On 35mm: Stanford Shopping Center

These were taken about five or six months ago after M started walking a bit more. I can tell because he's still walking with his hands up in these pictures :) 

Kodak Ektar 100 Film

August Instagram

1 year, 6 months, and 2 weeks old!

Mars is 1 year, 6 months, and 2 weeks old!

(Pictures from my iPhone)

This past Wednesday was a rough day for Mars and I. We had his 18 month check-up which meant two vaccinations. He was already feeling not-so-comfortable since his resident doctor isn't there anymore and he really liked her. After his two shots, he was so sad and kept pointing at his band-aids and crying. Afterwards, we had to go to the lab to get his blood drawn, and that was even worse. The lab tech was unclear with what he wanted me to do and long story short, he pretty much yelled at me because I accidentally tugged on the tubing when trying to restrain my wiggly baby. He also ordered me to "not look" so it's not like I could see where I was putting my hand... It was all so sad and alarming and I ended up sobbing with my crying baby.

I had planned on taking Mars in for a haircut afterwards but decided that he had enough restraint in one morning. Instead, we went to the the Bay Area Discovery Museum, where I spoiled him rotten and let him run around free wherever, and for as long as he wanted. We started with some pizza and chocolate milk for lunch, then I bought him a gardening tool set, a blue train that he always plays with when he goes into the gift shop, and a new book. He ran around and had so much fun, bumped his head into another toddler and cried, but then got over it quickly, and I felt much better seeing him happy and in a good mood again. 

Later that afternoon, we came home and did some gardening in the backyard. I repotted some plants and let Mars "help" by pouring water out of his new watering can, and digging in the wet soil with his new trowel. He seemed to really enjoy that too. It seemed that he had gotten over everything sad that happened earlier that day, but in the evening, during his bath, he saw his band-aids and got upset again. I think the entire experience was really scary for him because he was so scared for me to touch the band-aids, even as I was taking them off. Then he played with his bath toys while whimpering and sort-of crying, and it broke my heart.

Yesterday and today, we stayed home and relaxed. We'll probably play in the backyard/sandbox later since it's such a nice day out. Wednesday was too much, and I just want some quiet time at home :)

On 35mm: Bay Area Discovery Museum

Here are some more examples of me using Fuji Natura 1600 inappropriately... This was the same roll of film that had photos from four years ago. I had no idea what was on it or if it was still good so I just fired away.

Fuji Natura 1600 Film

1 year, 6 months, and 1 week old!

Mars is 1 year, 6 months, and 1 week old!

Happy Friday!

New words this week include

baby

bo (boat)

bye bye

and I forgot to mention last time that he says "wee" for playing and fun times :)

(edit: And also "woah!" when something awesome happens...when we sprinkle furikake on his rice or when his Boogie Bus goes out of control, etc) (wait! second edit!: He also says "yum!" and "beep beep" for car... sorry, I just feel like I have to get all of it down.)

This week, I caught him playing with a small Piglet doll. He was pretending to feed him from his sippy cup and making the sign for "milk". Then he pointed to the chair and tried to make him sit on the chair. Later, he let Piglet hop around on these large squares laid out on the rug. It was so cute and funny. We don't have plans this weekend so maybe that means we can just hang out and relax. Last weekend, I was extremely hung over and I never want to do that again! Relaxing at home sounds good :) Happy weekend, everyone!

Papa, Mama, & Baby: August Week 2

Currently, we are snacking on dried mangos, chocolate chips, and anpanman cookies:

And we are drinking water, almond milk, and milk:

Not super exciting around here today...Can you tell?? We're just waiting around while our car is in the shop and finding things to do around the house. Hopefully, your Wednesday is more eventful than ours!

On 35mm: Taiwan 2011

Fuji Natura 1600 Film

It's always amazing to me when I develop a roll of film and there are pictures on it that I don't even remember taking. These were hiding on a roll of film in a camera that I had not used until recently. They are from 2011 when I still lived in Taipei! Crazy how young J looks in that first picture. The second, third, and fourth photos were taken in my apartment at the time. So many good memories :)

Mars is a year and a half old!

Mars is a year and a half old!

Happy half-birthday, little guy! "Happy" is a new word that he's added to his vocabulary this week and it's his way of letting us know that he's feeling good. He's also starting to wear big boy clothes now. No more onesies! This t-shirt is kinda big on him and it reminded J of Stefon from SNL!

Do you guys use the app, Timehop? I have it on my phone and it's like a daily time machine for all my social media posts up to 9 years ago. It's really interesting to see all the stuff I've been up to and to have it so well documented. Since today is Mars' half birthday, I thought I'd take a small trip down memory lane, or #flashbackfriday for those who are super hip (not me haha). 

1 year ago 

Mars turned 6 months old and according to an old post, he was, "wiggling around on his tummy, reaching to grab toys to put in his mouth". That is so funny to me that he used to be a little wiggly worm and could barely reach to grab things that were inches from him.

2 years ago

I was around 15 weeks pregnant, going back to work from summer break, and setting up my first grade classroom. This was around the time we started telling people we were expecting. I remember feeling so nervous those first few weeks.

3 years ago

We had just gotten back from our trip to London, Brussels, and Paris (where J proposed). I still have flashbacks of us biking through Versailles and eating the best picnic foods on a park bench. It was one of the best experiences ever.

4 years ago

I had just moved from Taipei and was enjoying my first ever SF summer right before starting a new job.

5 years ago

I was living in Taipei and our band was in the process of recording our EP. That year, we had played live on the radio, was featured in the Taipei Times, and played at the Spring Scream outdoor music festival. Those were some fun times.

6 years ago

I was packing up the Moog and getting ready to move all the way to Taiwan!

7 years ago

I was living in San Diego and going to grad school at UCSD. It felt like not that long ago, I can't believe it's been seven years.

8 years ago

I had just gotten back from Taipei and experiencing reverse culture shock. I think this was also the time when I started studying and applying for grad school.

9 years ago

I just moved to the dorms at NTU and was starting my year abroad in Taiwan! Those were some fun times.

I'm gonna stop there, cause really, I could go on forever until I reach "30 years ago". I know I'm always commenting on how "crazy" time flies, but how can I not?! It's insane how these years are going by so quickly. When I was in elementary school I always felt that every year went by faster than the previous one. Since growing up, I never felt that way until having Mars. Especially being able to compare what he was like a year, or even two years ago, it seems that time is really speeding up. In reality, I think there are just too many things happening all at once and it gets hard to keep track so it feels like it's all going by so fast. If anyone is reading this (and thanks for reading if you are!) how do you live your life so that it doesn't flash by so quickly? This is something that I want to get better at. I mean, I think I'm pretty good at documenting moments and trying to stay mindful, but time is still speeding by! If anyone has any ideas, I'd love to hear them :) In the meantime, have a good weekend!

Papa, Mama, & Baby: August

I realized the other day that we don't take enough family portraits and time is flying by so quickly. Hopefully this series will remind me to take a quick photo every month, and along with it, document little things that our family is into during that time. I adapted the idea from a blogger who got the idea from another blogger who got the idea from another blogger! It's nice how much inspiration is out there in the blog world.

So currently, we are wearing:

learning about:

and reading:

My hope is that one day we can look back on these posts and remember what we've been up to instead of feeling like everything was a blur :)

1 year, 5 months, 3 weeks, and 2 days old!

Mars is 1 year, 5 months, 3 weeks, and 2 days old!

Please excuse the cracker crumbs on his face...

Lately, Mars has been adding more words to his vocabulary. Here is a running list of what he can say so far:

mama

dada

daddy

wowo (dog)

uh-uhn (no)

no-no
book
ee-oh (the end)
ub (up)

ball

buh-bo (bubble)

bah (bath)

pah-ta (pasta)

I haven't been teaching him any new signs, but since I'm making lists, here's what he can sign so far:

milk

drink

all done

more

eat

baby

cereal

cracker

bird

airplane (sort of...he just flies his hand around in the air)

ouchie/boo boo

wash hands/wash hair

and he can point to his nose, eyes, mouth, and ears

His current favorite food is rice. He can eat a whole plate of plain rice non-stop. To take advantage of this, we made little salmon and veggie rice balls (with cute seaweed cut-out faces and everything), and it was the first time in a long time that he finished his entire meal. He was so proud when we congratulated him on being "all done, all done". :)

Playing Catch Up

Some pictures of Mars from early July: