Category Archives: Leo
Happy 23 Months Leo!
Happy 23 months old to my sweet prince Leo! Leo weighs 24.6 pounds and stretches about 34inches tall! Leo is making lots of great new progress in the last month! He is able to take puree fruit and veggies (more fruits than veggies) in his bottle, about 2ounces of puree mixed with his pediasure. He started off slowly with 1 ounce mixed in, and I used a y-cut nipple so that thick consistencies can go through the nipple. Leo use to take lots of breaks when there was puree in his bottle, but now he’s able to drink it a lot faster and hardly takes any breaks now! I’m so proud of him! He’s finally getting new and more nutrients inside him! He is also crawling really fast now, and getting quite comfortable pulling himself up to stand. He’s even cruising a little bit more on his own, just a few steps but it’s definite progress. Leo is starting to be more vocal and it does sound like he’s try to talk now, or maybe it’s just my wishful thinking, but his PT Lara and I swear he said his name Leo a few times haha. It’s like he’s cheering himself on! Leo really like to put things in his mouth and crawl around with his toy in his mouth, particularly nerf gun bullets haha. He also likes to talk to himself and he gets very captivated with songs, especially Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Leo also is getting less droolly, thank goodness!! He use to soak up a bib within 5-10 minutes, now, he can wear a bib for hours before it needs to be changed. I’m so glad because now he doesn’t even need to wear a bib sometimes and I can actually see what design he has on his shirts! I’m sure it’s a lot more comfortable for him too to not have his neck and chin always wet. He is still such a happy mellow baby, I love him so much!!! I’m so proud to call him mine and I can’t wait to see the amazing things he continues to achieve!
Lily is growing up to be such a wonderful, sweet, compassionate girl. She’s very smart, intuitive, and clever too, sometimes too clever for her own good haha. And she has a good memory too and will call me out on things I say to her like saying how I’ll take her to the park or Starbucks after school haha. She definitely keeps me on my toes so I always follow through on my word to her and it helps build trust between us. I keep my word and she keeps hers, especially when it comes to doing chores and other responsibilities. When she wakes up, I have her work in her work activity books before she can play on her ipad, and even when she gets to go on her ipad, she has to work either on ABC Mouse or one of the educational apps before she can play other games or watch videos. She will always bring her work to me and show me that she completed the app exercises and then she get free range on the ipad and toys. I love that she’s able to just do this on her own without my reinforcement now because she’s holding herself accountable, and that’s such a great skill that I admire in her, especially at such a young age!
She is very sweet and kind and is always looking out for everyone around her, especially her baby brother Leo! She always tries to give him toys to play with and likes to tell me his accomplishments like how he can clap his hands, give high 5’s, and she even says proudly that Leo can stand very well now! She is the sweetest and seeing how proud she is of Leo just melts my heart! Lily loves her after school activities at LePort, yoga, karate and hula! She likes to show me her steps she learns in hula and demonstrates her yoga poses too. She’ll tell me to take a deep breath and relax haha. Then she’ll stretch out her arms and bend down into child’s pose and then giggle haha. She is very into unicorns right now, probably because they are magical and colorful creatures and it totally suits her wild imagination, it’s very fitting for her! She also likes to do mazes, puzzles, connect the dots, coloring, drawing, painting, practice writing in cursive too, so impressive, and even started doing word searches! She loves gardening with me as well and will even sometimes carry around her little pot of flowers around in the backyard like it’s her stuff animal! Haha, so cute! She is my darling love and I am so proud of her! I can’t believe she will be 5 years old in less than a month…Time sure flies!! I love you so much my beautiful silly Lily pad!!!
Happy 22 Months Leo!
Happy 22 months to my sweet little Leo! Sorry for the late post Leo! Leo weighs in at 24.6lbs and stretches about 33 inches tall! He is getting so strong everyday and just a week ago he was able to pull himself up to stand and even cruised a few steps!! He also can now give kisses, which is most him opening his mouth and sticking his tongue on your face, but I’ll take his kisses all day any day! He doesn’t do it every time I ask but he does most of the time!! He still isn’t eating solids yet but he recently had a feeding evaluation and it was very informative and promising. He’s going to get a feeding specialist on top of his usual OT and in the meantime, I’m going to try to put about 10% of purée pears, or any subtle flavoring foods into his pediasure, using any-cut (or x-cut) nipple and see how he does. This will slowly introduce food to him in a familiar setting (in his bottle) so that he doesn’t aggressively turn it way before even trying it. I hope it works!!! He has grabbed pieces of bananas and licked it though, so that is progress!! Leo can give high fives almost every time you ask him now and I feel like he’s starting to try to talk! Whenever I change his diaper, I’ll give him a toy to play with to distract him so that he’s not squirming around and I swear he said thank you! My friends say they heard him say thank you at other times too so I’m not making it up in my head haha! I think he sees his bottle and tries to say “bottle” too! He is growing and developing and making amazing progress! I cannot be more proud of my little prince Leo!! We also got a swing for him that hangs in the backyard and he loves it!! It melts my heart when he smiles and laugh from pure joy! I love you Leo, you’re my inspiration!!
Enjoy these fun videos of the kiddoes!
Happy 21 Months Leo!
Blessed shirt is from the amazing Summer & Skye Shoppe at summerandskyeshoppe.com!
Happy 21 months my precious Leo! Leo weighs 23lb and 3oz, stretches 33inches tall and has a head circumference of 46cm. Leo has a recent GI follow up and he is growing just fine! He just now has to take MiraLax (8.5gm/day, powder mixed into his milk) instead of the lactulose medication. He is still on the Periactin to help increase his appetite. He has to come back in 3 months, and if he’s still not eating solids yet, then they’ll have to go in with a camera to see what’s going on physically in his esophagus and tummy. His results finally came back in from the EEG and I’m happy to say that his results came back all normal! He is not likely to get seizures and his head shaking isn’t abnormal and is nothing to be concerned about! He is such a trooper, he is such a strong little boy, I cannot be more proud of him! Leo is crawling much faster now, and pulls himself up to his knees very easily now. He is exploring the world on a higher level now that he is getting more stable and can stay upright a lot more. He really enjoys the pull up bar and gets such a kick out of seeing his handsome face in the mirror! Leo is very vocal and likes to squeal from happiness, but he is also explore lots of other sounds now too. He is so happy and chill, he makes my life so much better in so many ways. He is also starting to bite onto things (everything but food…) so hopefully he will start to eat solids soon! He is very curious and very tough and amazing! I can’t get enough of his cute little face, but please stop drooling soon Leo…it’s getting quite out of control…haha. Happy 21 months my petite prince, I love you so much!!!
Lily is as sweet as ever! Lily speaks very eloquently and I’m always impressed by how quickly she picks up new words and her level of comprehension. She’s very observant and very intuitive and compassionate as well. She is a little burst of happy silliness and her laugh and her smile is truly contagious! She loves going to the beach still and playing in the sand and running around and playing on the swings. She likes to help me garden and water the plants and then prune some flowers and put them in a vase inside our home. She likes to cut some flowers and put them in her hair as well, so cute! She loves doing arts and crafts, drawing, coloring, painting, cutting, gluing, all of it! She also recently got to visit the spaceship Endeavor with Khoa and she had a blast and picked out an astronaut barbie as her souvenir! I hope you aspire to do big things, I know you will be amazing at whatever you dream to be! I also found out that Lily got accepted to the Dual Language Immersion program at Walnut Elementary School! Space is very limited for that program and so I’m excited and feel very lucky that Lily got in! She will be learning Mandarin! Maybe she will be tri-lingual…? haha. Here’s hoping! Anyways, I can’t believe my little princess will be in kindergarten this fall! Until then, she will soak up the last several months at LePort! It’s such an amazing school and she’s growing up to be such a wonderful, smart, sweet little lady! I am always so proud of you Lily, you are my love, my light, my everything!
Happy 20 Months Leo!
Happy 20 months old my little prince Leo! Leo weighs in at about 23 pounds and stretches about 33.5 inches long. Leo recently had an Electroencephalogram (EEG) scan (where they send tiny electrical impulses to brain to measure brain wave patterns, activity and responses) to see if it’s functioning like how a child his age should function and respond. I won’t get the results until another week or so, so stay tuned! Leo is getting much better at crawling and can go greater distances before falling onto his belly. He is also getting much quicker and stronger at climbing up to his knees. Leo still hasn’t made much progress when it comes to eating solids but he sure is putting almost everything into his mouth, everything except FOOD! I try to trick him and put some puffs on his high chair tray along with some toys and he’ll play but will lick everything else except for the puffs! What a clever little boy. He’s gonna be trouble later on! He’s getting bigger though, drinking about 7-8oz of formula each feeding, 4 times a day. He is making lots more different sounds with voice and loves (really loves) to squeal high pitched noises of excitement when he’s happy! He likes to blow raspberries and get drool EVERYWHERE too. I feel like he’s starting to purposely drop things now too because he’ll drop something and then look at me to see my reaction. Also, whenever someone asks Leo where mommy is, he’ll look at me! Yay, my baby boy knows who I am! =) I love you so much, happy 20 months, keep on shining and growing strong!!
Also, I am participating in a virtual run on April 29th called the Chromosome 18 Starfish Dash for my Leo and created a team page for him. Help me support Leo’s journey with Tetrasomy 18p and the Chromosome 18 Organization and Society! If you would like to participate and donate, click HERE. If you can’t donate at this time, then please help me by spreading the word!! Thank you so much for all your love and support for my precious Leo!
Lily gets more and more amazing each day. She recently had her progress report at LePort and here’s what her teachers had to say about Lily, “Lily is blooming this year with her bright smiles and animated conversations with her teachers and peers. She is making new friends of different ages, both younger and older. Her interest in engaging socially seems to be great importance to her and yet it sometimes inhibits her concentration and makes working on her own a challenge. However, when Lily is engaged in something she enjoys, usually in the company of a classmate, she can work with concentration. She has now started to seek out new lessons with enthusiasm and takes pride in developing skills such as writing! Once Lily has mastered a lesson, it is wonderful to see her enjoy repeating it, and some activities she revisits daily. Recently she has consistently been verbalizing her thoughts and feelings with confidence and is working diligently toward refining her penmanship, using the Metal Insets and taking her time to write correctly formed letters and numbers. Lily also continues to trace the Sandpaper Letters carefully, revealing a greater retention and knowledge of the shape, sound, and lowercase cursive symbol for all the letters of the alphabet. We look forward to seeing her long-term recall of letter sounds so we can work more in-depth with her on the Moveable Alphabet, an important work highlighting sound blending. We are thrilled to see Lily gain openness to taking on some new and challenging tasks. Well done Lily!” It’s so wonderful to hear all the great things about Lily and how she’s learning and growing into a beautiful smart lady! She even impressed me by pointing our some states on the map like Texas and California, and even all the countries on earth, except she couldn’t remember the name “Australia” but that’s pretty difficult to pronounce at first. I cannot be more proud of my Lily pad!! I love you so much Lily!!
Here’s some video fun of the kiddos!
Happy 19 Months Leo!
Happy 19 months my little prince Leo! Leo weighs in at 22.4 lbs and stretchs about 33 inches long. Leo is now drinking about 6-7oz of Pediasure Grow and Gain with Fiber 4 times a day so he can gain more weight. He is still taking his medications twice a day and taking a medication to help increase his appetite right before bed since it makes him drowsy. He had his hearing test and he woke up when they tried to put the probes on his head so all they can find out is that both ear drums work, so that’s good, he just has to go back in April to see how much hearing he has. He also had a speech evaluation and his speech and understanding skills are mostly at a 3-6 months and some 6-9 month old range, but since it closely matches his physical development, they’re not recommending speech therapy for now. He has to come back for a follow up in 3-4 months, and if he is not showing any improvement, then he will probably need therapy. Overall, he is still always a happy playful and cheerful personality. He likes to play peek a boo and clap his hands, and he really likes interactive toys. He is doing so much better at drinking from his bottle by himself. He’ll drop the bottle sometimes and will need help near the end but he is doing so much better. He can also sit up now all by himself, yay!! He is crawling more and even pulled himself up to his knees in his crib too! He is making great progress and I cannot be more proud of him! He is still not eating solids, but he is starting to lick objects and discover the world through that sense and that is a huge milestone. I’m hoping he will eat solids soon now that he’s ok with licking things, it’s a great sign! Leo is also making lots of new sounds and loves to squeal with excitement, sometimes a little bit too loud…haha. Leo also had his first trip to see the snow and had a lot of fun and was very curious about the snow too! Happy 19 months old me sweet petite prince! I love you so much!!
Lily is always so silly, goofy, smart and sweet! She loves to dance and watch music videos and listen to music. She currently loves the movies Troll and Sing! She can play those songs and videos on repeat all day long if she could haha. She also is really enjoying karate more at school! Lily’s appetite has been increasing too and loves to snack on strawberries, raspberries, and cookies. She eats but then burns it all off so quick! She really likes to sing more now too and I’m very impressed with how well she can memorize songs after hearing them a few times. She likes a lot of modern songs on the radio but also school songs that she learns at school. She gets really proud and excited to show me what she knows but she’ll get shy if put on the spot. Lily is very into all sorts of toys right now, Shopkins, Num Noms, Legos, Princess Elena, shooting “alligators” (shooting nerf guns from upstairs down at imaginary alligators), and lots of arts and crafts. She also is getting much better and faster at riding her tricycle and balance bike too! Lily also had a blast in the mountains and loves sledding. She wanted to go with my first just to get a feel for it again and then she was all on her own non stop! She loves to get her nails painted and sometimes I’ll let her do it herself. She likes to brush her own hair now too and brush mine and try to tie my hair as well. She also loves watering plants in the garden still and cuttign some flowers to bring them inside to put in a little small vase that I have for her! She really loves her teachers at school and a couple of them left to work at other schools. She told me about it and told me that she’ll miss them a lot. She’s so sweet! She then told me she got new teachers and that she went up to them by herself to say hi and tell them her name, I’m so proud of her! You’re my giant ball of sunshine my Lily pad, I love you to pieces!
Here’s some video fun!
Happy 18 Months Leo!
Happy 18 months Leo (sorry I’m so late on this post)! Leo weighs 21lbs 8 ounces, stretches 2 ft 8 ins, and has a head circumference of 48cm. Leo had an appoointment with his neurologist, Dr. Lily (good name!) Tran, and she ordered an EEG scan to see how susceptible he is to getting seizures and seeing if any of his delays are due to that rather than just muscle tone issues. She said he has low muscle tone but it’s not AS bad as we think, she said she’s seen a lot worse. She also stated that since he hasn’t started pointing at things, he is showing signs of autism but we won’t really know until he’s 3 years old. Also, he’s not hugging or giving kisses yet so she feels there’s also social delays, so he just needs to have more therapy to work on those developments. He will have a follow up in 8 months and once insurance gives me authorization for his EEG, he will do that. So I just have to wait for insurance to get the authorization for it so that i can make the appointment for that. He also had his hearing test and did various tests and he’ll pass in certain ears in certain tests and then fail in others and so overall it’s inconclusive, so he will have to retake the test in a couple months. If they still can’t get conclusive results, then they’ll have to put him under to do a more accurate brain wave activity test for his hearing. Leo also had his GI appointment and she prescribed him medication to help increase his appetite, taken before bed on Mondays-Friday with breaks on the weekends. He also needs to increase his milk intake since he only gained half a pound in that last 3 months and she feels he needs to gain more weight. She said that if he doesn’t start eating solids by his 2nd birthday, then he will need to do an upper endoscopy where a camera goes down his esophagus to rule out eosinophilic esophagitis, reflux esophagitis or gastritis. She wants to make sure that his food allergies isn’t causing any irritation in his esophagus that might make him turn away from eating solids. Overall, Leo is so happy and is growing beautiful. He is army crawling a lot faster and I feel like he will full on crawl soon! He is clapping his hands a lot now and likes to squeal a lot too! He really likes interactive toys, but he also likes the tv remote control and my hair haha. Despite all his hardships, Leo is so happy, I cannot feel more lucky and blessed. Happy 18 months my petite prince Leo!!!!
Lily is a giant ball of sunshine! She is so sweet and caring and super smart! She has such a happy spirit and gets so excited about the little things, it melts my heart. She is always so sweet and attentive to Leo, and understanding of him as well. Lily is getting more excited about her Tajik karate classes and likes to demonstrate what she learns at school for me, and her gymnastics as well. She likes to show me her punches and kicks and her tumbling skills! I am also so proud of her at her LePort Christmas Show, where she actually sang most of the two songs! She sang a snowman song and Jingle Bell Rock! She told me Jingle Bell Rock is really hard but come the day of the show, she knew most of the words and sang proudly too! I cannot be more proud of her!! She is so artsy and crafty too. I like seeing all her art projects that she does at school, and she’s getting pretty creative and more advance in her drawings too. She’s going from rainbows and blobs to actual people and things now! I can’t wait to spoil her this Christmas with so much holiday cheer!
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 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 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!
