Category Archives: Check-Up
Happy 15 Months Prince Leo!
Happy 15 months my precious petit prince Leo! Leo weighs 21.5 pounds (31%) and stretches 31 inches long (44%) with a head circumference of 18 inches (20%). Leo is getting bigger and stronger every day! Last month, my poor baby Leo had to be in the ER room and then admitted to Choc for 4 days because he was feverish for several days and then had a very bad cough. After the first trip to the ER room, he was prescribed some antibiotics but after a few days, he was not getting any better and so he got admitted to Choc. It took a couple days but the doctors finally figured out that he had a viral pneumonia and was able to give him the correct antibiotics that would help him, and he had to use the nebulizer 4 times a day to help clear up the fluids in his lungs. He is such a trooper and it’s so rare to see him so unhappy and melancholy, I knew he was not feeling so well. It was so good to see him smiling and happy a week later. His smile just melts my heart! It’s never easy to see your baby at the hospital, all hooked up to wires and monitors and poked with needles, but Leo is such a champ and is so brave through it all. He can face any challenge that comes his way, and look super cute at the same time! Leo also had an appointment with an opthalmologist and they said he’s near sighted with some astigmatism, and will most likely need glasses next year. The nerve in the back of one of his eyes was a bit enlarged I think but the doctor said it wasn’t anything to be concerned about. I’m glad that it’s nothing more serious and that he will be taken care of when the time comes! He also had a hearing test scheduled but due to his lung congestion from his pneumonia, he wasn’t able to complete the hearing test so he was have to come back in November for that test.
Leo is so much more active these days, and can sit with his legs straight out and doesn’t always have to prop himself with his arms! He is making progress and is making me soooo proud of him! He loves to kick his legs and waves his arms around, he is reaching for toys and objects so much faster. He is more interactive as well and seems to even respond when you call his name now! Since Leo still isn’t taking in any solid foods, whole milk is not enough nutrients for him, so he’s now drinking Kid’s Boost Essentials, which luckily is covered by insurance too. Hopefully this will help him grow big and strong! Leo is very happy all the time and just loves being held and played with. He likes to roll around and can almost sit up from rolling on the floor too! Leo is so mellow and chill, he still sleeps so well through the night and loves his naps too. He is such a sweet and wonderful little baby, I feel so blessed and lucky to call him mine. I’m so proud of my precious Leo, keep up all your amazing hard work baby, happy 15 months Leo!
Lily is always so sweet, silly, and loving, I cannot get enough of her. Unfortunately this last month, I wasn’t able to be with her as much as I liked due to my accident, but when I do, she just continues to surprise me with her spunky personality. She is so full of love and compassion. She’s constantly hugging me, holding my arm, putting her head on my shoulder, constantly giving me kisses and telling me how much she loves me. I feel like the luckiest mom in the world and I feel so humbled to have this sweet little girl love me so much. She understands so much, and told me that Leo is sick and remembers Choc and said that the doctors will help Leo feel better! Even when I was at the hospital, Lily was not scared to visit me and give me a hug and told me that I will get better soon. I love how smart she is and how positive and hopeful she is as well. I love her happiness and I can see the sunshine radiating from her. Lily is finally showing me what she’s learning from her spanish classes at LePort, and she can count to 10 and her favorite is still “frutas” (fruit) haha. She is warming up to Tajik Karate now too and likes to show me her punches and kicks with the sound effects! This month she will be starting gymnastics classes too. She really likes doing yoga so I really hope she’ll enjoy gymnastics, especially since I really liked my gymnastic classes when I was a kid! I’m so excited for her! She’s dancing and singing a lot more now too and I’m so excited for her to soak up all the activities that she gets to participate in at school. I sometimes feel like she’s so mature for her age, but when I look at her, I will always see my sweet little baby girl. I’m so proud of the beautiful person she’s growing up to be, I love her so much.
Enjoy this video of Lily demonstrating what she learned in her Tajik Karate classes at LePort!
Happy 13 Months Leo!
Happy 13 months old my little Prince Leo! Leo weighs 19.51lbs, stretches 29.72 inches long, and head circumference measures at 17.9 inches. We just had his annual visit with his geneticist and she is confident that he would be able to walk one day, without the aid of any medical equipment, so that’s great news! He will need to have another hearing test since his right ear canal seems to be very narrow. He needs to check to make sure there’s no seroma in there or else that could block his whole ear canal which would make him not able to hear. We also need to schedule an appointment with an ophthalmologist to make sure his eyes are ok so that it doesn’t contribute to his balance and focus, in case one eye is near sighted and the other is farsighted or something, etc. Overall, the geneticist says Leo is about the age of a 7 month old in terms of physical development. She said we won’t know how mentally developed he is until he starts speaking and seeing how he communicates with us.
Leo is so mellow and happy and full of curiosity. Leo still isn’t taking any solids, so we are still working with the occupational therapist for that, but he is now drinking whole milk and we are trying to introduce the straw to him. I’m hoping that he will eventually learn to drink from the straw so that he can at least take smoothies to get some food content in him, if it takes a while for him to take solids. Leo can sit well on his own when he props himself. He is not crawling, standing or pulling himself up yet, but he is very good at rolling around and having lots of arm movements and kicking of his feet. Leo is also very ticklish and also loves being tossed in the air and hanging upside down haha. He is also getting better at reaching for toys, and playing with toys and my hair. He also seems to sign for milk now, but it could also be a coincidence, but it’s exciting regardless! He’s also being more social and doesn’t like to be left alone as much now, and likes to be held and interacted with. I’m glad he’s being social and he is just a great ball of sunshine to have. Overall though, Leo is growing strong and doing it all with the cutest smile on his face! Happy 13 months old my sweet little Leo!
Lily has such a cute spunky little personality that I just can’t ever get enough of. I’m constantly being impressed with lily’s thought process and communication skills. Lily is getting more proficient with the iPad since I have physical therapy twice a week, so she’s been pretty good at being independent and learning how to navigate on her own. Lily is very silly and loves to have fun and laugh. Lily is still always so sweet and loving to Leo, she’s such an amazing big sister! I’m very proud of her! Lily really likes to play new board games, draw and work with stencil works. She really likes to write her name and is starting to write out more words like all our names. Lily knows it’s my birthday soon so all of her art work at school is “for mommy’s birthday” haha. She’s so sweet! She loves arts and crafts, and also playing with her scooter and car outside. Lily also likes to play with bubbles and fireworks now too. Lily also loves wearing dresses, wearing flowers in her hair, picking flowers, and eating all kinds of ice cream (also known as yogurt haha). Yogurt and ice cream is pretty much the same thing to her, so that’s a nice little trick I was able to do and not feel so guilty about doing =P. Lily also had the pleasure of being in Lennie and Danny’s wedding last month as a pretty little flower girl!! Lily’s such a bright light in my life, her smile just lifts up my spirit and I can’t help but feel so happy when I’m in her presence. I’m so proud to call her mine. I love you to pieces my beautiful lily pad!
Enjoy a couple videos of the kiddoes below!
Happy 4th Birthday Princess Lily!
Happy birthday to my sweetest little princess Lily! Lily weighs 29lbs (6%), and is 39.5 inches long (63%). Lily had a finger prick blood test to test her iron levels and her levels are normal! This is an improvement from last year since she was low last year. All that fish is paying off! Lily also got 3 shots on my arm and that was really tough and painful for her and she cried her little eyes out, poor baby girl. Other than that, she is doing really well and is a healthy little girl! She is definitely on the smaller side but at least she’s healthy! Lily has a very cute eccentric sense of style, it’s a mixture of comfort, colorful, and cute style. It doesn’t matter if it doesn’t match, if she likes it and makes her feel good, then go for it baby girl! You be you and I strongly encourage her to explore her of style to promote her sense of self and confidence. 
Lily loves to snack, to name a few, she likes potato chips, cheesy popcorn (Pirate’s Booty), strawberry Special K Crisp Bars, cookies, butter popcorn, all things candy, strawberries fresh and freeze dried, carrots, apples, cuties, brussel sprouts, and lots of cheese! Lily likes going out and doing things like playing at the park, running around and spinning in circles, making silly noises and being silly, and her imagination is really growing and she likes to play imaginary situations all the time with her toys. Her vocabulary and speech and is so big and eloquent, she doesn’t seem like a 4 year old at all, maybe a 5-6 year old! You can see how she phrases her sentences that she puts a lot of thought into her communication, it’s just so impressive to see. I’m so constantly proud of her!!
For her birthday celebration, I had the joint party with Leo for Lily. She also had a celebration at her school where the class sang a nice around the world song for her as she walked around and showed her classmates pictures from each year of her life. We brought yogurt, animal crackers, and mini blueberry muffins for her classmates to enjoy for a special birthday snacks and her teachers provided strawberries for everyone too. Lily really enjoyed passing out all the snacks to her friends and I was so impressed with how good the kids are there and how much Lily wanted to help and pass out the snacks. Lily’s been excited for her birthday for months now and I’m so glad that this day finally came so I can celebrate and spoil her (more than usual) and make her so super happy! It’s a fun age for birthdays since she’s so aware of what it is now, and all her friends have birthday celebrations, so it’s just such a happy time. I’m glad she looks forward to her birthday, I will make sure I always do whatever I can to make this day special for her, and to show her how this day changed my life forever in the best, most wonderful way possible. For more pictures from Lily and Leo’s birthday celebrations, click HERE! Special thanks to Mieng for taking the beautiful photos of Lily and Leo for their birthdays!!
I feel super blessed and lucky to have Lily as my baby girl! She is super sweet, smart, silly, funny, sassy, kind, compassionate, and everything I wanted in a daughter and more!! She is constantly impress and amazes me with everything she does and I can’t wait to see what else she’s going to teach me in life and what other adventures we will have together! My heart is so full when I look into her bright eyes and sweet smile. She is such a sweet, caring, and compassionate big sister to baby Leo as well. Seeing her interact with him, all on her own too, is so touching to me. Even when she see other babies, she just says “awww that baby is so cute!” and she will be so warm and caring to them. Lily is so good at sharing too and is always looking out for me and making sure I am careful walking down the stairs and tells me to hold her hand so I don’t fall! She is just the sweetest and I’m so proud and humbled to call her mine! I love you more than you’ll ever know my precious Lily pad!! Happy 4th birthday my sweetest angel!!
Check out some of Lily’s adventures this past year!
Happy 1st Birthday Prince Leo!
Happy 1st Birthday to my dearest le petit Prince Leo! Leo weighs in at 19.65lbs (21%), stretches 30 inches long (56%), and head circumference is 17.5 inches (22%). At his 1 year check up, he got a finger prick and his iron level was a little bit low, so he is now going to start taking poly-vi-sol vitamins with iron in it once a day. Leo got 3 shots and cried his eyes out but took them like a champ and calmed down shortly after. It’s also so painful to watch, but it’s for his health and he luckily didn’t have any fevers or anything afterwards. Leo’s PT and pediatrician noticed some of hypertension in Leo’s legs and arms, and so Leo will be getting a full neuro evaluation and an MRI scan to see what’s going on, and if there’s anything in the brain that’s preventing him from achieving certain developmental milestones. If the brain looks good, then it’s just a matter of working with Leo to strengthen his muscles and train his mind to get him to develop. If something is going on neurologically, then we will have to go with a different approach, I’m not sure what that would be yet.
The pediatrician said he’ll probably need speech therapy later on, and I talked to his PT and usually that would start around 18 months of age. There was mention with his PT that they might add an Infant Educator back onto his early start program, but I said if he doesn’t really need it, I’d rather not because 3 hours of therapy is a lot for the little guy, and an infant educator is more broad and not necessarily specific for any particular development. So he might not have to add another hour of therapy to his already busy schedule. Leo also had to do an allergy blood test and I found out that Leo has a severe allergy to eggs, egg whites in particular. His doctor said if he gets in contact with it, I can use Benadryl to help the allergy reaction, otherwise, we will be to have an epi pen on hand just in case he gets an accident and he reacts badly. We noticed that Leo’s skin will turn red just from touching things that had eggs in it, so it’s sad that this is confirmed, since eggs are so yummy and are in sooo many yummy foods. However, it’s good to know now so that we can keep him safe and healthy! He is also allergic to nuts, particular peanuts and cashews. Poor baby Leo. He will learn to enjoy other foods though (once he starts learning to eat). Leo also got his first haircut a few weeks ago and was so cute and super ticklish too. He looks like a little boy now, where did my baby go???
I threw the kids a nice birthday party to celebrate Leo’s milestone 1st Birthday and Lily’s 4th Birthday! I baked vanilla, pistachio, chocolate, and orange blossom macarons, bavarian cream fruit custard, and Haupia cupcakes with a coconut filling. I also made a nice big 3 tier display cake in the theme of the book Le Petit Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. I hired a very talented balloon artist and face painter, and Khoa’s coworker, Vinh, generously set up a photobooth for us as well. I got catering from Newport Rib Company and had a lot of yummy BBQ as well. It was a very fun party and this 1st birthday means so much to me. For more pictures of Leo and Lily’s Birthday celebrations, click HERE!
Happy 1st Birthday my dearest prince Leo. You are such an amazing little inspiration. There was a time when I thought I wouldn’t even be able to hold him in my arms, to see his beautiful smile, or hear his sweet laugh. Yet here we are, it’s been a crazy long journey, from the moment you existed, and now, we celebrate you. My little prince Leo, you are such an amazing little fighter, inspiration, and miracle. I look at your sweet face, your cute sweet smile, and your innocent pure eyes, and I just can’t help get emotional and overwhelmed with feelings of love and gratitude. I love how I can just hold your hand, with your tiny fingers wrapped around mine, and you just feel safe and at ease with me. You feel like home and the ultimate sensation of comfort when you are in my arms, and I never want to let you go (except maybe when I have to pee…). I can stare at you explore this world of all it’s wonders, and listen to your sweet little voice all day! You are truly the definition of hope. You are beating all the odds, and I can’t wait to see what adventures we will continue to go on together. Keep shining bright, keep fighting, keep being my ray of hope. I love you to pieces Leo!
Check out some of Leo’s adventure from his first year of life along with his first haircut experience!
Happy 9 Months Leo!
Leo 9 Months
Happy 9 months to my Little Prince Leo! Leo weighs in at 17.65 lbs (18% he’s growing!), stretches 29 inches (74% what a tall boy!), and head measures 18 inches (17%). Leo was such a champ too and had 2 shots, and a finger prick. He didn’t cry for the finger prick but of course he cried his eyes out for the shots, but quickly calmed down after a minute. He didn’t get fussy afterwards and just slept and was so sweet and happy for the rest of the day, like no big deal. Leo recently started to repeat actions with intention, and he is working really hard from switching objects from one hand to the other too! I never really noticed those motor skills with Lily, but since Leo is doing all this therapy, I didn’t realize all the tiny little developments at a baby goes through! I knew there was a lot but I never really thought about it until now. Leo is getting stronger with his sitting, he still doesn’t sit by himself for too long, but he’s getting sturdier and trying to look around more and branching out to other movements while sitting as well. He rolls all over the place and loves to kick and is putting more pressure on his legs now too. Leo babbles a lot now and is making more different sounds, and he is laughing much more now too. Lily is the best at making him laugh, and she enjoys doing it as well! Leo got 2 medication prescribed for his eczema on his legs, one is a normal cream and the other is for infections and boy do they work! Where was this months ago? It worked so much better than aquaphor, cheaper too, and his skin is almost back to it’s baby soft skin that he had back at the hospital!
Leo still isn’t taking solids, so we are waiting to hear back from the regional center about his new therapy schedule. His PT said he has a 43% delay on gross motor skills and wants recommends 1-2 hours of therapy a week, his OT recommended 1 hr of therapy a week, and his teacher recommended 1 hr of therapy as well. Obviously 4 hours of therapy a week is a lot for a baby so they are trying to figure out what would be the best schedule for him. No matter what, Leo is still making lots of progress. His tummy time is looking so much stronger each week and he is developing, at his own pace. Dr Wang said that his motor skills and muscle tone is like of a 5 month old, so maybe in a month, he will automatically take solids and make development wise it’s too early for him. That’s what I’m hoping for… Overall though, Leo is a a super happy and healthy baby. He is so mellow, calm, and playful, he is the other sunshine of my life, the first being Lily of course =). Leo already has 2 teeth on the bottom of his jaw, now he has another tooth that’s trying to make it’s debut on the top jaw! Exciting! Hopefully he will start to put those chompers to good use soon, because who wouldn’t love to eat food?? Happy 9 months my little prince Leo, keep up all your hard work, and keep being your happy sweet self!
Leo Mastering Tummy Time
Leo’s first Valentine’s Day
Leo 37 Weeks
Leo 38 Weeks
Lily is so amazing. Her vocabulary is constantly growing, she uses words like “actually”, “probably”, “recognize”, and “disgusting” haha, etc. Her language is so strong, she speaks in full on complete sentences and lately she likes to start off all her thoughts with “you know…” haha. She is so observant and intuitive, she is super smart and thoughtful too. She’s very polite and loves to be helpful, not just at home, but at school and when we are out too. She likes to dress up and pick out her outfits for the day. She likes to wear jewelry and accessorize. She likes to carry a purse and bring her toys with her everywhere she goes, and share with everyone. Lily is expanding her food palette now too, she really likes broccoli, avocado, and Brussels sprouts! She is eating more meat too and sometimes will be hesitant at first but will eventually try new foods too. I’m glad she’s being more open and adventurous with not just her foods, but with daily activities too. She likes to jump of curbs and over ground cracks, she likes to point out the colors in the sky and point at school buses and motorcycles that zoom by. She constantly talks about how when it’s her birthday, she will be 4 and then 5 haha. She also is no longer drinking pediasure and graduated (finally) to whole milk, but with some chocolate syrup added…it’s still a huge milestone for her. She continues to love her baby Leo and loves watching him, making him laugh, and giving him kisses! I’m so proud of my princess Lily pad, keep on smiling and being your unique amazing self!!
Lily Valentine’s Day 2016
Lily’s Rainbow Coloring
Jumping though hoops
Where else would a princess eat her goldfishes?
Silly Lily
Here are some video fun of the kiddoes!
Happy 7 Months Leo!
Happy 7 months old my precious Leo! Leo weighs in at 16.15 pounds (11 percentile) and stretches about 26.5 inches long (20 percentile)! Leo is still wearing size 2 diapers but will soon move on up to size 3 probably in a couple weeks, and he has also been upgraded to the size 3 nipple flow! Leo is babbling a lot more these days too, he likes to say “aba baba aaaaaa ummm” haha. He’s very social and likes interacting with us and if you walk away and he’s not done playing with you yet, he’ll say “AHHHH!!” and pout and tell you don’t go and to come back!” How can you leave that cute little face? He also has 2 cute little baby teeth growing on the bottom and he’s starting to drool more due to teething. He’s also sucking on his thumb a lot too because of it, and he makes it look so tasty! Leo still love the floor gym and he recently started playing in the jumper as well. He seems to like it and doesn’t mind staying in it for a long period of time, which is great for his neck strength and seeing the world in an upright position. We plan to start Leo on solids now so stay tune for that update!
Leo’s old teacher from Sunny Days got a new job opportunity somewhere else, so we are sad to see her go, but we got a new teacher Megan! Leo is doing really well with his therapy but will also be getting some extra help with a physical therapist to help with some gross motor skills soon. Leo is really good at rolling over without getting stuck, and he can roll back onto his side too. It looks like he wants to start crawling soon too cause he’ll kick his feet and reach for toys in front of him, it’s really cute! Leo is getting pretty solid at sitting up and can last for a few mins now before tipping over! He is also holding onto his toys a little longer too and shakes his toys a little bit! It’s very amazing to watch him grow and progress. I’m always amazed by him and by my Lily pad, they never stop surprising me!
Two years ago on January 4th, another baby of ours went to heaven. I try my best to live a happy and love filled life for my angels. Leo does not replace what we’ve lost, but he is proof that there is hope and that miracles do happen for he is my rainbow baby. So even though I mourn for my other babies, my heart is full. (30 wks 1 day old) 😍💙🌈✨
Merry Christmas! Leo got to celebrate his first Christmas and he was spoiled with lots of love and gifts! It wasn’t Lily’s first Christmas but I do feel like she enjoyed this Christmas the most, which makes sense since she knows a lot more now and what to expect. One of Lily’s favorite presents this year was the power wheel that I got her, you can see her driving it in the video below like a pro! She’s such a fast learner, I’m so proud of her skills! Leo didn’t know how to open presents yet but he love watching all the festivities and was adored by everyone! I can’t help but get emotional that we got to celebrate the holidays with Leo this year because just a year ago, we were told that this would be impossible. I’m so grateful for my amazing Leo and I feel so blessed and lucky to be able to celebrate all these big and small occasions with my prince Leo (and my princess Lily). You can see more pictures from our Christmas festivities HERE!
Happy New Year 2016!
Video Fun!!
Happy 6 Months Leo!
Leo 6 Months
Happy 6 Month my petite prince Leo! Leo weighs 14lbs 8 ounces, stretches 26 inches long, and has a 16 inch head circumference. He is now 5 percentile in weight but about 60% in height! What a tall boy!! He totally just stretched out this last month! Leo also was a champ when he took an oral immunization and 3 shots to his thighs. He only cried for a few seconds and then stopped quickly after. He didn’t get a fever and was very chill, mellow and happy for the rest of the day, and slept a lot. Leo’s neck is getting stronger and more stable each day, and he’s able to sit unsupported for a few seconds too, maybe a minute long at most before he starts to tip over haha. He likes to roll over a lot now, back to belly, and doesn’t get stuck anymore, and he likes to kick his feet a lot like he’s trying to crawl!! Leo has also been off his medication for a few weeks now, and maybe threw up a couple time since. Leo has an appointment next week to meet with a urologist and he will then have an ultrasound to check out the progress of his southern areas, and if there still isn’t much progress, he will most likely have to do surgery. I don’t know anything really about the details of the surgery, but I know he will get through it like a champ.
His teacher from Sunny Days feels like he’s still a little bit “behind” in terms of his gross motor skills, so she recommended a physical therapist who would be more specialized and help Leo with certain things that he needs help with. His neck strength is improving but not fast enough, so that’s mostly what he needs to work on. Overall though, I feel like due to his diagnosis, we are just more aware and have the advantage of having all these resources and aids for Leo, so this allows us to give him the best care and attention he can possibly have. Many without this diagnosis could be behind in certain develop and be perfectly “normal”, every child develops at their own rate, it’s not a contest, so I don’t view these “delays” that Leo has as any fault of Leos or make him in any way “behind” in development. Leo is simply developing at his own pace, and we are providing him with all the resources we can to give him the best possible chance of success. =)
Leo likes to coo a lot and he observes my mouth a lot and it looks like he tries to copy my mouth and repeat the sounds I make. His focus is very good and he loves to smile and laugh too. He is such a happy mellow baby, we are super blessed to have two mellow easy going kids! Leo sleeps on average 12-14 hours through the night, eats 4 times a day 155cc each time, and usually puts himself to sleep when he’s tired too. He loves music and is a social butterfly. So if you quietly approach him and let him take you in, you’ll give you a sweet warm smile! He is so amazing and I still count my lucky stars at how incredible he is. I’m so proud of you my little prince Leo, happy 6 months son, keep reaching for the stars!
Check out this cute video of Leo!
Lily is also now 3.5 years old!! Lily is constantly growing in her vocabulary and her growth and maturity in her cognitive skills and mannerisms always surpris and impress me. She definitely says the darndest things but she’s also super sweet and thoughtful at the same time. I cut my finger once and she told me a few days later while I was chopping and cooking dinner again, for me to be careful because she didn’t want my to cut my finger again. She’s so sweet! She is also very clever and sometimes too smart for her own good haha. She’s constantly paying attention whether it looks like it or not, but she’s always alert. The other day Khoa asked me if I wanted to go to the mall after we had lunch, and I said it depends on if Lily is sleepy and falls asleep on the ride home, and I looked behind me to check if Lily was sleeping and she lit up all wide eyed and said “Mommy I’m awake, I want to go shopping!” haha. She is also still an amazing big sister to Leo and constantly wants to be around him and smother him with kisses. She is very good at eating new foods and is eating everything we eat now. It’s so convenient to not have to make her separate food that is “safe” knowing she’ll eat it, but instead, I don’t have to take that extra time to make her special food because now she will eat whatever we are eating! It’s awesome!
Lily 3.5 Years Old
Lily is super spunky and fun and always soooo happy. She loves to sing and dance and do arts and crafts. Starting in January, she will be continuing her soccer classes in her after school program, but she will also be starting Spanish! She already picked up the word “adios” so I figured, lets expose her to Spanish and see how she does! I hope she enjoys it! She’s still doing some signing and I try to refresh her memory on some old signs in hopes that she would retain it and eventually communicate with Leo once he starts to pick up signing as well! That’ll be exciting to see them communicate with each other soon! Lily is also a very big little helper around the house. She likes to dust and clean and whatever I’m doing, she wants to do too. Lily is very into the girly things like wearing dresses, headbands and jewelry, but she also loves “boy toys” like cars and dinosaurs and light sabers! We introduced her to Star Wars this past weekend and watched episode IV and V and she loves it and is also a huge fan of Yoda! haha! She currently is a huge candiholic yet loves carrots and apples and cuties as well..so I guess it balances out? Overall she’s still such a very good kid and although she’ll have her moments, she’s still very good and well behaved and I feel so lucky everyday to have such an amazing little girl. It’s never a dull moment with my precious Lily pad. Her smile just lights up my heart, I love you Lily!!!!
Lily’s LePort 2015-2016 Yearbook Picture
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!!
Happy 3 Months Leo!
Happy 3 Months my little prince Leo! Leo weighs 10.05 pounds now (still under 0 percentile but he’s growing so that’s all that matters) and stretches 22.5 inches long (3 percentile)! He is growing bigger and stronger each day and he developing into such a bright and happy boy! Leo is starting to smile more now and is very alert and likes to look at his surroundings and just take it all in. We are letting him sleep for a 5 hour stretch at night but we will start to let him sleep longer now that he’s gaining a decent amount of weight! He feeds about every 4 hours, and takes about 95cc per feeding. He still throws up now and then, especially when we increase his intake, and he takes about an hour to finish his bottle, but lately he’s starting to take maybe 45 mins! Leo had his hearing diagnostics a couple weeks ago and for both ears, his high and mid tones are normal but he has trouble picking up the low tones. He has more trouble in his left ear than in the right. 
The doctor thinks it could be due to fluids in his ears that prevents the ear drums from moving properly but they need to check to make sure it’s not nerve damage, and they couldn’t test him at the time since it needs to be super quiet for the test to take place and by the time it came to that portion of the test, he was already awake and feeding (to keep him from shaking the equipment off his head and ears) and the sucking of the bottle was too loud for the test. So we will come back end of September to see if it’s due to nerve damage or if it’s just fluids. If it is just fluids then eventually he will be able to hear low tone sounds but the fluids can come back. If it’s nerve damage then it will be permanent and the low tone sounds will be very soft and hard for him to hear, but it’s not serious enough for him to need a hearing aid. I think that’s pretty good outcomes!
Leo 10 Weeks Old
Leo 11 Weeks Old
Leo 12 Weeks Old (PC: Phong Truong)
3 Months Old
Check out these video clips of Leo during his tummy time, making silly faces, and some bonding time with his Ông Ngoại (grandpa)!
Overall, Leo is doing so great and it makes me super happy! Sometimes he does a vigorous head shake that’ll be on and off for 10-15 minutes, and after doing some research on the trusty internet (haha), I concluded that it could be due to blockage inside his ears and so it’s probably bothering him and he’s trying to get rid of the annoyance. I would massage his ears when this happens and he actually calms down so I feel like that could be it. He is so calm and mellow and happy, it just warms me heart to be with him. I’ve also met with a case worker from the Regional Center of Orange County and she is setting Leo up with an in-home infant program for babies with special chromosomal needs. A therapist will be coming once a week for an hour to work with Leo and make sure he’s developing on track. If he is showing any signs of delays or needs help reaching his development goals, the therapist will work with him to get him to where he needs to be. Also, if the therapist feels that Leo needs extra help from an occupational or physical therapist, then she will make that recommendation and get that set up for him as well. This will be great for Leo regardless of delays or not because this will only help Leo become a healthy strong and smart individual! Leo also went on his first family vacation to San Diego and got to go to the beach and watch his first sunset and he loved it!
Also, Lily is such an amazing big sister to him. So far, she hasn’t shown any signs of jealousy! I try to be very conscious about how I treat her when Leo is around and even when other people are interacting with Leo, I try to make sure to give Lily attention too so that she doesn’t feel like everyone is so focused on Leo that we forgot about her. Whenever she comes home from school, she always asks where her baby Leo is or if she sees him she goes up to him and gives him a kiss! She’s so super sweet! She likes to hold him and always asks to feed him and say he’s hungry and needs his milk haha. She likes to watch us change his diaper and would sit and watch him get a bath too! She amazes me so much and I cannot be more proud of my precious Lily pad.
Lily also started the new school year at LePort a couple weeks ago. She is really cute and wants to bring her baby Leo to school with her too, so I thought it would be cute to take this picture with Leo inside her backpack haha. Lily also made a new friend at school, a new student named Zoey and her teacher Ms. April says they’re inseparable! That’s really cute that she can make friends so easily. She’s still such a happy and spunky little toddler. She talks so much now and speaks in complete sentences, it’s like she’s a tiny person! You can read some of the super cute and clever things she says HERE. She understands everything I say and hears everything too. She’s always paying attention so its harder to get things past her, she’s definitely a smart cookie! She loves to draw, paint, color, and do all sorts of arts and crafts. I feel like she’s definitely my mini me! Haha! She also likes to paint her nails, wear hair accessories, dresses (no pants!), and is very into sandals now since she sees us wearing them all the time. She also still loves minions, she likes to play in her kitchen and make me a “special lunch”, play with play doh and now legos! She also likes to play with her toy cars and guns as well! So well rounded! Her favorite shows are the moment are Masha and the Bear, Octonauts, Dragon Tales, How to Train a Dragon, Cinderella, Wreck it Ralph, and the Minions Movie! She has moments where she’ll be very good at eating but then other moments where she hardly eats. She’s so easily distracted at home but when we do go out, she tends to be better at eating, probably because there’s no toys to play with haha. I love you my Lily pad, you are so wonderful and amazing, you light up my life! Happy 3 months Leo, you are such an amazing little fighter, I love you so much!
Here’s a couple videos of Lily being a wonderful big sister burping her baby brother and then another video of her at Target, and then one of our fun at the pool together!
Happy 2 Months Leo!
Happy 2 Months to my sweet little prince Leo! Leo is now 8.5 pounds and stretches 21 inches long! He is still under 0 percentile in weight but is about average in height. He’s doing a good job growing so it the percentage doesn’t really matter. Last week has been having a hard time keeping down his food and has been throwing up and spitting up a lot so we took him in to see the doctor. He said since Leo is growing, we need to up his medication dosage from 0.8ml to 1.0ml to keep up with his weight. His stomach is also small and doesn’t stretch as easily so he can’t absorb his food fast enough to keep the high volumes of food. This gives him little room for all the milk he needs to drink so he ends up spitting it up or pooping it out. So instead of increasing his formula by 5cc’s every 5 days, we will just play it by ear and see how much he can handle without throwing it all up or pooping it right out. The doctor did notice that his actions are more like a 1 month old rather than a 2 month old and so he thinks his development is related to his size. I’m not quite sure what that means in the long run, but the important thing is that he’s growing stronger each day! He is still super chill and easy going, he hardly ever cries and isn’t fussy at all. He likes to sleep all day and night and usually we have to wake him up to feed him. He sometimes does like to stay awake for a little bit after feedings, and when he is awake, he is super alert and is attracted to light. He also likes to follow my voice too! He is such a sweet little baby!
2 Months Old
Last week, Kimberly from the Regional Center of Orange County, an Early Start Service Coordinator, came to assess Leo and to tell me about their infant program for kids with specials and developmental disabilities. Normally she would have to check for eligibility but due to Leo’s diagnosis of Tetrasomy 18p, he automatically qualifies for the program and it’s all covered by the state too. She told me about how the program would work and gave me some more resources and support group pamplets as well. So in a couple weeks, Victoria, Leo’s new case manager, will be doing the in-home infant program with Leo, for an hour once a week. She will meet with me and Leo and go over his Individual Family Service Plan (IFSP) and put therapy services in place for Leo. This is mainly to work with Leo to keep his developments on track and if he needs extra therapy then they will provide the help he needs. So overall, I’m grateful that they have these programs and it will only help my little Leo to succeed!
8 Weeks Old
How wonderful would it be to see the world through your pure and innocent eyes.
These past 2 months have been a crazy emotional roller coaster but it makes me so proud and happy to see my little prince grow bigger and stronger each day. I just have to mentally prepare myself that set backs happen and that they are only natural. I just have to keep on having faith in my little man and cheer him on every step of the way. He makes me so happy and I love him to pieces! It also makes me super proud that his big sister Lily loves him so much. Everyday she comes from and always asks where her “baby Leo” is and loves to watch and help whenever she can. They are my world, they melt my heart. Happy 2 months be littlest love! Mommy loves you so much!
Happy 1 Months Leo!
Happy 1 Month Leo! Leo had his follow with his pediatrician yesterday, and it also happens to be right around his 1 month as well. Leo currently weighs 6.65lbs, stretches 20 inches long and has a head circumference of 13.5 inches. He is below zero percentile in weight, 2 percent in height and average in head size. Due to his underlying chromosome disorder, the important things here is for Leo to continue to eat and gain weight and ignore the percentiles for now. So Leo will have a follow up in 1 week to make sure that he is gaining weight. Leo is currently on Similac NeoSure 24 Cal formula and feeds about every 3-3.5 hours and drinks about 30-50cc per feeding. Dr. Wang also said that so far Leo shows no signs of delays and that he has really good motor and muscle skills!! Go Leo!!
He is also a very calm and easy going baby, just like his sister Lily when she was a baby! He just eats, sometimes falls asleep halfway through feeding so that gets tough, and then burps and catches his second wind during feeding, and then goes right back to sleep when he’s all done. Sometimes he will be alert and stay awake for a little bit after feeding otherwise you can just put him in his crib and he’ll put himself to sleep! What a good boy Leo! He tends to smile the most after a feeding too, maybe because he’s full and happy from milk coma.
4 Weeks Old
Since leaving the NICU, Leo has been doing pretty well with his feeds for the most part. Lately he would slow down on some of his feeds and get sleepy and not finish, so I just let him sleep a half hour longer to give him a little extra rest so he can finish more of his feeds next time around. He has to go for his hearing check up in a couple weeks, and do his kidney ultrasound follow up once he reached 10 pounds, so that will probably be in a couple months. Other than that, Leo is adjusting to life at home very well! I am super happy to have my precious Leo home and I can’t wait to celebrate many more milestones with him and watch him grow before my very own eyes! Keep growing strong baby boy, you are doing so great! We all love you to pieces!!
Leo 1 Month Old
Enjoy this video I made of Leo’s journey during his first month of life!! He is so brave and such a strong fighter, I cannot be more proud of my baby boy. I love you so much Leo, you warm all our hearts with your presence. You are my littlest love, my hope, my rainbow at the end of a storm.
Happy 3rd Birthday Lily!
Happy 3rd Birthday to my sweet wonderful Lily pad! Lily weighs 27 pounds (only gained 4 pounds this entire year) and is 37 inches tall, both in the 13th percentile range. Her hemoglobin levels dropped from last year down to 11.3, on the low side so she needs to have more iron intake, more fish it is!! Haha. There’s actually a lot of foods rich in iron like red meats, pork, poultry, seafood, beans, dark leafy greens, dried fruits, and certain cereals breads and pastas! She pretty much just needs to eat more in general, but she’s so energetic she just runs around and burns it all off. Less play, more eating Lily haha! She’s small for her age but definitely big in personality and maturity. She’s so smart, spunky, and sassy and is constantly surprising us with her level of understanding and awareness of our world. (Thank you so much Mieng for these beautiful pictures of my Lily pad!!)
A couple weekends before her birthday, we had a small lunch at Favori with both of our immediate families to celebrate Lily’s birthday since we didn’t throw Lily a party this year. Then on her birthday weekend, we took her Balboa beach where there is this nice little playground on the sand that Lily likes to play at. She loves to climb up the ladders now and go down the big kid’s swirly slide and repeat those things all day long! She also likes to look at the water and run towards it and away from it, over and over again. Digging in the sand for hidden treasures is also a favorite beach activity of hers and pointing out all the seagulls and birds that fly by as well.
As you all know, Lily’s little brother Leo made his special and amazing arrival the day before her birthday. So unfortunately we couldn’t continue her birthday weekend as planned, but I still wanted to make sure I do something special on her actual birthday. I told Khoa to bring some presents that I had for her to the hospital, to let her open and I also made her a cake that is her favorite by far! She doesn’t really eat cake or cupcakes much, so I decided to fill a glass with her favorite sweets, crispy M&Ms, skittles, and red vines and stuck a sparkly candle on top! I’m pretty sure the hospital would not approve of the open flames…but we did it quick so they don’t know, and we were safe about it haha. Plus, Lily LOVED it and that made me super happy. Her face lit up when she saw the bowl of candy and she was even more excited when she saw how sparkly the candle was! So that was a big success!
Thank you to everyone who sent her birthday presents as well! I’m so touched by everyone who took the time to remember Lily’s birthday and shower her with love even though you can’t be here in person to see her and celebrate with her. This birthday is special, not just because she got a new baby brother!! So it was very important to me to make sure to make her feel loved and special even though there’s this new amazing change in all our lives. So thank you everyone for helping me make her feel special. I know it’s just presents, but to a little 3 year old, it’s much more than that.
We had a special celebration at LePort for Lily’s birthday as well, and we brought in fruit filled cookies from Trader Joe’s and cut up some strawberries for the kids for the special snack. I also bought some minion themed party favors to pass out to the kids as well since Lily loves minions right now! I bought plastic favor cups, bubble wands, super bouncy balls, stickers, and organic fruit snacks. I made thank you favor tags as well and tied them to the bubble wands with yellow ribbon to complete the package! Lily and her friends loved them! It was really cute and impressive to watch Lily set up the table for snack time and sit at the table and eat her snacks so well. She was so good at cleaning up after herself and then saying goodbye to us without a fight! I was so impressed with her maturity, it made me proud and also a little emotional that she’s growing up so fast.
I cannot believe my precious Lily pad is now 3 years old! Seeing my Lily pad happy makes me so happy, and knowing that I was a part of making her happy, just makes me feel so wonderful inside. I feel like she’s so smart and advance for a three year old, she speaks so well with multiple complete sentences and has such a wide range of vocabulary. She is so observant of her surroundings and is so intuitive to emotions as well. She’s majorly sweet and is a naturally caring and nurturing person, proven by the way she treats her baby brother Leo. I cannot be more proud of my Lily pad and I look forward to watching her continue to grow into such a beautiful lady, both inside and out. I love you soooo much Lily, you light up my life, you make me and your daddy so happy, you are so amazing and beautiful, you are everything worth living for my love. Happy 3rd Birthday my precious Lily pad!! You can see more pictures from Lily’s birthday festivities HERE! Below is also a video I made of some fun happy silly loving moments with Lily in the past year!! Enjoy!
