Maddy's Milestones: 3 Months Old

Just a little video of Maddy.





Here's how she's progressing (% denotes percentile):
3 months: head circumference 38.5cm (10%), weight 12.2 lbs (50%), height 22.75 in (25%)
2 months: head circumference 37cm (10%), weight 11.0 lbs (50%), height 22.0 in (50%)
1 month: head circumference 36cm (25%), weight 10.0 lbs (75%), height 21.25 in (50%)

Everyday Events and Not-So Everyday Events

It's kind of tough trying to update the blog...

1.) First of all, congratulations to The Rubin Family (Nate, Nicole and Addison)! Hugs and kisses to Baby Andrew Eric Rubin who was born April 10th. Addy has a new baby brother! We're so happy for their family!


2.) Our favorite sushi restaurant, Sushi Samurai in Cerritos has closed on Saturday, April 24th. We were able to join Hap and Susan for a last dinner outing there. Maddy also joined us, but she was asleep the whole time in her Ergo baby carrier. It was a really sad occasion for all of us because that restaurant brings up so many good memories. Erwil took me to Sushi Samurai for our very first date, being one of them. We were able to order a variety of rolls, and toast to some Japanese beer and hot sake.

The reason why Sushi Samurai had to close down is because the property management renovated the whole strip mall and then raised the lease on the owners. The owners did not sign the new leasing agreement. The owners did leave a notebook for all the faithful customers to leave their contact info in case they find a new spot to open their restaurant. We hope that they find a place to keep Sushi Samurai's business still running. In the meantime, Erwil and I are on a hunt to find another quaint little sushi place nearby our house.

3.) Janssen and I had our first "Mommy & Me" day at the mall. We brought Dylan and Maddy with us to Del Amo Mall. All we did was have a quick lunch and window shopped, while catching up on life. It was so nice to get out of the house for a change. We will try to do it again sometime soon.

4.) I've been helping out the CPYF Youth Group since 2006. Can't believe how time flies--some of my babies are growing, graduating from high school and going to college! After having a maternity leave, I'm back on to teaching/leading/discipling the high school Sunday school class and slowly getting back into helping the youth ministry at my church when Maddy's schedule permits.

Our focus this quarter is on Purity (Sanctification). We are addressing purity as the over-arching theme, but also covering self control of mind & body, love, courtship, God's intention for sex, self-esteem, as well as other issues. It's been such a blessing to meet with the girls week to week to discuss our girl issues, keep each other accountable and lift each other up in prayer. I remember how hard it was to survive high school and maintain my integrity and relationship with Jesus Christ back in the 1990's, but I think it's even way harder nowadays when so many aspects about our everyday culture challenge and even ridicule our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Amy Grace is back from the Philippines to serve as a church intern, helping to lead the girls in discipleship. I also am happy that Lynneth is also coming to join us girls. I'm so happy that Ate Amy Grace and Ate Lynneth have the heart to be there for the girls. It's also a blessing to hear such challenging Bible messages from Kuya La Ron and Micah. Many times in the Bible it clearly reminds us that it is God's will for us to be sanctified and we need the love and support to help us all persevere in our faith.

Along with this note, I was able to finish reading 3 great books this month that deal with sexual purity: Accept Nothing Less by Jim Burns and Every Young Woman's Battle: Guarding Your Mind, Heart, and Body in a Sex-Saturated World by Shannon Ethridge. I was also inspired and challenged after reading an awesome parenting book titled "Shepherding a Child's Heart" by Tedd Trip. I had the pleasure of reading these 3 books as a married woman and mother and I found it sobering and heart probing at the same time. It really held my own worldly philosophy and personal standards about parenting, dating, marriage against the Biblical standards. Mine paled in comparison to God's wisdom, thus bringing me to this final verse:

"Don't let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that comes from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ." Colossians 2:8 (NLT)

Celebrating Maddy's 3-Month Birthday

On Thursday night after Erwil and I finished our dinner, we were preparing for our family devotion. I told Maddy, "You know who loves you? Jesus loves you very much. And we love you too." Erwil added, "You know why we love? We love because He loved us first." Maddy was gazing up at Erwil with her happy face.

While Erwil was teaching Maddy about God's unconditional love, I was reminded about when Erwil and I were dating. I asked Erwil what his favorite Bible verse or passage was, and he answered 1 John 4: 7-21. This became our theme verse for our courtship and marriage. On our wedding day, we chose this verse to be read because it reminds us about our relationship with God, and to strive for the highest quality love in our relationship with each other as husband and wife. Now fast forward 2 years later and here Erwil is again reminding me about God's love, and sharing his favorite scripture passage to Maddy this time as a father. We are reminded about our relationship with Maddy, and how God enables us to strive for, and to grow in loving her unconditionally.


It's always such a joy to be with Erwil and now with Maddy to read God's Word. I know that the days can get so busy and laborious. Fellowship with God can easily get shuffled behind the many other things "to do". Lord, forgive us and help us to keep all of our priorities and all of our commitments straight. I know in my heart that God's Word can and should be shared to Maddy, even at an early age. It says in Isaiah 55:11, "So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it."



Maddy turned 3 months today. We took her to Cerritos Regional Park for her first lunch picnic since the day was beautiful and warm. Eating a $12 dollar picnic meal under sunshine. Feeling the fresh breeze. Family prayer. Having a fun conversation with Erwil. Playing with Maddy. Nothing beats the joy of simplicity.


We are so amused in discovering the things that Maddy has learned and enjoys so far:

• During tummy time, she's able to lift her head up and look side to side. Tummy time sessions are a bit longer now. If she has a toy or mirror, she can stay on her tummy for about 5 minutes. If mommy and daddy are down with her, she can last even longer. (I try to put her on her tummy to play several times a day. I try to do my own exercises too while we're both down on the floor.)

• We discovered that she has rhythm. She loves listening to "Single Ladies" by Beyonce and she enjoys dancing to "Elmo's Song". She loves the Sunday School song "Deep and Wide" done with arm gestures.
• Maddy loves it when we clap her hands for her and say "YAY!!!"
• We play parts of the face games in English and Tagalog. She loves getting her lips and nose tickled when we say "NOSE!" = "ILONG!" and "MOUTH" = "BIBIG".
• When she coo's she makes the "ng" sound, "ow" sound and the "ggghh" sound a lot!
  
• We don't allow her watch a lot of TV, but she loves watching Sesame Street at 12pm. Erwil has a big screen TV and Maddy watches the puppets talk and move. She is fascinated by their colors and voices. (During that time she's focused on Sesame Street, I'm able to warm up some lunch for myself and sit with her.)
  
• Maddy enjoys looking at the colorful stained-glass windows at church. She also loves looking at up the chandeliers while we sit quietly on the church pews.
• She loves staring at squares and circle shapes on the walls. Her favorite place to look at walls is at Grandma and Grandpa's house because they have a huge collection of family photos, plaques and awards.
• She immediately stops crying the moment she hears the velcro strip "rip" from her diapers and she coo's and smiles while being changed.
• Maddy likes to lift her legs up and "stomp" them down on her pack-n-play crib and changing table.
• She discovered her hands. She loves watching her hands open and close. It's quite a fun game to her.
• We are so thankful that Maddy has reached the 3rd month without a single illness--not one cold or flu symptom.
  
• Maddy is able to bat the dangling toys on her activity gym with her arms. She tends to try and grasp the octopus the most because the soft tentacles have rattles in them.
• Maddy is able to grasp her own hair and pull on it. Sometimes she pulls so hard, she cries!
• She loves looking into her toy mirror and any mirror in general.
• Maddy no longer wears 3 month clothing. She's long in her legs, so she is able to wear 6 months and a few 9 month clothes.
• While Erwil and I eat, Maddy watches everything we do with our hands-pouring, cutting, scooping, lifting ketchup bottles and glasses.
• Maddy loves car rides. She wakes up to every stoplight or whenever the car is idle and whimpers, but stops once the car starts moving again.
• She gets really fussy when her sleep is interrupted.
  
• Her bedtime is 11pm and she wakes up at 7:30am for a diaper change and nursing.
• It takes about 30 minutes to finish nursing Maddy, and she eats about every 2 hours when she's awake. It is seldom that she drinks from the bottle, and we've tried everything!
• Maddy is awake for a longer period of time during the day. She'll take a 15-20 minute catnap and then she's energized again for a good 3 hours. Playing with her keeps me away from finishing house chores.
• It's a good thing Maddy likes both the Baby Bjorn and the Ergo baby carrier. I can chop a few veggies and get some light cleaning done in the house while she's in her Ergo. Erwil can get some work done on the computer while she's in the Bjorn.
• She's starting to not mind wearing hats and headbands. She used to fuss and cry whenever we put hair accessories on her, but now she's okay with it.
• Maddy enjoys playing the "Who Loves You?" tickling game. Basically, we ask her "Who loves you?" and tickle her tummy when we answer "Mommy", "Grandma", "Jesus", "Ninong Noel", "Chewie", etc. We name every family member's name so that she can get used to recognizing them and learning how to call them by name. We have a huge family, so she'll need a lot of help remembering everyone by name.
• Maddy loves dancing to "Old MacDonald" on YouTube because of the repetition.

On Thursday, Maddy will have her 3 month appointment with Dr. Pang. We'll find out how she is growing.

Happy 69th Birthday, Daddy!

We love you very much, Daddy!

This photo of Maddy and my Dad was taken on Resurrection (Easter) Sunday at church.

Packing As If I Were On the Lewis and Clark Expedition

I'm pretty well traveled. I've packed my suitcases minutes before a plane flight and train departures. When I hit my 35th week of pregnancy I kept hearing people say, "The baby can come anytime." Yes, it's true. The baby is viable to live outside the womb by week 35, so I better start packing my hospital bag. Sounds easy?

You would think that packing The Bag for the hospital is like going on a weekend trip, but it's totally different because I packed for myself and the unknown baby. I remember following the list that those baby books recommended. It was pretty easy to pack for myself, but I had no idea what to pack for Madeleine. My OB said she was a bigger baby, so that definitely meant that I should pack a couple newborn clothes and a couple clothes the next size up. By the time I was admitted to the hospital, I remember how huge and heavy my duffel bag was, prepared for the "just in case" necessities. Of course I didn't carry The Bag. Erwil did.

Now that Maddy is 2 months old, you would think that I would have been well-versed with what to put inside The Bag. (By the way, it was her dad who picked out the diaper bag and listed it under our baby registry because he figured he wanted a more "masculine" bag since he'd probably end up carrying it the most. Thank you Unhae and Jae for picking that gift! Erwil loves it and so do I!) I thought it was just a couple of diapers, some baby wipes, bottle of milk, bib and a change of clothes. I was wrong!

Maddy, not that she's a high maintenance baby, still requires so much stuff before we leave the house. I feel like we pack like we're never coming back home when all we do is make a trip to church, Lola's house, or someone little kid's birthday party. I really feel that I need to take time the evening before to pack The Bag. There have been times when I had to endure an hour's worth of crying from Maddy because I forgot something that she really needed.

Let's just say that whenever I leave to go to Carson, for example, I have to make sure she has the basics: diapers and baby wipes. I also have to include a travel size Aveeno diaper rash lotion. But because she's my Maddy, and she inherited my sensitive skin trait I also have to pack her hydrocortisone and Eucerin lotion for her eczema (skin dryness). I also carry a small bottle of baby oil and a fine tooth comb in case her cradle cap goes haywire.

What about feeding supplies? Maddy is unpredictable when it comes to feeding. The only thing I know for sure is that she will always prefer to be nursed over taking milk in the bottle. So I have to bring both a nursing cover, empty bottles, as well as a couple frozen packs of breastmilk. To keep it from spoiling, I have to make sure I include a freeze pack to keep the milk cold once it thaws out. I must not forget her binky (pacifier) during the in-between times when she just wants to suck without necessarily eating. I've forgotten her binky once, and she cried the whole time from the moment I left my house to the time I reached my parents' driveway. I felt so guilty! It only takes one bad experience to correct my forgetfulness. Now I learned to have her binky clipped on her at all times.

Packing Maddy's clothes is a whole new thing that I also had to learn as a new mom. I thought that maybe she only needs one extra onesie and an extra sleep and play outfit. I thought it was plenty. Wrong again. One time I came over my parents house for the day, Maddy had transformed into the pooping and pee-peeing factory. She burned through all her onesies because the diapers just couldn't hold anymore. Not to mention, while she squirmed and kicked in the middle of her diaper change something brownish yellow smeared onto her left sock. I couldn't let Maddy be seen for the rest of the day with just one clean sock, now could I? I had to make an impromptu trip to Target just to buy extra clothes and socks and a jug of Dreft laundry detergent so that Maddy would have enough clothing to last her for another three hours. Fortunately my mom was nice enough to help wash all of Maddy's clothes, both soiled and brand new. Did I also mention that I also have to pack an extra shirt? Maddy is notorious for spit up and poop staining our clothes.

Aside from The Bag, the bulkiest part of packing is the infant carrier and stroller, with an occasional Baby Bjorn infant carrier. The infant carrier is not lightweight by itself so sometimes I bring the Baby Bjorn and wear Maddy on my chest whenever I go to church. It really helps me get around quicker to have her be carried around like a baby kangaroo. If Erwil is with me we take the stroller. The stroller is the SUV of baby traveling gear. I have trouble maneuvering it around Kohl's clothing aisles and Pho restaurants, but I love taking it around Knott's Berry Farm because it's so roomy for Maddy.

I'm still really new at this parenting thing. Maybe adding more months of experience will help me to pare down what to include in The Bag.