Journey with You

I am getting ready to go back to work.

I feel a little bit nervous sending Cyrus to a day care. I know a lot of people are doing this and Cyrus will be just fine. But still, I can imagine him looking around for me and cries and cries. I am worried that they wouldn’t know how to deal with it when he cries.

Yesterday I had a last minute interview. Thank goodness my friend Traci was available and was willing to watch Cyrus for me for a couple of hours. I think this was the first time Cyrus was with someone other than his parents or grandparents. The interview went okay. When I called Traci after the interview was done, I could hear Cyrus crying in the background.

When I arrived at Traci’s, she was holding Cyrus in her arms with her daughter Ruby next to her, reading. Cyrus wasn’t crying until he saw me. Traci told me that he was okay when I first left but then he started looking for me. He stood at the door, where I left from, and pound on the door, crying. Then he calmed down when she held him in the arms and read to him.

I wish I could send Cyrus to a friend or a family member instead of a day care. But I don’t think it’s an option for us. Though I enjoy watching him play and grow, I am ready to go back to my career. I am more a career woman than a housewife, after all. DH is thinking about switching career, thus it’s important that we have secure income and health coverage.

Well, you see! Sweets are really “children-killer”. We had a small birthday party for Cyrus the day after his actual birthday. That’s the first time we let him eat a cake bought from a store. He’s never had anything that sweet before and he seemed to be crazy about it. He kept licking the plate after he finished the little piece of cake we gave him. We didn’t stop him since it’s once a year and it’s his birthday cake after all.

We took Cyrus to his one-year checkup yesterday. He weighed 20 lbs 1 oz, a little bit below 25th percentile; 29′14″ tall, around 25th percentile; head measured 48cm, about 75th percentile. The doctor didn’t seem to worry about his weight. He said many children’s weight drop at this age since they start walking and thus use more calories than before.

We went to buy a new car seat for Cyrus. Ya! Time for a toddler booster seat! It’s temporary in our living room and Cyrus loves to climb and sit on it himself. He even read a book there. I simply found that so amazing and cute.

He’s been showing a lot of interests in books. For the past couple weeks, he would grab a book and hand it over to us and sit down right in front of us. That’s telling us that he wants us to read that book to him. He can sit there and let us read to him for an hour. Every time I finished a book, he would go and grab another one. His favorite book right now is this one:

Besides walking and baby-talking, he is also very observant. He can find any tiny pieces of crumb on the floor. We took him to a forest hike the other day and he gathered some acorns out of piles of leaves. We saved a pine-cone, a small flower, and an acorn. We planned to put them in a keepsake box for him. He also listens to “NO”. When he was going to touch something we didn’t want him to, we would say no and he would look disappointed but stopped.

Cyrus’ grandmom bought him a indoor slide. He is still too young to know how to climb on it but he loves it when I put him up there and slide down. He’s also finally learned to clap hands. He also likes to imitate the sound I make and my facial expression. It’s really time to pay attention to what I do and say in front of him.

It’s much better in terms of his sleeping habit. After we bought an AC for his bedroom, he started to sleep from 9:30pm until 5:30am or 6am the next morning. We didn’t know if it’s because the temperature or the white noise. I guess we’ll find out when the weather cools down.

The most difficult time with Cyrus now is meal time. He used to eat whatever I offered but now he would pick and choose. When he doesn’t want it, he would split it out, throw it on the floor, push my hand away, and turn away his head. His clothes, the high chair, and the floor are always a mess after a meal. Sometimes it really drives me crazy. Hopefully it will eventually get better.

After feeding Cyrus breakfast, I started baking a carrot cake for Cyrus’ birthday. I want to make a cake that is healthy and not sweet so Cyrus can have it too. Five minutes after I started I realized I didn’t have the shortening recipe A called for. Thank goodness I found recipe B and it didn’t require shortening.

After I put the cake into the oven and Cyrus to nap, I rushed to a drug store to get a birthday card and some wrapping paper. 20 minutes after I got home, my father-in-law was here. The cake was ready and smelled really good. I started getting lunch ready while DH and father-in-law played with Cyrus.

Soon my mother-in-law arrived with so many bags of gifts. We had some tuna sandwich and fruit salad I made. Then we brought out the carrot cake, sang the birthday song, and blew the candle. This was my first carrot cake and everyone gave me some compliments and Cyrus seemed to enjoy it as well.

We then opened gifts for Cyrus. He got so many toys from his grandmother and cards from granddad, grandmother, and us. He also got a bunch of nice books.

After grandparents left, we took Cyrus out for “a walk”. We let him wear a brand new pair of shoes that are gifts from my parents. This was the first time he walked in the woods. We held his hands so he wouldn’t sit down or bend down to pick up dirty stuff on the ground. After holding him for a year, it’s so nice to be able to hold his hand and walk next to each other.

After the walk, we decided to have a dinner at an Italian restaurant. He was pretty good and ate a lot of pasta. I told DH: “He is part-Italian after all.” All waitresses said he was so good at the restaurant.

As soon as we came back home, he wanted to nurse. I did and not for too long my precious birthday boy fell asleep in my arms. This day meant so much to me but it’s just like any other day to Cyrus.

Today is my precious Cyrus’ one-year-old birthday. I made the montage below to record this past two years, from we first conceived to now he is walking and talking.

I LOVE YOU WITH ALL MY HEART, CYRUS. Happy 1st birthday!!!

Cyrus - From the womb to the world

For the first time after Cyrus’ birth, I got to go to see a movie. Though I went by myself and it’s in the afternoon, which is a little bit weird since not many people there, I was pretty happy.

The movie I went to see is Harry Potter. I read the book already and am currently reading the final installment of the series. The book is definitely 100% better than the movie. It felt a little bit strange to see Harry Potter and his friends transitioning from little kids to teenagers!

It was very humid and warm that past few days. Much better today! I let Cyrus wore only diaper but he still sweat like crazy. I put him down in the crib at his regular nap times but he simply stood there and cried for a good half to an hour, until I gave up and picked him up. It was worse at night; he wouldn’t eat and kept crying. When bedtime came, he cried for a good two hours before he finally fell asleep and than woke up every hour during the night. He was nearly driving us crazy.

He also had a running and stuffy nose so I called the pediatrician. The nurse told me to take him in for a checkup to make sure it’s not ear infection. I did. The doctor said he seemed fine other than the running nose, which may very well be cause by allergy. He suggested an allergy liquid for him. I asked if it’s possible that he had the difficulty sleeping because of the heat. The doctor said it’s possible.

That evening, he started his “I don’t want anything” episode again. I was searing. I know, I was pretty bad. It was 9pm and DH was still not back. I decided to take Cyrus with me to the store to buy an air conditioner. Thought the heat might not the real reason he was cranky, I was willing to try anything at that point.

He fell asleep as soon as I put him in the car and turn the AC on. He woke up at the store but didn’t fuss. He started crying when we came home and I put him back down to the crib. He was screaming while I tried to install the AC in his room.

Finally, I turned the machine on and it started running. The temperature in his room started to go down. It became the most comfortable room in our house. I nursed him a little and put him down again. He cried of course but fell asleep after five minutes!!! Thank goodness that the AC helps!!