Baby Milestone - Thirteen Months, and other updates

So after the wonderful birthday celebration, Oliver had his first doctor visit as a "toddler" when he got more vaccination shots. One of which made him get a fever and rash. We were so worried since one of the shots was in the headlines a lot for links to autism. Our doctor says not to worry, but that's useless telling first time parents. Turns out all the side-effects were normal and went away after a few days. However, Oliver had a cold, then we all got sick for 2 weeks.

Oliver now weighs 22 lbs, and is 31 inches tall! Catching up to me very soon. He is very strong too, pulling himself up with only his upper body strength. And he is walking all over the place and climbing 2 flights of stairs every morning in front of the Crunch Gym at the corner of Sunset and Laurel Canyon. He pretty much understands everything I tell him and helps out with putting his dirty diaper in the trash and laundry in the hamper. However, he also has figured out he can scream and cry when I do something he doesn't like.

So Chris and I decided to let our nanny go by the end of September. It was good that since she's been with us I got to work on my book to help new moms, and took the cake decorating class, but the rest of the time I felt like I was creating work to stay busy while she spent time having fun with Oliver. So now that we've set a date, I'm actually using her time better. I'm in the process of putting together a website for myself to show all of my design work, cakes, t-shirts, home decorating stuff, and my book that I finally finished.



We were also looking into finding a bigger home in South Pasadena thinking that we plan ahead for the good school district. We started to look and were disappointed with what we saw. None of the houses have big back yards like we do. Or if people have done updates on their homes, they didn't do a good job at it. And the prices were so high too, and we're just not ready to make a commitment like that. So instead, we are making some smaller updates to our home to freshen it up. So that's been fun too trying to repurpose and redecorate.

Chris has been doing great at work, directing his latest music video for Selena Gomez. It is so good!!! The first time I watched it in rough cut I cried. I can't wait till it's on tv and see how people react to it. I know people will love it and make Selena a big music star!

Happy Birthday OLIVER!!!!!

Can Oliver be any more awesome? He is really one of the coolest person I know, and I get to spend all day with him. I'm so lucky!

Oliver just turned one on Thursday. And all the days leading up to it has brought me many joyful and teary-eyed moments thinking about how much he has grown. He's quite an accomplished one year old. Walking, singing, helping out with clean up, eating and sleeping well. There's not one night that past in the last year that I didn't say "what a good baby!" And he continues to amaze me with his curious and adventurous personality.

Although he says baba, dada, mama, and gaga, he understands pretty much everything I tell him. He can point to the object or location I'm referring to, and often the action. And he understand them in Chinese and in English! It is true that babies are like a sponge. He now imitates actions too, which is super cute.

The night before his birthday I stayed up late to finish making his birthday cake. I kept thinking I just want him to know the next morning it's a very special day. I set up all of his favorite toys in the living room, and blew up a few balloons and left them around his play area. We took our regular morning walk, but we went to a Starbucks instead because it was closer to home and we had something else planned after the walk. Oliver was excited and curious about the new setting. And the new outdoor couch he got to sit on while looking at the dogs nearby. He was taking huge bites out of a banana, and bang his hands on the metal table expressing his excitement.

After the walk we got in the car and drove to the Grove. It was also the Farmer's Market's 75th year anniversary. There was a cake that looked like the clock tower, and a stage set up for the celebration. Oliver got to see the USC marching band, and everyone sang happy birthday (we'd like to think it was for Oliver). After that we played around on another stage and near a water fountain. Oliver had fun walking around and didn't want to leave.

Shortly after getting home it was time for his nap. He woke up to his a-gon a-ma greeting him. They had fun playing as always. And grandma brought him some birthday gifts which he played with the next day. Chris got home early from work for the next gathering with GrandaD and Joan, and cousin Colleen. We set up a play area in the backyard and had some food. It was very relaxing. Joan took lots of pictures, and dad had fun playing with Oliver.

It was a really long and busy day for Oliver. He was such a good sport, operating on a single nap (he's been in transition from 2 to 1 nap) and he was so tired by the end of the day he even laid down on his bedroom rug in his birthday suit before his bath. He slept just ok that night. I think he was probably over stimulated and over tired, but I think he had a great first birthday.

He has another party coming up this weekend with more friends and family. And I'll have another cake to decorate. Fun!

Thank you Oliver for your smiles and laughter. Happy Birthday!!

More cakes!

I've been really enjoying my cake decorating class. Each week it gets a little bit easier, and I get more adventurous with my designs. Here are the latest cakes I've made:


This is the cake for Oliver's first birthday. I almost didn't make one because I had another cake that I just made for class. I'm glad I didn't get lazy and just had a cake that was not made especially for him. It turned out really cute. It was a carrot cake with Buttercream icing for the water and grass. Then I made a lily pad out of homemade marshmallow fondant, and gum paste frog with marshmallow eyes. The sign is cut Special K chocolate meal bar with icing lettering. And then there are the gold fish crackers. Oliver was very excited about the frog when he saw it!


This is my first fondant covered cake. I made the fondant from a marshmallow recipe (it was fun making it, much easier than I expected) We were supposed to make an 8x8 square cake, but I didn't have a pan. So I decided to make it with my 8" round cake and cut away the sides in to a square. I doubled up the layered and make a 5 inch cube. The design for the class was to cover it with flower shaped fondant cut outs, but I went for the more modern simple dots instead. And a Tiffany-ish blue ribbon.


This was the final cake for Course 3. All the flowers are piped royal icing. The ruffle was really hard to do, but learning how to stack and secure the tiers was fun.


This was a father's day cake for Chris. He liked lemon cake, so I did a lemon slices line art in a brownish yellow color. I was very shaky making the outlines, but I like the style of it, and would try to practice more in this style of cake decorating.

It's official, Oliver is walking!

After a week of testing out the water, Oliver started walking a few feet at a time yesterday June 20th (11 months and 4 days old). Up to that point we would only catch glimpses of it out of the corner of our eyes. We were convinced he was secretly walking, and only crawls to keep us from not picking him up.

This morning during our usual routine of me making breakfast in the kitchen and Oliver watching his sign language video (By the way, he can sign milk, eat, all done, and his new favorite animal-dog) I watched from the kitchen as he walked around the living room holding a balloon. It was the cutest things I've ever seen.

I've also noticed today that he didn't want to be picked up as much. Oh...how quickly things change.

Happy Birth+Mother's Day to Me!

This year my birthday fell on the same day as Mother's day. Since I've been taking the cake decorating class, I thought it was a good chance to show off my skills to the family. I even decided to make all the food. Here's our Sunday Brunch menu:

Soy Chorizo Burrito with Cheese and Refried Beans, topped with Enchilada sauce
Egg White and Turkey Sausage Frittatas with Parsley
Fresh Baked (Pillsbury) Croissants brushed with butter and topped with Parmesan cheese.
Fresh cut fruits
And Natural Italian Soda from Whole Foods in Pink Grapefruit, Blood Orange, and Tangerine

The larger cake is a yellow cake with chocolate frosting, both from a sugar free cake and frosting mix.

The cupcakes are angel food cake. the recipe has been altered with egg whites and apple sauce so it's lower in fat.

We all had a wonderful time, and everyone loved the food and the decor. Needless to say it was truly a happy day!

Baby Milestone - Eleven Months

So much has happened in this past month. Oliver took his first swim lesson with his dad on June 7th. He did so great! (and Daddy did good too.) He went completely in the water and floated on his back, even crawled across a floating bridge. He seemed nervous and held on to Daddy very tight, but never cried. This week he'll be back again, I hope he is looking forward to it.

Oliver also took his first few steps on June 12th. They were tiny little steps, but he look so cute doing it. It's funny that he only does it when no one is watching. I think when he sees us, he knows we'll pick him up. So he goes back to crawling, which gets him around the house very fast.

We've started showing him a dvd for sign language. Each morning he watches the show while having some Special K corn flakes. He also needs his favorite drums nearby, so he can play the drum while the songs are playing on TV. And just over a week, he started to sign Milk, and lately he does the "all done" sign when he is full after a meal. He also signs dog, which comes in handy because he's been very friendly with the neighborhood dogs.

Our little boy not only loves to play the drums, he also loves to sing. When we go for our morning walks, sometimes he'll sing in his stroller while checking out the scenery. We also sing together in the bath, and pretty much any time he is in a good mood. Although he mostly says BaBaBa, he has discovered he can change his pitch. He can hit quite a few high notes.

It's amazing that he is truly a little person now with his own thoughts and ideas. He loves to point to things that he doesn't know the name for. Or he points to the places he wants to go. He can communicate so well. He also has started to share with food and put away his toys.

I can't wait to see what he does next! running? talking? oh my...

What has Ann been up to, that's not baby related.

So somehow this blog has become an update on what Oliver has been up to. Hey! get your own blog Oliver! (Just kidding, mommy loves you) I thought before I enter another milestone update. I should write down my latest projects.

During the first few months of Oliver's arrival. I had a really hard time adjusting to my new life. Postpartum depression hit me pretty hard, and I had trouble coping with being a stay at home mom. All that seem like so long ago, and I've since recovered and feeling 95% like my old self. The other 5% is my never ending nursing and pumping schedule that keeps me close to home. And the other is waking up at 5:30 am each morning and taking a 2 mile walk with Chris and Oliver.

The hard days have inspired me to write a guide book with tips to help new moms. I had one draft that was put to use when our friends Corri and Kristin were about to have their baby. Brielle was born the next day after an "in-home consultation". She must think her mom is a fast learner. I tried out the book on another new mom who also has a little Oliver. Both times I felt great helping someone going through a tough transition in their life. I was surprised that I have somehow made myself an expert at this subject. On and off I found time to rework the book and redesign it. It's been on hold for a little bit because of other projects, but I will get back to it for sure. My plan is to find a publisher as soon as it's finished.



I've also started to take cake decorating classes. I've been watching all the cake decorating shows on Food Network thinking "I can do that!" I found a class at Michael's craft store, and I have completed course 1, 2, and now taking course 3 making tiered cakes. I was never a fan of eating frosting, but now I'm making frosting and baking cakes almost every week. I am enjoying it a lot. The ladies in my class are all very nice, and they like to sing along to the music inside the store while piping frosting to a cake! I will be using this new skill to make the most awesome birthday cakes for Oliver!

Here are some "practice" cakes I've done.







And my latest project is designing a logo for my sister who is trying to open her own nightclub/restaurant in Shanghai. She's been an amazing jazz musician for many years, and it's time she takes a big step. We emailed back and forth and came up with the name Shanghai La Vida. After a few rounds of designing and revision. I'm still working on putting together a presentation for her while she looks for investors. Fingers crossed she'll soon be a happy club owner. Here's the final logo:



And last, we've just started to look for our next house. It's something we've talked about, but it always feels like it's a long time away. Now that Oliver is almost one, we are starting to think about where to move to so he can get the best education. That will keep me busy for a while I'm sure. I can't even think about packing and moving right now.

Until next time...here's another baby milestone update.