Trick or treat

We are savoring every moment of our last week together before I return to work.

It is definitely a bittersweet feeling. I will miss spending 24-7 with my little guy.

Today we headed to Esther's house to dress the babies up in costumes.

Colin was his true self as a monkey. The moms dressed the babies up like they w

ere dolls. All out of love!

pictured above are noah (same b-day as colin) as chili pepper falling over on colin. to colin's right is jordan the hot dog who is always cool as a cucumber, born a few days after col

in & noah.

pictured below are all the new moms from breastfeeding support group, mom & baby yoga, and the mom & baby classes during the week. They were all born weeks apart from each other.

from left: esther & anton, kris & brianne, salena & liliana (who I too

k lamaze class with too), me & colin, emily & jordan, mara & noah

Halloween is simply the best!

Wall decals

Adrian created a tree scene in Colin's nursery last night, using wall decals.

They really brighten the room and give Colin lots of eye candy. The wall decals can be easily removed without any damage to the walls. You can even re-use them. I found this set at Target of all places.

He also put an owl by his changing table. Colin seemed to notice it today.

They will go great with the wall art we got from a little studio in SF called Petit Collage.

Half Moon Bay Pumpkin Festival and Anticipating The Big Day...Halloween

After having a child, Halloween exponentially increases in importance on the holiday priority list. I have gotten a bit stir crazy about all the festivities. First I put in a request with Adrian a few weeks ago to check out the Half Moon Bay Pumpkin Festival. He winced at the thought of long traffic lines, but we woke up early on Sunday and headed out at 9am and got there in an hour.

Crowds there were, but it was a beautiful crisp day, slightly overcast with sun hiding behind the clouds. It felt like a bonafide East Coast autumn day. Half Moon Bay has special memories for us. That's where I met Adrian in 2005, and where he proposed to me in 2006. We celebrated our 1-yr anniversary there last year. We got some yummy pumpkin bread there and coffee, took a walk around the festival and headed back. Got some nice pics with Colin at the dinosaur sculpture yard (where we had to stop and feed him) and pumpkin patches (from our car window).

This week I had been looking all over for baby-size costumes and finally found one that was a true representation of Colin: a monkey. It's 6-12 mos size but he snuggled into it pretty well. We're looking forward to doing all the local Halloween activities: mom's luncheon after yoga, local parade, hospital parade, downtown festival, and Halloween trick or treat. I'm super excited. Colin, get ready!

Reaching Nirvana: The 5 "S's"

One of the first things we learned from the extremely helpful post-partum nursing staff at Mills Peninula were the 5 "S's" to soothe and quiet Colin. These are what Harvey Karp calls 'the cuddle cure' for colic in his book The Happiest Baby on the Block.

1. Swaddling

2. Side/Stomach

3. Shushing

4. Swinging

5. Sucking

It really only worked 25-50% of the time to calm him in the first few weeks since he was crying more for milk that I was not supplying enough of at the time.

It helped us much more in the weeks after that. We discovered the loud surround white noise sound of the bathroom vent and stove top vent had an immediate calming effect. But we were still puzzled at why that, or the swing Adrian ran out to get the second week, still could not keep him calm.

I finally got Karp's book after Month 2, so did not learn a whole lot more from reading it. We are already reaching the end of the "Fourth trimester" and Colin should be growing out of the colicky spells.

But I took away 2 good pearls.

First, swaddling has to be the first step to getting baby to pay attention to the other calming techniques. Adrian was always persistent in getting Colin wrapped up like a tight burrito but I lightly swaddled leaving his arms out because I wanted him to be free. Turns out starting with the swaddle does help make him more

Second, I thought Karp had the perfect analogy to describe Colin's colic and crying bouts in the evening. Baby's brains have a hard time shifting gears. "It's like when your good buddy is in a fight. You try to pull him out of it, but he struggles against you to keep slugging away. It's not until later, when he finally clams down, that he admits, 'Thanks, you're a real friend. I just couldn't stop myself." I laughed at this, envisioning my frenzied little guy in a boxing ring being dragged off to the corner and having us pat his shoulder & calm him down. Half the time we are convinced he has completely lost track in his frenzy & forgotten what it is that set him off in the first place.

Shuffling Along to Death Cab

Dusted off my Brooks running shoes (Ariel model shown here - they are simply the bomb - yes, i said it, the bomb - for flat footers like me) and ran for the first time this weekend in almost a year since the first trimester. Went with my neighbor Mimi who is also a new mom to 4-mo old remy. It felt so refreshing to get out and feel the air on my face and get my legs moving..... all with the compact window of freedom sans bebe (sorry baby!). I do look forward to running with Colin at some point when his neck can withstand the rough and tumble.

Post-partum running was not particularly painful or tiring. The troubling thing was a weird feeling in my belly. It felt unsupported and somewhat floppy. Then there were my legs. They just were not moving as fast as my brain envisioned. But that was a consequence of long under-use, not post-partum.

We did about a 1.5 mile loop close to our home. Today, I felt adventurous and did a longer 5 mile loop with a mid-point stop at the library.

Today's run was boosted with my new shiny little silver i-pod shuffle.

Plus this was my fourth ipod in 3 years, one was on the fritz, the other lost on a business trip and the 3rd too bulky with video screen. Since i got used to always running with my on-the-fritz nano i was skeptical of the skimpy looking shuffle. but less is indeed MORE.

It's an amazingly tiny & weightless mp3 player. tiny, but gigantic in storage. 4 gb holds 1,000 songs. I clipped it to my shirt. So light you might toss it into the washer if you're not paying attention. So tiny it does not have a screen. But who needs one when you're running? You can have the shuffle read through your playlists so you can choose which one you want to play.

Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie serenaded me & my run today with their latest album Narrow Stairs. At the end of each album, a nondescript gentleman with a soothing voice kindly recites each track's song title and the names of each band member and who mixed each song in which studio. A little more detail than I need, but still a nice touch.

Speaking of Death Cab, I also got their latest re-issued album, their very first, Something About Airplanes At first it sounded thin, somewhat college garage band-like, but it's actually very interesting to hear their early sound and how it progressed to their current state.

Adrian & I were able to catch them playing at the Bridge School benefit last year. My favorite music show yet. Among others: Band of Horses, Cat Power, Norah Jones, Jack Johnson, Sarah McLachlan, Wilco, Neil Young.

Best Stroller Walks in San Mateo county

I've done quite a bit of strolling ever since the first week we brought Colin home from the hospital. Before that, I used these trails for my runs, but those days seem a distant past! For now, I will continue walking with baby in stroller for my daily exercise.

Here is what I think are the best stroller walks in San Mateo - Redwood Shores area:

1. Crystal Springs - BEST stroller walk

12 miles

By far the most scenic walk on a smooth paved road, great for strollers. i start at sawyer camp on the san mateo side. it goes through about 6 miles of breathtaking scenery by a reservoir and surrounded by trees, birds & occasional deer sightings. they finally installed some real bathroom stalls too.

http://www.strollerhikes.com/Hikes/CrystalSprings/CrystalSprings.html

2. Bay Trail in Redwood Shores or Foster City

These are great trails with smoothly paved paths and easy access for residents who live or people who work here.

6 miles

Redwood Shores: http://baytrail.abag.ca.gov/vtour/map2/access/Rdwdshrs/Rdwdshrs.htm

11 miles

Foster City: http://baytrail.abag.ca.gov/vtour/map2/access/BTFoster/BTFoster.htm

3. Redwood Shores/Marine World Parkway loop

5.75 miles

Start from Bay Trail at the end of Redwood Shores Parkway. Go up about 2.5 miles (stop for some Starbucks), then cross over to Redwood Shores library about .75 miles (Marine World Parkway behind Oracle), and down Marine World Parkway another 2.5 miles.

along redwood shores parkway you can turn onto marlin drive or bridge drive and hit an excellent park with a small beach & picnic area and a nice little playground. public bathrooms available here.

4. Burlingame Ave. downtown

1 mile

For a slow walk with lots of people milling about at cafes shops and restaurants. Dangerous if you bring your wallet. Parking is a hassle with metered parking that requires lots of quarters (the meter maids are nazis - I got a ticket once even though I got back at the same time they were writing me a ticket!), but you can park at a nearby lot behind Baby Gap for $.50 for an hr.

Spa and massage pour bebe

Baby massage seems to be helping with Colin's sensitivity to his stomach rumblings, gas, and reflux. When he is calm the massage seems to help soothe him - how couldn't it? Between his spa-like bubble baths and the massage, he is getting a taste of the good life.

Here are the massage techniques we learned in mom & baby yoga and the mom's support group that he liked the best:

1. sun and moon crescent

Make a full circle on baby’s stomach with your left hand, moving clockwise. Make a crescent moon in a clockwise direction with your right hand.

2. i love you.

Use 3 massage strokes to spell out “I love you”

“I” make a vertical I-shaped stroke on the left side of stomach.

“Love”: make a backward upside down L-shaped stroke moving from left to right as if you are reading words on a page.

“You” make an upside down U-shaped stroke from your left to right.

3. water wheel.

Stroke baby's stomach with a downward motion with one hand following the other, like a wheel

4. foot reflexology.

Make a question mark down the foot, using your thumb and starting under baby's big toe. it would be a backwards question mark for the baby's right foot.

Baby Karma and Sun Salutations

Colin and I went to our second Mom & Baby yoga class at Yoga at Change in downtown San Mateo. The instructor Penni was great and has the ultimate patience with babies. Of course, Colin has been the one with the most constant outbursts in the class. Last time, she had to pick him up to calm him down for about 15 min. He bent over her arm and spit up all over their floor!

Despite that, he was pretty calm the rest of the class and could even do some of the yoga positions with me. While I held Colin in my arms and lap, we did squat-like positions against the wall. As he lay on the mat, I did sun salutations over him. And then I was able to put him on my shins in a supine position to raise him up and down.

Zucchini Bread

I started my Monday by baking zucchini bread so that I could use the zucchini and my new raisins from the farmers market trip. The plump and chewy raisins from yesterday made all the difference in this recipe - they were the surprising standout. Who knew!

I added more zucchini and less sugar and oil to make this a feel-good and more wholesome zucchini bread. It seems the recipes for quick breads always call for too much sugar and too much oil or butter. I ended up halving the sugar and the oil, and adding sour cream to help compensate for less oil. I added a little kick with some ground ginger and crystalized ginger. Crystalized ginger is like candy; I may not have added enough of this in the end. Again, the raisins were the sweet surprise inside the bread. The color of the bread was a beautiful golden brown with lots of color from the green specks of zucchini and yellow and brown raisins.

The bread turned out delish, as Rachel Ray (Adrian's least fav personality) would say. I even delivered some to Adrian's office.

Here's my modified recipe

INGREDIENTS

• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup sour cream or plain yogurt
• 1 cups white sugar
• 3 cups grated zucchini
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup raisins
• 1/4 cup crystallized ginger

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F ( 165 degrees C). Grease and flour two 8x4 inch loaf pans.
2. In a large bowl, beat eggs until light and frothy. Mix in oil, sour cream or yogurt and sugar. Stir in zucchini, raisins and vanilla. Combine flour, cinnamon, ginger, soda, baking powder, and salt; stir into the egg mixture. Divide batter into prepared pans.
3. Bake for 60 to 70 minutes, or until done.

Sunday Farmers Market and Burgers

There is much irony in shopping for some community conscious eats at the Farmers Market and greasy burgers & fries the very next moment.

I started my Sunday at the Belmont farmer's market with my friend Elaine Chan (yes another Elaine) and her baby Ari. I got some incredible heirloom tomatoes, white nectarines, yellow peaches, mixed greens, sweet potatoes, and something I'd never bought at the farmer's market before: raisins.

The raisins were huge and plump, unlike anything you'd find in the grocery. I bought a bag of Raisin Medley, a mix of different grape varieties. The guy was super generous and threw in another bag of Golden red flame raisins for me to try. They were yummy and were great in the quinoa I made this eve. I'll also be using them in zucchini bread and oatmeal. I have never liked raisins by themselves, but I found myself snacking on them today and liking them.

For lunch, Adrian had a craving for a burger (which he mentioned yesterday), one of his 3 favorite foods. The other 2 being burritos and pizza.

We were at a neighbor's birthday party when someone overheard us talking about where to get a burger. We contemplated In and Out but the drive is a bit far to go to Millbrae, close to the airport. His favorite burger place is Jeffrey's in San Mateo. She told us about a place that is right down the street from us. Classic 101 Burgers & Shakes in Belmont. It's one of those places you drive past and ignore. We've been doing that for the last 4 yrs Adrian's lived here.

It looks like it was once a drive-in where the waitresses ould come out to your car. But this was a normal burger joint that was owned by Asians. Turns out the burgers are pretty good and their fries even better. Since Colin was crying in the car, we decided to grab it to go and eat at home. I had a mushroom burger, but I did not know it didn't come with cheese. I added the cheese and some tomatoes from the Farmer's Market, since they had some pathetic little pieces of tomato on theirs. So much for a no-fuss burger!

And so much for a health conscious lifestyle. The burgers we ate likely have a large carbon footprint that stamped out the vegetables & fruit from the farmers market. And don't share with me how the meat was processed. See Food, Inc. I didn't eat meat for a few weeks afterward, but then slipped back.

Finally, does my post-partum state excuse the burger/fries slip-up?

Pork tenderloin and sweet potato dinner

Made a quick dinner last night with some minimal prep work and no nonsense cooking.

Adrian said he really loved this meal which is not usual.

Pork Tenderloin

-Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.

-Season pork tenderloin with sea salt, black pepper, cumin & herbes de provence.

-Score tenderloin.

-Insert chopped garlic in scored slots.

-Pan sear in canola oil for 10 min, browning each side.

-Place in oven for another 15 min at 400 degrees.

Sweet Potato & Apples

-Pre-heat oven to 375

-Chop up sweet potatoes, granny smith apples and carrots into cubes.

-Add brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg.

-Top with a few pieces of butter and sprinkle with some maple syrup, and half cup water to help soften.

-Bake at 375 for 45 min.

I served the pork with bulgar wheat, mixed with fresh parsley, red onion, tomato and cucumber and arugula.

dehors et de - out and about

Colin is now 7 weeks old. He stares intently into your eyes, smiles, and is starting to socialize.

His newest word is "Nu-uu-eew" with an emphasis on the "ewwww" sound at the end. He says it with many intonations and whatever he means when he says it, he really means it!

This week had a french theme to it so I will do a quick recap.

Lundi: Colin visited San Francisco for the first time with me. We went to Noe Valley, where mom used to live, and visited Oriana and Fred and their kids Isabella (3) and Axel (3 mos). The beach was foggy so we headed to Dolores Park where it was clear and sunny. Colin got to sunbath a bit. Afterward, a trip to Petit Collage

to buy some great prints on wood for Colin's nursery, then a glutinous trip to the mouth watering Tartine for some pastries to bring home: chocolat croissant, jambon & gruyere fromage croissant & a biscuit chocolat. yum. tartine is to die for. Even a few days later, the croissants were so flaky and buttery after warming them up in the toaster.

Mardi: went to the breastfeeding support group at Mills Peninsula hospital - a crowded group that day with some crying moms who I felt for who were dealing with many feeding challenges. The first months are extremely stressful for moms.

"Voici mon secret. Il est très simple:

on ne voit bien qu'avec le cœur. L'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux."

Here is my secret. It is very simple:

It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.

- Antoine de Saint Exupery, Petit Prince

Mercedi: our friend Cathy who organized Colin's shower and was my old boss came over and brought over Petit Prince keepsakes, a bowl, spoon & fork set. Cathy will be featured in Hyphen, the only Asian American magazine in the U.S. The story will feature her work coaching Asian Americans and their cultural barriers in the workplace. Interesting.

Jeudi: we saw all my co-workers from Gilead at Town, a fun restaurant in San Carlos which was busy as ever despite the recession. Colin sat in his stroller for a while sleeping through the open kitchen cooking noises and constant buzz of the crowd. I had an excellent Ahi tuna salad and we all shared a banana split and bread pudding. Surprisingly good considering the dearth of good restaurants in this area.

Vendredi: went for our final stroll with our neighbor mimi and her son remy (3 mos) before mimi heads back to work on Mon :( They are going to France with remy's dad bernard in February. I am dreading the transition back to work as well, but I think I will definitely be ready for some intellectual stimulation by Nov 1st. Admittedly, I am already ready. we visited amy from work at the Sofitel hotel and sat out by the pool for a bit.

Test Blog

My delivery date is today but no signs of Baby Ray's delivery.