Little hands

I love Simon's tiny fingers! 

Man... Kick

When my mom was here in aug we went to a close by museum. Joy was mesmerized by the statue of Bruce Lee. She kept saying man... Kick.  She talks about it all the time. Today we went back for the first time since that time. We walk through the parking lot and she starts saying "man.. Kick ". So I got her picture with her favorite Hong Kong icon. 

Kadoorie farms

The weather was a bit cooler today and my friend invited us to join them at our local botanical garden/ farm. It was the first time to brave public transportation with both kids ( although I couldn't have managed without her help). The kids loved the pigs! Joy wanted to see a giraffe ... Poor girl is going to have to wait until Portland next summer. 

We attracted quite the crowd: me+ one blond toddler+ one tiny baby+ diaper bag+ stroller& my friend+ who is 9 months pregnant + one VERY blond toddler+ diaper bag. A gaggle of ladies descended upon us and Joy and Elena were passed around and in about 20 pictures. Wow

Joy in all her cuteness

Here are some videos of Joy just being cute!

Simon is one month old!

Happy one month birthday Simon! It has been very hard to get this blog post up now that all the grandmas have left and Brad is back to work. I find typing with one hand VERY tedious! Simon is a very content little baby. He isn't fussy in the evenings and is happy if he is being cuddled. We are loving his laid back attitude towards life.

What Simon is doing:
-sleeping
-eating
-pooping
-awake for an hour or so each sleep, eat, wake cycle
-generally being cute

Eats: He is a great nurser and nurses every two-three hours, stretching to 4-5 in the night.

Sleeps:
Night: Simon is no longer confused between day and night (although he still wakes to eat at night 2-3 times depending on the night). He has been giving me a 4-5 hour stretch at night but sadly the last few days his night time sleep has started around 7:30pm. He likes to be swaddled with one arm out just like his sister. In the middle of the night he is a very quick nurser but then is usually up again in 2 hours after the initial 4 hour stretch. Usually I am able to fall back asleep quickly so that is helpful.

Naps: He sleeps off and an a lot of the day, especially if he is being held. He loves the Ergo and loves to nap in it! I just swaddled him for a nap and he is sleeping like a champ in his bed...why did it take me so long to figure that out.

Weighs: 9lbs 9 oz

Likes: being held, cuddled, nursing :-)

Dislikes: being alone (especially when Joy and I shower in the morning!), when he has big burps to get out

Favorite event: Meeting both his grandmas this past month! Yay for grandmas that traveled half way around the world to help out a tired mommy, chase after a crazy toddler and cuddle a sweet baby.

Joy isn 19 months!

What Joy is doing 

• Joy loves to pretend to feed all her animals when she eats 
• Has definite oppinons about what she should wear and eat
• She can clean up toys
• She likes to recite words she has learned and doesn't stop saying the word until you repeat it or make sure you understand what she is saying. 
• More and more outgoing/extrovert each day

• Total teeth: 12 (still working on "i" teeth, one is almost through, four more to go! Yikes these have taken a long time to come in)
  
  
  

What Joy is saying: Joy is a chatterbox! Her record is 30 minutes of straight talking. One our way home from dinner when Grandma Lorna was here she talked the whole way telling me story after story.

It is too hard to keep track of all the words that Joy is saying, every day she adds a new word. Some of our favorite words she says right now are (she has a little speech impediment so they come out really cute!)
*Cat, monkey, rabbip (rabbit)
*Sima (Simon)
* knock it off Rudy
* Doy (Joy :-)

 Eats: 

• Loves: Our girl loves to eat, and has learned that some food is spicy, and she doesn't like it when it is spicy! 
• Dairy Free:  Sometimes I feel sad that Joy can't have dairy as it is one of my favorite food groups. Oh well!
• Still gives us trouble: Carrots and bananas are back on the diet if she eats them in moderation. 

Sleeps:

•  Night time: 7pm-between 6-6:45am
• Naps: One afternoon nap (2 hours)** The last two days she has cried going down for her nap (something she NEVER does) and has only slept an hour and a half...lets hope this isn't a trend.

Weighs:About 23 lbs

Likes:

*Swings

*Water/the pool

*Asking if there will be boys at the event we are going to (a bit early for being boy crazy I think!)
* Going to the play room during mom's group instead of being with me...YAY
*Checking if Simon's diaper has poop in it
* Covering her face with stickers (A great distraction that Grandma Lorna thought of as we waited for food one night!)

*Going to the aquarium aka Fish restaurant in Sai Kung

*Going to the liboy "library" 

Is learning.....
* to listen to mommy and daddy, being nice and gentle with baby brother. We fear the terrible twos are upon us and she is only 19 months....pray for us!
* to share mommy with Simon

Dislikes: When mommy is nursing Simon (which is all the time!), not getting her own way....and walking up the stairs back to our house (which is hard because I am not suppose to carry her up the stairs for another week and a half).

Favorite event:  Having both Grandmas in Hong Kong to visit! The Monday after Grandma Lorna left and daddy was back at work was a reality check (a pretty bad day!) But thankfully the last two days have had minimal time outs, crying outbursts and hitting little brother.

Pool fun

We went to our friends house and played in the pool. Joy loves the water and loves getting out of the house so it was a great morning. 

We had to capture a picture of Elena, Ren and Joy.  We used to all go to Starbucks together when they were little and they would nurse, sleep or sit in our laps.... Needless to say none of those things are the same. Joy was in constant motion for every picture! Ha 

Nap time

Both kids are sleeping at the same time... It does not always happen so I should be napping too. However it's just too nice to cuddle a sleeping baby

What is in a name?

Simon Elias

It was very hard to come up with a boy name. When we were trying to find a girl name, deciding on Joy was very easy, however a boy name took us a long time. We wanted to keep with the Arabic middle name theme, which made the process even more complicated.  It had to be something easy for our English-speaking friends and family to pronounce, but with a strong meaning. 

Simon: "One who hears" from "Hear oh Israel" which is part of the "Shema" or opening prayer in the Torah. "Hear oh Israel the Lord your God is one" (Deuteronomy 6:4). In the New Testament Jesus used the Shema as the beginning exhortation of his two greatest commandments " The first of all commandments is, Hear oh Israel; The Lord our God is one; and you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength; this is the first commandment." Mark 12:29-30).

Elias: Arabic for Elijah (and also a name in English) meaning "my God is Yahweh" or "the Lord is my God"

Simon Elias, we want you to hear and know that our God is speaking your name.

And baby makes 4

Welcome to our family Simon Elias Christensen !

August 16th at 9:10pm Simon joined our family. He weighed 3.345 kg (7 lb 5 oz) and we have yet to measure him since they don't do it here at the hospital!

 After 18 hours of labor (and no progress past 3cm) Simon was born via C-section. Contractions  were terrible even with an epidural (I guess my pain tolerance is not what I thought it was). Lets just say that I love being a mother, but I hate the being pregnant and the really hate the birth process. The C-section went smoothly and he was able to have skin to skin time with daddy immediately, nurse after one hour and spend the night in my room. Even though he also has a different blood type than me (A+ same as Brad and Joy) he didn't have any jaundice or blood incompatibility issues like Joy did. We spent two days in the hospital and I was able to be discharged early. I hate the hospital and really missed Joy.

So far Simon has been a really mellow baby. He has been a great nurser from the beginning (although I forgot the sheer pain of the first stages of nursing!) and even sleeps for one 4-5 hour stretch at night most days of the week. He loves to sleep with his arms by his head. Thankfully I forgot how bone tired you are with a newborn and recovering from surgery (and I have even had a grandma here for the last 3 weeks!).

We are so happy to have you here with us Simon. We can't imagine life without you! 

 Very tired but very happy mommy and daddy

 First bath (at home)

 Simon was born with REALLY long nails, see the scratch marks on his face!

 

First car seat ride on the way back from the hospital

(Above) First ergo ride, waiting for his passport pictures (which by the way he opened his eyes immediately and the whole process took about 5 minutes!)

18 months of adjustment

What Joy is doing 

• Joy is into everything....and loves to run, although usually trips.
• She is busy adjusting to live with a new brother...some days are better than others. 
• Exerting her will....which is trying to us as her parents. 
• Pretend cooking with her play food from namma Condie. 
• Wrapping her baby and moose in the blanket that namma Lorna made. 
• Playing in the new suitcase that mommy and daddy got, pretending it is a boat.

• Total teeth: 12 (she has been working on all 4 "i" teeth for the last month....they have caused nothing but pain and sleeplessness for the girl.
  
  

What Joy is saying: Joy is a chatterbox! She likes to "sing" along to music.

It is too hard to keep track of all the words that Joy is saying, I would say she is up over 50 words. She is putting two & three words together which is really cute. Some of our favorite words she says right now are (she has a little speech impediment so they come out really cute!)
* mooth (moose) 
*kaboom 
* baf  (bath) 
*loloo (stroller) 
*watch out namma (grandma) 
*go away ants 

* mammaneenee what joy calls me when she wants me :)

 Eats: 

• Loves: Our girl loves to eat and is very adventurous (although sometimes I have to hide a few of her least favorite vegetables like beans). She likes broccoli again, which is fun. However she is very opinionated about what she wants to eat and it can take some effort to get her to eat something that is not on her requested list of the day.
• Dairy Free:  Sometimes I feel sad that Joy can't have dairy as it is one of my favorite food groups. Oh well!
• Still gives us trouble: Carrots and bananas are back on the diet if she eats them in moderation. 

Sleeps:Sleep has been a bit weird with baby brother, or it could just be a cycle she is going through. Thankfully today she slept until 7am again but the last month she has been up at 6am....UGLY.

•  Night time: 7pm-7am
• Naps: One afternoon nap (2 hours)

Weighs:About 23 lbs

Likes:

*Swings and the park-getting out of the house
* Watering the plants with dad on the roof.
* Anything to do with a moose. It all started when Grandma Condie brought the book "If you give a moose a muffin", then she bought her a little moose animal....and the icing on the cake Great Aunt Brenda gave her a stuffed toy moose (she didn't even know that Joy loves moose right now).
*  Patting baby brother's back and check diapers for poop (although she is very disappointed when the diapers don't have poop in them)
*She likes daddy putting her to bed now, which is great!

  

Is learning.....
* to listen to mommy and daddy, being nice and gentle with baby brother. We fear the terrible twos are upon us and she is only 18 months....pray for us! 
* to share mommy with Simon

 

Dislikes: When mommy is nursing Simon (which is all the time!), not getting her own way....

Favorite event:  Having both Grandmas in Hong Kong to visit! Baby brother Simon's birth :-)