Purposive without Foresight

Parenting Diary 16: Able to Roll Over and Squeal in Delight

ellen — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 22:42:21 +0000

When Kai was about two months and one week old, one day he turned himself from tummy position to back position. Obviously he did not like it, cried loudly after the turning and never made it again thereafter. Last Wednesday, when he was 97 days old, he made a lot of effort to roll from the back position to tummy position and succeeded. He enjoyed this action and today he made it all day long. Whenever I put him on back, he started to roll himself over. Some milk would be spitted, but he was happy about it. Today I spent almost my whole day turning him from tummy position to back position and wipe the milk on his mouth and clothes. Exhausting for me but seeing him is so strong and capable, I am very happy.

For about two weeks, Kai has been liking to squeal in delight. New challenge for parents. Now when he is happy, he either squeals loudly or babbles. The babbling is very cute. When he is unhappy, he cries loudly as always. Every night when he becomes fussy, I said to him: Darling we are happy about your energy but you should also learn to rest….

Protected: Parenting Diary 15: Papa and Mama Were Sick

ellen — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 22:20:31 +0000

Parenting Diary 14: Bring Hands Together

ellen — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 22:06:49 +0000

Again it was about one month ago, Kai liked to bring his hands together and observe his own fingers. Now he is able to grab toys at his will and hold a small ball with two hands. He loves sucking his own thumbs, usually two hands in his mouth at the same time. He keeps his arm swinging around all the time when there’s nothing in his hands, looking like the Japanese fortune cat Maneki Neko.

Protected: Parenting Diary 13: A Bad Day for Mama

ellen — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 21:45:08 +0000

Parenting Diary 12: First Shots of Vaccine

ellen — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 09:35:20 +0000

On Feb. 12 morning Kai got his first shots of vaccine. GSK was not able to deliver the 6-in-1 vaccine at the moment because they had to produce a lot of vaccine against the swine flu. So Kai got a 5-in-1 vaccine shot, a pneumococci vaccine shot and drank a dose of Rotateq, which protects him from the rotavirus.

I fed him while we were waiting and he was satisfied when the doctor called his name. He cried when the shots got into his hip, but the cry only lasted for 10 seconds or so. I worried about that Kai would dislike the taste of the Rotateq and would spit it out, but the spitting did not happen.

In the afternoon, I measured his body temperature, it was 37.7 and seemed ok. But in the evening, he did get a fever. I did not measure the temperature again but his ears were both red. In the night he woke up almost every hour and wanted milk. I fed him well but did not give any medicine to him. The next morning, Kai had no fever at all. He looked very energetic and happy.

Parenting Diary 11: Roll Over and Hold Head Level

ellen — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 09:19:55 +0000

About three weeks ago, Kai rolled from tummy position to back position all by himself when he was playing on tummy during the daytime. Then he felt not like the back position, and wanted to roll back, but could not make it. He cried out loudly then. After that, he never rolled again till now.

Since about 2 weeks, he has been able to hold his head level when Dirk was playing body-flight with him. He can also hold his head very well when his whole body is held vertical.

What a strong young bull!

最爱李子恒

ellen — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 21:13:00 +0000

今天从新闻里听到小虎队为春晚进行的排练，不由自主泪流满面。我会唱的歌至少有一半是李子恒先生写的，他的歌有一种直指人心的温暖和天真，承载我几乎全部的童年和少年记忆。 80后90前的一代人有缘听李老师的歌长大，真的很有福气！

嫁给外国人最郁闷的事情之一就是，对牢老公唱李老师写的情歌，老公却不能领会。这几天我给儿子唱的歌都是李老师写的歌，歌声中我童年和少年的人和事一一浮现。我一定要教儿子中文。希望将来的儿媳能有福气听我儿子唱李老师的情歌给她听。

这篇文章先在这里开个头，有时间慢慢写。

Parenting Diary 10: Drooling and Cooing

ellen — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 01:59:55 +0000

About two weeks ago Kai started drooling, after tasting his own hands for a few days. Quite a while ago, as he was about 40 days old, he made a few coo-coo every morning when my mother was changing his diaper. Recently, he started to make a variety of sounds: “Ahhhhhh”, “Uiew”, “keeeee”, etc. There have been very interesting conversations between Kai and my mother or Kai and me.

Protected: Parenting Diary 9

ellen — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 15:16:17 +0000

Parenting Diary 8: Able to Raise Chest

ellen — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 15:37:42 +0000

This morning my mother and I took Kai to an orthopaedist for a routine ultra sound scan of Kai’s legs. After the check, the doctor said Kai’s bones are perfectly healthy, there was no need for any further investigation to his legs. We left the doctor’s office happily. On our way home, we went to a photo studio and took a passport photo for Kai. It was chilly outside, but Kai slept soundly in his cozy stroller.

When we got home, I put Kai on his stomach in his bed and went to kitchen to fetch a cup of tea. When I returned, I saw Kai raising his chest high, supported by his arms, his chin at least 3 cm above the bed, and the pose looked steady. It was amazing! Kai is only 48 days old today!