Our beautiful baby Derrick is 100 days old today.
It is Korean tradition to celebrate 100th day as sort of a milestone- long ago, many babies in Korea did not survive long enough to pass 100 days. Once they passed 100 day mark, they were considered 'safe' as in they are likely to safely grow.
We had a very small celebration at our place with Chicago Grandma Grandpa, very close family friend Mr and Mrs Jung, Me, my husband, and Grandma from Seoul.
We missed Aunt Grace and Grandpa from Seoul dearly, as well as Uncle Hyun :/
Anyway, Grandma from Seoul went out of her way to cook delicious food for us and also helped out with rice cakes! Thank you G-ma from Seoul!
Here is Derrick's baekil table setup!
Balloons and table cover from Party City, picture frames from Target, pictures printed from Costco, banner customized and ordered from Little Seouls , and handmade rice cakes ordered through Hmart Chicago
On this day, Baby Derrick knew something was going on, and he felt very fussy all day long! He wasn't his usual playful, smiling self. Poor baby, we put him in a outfit, which he didn't like much at all.
We tried to get him in the outfit, and on his bumbo, but the only decent pic we got is this...
And then we had to take him out of his outfit because he was getting too fussy-
Tried taking a family pic, but it really is difficult to take a good shot with a baby!
We took many shots with different positions... to no avail until, we got couple semi-decent family pics!
Here is a close up picture of the beautifully handmade rice cakes! They were scrumptious!
Here we are enjoying the awesome Korean food prepared by Gma Kim from Seoul! Don't worry, Baby D got his yummy milk, too :]
As always, Derrick is the star of the party :]
All in all, it was such a blessed day, filled with love and laughter.
Dearest Baby D,
Mommy and Daddy are so happy that you have come into our lives and that it's already been 100 days since you were born.We love you so much, and we don't want any more than what God has blessed us with through you.
We pray that you would grow to be a healthy, happy boy, and we will try our best to nurture and guide you in the right way.
As an added bonus here is baby D's recent tummy time video!
Today, Baby Derrick is 3 months and 2 days old.
Derrick has been developing at exponential speed and he is a delight to be around each day!
Here he is blowing bubbles.
He enjoys sitting on his bumbo seat!
And here he is trying to 'talk'
On a sad note;
we had to send our family dog, Guinness, away to a family friend.
He is a Yorkie/Pekingese mix, and we got him from a breeder when he was 7 weeks old. He was two months shy from being a year old when I got pregnant, and since I got pregnant he became very clingy and territorial. Once we brought Baby Derrick home, he became aggressive and possessive. He will be 2 years old this September, but his behavior problems have gotten out of control.
We tried every training method out there, but he just wouldn't get disciplined.
From his perspective, he probably felt betrayed since he was the baby of the house, and then all of a sudden, everyone started ignoring him and he probably felt abandoned.
Both my husband and I thought it'd be best for the baby and the dog if we let our family friend take care of him. Guinness will get the attention he needs and deserves and baby Derrick will be safe from a possible aggression attack.
It was sad to see him go, but I know in my heart Guinness will enjoy his new home and new mom and dad. :'(
Today Baby Derrick is exactly 2 months and 15 days old.
Much has happened the past 15 days-
D is showing more personality now smiling more and definitely more verbal with his coos and gurgles.
He has figured out to frown! So he will frown before he breaks out into a full blown cry- for example, he will frown and move his lips downwards if the dog barks too loud or he hears something he doesn't like, or he feels uncomfortable because he has a dirty diaper. I have yet to capture that moment, but I will and post it up eventually :]
He also has been communicating better such as being cranky(lots of grunts and short bursts of waahhs) right before he falls asleep,
rubbing/burrowing his head when held to show that he's tired... he will also express that he is happy by a squeal or a melodic whoo~ or hoo~ or ha~. When he is overwhelmed, then he will make an annoyed noise like, weh! with a staccato, and if he's bored he'll do a little tiny wail.
These days he has been more attentive to objects around him.
The lion doll is his favorite object to stare at. He becomes very inquisitive and observant when the doll is placed directly above him. He can spend up to 15-20 minutes by himself just staring at the doll and cooing.
He is also developing hand-eye coordination! He hasn't perfected it yet, but he's beginning to swat at dangling things.
As always, he likes to play with mommy :]
He is now having fun with his daddy as well :]
In the beginning, we had a lot of arguments because I wanted my husband to help out more, and my husband said he can't because all the baby wants is his mommy. This was very true the first month and a half and there really wasn't much my husband could do because I am exclusively breastfeeding and all Derrick wanted was mommy.(He would cry nonstop if my husband try to hold him...) Of course this did not help ME with the lack of sleep and constant breastfeeding and holding the baby until my arms fell asleep.... which in turn led to constant arguments and fights. Hormones, lack of sleep, physical fatigue... you do the math- it's inevitable...
But slowly, Derrick has warmed up to his daddy, and daddy has been trying to spend more time with Derrick so that he will be more familiar with his daddy. So far, it has been fantastic :]
The first unofficial family picture! Mommy and daddy look so bad :[ but Derrick looks so cute!
Derrick is also becoming an expert at tummy time. However, he hates being on his tummy and he can't last more than 5 minutes on his tummy!! He has much better control of his neck and hopefully he will be able to hold his head up on his own soon!
Recently, he has shown that he likes sitting up!
He still has some growing to do before he can fit on his peg perego siesta booster seat, but he likes being propped up seeing what's going on around him.
And it's easier to take pictures with mommy, too! :]
Today was Do Division Fest, which is a street fest right near our house. Derrick loved the green balloon, he couldn't take his eyes off of it! I can't wait until he grows up so he can enjoy all these activities!
MOMMY UPDATE
I'm still struggling physically-
These days I've been feeling my scar burn, I feel extreme heat from it and then it'll subdue, and then it'll flare up again, and then get better again... it's weird, it's not pain, but it's definite discomfort of my scar.
Which, by the way, has keloided, and looks disgusting, like a worm. :[
I also started my period again, two in one month, and still spotting a bit. :[
My joints are in extreme pain, especially if I walk more than 20 minutes.
I also have gained weight in my upper body, specifically my arms near my boobs; I don't know if they look thicker because the muscles there got bigger from lifting and holding the baby all the time, or if it's because of my breasts, or if it's because I'm gaining overall.
This is again, weird because, my lower body and abdomen hasn't really gotten big at all, I still fit into my pre pregnancy clothes fine, albeit the arms... :'[
I don't want to cut down on calories since I'm breastfeeding, I guess I just have to do more arm stretches...
Emotionally, I'm pretty stable and quite happy. Romantically, husband and I are not really chummy chummy, but enjoying each other's company and helping each other.
My mom is still around helping with everything from cleaning to laundry to dishes to taking care of the dog... and I fear the day she has to leave :[
Overall, we have now found a routine, and husband, Baby Derrick and I are finally figuring out how to be a family, with the help of my mom. I'm sure once she leaves, there will be adjusting period, but for now, everything is slowly coming together :]
