Tag Archives: GungGung

One Month Celebration

Day 32

Earlier today, Vivian took Connor to the doctor and he weighed in at 8lb 10.5oz and 22 inches long. Our baby is growing so fast. He’s over one month old now! It’s time for a small family celebration. By the time I get home from work, my parents have everything prepared for a short ceremony. Connor is decked out with some nice bling and a lucky red outfit. There is a table full of offerings. Incense sticks are lit. My parents say a few words to Connor. We bow. And finally, my dad takes a small clipping of Connors’ hair. It’s a whirlwind of activity, of which I really need to learn the significance… and then we are off to dinner where the rest of my siblings await.

We’re Here To Plump You Up!

Day 18-20

During Connors’ 2nd week visit to the pediatrician, we were told that Connor was behind schedule in his weight gain and he was still below his birth weight. We learned that we weren’t feeding him as efficiently as we could, so before supplementing with baby formula, we wanted to try a different, more efficient method of feeding.

It’s hard to tell if he is gaining weight, but it looks like his cheeks are just a little bit plumper. We are anxiously waiting for our upcoming pediatricians’ visit to see if working double time will pay off.

Infinite Loop

Day Six

Cry. Feed. Poop. Diaper change. Swaddle. Repeat.

Connor has a pretty incredible internal clock. He wakes up crying every hour on the dot. I don’t know if it’s because I don’t know how to burp him. I’ve only been able to coax two burps out of the boy. The book says newborns don’t always burp, so I hope I am doing it right.

Thanks Linda, Frank, and Riley for coming by for a visit! Looking forward to hanging out more with the kids in the near future!

Thanks Uncle Mike, Dustin, Derek, Jessica, and Tai Paw for coming by! Our family just got a tiny bit bigger.

 

Meet the Cousins

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Day Two

Our siblings call and ask if they can come visit. “As long as you don’t have a cough or cold, swing on by”, I respond. I am a bit of a hypochondriac, so naturally, I get worried about my son being exposed to germs before his immune system has developed. Everybody checks out fine except for Vince, who is in the tail end of recovering from a cold. I ask him to wear a facemask and am glad he is understanding.

As we wait for our guests to arrive, a nurse walks in and tells us that we will have to switch rooms because they are out of delivery rooms. We have to move upstairs to the overflow rooms. It’s a downgrade for sure, but they say we should be able to move after our guests leave. Luckily our delivery room is large and can fit all our guests in at once.

My brother and sister arrive with each of their families and four kids in tow. Brendan, the eldest cousin at 7 yrs old, enters as I am in the middle of changing a poopie diaper. Yesterday, I went to get a Peet’s coffee at the hospital cafeteria and missed my babys’ first poop. Not to fear though, my mom was there and took a picture on her iphone. I sent the photo to my siblings and in return, my brother sent me a reaction video of his kids looking at the picture for the first time. When babies first poo, it is not what you expect. The poo is like a black tar. It’s called meconium and is basically waste left from the amniotic fluid in the babys’ system. Not something you see everyday, so my brother was expecting to see a reaction from his kids. The result was uncontrollable laughter. Brendan could not stop laughing at the poop and Reina wanted to see the picture again. She even promised not to laugh the second time. It wasn’t hard to predict that promise was going to be broken. So, back to the present, when Brendan sees me changing a diaper, he asks to be lifted so he can see. As expected, he breaks into laughter. The poop is still a black tar mess. It’s actually the first time changing a diaper in my life. I layer a fresh diaper underneath the old one, get a tissue ready to block any pee streams, undo the old diaper, hold both of babys’ legs up with one hand, wipe all the black tar off with the other, remove the old diaper, strap on the new diaper, and done. Success!

Thanks Stella, Jonathan, Hal, Shirley, and families for visiting! We are really excited that all our kids will be growing up together. Looking forward to bbq’s in mom’s backyard this summer!

Thanks Vee for visiting and bringing the buns. Yum.

Thanks Auntie Millie for visiting. You are always so thoughtful.

Thanks Eugene and Dot for coming to visit and feeding me episodes of Sherlock. That show kept me on the elliptical machine these past few weeks and I have a feeling I’ll need every bit of extra endurance for the nights ahead! 

What’s my name?

Day One

In nine months, a small cluster of microscopic cells can be transformed into a living being complete with beating heart, facial features, arms, and legs. Yet, in nine months, Viv and I can’t agree on a name for our baby. We have gone through baby books, the social security website, babynames.com, and countless other sources without an aha moment. We went to watch Hunger Games: Catching Fire the other night and got excited when the movies’ end credits started scrolling up the screen in hopes that the magical name would slap us in face and fall on our laps. It didn’t happen.

So here I am, thumbing through pages of yet another baby name book that the nurse lent me last night.

Early names that were eliminated:

Ed's List
Colin -> Annie and Daniel's boy
Mason -> Cheryl's boy
Griffin
Chase
Viv's List
Ian
Owen
Coen
Ethan

We have it narrowed down to two now:

Trey
Connor

I am edging towards Connor. I look up the name in the dictionary and it’s of Irish descent. Connor means “Wolf Lover”. I’ve always loved wolves, so I can live with this meaning.

We run the names by our families with some mixed response. We eliminate Trey, but decide to wait another day before finalizing on Connor.

Our parents come by for a visit in the morning. Their faces beam with pride and joy when they see our baby for the first time.

My mom prepared a home cooked meal for us. For the last two days, we’ve been ordering from a pretty limited hospital menu and one can only eat so many microwavable chicken pot pies, so having real home cooked Chinese food was just what the doctor ordered. We are lucky to have such a supportive and caring family.

My dad tells me he has come up with a Chinese name. It is 達安. 達 is the same first character as my brothers’ sons’ name. Using the same character is intended to tie our families together. 達 means “to reach or attain” and 安 means “calm or peace”. We decided to use the phonetic spelling of this name as our sons’ middle name. We combined the two characters into one word and spelled it “Doton”. At least we have his middle name now.

Thanks MaMa, YehYeh, PawPaw, and GungGung for all your support. Connor is lucky to have such awesome grandparents!

Thanks to Kitty (Kai Ma), Katie, Julian, and Ada for coming by and visiting us. We are blessed to have such great friends.