Category Archives: Uncategorized
Fall 2019
Here are some photos from the fall and winter of 2019 to early 2020. Lily wanted to be a witch for Halloween so I modified a simply black dress and turned it into a witch dress for her. I got a black onesie for Leo and turned it into a matching dragon costume. He was quite comfortable in his costume and loved it and didn’t want to take it off! Lily would wear her costume even when it wasn’t Halloween as well!
I always feel so blessed during the holidays because I have such amazing kids to celebrate it with. Life can be very challenging and stressful at times, but when I see these two laughing and smiling, it just brings so much joy into my heart. I’m so thankful, grateful, and appreciative of what I have, and feel so lucky to have such an amazing group of friends and family that support me so much through all the highs and lows that life has thrown at me. Lily and Leo are truly the best gifts I’ve ever received in life and because of them, I will never be alone, and will always have a full heart.
Lily didn’t like any of the ao dais at phuoc loc tho this year, so I took her to Joanns and had her pick out fabric and I made her an ao dai! It was my first time making it so I feel pretty proud of myself that it came out pretty decent and that Lily loved it so much! I bought Leo a white one to match Lily since I didn’t have the energy and motivation to make his…I felt like Lily’s was enough work for me haha. I’m so happy it fit her so well, and the fact that she said it was comfortable is a huge plus since she wore it multiply times, to school, and at home and out and about! She got so many compliments and people at school even asked her where she got it and her classmate asked if I can make her one as well! So cute!
Leo had gone through such big developments in the last few months. He started eating solids incredibly well to the point where he’ll be willing to try new things and actually ask himself to try the foods. He really likes chicken and soft bean and cheese burritos at school. He can also eat simple ham and cheese sandwiches as well, and eventually worked his way up to eating almost an entire In N Out cheeseburger! He also learned how to jump and so he likes to show off his jumping skills and jumps everywhere now. He just jumps up and down, about 1 inch off the ground but that’s a huge achievement for him and it’s so cute when he does it! I’m so proud of my rainbow little prince! You have come so far and it’s such an exciting journey to look back and see all the amazing things you’ve accomplished. Here’s to many many many conquers my petite prince, mommy loves to so much!!
Lily is growing up to be such a mature little lady! She loves helping out at school and helping her teacher Mrs. Barnes whenever she can. When I come into the classroom to volunteer every week, she always gives me the biggest hug and her classmates start running to me to give me hugs as well! She loves drawing and coloring and she likes to have crafting time with her momma on the weekends! She’s constantly telling me how much she loves me and how I’m the best. I don’t want to brag but…how can I not? I feel so loved and spoiled by her, I’m so lucky! Lily’s favorite subject in school is math and she is doing so well in all the other subjects at school too. She’s improving so much in her writing and story telling that it’s quite amusing to see what stories she comes up with. It’s a great glimpse into what’s going on in that cute little head of hers! She is such a great big sister to Leo as well, she’s constantly bragging about what new things Leo can do, it just melts my heart to see the pride she has in her little brother. I love you so so so so so so so much Lily, you’re such an amazing little girl, you’re the best daughter a momma can ask for and more!!!
Reasons to Celebrate
It’s been awhile since the last update, so there’s a lot to share about the kiddoes! Leo is 31.4 lbs and stretches 38inches tall! Lily weighs in at 39lbs and stretches 46inches tall! Leo got glasses and looks so cute and handsome in them. It was quite an easy process to get him to wear his glasses. When he was getting them fitted, he stood still and let the optician put it on him and adjust them and he didn’t even try to take it off. Later when he did start wearing them, he would only take it off once in awhile, but I would just say “glasses on!” and he would stand there and let me put it on and then go about playing. I’m so lucky he’s so easy going! I’m sure it must be nice to see better too but the professionals say that kids don’t really care or notice much haha. Lily started first grade in the fall and is in Mrs. Penticoff’s class. She also lost her first two teeth, with a week of each other and was super excited to give her teeth to the tooth fairy and receive her special surprise the next morning! She did ask if I was the tooth fairy since I made her some acrylic necklaces and she saw some of the glitter and materials on my desk and said that looks like what the tooth fairy would use to make her necklace…what an observant smart girl…haha. She lost another tooth last month and has a loose tooth right now. All of these teeth are on the bottom room of teeth haha.
In September we took a mini weekend trip to Seattle for Kelsey’s wedding, but we took the kids and they got to enjoy a plane ride again and loved it! Lily loved packing up her M&M suitcase with snacks and stuff animals and Leo was so chill and slept on the plane ride and enjoyed the sites! The kids had a blast at the hotel and they even got to have a playdate with Kristin, Hisami, and Kristin’s cousins and their kids! Lily and the two other kids, Nathan and Kylie, got to play at a the park and then on a little magic show for us back at their house! We visited the space needle, went to Pike’s Place and visited the market and the first Starbucks. We also had a layover in Vegas on the way back home and I got to grab a quick drink with Alvina at the airport as well! It was a very quick trip but also fun and Lily is eager to go on another trip, especially one where you get to ride on an airplane!
At the end of October, my handsome boy started preschool at Sumner Danbury Elementary school!!! I felt confidant that these last several months of assessments, planning and meetings have definitely paid off to set Leo up in an environment that will cater to his needs and strive for success! He is such a strong amazing boy and he ability to adapt and learn never cease to amaze me! He is beyond special; he is my Leo! Leo gets to take a bus to school and then a bus to his daycare at Walnut Valley Preschool afterwards and he adjusted really well to going to school! He started to cry when I took him to the bus on the third day, but by the end of the following week, he walked onto the bus himself and was all smiles again! 
He enjoys the bus ride and the staff and teachers at Danbury are so wonderful and friendly and I just feel so appreciate for that program. Leo gets physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, adaptive PE, and sometimes swimming lessons when the weather permits, right on the school campus! 
They have all the therapy clinics there so it’s super convenient. They help him explore eating (trying to eat) different foods, it mostly ends up on his close but he’s starts to lick different textures of foods so that is progress! He is signing a lot more and he’s met a lot of his therapy goals and they have to adjust and give him new ones at the 30 day progress meeting I had with his team at Danbury. Right now some of the physical goals Leo is working on is walking up and down the stairs, catching a ball, fine motor skills, and exploring foods. All his teachers say he is so happy and such a joy to have in class, and that just makes me so proud and happy that he is happy at school. I’m super grateful and appreciative of this opportunity for Leo.
Leo had a small surgery in November. He had to be put under anesthesia so that a camera can go in through his nose to see if there’s any obstruction or anything with the blood vessels in his nose that may be causing his frequent nose bleeds and he also had to get all the wax cleaned out of his ears that may be causing his failed hearing tests. The nurse gave Leo some medication to help relax him and calm him down, but instead Leo totally got hyper and kept laughing. It was so funny and cute, it seemed like he was high on life and was just being so silly! 
I’m glad that he was so happy though so that the experience wouldn’t be too bad while I was waiting for his procedure to be over. Turns out there wasn’t anything wrong inside his nose and Dr. Ahuja said that it’s probably just from Leo rubbing his nose too much/hard but they did cauterized the left side of his nose to help it from bleeding so often. It’s not a permanent fix, just a temporary one though. They also cleaned out a whole bunch of wax in his ears and they had to drill through one of his ear drums because the canal was too small for them to get through. There was a lot of wax jammed pack in there. Leo later took a hearing test and it came out normal!!! What great news!! Leo didn’t wake up from the anesthesia very well and the doctor said that usually kids have a tough time waking up smoothly after head surgeries, so Leo was really uncomfortable and out it and cried a lot. That was the most crying I’ve ever seen him do and it wasn’t until his two hour nap when we got home that he was back to his happy usual self! I’m so thankful that his operation went well and that he is healthy and happy!
In November Lily got awarded Student of the Month and was honored for the character trait of kindness! Lily had her first piano recital back in August and then her second one in January. Here is a video of her 2nd recital on January 15, 2019 below! She did great and got nervous during her second song and forgot how the song started and started to panic and cried a little bit and said she forgot, but I went up there and told her it’s ok and to just start with the right hand by itself and her teacher encouraged her as well and reminded her the beginning notes. Lily then remembered the song and played it well but you can see the tears and disappointment on her poor little face. She gave me a huge long hug afterwards and was happy for the rest of the recital. I’m very proud of her for not giving up and for trying her best. She still had fun in the end and that’s all that matters! I’m so proud of you my Lily pad!!
For Halloween the kids dressed up as Cinderella and the Petite Prince! This year I made is easier on myself and bought Lily’s costume online on the amazing Amazon haha, but I couldn’t find anything that I liked for Leo’s costume so I made his costume myself. Lily also was super excited to wear my tiara as well and she had fun spinning around in her dress. Leo seems quite comfortable in his costume too and I bought the fox from Amazon and the red rose from Michaels. I took the kids to Brea mall this year for trick or treating since it’s a change in scenery and I figured it’ll be much safer too. Leo had a blast this year, even though he doesn’t quite understand the concept of trick or treating yet, but he loved sitting in the stroller and just gnawing on all the candy with the wrappers on…haha. He was in heaven, it was so cute!
Lily enjoyed trick or treating as usually and we were going to donate most of their candy to CHOC, but they don’t accept candy anymore so we donated a bunch to US Veterans and their families! I used a website pickupplease.org and they donate all donations to the vets and their families, and the convenient part is they come and pick up bags of donations from your house! I’m glad that Lily is always so willing and enthusiastic about giving what she has to help others! Great job my Lilypad! Lily got to wear her costume to school for her school parade and Leo got to sit in a wagon and go trick or treating at Danbury as well! His class was the only class that got to go to the school office for trick or treating, how special is that? They played halloween kid friendly music and all the faculty members dressed up and passed out candy to him and his classmates as their wagons came by. How fun! I’m so grateful again for Leo to be taken so cared of at this school!!
The holidays just zoomed by this past year. The kids enjoyed eating lots of good food, well Lily did, Leo is still learning to explore new foods. They got to see all the bright fun Christmas lights at the Mission Inn in Riverside and the Chinese Lantern lights at the LA Fairplex. Lily loved the hot chocolate in Riverside, probably because it was also freezing outside, but she had a blast either way. Lily also hose to donate all the contents in her “give jar” to her first grade teacher Mrs. Penticoff! It was very sweet of her to choose her teacher because she looks up to her and is grateful to have a teacher that loves and cares so much about her students and makes learning fun and exciting! I’m so proud of you Lily, you are growing up more and more amazing each day! I know I say it all the time but I really and proud and feel so lucky to be your mommy!! Also, this year for Tết, Lily practiced a lot on how to say chúc mừng năm mới and her inflections are quite spot on! She loves going to Phước Lộc Thọ (the Asian Garden Mall) and eating all the Vietnamese food and checking out the flowers at the flower festival and picking out her áo dài! This year she’s very into the color blue! She got to wear it to school as well as the family gathering and also wanted to sleep in it because she said it’s so comfortable haha! Happy year of the pig everyone, oink oink!!
Some last updates are that Leo has to wear an eye patch for 2 hours a day. His left eye tends to dominate his right eye and so he doesn’t “look” out of his right eye much, so patching up his left eye will force him to use his right eye and strengthen it. Leo is pretty good at leaving the eye patch on and now messing with it. It was kind of cute when he first started wearing it because his depth perception would be off and his balance would get thrown off and he would bump into things a lot, but he just got right back up and kept on moving. He’s so resilient and strong and amazing, he can adapt to anything! Eventually his eye got stronger and you don’t see him wobble as much anymore! Hopefully at his follow up with the Ophthalmologist in March, he won’t need the patches anymore. Lily is currently doing Robotics Jr., piano, Fun with Science, and tennis after school. She loves it all and I’m glad she gets the opportunity to do all (except piano) those programs at her school! She also got awarded with a certificate of Kindness award for completing the Kindness Challenge at her after school Fun Club, where they had a month long challenge to complete various kindness activities! She said that only 5 other students in her class got the certificate, great job Lily!!
I’m so happy with how much the kids are growing and learning and developing each day. Leo currently likes to close doors, knock on doors and walls, look and point and photos, dance with his arms waving up and down, lots of sweets like lollipops and chocolate pudding, and recently likes YouTube kids. He watched and learned how to navigate through the app from Lily and can even skip the ads sometimes too! I think he really likes the interactive aspect of it, but he also likes to watch the nursery songs and alphabet singing videos! He also now sleeps in a transitioned toddler bed and the transition was so smooth it was so unbelievable haha. He knows routines very well and I think he is striving so well with structure, something that I think his school at Danbury helped him learn. Lily loves watching movies and YouTube shows as well. She likes to watch kids making arts and crafts and family YouTube channels that have babies and kids who go out and do fun games and activities. Lily currently likes to watch Hotel Transylvania 3, the Chihuahua movies on Netflix, and other random movies, mix of live action and animation. Both kids love going to the movies as well and Leo’s able to stay focus and engaged during the entire movie as well and even dances at some musical numbers in Mary Poppins Returns! Lily really likes to draw and has a very eccentric fashion style haha. Both kids are quite silly and happy little kids, and I count my blessing every day and am so grateful and humble to be their mommy!! I love you my Lily pad and petite prince Leo!! Enjoy these videos of the kiddoes!
Spring Update
Leo weighs in at 26.89lbs and stretches 38inches tall! Leo is getting better at eating with a spoon and is licking the puree off the spoon less, although the urge to do so is quite strong in him still haha. He is still very picky on what purees he will eat. He won’t be picky when it’s in the bottle but just by looking at the color and smelling the food, he will push the food aside and fight you if it’s not his typical plain applesauce. He is walking so much better, and he can finally get up to standing all by himself without having to hold onto something! He can also climb down the stairs very proficiently now as well! Soon he’ll be running and jumping all over the place! I already have the bandaids ice packs ready haha. Leo is starting to understand signing more and is better at signing “thank you” and “all done” as well. Sometimes I’ll blow him a kiss and he will do it back to me! I have been taking ASL classes to in hopes of furthering along Leo’s communication abilities with signing. I printed out cheat sheets and taped them on the walls to encourage and motivate Lily to learn with me and so we all can sign together as a family! I’ll often see Leo looking at his fingers and he will try to move them and make different shapes with his fingers and wave them around as if trying to communicate with me, so I really feel like signing will be his primary language as he’s trying to learn to speak verbally. He still hasn’t said any words with purpose or intention yet, although he likes to say “ball” a lot but he says that for everything so I doesn’t really count haha.
Overall, Leo remains happy and sweet as always! He loves giving hugs and he’s finally not needing a bib anymore from all the drooling in the past! He is getting so tall that his pants needs to be size 3T, but his waist is so small his pants sometimes slips down haha. Leo still likes to put all his toys and Lily’s toys in his mouth, and he’s still so amazed with zipper tags and likes to just flick them back and forth. He would lay on the couch and just play with that all day long! He loves being thrown in the air, he’s a dare devil. He likes swings and slides as well. He still doesn’t like when things/places get really loud. He is still an amazing sleeper and has such a calm and sweet demeanor about him. Since he’s walking now, he can enjoy so many more things when we go out! I took the kids to the Museum of Illusions, Candytopia, and game places like Neofun and Round One and he loves exploring and checking everything out! He is always a super cute bright ball of joy!!
Lily is getting smarter and sweeter each day, she’s growing up way too fast! Lily weighs 35lbs and is 44inches tall! She has a very big appetite and loves to eat veggies (spinach, cabbage, carrots, and broccoli) and tofu, and a bunch of crackers and snacks, yet she burns off all the calories in a flash! She has a very happy spirit about her and is so intuitive and thoughtful, I cannot be more proud of my baby girl. She is also now super good at showering by herself. She’s also able to make her own bed every morning and is starting to learn to vacuum the house as well! She’s been taking piano lessons for the last month. She’s definitely trying really hard, some of the concepts aren’t as naturally easy for her to grasp, but she’s trying and with some extra practice at home, she’s getting more and more confident with it. I’m very proud of her for not once wanting to give up, and her determination to keep focusing and trying. She also loves her gymnastics lessons which she has twice a week. She has so much fun and has been selected gymnast of the day 3 times now! She gets a nice little ribbon and gets to ring the bell at the end of class to announce her achievement to the whole gym! She’s almost ready to move on up to the next level once she gets more comfortable with doing hand stands and cartwheels! She also had her first jog-a-thon at school and did 26 laps!! She had so much fun jogging around and was cheering on her friends to come and go go go! She also forgot to get her lap marked off a couple times too haha. She knew that the more laps she did, the more money she would raise for her school for better supplies and opportunities. So she knew she was jogging for a cause and she tried her very best not just to have fun, but to help as well. I’m so proud of her and her great big ball of athletic energy!
Lily is learning to read really well and can read a lot of books all by herself now! She’s really good at sounding out the letters and putting the sounds together to form the word. Her favorite subject in school is still math, but I’m glad that even though writing and reading isn’t her strongest, she’s still enthusiastic about it. She really like Dr. Seuss, Elephant and Piggie, and Pete the Cat books! Her favorite shows to watch is currently Sofia the First and Pokemon! She likes to play with slime, dolls, and do lots of arts and crafts. Lily loves to help me cook and her teachers and aftercare teachers tells me she’s always such a great helper at school as well! Lily really likes the movie The Greatest Showman right now, and loves most of the songs from the movie. She has a mature taste in theater, it’s nice to be able to share common interests with her like this. Lily still has her happy go lucky spirit and is such a kind and sweet little girl. I love it when she would just randomly come up to me and give me a big hug and kiss and tell me she loves me, she melts my heart! She’s always thinking about others and I makes me really proud that she’s such a loving positive force in this world. 
Enjoy of of these videos of the kiddoes!!
Gratitude
Gratitude, it’s not happiness that brings us gratitude, it’s gratitude that brings us happiness – Unknown.
It’s been awhile since I’ve updated this blog so this will be a very long one…so brace yourselves haha. For Halloween I made Lily a Wonder Woman dress along with the leggings, arm bracelets, and a shield! Lily likes wearing her dress to school and going out and just for any ordinary day and it makes me happy that she loves it so much! She tells her teachers and that I made her dress for her and she just has such a big smile on her face too, it makes me feel happy that she’s so proud of my work for her. I made a cape for Leo to be Captain Underpants but it was way too cold for that costume, so He was a last minute Batman Pumpkinpants haha. Lily loved her costume and I bought her some Wonder Woman books before hand and so she loves the story of the amazing amazonian princess and brought the book while wearing her costume for her literary parade at school! Lily also had her first field trip at Quail Summit to the Santa Ana Zoo. She loved seeing all the animals and she said her favorite were the butterflies and monkeys. Lily really likes going to school, morning care and after care (aka Fun Club) and she’ll complain sometimes that I pick her up too early (5pm isn’t really that early…). I’m glad she gets so stimulated at school and is making friends with kids of all ages! Every time I come to pick her up, all the big kids know her name and always run to give her a hug before we leave. That’s so sweet and heart warming!
I had the honor of having our family photos taken by the super amazingly talented, and kind soul, Lisa Holloway. Here are some of the many favorites from that session. I will cherish these memories and I am so grateful to have these beautiful kids to call mine.
Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it. – William Arthur Ward
Lily really enjoys all her extracurricular activities after school. She has Jazz Dance, Baton Twirlin & Pom Pom, and Tennis. Her absolute favorite is tennis and she always ask if she can do it everyday! At least she gets to do it twice a week whereas all the other classes are just once a week. I’m more burnt out taking Lily to all those classes than Lily is haha! I’m very impressed with Lily on how quickly she learns and picks up choreography as well. She only attending 3 classes to learn her choreography for her Jazz Dance Recital, her normal weekly classes are just for learning techniques of dance. From just those 3 classes alone and lots of practice, she was able to dance through the whole routine for the recital and wasn’t even one bit stage fright or nervous!! She’s so great and better than I’ll ever be!! =) She also remembered her entire routine for her baton twirling parade and did so amazing well too! I’m so proud of her and all of her accomplishments! Leo is getting better at eating purees but he will still have days where he just doesn’t want to eat. He expresses lots of interest in music. He really likes the piano and likes playing with my keyboard and banging on drums. He has a special technique where he uses his mouth to play the keys at the same time as his cute little fingers too. The look of focus and concentration on his face when he plays the keys are just too cute and priceless. Every time I try to play on the piano, he usually comes zooming over and pushes me aside and takes over haha. He is signing more and more each day. He’s really good at clapping his hands for “good job”, he knows “open” and “close” really well, and understands “more” and “head/hat” as well. He’s getting better at waving bye more consistently too. He is a super fast crawler, and he loves to climb all over the place now. He likes to climb and sit on top of the kid’s table, on top of the couch, on top of anything he can climb onto really. He loves stairs and even though he doesn’t know how to climb down, he is fearless. He is able to take 3-4 steps on his own when you prop him up, and he is getting really good at walking while holding 1 of his hand. I really feel that the hippotherapy is helping him a great deal with his core strength and balance and over confidence in himself and his physical abilities.
It was so windy! This was the best selfie I can get of the three of us!!
Thankful for my two joys of my life!
Christmas blessings with my loves! Lily is understanding more the joys of Christmas and really enjoys getting into the holiday spirit. Lily got to go shopping at her school Santa’s Workshop for a whole week and she had a blast buying fun little toys for herself and Leo and even aunty Leilani! She has a lot of fun picking out gifts for her teachers and friends and she even said she forgot to buy me something and has the saddest look on her face. I told her it’s sweet of her to want to get me something but I told her all I need is her and Leo =). Leo loves playing with Leo and he seeing her playing the iPad and would like to imitate her tapping on the screen. He’ll see me working on my laptop and would come over and tap on the keyboard too. He’s so cute and is trying to imitate us and it’s great to see him observing and developing mentally like that. Leo is always so super happy, and Lily is the best person to make him laugh. He loves being thrown in the air, looking at silly faces, and is strangely amused with the window blinds haha. He also likes crawling into tunnels and small enclosed spaces, maybe it’s just safe and cozy in there for him, but he likes sitting in closets and the princess tent as well. He doesn’t like wearing socks for some reason so they don’t stay on his feet very long, the only way to keep them on is to put shoes on him. Apparently, he feels that socks should go in his mouth, not on his feet… Leo is super social and loves being held by anyone and everyone! Leo recently had a hearing test again and they couldn’t get any concrete readings on his hearing, but they did say both ear drums weren’t responsive, so we will have to take him to an ENT for further investigation. He also had a GI appt at Choc and for now, we just have to keep trying to feed him solids, there’s not much else we can do except continuing with therapy. He’s gained 1 pound in the last 3 months so at least he’s still growing and that’s the important thing. Lily loves to be a helper when Leo’s teachers come over for his therapy sessions, and she really pays attention to everything Leo can do, and likes to tell me all his developments with such pride! I’m so happy to see them together and so happy. My heart is and full and warm because of them. I’m so grateful for my greatest gifts in the world, I would not be the person I am without them. I try to give them the best love and care I possible can give them, to show them how much they mean to me, and I hope the feel my heart. I love you Lily, Leo and my angels!!! Can’t wait to see what 2018 adventures awaits us!
Gratitude is not only the greatest virtues, but the parent of all others. – Cicero.
Enjoy these videos of the kiddies!! They are growing up so fast, I’m glad I’m able to have these videos to look back on and relive those memories!!
Happy 8 Months Leo!
Leo 8 Months Old
Happy 8 Months Leo! Leo is about 16.8lbs and stretches about 27 inches long! He still drink a little over 5 ounces (165cc) at each feeding, 4 times a day, and is still sleeping very well through the night (about 12-14 hours straight!) Leo likes to babble a lot, most ba ba and on three very distinct occasions, he said mama! He will also say “ma” a lot too along with other sounds. He is finally reaching for his toes and is getting better at sitting by himself but he still needs assistance or else he’ll topple over after a few minutes. He is recovering very nicely since his surgery has well, he still has some stitches but it will go away soon. He likes to suck his thumb a lot now, probably due to teething. He has two very prominent teeth on the bottom but more will probably start peeping out soon since he is starting to drool more now too!
Leo w/Occupational Therapist Jan
Leo still hasn’t been taking solids very well, so he had a consultation with an occupational therapist, Jan, to help work with his feeding. I’ve been trying to give him puréed squash, but she suggested maybe trying peach or maybe something a little bit citrusy or cold even to wake up his taste buds so he knows that food is in his mouth, rather than something more subtle and luke warm. She also said his cheeks are very tight so we will have to go back to massaging his cheeks and mouth as well. Overall though, Leo is growing each day and is constantly making progress, slowly but surely! He is also starting to kick a lot more and rolls around all over the place now too! Some times it looks like he wants to crawl as well but doesn’t know how to quite get to his planned destination yet. He is better at holding onto a toy and shaking it up and down to play with it as well! He is getting sturdier and his neck is getting much stronger too.
Leo 32 Weeks Old
Leo 33 Weeks 2 Days Old
Leo 33 Weeks 4 Days Old
Chúc Mừng Năm Mới! Happy year of the Monkey! Lily loves wearing her áo dài and Leo looks so handsome in his blue outfit as well! Lily is getting much more cooperative when it comes to me taking pictures now! Also, check out Lily getting pampered for her photoshoot (which she ended up not taking a picture for but still got paid! haha) for MGA Little Tikes HERE! She’s very into girly stuff these days, so this was a nice day for her! However this will be the last time she’ll be working for now, we will give her a break until she’s not as camera shy around strangers. Back to the Lunar New year though, Leo got to celebrate his first tết and he sure can back with lots of lucky li xi! Lily thinks all the money is suppose to go straight to her piggy bank and when my dad asked her what he will do with all her money, she says “nothing! You put it in your piggy bank!!” I trained her well hehe. Lily and Leo are always so happy and wonderful. Lily talks so much and is so brilliant and smart, she never cease to amaze me. Leo is so mellow and happy, he is truly a gift that keeps on giving. With this new year, I hope it brings new fun adventures, I hope it allows me to embrace change and hardships with confidence, and mostly, I hope it brings lots of love and happiness. I am still very sad that Luna is no longer with us, but it just further strengthens my life philosophy; Life is too short and precious, live your life how you want like how you want it to be, be the person you want to be, and always love and treat the people that mean most to you like there’s no tomorrow. You can see more pictures from our Tết festivities HERE.
Here’s some video fun of the kiddoes:
Happy 4 Months Leo!
Happy 4 Months to me sweet little prince Leo! Leo weighs in at 11.25 pounds, stretches 23.5 inches, and head measures at 15.25 inches. He is still under 0 percentile but he is growing on his own curve and that’s the important thing. He is 5% in height so I’d say compare to his weight, he’s a tall boy! hehe. Leo has been having some dry skin and it’s too even all around to be excema so his pediatrician feels it’s probably related to his tet18p, so he recommended putting Aquafor on it. It really helped a lot and I think in a couple days his skin will go back to it’s super soft baby skin that everyone is so jealous over! Leo also had his hearing diagnostics again last week and I am happy to report that his hearing is now normal! He can now hear the low tones just fine and there’s just some remaining fluids in his ears. They suggested him see an Ear Nose Throat doctor but his pediatrician says he’s still pretty small so lets just wait it out a little longer and see if it’ll drain naturally.
Leo 16 Weeks
Leo 17 Weeks
Leo has been doing well in his therapy sessions, he’s had 3 so far. He is working on his motor skills and working on his reaching and grabbing skills. He is also working on tummy time to strengthen his neck as well. His therapist, Amy, said that development wise he is almost at the 4 month mark. We just need to continue working with him with, but overall he is doing great! He is cooing a lot more now compared to just a couple weeks ago! His voice is super cute!! Leo is very happy and calm and loves to play. Amy said he is a very social baby and loves people, especially his mommy! She said that I am his motivator and that he will always try to find me and see where I am, so I will be his toy and try to get him to look up at me during tummy time, and encourage him to push himself up to find me. He has been doing really well in terms of movement though, he almost rolled over from back to tummy all by himself! He is very good at rolling onto his side though. He likes to sleep on his side since we put him on his side to help him digest and in case he throws up, so I think he prefers that now. His feeding is improving a lot now too, he takes the bottle a lot quicker now and can finish it in about 20-30 mins now! Once in awhile it’ll still take him almost an hour, but he’s doing so much better. He occasionally throws up but now it’s down to maybe once a day instead of twice a day with some small spit ups in between. I’m so happy that he’s overcoming so many obstacles that are put in front of him. Leo is so amazing and strong, he is my inspiration! I’m so proud of him!!
Leo 4 Months Old
Lily has been such an amazing and wonderful loving sister as well. She always gives Leo kisses and has been doing really well with him being her new roomie too!! Lily is so silly and has such a big beautiful personality, I just love her to pieces!! Her current favorite shows on netflix and youtube are Octonauts, Masha and the Bear, Dragon Tales, and Peppa Pig. She also recently discovered Handy Manny and My Little Pony too. She loves strawberry and watermelon ice cream (aka frozen yogurt haha). She has a ginormous sweet tooth, I think that’s mommy’s fault…hehe…, and she is so sweet, helpful, and loving. She pretty much talks like a normal little person, it’s so amazing how big her vocabulary is. Sometimes she articulates certain spots in words that makes her sound like she has an accent, it’s super cute! Lily loves to cut and glue paper, paint, do lots of drawing and arts and crafts. She loves playing with bubbles, balls, and tools. She also likes books and reading stories out loud too. She loves to wearing dresses (particularly the “beautiful one with all the colors” that I made for her, and head bands as well. She is so bright and cheerful, her happiness just explodes from her little body. I love you so much Lily, you’re my amazing little Lily pad!
Enjoy some videos of the kiddos below!!
