My Adventures in the US of A: June 2009

Friday, June 26, 2009

A Reason to Celebrate

I had flashes of my time as an intern

when Jaxon was born, what with the being on call 24/7 ( and loving every - well, just about every - moment of it ). But really, we have come a long way since then, and I can't believe our baby is turning 3 months in a few days. The days have been sort of a blur, and it amazes us how fast he grows. He has been a wonderful blessing to us, and in the past few weeks, he has been a great sleeper in the night! He will finally fall asleep at about 10pm, stirring a couple of times in the night - i.e. hungriness and diaper wetness overload - and go right back to sleep till morning!

That being said, last night was probably the first night that I've slept for 4 hours at a stretch without having to nurse or change his diaper, finally being woken up by my alarm clock to get up in time for Bible Class. Wow. I'd forgotten how that felt. I'm not gonna cling on to that too much though, because he will be going through growth spurts and teething soon, and sleeping habits will probably change a little. But for now, I'm thanking the Lord for little blessings, and our wonderful little miracle.

Sunday, June 21, 2009

June 21st, What a day

It's been a busy day.

It was my birthday, David's first Father's day, David and my anniversary, and it'll be David's birthday tomorrow.

PLUS, Jaxon, along with his grandad and cousins, were on the front page of the Abilene Reporter News today!

Here's a link to the Story

Also, Judith babysat Jaxon while we had our anniversary dinner at Abuelo's, a tradition for us on our anniversary. That was the first time Jaxon was in someone else's care other than David or myself, without us present. I was missing my little baby even before we reached Judith's to drop him off.

It was strange to sit in the front seat again after almost 3 months, as we drove there, and to be on a "date" that was just the two of us. Of course I was suffering from separation anxiety, but had a wonderful time just hanging out with my lubby hubby for a couple of hours.

Thanks Judith! You're a doll :)

Saturday, June 20, 2009

It Takes a Village To Raise a Child

The above may be an African proverb,

but it probably holds true everywhere you go.

I've been blessed to have David's entire family ( just about ) here in Abilene, who love and adore Jaxon, as well as the ladies from bible class and church.

David and I were grocery shopping with Jaxon over at HEB yesterday, and stopped by the Chinese food deli in the store to have dinner as it was getting late/dark and I just didn't feel like making dinner that night. ( Seeing how there would be a baby to put to bed and bags of groceries to put away ).

We were served by a very sweet older Korean lady. David chose Lo Mein Noodles, Spicy Lemongrass Chicken and Jalapeno Chicken. Now, I LOVE spicy food and was about to order the same when the lady looked over at the baby in his carseat carrier and asked if "I feed baby". I thought, "Now why would she be asking me if I would be feeding my food to the baby", and shook my head, all puzzled. She sort of raised an eyebrow but smiled, and it was then that I realised that she was asking me if I was nursing the baby. I quickly said, "Oh yes, I'm feeding the baby".

Her face lit up in a big smile as she said, "You no eat spicy. Baby no like, baby get diarrhea. You eat Broccoli Chicken", and promptly scooped Broccoli Chicken into my takeout box.

Abilene doesn't have a big Asian community. The numbers are skewed because there are several colleges in town with international students, and the vast majority of other Asian people here are in the "service" industry, stereotypically, restaurants and nail salons.

David thought that it was very quaint that the lady went into grandmother mode the moment she saw younger Asian person with a baby :) And I certainly didn't wanna give the baby diarrhea! *smiles* And the broccoli chicken was pretty good.

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Now that I am a parent...

Nowadays,

I find it really hard to read about/see anything that has to do with children hurting or heaven forbid, getting killed. When we took Jaxon to be vaccinated, I could not even look at the lady giving him the shots. When he had to have blood drawn for his newborn screen, I had to avert my eyes and cringe. And I used to be the one in her shoes, doing all of that without even batting an eyelid! Setting i/v lines in tiny hands/arms, drawing blood, putting in feeding tubes etc. Now when I think of those things, I feel kinda sick. For one thing, it means somebody's child is sick or unwell ...for another thing, medical procedures HURT!

I get free subscriptions to several magazines geared at parents, and I was reading one article tonight about ways that a child could be prevented from drowning, which was the 2nd leading cause of death in children, after motor vehicle accidents. It was hard for me to continue reading on, after they started out with the real story of a family that lost a toddler to drowning. I began to feel so anxious I had to stop reading. Your heart breaks more easily when you're a mom, I suppose, and you want to do anything and everything within your power to make sure your little one is safe.

I know David shares my feelings somewhat because he can get very protective of Jaxon, and watches him silently at night and puts his hand on the baby's chest to make sure he is breathing, and it makes his heart jump if Jaxon happens to gasp in his sleep. In the words of the man himself, "I hate it that I love him so much".

I know, honey. I understand.