Baby Aliana is here!

Today was the day. June 1, 2011. Aliana Angela Tam's birthday. Our daughter. Kaylani's sister. Finally!

So many things led up to this day, like a scare that she was going to come out before even 35 weeks, and then day after day of anticipation thinking she was bound to come out REAL early. All of our preparations were put into overdrive waiting for the day. Today. And now that Aliana is here with us, here are some details to help you live along with us (may not be for the faint of heart...but it won't be too bad). At least, here it is from my point of view:

2:26pm: Text from B: "I have been having cramps more constant..." followed by some back and forth about calling the midwives

2:51pm: "Going to the hospital. Called and u didn't answer"

2:51pm and 5 seconds: Papa sprinting out of his meeting with phones, keys, and wallet in hand

3:02pm: Mama and Yeh Yeh in the car passing by the park a few minutes away from home. Papa flying down Amwell Rd (at the speed limit...if Amwell Rd was an Interstate Highway instead of a local road).

3:07pm: "Oye, don't kill urself... I'm ok! Just bad cramps... I don't think its labor..." Silly Mama...

3:26pm: Mama arrives at the hospital and heads up to maternity ward by herself..with her purse in hand. She's very proud of this...

3:31pm: Papa arrives at the hospital, grabs the luggage, gives the car to Yeh Yeh, and heads upstairs frantically

Sometime around 3:40pm: Quick check by the midwife, Peggy, confirms Mama is pretty far along (8cm). Just a bit more rocking and a swaying leaning against a giant exercise ball on the bed (most a Tam has probably used a giant exercise ball)

Sometime around 4:05pm: Contractions picking up, but not quite time to push yet. Peggy and Ellie (student midwife) step next door to deliver another baby

Sometime around 4:15pm: Mama's ready to push but Peggy and Ellie aren't back yet. Little reluctant to do it without them

Sometime around 4:20pm: Peggy and Ellie are back and its push time! Here's how the actual delivery went:

Ellie nicks the water bag, but can't fully break it before the next contraction comes

Push 1: Top of the head and a full set of hair pops out, plus water actually breaks

Push 2: Most of the head comes out

Push 3: Full head is out. First glimpse at Aliana's perfectly round head and pudgy little round cheeks

Push 4: Ellie turns the baby a little to get the shoulders at the right angle to come out

Push 5: Baby comes right out and onto Mama's chest! Time of birth: 4:40pm.

Amazing. The whole thing was absolutely amazing. Start to finish it was roughly 2 hours and 15 minutes, and only 15 minutes for the actual push. Mama did great through the whole thing, and the nurses and midwives were great too. To make it more special, it was Ellie's first delivery as well!

Now, here we are exactly 4 hours after Aliana entered the world and our lives and we're as happy as could be. She seems to be nursing just fine, sleeping just fine, and is as cute as a round little peanut. Every now and then she'll raise her little arm at us while she's sleeping, as if she just wants to say hi to us and let us know she's still there.

4 hours of her life in the books, an eternity to go. Can't wait to see how it all plays out.

And tomorrow, the sisters meet. Will definitely be another special moment for all of us!

Time flies when you're turning 2!

At this very moment, 2 years ago, we were in the hospital in absolute disbelief at the little girl that we were blessed with. Now, 2 years later, here we are still in absolute disbelief that our little girl is two years old. And to top it all off, I almost ended up back in a hospital. Confused? Hear me out. Warning: Long overdramatic post ahead.

The past 5 days have been nothing but birthday birthday birthday. Since September, Kaylani has had to celebrate each of her friends birthdays, and kept saying "I'm not two yet. Almost two. I'm turning two. Not yet!" So when her birthday became next in the queue, she could hardly contain herself. On Thursday, she kept saying she wanted to sing "Happy Birthday" and blow out a candle. In fact, she insisted so much that Mommy gave in and had her "practice" blowing out a candle in a cupcake. On Friday, Primitos Alisha and Rohan (and Titi Glenda) arrived, and she got to open up and play with her first gift. Then, on Saturday, it was time for her birthday celebration. That's when things got out of control. And by things, I mean me.

Kaylani's birthday party was at Uptown Playaround, which is a giant indoor play area. They had a giant structure with nets, slides, rope swings, blocks, tunnels, and ramps to climb up and through. There was also a play house and kitchen, grocery store, basketball area, puppet theater, and block area. If that wasn't enough, there was a dance area, virtual floor soccer, and bubbles. And if you still wanted more, there was just a giant space to run around in. Might seem excessive, but for 14 kids, and 20 adults to boot, all that space was absolutely necessary. I fully expected the kids to have tons of fun. I was not expecting the adults to do the same.

While Kaylani's favorite areas were the calmer ones (kitchen, grocery store, giant play area), Daddy, Bat Bat and most of the other adults ran around through the net maze and down the super fast slides over and over. After an hour, it sure felt like I needed to be back in the hospital, but this time, it would have been me with the back pain instead of Mommy. But instead of going there, I toughed it out, had pizza and cupcakes with everyone, and finished up the big party.

To continue the celebration (and after a nap), Kaylani cut into a piece of Papa's heart and soul, which was transformed into a Dora shaped cake. After slaving over baking and decorating it the night before, and seeing it come out better than I could have imagined, we cut up Dora's head ("Dora got a head cut" according to Kaylani) and had cake. Guess its true that you can't have your cake and eat it too (which should really be "you can't eat your cake and have it too" but whatever).

Sunday, the fun continued with a trip to the Animal Kingdom Zoo with the cousins to feed monkeys, giraffes, donkeys, and more. Thankfully we distracted Kaylani from having more cake, and instead opened up a few more of her presents that we hid from the party. And then, finally, Monday rolled around and with it, Kaylani's official birthday.

Kaylani was born at 4:09am on 11/08/08, so I guess it was inevitable that she'd wake up shortly after that 2 years later (at 6:35am). Can't blame her since who doesn't remember being so excited that you just can't sleep on special days? And after Kaylani spent the whole morning playing with Alisha and Rohan, and then talking to Mommy about her birthday, she took a nice nap so she could spend the night with Papa, Yin Yin, and Yeh Yeh at home. That's when she got crazy again.

After the last of her gifts were opened, she focused on a few of them, like her new roller skates from Padrino Tim and Auntie Meredith, and her house from Yin Yin and Yea Yea. And with one more round of Happy Birthday to Kaylani and another cake (ice cream cake this time), it was time to call it a day, or a birthday that is.

All in all it was an amazing 5 days of celebration, which is fitting since its been an amazing 2 years ever since Kaylani was born. Not a day goes by that we don't thank God for how lucky we are to have such a wonderful family, but its still hard to believe that its already been 2 years. Luckily we've got plenty of pictures and even videos to remember most of the time. So check out our pictures from Kaylani's birthday, and some more from Halloween too. And if you've got 5 minutes, watch Kaylani's video "interview" with Mommy below. Its priceless, especially the end. Or click on her YouTube page to see her using her roller skates with the Paparazzi around. So for now, its time to say good night, and Happy Birthday Kaylani. Until next year!

Happy Birthday Kaylani!!

One year. In my life, one year is nothing. It's only 3% of my entire life, but for Kaylani, today it officially marks 100% of her life. She's one. I have a one year old. Just one year ago, I was writing about how I had a 1 hour old. And here I am now writing about how I have a one year old. Crazy.

What a trip it's been, and I mean that in the best way possible. We've had some hard times when Kaylani wasn't sleeping, or when she was sick, or when we were sick, but for the better part of this year, it's been absolutely great. Kaylani's grown up happy, healthy, and quickly, and so have Mommy and Daddy. Most people talk about how they survived the first year. We didn't just survive...we survived and had a blast doing it. And to celebrate Kaylani's first year, we had ourselves quite the weekend.

If you've been reading along, you already know that we've celebrated every one of Kaylani's monthly birthdays since the day she was born. So it really shouldn't surprise you that for her official one year birthday, we'd have not one, but two celebrations! Yesterday was the first, and I'd say it was pretty good. We invited over all of Kaylani's friends and were glad that most of them could make it. We even invited over our family, and they all did their best to make it too. Yin Yin, Yea Yea, Bat Bat, Auntie Shannon, Connor, and Zoe were here, and so were Titi Glendalys, Abuela, Alisha, and Rohan! Add to that 7 more of Kaylani's friends, their parents, and Padrino Tim and Meredith, and you have yourselves one rocking one year old party!

Not only did Kaylani get a ton of great presents, but she also got her own cake! We bought a 1/2 sheet cake for all the guests, and knew it was going to be way too much. Our actual thought was that Kaylani would dig her hands into the entire cake, and whatever was left, we would serve. Little did we know that Kayalni would (unwillingly) put her hand in the cake, then freak out. Who knew my little girl would be a neat freak?

To top off her birthday weekend, we went to the farm on an unseasonal 70 degree day (in November??) for some pizza, animals, and tractors, then came home to have dinner and more cake. This time, Kaylani got her very own cupcake which she made a bigger mess with. Maybe she was just shy with 20+ people staring at her messy hand because tonight, she had no problems ripping apart a cupcake and eating it too.

Anyways, now Kaylani is sound asleep, and hopefully will stay sound asleep even though she's had a ton of cake and cupcake in the last 24 hours. There was so much more than went on this weekend (like her teacher from Music Together coming to put on a show, and a pinata, and everything else), but I don't need to write about that. Instead, you can check out the 130 pictures I just posted. Only 100 of them are from her birthday. The other 30 are from the couple of days before her birthday, so check them out. And if you want to see a video of Kaylani and her cupcake tonight, check out YouTube (or just scroll down!)

Let's hope that Kaylani's 2nd year is just as good as her first. And if the first was any indication, then I think we're all gonna be just fine. Happy Birthday Kaylani!!! We love you!

Scary Birthday!

Today marks Kaylani's 11 month birthday...and that's scary. It's scary that it's been 11 months since our little one was born. It's scary that we've been parents for 11 months. It's scary that she turns one year in one month! And most of all, it's scary because it's October...and you know, October means Halloween!

We're very glad that Kaylani was not born on Halloween. No offense to all of you Halloween babies out there, but we're just glad Kaylani's not one of them. The main reason is that Daddy is not a fan of Halloween...at all. I'm sure having Kaylani around and dressing her up will make it a lot better, but in the grand scheme of things, Daddy and scary things just don't go together.

Anyways, I'm pretty spent from a long couple of days, and since I just posted this morning (click here to read in case you haven't seen it yet), I'm going to leave it at that and just post some pictures. These pictures have been LONG overdue (and we've kinda been slacking in the picture department), but enjoy. There's a lot of great ones in there, including Kaylani drinking from a straw, Aadi's birthday party, and some "scary" ones (yes, that's a spider on her head). Enjoy!

Pre-party!

Kaylani turns 1 in just over a month (which is pretty scary). She'll have a great big party (even scarier). She'll have a great big cake to make a great big mess (not quite as scary as we used to think). And she'll get to hang out with all her friends and family that can make it there (not scary at all). Since some of those things are scary, today we pre-partied. Not for Kaylani, but for Aadi.

Aadi turned 1 yesterday, and had a great big party today. We went over around 12pm to hang out with our friends and their friends and family. In the kid department, there were 5 kids around Kaylani's age and 3 kids a little bit older. Kaylani fell right in the middle, with most of the kids being older than her, which meant that most of the kids were walking/running around. Kaylani, on the other hand, crawled around, picked herself up, and just followed along. We used to say we couldn't wait for her to start walking on her own. After today, we're not quite so sure.

After hours of playing, it was cake time! Aadi had 4 types of birthday cake (3 cakes, and a ton of cupcakes). He was a little shy to put his hands right in the cake and go for it, and didn't even like the chocolate (a baby who doesn't like chocolate?? I know, shocked us too). But since Kaylani and Aadi are such close friends, she wasn't shy. She dug right into Mommy's piece of cake and started smashing it all over the place and eating it too. Luckily for us it was only a small piece of cake and she didn't eat THAT much of it.

The reason she actually didn't eat that much is because Daddy is holding her back. He's waiting for Kaylani's own first birthday party before he lets her go wild. Because of that, you won't find a single picture of Kaylani eating cake today (purposely excluded from pictures so there's no evidence...besides this post. Doh). But if you do want to see the mess, check back in 5 weeks. That's when we'll let Kaylani go wild. Hopefully she'll nap and be rested for her own party and not stay up for 7 hours straight and pass out the second we put her in the car. That's okay for her pre-party, but we've got much bigger plans for her party. And plans NEVER go wrong...right?

Take advantage of the mornings

There are some nights that I miss seeing Kaylani go to bed, and last night was one of them. I was out at work event in the city and didn't get home until way after Kaylani was silently asleep. To make matters worse, yesterday was Kaylani's 10 month birthday and I missed it! Well, the night part of it at least. Luckily, I got to spend a few minutes with her in the morning.

It was about 7:15am and I was ready to leave for work. Thinking that Kaylani was going to sleep in until around 8am, I figured I was going to miss my shot to see her and give her a hug before I had to go so I stared at the video monitor for a little bit. To my surprise (and Mommy's dismay), Kaylani made some peeps and sat up crying. I gave her a few minutes to see if she was going to pass out again, and when she didn't, I was in! I picked up my little girl, gave her a nice big hug, said Happy Birthday, and got to changing her.

It's always great to start the day off like that, and even better when I don't get to end the day like that. Sometimes, you just have to take advantage of the morning. Other times, you should take advantage of the night. It's 3:40am right now so I guess you can consider this taking advantage of the night (or not taking advantage of sleeping at night). I'm headed back to bed, but I wanted to make sure I said Happy 10 Month Birthday Kaylani officially...even if it is a little late. Tomorrow I'm going to miss bedtime again, so Kaylani, if you can hear me typing and make out the words, wake up around 7:30am so I can see you before I leave. Thanks!

Weekend Presents

We had such a busy weekend that this is the first chance I'm finally getting to sit down and write a post. While I don't normally like to just write recap posts, there's really no way around it since this weekend was full of things to recap. It all started Friday night when Daddy thought he was getting the first present of the weekend.

I was at Yankee Stadium on Friday night for another game in the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry. I thought that Rob and I could watch the game and get home in decent time so we could wake up early the next day to take our girls to swim class. Of course I also hoped that we would leave the game celebrating a victory (which we did). I just didn't think it would take so long! After 15 innings of baseball, or 5 and a half hours of baseball, the Yankees won giving me the best present of the night. Meanwhile, Kaylani and Mommy were getting their own presents at home.

Madrina Maria, Lulu, and Carmen all came down for the weekend which was the perfect present for both Mommy and Kaylani. While Daddy was "stuck" at The Stadium, the 5 girls were at home (with Jen and Sofie too) hanging out and having a great time. Kaylani went to bed early, but the party kept on going, and ended around 2am, right before Daddy finally made it home from the game.

Bright and early on Saturday morning Kaylani was up. And besides the fact that she had 3 new people in the house with her, it was also her 9 month birthday! Can't believe it's been 9 months already, but we had the best celebration with Kaylani getting all types of presents. It's quite possible that she's getting a little spoiled since she got a handful of presents during a "month birthday", but I'm sure she's okay with it (and so are we)! Then, to top it off, Vanessa and Tom came over too and we partied on for the rest of the night (after Kaylani went to bed again at 8pm).

Sunday meant it was time for a real birthday celebration...Connor's! Connor turned 3 yesterday and today was his big 3 year old birthday party. It was Kaylani's 2nd ever birthday party and she had a great time. Not only did she get to see her cousins Connor and Zoe, and Yin Yin, Yea Yea, Bat Bat, and Auntie Shannon, but she also got her first goodie bag and a present from a friend too! She may have gotten just a little bit cranky towards the end, but when all was said and done, she did great. She took a nice nap on the way home, and now is quietly asleep in her crib, hopefully for another 10 hours like last night.

Overall the weekend was busy, tiring, but great. I hope this week is just the same, especially if you add "quick" to that list. Next weekend we'll be headed to Cape May for a week for vacation. That'll be a great time too, just like everything else we do with Kaylani. And to cap off this weekend, here are some great pictures from the last few days. As for me, I'm headed downstairs to watch the Yankees-Red Sox series finale and get some work done for the week. Happy belated 9 month birthday Kaylani, and 3 year birthday Connor!

Happy Birthday to Me!

It's official. I'm old...er than I was yesterday. I am now the ripe old age of 29. To most people, 29 isn't old. But to most of the people I work with, I have a house, a baby, and I'm almost 30, so that means I'm ancient. Ahh, I love agency life. But seriously, if this is what "old" looks like, sign me up for 30 and beyond right now!

At precisely midnight, Kaylani wished me a Happy Birthday. I'm not sure how she knew, but we were just getting into bed and all of a sudden heard her cry out through the monitor. Thankfully she went back to sleep immediately, but it definitely scared me for a second. I mean, anytime she cries out in the middle of the night I start thinking thoughts like "what's bothering her" or "seriously Kaylani?" But last night she actually had me thinking "how did she know???" instead. Then when she woke up 30 minutes later and cried for 30 minutes, she had me back to my normal thoughts.

After a long day at work that ended up being really productive and ended with a great client meeting, I came home to a whole lot of love. First, Kaylani was waiting for me outside as I pulled into the driveway. I mean, sure she was actually sleeping in the stroller, but I like to think of it as her waiting for me. Then, I got a ton of presents from Mommy and Kaylani, including certificates for things like a guilt free day of golf, a hug from Kaylani, a homemade dinner of my choice, and other things that I won't mention (wink wink). And I also got a new guayabera, some nice boxers, a pair of jeans, and the highlight of the presents which were engraved bar glasses with select quotes from this blog! And to top it all off, I got an awesome lasagna dinner, another cake, and a great big hug and smile from my 2 favorite girls.

But my day of love didn't stop there. When I finally got the chance to check my Facebook account and my messages, I saw an overwhelming number of posts to my wall. While I started to respond individually this morning (silly me), I realized I'll never get to all of them. So for all of you who posted and didn't get a response from me, thanks! And to show that I'm really grateful, here are a few of the birthday wishes I received, and my official blog response:

Mayte: Hola Jonathan, We hope you continue celebrating your special day, having Kaylani around this year. Feliz Cumpleaños! Have fun celebrating with your loved ones :)
Me: It certainly is more special this year with Kaylani around! And no offense to my co-workers, but I wouldn't consider them my loved ones :)

Jay: Happy Birthday man! Go Red Sox!
Jeph: Happy Birthday Bro!!! Also, C and Z say Happy Birthday Suk Suk!!!! We're also glad we were able to celebrate with you and hope you have a great day today! For your birthday, I put the Yanks in 1st place. Enjoy!
Me: Thanks! I appreicate the Red Sox going to 2nd place for my birthday from both of you!

Mommy: Happy Birthday Paaaaaa! Love u, K and B
Me: How could I not include the post from my 2 favorite girls?

Vaughan: Happy Birthday - Hope Kaylani let her dad sleep in!
Me: Thanks, but at what age do they start to actually listen to that request?

Tristin: Age is just a number. Old is a state of mind. Try to have a Happy Birthday!!
Me: True statement, but my number and my state of mind all point to old.

Rina: Happy Birthday!! I'm hoping Kaylani will give you a good poop story for your birthday. I've been missing those.... :)
Me: I've got one, kinda. I'll post it soon :)

Steph S: Happy Birthday- you are old and I'm glad you finally admit it!
Steph R: Happy Birthday Jon!!! Better watch out, pretty soon you'll be as old as me :)
Heather: Happy Birthday Old Man! I hope it's a good one!
Me: Thanks, even though you're all still older than me...and always will be!

Cindy: Happy Birthday JT!! :o) If only I could trash your office to celebrate! ;o)
Me: My former boss and friend remembered my birthday...and yes, she used to trash my office. Ahhh good times!

Danika: ...
Me: Oh right, my current boss and friend didn't remember my birthday this year. Ahhh good times!

Titi Glenda, Alisha, and Rohan: Sang happy birthday to my voicemail and told me they made me 2 cakes and love me. Oh, and Alisha asking me "what you doin Tio?" thinking I was actually on the phone was the best!

And to the countless others that wished me a Happy Birthday, thank you for remembering (or at the very least, for paying attention to the Facebook reminder that's out there). It meant a lot to me and it was the best birthday ever! To thank you even more, here are some pictures from the last couple of days of Kaylani. Enjoy!

Old Timer's Weekend

We had an action packed weekend. So action packed that I didn't even get around to posting last night. As some of you may know, Sunday was Old Timer's Day at Yankee Stadium, so that kept Bat Bat and Daddy busy for most of the day. But before that, it was a different type of busy with the whole family, and not in a bad way at all.

Yin Yin, Yea Yea, Bat Bat, Auntie Shannon, and Connor and Zoe all came down to NJ to spend the weekend with us and celebrate my birthday weekend (actual birthday is on Wednesday for all of you out there who haven't bought me a gift yet). Right after swim class, the celebration started with lunch at Triumph in Princeton, then some fun in the backyard with the Pirate pool again, and of course, the grill. After chowing down on delicious porterhouse steaks and veggies that Yin Yin and Bat Bat cooked up, we ended the eating festivities with Daddy's favorite: a Carvel cake. To top it all off, Daddy got the Yankees jacket that he's been looking at for probably 10 years (but never bought because he either lived in Boston or Florida). It was the best birthday present I've got this year!

After celebrating me becoming an old timer, we went to the stadium to see all the Yankee old timers come out and play. It was our first Old Timer's Day and definitely an experience I'll do again. What I'm actually looking forward to most is taking Kaylani in a few years and reliving my memories of the old Yankees with her. I saw countless Dads and their children sharing the experience, and it's only a matter of time before that Dad and that kid become me and Kaylani.

Now it's time to wrap up my 364th day of being 28. Tomorrow will be my last day as a 28 year old so I guess I'll live it up. As for you, you can live it up right now by checking out these pictures from the weekend and today. Kaylani's got some pictures in her brand new (used) car that Titi Glendalys, Alisha, and Rohan gave her. It's only a matter of time before she gets her real drivers license. And from the looks of it, she's gonna love it! Enjoy!

Spanish in 4 months

In case you didn't notice from the picture, today is Kaylani's 8 month birthday! Even though Independence Day just passed, we figured we were close enough to get some extra use out of her All-American Swimsuit, and Mommy made a very patriotic sign to go along with it. With all this American activity going on around her, you'd think Kaylani would play along. Instead, she showed off her Spanish side.

Kaylani is half Puerto Rican, and 8 months old, which makes her 4 Spanish months old (Asian math for you). Apparently, 4 months is what it takes before you can pick up a little bit of Spanish (or 4 years if you're Daddy). But the little bit of Spanish that Kaylani picked up is arguably the most difficult. Today, she spouted off a clean, crisp, long trill of her tongue. As some of you might know, not everyone can do this. It's quite difficult and I'm pretty impressed with her early Spanish speaking skills. I mean, she hasn't even watched Dora or Diego yet!

Rolling her R's is impressive in my book because I'm not a native Spanish speaker (I'm not any type of Spanish speaker actually). It's probably harder to do than something like asking your girlfriend's mother (who only speaks Spanish) for her daughter's hand in marriage in Spanish. It's probably even harder than trying to think of something else to say in Spanish when you get back "only her hand???" as the reply. And since I'm already off topic and reliving my own nerve-racking experience of talking to my now Mother-in-law (who, by the way, I replied to with "no no, all of her body" in perfect, yet awkward, Spanish), I might as well just throw it out there that I expect Kaylani's future suitor to ask for my permission in perfect Spanish. AND, if he says something like "no no, all of her body," he better be a damn quick runner because I'm not going to laugh like Abuela did.

Anyways, we always have reason to celebrate something during Kaylani's monthly birthday. Sure we wish it was crawling, or standing, or something else, but we'll take it. Speaking Spanish is a great milestone, even if she doesn't mean it or know what she's doing. Maybe next month she'll spout out some full Spanish sentences. I hope not though, because if she's speaking Spanish before I do, then I'm sure going to get a lot of grief from my in-laws. I better get to work just in case. Feliz Cumpleanos Kaylani! Yo quiero Taco Bell (and other Spanish stuff)!

Oh, and don't forget to check out pictures from the last couple of days, including a few from Gymboree, and more birthday pictures! Enjoy!

Failed Night Out

With Abuela in town for only a few more nights, we planned on taking advantage by sneaking out for a dinner alone. No highchair, no stroller, no variety of toys to distract Kaylani, and no having to move silverware away from her until finally giving in and letting her play with them. We had planned on heading to our favorite restaurant, Sotto in downtown Princeton, to celebrate Mommy's birthday a day late. We even had a plan for our plan that involved putting Kaylani down by 8pm so we could eat sometime before 9pm and be back well before 11pm. We planned on enjoying our dinner without having to look at a monitor or listen to see if Kaylani was crying. What we didn't have was a plan for when everything went differently from our plan.

I got home from work around 6:30pm which was during Kaylani's dinner time. Word on the street was she was being a bit fussy today, so after struggling to get Kaylani to eat all 4oz of her dinner tonight, it was time for bed. By 7:15pm, Mommy was ready to nurse Kaylani, and by 8pm, Kaylani was passed out and ready to be put into her crib. So far, our plan was going perfectly. But that's as far as we got. After 15 minutes, Daddy went in to check on Kaylani for the 2nd time. With a little bit of gentle forehead stroking, Kaylani was practically asleep, but not asleep enough to get out of the room without her making a stink out of it. Literally. Kaylani got so upset that she pooped.

Poop is the one thing that gets Daddy to give in and pick her up after she's been put down for the night. So after changing her and some gentle swaying, back into the crib she went. The crying commenced immediately, and after another 30 minutes and 2 trips in, things were looking grim for our hopes at dinner. At 9pm, Daddy went in for the 5th time tonight and tried to calm her down so she would fall asleep. And just like the other 4 times, she would quiet down, close her eyes, and try and get comfortable as long as Daddy had a hand on her. But once the hand disappeared, the crying came back.

At 9:15pm, Mommy and Daddy pulled the plug on our night out. Besides the fact that Kaylani still wasn't asleep, it was also too late for us to go out because we're old and lame. Instead, we headed down to the kitchen to heat up some leftovers and settle in for our nice dinner "alone" in the kitchen while staring at the monitor and listening to Kaylani cry, just like every other night. And wouldn't you know it, as soon as we sat down to take our first bite of food, Kaylani fell asleep. Just like we planned.

I'm convinced Kaylani knew we were trying to go out. As calming and reassuring to her as I tried to be to get her to sleep, apparently she saw right through me. She cried for 1.5 hours, and kept staring at the door and the monitor to make sure we knew she was looking for us. She calmed down only when I was there, and cried all the way until we sat down for our dinner. She knew. She had to. Why else would she have been crying?

Anyways, we're planning on trying again tomorrow night. One thought is to put her in her crib by 7pm, but knowing our luck, she'll pass out right away and wake up at 4am like she did 2 days ago. Hopefully tomorrow night will go better. If not, tomorrow will just be failed night out #2.

Happy Birthday Mommy!

Today is Mommy's 34th birthday, and I'd venture to say it's the best one she's ever had. Even though Daddy had to work today and couldn't be with her all day, it was the best ever. Even though Kaylani didn't take her afternoon nap and is a bit cranky tonight, still the best ever. Even though her birthday came on a Tuesday and we'll end up staying home and eating dinner instead of going to a fancy restaurant, it's still the best ever. And it has nothing to do with the great gifts that Daddy bought her (pajamas, flowers, and a cupcake), or the gifts that Kaylani bought her (a "mother" picture frame and flowers), or even the gifts that Abuela bought her (lots of clothes). It has everything to do with the one present that's not even 8 months old yet.

Just like on Mother's Day, Kaylani makes every day, and every occasion, more special. I won't even try to put Mommy's feelings into words, but I know having Kaylani in our lives now made today different than all the other birthdays Mommy and I have spent together. For one, it made me feel less guilty about having to work today. Previously, Mommy would have been left all alone on her birthday and I'd only get to spend a few hours with her. But this year, Kaylani spent the entire day with her, and no matter how moody she may get at times, she still puts a smile on Mommy (and my) face just by being there.

The other great thing about having Kaylani around is that it allowed me to do a bunch of things "from Kaylani" instead of just from me. Things like putting post-it's all around the house saying how much Kaylani (and I) love her, or just getting her an extra gift "from Kaylani" instead of a bunch of gifts just from me. Sure it may sound like I'm just using Kaylani to go a bit overboard, but I don't think Mommy will complain!

Wellw it's about that time and Kaylani is almost asleep. That means it's time for us sit down for Mommy's birthday dinner, a glass/bottle of wine, and some dessert. Tomorrow night, Mommy and Daddy are going to sneak away for dinner while Abuela watches Kaylani sleep, but until then, Happy Birthday Mommy! We love you! And as a special treat for everyone else on Mommy's birthday, here are pictures from the last 2 days. Check out Kaylani's 2nd ever haircut that Mommy did yesterday, and some pictures from today as well! Enjoy!

Baby's Got Back...wards movement

Remember a few weeks ago when I told you I thought Kaylani was going to go mobile any day now? Well, I was wrong. It wasn't any day then, but it is going to be any day now. Over the past few days, she's been getting her move on more and more. It's definitely a step in the right direction, even if it's in the wrong direction.

We've had our run of Kaylani accomplishing milestones on her birthday, and today, being her 7 month birthday, we thought we might get a forward crawl out of her. And tonight I thought I might have seen a small inchworm crawl/lunge forward, but I don't think we'll count it as her first official crawl. However, Mommy did get to witness a good backward crawling exhibition put on by Kaylani this afternoon.

Today was Kaylani and Mommy's first Play & Learn class at Gymboree. It's a fun filled class that she's taking with 2 of her friends, Aadi and Aidan, where they "learn about cause and effect and build strength through play with ramps, slides and climbers." So while Kaylani's not exactly crawling herself, she is around a bunch of people who can crawl and is learning more and more each day. As proof of her development, she made an approximate 10 foot dash backwards in a flash. We're convinced that any day now she'll shift out of reverse (unlike Tommy's Saab which was stuck in reverse permanently) and hit the ground crawling.

We're ready for her to get crawling because it's the next milestone she can acheive, and a gateway to so many more. On the flip side, baby gone mobile brings on a whole new set of challenges, like the fact that she won't be where we left her, and that our house isn't mobile baby proof yet. Oh well, we'll worry about that when we get there. For now, we're just going to celebrate another month gone by and another month to come. Celebrate along by checking out these pictures from today! Happy 7 Month Birthday Kaylani!

Sit, Baby, Sit...Good Girl!

Today is Kaylani's 6 month birthday (in case you didn't recognize the standard picture with sign). In previous months, she would show us something new on her birthday, like when she laughed on her 3 month and 4 month birthday. So this month, we were hoping it would be something real good. Maybe she would sit, or crawl, or learn how to ride a bike! But alas, none of that happened.

We've been waiting for her to sit all by herself for quite some time. Because she's sat by herself for more than 10 seconds at some point in her life, she got a "check" on her baby scorecard at the pediatrician's last week. But in order for her to get to the next level, she's going to have to sit for way longer than 10 seconds. Her next check-up isn't for 3 months, but we're training her to sit much earlier than that.

Tonight she lasted the longest that I've seen her...unassisted at least. She sat for 17 seconds all by herself (and pretty straight up) on the changing table. Some may say that the changing table probably isn't the best place to teach her how to sit, but don't worry, I was right there with my arms all around her. She actually spends quite a bit of time sitting, whether it's in her high chair, or her bumbo, or just propped up against some pillows. But just like a trapeze artist, she's going to have to learn how to operate without a net.

Mommy and Daddy have very different methods of training her to sit. One of us lets her sit up, and when she flops over, let's her flop slowly to the ground. The other one watches over her like a hawk and grabs her as soon as she wobbles. I won't mention which is which, but I'm sure you can figure it out on your own.

Bottom line is that we can't wait until she can sit up, no matter how she learns. In fact, for the very first time right now, she just pulled herself up to a sitting position while she was laying across Mommy's lap! We won't count it just yet, but I think she' swell on her way. And that means it's just one step closer to her being that much older. Sure her 6 month birthday is a milestone all by itself, but we'll keep measuring her by her physical milestones. So for now, she's rolling, drooling, talking, laughing, eating months old. And if you don't know how old that is, then maybe you can figure it out from these pictures from the last couple of days. Have a great weekend, and Happy Half Birthday Kaylani!

Why can't I sleep?

It's well known that having a baby significantly alters your sleep routines. With them waking up and being hungry, or wet, or just uncomfortable, it's no surprise that us parents would be awake also. So if those are the things that wake Kaylani up, then why is it that I find myself as the only person awake in the middle of the night lately?

The past few days have started early. First it was 5:30am, then it was 5am, and the latest was 4:30am. You would think Kaylani's schedule would be similar, but she's been waking up at 8:30am or 9am on each of those days (after waking up at 2am or 3am for the first time). So no baby awake to take care of meant that there was no reason to be awake. But I was.

I'm not sure what exactly is going on with me, but I can't blame Kaylani. I've had sleeping issues dating back to my college days. Sure the college sleeping issues were related to playing computer games, drinking, or watching pointless infomercials...I mean, studying (forgot my parents read this), but they extended past college too. Luckily I didn't use to need a lot of sleep to function. That's only partially true today.

Today, I can get by on 4 or 5 hours of sleep as long as I have my coffee and my family, both of which give me some sort of energy. And I could probably get a few more hours of sleep if I went to bed at 8pm like Kaylani instead of 11pm, but then when would I watch things like Chuck, 24, The Amazing Race, and Hell's Kitchen? So there's no real answer (okay, no real acceptable answer) to solving my recent sleep issues.

As I'm sure you realized by our customary picture that today is Kaylani's 5 month birthday (the sign says Happy Birthday in Chinese obviously). I can't believe it's been 5 months already, but she has grown so much recently that it's more than believeable. It almost feels longer than 5 months (in a good way). Now that she's older, maybe I can learn from her by staring at her sleeping through her monitor when I wake up. She might just be able to teach me something.

Anyways, I just got home from baseball practice and am exhausted, so Happy 5 Month Birthday to Kaylani, and feel free to celebrate along with us by checking out her latest pictures. It's time for me to go watch some mindless TV. What'd you think I was going to do? Sleep?

Caught on Tape

Today is Kaylani's 4 month birthday, and just like last month on her 3 month birthday, she gave us a laugh. There was a small giggle about a week ago, but other than that, her laugh was nowhere to be found since the first time. For the longest time, we tried everything. We tried raspberries on her belly, tickling her chin and her neck, "eating" her hands and feet, but all to no avail. But today, Mommy had the magic touch.

We had an event filled day with Church, lunch with Sofie (and Rob and Jen), and a trip to the mall for some last minute things for Puerto Rico all before we came home. Kaylani slept about 40 minutes during all of those errands, so we were expecting her to go to sleep pretty quickly once we got home. What we got instead was far better.

Mommy was in the glider with Kaylani getting ready to nurse her before nap time. Daddy was on the computer uploading some pictures from their day at the park yesterday. All of a sudden, he heard a "Paaaa" come from Kaylani's room, and he headed over. That's when he heard it.

It was that magical little giggle coming from his little girl. She was gliding back and forth with Mommy, and just giggling away. Mommy was pretending to eat her hand and just playing with her, and there she was, laughing along with us. I could probably continue describing it, but it's probably better just to show you (that's right! I got it on tape this time)! So, check out the video below (or on YouTube), but don't forget to check out pictures from the last 2 days as well. Maybe this laughing on her birthday thing will be Kaylani's gift to us every month, but we're hoping it happens way more frequently. But if is a birthday thing, then we'll just have another reason to look forward to each month passing by. Happy 4 month birthday Kaylani!

She ages pretty well

Today is Kaylani's 3 month birthday and we enjoyed every bit of it, from the second she woke up to the second she fell asleep, and everything in between too. The day started off so routinely, with Mommy and Daddy sleeping in until it was time to get ready for Church. But since Daddy doesn't get to see Kaylani wake up very often, he thought he would take it all in.

Part of me wonders if Kaylani knows that today is her 3 month birthday. She woke up with a giant smile on her face, even with Daddy taking pictures of her while she was waking up. Some may think that flash photography while she's sleeping may be a little bit mean, but it was 9am already and we had to make it to mass by 9:30am, so it was okay. Not only did she wake up in time for us to get to Church fairly on time (5 minutes late), but I did get to capture her first smile of the day.

The middle of the day was great too and Kaylani got to spend time with her friend Mia at her house. Mia's parents, Harold and Steph, even made a delicious brunch for all of us which Kaylani seemed to enjoy (several hours later when it passed through Mommy's milk of course). After a quick nap in Mia's swing (which Mia didn't seem too happy to be sharing), it was off to run a few errands then home for the night.

Tonight, we got the best present ever FROM Kaylani. We were just about to head in for bath time and we heard the cutest little laugh come out of our baby girl's mouth. We've heard her give a giggle before, maybe a single laugh, but never quite like this. She laughed for about 5 minutes and was so cute that it brought tears to Mommy's eyes. Before either Mommy or Daddy could compose themselves enough to grab the video camera, Kaylani decided the show was over. But even though we don't have it recorded on tape, it's in our memories forever and is the best gift she could have given us today.

So today was pretty great, just like every day we've had over the past 3 months. But now, it's time to start the next 3 months (I find it easier to look at Kaylani's life in 3 month increments so I don't have to think about her toddler or teenager years). For tonight, here are pictures from the last 3 days. They're split into 2 albums so make sure you look at them both!

Oh, and for those of you who happened to notice, I did make a slight change to the look and feel of The Daddy Diaries. The only way you may be affected is if you had a RSS feed going (like iGoogle). That address has changed, so use the link on the right to update. Thanks and keep reading!

The Great Debate

Today is Kaylani's 2 month birthday (Happy 2 Month Birthday Kaylani!), and I can't believe it's here already. It seems like only yesterday that we were waiting (impatiently) for her to come out. And now, 2 months and 3 lbs later (her weight gain, not mine...although it's close), here we are. Mommy and Daddy have most things figured out, or at least we think we do. We know when she's hungry and how much to give her. We know when she's tired and how to get her to sleep. And we know when she's pooping and how to change her. But there's still something we're not quite sure of. Actually, there's still something that other people aren't quite sure of, and that's why it's The Great Debate.

Asians have strong genes. You can always tell if someone has Asian genes in them even if you can't tell what type of Asian gene it is. In fact, Asian genes are stereotypically so strong that I told Mommy if Kaylani didn't look Asian at all when she was born, she had a whole lot of explaining to do (luckily, she did). For the record, I'm Chinese, which, for all you studiers of biology, makes Kaylani half Chinese. And Mommy, is Puerto Rican, which of course then makes the other half of Kaylani Puerto Rican. But, is she really half and half, and which half is which half? That my friends, is The Great Debate.

The majority of people we've run into say that she's a pretty good mix of both Mommy and Daddy, and I tend to agree with that majority. But, there are people who say she doesn't look a bit Asian, and that's what I find hard to believe. And it's not just Mommy's side of the family that says she doesn't look Asian (okay, it's mostly Mommy's side), but we've had strangers tell us the same. I mean, sure she doesn't have really slanty eyes, or really dark black hair, and isn't in front of a piano or holding a calculator (or abacus), but still, she looks Asian, right?

But for the purpose of this post, we'll just go along with the majority and say Kaylani is a perfect mix of both Mommy and Daddy. And in honor of the birthday of this perfect mix that we've created, here is the "genetic breakdown" of our beautiful little girl:

Head shape: Daddy (because it's big)
Hair: Mommy (because Daddy with that much hair would look like a giant fuzz ball)
Forehead: Mommy (because it's not as long as Daddy's)
Face Shape: Daddy (because it's round)
Ears: Mommy (because she doesn't listen to what I say)
Eyebrows: Daddy (because Mommy had gigantic eyebrows when she was a little girl)
Eyes: Daddy (because she still looks a little Asian)
Smiling Eyes: Mommy (because her eyes don't close when she smiles)
Nose: Mommy (because it's not flat)
Top Lip: Daddy (because of the bump in the middle)
Bottom Lip: Mommy (because it's pouty)
Mouth Shape: Daddy (because Daddy has a small round mouth)
Smile: Mommy (because it's beautiful)
Cheeks: Daddy (because they're HUGE)
Fingers: Mommy (because they're long)
Toes: Mommy (because they're longer)
Legs: Undecided (because they're not thin enough for Mommy's legs, and more normal looking than Daddy's)
Butt: Also undecided (because we don't have pictures of us in diapers...or do we?)

And that concludes today's Great Debate. Of the 18 measured characteristics, she looks like Mommy for 9 of them, Daddy for 7 of them, and 2 of them are undecided. I guess Puerto Rican's have stronger genes than Asians do, at least within the first 2 months. We'll see what happens as she gets older!

But before she does get older, as a birthday gift from Kaylani to all of you, here are pictures of her birthday "celebration" with Mommy today. Enjoy!

The Birth Story of Kaylani Isabel Tam

Since today is Kaylani's 1 month birthday, I'm going to post Kaylani's birth story, written by our doula, Stella Nieves. We found Stella through a combination of a web search and a recommendation from our midwife, and knew she was the right person for us once we met her. Not only was she personable and friendly, but she also spoke fluent Spanish (being from Columbia). That was pretty important to me since I was convinced that 1 of 2 things was going to happen: either Brendalys was going to switch to Spanish mid-labor and I wouldn't know what she was saying (I read that it happens!), or she was going to constantly curse at me in Spanish and I wanted to make sure that I knew what she was calling me (neither happened). And as an added plus, Stella's also a licensed massage therapist at Hillsborough Massage. If you live in the area, I highly recommend a visit. Brendalys has gone 3 times and I've even gone once, and it was the best 90 minute nap I've ever taken!

Stella was great during the whole thing and gave us the support and love that we needed during the labor. She came to the hospital quickly, and at the perfect time since Brendalys was starting to waver on her pre-labor "no meds" feeling. But with her help, we got through the labor as natural as can be in a hospital, and I know I've said this a thousand times, but it was an amazing experience.

I thank God and my wife everyday for my beautiful daughter, and I thank all of you for allowing me to share our lives with you. Click here to read The Birth Story of Kaylani Isabel Tam.