January 14, 2008

• Yet another week begins ...

  I'm feeling rather blah today. Another week stretches ahead! My mom left for Taiwan with my dad this weekend. She'll be there until the end of March, at least! It's great for her, but I miss her already, and I know she's sad that by the time she comes back, Jack will be crawling around.

  This weekend, we mostly relaxed. We went to the airport to see my parents off and to show them Jack's new eating skills. Jack ate very heartily, and my mom fed him before she got on the plane. We spent the rest of Saturday at home and took Jack to the park. The weather was so nice ... like in the 70s, so everyone was out.

  Yesterday, we went to the Westside Pavilion mall. There was a play area at the food court with sturdy but soft plastic "food" items for the kids to play on, like giant banana slices, a hollow soda cup on its side (to act as a crawling tube), a humongous hot dog in bun and an ice cream cone. Kids ran around and played among the giant food while parents chilled on cushiony benches around the perimeter of the play area. There was also spacious stroller parking around the play area. Of course, Jack is too young to be crawling or running around, but loved watching all the activity. He kept laughing at the other kids, and he almost leapt out of our arms several times, so eager was he to join the action. I think he's going to be an outgoing kid. Surprise, anyone?

  The other highlight to report is that June auditioned for the Asian version of American Idol! That's the best way to describe it. They held one of their auditions in the LA area, and June says she's never seen so many Asian pop-singer-wannabes in one place. Just for her time slot, there were more than 500 contestants. They were narrowing down to five people to send to Taiwan for the next phase of the contest. By the time they got to June (number 300-something), they were really short on time. They asked most people to leave the stage after less than 30 seconds of a song. If they liked you, they asked you to sing a second song. If they really liked you, they asked you to sing a third song. June got really nervous watching everyone else because the judges were really brutal (again, think American Idol-style brutal!). Well, she got on stage, and made it through her first song. To her surprise, they asked her to sing a second song. Then they asked her to sing a third song!!! She ended up singing two Chinese songs and one English song. Afterward, the judges told her that she had a great look and all the right material, and that her voice was great, but not polished enough yet. So then she went backstage, where a reporter asked her a whole bunch of questions -- I'm sure they were happy to see a genuinely pretty girl out of the hundreds of so-so people there! (June is very modest, but I can brag on her because she's my sister! ) So, we don't think she'll be chosen as one of the five, but I think without any formal training, it's pretty great that she was asked to sing three songs and was told that all she needs is some more work on her voice!

  What else? Oh, Johnny and I are going to have our nanny babysit Jack this Friday night so we can go out to dinner and to see I Am Legend, which we've been really wanting to see. I do think it's really important for couples to go out every once in a while ... lately we've both been so busy with work, school (for Johnny) and Jack that I can't remember the last conversation we had that wasn't related to Jack or logistics for the day! On Saturday, as we sank into bed at 10 p.m., exhausted, we recalled with amusement that just a year and a half ago, we used to get ready to go out to bars with friends at 10 p.m.!

  And finally, a question for you moms out there. Did your babies go through a weird phase (when it comes to sleeping) at six months? As you know, Jack's always been a great sleeper, but lately he's been waking up a lot earlier than usual. Before we started the oatmeal, there were a couple of days where he woke up at 4:30 a.m. (as opposed to his former 6:30 a.m.). After the oatmeal, it's been more like 5:30 a.m. He's already eating the most he wants to eat during the day, and we're putting the last meal as late as we can. He sleeps straight through from 6:30 p.m. on to 5:30 a.m., eats and then goes back to sleep until about 7 a.m. My nanny told me that this is temporary, and Jack will go back to his usual waking time after this growth spurt. Have you guys found that to be true? Or are we slated to wake at 5:30 a.m. from now on? I feel so spoiled, but I'm used to Jack sleeping 12 hours at a stretch at night, not 11! I like my last hour of sleep. Tee hee. Also I've noticed that he's really getting quite a workout in his sleep. He'll roll over in both directions, creep from one end of the crib to another, raise his butt way up in the air -- it's like he's practicing new skills in his sleep. I guess he works up an appetite! (Maybe I should start working out in my sleep, too ... I'd have a super-toned body in just days if I worked out for 11 hours a day. Ha!) I'd appreciate hearing from you guys if you've experienced the same things with your babies, and how long that lasted. Thanks!

  • 2:38 pm
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