Big Girl Bed

Sunday night (23 May 2010) was the first night that Tay slept in her own bed for the whole night.  It was actually the first night that I actually installed the bed rail, and she watched me while I was putting it together and kept asking me what I was making.  I told her I was making her big girl bed safe so she could sleep in it without falling out.  She was very excited to lie in her bed once the bed rail was attached.  I put new-to-her sheets (flower print) on it as well and stacked some of her night time reading books on the little shelf attached to her headboard.  That was around midday, so it wasn't nearly time to go to sleep yet, but I did ask if she wanted to take a nap in her big girl bed and she said "yes" and snuggled up on her pillow.  She didn't fall asleep then, but she was also not remotely tired either, so we just went about our day. 

That night, we got ready for bed, and I asked her if she wanted to sleep in her bed or in Umma and Appa's bed.  She said, "My big girl bed!" so we got her dressed in her pajamas and she lay down on her pillow.  I asked her if I could lie down next to her to read to her, but she said, "No, Umma.  My bed.  You go lay your bed."  When I asked her how I was going to read to her from my bed, she thought a moment and said, "You sit, Umma.  Sit sit."  So I went and retrieved a small stool so I could sit next to her bed to read to her.  I usually end up reading to her for about 15-30 minutes every night, depending on what book(s) she chooses, and sometimes she drifts off to sleep before I'm done reading and other times, we turn off the light together, say our prayers, say good night, kisses and then she rolls over to sleep.  Of course, it's never always that easy, but I do have a few nights a week of peaceful and easy bedtimes.  :)  Anyhow, that night, she ended up drifting off to sleep when I got a few pages into "One Fish, Two Fish" by Dr. Seuss.  It was only around 8:30, so I was surprised, but happy that she didn't have any anxiety about sleeping on her own in her own bed.  She woke up briefly around 10pm looking for us, but when I walked back into the room and told her I was there, she lay back down and fell right asleep.  Throughout the night, I kept waking up to check on her, but she was sound asleep until around 6:45 the next morning!  I guess I'm having more anxiety about her not being in the bed with me than she is!  Ugh...

When she awoke the next morning (Monday), she called to me since I was in the kitchen.  I found her still lying down tucked next to the bed rail, and since I was already dressed for work, the first thing she asked me was, "Where you going?"  I smiled and told her I had to go to work today and that she was going to Tita's.  She told me, "I go work Tita's."  Of course.  :)

Last night (Monday night) took a little longer for her to fall asleep, but she still chose to sleep in her big girl bed over sleeping in bed with us.  No problem.  I suspected I'd sleep better tonight than the first night.  She did end up falling asleep (after many many delays) in her own bed, so I was hopeful that we had made a successful transition into the big girl bed.  She still didn't want me to lie down in her bed with her to read, so I stayed on my little stool. 

A little after 3am, I woke up to her wimpering and she cried out for me, so I went to her bed, and she was sitting up and wanted me to hold her because she was "scared."  I assume she had a nightmare.  I held her for a little bit, and she relaxed and seemingly fell back asleep on my shoulder, so I laid her down in her bed.  She held onto my arm and said, "Umma, don't go."  So, I sat down on my little stool next to her bed and let her just hug my arm for a while.  When she seemed to drift off again, I started to get up to go lie down myself, and she awoke again and asked me not go to.  I told her I'd stay with her a little longer, and she rolled over to go back to sleep.  After a few minutes of just lying still, she rolled back over and sat up.  She said, "Mama, water please?"  I guess she couldn't fall back asleep, so she thought maybe a drink of water would help.  I had already pre-positioned a glass of water for her, so I got her the cup and after she took a big drink, she lay back down and closed her eyes...another attempt to go to sleep.  I rubbed her back for a little bit, and when I stopped, she lay still for a few more minutes, and finally she rolled over and said, "Mommy, you lay?"  I wasn't sure if she wanted me to go lie down or if she wanted me to lie with her, so I asked her if she wanted me to lie with her, and she said, "Yes.  You lay lay with me my bed?"  I told her, "Sure" and climbed in beside her and she tucked her cuddly little face right on my cheek and wrapped one of her arms around my neck and breathed what sounded like a sigh of relief.  Luckily, she fell fast asleep (I think I did for a bit, too), but when I finally got up out of her bed to go back to my bed, I checked the time and it was already 5am.  Aiya...oh well.  I went back to sleep in my bed for about another hour and half when Jeff woke up me up to tell me it was already 6:30.  Yay...

I let Tay sleep in until she woke up on her own around 7:20.  She didn't seem to remember the night time event, so that was good, and she was in a good mood when she woke up in her own bed this morning, so all is well with the big girl bed.  We'll see how bedtime goes tonight...:)

All in all, I think the transition is going well, and Jeff and I are still not adverse to co-sleeping with her when she needs to, so we'll just take it slowly.  Another step toward growing up...::sigh::

2-year check up

Last week, I took Tay to her two-year check up at Cha Hospital.  It's two months later than when she actually turned two, but I delayed because she was due a booster shot in May anyway, so I figured I'd get two tasks done with one trip.

All the nurses at the office were shocked at how much she has grown because they hadn't seen her since her 18-month check-up and shots.  At this visit, she was measured at a tad over 35 inches (almost three feet!) and weighed in at 31.3 pounds.  I found that as long as Tay knows what to expect when we go some place new or she has to experience something new, she'll be fairly cooperative and go along with whatever is necessary without any tantrums or battles.  Before we had the doctor's appointment (like a day or two before), I explained to her that on Thursday, we were going to go visit the doctor at the hospital.  Then, on the day that we were scheduled to go, I told her that morning that she was going to go see the doctor today and that he was going to listen to her heart and back, look in her ears and mouth, and maybe even check her teeth.  I didn't mention that she was going to get a shot, though...at least not until about five minutes before she was going to get the shot.  Didn't want her to dwell on it all day...

Anyhow, when we got to the appointment, she stood very still on the scale to get her weight (we practiced at home on our home scale...she loved standing on the scale and yelling TWO NINE as the numbers come up).  Then, she stood very straight and tall for her height measurement.  She let the nurse check her temperature, too.  Then we went upstairs to the waiting area to wait for the doc.  The waiting area had quite a few kids with their parents, but she's a social one, so she went right up to one of the play tables, said hi, and commenced playing.  Definitely thankful for that.  After a little bit of a wait, we were called into the doc's office.  She sat on my lap as the doc listened to her chest and back, she let him look in both ears with no fight, and she even opened her mouth up wide so he could check inside.  :)  Since she jabbered on the entire visit (minus when he was checking her over), she stacked some nesting dolls, and ran into the office in the beginning, the doc says she's developmentally right on track and doing very well.  Not much of an assessment, but whatever.  She already had a developmental check-up by the EDIS people here on Yongsan at a playgroup, so I'm satisfied with their assessment of her. 

Then, we went downstairs to the "shot" room, to get her booster.  We got down there and I took a number and Tay and I had a quick chat about getting shots.  I explained that she was now going to get a shot in her arm and that it was going to hurt just a little bit, but it's to keep her healthy and strong as grows up.  Her response, "Okay, Umma."  Shots usually make me more nervous than it does her, so I was hoping for the best.  Our number came up and we went in and sat down.  I sat her on my lap, facing out, and rolled up her left arm sleeve.  The nurse came in with the shot and asked me to hold her shoulder and elbow so she wouldn't jerk.  Tay started squirming a little when she saw the shot, but I held onto her and told her to look away because that would make it less scary.  She looked away and the nurse gave her the shot, Tay yelled and tried turning her head to look, but I told her to look away so she turned her head back quickly.  It was all over and Tay cried a bit, but the nurse stuck a Pororo bandaid on her arm, so when I showed her the bandaid, she stopped crying immediately and I asked her if her arm hurt.  She said, "No, Umma.  I'm good."  Hehehe...my little sport.

Now I wonder if her next shot will go quite so smoothly.  I foresee a little more resistence the next time since she'll probably remember the initial pain of the stick, but maybe not...since she knows it doesn't last long. 

I love her so much.  We had her outside almost all weekend this past weekend...we took her to Children's Grand Park and we let her play on the downstairs playground quite a bit.  I'm loving the warmer weather...now let's keep the yellow dust at bay and it's going to be a great summer!

Excitement for More Pink!

Today's doctor's appointment was much anticipated since it was the full ultrasound where they would officially tell us if the little one was going to be a girl or a boy.  Jeff even came with me this morning to ensure he heard (or saw) the same thing I did.  After the routine stuff at the beginning, we went in for the ultrasound.  Well, the start was quite...tedious, but good to hear that the baby was growing well in there.  After all the official measurements and listening to the heart beat (beating at a rapid 154 bpm), the tech ended the viewing without any comment on the gender!  Well, I casually mentioned to her that Jeff had actually come along specifically to find out the gender, so she sat me back down and we took a quick look...and she showed us...definitely girl!  :)

Jeff and I are so excited that Tay's going to have a little sister!  I'm so excited to meet the little personality growing inside me!  Half way through and half way to go...can't hardly wait.

I wonder how similar and different she will be from Tay.  Looking forward to getting to know her better...now that I can call her my little girl...:)

Bali Adventure

I know it has been a long time coming, but here goes.  From 14 through 21 April 2010, our little family went on a vacation to Denpasar, Bali, for some rest, relaxation, and adventure!  Let me start by saying that traveling with a growing (and very interesting) toddler is becoming more and more fun because she actually gets to enjoy and voice her opinions on many of the activities that we do...and there's way more ice cream than if it were just Jeff and me.  :)

We arrived very late in the night (around 1:30 or 2am) the first day, so the first thing we did was crash out in our villa room.  I was quite grouchy since I was pregnant and didn't get a wink of sleep on the 7-hour flight over from Korea, but was very thankful to be in an air-conditioned room with a king-sized bed to be able to get to sleep right away.  Tay awoke somewhat when we first arrived, but fell back asleep without too much fuss, thankfully.  The next morning, we woke up to sunshine and the sound of birds chirping...and I felt much better.  We took a quick tour of our accomodation:  lovely bedroom, nice size bathroom with large tub, outdoor shower, beautiful stone private pool, outdoor covered kitchenette, nice lounging and eating area.  Since we woke up earlier than our breakfast was scheduled to arrive, we took a walk around whole villa resort premises, too.  They had a nice, large community pool with a shallow area for children, a small Thai restaurant that connected to the lobby, and a spa (that I didn't see, but Jeff says it was decent).

-- break, break --

Due to being sick, busy and moving and all that craziness, I wasn't able to finish this post, so I am back now weeks after the trip to try and finish it.  I will be brief, but hopefully hit the highlights.

During our week-long trip there, probably the two biggest highlights of the trip were the waterpark (WaterBom) and the Elephant Safari Park.  The water park had a HUGE kids pool/play area and three slides that were easy enough for kids even as young as Tay to go down by herself (although she was a little intimidated about going down by herself).  They had one really wide slide that we could go down side by side (with still plenty of room) and they had two curvy water slides, which Tay greatly enjoyed.  In the kid play area, they had the usual smaller slides and a giant bucket that once it was full, it would dump a massive amount of water on one side of the play area...powerful enough to knock an adult over if they weren't paying attention...phew.  Tay liked just watching the "biiiig bucket" fill up and dump on everyone standing underneath from the side lines.  She also got a kick out of just "swimming" around on her hands and toes all over the shallow area of the kids play area.  We ended up going back the last day we were there just to get some more play time in the water before heading back.

The elephant safari park was really amazing.  When we first arrived, we saw a few big elephants that people were standing around and feeding, so while we waited for our "elephant trek," we were led to that area as well to see the elephants.  Tay was a little intimidated at first, but shortly after we got there, two little baby elephants came out to feed as well, and one of the trainers came over and gave Tay some pieces of corn to feed the baby elephants!  She wanted me to hold her while she fed them, but she was SO excited.  The baby elephants were seven months and one year old...so small and adorable...and quite fuzzy!  After getting to feed the baby elephants, Tay wanted to feed the big elephants, too, so she had me set her down and she handed the big elephants bamboo pieces one at a time and really got a kick out of it!  She wanted to feed all of them!  After a bit of doing that, another trainer came to get us to get on our elephant for our brief trek through the "jungle."  I was a little nervous that Tay might be too scared to get on the elephant, but I was mistaken.  She had no problems getting on, and she was really excited about the whole event!  She told us before we got on the elephant, "Daddy ride biiiiig elephant, me ride little elephant, and Mommy ride (pause...thinks about it a minute)...mommy elephant."  When we actually got on the elephant, she said, "Me ride biiiiig elephant with Daddy and Mommy," and she was perfectly fine with that.  Our elephant's name was Puspa and she was a 29-year-old who lumbered along nice and quietly with her heavy cargo.  The trek lasted about 30 minutes and we saw many beautiful birds along the way, which Tay enjoyed.  At the end of the trek, Puspa was led to a watering hole where she actually walked into and around the water with us still on board.  While we were going around, another elephant was "bathing" in the middle of the watering hole by dunking its whole body (head and all) under the water and coming up for air and going under again!  Tay found that particularly amusing, and even after we were off the elephant, she kept looking back and mimicking what that elephant had been doing and saying, "Elephant go under!  Big splash!"  After the ride, we got to get some pictures with Puspa and Tay got to feed her some food before we went to wash up and get some lunch ourselves.  We missed the "elephant show," but it was nearing her nap time, so we decided to get a quick lunch at the park and head back to our hotel.  The weather that day was perfect, too; overcast and fairly cool with no rain!  That was definitely a wonderful experience for our whole family!

Another "honorable mention" activity would have to be our fishing trip.  We had scheduled a four-hour boating trip to go fishing, but we also made sure we could come back whenever we wanted to in case Tay was getting tired or sick (and in case I was getting tired or sick).  Luckily, we got a small privately chartered boat, and we went out fairly early in the morning.  We did the "trolling" for fish instead of "in place" fishing, which meant we would be moving almost the entire time until we caught something on the line.  I felt a bit nauseous at the beginning of the ride, so I sat still with Tay in my lap for the first part of the trip trying to keep my breakfast down.  Jeff caught the first fish (a relatively small one) less than 30 minutes into the trip!  That was a good sign for us...because I started to fell really nauseous about 40 minutes into the trip and handed Tay off to Jeff right before feeding the fish my breakfast off the side of the boat.  Hello, sea/morning sickness!  Well, apparently right after I handed Tay to Jeff, another fish caught the line, so he ended up handing her to our boatman as he reeled in the next fish, which was bigger than the first.  After I cleaned up a bit, I took Tay back and felt a bit better as I sipped a little cold water and sat with Tay with the breeze in my face.  Shortly thereafter, another fish took the bait and zipped out on the line, and Jeff quickly reeled that one in, only to realize that it was just a piece of garbage...booo.  But again, not long after that, the other line went zipping out and when Jeff reeled that one it, it was the biggest catch of the day!  Now that we had three fish in three different sizes (all the same type of fish), Jeff said, "We're done.  Let's go home!"  I was sure thankful for that...:)  Tay was really excited about seeing all the fish and seeing them jump around in the bucket.  On our way back to shore, I got sick once more (yay), but what wonderful memories of hanging my head over the side of the boat as we sped back to shore and the ocean spray in my face...hehehe.  Anyhow, when we got back to shore, we had our driver, Mr. Chok, take a photo of our family with each of us holding a fish - Tay holding the little fish, Jeff holding the big fish, and me holding the "mommy" fish (I guess I ought to teach her the word "medium," but it's just so cute that "mommy" is the word she uses to replace what is not big or little!).  Even with the sea/morning sickness, it was a fun and exciting trip and Tay thoroughly enjoyed herself (and we got a great family photo out of it!) so it is definitely worth mentioning as probably the third best activity of our vacation in Bali. 

Some of the other activities we did while in Bali besides swimming every day was visit the bird sanctuary (beautiful), butterfly garden (not so exciting) and a Tanna Lot (a beautiful temple carved out of a giant rock mountain on/in the ocean).  We didn't stay very long at any of these places, but I would say the bird sanctuary and the temple were definitely worth visiting. 

All in all, we had a wonderful and relaxing trip, but I'm not sure if we'd go back.  Maybe we're spoiled by the resort grounds at Cebu or the food in Thailand...and their relatively short flights to both destinations, but I can't see our family traveling on a seven hour flight to Bali again.  It was definitely a wonderful experience, though, and we would recommend it to any couples looking for a fun getaway! 

On the night we were flying back to Korea, we had already sent our "driver" home because our hotel had its own shuttle service to the airport.  When we brought Tay out with our bags to go to the airport, she asked, "Where's Mr. Chok?" because she had already gotten accustomed to him always being there to drive us places...very sweet.  Again, a great trip and great experience for our family...:)

First movement!

While we were in Bali from 15-21 April, I felt the little one inside me move for the first time!  It was that sweet little fluttering sensation that was undeniably the little one making itself known.  Now that the first fetal movement has been felt, I can feel the little one kicking away and pushing to make room inside every day!  Quite an amazing feeling and makes me smile every time...:)

VFW Hospital Visit and Busy Day!

Tay and I had quite a day today and still have half the day to go! 

First, we woke up bright and early at 7am (early for a Saturday) and we made some breakfast.  After breakfast, we got dressed and ready for the day, but we still had a lot of time before our first scheduled engagement, so I let her watch one episode of Dora the Explorer (her FAVORITE lately), and then we headed out the door.  Since we still had an hour before our scheduled event, we dropped off some clothes at the thrift store and headed to the playground for some running around.  She absolutely loved that, and for a short time, she even followed a little ant around the playground just to see where it would go…she lost interest after about five minutes, but those were an intriguing five minutes for her!

Soon it was almost time for our event, so we decided to leave the car at the playground and walk (through a jungle – small walking trail that cut across some woods) to the hospital for the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) hospital visit.  The VFW makes monthly visits to the hospital on the installation with fruit, candy and books for the in-patients, and since I am a member of the VFW and we had some free time this morning, I thought it might be a good experience for Tay to have a walk about the hospital and give out some candy.  We had been reading a book where Curious George winds up in a hospital by accident and he brings laughter and joy to the kids there, so she was actually pretty excited about the prospect of getting to go on a hospital visit.  I explained to her that there were people at the hospital who were sick and had boo-boos so we were going to give them some candy to make them happy.  She told me, “I give them candy, too, Umma, and I kiss the boo-boos.  They be so happy to see me!”  Boy, was she right. 

We met up with a few of the other VFW members in the lobby, and I told her she could have one candy herself first before we started our rounds, and she definitely liked that, but she never asked for any more.  We started with the psychiatric ward, so we waited outside (children not allowed).  Then we went to the maternity ward…where Tay got a kick out of giving candy to the new moms and seeing the tiny newborns (from a distance, of course).  From there, we moved on to the general in-patient ward where she carried candy around in her pockets and handed them to everyone she saw.  The patients seemed to enjoy seeing her come up and hand them candy with a shy little grin on her face and her sweet, “Get ber sooooon!” Next we stopped by ICU, but thankfully, there were no patients there.  From there, we stopped by Radiology to give the staff there some candy before moving on to the Emergency Room.  Again, it was all staff we saw there, but they loved how Tay went up to each of them to give them some candy.  One lady told her “no, thank you” and must have told her that she could have the candy because she came back to me and said, “She no want candy.  This candy for me.  I eat candy.”  So she was pretty happy with the fact that she could have another piece of candy herself.  :)  That was our last stop, so we left the remaining books, fruit and candy there and headed out. 

I was originally a little nervous about how she might act or react to the hospital and patients there, but she seemed to have really enjoyed herself and brought a little laughter and joy to the staff and patients in the hospital.  All in all, it was a very good experience for the both of us, so we may be making that a regular event for us…we’ll see. 

After the hospital visit, we had planned on hitting the PCS garage sale that the Dragon Hill was having, but we were both exhausted and hungry, so we met the Cortezes at Greenstreet for lunch.  Tay chowed down as if I hadn’t fed her in days…:)  She even ate some of my salad, too…not to anyone’s surprise.  After that, we let the kids run around the playground for about an hour or more until we saw them starting to fade…then we knew it was nap time.  We brought them inside, cleaned them up, and made our way home…Tay conked out in the car. 

Now, we’re home and she’s napping soundly as I write this.  Hopefully she’ll sleep for another hour or so, and if she wakes up in time, we’ll go to Saturday evening Mass since I won’t be able to go tomorrow ‘cause I won’t have a valid ID that’ll let me on post.  :P  Ah well…

Think I’ll go nap with her now…getting very excited because Jeff’s coming home tonight!!!  Yay!!!!!!!!!!