today is griffin's birthday. for his birthday, he gets to:
* have a lovely full body rash
* take benedryl and claritin
* gag on apple and spit-up on daddy
* stand-up in his highchair and almost jump off
* dive off the changing table and bite his tongue
happy birthday rashy boy!
mark, irene, and the boys, and tommy, jessica, and damon all came over. we drove up the hill, hit about 10 houses, and drove back down for dinner. our neighborhood seems to have mostly empty nesters, so there weren't too many people out trick-or-treating. but all the homeowners were extremely friendly, seemed quite delighted to see us, and gave the kids handfuls of candy.
so what's the deal with the earflap hat, you ask? it's not snowing in sf these days, is it? no, the little guy just has an itchy ear. the dr. says it's seborrhea, which is the same as cradle cap. he's been scratching and scratching, and we find him in the morning with very bloody sheets. pretty scary.
what about clipping his nails, you ask? i do, but they grow so damn fast. mitts? yes, we do mitts, but the little bugger has figured out how to pull them off by biting the mitt and pulling his hand out. which brings us back to the earflap hat. we put this on him, and it largely discourages him from scratching the ear too much. this is night 3 with the hat, and the ear does seem to be finally healing.
much better than the icky alimentum we were feeding him, so he totally cut back on formula and would refuse to drink more than 2 oz at a time (vs 6 oz previously). unfortunately, his silly parents didn't realize that they subsequently needed either to up his solid intake or increase the frequency of his formula meals. 
after his 9 month checkup, we realized (with the doctor's help :) ) that we hadn't been giving him enough calories, and we upped his solids and formula feedings, and he gained 1 pound in 3 weeks. hooray! as for his allergies, we're doing pretty well, and he's eating all fruits, meats, and lots of veggies. still no eggs or dairy, and we're getting ready to try soy, wheat, and corn.
* physical stuff -- he can scoot backwards and in circles (pivoting), but isn't up on all fours yet. sits like a champ, can clap on demand (pai-pai-sho), and loves playing with toys (especially banging stuff together). oh, and he reached another big milestone today: he can feed himself cheerios (technically, morning-o's)!!!
she tells everyone he's "my baby" and is very protective (and sometimes possessive) of him. occasionally, she'll assert, "that's my toy" when we give griffin one of her old toys, but then she will always proudly follow it up with "but i'm sharing with di-di!" she is such a great big sister, and we are very proud of her!
it was nice to spend time with them again. we hadn't seen cy or jason in over 4 years, and it was really the first time we've gotten to spend so much time together with just the 2 families.
ally and janice had a blast with each other, playing make-believe games, playing with toys, pretending to be dogs, and generally being silly together. at one point, they must have overheard us talking about santa cruz, because then we heard them giggling and yelling to each other, "no, it's _my_ santa cruz!" so they seemed to think they each _had_ a santa cruz, which was rather odd. this time, they really figured out how to play together, and ally really looked up to her big sister, "janice je-je". ally would often try to copy janice, and it was pretty funny to hear ally echoing janice in cantonese!
ally sat and stared at the giant tank for a long time, and was delighted to see the sunfish again. the girls had a great time at the crashing wave exhibit, and i could hear their squeals and shrieks of delight halfway across the aquarium.
we also hit the santa cruz boardwalk, walked around downtown santa cruz, shopped at gilroy, and generally tried to relax. it was a generally relaxing mini-vacation for us, except that i had to work for a couple days of it.
sure, san francisco isn't exotic or maybe even that interesting if you've been here before. but, as eva was quick to point out, that wasn't why they were here. they were here to see us and the kids. and from that aspect, i think the trip went really well. in fact, every time we see eva and her family, i feel that we grow a little closer. for me, i feel like i am getting to know them a little better each time, and with that, i feel a little closer to them. 
it's hard since we only get to the see each every few years, but it does feel more and more like family. we do seem to be learning to understand and maybe even appreciate each other's culture and way of life. it's so easy to forget that not everyone shares the same value system that you do, and that not everyone wants to live where you live, eat what you eat, do what you do for fun, etc.
maybe we're also just bonding more over the kids. while it's harder to learn to love each other as adults, it's just so easy to love each other's kids. janice is such a wonderful and sweet little girl, and jason is quirky but still very lovable in his own way. and watching ally's face light up whenever she sees her cousins or her beloved gu-ma and gu-cheung really just makes me want to give her more opportunities to be with her family.
i always felt so lucky to have 20+ cousins. ally and griffin only have 5, and i want them to be as close with all of them as i was with mine.
we were pleased to find that we were still able to dine at some nice restaurants -- mustard's grill (with the chiu's) and napa valley grill.
we also hit a couple of wineries. artesa winery had gorgeous views and nice grounds, so we took a bunch of pics there around the fountains. 
some folks were nice enough to offer to take a picture of all of us, so we got a couple rare family pics. we had a nice little picnic at v. sattui, but ally was pretty concerned about all the flies flying around. 
she kept switching sides at the picnic table because there were "too many flies over here." one fly kept hanging around griffin's stroller, and i was horrified to find it perched on the edge of his mouth while he was desperately trying to lick it. yuck.
it's really a tiny little train that's rather uncomfortable for adults. in fact, i felt rather queasy the whole time, and my lower back hurt from the lack of lumbar support. of course, ally rode it with her usually "stoneface" expression -- basically, a blank look. i tried to pretend i was enjoying it, and asked her, "isn't this fun?" to which she replied, "i want to ride the merry-go-round." argh.
we stayed at this cute little house in napa called the napa saltbox. the bedrooms had these large raised closets, and ally decided to make one of them her room. she had a great time playing in the closets, having bubble baths in the clawfoot tub, hanging out watching "rent" on the couch, and blowing bubbles on the porch.
it was a nice relaxing mini-vacation. but after just being back at work for 3 days, i feel like i need another!
we took our first family-of-four trip last weekend. we spent one night in carmel at the highlands inn. we went to the beach, and ally had a blast splashing in the water and chasing and being chased by the waves. at one point, she pulled me so far down towards the ocean that a huge wave came by and almost swept her away (much to daddy's horror). good thing i was holding on tightly to her hand!
the next day, we hit the monterey bay aquarium. ally had been there last year, but this time she was able to really enjoy it. she stood and stared at the huge sunfish tank, and just watched and watched in awe. she loved the sunfish and the turtles, and kept exclaiming, "the fish are bigger than me!"
ally's new nickname at her daycare is "the american idol." apparently, they will play songs they know she likes, and she then entertains them by singing along. her current faves are "bad day" (daniel powter), "you're beautiful" (james blunt), and "we belong together" (mariah). the teachers think it's pretty hilarious, and she does seem to enjoy performing.
we first noticed that she was pretty musical when she was about 6 months old. she showed a distinct preference for "the scientist" (coldplay), and that song was the only thing that could soothe her when she was cranky or tired. we got pretty tired of the song, and would sometimes try a switcheroo by playing the song for a minute or so and then changing it to another song. but she would notice immediately and start wailing. let's just say, we don't listen to that song much anymore.
so now once we're in the car, our job is as both chauffeur and dj. our trick is now to try to get her to like the songs we want to hear. i have been successful lately in getting her to like some songs off the new depeche mode cd. it's pretty funny to hear her ask for "john the revelator".
diet. it started out with a suspicion that he may be allergic to dairy. but after i cut out dairy, he still had reactions. so then i cut out shellfish. then eggs. then nuts. and then wheat.
so i asked about the previous spots that had also turned red, but he dismissed those (probably because he hadn't seen them when they were red). he then said for me to resume eating anything i wanted except for shellfish and eggs. "eggs? but he tested negative for eggs." yes, the dr. said that while he did test negative, most cases he sees end up with eggs as the culprit. uh, ok. that's really scientific. when i asked if that meant it was ok to start him on formula and rice cereal, he asked me to hold off. ok, sure.
anyway, i had already treated myself to some pasta with alfredo sauce after seeing the allergist, so i figured i would continue allowing myself to have dairy and made myself a latte at work. that night, griffin's skin actually looked almost perfect, so i thought i was in the clear. well, the next day, his rash reappeared, and by the evening he looked pretty awful. so it does seem that he does indeed have an allergy to dairy. :(
so i'm back on this crazy diet, but i do see a light at the end of the tunnel, as i will likely wean him in a few weeks. i have come a long way in these 2 months. i started out thinking "oh, what's the harm in a bit of cream sauce here or there?" since then, i have become very strict about my diet. i have certainly learned a lot about my self-control (or lack thereof), and i have also learned a lot about how difficult it is to be vegan. but most of all, i am quite proud that i have been able to stick this out as long as i have, and now i ready to wean this guy and pig out on ice cream, pizza, and cheesecake!
