Vegas Trip

We went to Las Vegas with my family for Christmas/Anniversary, etc. It was a lot of fun and very relaxing. Alden did surprisingly well during the car trips. Joe got sick halfway through the trip, and we had to spend the rest of the trip hanging out in the hotel, but it was still a fun trip.

Christmas decorations at the Bellagio
During the car trip. Joe and I watched movies from the Redbox.

Taking a break in Cedar City.

Hanging out in the hotel.

Trying to keep warm while waiting for the Bellagio water show to start.

Having a great time. :)

Grandpa enjoyed being Alden the most during the trip.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

sorry this is late but Happy New Year!

Alden's got an opinion

He seems like he has very important thing to say...

Cold Strike

Joe started getting sick earlier last week. He had severe sore throat and eventually had to go to the urgent care. The doctor tested for strep, which came back negative... He said Joe's in the 2 percent who doesn't have strept when there's severe sore throat. Anyway, the sore throat later developed into runny and stuffy nose, and later turned into uncontrolled coughs. Meanwhile, Alden and I was trying our very best to avoid getting sick from Joe. Well, I failed, and I started feeling sick a couple days ago. Now the sore throat has gone to the stuffy, runny nose stage, and I will probably start coughing tomorrow. We're just hoping Alden doesn't get sick from us. So far, he's been doing great.

Yesterday, I was giving Alden a bath, and I thought we should at least have one picture of him taking a bath. So I had Joe take some pictures. Joe said, "There's no way we're going to post naked pictures of our son." I asked if I covered the area, I could post the pictures, and he approved. So here's the picture. Alden just looks so CUTE naked. lol.



Joe's convert from his mission in Australia, Romy Kim, has been staying with us for the last couple days. She's going to the BYU ELC next semester, and we're trying to help her find an apartment to live w/ her brother. It's been a lot of fun. Yesterday, we went to BYU bookstore to get her a cell phone. I had called earlier and confirmed that they'd be opened till 4 pm. When we got there at 3:30, there was no one there. We decided we'd wait for a bit just in case the person went to the bathroom. We even called the manager's cell phone and left a message, but no one showed up. After several minutes, another girl came and started waiting w/ us. She said she knew the manager, and she eventually called his personal cell phone number. He came 15 minutes later, apologizing, and told us that there was supposed to be another person working there until 4 pm. He felt very bad, and was very nice to us. Anyway, we ended up staying there for over 2 hours! But the manager gave us very good deals and discounts, so we were happy.

Picture of Alden at the bookstore. :D
Bonus picture for today. Getting ready to go out.

So... Yesterday, while I was taking a shower, Joe had a fun time w/ Alden. Alden's started to talk more and more, and it's been really fun trying to have a conversation with him. The next two videos are Joe trying to make Alden to say Dad in Korean.

1st attempt

2nd attempt - Joe had better luck this time


So earlier this morning, I decided I'd try to make Alden say Mom this time. I failed miserably, and Joe was happy. Ha ha. But keep in mind, Alden had a dirty diaper and wasn't happy at all this time....

Carbon Copy

Joe still insists that Alden looks EXACTLY like him. Well, now that Alden's grown and changed a bit, I decided we'd make that comparison again.

We'll use this picture of Alden.

If you look closely, they have the same ear. Notice their earlobes are both folded outward. lol.

Hm... It seems that they do look alike somewhat from this angle. The eyes are similar, and they have the same cheeks and chin. :)


As for me, I think I get the eyebrows and the nose (I still insist on the nose... if not anything else).


But if you look at the next picture, you'll see that I win this round of comparisons.



I was as big as Alden is!!!!

Super baby

Tom said he's always posing with Sophie, so I tried it with Alden to see how he looked. He looks very fierce!

Hiya!
Trying to lift mom up into the air.

Getting ready to fly away!

Laser eyes!

And then there's....

Oops. Sorry. Let me go!

Aunt Yearim, playing with Alden...

So.. the other day, I found Joe asleep on the bed, and Alden was sleeping next to the bed. They were both SNORING! ha ha. Joe rarely ever snores, so I thought it was really funny, I had to get it on video...

Happy Birthday!

Today was my 22nd birthday. :) It was a good day. Alden and I slept in until 11 am. I got to finally put his crib together (Joe and I could not figure out how to put that thing up for the longest time!), and he took a nap in it for the first time. I think we'll have him sleep w/ us in the bassinet for a little longer but have him take naps in the crib to get used to it. The crib looks just so big....
Joe came home earlier from school and brought me a rose. (How sweet) And he wrote me a 2-page letter like he promised. That was very nice, too. Oh, plus a mistletoe. lol. My sister Yearim babysat for us while we went out to eat at Tucanos (Brazilian all-you-can-eat meat buffet). The food was good but the service wasn't that great... We came home after dinner, and our friends, Jacob and Jakyung, came to visit, and they brought me a birthday cake! We didn't have any candles (Wymount doesn't let us keep candles) so Joe lighted a disposable chopstick for me to blow out. :)

Alden's nasty rash came back, by the way, so we had fun putting cream on his face. For the past two days, he's hated the cream (we think it burns his skin) but he was doing better today. Hopefully that means he's getting better....

Joe put some on his scalp and spiked Alden's hair. He looks really cute w/ spiked hair.. lol.

He looks a lot like Joe in this picture. :D

More fun pictures. :)

Alden likes to look over his right shoulder, so his head is slightly flat on one side. So I was trying to turn his head so that his head would even out a little...

Reflux Reflux....

Ever since he came home from the hospital, Alden has hated lying flat on his back. He would never sleep in his bassinet and would refuse to lie down unless he was propped up somehow... Joe and I figured he had a little bit of a reflux problem but didn't think big of it. Well, it got worse and worse, and about the end of last week, it got to the point that he would just cry so much during feedings that he wasn't getting much to eat. I was frustrated, he was frustrated...

When we went in for his 2 months check up, the doctor told us that he may have hurt his esophagus from constant acid reflux from his little stomach. She told me to do an experiment with Maalox for a day and see if that helped at all. If it did, then she was going to prescribe Alden a medicine that would help reduce his acid production. (By the way, he weighed 13 lbs. 6 oz., 90th percentile on the weight, and 50th percentile on height and head circumference.)

Well, the next day, i tried giving him maalox, and besides the fact that he hated the taste of it, it didn't really seem to help. And he was refusing to even be laid down on my lap. He seemed like he would rather just suck on the pacifier and sleep all day. I only succeeded to feed him after pumping and feeding him with a bottle, with him laying down on the bed (he didn't seem to mind lying down on the bed by himself, even not propped up!).

On the second day, I hadn't been able to feed him all day, and finally I decided to call the hospital. I spoked to the nurse and told her he hadn't eaten all day since 8 am (it was 4 pm). She demanded that I bring him over so that he could be weighed. She said she would squeeze us in so that the doctor could see us. Well, to my surprise (well, maybe not), he had gained 2 more ounces since Monday! The doctor still gave us a prescription for Zantac for infants. He said Alden must have learned that every time I fed him, his stomach would hurt. That was why he was refusing to be in the feeding position... (sigh)

Anyway, after a couple days on Zantac, he seems to be doing a lot better. He feeds normally now, and he still sleeps a lot (thank goodness, I only have to feed him every 4-5 hours now). Even though he hasn't lost weight, his cheeks now seem a little (just a little) less plump.

Below is a video of Alden playing by himself on the couch. During the 2 hours that he was awake the other day (he spent the rest of the day sleeping...).

Last night, Joe and I were up late working on a project for our business, and we had the TV on. Alden stayed up with us in his bouncer. After watching two movies straight (Kung Fu Panda and Hancock, thanks to Redbox), we just left the TV on while we mindlessly folded cards, etc. Jay Leno was on at midnight, and we found Alden staring at the TV! Even though he wasn't in the best position to watch tv, he was straining to watch the tv with his head turned up. He was probably focusing on the TV for about 10 minutes! We thought it was really funny and also exciting that he's now a little more aware of what's going on around him. :)

Our asian baby boy

So... I've always thought that Alden had features that made him look more caucasian than most asian babies. I was proud that he didn't lose his 1/4 white features because of the dominant asian features. Well, after looking at him sitting by Sophie, I changed my mind... He looked completely ASIAN! Nevertheless, he is as cute as ever, and we love him dearly.

My sister Yearim, she loves Alden much, and she loves to take pictures of him. This picture was taken with her cell phone. After looking at the picture for a few seconds, she says, "Alden looks like a Bulldog."

Hm... I guess I do see a little bit of a resemblance..I think he looks more like Mashimaro, a Korean cartoon character.


Here's a picture of Alden sleeping on our bed, again. He likes to sleep on our bed like a big person. We've moved his bassinet to the foot of our bed, and I put a blanket under the pad to give it a little big of an angle so he's propped up when he sleeps. He's slept well in it (for the first time!) last couple nights. :) I'll put up pictures later.

My mom is a pro with Alden. I guess she's had four kids and is very experienced... Whenever she babysits for us, Alden sleeps really really really well. Even when he's hungry or just plain fussy, he calms down really well with my mom. It just boggles my mind....

Last night was our ward Christmas party up at Aspen Grove. We got to take a family picture, which is a rare thing for us since I'm the photographer of the family. They served us ham, potatoes, squash, salad, etc. The food was great, and Joe had 3 full plates! Even Alden took a whole bottle and was very good throughout the whole evening. :)

Waiting for the food....

And to our surprise, Alden has started taking the pacifier! It is amazing what it can do...... Last night, after his meal at the Christmas party, he didn't eat again until 3 am! That is whopping 8 hours! That gives me hope that maybe some day he'll sleep through the night, and I'll be able to get 8 hours of sleep.... uninterrupted...

Oh, and since he's cheeks are so plump, he got marks on his cheeks from his pacifier. I thought it was really funny. You can kind of see the pink marks (faint x around his mouth) in this picture.