6 months!

Our little eater is now 6+ months old.  I can't believe it.


1st month


2nd month

3rd month

4th month

5th month

6th month

Southern Kitchen

cornbread shaped like a pancake

fried chicken meal with mustard greens and mac & cheese

brisket with mustard greens and mac & cheese

Googly

If only this little guy came with an instruction manual and some buttons like "stop crying" and "go to sleep."  There has been so many random situations and questions - if I didn't get to google them and find answers, I would be a basket case at this point.  It has been so nice to read about other moms going through the same situation and getting an idea of where my baby's feeding and sleeping habits fall within a spectrum of babies.
I feel a little saner after reading various posts and these posts have definitely prevented meltdowns a plenty!

Labor of Love

One of the age old traditions of the Chinese rite of passage for women who give birth - ginger vinegar.  My parents asked around to get the best recipe and they started a month in advance to marinate the ginger in the vinegar.  For the most part, Chinese folk like ginger vinegar, but it really is an acquired taste.  I was absolutely looking forward to this part of the childbirth process - to get to eat as much ginger vinegar as I wanted.
My parents spent many hours peeling pounds and pounds ginger, cleaning pigs feet meticulously, and simmering everything together with the vinegar.

 I've savored every bite, but now, I don't think I can take another bite!

Asian Hair

If you know about Asian hair, this picture needs no explaining..  Yes, Asian hair defies gravity.  Jayden's hair is no exception - still, I'm amazed at how high his hair was after his bath.

Back to birth weight

All of us are all feeling a little better, now that Jayden has regained enough weight to be back to his birth weight of 9 lbs.  He had lost 10% of his weight within a few days, so it is very exciting that he regained all of that within the first two weeks, which is the typical norm.  He has been drinking 3oz of formula every 2-3 hours and has been a very good eater.  Mom and dad are very proud of him.  Grandma gets the MVP award for getting him on a good eating schedule.

I'm still waiting for his rolls to come back - when will they appear again?

Baby Love

I'm a lucky girl.  I have two moms holding down the fort for me.  Joe's mom is responsible for taking care of Jayden and my mom is responsible for taking care of me.  The moms are so sweet and they are doing all the heavy lifting, as I recover from my c-section.  I've been able to get two nights of full sleep during the baby's first week!  I don't know how I could survive early motherhood without them.  Joe's mom took three weeks off from work to help out and I've been blown away by her generosity.  Jayden wants grandma to be his Valentine!

Babies help you realize how lucky you are to have family and how much they have sacrificed to raise you.  You can only hope you can be as good of parents as they were to you.

I love how babies bring the family together.  My parents have gotten to know Joe's parents better during family dinners.  This is the crew that is needed to take care of baby and mommy.  We've also gotten a lot of visitors and that has been really fun.