A busy week

This past week was my first week back at work, as well as CJ's first week in daycare. I thought I was well prepared, but little did I know how sad I would react on his first day! As I took him out of his car seat and handed him to Natalie, the babysitter, I started crying! It finally hit me that I would now have to leave him for hours for someone else to care for him. Need less to say, I pretty much thought of him all day at work, and made a couple calls to check on him.

CJ also experienced a few milestones this week at the babysitter's. First, he was rolling over during tummy time from tummy to back, and secondly he was batting at toys dangling above him, which he wasn't really doing when he was with me. Thirdly, when Jeff was making faces and noises at him, he laughed, meaning he did a little chuckle! It was sooo cute. And lastly, since CJ is now four months old, we were given the okay to start on solids so I decided to start yesterday with rice cereal. He didn't seem to enjoy it much...he made a sour face each time I put it in his mouth. Oh well, we're gonna keep trying. What a busy week!

More milestones

Jeff and I went to LA this past weekend so that my parents could see CJ for the last time before I went back to work. After changing CJ's diaper on their guest bed, CJ must have decided it was time to go because he rolled over. And not just once...he rolled again, from his back to his front! I think Jeff might have helped "encourage" this though, because Jeff's weight created a hole in the bed, so gravity helped CJ with the rolls. Unfortunately, we weren't able to get any of this on video or pictures. But we did take these pics of CJ starting to sit on his own and holding his head up 90 degrees from his body when placed on his tummy. As you can see, sitting doesn't last long and CJ falls flat on his face! I don't think it will be much longer!

First A's Game - Opening Day

Jeff was soo ecstatic to take CJ to the Oakland Athletic's first home game, known as opening day. He wanted to go meet up with his left field bleacher friends and coworkers at their tailgate parties and stay for the entire game. That would be a 6 hour day for CJ, which I thought was way too long for a baby to be out not to mention it would cut right into CJ's bedtime, but Jeff was reluctant to change his itinerary as he really wanted to go have fun at his old stomping grounds and also introduce his new little rookie. He eventually decided we can cut the trip short by going early and leaving early, so we dressed CJ up in his little blue A's beenie and baseball outfit and headed out there around 5, two hours before the game started.

At the tailgate parties, CJ was doing very well. I had him in the front carrier looking out, and he seemed interested everywhere we went. There were lots of tailgate parties going on, particularly because there was a mix of A's and Red Sox fans. It seemed like the trip would go smooth.

However, once we got to our seats in the left field bleachers, the noise and amount of people and activity going on must have overwhelmed him because he started crying hysterically, and nothing we did calmed him down. If you've ever sat in the bleachers, you'd know that the rowdiest fans are seated there, so there is a lot of yelling, drums, cowbells, etc. It was so nerve wracking for me, I didn't pay attention to the game the entire time, even when I wasn't holding him. After almost two hours of crying, Jeff decided it was time to go. Luckily we got a family pic before we left to (unfortunately) remember the traumatic day for CJ! I think we'll have to wait a couple more months for CJ's next game...hopefully next time it won't be so traumatic for him!

Moving up

Now that CJ is here, our condo has really become too small. With the added baby gear in the living room and dining area, such as the swing, playpen, and the stroller, there is hardly any room to walk around, let alone invite others to see CJ! So, we decided to upgrade to a 4 bedroom house.

We spent a couple weeks surfing the internet and one Sunday looking at homes in San Ramon, Pleasanton, and Dublin. Jeff's coworker who lives in San Ramon mentioned that her neighbor was selling her house, which happened to fit our criteria for a house: 4 bedroom, updated kitchen and bathrooms, over 1800 sq. ft, large backyard. We ended up falling in love with that house the moment we saw it, but then found out an offer was already made on the house. We were so bummed but thought that it probably wasn't meant to be. Then Jeff's coworker mentioned that the offer didn't go through so we called our realtor to see what the news was. She told us that the first offer didn't fall through and another offer was also made by an investor. Fortunately, the sellers wanted to be sure that they sold the home to people who would appreciate and take care of the home so the investor's offer was not accepted. Boy were we ecstatic...so we made an offer on it, and even submitted our Sears family portrait to our realtor so the sellers could see who they were selling to! And what do you know, they accepted it so soon we'll be homeowners and CJ and Sammy will have a yard to play in! I guess it was meant to be!

Happy Easter!

Jeff and I took CJ to Sears Portrait Studio to take his first studio pics, as well as a family portrait. It was fun and the pics came out great! Too bad CJ got a little fussy, or we would have taken more! Check them out by clicking on the link to the left. Happy Easter everyone!

Who does CJ look like?

Most people have stated that CJ looks like his Daddy. Very few say he looks like me. So, for fun, I decided to dig for mine and Jeff's baby pics.
Does CJ look like his Mommy (top pic) or Daddy (bottom pic) as babies?

Finding Childcare

One of the worst fears a parent has is that their child is not getting the appropriate care in someone else's hands, particularly one they hardly know. I had to go back to work in another month, so it was time to start searching for that someone we can trust to watch CJ.

Jeff and I toured three different places: a daycare center and 2 home daycares. The daycare center, Kindercare, was very clean and seemed well organized, but we really didn't want to pay $387/wk, not to mention they had a wait list. We met with Ting Ting, who runs a home daycare exclusively for infants right by our house. The advantage of that place was that she would speak Mandarin to CJ so that he can learn another language that his Mommy could understand, however the disadvantage was that Jeff may not be able to communicate well with Ting Ting as she spoke minimal english. Lastly, we met with Natalie and her assistant Kim, who run a daycare inside Natalie's home in the westside of Dublin. We were greeted by many toddler boys who seemed very welcoming, social, and happy, so we both saw that as a good sign. The kids seemed to play well together, and Natalie and Kim interacted with each of them and gave them the appropriate amount of attention, but still letting them play and be kids. That seemed to be the perfect environment for a child to grow, as all I really wanted for CJ is to be happy.

So we hired Natalie and Kim! Jeff and I are so relieved that we found people we can trust to watch CJ!