Cutting teeth really hurts!

Kai was crabby for most of the day today. He wouldn't even touch his bottle first thing this morning. I suspected teeth, and sure enough, we could finally feel one trying to work its way out (it was just under the surface of the gums). I think by tomorrow, we'll finally have a one-toothed boy! And since everything by his mouth hurt, he wasn't all the interested in food or formula for most of the day. That is, until dinner. He ate so much his little belly was FULL! Maybe now that one tooth is out, he'll start to eat (and gain some more weight) again. Maybe, just maybe.

When you're up you're up

When you're up, you're up

I got this REALLY fun chair for my baptism from one of Lola's friends. It makes all this music and noise when you push its buttons. I love it, but Mommy says I love it a little too much. She's taken it out of my playroom and will only let me play with it when she's with me (and even then she sometimes still lets me fall!) She says I'm too dangerous with it by myself. I guess it has something to do with the fact that I love to stand on it. I mean, what else is a singing chair good for?

Man, Can I STAND!

Man, Can I STAND!

Crawling is, like, so YESTERDAY. Check out what I can do now: STAND! I started to pull myself up on the amplifier for the TV. That was on July 6! Now, I'm an old pro and I don't even wobble anymore.

I guess I surprised Daddy by greeting him one fine Monday morning (August 6 to be exact) on my feet. Daddy said I was grinning ear to ear because I was so proud of myself for standing in my crib, but little did he know that I was smiling that wide because I love him so much! At first I could only stand by things that had easy places to hold onto (like my crib or the "jail" Mommy puts me in). But now I'm SOOOO good that I don't need any "hand holds" anymore! I can stand up next to the wall (or just this morning), the fireplace! I've learned, too, that it's best not to just let go, but to gently let go, so I don't fall. I can go from a standing position to a sitting position very easily.

And I've gotten so skilled, I can stand just about anywhere and I only have to hold on with one hand. (Gosh, I'm so amazing I sometimes even impress myself!) I'll be nine months in about two weeks. Until then, I'm trying to learn balance. Then maybe I can give Mommy and Daddy the gift of WALKING for their anniversary!

I can CRAWL, y'all!

I can crawl, y'all!

I've been crawling for quite some time (started in the middle of June). I'm pretty much a pro now, but Mommy thought it would be nice to let y'all see my progression from my first creepy crawls to my quick paced "gotta get there" crawls. So, enjoy this web album!

Whiteman Overbite

So our boy clings to his "white" roots by continuing to do the "whiteman overbite." For those of you who might not know what it is, think of a white man dancing to disco and you'll get it! (View the album if you're still not able to conjure up what it looks like!)

Kai, apparently LOVES this look, because we've caught him on camera again and again, with his mouth contorted as such. I guess it's better than the alternative: the open-mouthed "duh" look on his face (last picture)! :)

whiteman overbite

How are we related?

Ugat Faigao '07

RJ's family had a reunion this past weekend. Their reunions are so large and require so much preparation and planning that they only happen once every five years. So, we headed off to Chicago to meet up with the fam.

It's a very intense weekend. We arrived Friday afternoon in time to get ready for the Welcome Reception. Dinner started at 6:00 and the evening was supposed to end at 10:00. Kai's bedtime is at 6:30 (and Chicago's an hour behind). But, when we got to the dinner, Kai had fallen asleep in the car! (a very rare occurrence). I thought he'd stay asleep longer than he did, but alas, with so many people interested in seeing him, he didn't sleep for long. I finally drove RJ and Kai back to the hotel around 9:00 and Kai only woke once for a feeding that night.

Saturday, we went to the Shedd Aquarium and enjoyed walking around. The aquarium was featuring the coral reef from the Philippines, so it was great timing on our part. Saturday night was the main event, with a full reception. Again, it began after his bedtime, but as bad parents, we dragged him to it (when else was he going to meet the fam?). And again, he fell asleep in the car on the way there! But, with the music so loud you could hardly hear your own voice, it's no wonder he woke up. The rest of the night was spent trying to get Kai to sleep and stay asleep and helping him deal with the loud music. He did a great job overall! Finally, we left for the hotel around 11:45. By 12:30, we were all sleeping soundly....that is, until 1:30 when Kai woke screaming! I brought him to bed and that was the first time Kai's slept with us in bed. Thank goodness for a king size bed - he moves a lot when he sleeps!

Sunday brought the picnic and our trip home. We were supposed to leave Chicago around noon, but RJ decided at the last minute that he wanted us to stay for the picnic (which wasn't supposed to even start until 11!). So, we switched our flight to a later one and stayed to play in the sun and relax a little bit. When we checked in, we saw that our flight was delayed until 9:30 that night! So, we got picked up again, ate dinner with the family, and then finally returned to the airport to await take off. It was a long day! We didn't get into bed until 3:00 am Monday morning. Needless to say, RJ worked from home on Monday!

Kai was such a trooper through all these late nights and non ideal sleeping conditions. But, his poor body couldn't handle it all and on Monday morning, when he woke up for the day, he had a stuffy nose! His poor immune system had been compromised. We've learned our lesson. We will only ever fly during the day (not too late, not too early), and if there's something already planned for the day, we'll leave the next day.

It's great to see family. And in 2012, the reunion will be in Texas!

Getting my Sleep-On

Many people say I take after Mommy, that I look a lot like her (except for the eyes). But Daddy says I take after Mommy because I love to sleep.

Since we went to Chicago this weekend for Daddy's family reunion (Mommy will tell you all about it later), I didn't get to sleep so much. So, I decided I'd make up for lost sleep once we finally got home and so that's what I did, all day Tuesday.

I woke up Tuesday morning at my normal time (around 7:00). Then, I took my morning nap, again at my normal time (9:00). But, I decided I really needed to just sleep, so that's what I did. I woke up 5.5 hours later at 2:30 that afternoon! Mommy said she was a little worried about me, but the video monitor Lola and Grandpa let us borrow reassured her I was ok, just really tired. Then, to prove that I was ok, I took my afternoon nap from 4:00-5:30. Daddy got to see me for a few minutes before I went to bed for the night at 7:00.

So, I was up for about 3 hours total on Tuesday. It felt really good. I don't think even Mommy can compete with me for my sleeping world championship! I totally RULE!