Taisei Buffet: August 2006

South Mountain

What's a weekend without the outdoors? This time, we took the Young Men and Women, along with our kids (Taisei & Hiro) and hiked the Corner Canyon Trail down in Draper. Hiro had a blast running around on the trail. Taisei most enjoyed sucking on my hand as we walked up the trail.

Here's Taisei chillin' on our bed. Check out his cool shirt, created by Michelle Kaneyuki over in Hawaii. We want to try Taisei Ramen the next time we're in Oahu. By the way, Congratulations Jason and Michelle! Taisei's excited to meet Elias.

Taisei having fun sitting in the boppy pillow.

Wipe out! That's what you get for not holding still, little man! He was trying to escape from the sleeping pad. He made it... by face-planting into the carpet. But he enjoyed it and continues to work on his escape artist skills. Hiro is unfazed by the commotion.

Japanese Babies at Liberty Park

Traditionally, Japanese mothers will meet each other at the park so the babies can socialize and the mommies can talk their mommy-talk. At least, that's the perception of one outsider Taiwanese-American husband. Wami got together with Masami, Sayuri and Kazumi at Liberty Park.

In this picture, you can see Masami's boy on top, her twins on the left, Taisei, Sayuri's baby and Kazumi's baby. They had such a great time, they stayed there all afternoon.

Four Month Check-Up

We just had Taisei's 4 month appointment with Dr. Lindsay* today. Taisei's still growing. He's around 50th percentile height and weight and 25th percentile head circumference. Who would've known he had a proportionally small head. Looks alright to me. :) He measures 13 lbs 9 oz, 25 inches tall and 16 inches around the head. What cute proportions! Just kidding.

He got 4 more vaccination shots, 2 on each thigh, that quickly changed his cheery disposition to a ouch-ouch-what-the-heck-happened disposition. But as soon as the shots were done, he seemed to be ok again and his teary face soon either dried up or was smeared on my t-shirt. A successful trip to the doctor's! By the way, here are Dr. Lindsay's answers to Wami's list of questions. Admittedly, different doctors probably have different opinions.

Any advice about taking Taisei to Japan?
Make sure to breastfeed him on take-offs and landings. No drugs necessary until 6 months. He's young enough not to need Dramamine or Benadryl. Bring toys to keep him entertained.

When can he use sunscreen or deet?
Avoid the use of deet and sunscreen until at least 6 months. Try Avon's SkinSoSoft to repel bugs - it works! As for the sun, keep him out of it.

He always rolls onto his belly to sleep - is that ok?
Let's avoid it. He is still at an age where risk of SIDS is high. Try to turn him over after he falls asleep. Make sure there is nothing in the crib - no blankets, pillows, toys, etc.

What's this new rash on his neck?
It's probably from drool or milk on his neck. Nothing to be alarmed about. You can apply vaseline, diaper rash cream or do nothing at all unless things get worse.

Is it time to start solid foods yet?
No, there is no benefit until about six months of age. We'll cover that at your next appointment. For now, continue breastfeeding. It's more beneficial at this point.

How much longer should we breastfeed?
It's very important for the first year. So please try to continue until then if you can. After one year, the benefits begin to wane.

* By the way, Dr. Lindsay is Sunny Chen's fiance Jonathan Beutler's pediatrician ever since he was a baby. Jonathan's grandma also lived 4 doors down from us before she recently passed away. Funny, huh? Jonathan highly recommended Dr. Lindsay - perfect since the office is only a few blocks away. After this initial recommendation, he was also highly recommended to us from our OB and two more friends who are pediatricians themselves, Dr. Hildebrand and Dr. Elizabeth.

Baby Mix 'n Match

Here are baby pictures of our whole family, with a few extra Yus. See if you can find the matches. :) (Best viewed in Firefox. Stop using Internet Exploder!)