Category Archives: Leo Videos
Happy 17 Months Leo!
Happy 17 months my petite prince Leo!! Leo weighs 21.5lbs, stretches 32inches long, and has a head circumference of 19.5inches. Leo has a minor cold right now and has a stuff nose and it makes it difficult to drink his bottle but he learns to take breaks for air. He still isn’t taking in solids but he did open his mouth a couple times with the OT when she tried to feed him some rice cereal, so that’s great progress. Leo still can’t crawl but he’s getting better at tucking his legs under him and will rock back and forth, so he’s almost there! He also is almost able to sit all the way up from laying down as well. His core and legs are getting stronger each day. He’s able to stand while supported now too! I remember just a few months ago he was completely like jello or spaghetti when you would try to hold him up to stand. Leo is such a fighter and I cannot be more proud of him!! He is always so happy and smiling all the time. He likes to squeal and babble a little bit too and he tends to say “mom” and “mama” but I’m not sure if it’s purposeful but it’s still something to be excited about anyways haha. Leo likes to play with Sophie the giraffe, and likes to explore all different textures of objects. He loves mirrors and like to look at his handsome cute face! I love you so much my petite prince Leo!! Happy 17 months old!
Lily had had a very eventful month! She (and Leo) got to go to Mickeys Halloween Party at Disneyland where she had a total blast! I feel like she’s really enjoying it more now and loves all the amazing parades and fireworks show and the kid (Lily) friendly rides. Her favorite is It’s a Small World still and she remembers it from last year too! Of course she greatly enjoyed all the candy she as well and special thanks to Ann for making her super cute and awesome tote bag to carry all her trick or treats in! She also got to go to a local harvest carnival and play some games and enjoy some snacks and festive activities as well! For Halloween this year, her and Leo had a matching costume photo op where she was Rey and Leo was BB8 from Star Wars the Force Awakens! Thanks Skye for letting us borrow your costume! At her school Halloween parade, she was super excited to wear her Cinderella dress made by yours truly! She requested to have that dress made months ago and she’s so excited she can finally wear it and show it off to her friends. It makes me happy knowing she likes my stuff and it makes me feel like she’s proud of it especially when she wants to show her friends! The kids also had a blast at the pumpkin patch with Skye and Summer as well! They also went trick or treating with their cousins Aidan, Brooke and Cameron. Lily did really well and if she got scared of a house, she just stuck back with Anh Hai Mike and waited for the kids to come back and continued onto the next house! I’m so proud of you Lily!! Lily is so smart, sweet, and loving, I love you so much my little Lily pad!!
Happy 16 Months Leo!
Happy sweet 16 months to my sweet little prince Leo (sorry for posting this so late Leo!)! Leo weighs in at 20lbs and stretches about 31 inches long. Leo is getting so much stronger each day and constantly making progress in his developments. He had his GI appointment and the doctor prescribed him some medication to help with his chronic constipation. She said that he needs to clean out his colon and he has to be on this medication everyday for about a year to get his system use to going number two once a day. His colon is probably enlarged due to the constipation and holding it in for days at a time, so he needs to allow himself a lot of time to get his colon back down to a normal size. She thinks that maybe if he poops more regularly, maybe he won’t have a tummy ache (even though he doesn’t see to be fussy about it, maybe his tummy has been aching) and maybe this will cause him to want to eat and try solids. Overall, the medication is working and he’s still not taking solids, but it’s going to be a process. The OT said she’s never met any non g-tube that’s be this orally defensive before. I hope you start to learn to eat solids soon Leo because food is SO enjoyable haha! Leo did have a great accomplishment though and that he’s starting to hold his own bottle during feedings! He’s not confident yet, it’s more like me propping his hands up and holding his hands in place, but it sets the motion and he would hold it for a minute or two by himself, and sometimes he’ll even tip the bottle up himself to get the last of the milk as well! He is also tucking his legs under him more when he’s on the floor on his tummy, and he’ll rock back and forth sometimes in that position too. It seems like he’s really wanting to crawl soon, fingers crossed!! He’s also getting stronger at standing. Sometimes he’ll pull himself upright but he still needs a lot of assistance and support when standing, and he’s still pretty stiff, but he’s improved a lot just in this last month. The two PT sessions a week now really helps! He also does this ridiculously cute thing where he’ll put his arm up and his hand on his forehead whenever he’s tired or doesn’t like something, and if he really doesn’t like something then he’ll pout, but it’s just so super cute I cannot resist his doe eyes when he does it! All his baby steps are huge leaps in my eyes and I cannot be more proud of my petite prince Leo!
Lily just so bright and sweet as ever! Lily is learning a lot at LePort and even though her Spanish class isn’t offered this quarter, she is still reciting numbers and words she learned and is very proud of it! She is always super silly and likes to use her giant imagination and create lots of elaborate stories during playtime. She is very loving and sweet to Leo still and still continues to give him lots of hugs and kisses and is still so good at making him laugh and smile. She also had a recent school field to Zoomars Petting Zoo in San Juan Capistrano for the first time and she had such a blast! She loves riding the school bus and she really enjoyed all the animals! She liked feeding all the guinea pigs, goats, and pigs, and she even got to brush a goat’s fur. She also conquered her fear of horses/ponies and rode on a horse with no tears at all! I am so proud of her and she even had so much fun and waves hello to me several times during the ride. There was giant corn kernel pit at the zoo too and she loved making corn angels in it haha. Lily really likes songs on the radio and is singing along to them more, I love her sweet soft little voice! She still has a slight accent when she says certain words, it’s pretty cute and unique haha. I don’t know where she gets it from…but it’s cute regardless! She’s so silly and always bursting with so much sunshine and happiness, you just help but smile and love her even more. I love you so much my precious princess, my Lily pad! Keep on shining oh so bright!!
Happy 14 Months Leo!
Leo 14 Months
Happy 14 months old to me precious Prince Leo! Leo weighs about 19.8 pounds, and stretches about 30inches long! Leo has been make slow progress, but still great progress! He is getting stronger with his core muscles and is able to sit propped up longer and sometimes he can even lift his arms to reach for things too. He is slowly getting more comfortable being on his knee and squatting (with assistance), and reaching for toys while sitting in his booster chair. He really like the crinkly texture toys, give him a piece of paper and he’ll be entertained for hours! He also is working on standing, you have to really prop him and hold him in place but he is starting to put pressure on his feet so that is definitely good progress. Before, he would just bend at the hips and not even let you hold his legs down, so this is wonderful progress for him! Also, he started to chew on his crinkly fabric book for a tiny bit, so that’s super great because he usually doesn’t like to put anything in his mouth besides his thumb and his bottle for milk. I hope he will start to explore the world more through taste soon!
Leo is in the process of being put on a wait list for a full time school program called Early Head Start. We don’t know if we qualify financially yet, we will know in a few weeks, but for sure we know that Leo qualifies since one of the specialty is that the program is offered for children with disabilities, and Leo’s diagnosis would qualify him, and since he is already receiving help through the Regional Center, he would get higher priority for the wait list too. Hopefully he can get in so he can get extra special attention and care while I’m at work! Grandma did a great job watching Leo but it’s getting time for him to start going to school. Leo also got his second hair cut, this time a home hair cut by Mieng and I think it looks pretty good! Leo looks so cute and handsome and very stylish!! He was very cooperative too, just hand him the phone and he’s occupied and calm. He likes to look at his reflection on the phone, or himself with you have it in the camera mode haha. Who wouldn’t like looking at that cute little face?? Leo has been sick with a fever and bad phlemgy cough for the last few days and it makes me so sad to see him not feeling so well. He would cry from feeling so uncomfortable in the middle of his sleep but even though he’s crying, I can’t help be think he’s so cute haha. I hope he feels better soon though, he’s always in happy spirits overall though. Leo is getting bigger (taller at least) and stronger everyday and I’m so proud of him! I love you so much Leo, you’re my rainbow at the end of the storm!!
Lily is so happy and always such a character, I can never get enough of her. Lily is always bursting with happy excited energy and she has a pure love and appreciation for everything! I watch her with such awe as I see her talk about things, her thought process behind all her actions. I feel like she speaks so maturely for her age. Her understanding and processing of information is just so impressive to me. All the things that I try to teach her, seems to really get absorbed by her, and she’s developing into such a beautiful little lady! I had a gift for her just yesterday and she didn’t even see what was inside but the fact that I had something for her, she was so ecstatic and grateful that she kissed the cardboard box it came in and said it’s so beautiful and she’s so excited!! haha. Lily still really loves to be hands on and help me cook. At her school they have a garden and grow their own veggies and so she learned how to wash and roast eggplants! She gets exposure to lots of different healthy foods at LePort, and it really helps her branch out and try new foods too. She loves working on puzzles too and is working on her writing skills. She knows a couple words from her Spanish class, particularly “frutas” for fruit and “bebe” for baby. She is such a sweet, smart and kind girl, and I love her pure innocence and happy nature. I cannot be more proud! I might be biased, but I don’t care, =P. I love her so much!
Here’s some video fun of the kiddoes!
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 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 11 Months Leo!
Leo 11 Months
Leo 47 Wks
Leo 46 Wks
Happy 11 Months old Leo! I can’t believe this is your last month before you turn 1 years old! Leo weighs in at 19.2lbs and stretches about 29 inches long! He is still such a happy mellow calm baby, and is always a joy to be around. Earlier Leo had a really bad stuffy and runny nose that lasted a little over a week, so that was really rough on him (and me), but he managed to stay in good spirits most of the time though. The only time he was really showing any misery was when he would try to drink his bottle and his nose would be so stuff he couldn’t breathe, and then throw up all his milk a couple times too, so he would cry pretty hard, poor baby =(. I’m glad he’s all better now and and breathe a-ok! Leo really likes to look at himself in the mirror and always has a big smile on his face when he sees the handsome little guy smiling back at him. Leo is still a very good sleeper and takes to take a couple long naps a day and then do a good 12-14 hour stretch of sleep at night! Good job Leo!!
Leo 45 Wks
Leo 48 Wks
He likes to roll all over the place and kick his feet like crazy. He really wants to move around, and I feel like he really wants to crawl, it’s just a matter of getting his core muscles and arm muscle tones strong enough so he can do it. Practice practice practice. Leo still hasn’t made much progress in terms of eating solids, but he’s getting more use to the zvibe tool. Hopefully his mouth muscles will loosen up and as his core muscle strengthens, hopefully everything else will fall into place. For now, I’ve been trying to feed him homemade pureed pees and black beans, but so far he still pushes the food out and doesn’t eat. We just have to keep on working at it. Also, his physical therapist suggests we get Leo to do a brain scan, so see if there’s anything going on neurologically that’s preventing him from achieving certain gross motor skills. He tends to hyper extend his arms and extend them backwards rather than pulling his arms forward for balance. She thinks it could be neurological, so I’m going to set up an appointment to get him scanned just to make sure. This worries me of course, but it’s better safe than sorry, and better to know more so we can prepare and work with what we know. Overall though, Leo is improving on his sitting, he’s able to sit tripod style for about 5 minutes on his own now. His side sitting is getting better too and I can let go for maybe 15-30 seconds or so before he starts to tip over. He is babbling a lot more and says “mmm” a lot, I’m pretty sure he’s trying to say “mama” =). The physical therapist also tried some musical therapy to help him concentrate during therapy. Sometimes he’ll try to resist and fight her, and so she played some therapeutic rhythmic drumming music, and it instantly calmed him down, and he was able to do the task at hand, and even sit up on a box all by himself for about a minute!! Plus, doesn’t he look so cute with those headphones? So now I will add 30 minutes of rhythmic music to his daily therapy, it’s suppose to help the brain develop too. Overall, he is making baby step progresses, which is also good. The therapist said, once he learns a skill, he can’t regress, so it’s just a constant forward moving action, so that’s very encourage. Keep it up my little prince, mommy is so proud of you!! I love you to pieces!!
Lily doing Private Penguin Pose
Lily chopping apples for salad
Lily is so wonderful, spunky, sassy, smart, funny, and amazing. She continues to shower her baby brother with love and attention and likes to keep an eye on him for me when I need to shower or do things around the house. She is also my little sous chef, and loves to help me chop whisk and prep for dinner. She really likes to go shopping now and would always pick something out for me and then look for something for herself. She is a addicted to candy, she has a major sweets tooth, got that in her blood from her mommy…haha. She really likes to eat fish, shrimp, cheese, bread, eggs, tofu, noodles, broccoli, peas, string beans, carrots, and steak! She loves to snack on potato chips, cheesy popcorn (Pirate’s Booty), and peanuts. Lily also went to the dentist this past weekend and actually let the dentist count and check her teeth for the first time, and she did so well! When he asked her to open her mouth bigger, she listened and did it, so good Lily! No tears or anything! She has 10 teeth on top and 10 teeth on the bottom, and he said they all look straight and good! Woohoo, good job Lily! Amazing too since she eats sooo much candy! Lily loves to help me water the plants and plant succulents in my balcony garden, and she also likes to help Leo read books. She even grabbed his hand to help him feel the textures on the pages and help him turn the page all on her own too, because she sees me doing it, so she does it now too. It’s so sweet and heart warming to see her do those things! I’m so proud of you Lily, I love you soooo much! You light up my life, I cannot be more lucky to have you at my baby girl!!
Trying on hats at the mall
Lily makes all sorts of chocolates!
Lily helping Leo feel the textures on the book.
Lily with her best friend Zoey putting soil into reusable k-cups at school!
Check out some videos of Leo!
Happy 10 Months Leo!
Leo 10 Months
Happy 10 Months my petit prince Leo! Leo now weighs about 18bs, and stretches about 29 inches long! Leo had his follow up check with his urologist a few weeks ago and overall everything looks good. He said to massage the two incision spots on his belly 30 second rotations each way every time he gets a diaper change and the scar should go away! He has to come back in a year for another follow up, so hopefully everything stay good and healthy. Leo is starting to play with his toes more now and he loves to roll all over the place. He is holding onto his toys a little longer and really likes to play with crinkly texture toys. His top two teeth are very visible now so his teeth count is at a whopping 4! He’s starting to drool more now because of all his teething. When Leo starts to suck his thumb, that’s a sign that he’s getting tired and sleepy, it’s really cute! He’ll rub his eyes and them use his arm to cover his eyes and fall asleep that way. He is being more vocal now too and making lots of different noises. He likes to blow raspberries now and is beginning to lick things and slowly put things in his mouth, mostly his bibs. Leo also really enjoys books and on a few occasions he was even able to turn the page all by himself! He is very curious and loves to observe his surrounds. Leo has a sweet gaze and will entrance with his beautiful eyes and sweet little smile. Big sister Lily is still the best at making him laugh, but he is always so happy and smiling, he is literally a bundle of joy!
Leo 34 Weeks
Leo Easter 2016
Leo 41 Weeks
Leo’s 1st St Patrick’s Day
Leo had his 6 month assessment from the infant education program a few weeks ago. I was actually a little surprised by how delayed he was in a lot of areas, I thought he was just a little bit behind in some gross motor skills but I didn’t realize he was delayed in other areas as well. The assessment stated that Leo’s delays are attributed to a couple neuromotor factors such as low tone and decreased strength. It was reccommended that his schedule gets changed to 3 hours of therapy a week instead of 1 hour a week, where it’s 1 hour for PT, 1 hour for OT, and 1 hour with his infant educator. The Regional Center decided to go with 2 hours of therapy, 1 hour PT and 1 hour OT and forego the infant educator for now. When I first saw the results to Leo’s assessment, I was surprised by the numbers and felt bummed, scared and worried for my Leo. I think it’s a normal reaction, since I don’t want Leo be too delayed, if at all, but after some time to process all the information, and understand the questions and tests that were involved in order to do the assessment in the first place, I wasn’t as worried anymore. I can’t get caught up in the statistics and numbers, I have to look at what’s right in front of me, and look at this from a different perspective. Leo isn’t struggling, yes he is delayed, but he isn’t struggling, he is healthy, and most of all, he is happy. Leo has his own journey that he is living and he is living it wonderfully. He will crawl, stand, and walk, when the time is right for him; he will talk and eat when he is ready to do so, and he will continue to grow and develop the best he can, and that’s all I can ask and be grateful for. Leo is my little miracle, and every day with him, every moment, every milestone, is more than a dream come true. I want the very best for him, but he is already the very best son for me!
Leo with PT Kerry
Leo started his first Physical Therapy session with his new therapist Kerry on Monday. I really like Kerry, she has a lot more activities and exercises that we can do with Leo at target and strengthen his core muscles. She really put Leo to work and he didn’t really like it, poor baby, and even started to cry! Leo hardly ever cries so it was really sad but funny and cute to see at the same time. His bottom lip in his pout is just way too cute, I couldn’t resist and have to show you all haha. It’s all good for him though, so he will thank her later!! It was a very helpful first session and I feel like as long as Leo keeps at it, he will probably make a lot of progress real faster! Kerry was very motivated as well to get Leo to reach his milestone goals, so that was very encouraging to see. Behind those tears and pouty face, I think Leo really liked Kerry though because right off the bat he impressed us all by sitting unassisted for what probably felt like 2 minutes!!
Leo chilling side sitting style
Normally he’s done maybe 30 seconds or less because he would get so excited and want to move around and he’ll lose his balance, but in front of Kerry, he just sat so stable and straight, it was amazing!! You are still doing really great Leo. Don’t let numbers and statistics dictate what you are capable of. You will push boundaries and achieve great goals for yourself, and you can do anything you put your mind to. I have faith in you my little Leo, you already make me so proud, and I know you will always be my beacon of hope and my bright light! I love you so much Leo!!
“I’d rather lay like this than practice sitting.” – Leo
Leo had his first occupational therapy session today with his new therapist Christine. She was really nice and really good with Leo. We didn’t deal too much with feeding today, more of just physical therapy so that Leo can build a relationship and trust with her. While playing through therapy, she’ll occasionally touch his mouth and face to get him to get use to her touching his mouth, so later when she works with loosening his mouth and cheek muscles, he won’t be too closed off to it. She said later one when he does start to eat, to let him be messy and explore his food, let him feel the texture with his hands, smell the aroma, point out all the different colors in his food, and then let him taste it and really exaggerate how good it taste. It’s all part of the experience of eating and she said to make the process fun for him. She seems very knowledgeable and I feel like Leo is in great hands!!
Also, Lily is so wonderfully amazing. Lily had her Children’s Night at LePort recently and once again I’m also so blown away by all that she can do. I’m very impressed with her beginning writing skills, her starting to sound out letters and trace in cursive, her dexterity with level of focus and concentration with her work too. It’s really great to see her so confident in the classroom and excited and happy to do her work and show off her skills. I’m so proud of her in every way, I can’t believe that beautiful smart silly funny little baby girl is all mine. Lily also had a field trip to the Discovery Science Center and I think one of her favorite part about field trips is being able to ride the school bus. Every time she sees one she gets super excited! I got to go with her on her field trip and it’s very nice how empty it was and it felt private and so Lily didn’t really have to wait to do anything she wanted, she got to roam free and do whatever her mind was curious about. Her favorite was this recycle game that they had on the second floor, she must have spent half an hour there! You can view pictures from her field trip to the Discovery Science Center HERE. I love you so much my Lily pad!! Check out this video of Lily at her Children’s Night at LePort back in March.
Lily continues to be such an amazing big sister to Leo as well. She’s still constantly so loving and caring towards Leo, always wanting to give him kisses and play with him and making him laugh, she’s still the best one at making him laugh. He loves her so much too and every time he sees her he loves to just watch her and gives her the biggest smile. Lily is always so happy and silly, she lights up my life. She still likes to be very helpful and likes to do a lot of things herself. She even helps me out with cooking now too, from cracking and stirring eggs, chopping fruits and veggies, to watering plants. She’s my little sous chef, my little personal assistant, my partner in crime. She really likes music and loves to sing and even makes requests to hear certain songs. Whenever a song comes on the radio that she likes, she would ask me what song it is if she doesn’t know it, or tell me that she likes this one. She also enjoys watching a lot of movies and shows on netflix, I recently took her to watch Zootopia and she loved it and watched it many times after that (handicam version at home haha). She said she loves the song in it and would watch the music video over and over. Lily also enjoys coloring and drawing, she’s very good at writing her name, and she likes to cut and glue paper, the Kiwi Crates are still a big hit with her! I like them too since it’s a great way to have bonding activity time with her that’s also educational and fun. Lily loves to play pretend food prep for me as well and play with little random knick knacks, stick them in her purse, take it out, and put it back in, and repeat haha. She has a very big imagination, is very observant, smart, and intuitive. I love you so much Lily, you are always making me proud and happy, I’m a very lucky mommy!!
Leo watches Lily go down the slide!
Lily & Leo Easter 2016
Lily Easter 2016
Lily 1st Day of Spring 2016
LIly St. Patrick’s Day 2016
Lily & Leo St. Patrick’s Day 2016
Time for some video fun of the kiddos, enjoy!
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 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 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!
