Wrap nap

Need to be getting ready for a wedding

But wrap nap is more important for a feverish baby

She spikes 103.6 overnight :(

--

And she's snoring

Honestly don't know how I would have survived without wrapping 

First chocolate

Liked the chocolate syrup

But then.. Not mixed with the amoxicillin 

Update, this 3rd bottle.. I made sure it's a different manufacturer.  She takes it a bit better, not sure if it's the taste or just the realization that this is happening twice a day regardless of her putting up the fight. The crying, shrieking & refusal is the same but it takes me 7ml to give 5ml, instead of the previous 15-20 ml haha

The mixing wth chocolate syrup, or icecream a didn't work 

Who was I kidding,I knew i couldn't trick her 

Spoon full of sugar..

Makes the medicine go down. Right?

I picked up quite a stash.. Chocolate syrup, mango sorbet, strawberry ice cream, some caramel.
Let's really hope it works

It's been a huge struggle giving her the antibiotics. Cup, dropper, spoon, nothing works. We are force feeding with an oral syringe & went through the prescribed bottle in a couple days.  It's supposed to last 10 days!  She spits/ gurgles/ coughs everything out.  She's gotten quite good at crying and blowing raspberries simultaneously.  Sometimes it doesn't sit well, and you can hear her stomach just tossing & turning.  Actually, she has even vomited it all out.  Then we have to repeat the entire process.  Luckily, used my pharmacist hookup to score me another bottle to hold me over until today, but it was less concentrated and we had to give 40% more.  Both Natalie & i are in tears after the whole ordeal.  James is so upset, since he's the one holding her, pinning her arms & legs down.  To top it off, she's been having diarrhea since yesterday.

We went in this morning, her ear has improved and the pediatrician wrote me another bottle.  She's sleeping so happily, rolled onto James's pillow and making cute baby snores.  Breaks my heart that once she's awake, we are going to have to give her this medicine again.

Ear wax and ear infection

Today was the 12 month Doctor visit.  It's nice to track hr growth, her weight 10.5 kg, length 30 inches, but it came with 3 painful shots. 

What was unexpected was the giant globs of ear wax & the underlying right ear infection.  Natalie has always been grabbing and scratching her ears since she a few month old, but her ears would be clear.  Not even ear wax.  but a couple nights ago, i noticed it picked up again where her scratches became recurring scabs.  No fevers, no fussiness, and actually.. Grandma and grandpa have been quite vocal about how extra happy Natalie was.

I'm just bracing myself, I know it's going to be tough giving her the antibiotics.

Love my husband

Here I am, laying in bed & dozing off to the lull of the dryer and Sam smith 

I would hear my husband humming along every few minutes and my little daughter also aye-aye-eh-eh. 

Just warms my heart 

She must be close to sleep, now I hear my husband singing

Na-lee, yaa yaa yaaa, Na-lee-lee-ya Natalie Na-lee-ya

The lullaby we sing to her every night 

First ice cream

We've given her a taste of IKEA's soft serve a couple months ago

But today was the official ice cream, delicious sea salt ice cream from Salt & Straw. She loved it 

Pick my nose

esterday she discovered her nostril, intentionally sticking her little pointer finger in there. Today it's been more consistent, and also explores mommy's nostrils

Whole milk

Last week, I picked up a carton of horizons organic whole milk , with the intention of transitioning Natalie.  Exactly how, without ever supplementing with formula, I was lost & had no plan

On 4/12, when Natalie was 1 day into 1 year, she came back from daycare with a 1.5 oz bottle.  I mixed in 1 oz of whole milk & hoped for the best. She refused it, took a nap on daddy, & when she woke up..

I hid, James tried again, and surprisingly she finished it.  When I came out to celebrate, she wanted to nurse & that's our first experience.  

So past 2 days, I've been mixing 4 oz of mommy's milk with 1 oz of whole milk.  She's been finishing all the bottles.  Today, I just mixed 3 oz with 2 oz, & hoping for the best.  My pump supply has been consistently low, & we literally have just 1 frozen.  So this transition is not only working out with the timing of Natalie's birthday, but also what my body is telling us.  

I still nurse at 8pm, later at night, & if that's skipped once while sleeping, then 4th session early morning.  We will slowly be cutting those out, but for now it is what it is 

Happy FIRST Birthday

to my dearest daughter,
You have shown me love, and how to love.
Happy first birthday.
Your mommy

Dohl party

In preparation, i took up the big project of making Dohl goim towers, these decorative hot glued bean  madness.  They turned out amazing, even better than I hoped for.  And ultimately "made" the birthday table.

Natalie wore her satin fluffy pink dress with sass, then later changed into her hanbok (the traditional Korean dress) and it ruined her day.  She automatically became angry, fussy, and only mommy could hold her

53 Weeks

Last weekly update before the big ONE!
Trying to get all the stats for her birthday sign (decided on a chalkboard) & here goes
30 inches tall (possibly 31?)
23 pounds
8 teeth
I can.. clap & crawl
& say.. Umma, appa, uh oh, buh bye,  no no
Favorit foods are udon & avocado

Current words

Not too many but they are

1. umma, Korean for mom, mostly cried out when she's upset

2. appba, Korean for dad, also a favorite sound so she'll say it while playing

3. baba, her version of bye bye usually coupled with waving. 

4. Uhoh-t, she adds this "t" sound afterwards haha. She says it usually when dropping something intentionally but also randomly throughout the day. 

All other words have come & go, so I'm not too sure they were really words to start off with. Oh!  She makes this "eh" sound in the parking garage, we realized its to hear the echo. So I'll always say "echo" when I know it would, & she'd try to say "eh-to"

She only signs "milk"

Which we did & say "yummy yummy" since.. 2-3 months old? I know she understood at 5-6 months, & signed back / someone's saying "mam Mam Mam" since 6-7 months? Never consistently though. Usually smiles & claps if we sign "milk" & we still say "yummy yummy"

Natalie can get chatty, but it's random baby noises. James seems to pick up on them & tell me that this or that sound is new/ her current favorite/ etc

Current nighttime sleep

Sadly, in the never STTN boat. Here's our nightly schedule (on a good night)

Best case scenario is going to bed by 9/930

1. Wakes up at MN, I'll hold/ sing her back to sleep

2. she wakes up at 2am,  I'll nurse then James will hold/ sing her back to sleep 

3. Wakes at 4am, I'll hold/ sings her back to sleep

4. Wakes at 6am, I'll nurse (1/2 the time I'll leave for work)

& up for the day after 830

& this is me trying so hard to cut down night nursing. Also, sleep training with crying NOT an option before 2am (James is on conference calls)

& then with James Having to sleep from 2am to 6/8am so he can function the following day, it's all on me. & I just don't have the strength & grit to sleep train myself 

So crazy as it sounds, this^^ is working for us. Some nights are so so tough that when it plays out with 4 wakes, I'm functional the following day

52 weeks

Past week was horrendous with nightly temps coupled with our fifth road trip, honestly I don't know what i was thinking

But it gave us some good family time,
And today?
Natalie said Bbobbo (Korean for kiss)