Evil laughs

Evil laugh: Bwahahahahaha!

 
Right after Julie gave birth to Natalie, the nurses at the hospital gave us all the necessary supplies to take care of a baby, such as formula, bottles, burp cloths, swaddling blankets, and diapers. They explained these to us, letting us know some basic useful information about each one. But when they got to the diapers, they said, "Look. This is cool. You see this stripe right here? It turns blue when the baby has wet her diaper."

I ooh-ed and ahh-ed at this marvel of modern technology. Then I asked what I thought was the obvious next question: "But how do you know if she has pooped her diaper? Is there a line for that?" The nurse replied, "Oh... you just know..." as she gave an evil laugh.

Fast forward to this weekend. Through my vast experience with dirty diapers, I do agree that "you just know" if your baby pooped her diaper (as long as your nose is working). But lately this "smell test" has been failing me. Sometimes I smell something foul, but when I change her diaper, nothing is there and I realize that Allie has only passed some morbid gas. I was tired of changing her diaper when she hasn't dirtied it, so when I smelled something this weekend, I decided to pull her diaper aside a little bit to check if she actually went. But as soon as I did, I felt something wet. I cautiously looked down, and on the tip of my fingers... was poop. POOP! Oh my god! Ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod! POOOOOOOP! My wife was just watching me unravel into a panicking little boy and all she could do was shake her head as she gave an evil laugh.

So now (of course), every time my wife thinks that Allie has dirtied her diaper, she hands her off to me. Then she laughs evilly and asks, "Why don't you do the dip test?"

What's New - Jan 2013

Natalie has been twiddling her thumbs waiting for me to update this blog

I am not sure if you can tell or not, but I haven't really posted much on this blog lately. Who knew that taking care of a baby would take up so much of my time? Weird.

Here are some of the things that happened since the last "What's New" in December:

• Last time we said that Allie has started to sit up on her own. Now, she can actually go from her stomach to sitting up! While she was trying master the motion of getting from her stomach to sitting up, she would get so frustrated! So once she finally sat up from her stomach, my wife and I cheered and clapped boisterously. But Allie just looked at us blankly with an expression that said, "What's the big deal. You guys sit up all the time".
• Allie is continuing to eat solid food. She loves her rice, which was such a relief to me, because, being Asian, rice is practically the only thing I eat. She also loves her carrots, peas, and apples. My wife has started making our own baby food, and Allie prefers the homemade stuff. Yay! 
• Allie has started to crawl. At first she was still struggling, so she was not moving as fast. My wife and I realized that we need to get outlet covers and a lot of safety equipment, but we were a little relieved that she was not moving so fast, so we thought we still had a little time to get the safety equipment. But she has started to crawl really fast. She is able to move all over the place now. She has a strange fascination with cords, electrical outlets, and anything dangerous (much to our dismay). Don't worry worried reader, my wife and I are very willing to tackle her if she is going to grab something dangerous.
• We have actually updated our photo website, flickr. We haven't updated it since October, so there are a lot of pictures to catch up on.

Happy New Year!

Natalie celebrated her first New Year's Eve with us this year.  We tried to let her sleep a little but she would have nothing of it.  What a trooper.  Finally, she dozed off on the way home from my husband's parents home.  She was asleep in her crib by 11, having partied her diaper off for about five hours before that.  Her resolutions for the new year?  Try all the new foods Mom and Dad give her, at least a few times.  Learn to walk.  And spend more time playing in the bath tub.

Not too bad for a girl who's almost six months old!

Merry Christmas

This Saturday, I am driving to Ithaca to be reunited with my wife and daughter just in time for Christmas! It's a Christmas miracle!! (Is it still a miracle if it has been preplanned for months?)

So, dear reader, I hope that you are having a wonderful holiday and I hope that you get to spend it with people you love. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Mrs. Claus looks different somehow...

Watching a Movie

This past month, in anticipation of the movie the Hobbit: an Unexpected Journey, I started watching the old Lord of the Rings movies, which made me realize two things. One, my daughter is a hobbit aside from the hairy feet (thankfully). Two, since my wife and daughter are in Ithaca, I realized that watching a movie at home after having a baby is a completely different experience than watching a movie by yourself. 

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