In case you forgot...

...how cute Boba is, here is a reminder:

But really, how could you forget?

Yes, that is a curler in her hair. We couldn't resist. Her hairdo has evolved into this Carol-Brady-esque style, where it's all sort of long-ish around her head, and then these long tufts curl up around the sides. Absolutely adorable. Her eye color still seems to change from day to day - sometimes I think they're brown, other times they look green. Whatever. She could turn purple for all I care; she's still gonna be the cutest baby ever to me.

Some more shots from the curler series:

Yes, that's Lola holding her (and she requested that her face not be totally visible in the photos).

And now, for the finale:

I'm a little obsessed with the curler shots. I'm sure that's fairly obvious.

Crazy week

It's been such a crazy week that I haven't had much of an opportunity to chase Boba around with a camera. I did go sort of overboard with my picture-taking last week, so I'll pepper this post with a couple of shots, as well as some random tidbits. Work has been so hectic that I can't really think to organize any current Boba stories, so here's just sort-of-an-update on the haps in the Montelibano-Heil household, and some links to my "favorite things":

• We are half-settled, half-living out of boxes and suitcases. Most of our stuff is now in storage, and the rest is sitting somewhere between the garage and our bedroom. Boba's room is, by far, the most organized. Her room is also twice as large as her first room in the old apartment, so she's got plenty of space to crawl around on. I think she's enjoying it!
• Work at the Globe has been nuts. Jason's schedule has also been nuts. We see each other for about 20 minutes in the morning. It sucks.
• Jason's cousin David, who was ex-Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham's aide for two years, was featured in the San Diego paper a couple of days ago. Pretty interesting. Here's the link.
• My cousins Chamina and Kimbina were inspired to create blogs after reading Flamboba these past few months. Yay! Here are Cham's and Bina's pages.
• I've been checking out the blogosphere, and boy, there are some pretty cool blogs out there. One of my favorites, which was introduced to me by our friend Derek, is Dooce.
• If you're a food lover like me, you'll love these blogs: Dessert Comes First, which is my childhood-best-friend Lori's site; Chubby Hubby, and Kuidaore, two food-bloggers who are both based in Singapore and have exquisite taste in all things culinary. The Singapore connection naturally means they feature AWESOME Asian food from time to time. Their photos are also to die-for.
• Veronica Mars is my current TV obsession. I love Jason Dohring! Yeah!
• If I were to pick the winner of this year's American Idol, I would pick Katharine McPhee. And Chris Daughtry would be second. And I would have Kellie Pickler and Kevin Covais win Congeniality Awards and tour the nation's Karaoke bars.

Okay, there you have it! Sorry I've been remiss in posting daily; maybe once things get settled at home I'll have more time (and energy) to track more of Boba's progress.

Have a fabulous weekend, everyone!

It's a Standing Baby!

Oh, it seems like just a few days ago when I wrote about the "Standing Baby" game Jason and I used to play with Boba. Yes, I did say that the game's appeal would expire eventually, given that Boba standing would no longer be considered a "miracle" and instead, an integral part of her development as a human being. (Duh.) But the sight of Boba standing, unassisted or not, has always been one of my favorite things. For one, she is so damn tall for her age (we haven't measured her lately, but she's consistently been in the 95th percentile for height), and secondly, she is always so happy when she's standing. It's like her way of proclaiming her independence, or asserting her individuality...or something. I don't know, it's like I'm starting to see the true essence of who she is (before we warp her with our faulty parenting, that is) whenever she straightens her legs and beams out to the world.

So this weekend, after our rather stressful move into Lolo & Lola's house, Boba rewarded us with the aforementioned milestone: hoisting herself to a standing position for the very first time. It was SO COOL! In the midst of this newfound ability she has lost total interest in all her toys, and instead spends all her time in her playpen standing, then falling, then standing, then falling. And standing. And falling. She does not cry when she falls. She just rolls over and hoists herself back up again into a standing position. I never thought this simple human movement could be so fascinating, but with a baby you just can't take your eyes off.

It's also added a new dimension to our Peek-a-boo games. Once she emerges from the ground, we yell "Boo!" and she giggles like crazy. It's totally adorable.

God, didn't she just start crawling, what, a week ago???

Change of Address

Yup, you heard right. We're moving back in with Lolo and Lola - a.k.a. my parents. A brave decision, you might say, and I would absolutely second that thought...although I would say, not so much "brave" but more "AUDACIOUS", or perhaps even "INTREPID". You see, while Jason and Katrina can saunter through my folks' front door while whistling some carefree tune (okay, Boba can't whistle yet), I, on the other hand, trudge through the same door as though I am dragging cinderblocks by my ankles. You see, a thirty-one year-old daughter returning home, regardless of her healthy career, marriage, & family, has something of a negative STIGMA attached to it. And I cannot ignore the fact that my older siblings reside comfortably in their own large, multi-bedroom homes with their families. I mean, let's face it, no one wants to be known as the one kid who doesn't make as much money. And believe me, I'm not doing bad at all, but by comparison - and let's just acknowledge that Miko is an investment banker and Joji is an IT whiz and that I am in THEATRE - it's kinda sad.

(Those of you who are now whipping out your checkbooks to write checks to the "Feed Boba Fund", relax...this little girl will be fed, clothed, educated, and gifted as much as her little heart desires. I am NOT that broke.)

But hear me out. The Heil family has been living in what would be considered, by our previous New York standards anyway, the LAP OF LUXURY for the last year. We have had a fabulous 2 bedroom apartment with an ocean-view in a complex that has a gym, a clubhouse, a pool & jacuzzi. Not too shabby. We could have continued living this life, EXCEPT that it meant that we would pretty much be renting the rest of our lives, a prospect that doesn't really appeal to us. Therefore...

...we are moving back with Mom & Pop. To build up a nice little nest egg so that we can actually afford a 2-bedroom (hopefully 3, actually) condo with an ocean-view (okay, that's negotiable) somewhere in San Diego county. Hopefully it will only take a year, and quite frankly, the thought of finally owning a place is so wonderful that moving back home with my parents doesn't sound too bad, stigma or not. Plus Boba loves her Lolo & Lola. I mean, she is just crazy about them. (And did we mention the in-house babysitting service they provide?)

Anyway, moving with a baby is no small task, but Boba has been such a joy lately that I am inclined to think that she will adapt rather nicely. As you can see, she's had quite a bit of fun with all the boxes around our place.

Wish me luck. Yeah, I said "ME". Jason and Katrina will be just fine.

And off to Lolo & Lola's we go!

Happy Days

You know how things are going swell between you and your baby, and you wish every day could be like the one you just had? I'm specifically talking about:

1. Days when your baby does not have a cold, a fever, a rash, diarrhea, or any combination of the above
2. Days when your baby has slept through the night, woke up smiling and babbling, and proceeded to be in a good mood all day
3. Days when your baby has long enough naps to sustain the aforementioned good mood all day
4. Days when little bouts of fussing are easily remedied by food, or a toy, or a good cuddle

You know what I'm talking about?

Well, I think all mommies aspire to have days like these, and it's a true blessing when you can have even one day like that. Imagine having a few in a row...heaven! You see, Boba and I, after having the hell week that we did a couple of weeks ago, have arrived back in the world of healthy and functioning human beings. And this past week, we have had quite a few days like the one I described above. Not necessarily in a row, but certainly more than usual!

And to celebrate, I have with me a whole BEVY of lovely photos....

Note the poufy hair on the right side of her head

Ain't she colorful?

Lil' Crawler

Note same pouf, different day

Hurricane Boba

NEWS BRIEF:
A baby girl (left, pictured), age 7 months, named Katrina and nicknamed Boba, born on the same year as similarly-titled hurricane (but not named for said hurricane), singlehandedly melted her mother's heart on Wednesday evening when, upon said mother's return from the office, the baby girl crawled a three foot distance to get to her mother's outreached arms. Note that this was the first time for such an event, marking it not only as an unforgettable milestone, but also as the longest distance ever traveled by said baby.

"I was moved to tears," said the baby's mother, audibly choking back her emotions. "The determination she showed in her attempt to reach me was probably the most demonstrative she has ever been in her affection toward me."

The baby's father was present for the event, but was evidently temporarily immobilized with delight at the baby girl's short, but profound, journey.

The baby's paternal grandmother was also present, and similarly affected.

Such mobility at this age is hardly surprising, most pediatricians would concur. In fact, this is just a precursor to further motion as many babies at this point of their development discover quickly that movement allows them access to previously-unreachable objects. Some examples of this are toilets and exposed outlets.

When questioned about this phenomenon, the baby's mother laughed and replied, "My baby? Never. She knows not to approach anything that might unwittingly cause damage or harm to her or anything around her. She's very smart."

(Reports of the baby's mother's recent meltdown due to sleep deprivation and childrearing-related stress are still unconfirmed. However, experts do say that such factors can impair judgement and lead to incoherent speech.)

Despite the mother's comments, surveillance measures have been taken. A follow-up review of the baby's progress will be reported in the near future.

Bathtime

"Rubber Duckie, you're the one...."

Bathing Boba is actually a weird experience. She really enjoys being in the water. She splashes about, plays with her duckie, babbles and basically sits there being cute. Then, right after I pull her out of the water and wrap her in a towel, all hell breaks loose. She then starts to scream like a banshee while I try to rub her little arms and legs with baby lotion, and doesn't stop until the last snap on her jammies is snapped. Then I show her clean, combed self in the mirror and she smiles like Buddha. Weird.

We keep our apartment at a balmy 76 degrees, if you're wondering.

A Valentine's Editorial

Some stuff has come up that I would like to address. And in the spirit of love on this day of overblown westernized commercialism, I would like to say a few words:

• Bottom line, we all love our kids. And we all do the best we can. I've never intended this blog to be a "how-to" for parenting, and it should be obvious that Jason and I are big on trial-and-error (lots of trials and even more errors).
• Ferber is NOT the end-all, be-all sleep authority. His method just happened to work for us. I hear tranquilizers work too. (Okay, that was a joke.)
• Parenting is damn hard. Specifically, motherhood is ridiculously difficult. There is a conspiracy out there to make women believe that motherhood is a never-ending happy-place whereby we as mothers have completed our biological imperative and should therefore live in eternal contentment and gratitude. These are the same people who believe that love should only be celebrated once a year. So say it with me again: "Parenting is HARD."
• Our children are the most beautiful creatures on earth. End of story.

And finally...

• For new readers, this is how "Boba" came about, and this is how "Flambo" came about.

Oh yeah, and here's Boba's response to the Mommy's rant and the whole Valentine's day hoohah:

Words of wisdom on Boba's bib

Things are lookin' up

Still no pictures yet, but at least I have good news.

Boba is getting better.

But that's just the half of it. You see, colds do get better (provided they don't catch a secondary infection or another virus along the way), and symptoms do ease up with time. What tends to happen, however, is that while you, as the parent, comfort your child in her time of illness, the child learns something very interesting: that if she shows you enough distress, you will do anything to help her. And that includes staying up all night with her sleeping in your arms. Meanwhile, your arms ache with muscle fatigue, your ears ring with the rattle of her snot-ridden breathing, and you are barely conscious due to relentless exhaustion and stress. But that doesn't matter because she knows you are right there and that you will not let go of her lest you tolerate another hysterical screaming fit, much like the ones you've heard all night.

They can be very clever, these little ones. Because they know that they can continue doing this, even though they are feeling better.

Boba showed remarkable improvement by Saturday, having slept through the night (albeit in her car seat) on Friday. But come Saturday night, she refused to go to sleep alone. Well, I was tired and fed-up at this point, knowing full well that her health was such that she was not only capable of sleeping well; she certainly could do it without me. But I was no longer a fan of swinging her in her car seat since she is almost 20 lbs. and it takes at least 10 minutes of swinging to get her to sleep. So...

...I FERBERIZED her.

This is essentially the "crying-it-out" method, which seems harsh to some, but is now considered total brilliance by me. Yes, the first night was really tough, as the book (pictured right) said it would be, but last night she slept through the night...sans swaddle, sans pacifier, sans bottle...in her crib, alone. For almost 11 hours.

AMAZING.

The method can take up to 2 weeks, it says in the book, but generally for infants you can see marked improvement in 4 days. Well, Boba got it down in 2 nights. So either she's a quick study or I was just lucky last night and had a really sleepy baby. Regardless, I think this book is great, and for most babies I think you only really need to read the first three chapters or so. I avoided this book like the plague for months because the idea of hearing Boba cry for more than 5 minutes was too unbearable to even consider. But in retrospect, it really wasn't as awful as I thought it would be. Actually, I think she probably learned so quickly because she was already capable of sleeping through the night, but I wanted her to do it without all those sleep aids that I usually provide (swaddle, etc.).

Anyway, too late to make this long story short, but I am a much happier Mommy this week. And I promise to post photos soon! Thanks to everyone who has sent their love and sympathy to me these last few days!

Mommy's lament

It's been a tough week.

A really, really tough week.

Which would explain why there have been no new photos.

Boba has a cold. A really bad cold. A cold that says, "The first three colds were just for practice. I hope you enjoyed them, because this is the REAL DEAL."

It has not been fun.

My poor darling sweetheart is miserable. She cannot breathe through her nose, which means she can barely take a bottle, and it also means she can't take her beloved pacifier. The bottle comforts her, soothes her...as does the pacifier. So without either of these, she is without the means to soothe herself in her moments (read: hours) of misery.

When she coughs, it is as though she might actually expel a lung. Her nose is a perpetual snot faucet, and is red and tender from the constant rubbing with a kleenex. I am sure her throat is on fire from dryness and irritation.

It is a truly heartbreaking sight to watch her.

At night, when she is most inconsolable, she clings to me as if to say, "Save me, Mommy! Take this pain, this misery, this absolute HELL away from me!! What did I do to deserve this? What will you do to help me? WHAT???"

And usually, I just hold her, rock her, sobbing silently to myself that while I have done everything within my power, it's just not enough to relieve my poor baby.

We have not slept much, Boba and I. I have slept even less, but I'm fine with that as long as I know she's getting rest. Well, scratch that...actually it's becoming rather miserable for me too. Pardon my moment of self-martyrdom, but I may actually be catching this same cold. That would also be no fun.

My usual lighthearted commentary will continue next week, when, I'm hoping, this will all come to an end. Boba will be back sleeping through the night, I will also get my usual sleep quota, and we will all be happy and healthy and thriving. And once this occurs, I will take pictures to commemorate the occasion.

Until then...all you cold-free readers please say a prayer of gratitude to the powers-that-be for each day of good health that you receive. It is no small thing.

The many faces of Boba

When I take pictures of Boba, I pretty much click away as much as I can for about a minute or two, with the idea that somewhere in the mass of shots I'll get a pretty good picture. Fortunately, Boba is totally photogenic so usually the majority of the photos are really cute. So, the other day I sat her down on the floor with the hopes that she would crawl to me, but instead she just sat there smiling and giggling, her face changing from one adorable expression to the next. I was so amazed by her different looks that I had to take some photos. These are some of my favorites.

Now I know all mothers think this, but I am SERIOUSLY amazed at how gorgeous she is. I mean, I don't think I'm bad looking, but this little girl is totally out of my league. So it kind of trips me out that I made her, you know? (Oh, right, Jason too.) Sometimes I stare at her, totally dumbfounded by her beauty. I know, I know, I'm biased. But just look at her!



I feel sometimes like she knows I'm taking a permanent record of her when I have the camera in my hands. I know she's only six months old, but....doesn't she look like a PRO???

Here's more:



Wow. She is just so darling. Pardon my gushing, but it's my blog, and I'll gush if I want to!

"Boba Feet"

("Boba Feet"...get it? You know, like in "Star Wars"? GET IT?? hee hee hee)

Anyway, speaking of feet-obsession, I am mutually enamored with Boba's little toes. I also love her little hands but her toes really get me. First of all...they're so small and cute! Second, when I am overcome with their cuteness, I just love to nibble on them. Third, when she stands on them there's something in the way that she plants her feet on the ground that just says, "Behold ME! In all my Boba glory!!!"

I know I'm reading way too much into my baby's feet, but that's just what Mommies do.

Mommy's toes

Remember my post about how Boba has a thing for Mommy's pedicured toes? Well, Daddy finally got a photo of her trying to crawl towards them...using my legs as a "bridge". Totally adorable. I don't quite understand the fascination although I think she must not realize that they are indeed attached to Mommy's body. I actually believe she regards my toes the way another baby might regard a cat or a puppy...sort of like another animate object that she needs to "explore".

She's just a funny baby. What can I say.

Fun with food!

"Yum Yum YUM!!!"

As mentioned in previous posts, we've introduced Boba to the wild and crazy world of solid foods. We're actually easing her into it very gradually; she's only had rice cereal thus far. But boy, is she loving it! At first she really wasn't sure what the heck we were trying to do to her...the look on her face when we'd nudge the spoon into her mouth was one of puzzlement and suspicion. Now, she will actually yell at you if you take too long to put the food in her mouth. Like mother, like daughter.

We're looking forward to introducing her to new flavors and tastes as she gets more and more adept at "chewing". (At this point it's still just "gumming".) Next item on the list is oatmeal, so nothing too exciting. But sometime next week we'll move on to vegetables! Yeah!

I'd like to point out that these photos were taken in the morning, which explains her devil-horned-hairdo. I do groom my baby; I swear I do. But at 7 a.m. on a Sunday, who really cares? Besides, Boba is one of those lucky few who looks adorable no matter what her hair looks like. Plus I think the cereal-around-the-mouth adds a nice touch to this new rumpled look. I can only imagine how creamed corn and strained carrots will look on her. Can't wait!

Sleep update: If it's not Boba...

....it's something else. Truly. Last night there was a car alarm in our complex that went off every half hour from 1 a.m. By 2:30 I'd had it, so I called our "Courtesy Patrol", who showed up at our door only to say that there was nothing he could do about it except file a report. Great. Then, Katrina woke up (probably because of the voices emanating from the front door). Luckily the car alarm was pretty faint-sounding from her room, so I managed to get her down again with little fanfare (though it still took an hour; I think she wanted to play). I realized then that the alarm was coming from behind our apartment, which explained why it was louder in our bedroom. (Jason, lucky bastard, was able to sleep through the intermittent blasts. It must be something in his DNA...the man could sleep through an elephant stampede.) So I decided to camp out in her room. Surprisingly, Katrina had few of the little baby outbursts she usually has in her sleep. So in all I think I got about 5 hours of sleep, total (2.5 before the car alarm, 2.5 after).

The other night it was a dog barking in the apartment below us. I think its owners were out and the poor pup was locked in the bathroom or something. It was whining and barking, whining and barking...for about 4 hours. I had given up at around 11:30 p.m. and decided to move to Katrina's room, but she was coughing and wheezing from her cold, poor thing, so it wasn't much of an improvement for me noise-wise. I think I got 4 hours of sleep that night.

Nightly disturbances were very common when we lived in New York, but back then we didn't have a baby, so it wasn't as much of a problem. I didn't think I'd have to deal with them again in the suburbs of San Diego, but it is an apartment complex after all...sigh...oh, how I long sometimes to live on a ranch with nothing but acres and acres of trees and hills surrounding us! The quiet must be intoxicating!

Meanwhile, Katrina has been sleeping quite well at night...if not through the night, then generally she'll do about an 8-hour stretch, wake up for about half an hour, and then go down again for 2 hours. At least there's that. Now if only the rest of the world would cooperate....!!

How true, how true

"The grinding fatigue of this first year is a gift from God. Without that slab of fatigue to jam into the cogs of time, life would go by so fast that we would lose our minds to an unceasing sense of cheated loss."

- Betsy Howie, author of "Callie's Tally: An Accounting of Baby's First Year (OR: What my daughter owes me)"

This is lifted off a great book that all new parents should check out. And how about that, huh? SO apropos to my previous post!

I'm gonna GITCHA!

Here I come!

I'm getting closer!

HERE I AM!!!!

Boba has been attempting to crawl a lot lately. She does the rocking-back-and-forth-on-all-fours thing, and usually I place a toy a little beyond her reach to encourage her to move forward. That or I'll kneel a couple of feet away from her (since, after all, reaching Mommy is infinitely more rewarding than reaching a stupid rattle). She hasn't actually moved forward yet (though the special effects I have employed above make it look like she's comin' for ya, doesn't it??), but I imagine the time for her to do so is very near.

Sometimes I long for these milestones to arrive quickly. ("Where the heck is that first tooth anyway?", or, "Why doesn't she just move already?") But then with every milestone, ironically, I do feel a little sadness, because it's just another hint that this little baby is growing up. When she was just a newborn people would frequently tell me, "They grow up so fast!!" In my sleep-deprived haze I tended not to believe them, thinking instead,"Then why does it sometimes feel like the hours are just dragging by???" Now that she's older I see exactly what they meant. Little differences (like how she's now too big for her changing table, which used to cradle her perfectly) to the big ones (switching her wardrobe from 3-6 months to 6-9 months - major overhaul!) tell me that time is flying by.

So as Boba finds her way into the world of mobility, I will continue to bask in the joy of her discovery. She has shown that she will meet her milestones on her own sweet time. And I'm happy to just enjoy the view.

Naked!

Awww...isn't she cute? (I know, I know, I keep repeating myself!) It's kind of a blurry shot but it's so adorable nonetheless. Mommy just finds Boba absolutely irresistable. And how's this for the icing on the cake...she slept through the night last night! Yee-ha! (Now if only I could fall asleep early enough to reap the benefits of these nights...)

You can't see them here but one of the things I love about Boba is her feet. They are so cute. I guess all babies' feet are cute. Hers are just so DARLING!!!

A fun afternoon with Nancy & Bill

For our family and friends, there are two reasons to come visit us. One, to see beautiful San Diego. Two, to see beautiful Katrina "Boba" Heil. And recently, we had two visitors who came all the way from Hinsdale, IL, to visit our lovely city and to hang out with the beauteous Boba. Aunt Nancy and Uncle Bill are some of the coolest folks in the world. Here are some shots of that day:

Boba was quite the performer and demonstrated for them her vast repertoire of sounds ("ma-ma-ma-ma" and "ah-bwah" and "gheeee", in addition to screams and giggles). She also showed off abundant grins and smiles. Yes, she has acquired the theatre gene from her parents; no doubt about it.

Then, after lunch with N&B, she promptly crashed out in the car for an hour. All that fun wore her out! Thanks, Nancy and Bill, for showing Boba (and her parents) a good time that afternoon!

The Legend of FLAMBO

To all of you who have been asking about this....thank you for your patience! It took some time to find a photograph of your humble blogger that would work for the purposes of this post; in other words, I wanted to find a picture where the resemblance between Flambo and Boba is obvious. Well, as it happens, Boba only looks a little bit like me. I wouldn't say she looks much like her Daddy either, but if you really looked closely at her, then at me, you might say she takes after me more, but...well...see for yourself:

The Original Flambo

Cute, right? I think that's what I was trying to signal with my fingers...."C" for "Cute".

Anyway, here's the story. (Joji and Miko, feel free to add your version of this in the comments section!) When I was a baby, my brothers would ooh and ahh over me so much that they started talking to me in their own unique version of babytalk. And, at the time, they were watching a cartoon called "My Favorite Martian", which had a dog named "Okie Dokie". So they began to call me "Okie Dokie"...which somehow became "Bokie"...which somehow became "Flambokie". (Huh?) I know, I know, one of my brothers should explain this better, I still don't understand the progression but that's how they always described it. Anyhow, "Flambokie" stuck, and to this day they only call me "Flam" or "Flambo" because if they call me "Kim" it feels very weird. Doesn't matter that we are all now in our thirties and Miko is even pushing forty. (Sorry, Mik.) We have the kind of sibling relationship where we all just "froze" at certain ages: me at 3 years, Joji at 8 years, and Miko at 11 years. I swear, that's how we all behave when we're together. We just get silly.

Here's a photo of Uncle Miko and Uncle Joji (with my nephew Joaquin), the two reasons why this blog is called "Flamboba":

My brothers are AWESOME!!! Thanks, guys, for blessing me with a cool nickname and an even cooler childhood!

(For those of you who are clawing at the walls from Boba-photo-deprivation, relax - I will post new photos very soon!)

Three weird (cute) things about Boba

(This was meant to be my original post, but I had to rant and rave about the last couple of days; hence the post below this one. Make sure to read it...one has to be reminded once in a while about the struggle that is childrearing!)

"Weird? I think UNIQUE is the word you're looking for...."

Here they are, in no particular order:

1. Her laugh, while totally adorable and irresistable, sounds curiously like that of King Kong's (in the Peter Jackson version).
2. She will stop crying if Mommy repeats the sound, "KRRRAAAA" over and over again. (Yes, it sounds sort of like a crow.)
3. And finally....she has a TOE FETISH!!! (This is truly a weird one...she has piles and piles of toys and yet her most beloved source of fascination is feet. Not just any feet; they have to be manicured, and therefore, Mommy's and Lola's tend to be her favorites.)

There you have it, folks, three quirks of Boba's developing personality. And please...no dirty comments about what they might evolve into!!!

It's a good thing she's cute...

...because boy, oh boy, the past few days have been tough. Mommy has been averaging about 4-5 hours of sleep a night, usually broken in two chunks. Sigh. It's been worse, but when she's been dangling the "sleeping-through-the-night" phenomenon right in front of our noses (she does it! she doesn't do it! she does it again!), it's just very very frustrating. Plus lately she's been so crabby...teething? Growth spurt? Or just your standard baby histrionics? Who knows. All I can say is my back is killing me from constantly carrying her around. Last night I developed an ache on my left side since she decided the only way she would sleep was by clinging to me, so I slept with her lying on my left arm, her arms wrapped around my torso (as much as they could be, anyway) so that her face was pretty much buried in my chest. It sounds cute, but it doesn't make for comfortable sleep for Mommy.

Now, it's very possible that the reason why she's so fussy at night is because we've taken away her swaddle, i.e., her "baby straitjacket". For those of you knowing parents, we've been wrapping her in a homemade "Miracle Blanket" (Houdini couldn't get out of that thing) since she was about 2 weeks old. It worked like a dream very early on. But lately she's been trying to wriggle out of it with dangerous abandon; oftentimes we'll find her flipped on her stomach, facing 180 degrees away from her original position, and still completely swaddled. You can imagine all the nightmare scenarios we've thought of, so, on the recommendation of our pediatrician, we've begun to put her to sleep sans swaddle. It has not been an easy transition, and so I'm beginning to question our decision. But then again, we're going to have to retire the swaddle at some point anyway, so why not now? Argh. These are the things that keep me up at night. This and a six-month-old baby screaming for Mommy to get her.

But enough whining. Like I said, she's cute, and man, talk about evolution at its finest. Baby cuteness ensures that parents will do anything for them! My heart just leaps when she smiles at me after, oh, a minute or two of not seeing me. It's indescribable. I'm ready to scale walls after one of her smiles, I swear. (But I'm too tired to scale walls!)

How does one resist THIS???!?!?

Fellow parents, or even just people who can reassure me, post me a comment to let me know I'm not alone with this parenthood insanity!

"Cutest Baby Ever"

Jason likes to call Boba the "Cutest Baby Ever". Now, of course I agree with him, but let's just take a (brief) moment here to acknowledge that Jason and I may be just slightly biased.

...Bias acknowledged.

That said, let's move on. Katrina is the cutest baby ever. And I think we, as parents, are fully entitled to feel that way. Which is why, while watching the Today show this morning, which featured a segment on parents who brag too much about their kids, I felt somewhat confused.

"What??!? I shouldn't brag about how wonderful Katrina is??? But, but,...but she's the cutest baby ever!!"

I suddenly felt like this blog (yes, the one you are reading right now) was some kind of gross imposition on my family and friends. I mean, I know that people can choose to read this or not, but I started to question whether my blogging intent was really just to "keep people informed" of Katrina's progress, rather than to shamelessly laud her many assets and accomplishments to as vast an audience as I could possibly reach.

But then I took a deep breath and thought, She's just a baby. And silently I promised myself I would never become one of those mothers who paraded their little girls around in beauty pageants, or even one of those people who have the "My child is an honor student in _____ Elementary School" bumper sticker on the back of their cars. Not because there's something inherently wrong with those things (okay, debatable), but because my love for Boba is such that all I need is a little daily reflection. Hence, the blog.

Indeed, I believe my little baby girl is perfect. As I should. But if I shared every little truth about life with Boba on this blog...trust me...some of you may swear off ever having children. Because parenthood is one of the most difficult things you'll ever do. I say that now and I'm only six months into it. (Jason shudders when he realizes that one day she'll actually be a teenager.)

Boba is, I would imagine, as much a baby as babies get. She gets fussy, she cries for seemingly no reason at times, she wakes us up in the middle of the night, she freaks out with strangers, she hates her car seat...and a whole lot of other other things that drive me batty. But then she does other stuff that makes all those things feel like a cakewalk. Like, for instance, she smiles. Or she reaches out and touches my face. Or the way she plays with her feet while she's nursing.

So you see,...she is perfect.

It's that simple. Plus, she's ours. Jason's and mine. That alone is good enough to make her the "cutest baby ever", I think. And bragging rights aside...thank god there are people in this world who think this of their children! We should all be so lucky that we start off in life surrounded by people who think we can do no wrong.

So I'm going to happily continue this blog, praising to high heavens about how wonderful she is. And let my disclaimer be that I know, secretly, that we as parents are all in this together: We all have, and have been at one time, "the cutest baby ever"!

Half a Year of Boba

Happy 6-month Birthday, Katrina!!!

Boba turned six months-old yesterday, January 10th! That's right...we've had the joy of the Boba for half a year now. Here is a quick list of some things she can do now that she's practically a grown-up:

• She can sit on her own for as long as she likes
• She can pick things up at will and transfer them from one hand to another
• She can "kiss" (well, actually gnaw) Mommy & Daddy's face
• She can hold herself up by her arms while on her tummy
• She can giggle and laugh for long stretches of time
• She can eat solids

That's a big one. She had her first big bottle of milk mixed with rice cereal last night...6 oz....and somehow it managed to keep her down for a full night! That's right, to celebrate her six month birthday, she generously allowed Mommy (who crashed yesterday due to lack of sleep and jet lag) a full night's rest. Hopefully the solids are the trick...but one never knows.

Boba can do many more things that awe and delight us, but I won't bore you with the entire list. Suffice it to say this little girl is growing every day...healthy and thriving!

Happy Birthday Boba!

Mommy's home!

Hooray!

Ahhh...the sheer bliss (and relief) of being reunited with your baby after being away for six days. Glorious! I think Katrina was just as happy to see me, although I'm not sure she knows exactly why, not having noticed my absence much in the first place. (Daddy does claim that she seemed to be "searching" for something the last couple of days before I returned.) However, she has been especially clingy since I got back, so I'm wondering whether somewhere in the back of her psyche my absence registered as abandonment. (Oh, the guilt!) Well, that's the good thing about taking trips like these so early in her life...whatever damage it inflicted surely won't be remembered! (One hopes.)

In any case, the trip to the Philippines was well worth it, even if I suffered major separation anxiety pretty much throughout. My brother Miko and new wife Anne threw the wedding bash of the decade, complete with a ten-minute fireworks display, twelve-piece salsa band, and a wedding movie to boot! That's right, a MOVIE of the wedding, edited and with a soundtrack and everything, projected on TWO large screens for all guests to enjoy. Just breathtaking! I wish I had pictures, but I didn't have my camera on me...bleah. Oh well, one of these days I'll post a link to a photo album. In the meantime you can check out some pics on Uncle Joji's website.

While I was away, Daddy did an AWESOME job of taking care of Boba. She did develop another cold, however, which has lingered on to this day...not fun...but Daddy took it all in stride. He also had help from his folks, who I would like to extend my utmost gratitude for helping out in my absence:

Thanks, Grandma Julie and Poppy!

Anyway, Jason and I put away all the Christmas decorations last night as Boba looked on with mild curiousity. This year, surprisingly, I was not as sad to see the holidays go by. Perhaps because they were just so exhausting this year. Or maybe because "life as usual" means resuming the happiest days of my life...with our beautiful baby, my gorgeous and wonderful husband, and my highly-fulfilling job (I'm not kidding), living day after blissful day in lovely San Diego. Ahhhh....Happy New Year!

"Hee hee...we're happy now!"