5 & 6 Month Update

I realized that I have slacked and completely missed Anderson's 5 month update. So, we'll have to combine his 5 and 6 month update.

I did remember to take his 5 month picture:


And his 6 month picture:

Is it me or did he grow a lot this past month?! I didn't think he did but looking at these two pictures, I can really tell the difference. There's a slideshow at the end of this post from 1 month to 6 months! (It might take a little while to load)

His 6 month stats:

Weight: 16.1 lbs (25th percentile)

Height: 25.25 inches (10th percentile)

First off, I'll have to say that this has been such a fun age for us. We've loved every minute of the 5-6 month age so far. He readily responds to you and he's such a smiley, happy guy. He'll smile at almost everybody and will laugh out loud. It's so great.



Eating:
He still has milk 4-5 times a day and has two meals - breakfast and dinner. Breakfast is usually a fruit with some rice cereal. Dinner is usually a vegetable. So far we've tried apples, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, avocado, bananas and pears. Apples and sweet potatoes are a big hit! He makes a face when first tastes avocado but he keep eating it. I think he just needs to get used to the taste for the first couple of bites. We think he might be allergic to bananas and butternut squash so we've stopped feeding it to him. His face gets red and blotchy but it goes away in a couple of hours. I think we'll try it again when he's a little older. We just started pears and he seems to really like it. He's recognizing when food is coming and it's so funny to watch. His eyes get really big and he'll stretch his arms out and sometimes gives a little yell as if to say "Gimme!" He also loves chilling in his high chair. He's also pretty clean eater; we rarely give him a bib anymore.

We're trying to give him some juice and water but it's really hard to try to teach a child to drink from a cup (or sippy cup). If we give him the sippy cup, he readily holds it and puts it in his mouth but ends up just chewing on the spout. We've tried just letting him drink out of a cup but it ends up all over his shirt rather than in his mouth. If anyone has tips/advice, I'd gladly take it!


Personality:
Like I mentioned before, he's a pretty happy kid for the most part. When we wake him up in the morning, he'll take a minute to stretch and think about what's happening, and then he'll break out into a big smile. It seems pretty easy to make him smile since he'll pretty much smile at anything and everything. He laughs out loud too and it's just about the best sound in the world.

As I mentioned in the previous post, he started rolling from his back to his tummy on Christmas day. A real accomplishment! And in just two short weeks, he's become an expert roller. So much so that I think we'll have to spend some time this weekend babyproofing our house. He'll roll all the way across the room if we let him. And he came dangerously close to rolling into our fireplace the other day (hence, we need to babyproof). He'll even roll to get a toy every now and then. He's very close to sitting up on his own. He can do okay if he puts his arms out for balance but he doesn't stay there for too long. We can see him trying to sit up more so I know he's working on it.
He still puts everything in his mouth and loves looking at himself in the mirror. He also loves being thrown up into the air (this is quite a workout since he is 16 lbs now!). He also likes "flying" - we put him in flying position and we fly him around the house.

Oh, and he is a BIG talker. He talks quite a bit and is sometimes very loud. Sometimes he'll sigh really big before going on and on, almost as if he's saying "I had it really tough today. Let me tell you about it..."

Here are some pics from Christmas:

I haven't been able to experiment with my camera that much lately, but here is a pic I took while trying to work on setting up different shots and poses. You can see how enamoured he is with himself in the mirror.

Christmas in Chicago: Brrr! It's Cold In Here!

It's been a long time since we've experienced a cold Chicago winter. And this visit did not disappoint! I think the day we arrived it was 6 degrees. Nice. A far cry from the 45-50 degree weather we were experiencing in California.

When I mentioned that we went to Chicago for Christmas, the first thing most people ask me is: "How did he do?" He did fine....for the most part. He, meaning Anderson, was fine on the plane. With the exception of the first flight where he woke up halfway through and proceeded to cry for the next 30-40 minutes. It was our fault really. We were worried that he would be bothered by the air pressure during landing so we delayed his feeding till we were descending. BIG mistake. He got too hungry, too tired and when you're there, it doesn't matter where you are - land, sea, air - it's bad. We also had some bad turbulance so the flight attendants wouldn't let us get up and walk around. Luckily, we learned our lesson quickly. He settled down once we landed and gobbled down some milk in the airport. The next flight (from Las Vegas to Chicago), he slept for all but one hour and played for the last hour. He didn't complain one bit about landing or show any signs of discomfort.

Unfortunately, the first few days while we were there it was too cold for us to go out and do anything with Anderson. We did stay in my parents condo in the city for a few days which was really fun. My mom even scored us some Bears vs Packers tickets! My dad decided that he would rather watch the game on TV rather than bundle up and voluntarily sit in -12F weather to watch the football game. One of the nice things about my parents condo is that we could just walk to the game at Soldier Field. We didn't have to worry about transportation at all! I don't think any of us have worn so much clothing at one time, but it was worth it. We were all toasty (relatively speaking of course) and had a great time at the game. Afterwards, we had to coax a few toes back to life, but it's a small price to pay for the real Chicago Bears experience.

Here we are, bundled up for the game. Yes, we are all wearing the same thing. For Christmas, my mom got all the guys Chicago Bears sweatshirts. We opened these presents early to wear to the game (and to help keep warm!)

After a few days at the condo, we headed back to the house in the burbs to spend some time with my brother and my aunt's family from Australia. We also went to one of those paint your own pottery places so Anderson could make some mugs for Grandma and Grandpa with handprint.

We also got to meet our friends Jill and Jeronimo's new little addition - Sebastian!

(I don't know why but I look really short in this picture!)

All in all, it was a great trip and it was a lot of fun getting to spend some time with family. I'd love to come back to Chicago in the spring/summer when Anderson is able to do more things. I think the only memory he really has of the city itself is a lot of lights and a blast of cold winter air.

Extra Holiday Pics

By now, I'm sure most of you have received our holiday card. Let me tell ya, it wasn't easy get that picture. Let me take that back. It was pretty easy since we waited for the right time of day to do it, but we used a remote to take that picture and it's not easy getting your 5 month old to look at the camera when there is no one standing there. We probably took....oh....30 shots and that was the best one. Anyway, here is the picture again for those who haven't seen it and some extras from that photo shoot that day.

2008 Year in Review

Happy New Year everyone! Unfortunately, ringing in the new year this year was mighty uneventful. I was sick with the flu and thus ended up sleeping through New Year's (for the second year in a row!). Wilson was the only one who stayed up and I hear he celebrated by drinking some wine and watching "Ku-Fu Panda." Are we a bunch of crazy folks or what?! New Year's Day, both Wilson and Anderson woke up with a fever. So, it has not been a fun 2009 thus far. But, I am happy to report that we are all better!

Needless to say, 2008 was a BIG year for us with lots of life changes - for the better obviously. I will always remember 2008 as the year our little son became a part of our lives but I do want to remember other things that happened. So, here is my best attempt at a year in review:

2008:

January: At the beginning of the month, there was a huge storm that knocked over the fence in our backyard. This storm also caused leaks in our office.

February: We celebrated my 30th birthday by having a nice little weekend in Monterey.

March: We found out we were having a boy! We also celebrated Sammy's 1st birthday with us (meaning he has been in our family for 1 year).

April: Wilson finally finishes rebuilding the fence, which we nickname the Great Wall of China. We also travel to Seattle to visit my brother and some friends.

May: We have our baby shower and get to catch up with a lot of old friends.

June: I wrap up work and start my maternity leave at the end of the month. Wilson goes to Texas for a business trip while I promise to hold the baby in until after he returns. We also attend Matt & Christy's wedding in Lake Tahoe.

July: On my 6th day of maternity leave, my water breaks during a Bravo marathon of "Flipping Out." It is the hottest week of the year. There is a baby boom at Sutter Roseville. Anderson William Jang makes his appearance on July 9, 2008 at 4:56am and both mom and dad are instantly in love.

August: Wilson's birthday is sadly lost in the hubub of having a new child but we did exchange presents at the end of the month. He gets a bottle of his most favorite ranch in the world - the ranch dressing from the Cheesecake Factory. Unfortunately, since it is made fresh daily and doesn't have any preservatives, the Ranch dressing is only good for a week. Thus, for the next week, Ranch is used on EVERYTHING.

September: My parents and brother come to visit Anderson. He is now 2 months old and getting cuter by the day! Wilson and I also celebrate our 3 year wedding anniversary.

October: We take our first trip as a family and head down to San Luis Obispo to visit our friend Brant, Jessica and their daughter Haley. I also survive Wilson going on his first business trip since Anderson being born and live to see another day after caring for our child all by myself for a week. Anderson also visits the pumpkin patch for the first time (which he slept through). We spend Halloween with the Kooymans and take Anderson trick or treating (which he also slept through halfway). He is a monkey for Halloween.

November: We host a small Thanksgiving at our house. Anderson rolls over from his Tummy to back for the first time!

December: We all go to Chicago for Christmas and spend a week there with my family. We go to our first Bears game ever. Anderson rolls from his back to his tummy for the first time on Christmas day. He then proceeds to log roll across the living room floor. He also starts eating solids around 5 months.