Playground

It was pretty warm today so we went outside for a walk to the park. Jasmine was absolutely thrilled. She loves going outside and walking around on her own (she doesn't let us hold her hand) and exploring everything.

It's funny watching her: examine a leaf on the ground or pick up a rock or a flower. She grabs it with her pudgy fingers and then stares at it, move it this way and that way, like it's the only thing in the world.

Today, we let Jasmine roam around in the playground where there were pebbles. She was stomping and stomping around; I guess the feeling of the small stones under her shoes feel funny so she kept on doing it. Here she is, enjoying it:

Poke, Poke, Poke again

Jasmine probably thought that she had the worst day of her life today. After going to her allergist and finding out that she may potentially be fatally allergic to eggs and peanuts, she was ordered to have some blood tests done to confirm the allergies. After 3 weeks, we finally took Jasmine to get the blood tests done.

Jasmine had a terrible time. She practically cried for 30 minutes straight, with me and Richard trying to restrain her. She is definitely a fighter, kicking and squirming and moving around. Being a young 16 month old, her veins are hard to find. The nurses poked her left arm, blood started going and then it stopped. Then they poked her right arm and blood started going, then stopped. They tried to find a large enough vein to poke again but couldn't. The last resort was to poke her 4th finger on her left hand, and that finger bled fine. Phewf. What a horrific experience.

I don't think I could withstand listening to Jasmine cry much longer (my tears swelling in my eyes). I guess Jasmine was tired out from that, as she fell asleep in the car on our drive home. She slept so soundly that even when I moved her from the car to the house, she continued to sleep! Luckily she showed no sign of trauma when she woke from her nap - she was very cheerful and happy. What a relief.

Which Stroller to Get?

We've been on the hunt for a new stroller these past 2 weeks. We used to have a Graco Quattro stroller combo with car seat which worked nicely until Beeps grew out of the car seat and then we bought a different car seat with the Snugrider (stroller frame and you just clip the car seat on top).

We also have a nice jogging stroller for long strolls around the neighborhood. That one is really easy to push and comfy for Jasmine to sit in. Good storage basket underneath and was easy to fold up. Big issue is that it doesn't fit well in the truck of a car so we need something light for short shopping trips.

The features I want in the perfect stroller are: 5 point harness strap, nice recline, big sun canopy, leg rest adjustment, easy steering, easy to open and close. I've been looking at these ones:

- Chicco Liteway
- Silver Cross Pop
- Zooper Twist

Here are the differences amongst them (they all have 5 pt harness, big canopy and leg adjustments):

Chicco Liteway (reg $149, on sale for $102):

- complete flat recline and 1-hand mechanism
- 2 front wheels, really easy to steer
- canopy zips off at the back for ventilation
- weighs 17lbs
- holds weight of 40lbs





Silver Cross Pop (reg $199, on sale for $120):

- one hand recline but not completely flat
- back of canopy has storage pocket
- weighs 15lbs
- holds weight of 45lbs






Zooper Twist (reg $199, on sale for $129):


- very light (weighs only 13lbs)
- 2-hand recline and not flat recline either
- has storage on back of canopy and unzips for ventilation
- includes rain cover, UV cover and foot muff (for winter)
- holds weight of 40lbs


Out of all the features that I want, the most important feature I want is easy steering. It's hard to tell which one will hold up though, since Jasmine is only 20lbs right now. It starts getting hard to steer when the weight is near the maximum.

The Chicco is in a really nice blue color and has the full flat recline which you can do with one hand. The Zooper is in purple and is super light but it has the 2-hand recline feature which bugs me. The zooper is a good value since it includes the rain cover, UV cover and foot muff. The Silver Cross is in between these 2. I'm really not sure which stroller to like more. If you have any opinions, feel free to let me know.

Loves Her Blankie (video)

Jasmine recently developed a real "like" to her blankie (actually, it's her sleep sack). The first thing she'd look for when she wakes up is her blankie. And if she can't find it, you can hear Jasmine whine and moan, walk around the entire house looking for it.

If you leave the blankie hanging in her crib, she would pull it out of her crib thru the cracks, put it on the ground and rub her face in it. Good thing we have 3 sleep sacks: one she sleeps with at night (gotta keep that one clean), one for her to hug and drag around the house, and the other one for the laundry. Check it out:

Sleeping 12 Hours Straight!

F-I-N-A-L-L-Y! Jasmine finally sleeps 12 hours straight at night! YAY!!! All that suffering for the past few months, it's paid off. Richard and I can sleep peacefully at night.

I wonder if it is because Jasmine cut out her afternoon nap. She does take a morning nap (around 1.5 hours) but that's it for the rest of the day. That makes going out with her easier. For example, we went to Brentwood mall today right after lunch and we didn't have to worry about Jasmine whining and crying when she gets tired. She just ran around and played all afternoon until we got home.

She also seems to enjoy more foods now, which includes bread, fruits, cheese and yogurt. Her current favorite "play" item is white rice. She loves mushing her fingers in the rice and then spreading it all over the high chair.

Jasmine is just perfect right now. We love her to pieces.

Dinner at Adyson's House

Over the weekend, Mommy and Daddy brought me over to Adyson's house for dinner. We ate alot of yummy food (bread, salad, shepperds pie and fried scallops). Yum.

It was very fun. Adyson has so, so, so many toys; I wish I can take them all home to play. But Mommy said no so I can only play with them there. I wish that I can visit Adyson every weekend.

Bath in Big Tub (videos)

I finally had some time to upload the bath videos. Here are 2 videos of Jasmine in the bath. In this first one, it's very first day we put her in the big tub and she loves splashing everywhere (pat, pat, pat):



In the next video (this was a couple of weeks after), Jasmine was really tired but we still had to bathe her. She started to fuss so I turned on the tap to distract her. She liked it! Her reaction was really cute (Note, she bonked her head outside that day, thus the bruise on her head):

What's in There? (videos)

Sometimes I really think that kids play with things, just to make the parents feel....dirty? Jasmine's figured out how to open the trash can and likes to see what is in there. I've captured her twice on camera (see below).



In the second video, she is telling you how to open the garbage lid, that she likes sticking her hand inside to grab the toys in there, why does Mommy tell her to get out of there....

Got Some Sleep

For the past week, Jasmine has been waking up a bit later than usual (which was 4:30am in the morning). She's actually waking up closer to 6:30am now, so doing morning duty is not so bad. FINALLY! Both me and Richard can get more sleep. Keeping our fingers crossed that this will continue.

I have to note that I gave Jasmine an Ouiieee tonight. I was feeding her, her bedtime milk while she was watching her favorite nursery rhymes on Youtube. I was trying to multi-task by clipping her finger nails (because she doesn't move around much when watching nursery rhymes. Bad idea. I wasn't as careful as I should have been and accidentally clipped her thumb. (SO SO SO SORRY JASMINE! MOMMY DIDN'T MEAN TO DO IT!) I felt so bad. All of a sudden, you hear this screaming and crying from Jasmine. Her tiny little thumb was cut and bleeding...

Poor girl, what a traumatic month for her. First she gets a bad hair cut, then she bonks her head 3 times and now Mommy cuts her thumb. When will her bad luck stop?