I think I may have figured out why Angie has been sleeping so poorly: she is sprouting her first tooth!!!

Short post this week as I am dangerously sleep deprived. But yeah, she’s as cute as ever.

Categories: angie
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I have a confession to make: I didn’t watch the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. The reason? I couldn’t get TV reception.

I don’t really watch TV. Back when Kevin and I lived in apartments, we had several hundred cable TV channels, not that we ever took advantage of them. They were just included in the rent, and it wasn’t possible to opt out. Looking back, I find it strange that many of our neighbors also subscribed to several hundred more satellite TV channels, as evidenced by the telltale receivers on their balconies.

Then when we bought this house, Kevin installed a giant antenna on the roof just so I could watch one show, the Gilmore Girls, but reception was bad because of a huge hill that stands between us and Mt. Wilson, and after every windy storm Kevin had to climb on the roof to readjust it to make it point in the right direction. He hadn’t touched it since GG ended in ‘07, so when the Games began airing, we turned on the TV and got… static.

At first it was no big deal. I’m not a sports fan anyway, so I made do with Internet photos, videos, and recaps via blogs and Tweets. But I did feel a little bummed after hearing just how spectacular the opening ceremonies were. Then, after the Games, I started ruminating on how much I might be missing by opting out of synchronous TV viewing experiences…

I’ll leave the philosophy for another time. The short story is, we bought a $25 digital TV converter, and now suddenly we have over a dozen broadcast TV channels. On Friday we watched the Presidential debate, and so did a lot of other people. Next Thursday we’re going to watch the Vice Presidential debate. We don’t have TV viewing plans beyond that at this point.

Categories: TV, politics
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Alex, age 8, introduced us to a song he heard at his friend’s birthday party over the weekend. He asked us to look it up on Youtube. From there I found a link to download the song from Myspace. It is now the ring tone on Kevin’s cell phone. Check it out, it even comes complete with dance moves.

Tags: cool,funny
Categories: music
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This has been a very bad week for sleep. I wonder if it’s related to starting solids. On Monday we began giving her rice cereal, which her doctor said she’s more than ready for and which she LOVES, but if that’s causing her to wake up 3 times a night, I’m going to have to stop giving it to her because I can’t take this much sleep deprivation.

Other than that she’s doing great. She has started talking lots again, mostly th’s and d’s. Still rolling over every which way. Today she managed to rotate herself while lying on her tummy in the direction of a toy. She is also able to sit up for a few seconds if we help her get into position.

She’s between diaper sizes right now, wearing size 4’s that are too big for her, but there’s no way we’re going back to size 3’s, which would just chafe uncomfortably. Every other day I’m finding outfits that are too small for her. She’s growing up so fast… too fast for me.

Categories: angie
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Aside from real life friends whose blogs I stalk, there are some bloggers I’ve never met but will probably follow as long as they keep writing, like Ernie, even if he’s not as inclined to put himself out there as he used to be, because I’ve read him since the beginning, and his blog feels like an old friend.

There are others that I’ve added gradually over the years, like Dooce, whose daughter was born within a week of Ana and whose second child would have been the same age as Angie if she hadn’t miscarried, or Mimi Smartypants, whose wickedly funny stories about her adopted Chinese daughter make me snort all unladylike. But overall my blog reading list has remained very stable. Until recently.

For one, I stumbled upon a whole slew of mommy academics to whom I could relate not just personally but also professionally, such as Professing Mama. It’s fun to read stories that segue seamlessly from an anecdote about the kids to another about a departmental brouhaha. I’ve also started reading a whole lot of daddy bloggers, such as MetroDad, in which I get perspectives other than Kevin’s on how the male half in a traditional parental unit sees the role he plays in his children’s lives.

And finally, I’ve been adding blogs that discuss race and ethnicity overtly. I admire them for tackling topics for which our society doesn’t seem equipped with the vocabulary to discuss, which is why I think these conversations so often degenerate into senseless finger pointing. It all started when I began reading Ernie’s 8 Asians group blog and has grown from there to include Racialicious, Mixed Race America, Mixed Race Families, and Anti-Racist Parent.

The rest of my blog reads can mostly be categorized under work and news. How about you? What themes do you find in the blogs you read?

Categories: bloggers
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I haven’t been able to cook as much as I’ve wanted to since I went back to work, but I’ve been trying. Monday I took the day off, and I ended up cooking a couple of dishes that fed us all week. Tonight at 10:30, instead of getting ready for bed I was sauteing garlic and spinach to put into a Tupperware container, for eating whenever.

This latest bout of interest in cooking started a few months before Angie was born. I attributed it to nesting behavior, but Angie is now four and a half months old, and it doesn’t seem to have diminished. This article puts it in context. Reading this, I found myself nodding in agreement quite a bit. I’m definitely buying more organic foods, and I can totally relate to the comments from Alice Waters and Rachel Ray.

My next goal is to include the kids more in my cooking. I know Alex is dying to crack an egg, and Ana has already proved herself capable of using measuring spoons. Hmm, maybe we’ll bake some muffins this weekend.

Tags: philosophical
Categories: food
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Lots more rolling and reaching for things this week. We’ll have to be more diligent about keeping small objects out of her reach - and keeping an eye on big sister Ana, who likes to tease us by putting things within Angie’s reach. (Big sigh.)

Language-wise she’s going through a silent period, quietly observing everyone round her. It’s to be expected because of all the new inputs at daycare. But when she gets sleepy she still babbles up a storm. She’s recently discovered the B sound and does this almost but not quite blubbering with her lips, “bbb…” It’s so cute it makes me squeal everytime.

Just like her older brother and sister before her, she doesn’t like riding in the car at night. This we first found out when we took her to a wedding a couple of weeks ago. She was a perfect little guest all evening, but she cried the entire drive home. (It was a long drive too!) Today we visited some friends, and on the way back she cried until she fell asleep.

Categories: angie
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Angie just finished her second week at daycare. All’s well, except she’s had a runny nose all week. I doubt it’s something she caught from one of the other kids, more likely her big sis who had a runny nose last weekend and is always kissing her. She doesn’t have a fever, but I worry about her nose getting raw from getting tissued off constantly.

She’s been drinking a TON of milk, probably because it’s so much faster to drink from a bottle. I’m pumping 3 times a day but not making enough to replenish the supply in the freezer. She seems ready for rice cereal though, and once we get her started on that she probably won’t need so much milk. Then I should be able to keep pace with the pumping again.

The big news this week is Angie has learned how to turn over, and over, and over, in a direction she wants to go!!! Oh boy, she’s going to be keeping the folks at daycare busy!!!

Categories: angie
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I love the premise of this new TV show.

Tags: funny
Categories: TV
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TGIF. In my case a sentiment expressed not with a bang but a whimper. I just finished my first week back at work, and I am pooped, physically and emotionally. Everyday I came home more exhausted than the night before. One morning I was so tired I forgot Angie’s lunch of expressed milk at home and l had to drive all the way back to get it.

I can’t help but miss the idyllic few months I spent with all three kids. That picture at the top epitomizes my summer. When I recall what we actually did I’m amazed at how productive a time it was, filled with my home brewed Chinese lessons, Alex’s percussion classes, Ana’s nighttime potty training (very successful!), etc., because it felt so slow-paced and relaxed, whereas the past week has felt like a long sprint.

I do have hope things will get easier. This is an adjustment period after all. The number of hours that I devoted to filling out school forms for the kids the last two weeks would make anyone cringe, but at least it’s only once a year. I’m just glad that the kids seem to have already gotten used to their new routines. It’s just a matter of time before I get used to mine.

Tags: philosophical
Categories: work-life balance
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