As of late, Tay has been having a rough time with going to sleep. Or maybe a better way to say it is that we have been having a rough time getting Tay to go to sleep. For a girl who's never given me problems about going to sleep (except that one time she decided to be a tiger), it's quite the frustrating battle. From what I read, it's that this new toddlerhood is just making her so excited about everything going on with life that she doesn't want to miss out. I'm okay with that, so we had been letting her stay up a little later every night. This is not the path I want to walk down, but I was just getting tired of the battles. Tears every night with wimpers of "no seep, no seep" is just not something I want to face...::sigh::
Anyhow, I think that the sleep that she's missing out on because she's going to bed later is starting to take its toll on her. Last night, Jeff and I woke up to three bouts of just sitting up and screaming/crying and nothing would console her until I woke her up and rocked her back to sleep. I think that's the tale-tell sign of a night terror, isn't it? And being overtired can trigger night terrors...from what I've read...so is that what my poor child is facing???
I must take a stand and make her go to sleep earlier. Operation "more sleep" will commence tonight.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
First Symptom...
When we found out we were pregnant with Tay, I didn't have immediate symptoms of pregnancy
First Symptom...
When we found out we were pregnant with Tay, I didn't have immediate symptoms of pregnancy...well, hardly any at all, actually, throughout the entire pregnancy. Just a couple mornings of serious nausea.
With the second angel, I've felt a bit queasy already, and when I went to choir practice today, the nausea picked up because I couldn't get this STRONG smell of jja jjang myun out of my nose, which was probably someone's dinner. I guess my sense of smell is actually going to be heightened for this pregnancy...this could be interesting.
The excitement about this pregnancy is building quickly...:) Each moment I think of you, I get a little bit happier. :) You're going to have the most wonderful big sister...
With the second angel, I've felt a bit queasy already, and when I went to choir practice today, the nausea picked up because I couldn't get this STRONG smell of jja jjang myun out of my nose, which was probably someone's dinner. I guess my sense of smell is actually going to be heightened for this pregnancy...this could be interesting.
The excitement about this pregnancy is building quickly...:) Each moment I think of you, I get a little bit happier. :) You're going to have the most wonderful big sister...
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Positive!
Well, well, well...we've done it again.
Over Christmas and new years, our family took a vacation to the states (VA and FL), and while on that vacation, we weren't thinking of trying for a second child...but it appears we have managed to do it again.
We got back from the states and I had been feeling a little funny because I had some spotting about three weeks after my last period, but didn't have anything more after a day or two. I had been breaking out like a teenager going through puberty again, too, which was quite annoying. I'm sure Jeff will tell you that I've been moody, too. Another indicator was that one day after a large meal, I patted my stomach and asked Shingil, "What's this?" and her immediate response was "BABY!" We had a good chuckle from that, but it didn't click then that I might remotely be pregnant. I had a scheduled appointment with an OB/GYN regarding my irregular periods in the previous months, so I went to that scheduled appointment...
When I got there, they decided to do a quick sonogram to determine where in my cycle I was since I had already spotted. Well...the technician looked at the screen for a while and then said to me, "um...you weren't planning on being pregnant, were you?" I told her we weren't "trying" but we weren't "not trying" either and that it would be a good thing if we were pregnant. She said, "It looks like you're pregnant!" She then showed me a printout of the little egg sac in my uterus that just looked like a tiny black jellybean in a smear of grey...amazing. What she did tell me, though, was that the yolk sac (a little white spot in the black jellybean) should be more of a ring with a clear center, but mine was a little round white spot like a snowflake sitting in the egg sac. She said it wasn't anything to be concerned with, but it was something they wanted to check because it could mean that the pregnancy might be high risk...whatever that means. Well, I was excited and nervous and anxious about the whole thing, but it was like I already knew...
It's such a different feeling from when we found out we were pregnant with Shingil...it was just pure excitement then...whereas now, I feel more worried than excited...I worry that we may not be ready for this. Maybe Shingil is not ready to be a big sister yet...but maybe she is...maybe I'm just not ready...but I think I am. I am so happy at the possibility of being pregnant...yet I'm so nervous.
Well, while I was getting my check-up, I told Jeff to pick up some pregnancy tests, so when I got home after work that day, I took one of the tests and waited three minutes...and guess what? It was positive!!!
I was not surprised, but still very happy...and it was a strange feeling that I had already seen the little angel growing inside of me already before I even knew I was pregnant...before I ever took a pregnancy test.
I took a picture of the pregnancy test stick for good measure. I still want to treat this new little angel with as much love as I outpoured onto my first...my little Shingil. I know it won't be the same...but I want to do this.
Jeff and I have decided to keep this a secret from our families until we see them in May. I should be quite obviously showing by then...and they will be quite shocked...will we be able to keep it a secret??? I sure hope so.
Little Angel #2...you are loved...and the worry in my heart will pass and joy will replace the anxiety. I love you.
Love,
Umma
Over Christmas and new years, our family took a vacation to the states (VA and FL), and while on that vacation, we weren't thinking of trying for a second child...but it appears we have managed to do it again.
We got back from the states and I had been feeling a little funny because I had some spotting about three weeks after my last period, but didn't have anything more after a day or two. I had been breaking out like a teenager going through puberty again, too, which was quite annoying. I'm sure Jeff will tell you that I've been moody, too. Another indicator was that one day after a large meal, I patted my stomach and asked Shingil, "What's this?" and her immediate response was "BABY!" We had a good chuckle from that, but it didn't click then that I might remotely be pregnant. I had a scheduled appointment with an OB/GYN regarding my irregular periods in the previous months, so I went to that scheduled appointment...
When I got there, they decided to do a quick sonogram to determine where in my cycle I was since I had already spotted. Well...the technician looked at the screen for a while and then said to me, "um...you weren't planning on being pregnant, were you?" I told her we weren't "trying" but we weren't "not trying" either and that it would be a good thing if we were pregnant. She said, "It looks like you're pregnant!" She then showed me a printout of the little egg sac in my uterus that just looked like a tiny black jellybean in a smear of grey...amazing. What she did tell me, though, was that the yolk sac (a little white spot in the black jellybean) should be more of a ring with a clear center, but mine was a little round white spot like a snowflake sitting in the egg sac. She said it wasn't anything to be concerned with, but it was something they wanted to check because it could mean that the pregnancy might be high risk...whatever that means. Well, I was excited and nervous and anxious about the whole thing, but it was like I already knew...
It's such a different feeling from when we found out we were pregnant with Shingil...it was just pure excitement then...whereas now, I feel more worried than excited...I worry that we may not be ready for this. Maybe Shingil is not ready to be a big sister yet...but maybe she is...maybe I'm just not ready...but I think I am. I am so happy at the possibility of being pregnant...yet I'm so nervous.
Well, while I was getting my check-up, I told Jeff to pick up some pregnancy tests, so when I got home after work that day, I took one of the tests and waited three minutes...and guess what? It was positive!!!
I was not surprised, but still very happy...and it was a strange feeling that I had already seen the little angel growing inside of me already before I even knew I was pregnant...before I ever took a pregnancy test.
I took a picture of the pregnancy test stick for good measure. I still want to treat this new little angel with as much love as I outpoured onto my first...my little Shingil. I know it won't be the same...but I want to do this.
Jeff and I have decided to keep this a secret from our families until we see them in May. I should be quite obviously showing by then...and they will be quite shocked...will we be able to keep it a secret??? I sure hope so.
Little Angel #2...you are loved...and the worry in my heart will pass and joy will replace the anxiety. I love you.
Love,
Umma
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Christmas Vacation
Christmas 2009 and new year 2010 were a whirlwind and spent surrounded by families. We flew into Bristol, VA, to spend Christmas with the Kim famiy on the 21st of December. While in Bristol, Tay got to spend a lot of time with her No-no (Halmuni) and Ebby (Harabuji) and even got familiar with Uncle Han. While there, her vocabulary and phrasing increased dramatically and she popped out with phrases like, "No-no house; cold outside" when we drove up to Halmuni's drive way.
While we were in Bristol, we also took a quick visit down to Ashville, NC, to visit Jesse and Megan who are getting hitched in May 2010 (and Jeff will be a groomsman). Tay had quite the visit with many tantrums about the cat they had and its small playhouse, which she claimed as hers...
Christmas eve, our family went to midnight Mass at St. Anne's (namely because our internal clocks still hadn't adjusted to EST) and Tay was surprisingly good, but not without frequent trips out of the sanctuary. Luckily, she fell asleep part way through (nap time) and she slept the rest of the Mass. I ran into Carmen before Mass so we got caught up a bit while the choir sang Lessons and Carols before the Mass began.
We linked up with Sarah and Jesse for lunch, too, which was nice; Sarah was actually due with the little Wingo on Christmas day, but she was late. Tay called her "baby" the entire time we were there, but we shared a great meal at Logan's.
Another exciting (albeit lowly attended) event was my 10-year high school reunion. It was scheduled for the day after Christmas, which actually was clever since many people were in town for Christmas, but still we had a pretty small showing. It was nice to see many of the people again since most of them I hadn't seen since graduation - correction - I hadn't seen any of them since graduation back in 1999. Amazing. I would say the funniest thing we talked about was how FB really cuts down on small talk since you can "FB-stalk" people and read up on how everyone is doing without really having to say anything...so you already know everything that most people make small-talk about...:) Ah well...such is social media. We did end up taking Tay to the event, but she passed out before she got a chance to meet anyone and stayed asleep the entire time we were there.
The day after the reunion, we made our way down to Florida (via plane) and checked into Tay's first Disney hotel! We stayed at the Pop Century resort; the room was a bit cozy and the bed arrangement was a bit difficult, but we managed and we got to visit Animal Kingdom (although it was surprisingly cold that day) and we LOVED our day at downtown Disney. Tay particularly enjoyed the fountains, but she didn't get wet (thankfully) since it was still a pretty chilly day. At Animal Kingdom, we did get to take the Safari ride, and Tay was enjoying it until the car movement put her to sleep. She was riding along and pointing out the animals she recognized until suddenly, she said, "Umma, giaff (giraff), ni-nite" and zonked out right after we saw the giraffs. I think Tay's favorite part of being at Disney, though, were the Mickey ice creams (definitely my favorite!). She definitely did not care to see any of the characters...still not so happy around people in costumes...I guess giant characters are pretty scary...
While at Disney, we had planned on linking up with Justin, Leslie and the girls for an outdoor movie in Orlando, but because the weather was so cold, we decided against it and we ended up driving down to Melbourne for a nice dinner and evening with the girls. Lucy and Tay were particularly amusing with their love-hate relationship and Polly and Evie were so sweet to Tay and all grown up!
After a few days at Disney, we drove over to Lakeland to ring in the new year with the rest of the Ryals family. The girls got to celebrate a second (or third or fourth) Christmas all together as cousins before the new year with presents and the weather even warmed up so they could have some fun running around outside in the neighborhood. New year's eve, we even got to shoot off some fireworks, which everyone found spectacular, and Polly won the big prize for most enthusiastic cheerer during the fireworks! We did our own version of a "count down" to the new year and sent the girls to bed. The adults hung about a bit, but as I watched TV and read a bit, I felt suddenly nauseous and had to quickly excuse myself. It was definitely a bout of food poisoning, and I was about to hop on a plane the next day...ugh. Anyhow, we made it back to the hotel (Tay still knocked out) and Jeff and I tried to commence packing. Well...Jeff made the call to delay our flight a bit and so we spent one more day in Lakeland (and had a nice dinner with JJ and Abs) and then made our way over to Melbourne to spend some more time with Granny and Pops and the girls.
We had another nice dinner at Justin and Leslie's and we had these amazing cheese blintzes that Granny made two mornings in a row! We also got to take Tay to the Brevard Zoo again (which is an excellent zoo, by the way) and Tay got to see many more giraffs close up, although she was none too excited about actually feeding them the crackers. She also got to feed some birds, a swan, and deer. I think her favorite was the swan because it stayed the farthest away...:) We got to relax and recover a bit before finally hopping on the long flight back to Korea. We left Melbourne around 3am, got to Orlando for our 6am flight and finally stepped back into our house in frozen Korea the next day around 7pm. That journey is just so long...but it was definitely worth it to see and spend so much time with all of our family.
Happy new year! Here's to an incredible 2010!
While we were in Bristol, we also took a quick visit down to Ashville, NC, to visit Jesse and Megan who are getting hitched in May 2010 (and Jeff will be a groomsman). Tay had quite the visit with many tantrums about the cat they had and its small playhouse, which she claimed as hers...
Christmas eve, our family went to midnight Mass at St. Anne's (namely because our internal clocks still hadn't adjusted to EST) and Tay was surprisingly good, but not without frequent trips out of the sanctuary. Luckily, she fell asleep part way through (nap time) and she slept the rest of the Mass. I ran into Carmen before Mass so we got caught up a bit while the choir sang Lessons and Carols before the Mass began.
We linked up with Sarah and Jesse for lunch, too, which was nice; Sarah was actually due with the little Wingo on Christmas day, but she was late. Tay called her "baby" the entire time we were there, but we shared a great meal at Logan's.
Another exciting (albeit lowly attended) event was my 10-year high school reunion. It was scheduled for the day after Christmas, which actually was clever since many people were in town for Christmas, but still we had a pretty small showing. It was nice to see many of the people again since most of them I hadn't seen since graduation - correction - I hadn't seen any of them since graduation back in 1999. Amazing. I would say the funniest thing we talked about was how FB really cuts down on small talk since you can "FB-stalk" people and read up on how everyone is doing without really having to say anything...so you already know everything that most people make small-talk about...:) Ah well...such is social media. We did end up taking Tay to the event, but she passed out before she got a chance to meet anyone and stayed asleep the entire time we were there.
The day after the reunion, we made our way down to Florida (via plane) and checked into Tay's first Disney hotel! We stayed at the Pop Century resort; the room was a bit cozy and the bed arrangement was a bit difficult, but we managed and we got to visit Animal Kingdom (although it was surprisingly cold that day) and we LOVED our day at downtown Disney. Tay particularly enjoyed the fountains, but she didn't get wet (thankfully) since it was still a pretty chilly day. At Animal Kingdom, we did get to take the Safari ride, and Tay was enjoying it until the car movement put her to sleep. She was riding along and pointing out the animals she recognized until suddenly, she said, "Umma, giaff (giraff), ni-nite" and zonked out right after we saw the giraffs. I think Tay's favorite part of being at Disney, though, were the Mickey ice creams (definitely my favorite!). She definitely did not care to see any of the characters...still not so happy around people in costumes...I guess giant characters are pretty scary...
While at Disney, we had planned on linking up with Justin, Leslie and the girls for an outdoor movie in Orlando, but because the weather was so cold, we decided against it and we ended up driving down to Melbourne for a nice dinner and evening with the girls. Lucy and Tay were particularly amusing with their love-hate relationship and Polly and Evie were so sweet to Tay and all grown up!
After a few days at Disney, we drove over to Lakeland to ring in the new year with the rest of the Ryals family. The girls got to celebrate a second (or third or fourth) Christmas all together as cousins before the new year with presents and the weather even warmed up so they could have some fun running around outside in the neighborhood. New year's eve, we even got to shoot off some fireworks, which everyone found spectacular, and Polly won the big prize for most enthusiastic cheerer during the fireworks! We did our own version of a "count down" to the new year and sent the girls to bed. The adults hung about a bit, but as I watched TV and read a bit, I felt suddenly nauseous and had to quickly excuse myself. It was definitely a bout of food poisoning, and I was about to hop on a plane the next day...ugh. Anyhow, we made it back to the hotel (Tay still knocked out) and Jeff and I tried to commence packing. Well...Jeff made the call to delay our flight a bit and so we spent one more day in Lakeland (and had a nice dinner with JJ and Abs) and then made our way over to Melbourne to spend some more time with Granny and Pops and the girls.
We had another nice dinner at Justin and Leslie's and we had these amazing cheese blintzes that Granny made two mornings in a row! We also got to take Tay to the Brevard Zoo again (which is an excellent zoo, by the way) and Tay got to see many more giraffs close up, although she was none too excited about actually feeding them the crackers. She also got to feed some birds, a swan, and deer. I think her favorite was the swan because it stayed the farthest away...:) We got to relax and recover a bit before finally hopping on the long flight back to Korea. We left Melbourne around 3am, got to Orlando for our 6am flight and finally stepped back into our house in frozen Korea the next day around 7pm. That journey is just so long...but it was definitely worth it to see and spend so much time with all of our family.
Happy new year! Here's to an incredible 2010!
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Hello, 21 Months!
Well, as Tay enters her 21st month of life, we just couldn't be happier. Yes, it's true that she has just taken one more step toward the "terrible twos," but really, how terrible could it be with a smile that stretches from ear to ear, hugs and kisses, and her sweet "YOU!" (it's how she says "I love YOU!")
As in a previous post, she has become a bit unruly at times, but I still consider us very lucky parents to have such an easy toddler to raise. She very very rarely has meltdowns, and they are usually at home...and usually they can be mitigated so that they are minimal and I don't even have to bribe her...most of the time. The best thing is, the greatest bribe of all is reading her a story - she'll stop any meltdown to read a story. Or do a dance. Or a sip of water or milk. Or a piece of cheese. Pretty much anything will calm her down when she gets spun up about something and can't stop the emotional eruption. I just have to take a deep breath and understand that a toddler's life is tough; she just has to let it out sometimes to relax. The best part of any meltdown, though, is after she's done with it (or as she's winding down), she wants to be held and she just kisses and loves on you for letting her get it out of her system.
I've realized that her attitude after the meltdown is hugely impacted by my attitude during and after her meltdown. If I'm tense and irritated (as I normally am when it gets to this point), she will wind down angry and resort to some method of retaliation (like trying to him me or throwing something). If I'm calm and help talk her down from her worked up state (which I am trying to consciously do when faced with this situation), she'll want me to hold her as she calms down and return to the sweet little angel that she generally is.
As of late, we have been struggling with her bedtime because she no longer wants to go to bed at night. She wants to stay up and run around and she gets progressively more and more cranky until she cries herself to sleep. I hate that! So, all the various "toddler sleep" articles I'm reading are telling me that her lack of sleep is what is causing her crankiness and that I should put her to bed earlier and earlier. What they fail to mention is that trying to put her down is what's causing my crankiness...which is what is probably causing her crankiness because she wants to keep playing and I am stopping her! Aiya...
Anyhow, we started walking down this very slippery slope by her going to bed later (9-9:30-10) and in turn, waking up later (7-7:30-8), making me late for work! Then she'd nap later in the afternoon (2-4 instead of noon-2 as usual), which would then again push back her bedtime! Ugh...so after about a week of this progressive downhill sleepless state, I said enough! I started waking her up earlier; first 6:30, then 6, then 5:30. Then, I told Beth, no more sleeping past 3pm. I still bathe her around 7:30-8pm, but now she resists and doesn't fall asleep until around 9 or 9:30, when she used to fall asleep between 8 and 8:30. Well, last night, I bathed her at 7, read a few books together, and laid down with her to sing some songs. I know I should be more strict about her silly reasons for getting out of bed, but when she tells me she needs a drink of water and I am unprepared, how can I not get her water? Then last night, she sat up and said, "Umma, apple peas." I actually didn't understand it the first time she said it, so I said, "what?" She repeated, "Apple. Apple. Nana? Apple." It's like she was trying to help me understand her by relating it to a banana! Surely she doesn't understand already that an apple and a banana are both fruits, but I got what she was saying immediately after she said "Nana." Amazing. But I digress...back to the bedtime. After singing and singing and her singing along with me for a while, she became quiet and I assume she fell asleep because I fell asleep, too! When I opened my eyes to check the time, it was 2AM!!! I quietly "leaped" out of bed and went to move the laundry from the washer to the dryer (so it wouldn't get that weird smell in the morning from sitting in the washer still damp), set my alarm for the morning, took my contacts out and went back to bed. Phew...it's a good thing I didn't have anything in the oven!
In other news, I enrolled Tay in a Twinkle Ballet class (ballet for tots) this winter...just so she would have something fun to do with some other little kids her age (other than storytelling hour at the library and playgroup). The girl loves to dance and groove to any music, so I figured, she'd probably enjoy this, at least for a little bit. I wanted to find a toddler tumbling class, but couldn't seem to find one, so I settled for ballet. I'm not much of a dancer, nor have a I had any aspirations to be one, so it's an awkward setting for me, but Tay's got the dancing bug in her, so I had to give her an opportunity. Anyhow, last week was her first class, and the age group was from 20 months to 30 months. She was just about to turn 21 months, so I figured it would be a good class for her. Well, it turned out she was the only one in the class...sad. Well, the teacher asked if we wouldn't mind joining the 31 month to 48 month group. I wasn't so sure how Tay would handle being in a class with kids so much older than her, but I figured it couldn't hurt to try, so this week (today), we went to the older class.
Let me tell you...it was WONDERFUL! She is by far the youngest in the class, but she's not much littler than the rest of them. And surprisingly enough, she follows along in the class wonderfully! I just wish I could get better pictures! The classroom is a bit tight with the moms and all the kids. She looks just nauseatingly sweet with her little hands above her head in that delicate ballet pose and see the picture where she's stretching! You have to admit, it's darn cute. Tay enjoyed herself so much, and I had so much fun myself watching her follow along and taking a second or two to look back at me and giggle! She was amazed at the older girls and would watch so intently and try to do the movements herself! I didn't have her outfit (the teacher picked it up for me because they were to be ordered through a Korean online site), so she's not in a tutu yet, but next time, she will be in full dress. :)
There's no class next week because the teacher has a performance, and the following two weeks, we will be in the States, so it looks like ballet will be on hold until January 2010! At least we know, she enjoys it and it was a good investment!
I can't believe we are already approaching 2010! So much on our minds as a family...
What is next?
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Santa Claus!
This weekend, Santa visited the post exchange for photo ops (and to pick up some last minute gift items that his Elves didn't have time to produce), so we took Tay to see if we could get a photo. Were we in for a surprise!
If you remember, Tay's Easter Bunny event and last year's Santa event, they did not go over very well at all. As soon as she saw the giant bunny hop off the loud fire truck with its lights and sirens on, she had a complete meltdown with screaming and crying to get away from the bunny. Last year, she was quite content staying at least 50 yards away from the live Santa, but was somewhat comfortable with the statues of Santa as long as one of us were holding her.
This year, she actually met the Santa before he was in costume (albeit briefly), and then the next time we saw him, he had the fluffy white beard and beautiful red costume...so she was quite taken. :) As we stood in line waiting for him, she had a very serious look on her face, so I was concerned that this year might be a bust as well, but when it was our turn, I sat her on his lap, he gave her a little candy cane, and she just stared at his face...and then turned to look at me and just giggled. She looked back at his face and gave a little "point" to his beard and looked at me again and giggled! She thought his beard was just the silliest thing...she couldn't help laughing at him, which in turn made Santa laugh all the more...so they just sat there giggling at each other while Jeff took some pictures. Beautiful. :) I'll be sure to post some on here as soon as I get them off the camera.
Two more weeks before we're home!
If you remember, Tay's Easter Bunny event and last year's Santa event, they did not go over very well at all. As soon as she saw the giant bunny hop off the loud fire truck with its lights and sirens on, she had a complete meltdown with screaming and crying to get away from the bunny. Last year, she was quite content staying at least 50 yards away from the live Santa, but was somewhat comfortable with the statues of Santa as long as one of us were holding her.
This year, she actually met the Santa before he was in costume (albeit briefly), and then the next time we saw him, he had the fluffy white beard and beautiful red costume...so she was quite taken. :) As we stood in line waiting for him, she had a very serious look on her face, so I was concerned that this year might be a bust as well, but when it was our turn, I sat her on his lap, he gave her a little candy cane, and she just stared at his face...and then turned to look at me and just giggled. She looked back at his face and gave a little "point" to his beard and looked at me again and giggled! She thought his beard was just the silliest thing...she couldn't help laughing at him, which in turn made Santa laugh all the more...so they just sat there giggling at each other while Jeff took some pictures. Beautiful. :) I'll be sure to post some on here as soon as I get them off the camera.
Two more weeks before we're home!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)