at Bachans

walking

www.christinajamesphotography.virb.com

I have my own website now :) I've been getting photo jobs too which is ubber nice.

James and I went to a Christmas dinner for his work. It was nice to be able to get dressed up and go out for a few drinks. Steph & her boyfriend watched Sora for us which we deeply appreciated. They stayed in a hotel room upstairs which worked out because we could relax more and both enjoy a cocktail and not have to drive home drunk or anything.

I said goodbye to a friend would moved to L.a. this month, I was really upset because she is such a sweet caring person. I am going to miss her greatly, she was the only friend on my side that visited me in the hospital when the baby was born and that really meant a lot :) I wish her the best in her new location and job, I will miss our adventures in SF ='(

Sora is still teething, some nights she can sleep fine, others she still screams. Sometimes I can get a good 6 hours, others the day is a struggle. But she is walking REALLY well now and can stand on her own without using something to pull herself up. Its amazing to watch her play, walk, entertain herself. She's impressed she walks, and its really cute when she looks at other people expecting them to be impressed too.

Shes doing a lot better with strangers. She's no longer crying at male friends, women she likes having them smile at her and she LOVES kids. Sora is a very determined girl, once she wants something, or to go somewhere she does not give up to get it! Thank god she doesn't cry when you pull her away, some times you have to distract her, but she doesn't forget! and is right back to getting where she wants to be.

Sora is taking a few unassisted steps! ooo and her chubby thighs are starting to melt away. She's loads of fun to be around. The other night I was changing her diaper and stripped her down to naked baby-ness, and she took off crawling and yelling/babbling. It was way too funny.

Every morning it feels like she grew in her sleep. She wakes up excited for life. She enjoys exploring and playing with her toys. She still isn't saying "mama" yet. "Dada" is heard all day long!

She's eating food like a champ now. I actually had stopped feeding her solids because I got lazy and tired of the fight. James took it back up again, she mowed down a whole jar and didn't need to be tricked into taking a spoonful. When we have dinner, I give her tiny morsels of my food for her to play and feed herself with. A few times I've sat on the carpet eating a burrito and she'll come crawling over, stand up open her mouth and tries to grab a bite. its cute because she'll try when the food is near your face and her baby mouth is coming towards you.

She seems to enjoy "Yo Gabba Gabba" the most. Im 100% OK with that, its a cute show with fun songs.....and Biz Markie LOL, Le Tigre....and they'll turn 80's freestyle into childrens' playtime songs.  Mama loves her 80's freestyle!

She also loves other kids. Someone told me the best babysitter for kids is other kids. She likes watching babies laugh on youtube. The intro song for "Law & Order:SVU" and the ending song for "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse"

.... I also have been watching "Handy Manny" I hate it, James doesn't like it. The main voice is Wilmer Valderrama......... he sounds like a retard 

thats it bye for now :)

Wow, Sora has really been working my nerves these past two weeks. She wakes up in the middle of the night screaming, and inconsolable. I can't tell if she thinks she's been abandoned, or if its more teeth. Separation and stranger anxiety is supposed to start around this time for her, I've read that babies will cry at bedtime or around strangers. She's ok with some strangers, women she likes more, men she's more hesitant and will cry if they talk directly at her. Even James' friends who have been around her since she was a few weeks old make her cry. I think its their voice tone. She ALWAYS cries at my sisters boyfriend, at first we thought it was his mustache, but I think its just him.

She is now cruising furniture and has mastered crawling, and babbling more. She is not babbling 'mama' yet =( but she follows me into every room I go. She likes hanging out with me. I feel like a mobile playground though. I'm crawled over, smacked, my hair is pulled, I'm drooled on, headbutted, I've had a couple elbows to my throat.

free jeans!

Facebook had a offer today 'First 10,000 customers to check-in, get a free pair of jeans" I decided to go, because I like FREE and James has to work tonight so Sora and I took off so he could get some rest. 

I'm actually surprised I scored a pair. We got to the mall about 25 minutes before it opened, I parked by Nordstrom, bought a coffee and "checked in" while waiting for my coffee. I was #9. yay! I wandered over to the Gap store and there was line around the store OMG, I didn't see these people before. Some people were in line with their blackberry's wanting a pair. DAMMIT! Did grabbing a coffee screw me!?

no :) I scored a coupon. I picked up three pairs to try on, a size smaller cuz I think my waist is getting smaller. They fit! double score!

I also picked up some $3 socks and waited in line only to have the cashier tell me I couldn't go home with the pants I wanted because they were on "sale" and weren't full priced. LOL. whatever, I don't really understand how that matters since they were less then the full amount of the coupon.

We were on TV too, 1:40mins in, you can see the baby...I didn't think they were filming...next time I'll close my mouth while in the background =/

trip to see great grandma

We went to our Bachan's house yesterday. She was going to have eye surgery, but the doctor ended up rescheduling it for another time because her eyes were too puffy from a medication she was using, so later in November she'll go in again.

She loved having Sora stop by for a visit, she was so happy and excited to see how big she's grown so shortly. She kept saying how pretty she is, and that she's prettier then me (LOL!) I'm OK with that.

We all took naps, except grandma. I woke up and heard the phone off the hook and the operator talking. I walked over and asked if she needed help. She started talking in Japanese.....and I only understood that a friend was trying to call her on the phone. So I asked, then she said in English that 'Her friend calls and talks alot to her" She was trying to disconnect the phone to avoid her call!! Lol!!! too funny.

After naps, she took us out to dinner at a new sushi place down the street. Everyone in there was watching the World Series. I ordered Sora a bowl of miso soup and she loved it! Grandma was really impressed.

After dinner we said our goodbyes, and I started the long tortured ride home. Sora cried the entire time from Monterey to San Jose. I pulled over twice, once to look for her pacifier which I heard her throw cuz it hit the door. Another time to feed her, which she wasn't having, she just wanted to be held. It was just all too stressful, I started getting chest pains, and Leche kept hopping back and forth over her which made me even more upset. But we made it

new 'words'!

Yesterday Sora started saying "bob" sometimes it sounds like shes saying "Hey Bob"

We also changed the nastiest, most FOUL & STRONG smelling poop diaper. James and I tag teamed it. One held and one wiped. It was just SO strong and pungent...we were like "How can something so CUTE make something so nasty!?"

Feeding her is getting better! If her food is warmed up she's more interested in taking it. Last night we had Pho, I gave her a little broth and noodles to chew on. It kept her interested and more importantly, quiet, during dinner.

Teeth update: I thought she was just cutting one tooth, its actually two! yay! One is coming in more then the other. If she allows you to stick your finger in her mouth you can feel them. Man is it tough on the brain to hear her cry and know its only her teeth. I told her "Its ok that you are crabby and don't feel well, sometimes we are allowed to have our moments" hehe. I was starting to forget how mellow she can be

car keys update: they were in my purse all along. sad.

I'm losing it :(

I've spent all day today looking for my car keys, I'm pretty bummed because on Sunday I lost $20 at the Farmers Market... I don't know why I keep losing stuff....

Yesterday, I went grocery shopping for James's birthday breakfast with Sora. I came home and put her in the family room with my keys (thats how I remember it) and spent almost two hours making breakfast. WHY did it take me so long?! Well, as I started cooking, then she wanted to eat. More cooking, she got super fussy....poop diaper change. More cooking, screaming baby...Grandpa steps in to entertain her. At least shopping was easy...I didn't even make anything fancy....eggs, bacon, sausage and hash browns *sigh*

So back to today. Everyone is eyeing me like a crazy person, making crappy remarks because I can't remember crap and looking everywhere....and the one person who probably knows the most can only say one syllable over and over. I know they think I locked my keys in the car, I know I haven't but I'm not so sure. I've only locked my keys in the car once, I was 16 and a new driver, but never again. My sister has a spare, so I drive to her work, pick it up and come back home. Go out to my car, turn the key and open the door. The alarm goes off. My alarm isn't a rinky-dink alarm, its the Tyrannosaurus Rex of alarms, if you had a pace maker, I'd probably make yours skip and you'd die.

Nope. Keys not inside.


to be cont....

update

UGH! is all I can say about the past couple of weeks. I haven't had a chance to post anything because Sora keeps me extremely busy. She started crawling, it didn't take her too long to figure the coordination factor of crawling. She's babbling 'da-da'. Pulling herself up. Shes climbing up stairs (omg!) she can do the three in the family room, and finds the second set and can do 5 more. I'll let her climb, but I have to be next to her to catch her. She gets into EVERYTHING! she likes playing with cords! We've also started feeding her solids, its going ok. She's not really into it, but will take 3 baby spoonfuls at least. She has her own highchair and sits with us when we have dinner.

She was also teething again. I guess it comes in spurts, the hard part about teething was how uncomfortable she gets. She wakes several times in the middle of the night screaming, once she found my nipple and started to nurse WHILE I was sleeping! That was an odd experience...When she was awake she was in pain and needed a lot of attention. She also had the runs. This week she seems a lot better, she isn't cranky and can play by herself for at least 45 mins.

We went to the dog park with Auntie Stephy, Sora was on my hip, I don't know how she did this but, she 'jumped' off and I caught her by her ankle before she hit the ground! shes dangerous even in my arms!

I'm leaving her with other people now, which is a nice break for me. I got a small 10 hr a week part time job. James watched her one day and my sister and her boyfriend the next day. Its kind of stressful to leave her, I know how difficult she can be, im not so sure how other people will handle it. I came home once to a screaming, red in the face baby. The second time was better. I appreciated the help, I love help!

I think all the stress has finally got to me. I had to learn how to ask for help, something I am not comfortable with doing, but I realize I have to or I will start crying. Raising a baby is very hard work! you have very little time (if any) to yourself, your friends disappear, you don't have a social life, everything is dirty, you develop this additional sense that's tuned into your child. Sometimes at night  when I'm sleeping I think I hear her crying and jump up, turns out Im just dreaming. Yes, I dream about my baby crying. You get into more arguments with your spouse (we never fought before the baby :[ ). Going to grab a Starbucks is more of a hassle then enjoyment because of all the baby gear you have to load into the car. All the responsibility is on you!

I'm reading a new book Touchpoints: Your Child's Emotional and Behavioral Development, Birth to 3 which is a lot more positive then another book which made me depressed (the other book made it seem like being a mother is the most depressing job in the world) I like it so far :)

Kiss!

Sac Trip

Its official! Baby Sora is crawling! According to Grandpa she is :) and she is FAST too! She bumped her head on the leg of our coffee table, she cried for a bit.

We've also tried feeding her baby rice cereal but she wasn't having it...I didn't think she would automatically know what to do, she mostly had most of the cereal on her face then in her mouth. She didn't spit it out, just rejects the spoon. (OMG see how her toes are hanging out in the last picture. LOL DAD never buttons her bottoms or puts her pants on after changing her diaper)



I'm getting to spend more time on my own without the baby. This month my friend Ana, who is also a police wife & mother to a 2 year old, and I went to the movies and left our babies with their dads. Dads went to have dinner together :)  We went to Oakridge and had lunch at BJ's (the guys always go there, so now it was mommy's turn!). We've also been running together, and by running I mean we've met up twice (LOL). After looking at how many calories on the stupid menu, we decided to split a small pizza. We ended up watching "The Other Guys" Im guessing its been out a while...the theater was empty besides us too =/

After the movie we called the dads to check up on them, they "forgot" diapers so Ana and I cut our day short, went to Target to buy diapers and went home. The sight of those two with our babies was RIDICULOUS!! Sora (again) was not wearing PANTS, she had dirtied the ones she was wearing (barely), the best part was...dad thinking there wasn't any more diapers in the bag, decided to fold paper towels from the mens' restroom and "plug the leakage" in her diaper.

(haha as Im typing, she just farted and looked at me and smiled.)

I got a new haircut! I chopped a lot of inches off and had a Brazilian blow dry...OMG the treatment saved my self esteem! My hair isn't kinky or frizzy :) I timed myself how long it takes to blowdry and flat iron my hair....a whole SEVEN mintues.. oooo eeeiiiii. Sora also has discovered my hair and likes running her fingers through it, grabbing a handful and yanking it! She thinks my hair must make noise. I'm started to feel more like myself on the outside....I squeezed into the smallest sized jeans I have..James and I squeezed, sucked in, pulled everything together so they could close. It was not pretty, but I got my muffin top into them...my stretch marks are also fading weeee!!!