The Magic of Turning Eight Weeks Old

Ever since Jordan came home with us, my incessant reading of how to, what to do and what not to do pregnant websites and newsletters plethora of advice had me believing six weeks old would be the magical week when Jordan would sleep more and we would no longer be sleep deprived. Everyone made fun of me - what was wrong with me? Why did I somehow think the switch would go off and the milestone of SIX weeks would become better? I'm not sure - I guess you just cling onto the hope of something better than what you are currently enduring. You secretly hope your kid will be the outlier, small 5% that magically sleeps longer starting at six weeks without a change in routine - just a magical switch.

And then you reach six weeks. And nothing happens. And then you realize... adapt. adjust. accept.

So that's exactly what I did. I was lucky to have May here with me because between the two of us, the average wake up time was usually 9 or 10 AM with someone (mostly May) keeping Jordan company in the morning since that is when he's most alert and happy to interact and naptime was actually possible!

Jordan turned 8 weeks old this past Saturday and I had no expectation for any change. To my surprise, beginning Sunday (and hopefully I'm not jinxing myself here...), Jordan has consistently been going to sleep at 10 or 11 PM with a feeding at 2 or 3 AM and a wake-up feeding at 6 or 7 AM. The wake-up feeding is nice because that's when Andy gets up to get ready for work (I hesitated using the word "work" since it conveys he is being paid when he is not...) so simultaneously, Jordan gets to play with both of us!

The magic of turning eight weeks old may or may not be magic. It may be a fluke, but I'll take whatever I can!

In other news, our days without May have been lonelier in the home which has encouraged Jordan and me to bust out all my old Disney soundtracks (Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Lion King, Pocahantas), and venture out on walks with our neighbors, lunch with friends and trips to the mall (we love free a/c and nice Nordstrom mothers' lounges). Today, Jordan officially turned TWO MONTHS OLD! We took some photos of him in his diapers (always a happy time for him) in hopes of tracking his size changes with time. And I leave you with that...

Something Familiar and Not Too Far Away...

Yesterday, Jordan and I trekked over to Arcasia to have lunch with three of my four bridesmaids, two were visiting - one from San Diego and the other from Hawaii and we all call Arcasia our hometown so naturally we met there to dine.

Though we only live a short 10 miles away .... absent a direct freeway, it takes roughly 20-30 minutes of commute time. I usually avoid making the trip to Arcasia but lately, the reality of my lil family moving for Andy's residency combined with a growing grandson who may move away encourages me to make the trip out there more often to visit my parents and brother - especially since I'm not working! I started with yesterday's trip.

Lunch was so much fun with the girls! It's always comforting to meet with old friends and catch up, gossip and talk about life. It helps me to imagine the feelings of homecoming that will be felt when we are reunited with loved ones after this life. And if that is what we have to look forward to, why wouldn't it make sense to make the most out of this life here and now?! It's something familiar and not too far away...

These are my girlfriends from back home from left to right, Grace (San Diego resident these days), Wendy (Hawaii wanna-be local these days) and Annie (who treks between Arcadia and Brentwood), Julia was missing cuz she had to work....sucker! (ps I am loving maternity leave in case you didn't know) This photo was hard to take and after three tries, we settled. Sorry Baby Jordan - your mouth is cut off!

After lunch with the girls, Jordan and I headed over to my parents' house to find my mom, wai puo. While there, I fed him and enjoyed the nice cool room (my parents leave their AC on 24/7 in the summer,something we can't afford) and Jordan also enjoyed some tummy time on wai-puo's couch. I realized something about Jordan today. He sure likes attention. Attention of my girlfriends and attention of my mom snapping photos of him.
Besides eating, pooping, peeing, sleeping, cooing, and farting, Jordan is also missing his nama (Andy's mom is grandma but our nieces call her nama). He was lying on a mat when May called and was on speaker and he must have recognized her voice because he got really excited all of a sudden and started doing that arm flapping mouth opening thing he does. It was fantabulously adorable-errific!

Don't You Wish Your OGO Was Awesome Like Ours?

Some grandkids call their grandfathers "grandfather" or "poppy" or "gramps" or "grandpa." Still others call their grandfathers by the native translation such as "wai-gong" or "gong-gong" if they are Mandarin. But Andy's dad has long outwitted all of these aforementioned grandfathers by giving himself a name for his grandkids to address him with. He is known to all as "OGO," which stands for "Oh Great One!"

My sister-in-law, Tammy, more creative than any of us in the family, spearheaded the effort for OGO's Father's Day gift this year - it was a tough project because Jordan can't quite sit yet and the first few photos we liked of him were deemed "constipated" photos by Tammy and her husband, Jeff. Unrelenting, we fought and resisted them and they eventually acquiesced and used another photo of Jordan (but to their credit, we retook a photo again since they would not use the original submissions). Likewise, we politely asked for another photo of Violet, one that had her happier and smiling, though her hair was a little more messy.... Alas, Tammy and Jeff also begrudgingly changed a photo, all in the name of family compromising.

Here was the final masterpiece for OGO although his is in a nice frame and ours is just a photo. I know - you want to do it next year for all the fathers in your life too. Go for it! Super cute idea huh?

Sadly we weren't able to spend Father's Day with OGO, but we did call him and wish him a Happy Father's Day! OGO not only is a great example of a priesthood holder, a husband and father, but he's also the best game inventer ever - serious, he came up with this dragon/princess game for Sophie and he loves coming up with scavenger hunts too! Andy and I can't wait to see what games OGO creates for Jordan although part of me is already imagining all the mischievous adventure the three generations of Phillips boys will get into....oh boy.

My Baby's Daddy

My baby's daddy didn't really get a Father's Day gift on Sunday. This was compounded by the fact that our one year anniversary was also Sunday. My baby's daddy didn't get a reminder of how great he is to Jordan.

Here's what my baby's daddy should hear if my baby could speak.

Dear Daddy,

I think I will call you that until I am old enough to call you pops. Or maybe I will just call you old man then. I look up to you (literally) but only when you help me to stand up or sit up or when I'm doing tummy time because my neck is not yet strong enough. I know I can't tell you how happy I am when you come home because I can't speak and my face cannot really make facial expressions besides that which come from my farting and pooping or hunger, but I am. I love Grandma and Mommy too but sometimes, there's just too much estrogen at home without you. They love to chat and take me places and even talk and sing to me, and of course tell me how cute I am but I like my manly daddy who shows me furniture building, tells me about all the cool toys I'll get to play with soon, who teaches me about golf and sports and even some of the medical stuff you're studying. I like when you study your scriptures with me because you make it fun, even at my age. I like when you hold me because you're stronger than Grandma or Mommy (but I like them too). I don't like when you clean my tongue, put saline in my nose, but I like the funny way you look at me after. If I could smile, I would do it right away and tell you how much I love you and want to be like you. I hope to be athletic in the future and hope my hands and feet really do indicate my future athletic potential career. But if not, I know you will still love me. I like the stuff you wear to Church on Sundays and I hope we get a few father/son outfits in the future. I also hope I'm just as tall as you (maybe even taller!) I like when you walk around with me in the Bjorn and I don't fidget as much as when mommy does it. I like when you talk to me even when I'm sleeping and I like when you calm me down when I'm hungry and mommy is taking too long. I think you're an amazing dad and I can't wait to tell you myself when I can speak. I appreciate you telling me about my cousins before I met them - you gave me great insight to their personalities and I felt more calm around them because of that. I like how you tell me you love me and mommy. You make me feel safe. I love you daddy! I hope you had a great Father's Day even though I didn't get you anything and mommy didn't either.

Love,
Jordan

The Choice We Made a Year Ago

In life, we have many choices. As I think back on the choices I have made in life, it's difficult to distinguish which were my choices, which were ones my parents made for me, and which were accidental choices. What's easy to conclude are the good and bad choices and the ability to learn from them. Some choices don't matter much, and we forget about them easily whereas some are a lot more difficult and take careful consideration.

About a year ago (June 19th), my choice to marry a worthy priesthood holder in the Temple was sealed for all time and eternity. His choice to take me as his wife was also sealed forever.

Our choice to become one then led to other choices. Our choices are often sacrifices for the other's happiness but in reality, the consistency of such thoughtfulness has enabled me to call 'em fun learning moments. In just a short year, we have learned so much about ourselves and each other.

Here's what I've learned about Andy (list is not conclusive):

• He can sleep through anything (pretty nice at night when Jordan's crying)
• He dislikes spiders but will man up and kill 'em for me
• He doesn't care for closing the kitchen or medicine cabinets (they have to be opened again)
• He loves playing the piano
• He farts a lot
• He loves Jimmer
• He loves BYU football, basketball, golf and Jimmer again
• He loves taking naps
• He loves being a daddy

And here's what I've learned about myself (list is also not conclusive):

• I am a tech dummy
• I like making the bed in the morning
• I like grocery shopping alone but I like help unloading
• I don't turn off the TV when it's in RGB mode
• I fart a lot but mine don't stink
• I like learning how to cook even if only my husband thinks my food is good
• I don't like taking naps
• I'm learning how to be a mommy

And here's what I've learned about us:

• We love each other
• We love Jordan
• We love our family
• We love going to the Temple
• We love the gospel
• We love eating
• We love when Jordan grunts and moans as he farts in his sleep
• We love using correct contractions
• We love learning how to be better parents

We agreed not to spend money on each other but we both spent approximately $5 making each other thoughtful (which means very time consuming) DIY gifts. I made Andy a scrapbook recounting each month of our first year (but since we agreed not to spend money, I used the existing materials I had and glued everything onto empty pages from our guestbook which was only 3 pages filled out.. hahaha, resourceful am I!). Andy made me a sweet slideshow that spanned from before we were married to now (and I knew he was up to something since he used my work computer complete with a ton of our photos without the internet working). May watched Jordan for us (so grateful for her and her love for Jordan) while we snuck away to Umami Burger for dinner - their burgers are small but they are so satisfying and the meat is just juicy! So all in all, our one year anniversary was short, simple and sweet.

I know we're novice at this whole marriage thing, but we're pretty stoked about what lies ahead. At least I am.. can't speak for Andy but I do cuz we are one.

Jordan's 2 Week and 6 Week Stats

Because who doesn't love reading about my baby's stats at two and six weeks? (answer: anyone besides Jordan's grandparents, aunts, uncles.... that's about it).

2 weeks:
Height: 21 inches, 50%
Weight: 8 lb 10.5 oz, 50%
Head: 37 1/4 cm

6 weeks:
Height: 23 inches, 75%
Weight: 11 lb, 11 oz, 50%
Head: 39 cm

I'm sure there's some medical explanation behind why head size is important (like say, some indication of the brain growing correctly and timely) but who cares? What I want to know is what percentile my baby's hands and feet are in - cuz they are pretty dang big and I think they are indicative of height and how athletic he may be, but I'm a bit crazy like that.

I Get It Now!

I now have a finer appreciation for the toting moms that declare their undying love for their adorable offspring without end. I used to wonder if I could ever feel such love for a tiny being that I didn't know for nine months while he/she was inside me creating havoc. I used to wonder how I would all of a sudden "fall in love" instantaneously with someone I just met (love at first sight... please, that's a myth!)! I used to wonder if the fatigue would wear on me and I would harbor resentment and yearn for my days prior to my posterity's debut. My wondering has ceased.

It's pretty spectacular.

As tiring as it gets, as much as I wish he'd be one of "those babies" who sleeps through most of the night with only one feeding (those lucky moms are far and few), I am adapting and adjusting and I can't get over how cute he is and how much of the world he is taking in with each breath, each gulp, each glance, each yawn, each kick, each smirk, each grunt, each moan, each pee, each poop, each moment of each second of each day!

I know I'm biased because only friends and family tell us how cute he is, strangers just say, "oh, can I see the baby?" ... silence, but I don't even care! That's how cute I think he is and I could care less what anyone thinks because I love staring at him. At him during tummy time, at him when he's sleeping, at him when he's grunting, at him when he's eating, at him when he's fussy, at him when he's cooing, at him when he's being held.

It's like an obsession unrivaled with any other fad or school girl crush I've ever had. And it makes me laugh because finally, I can empathize with those crazy parents that can't stop talking about their kids, can't stop showing you new photos of their kids, can't stop telling you way more than you ever asked about their kids.

I get it now! I really really do. And what's even more spectacular is the fact that Heavenly Father loves each and every one of us as much, if not more than we love our lil ones.

Andy always mentions how hard it is for him to put saline solution into Jordan's nose and then pump out his boogers with the squeeze green thing the hospital gives us (what's it called?). Jordan doesn't understand we are trying to help him and instead cries and fights back, resisting our help. Once the booger is out, he may feel comforted by the clear breathing, but he still has not a clue that the saline solution and pump thing were what got the booger out. The association of the solution and problem solver are beyond him. Much like how we often don't see how Heavenly Father is trying to guide us and help us. We see the present obstacles as painful and distracting and reject it, fight back and complain. But if only we had the bigger picture. If only we waited to see what boogers got cleared for us, then we might not be so fidgety.

Guess we could all learn from babies.