Our little one is here!

I wanted to chronicle Syona's new beautiful life, as well as our journey as parents, so I have set up this blog. I hope those who read it enjoy reading about our lives. I hope this blog also helps serve as a place of introspection for Paul and myself. Lastly, Syona, I hope you look back on this chronicle and gain some perspective on your life with us as a little itty bitty baby.

I am starting this blog when Syona is 3 and a half months, so let me just fill in some background on her life with us until now :)

Syona is born: February 12, 2009.

8 pounds 5 oz at 11:46 PM

Her full name: Syona Si Chen

Syona is a Sanskrit name. It means happiness, rays of light, sunlight. Si is her Chinese name, Chen, Si to be exact. Si means thought. She is undoubtedly our little happy thought.

Highlights:

Day 4: I was amidst learning to breastfeed, Paul being my coach. That night before putting Syona to bed, we noticed she looked a bit limp. We also noted she had not poo-pooed at home since the hospital. Uncertain if she was getting enough to eat, we called Cousin Rupal who advised us to give her formula. I was running on practically 0 hours of sleep so I tried to get at least 4 hours of rest while my mom and Paul fed Syona her first bottle. If you have been to our house, you will know there is little room for peace, quiet and privacy, so that was an impossible task hearing my baby crying and hungry. That was the night where my milk came in and we fed Syona and surely enough she poo-pooed up the wazoo the next day!

2 Weeks: We took Syona for her 2 week check-up and learned she had gained all her birth wait back plus some. She came in at 8 pounds 15 oz. We were thrilled. Memorable thought: When we burp Syona, she used to stretch out her arms like she was flying, and we would say, "Super Syona! Saving little babies around the world! Go Syona go! Fly Syona fly!" haha and then cover he with kisses after she goked (burped). Gok for Gokey is another fun phrase we use when we burp her (aka, Danny Gokey on AI).

First Month: When Syona finally turned 1 month, she was sleeping at least one 4 hour stretch through the night. Up until then, we were feeding her every 2 hours. Since it took 45 minutes to feed her, we basically 1 hour of downtime if even that in between feeds to get some rest. This was the absolute most challenging month of my life ever, but we made it through! We also took Syona to her first restaurant at 1 month, By th' Bucket haha. She got kind of overheated in her carseat so we frantically took her home but she was ok after that. This is also the month she started to give us small smiles.

5 Weeks: We had a small immediate family Monte Carlo Poker Party for Paul's 30th birthday. Syona and I made daddy a Apple ibook celebrating his life! We cooked stuffed portabello mushrooms, a baked chicken dish, Risotto, and asparagus. And of course, had Paul's favorite Guava Cake for dessert! Syona looked stunning in her first classy green dress and little red shoes.

6 Weeks: We took our first family trip to Carmel! We stayed at the Carmel Valley Ranch where Paul and I had originally got engaged. It was nice to revisit where it all began with our newest family member. We gave Syona a bottle at a nearby Starbucks and she slept all the way there.  At the hotel, we took Syona for a walk, ordered room service, celebrated Paul's 30th real birthday, celebrated our 4 year wedding anniversary and got massages. We also visited a nearby beach and showed Syona the beautiful view from the hotel.

2 Months: With Paul in China and my parents at HiltonHead, Cousin Grace accompanied Syona and I to her two month shots. She cried some initially but after I nursed her she took a nice long rest. Grace and I had breakfast and then later hung out at her place for a bit. When I took Syona back home, she was crying and crying, poor thing. This was a really hard day for me because I was alone, but I gave her some tylenol and then rocked her and held her until she calmed down. She was smiley and happy later that night! Later this week, I was showing Syona the flowers in my parents backyard, and that is where I witnessed her first laugh.

3 Months: We celebrated my first mother's day. Paul made breakfast in the morning and wrote me a very sweet card. We then took Syona to my mom's place where Sejal and Jackie had set up a nice picnic for all the mom's. We hung out in my parents backyard and had sandwiches, played bocci while Syona hung out in her playpen outside. Super fun! Now when we go get Syona in the morning, she has big smiles when she sees us. I pick her up and give her a nice big good morning hug and kisses. She loves mama's kisses, she moves her eyes to the corners and looks away with a little mischievous grin, so cute.

3 Months 2 weeks: Syona can do so many fun things now. She has a great grip on her toys. She can grab her toes and hold her feet. And her new favorite thing to do is squeal. We can put her in her play gym on the floor and she'll spend like an hour playing by herself and squealing!