well within reach! So, our Pinklet is filling out nicely, and continues to be a happy, healthy baby.

(Note for those who may be using these dimensions to pick out clothes: 18 inches is her TOTAL length. So, say, for example, you see a really cute outfit and it's 17 inches long, be aware that while it may theoretically fit, the collar will come up approximately to her eyebrows. :-) )

Lily also met some new people last night - Aunty Jackie and Uncle Dennis stopped by to visit. We couldn't help but notice that they seemed to take quite naturally to baby-minding, with Dennis seeming especially squooshy. You know, those two really ought to have a baby of their own...

My first outings! Also: visitors, gas, and poop

Hi, everybody! Daddy gave me my own email account so I can post all by myself. I think that was very nice, but I hope Dada is not suggesting that there's anything wrong with sharing. I'm very impressionable, you know.

So by now, I've been home for more than a week, and things have settled down pretty well. Mama and Dada have gotten used to following my orders, and since Po Po and Gung are here, I think my parents feel not quite so panicked. In fact, we were feeling brave enough that by this weekend, we were finally ready to go outside! As you can see, my car seat is still a bit roomy but we did not let that deter us. So on Saturday, we went for a stroll around the neighborhood, and on Sunday, we went out for brunch at the Original Pancake house. For my part, I was very good in both cases. Between you and me, I find the stroller and the car quite soothing, and the hustle and bustle of the restaurant was kind of nice, too. Lots of people looked and me and thought I was cute! I guess Mama and Dada used to go there every Sunday with Aunty Michelle, Uncle Charlie and my friend Molly. Hopefully we'll all do that again soon! I hear they have a new baby named Andy in their family too. I wonder if he's handsome?

Also on Sunday, Uncle Andy and Aunty Erica came to visit me. Dada tells me Uncle Andy and baby Andy are not related, although they have similar hairstyles. Aunty Erica held me, which was really nice, and Uncle Andy even tried to feed me! He was very brave. I hear they're getting married this summer. Maybe they'll try and have some babies for me to hang out with soon afterward.

On a more personal front, I am now a big fan of Mylicon. I used to be a bit gassy, but after Mama and Dada started adding some drops to my food, problem solved! I will confess that I have not been, ah, terribly "regular" in the last day or so, but between Mama exercising my legs and Dada massaging my belly, things finally worked out. Dada says "everything came out alright in the end" and then giggles. He's SO immature.

So, that's about it! I'm really enjoying being home, especially Po Po and Gung Gung taking such good care of me. Po Po feeds me and loves me ALL the time! Gung Gung gives me lots of good 'tuggles, too.

Whew! This blogging stuff tuckers me out. Nap time! Love you, everybody!

-Lily

Gung Gung holds Lily...or DOES he?

In rebuttal to the claim that the grandpas are too scared to hold Lily, Gung Gung poses for this picture. However, Lily seems atypically camera-shy...note the characteristic, anti-paparazzi "no pictures!" pose! This may lead conspiracy theorists to speculate that this is not Lily, but actually a stunt baby. However, much as I enjoy a good conspiracy theory, we can vouch for Gung Gung...this is the real deal, and grandpa and granddaughter got alongvery nicely. So much so that Mama and Dada felt sufficiently emboldened to make a run to the grocery store, leaving the grandparents in charge!

(Po Po and Gung Gung apparently plotted to hide from us when we got back, but fortunately we returned before their diabolical plan could be put into action).

(Oh, and just in case you were wondering, yes, Lily still looks quite dwarfed compared to conventional baby items...)