Back to the Coal Mines

Well, today was my first day back in the office after taking maternity leave. It wasn't as horrible as I thought it would be, although I had a weepy moment when we dropped off Emma at daycare this morning. True to her little self, she had a big poop right as we arrived at daycare. We were getting ready to change her ourselves, but her caretaker, Ling, came out and said, "Oh, let me handle of that!" She took Emma to the changing table in the infant room, changed her and brought her back out to the reception area for mommy and daddy to say goodbye.

We picked Emma up from daycare in the evening, and apparently, Emma had a very good day. She drank almost all her milk, smiled at the caregivers, did some rolls during tummy time, and didn't cry much. I am slightly offended that my baby girl didn't seem to miss me very much, but also very proud that she is such an easy baby (well, at least for now).

We returned yesterday after visiting husband's family to celebrate Thanksgiving and Emma's Red Egg and Ginger/100 Day party. Emma turned 100 days on November 22, 2009. There is a special significance to turning 100 days in Korean and Japanese culture, probably because way back in the day, many babies did not survive past 100 days. The red egg and ginger portion of the party celebrated Emma's Chinese heritage. We took lots of pictures, and I will post those over the next day or two!

We're Back

We arrived back in San Francisco today from the east coast.  My grandmother made a surprising and unexpected recovery while we were there, and no one can tell what will happen over the next month or two.  Before we made this emergency trip, we had already purchased non-refundable tickets to go east for Christmas, so we will be going back again soon.

Emma did so well on the plane rides there and back.  She had a little poop accident and some got on Daddy during the flight to the east coast (hee hee), but other than that, nothing disastrous.  She was complimented on her good behavior by fellow passengers and the flight crew.

Our trip was very family oriented.  The experience was strange, because everyone was upset about my grandmother, but so happy to see each other.  We saw members of my family from Seoul whom I have not seen since high school.  We went to the hospice everyday to see my grandmother, and just spent time with relatives and friends.  I finally got to meet my friend H's baby girl.  Adorable.  Someone in my family received a marriage proposal while we were there, too!   Eveyone was enamored with Emma, and I was grateful that my relatives met her while she is still a little baby.

Sad

My beautiful, loving grandmother is not doing well.  We don't expect that she will pull through this time.  We (me, husband and little Emma) are flying out to the east coast this Friday.  My mother is so sad.  Hopefully, seeing her little granddaughter will help a bit, like a little cuddly care package arriving.

Smile, You're on Camera!

Ok, smiling time is over. Now, it is time for "serious face."

The Every Way Wrap

I am making the Every Way Wrap as a gift for my mother.  She actually picked this pattern so it isn't ruining the surprise to post a picture of the progress.

Due to my lack of experience in reading cable charts, the 15-row repeat cable pattern and the severe errata published in the original pattern, this project had a tumultuous start.  I ripped it apart five (!) times before I actually got into the groove and figured out the chart and the pattern.

The design is by a Korean knitwear designer, and it is really cool. It is a reversible cable, so it won't have a right or wrong side, as most cable knits do. It is also designed to be worn in a multitude of ways, either as a scarf, a wrap, or even, with clever placement of buttons, as a vest.

I can't wait until it is finished so I can give this to my mother.  I hope to have it finished by Christmas time, but with a baby, and with my return to the corporate peon world looming on the near horizon, that might not be possible.

Flipping Over

Yesterday, we caught Emma on video flipping herself over.
 
She actually flipped herself over for the first time a couple of days ago, but we missed it.  That day, we placed her on her playmat tummy side down, and turned away for a few seconds, only to turn back around and see her tummy side up, placidly smiling at us.

She is growing up so quickly.  I have such mixed emotions about it.  On one hand, I want her to stay a little baby forever, so small and cute.  On the other hand, I can't wait to see all the fun interactive things she will do with us in the future.  It's exciting and sad all at the same time.

About the video camera - Lance bought the Flip video camera (warning: clicking on this link will take you to the Flip video website which will play music and stuff) a couple of weeks ago.  It is small, really easy to use (meaning even I can use it), and you can edit the videos using free editing programs.  We don't really know what we are doing on the editing programs, but Lance was able to add music to the video in this post, and to take out our ridiculous proud parent exclaimations using free Windows Movie Maker.

We Finally Got In!

Here's an unexpected benefit of having a small child - you can get a table at practically any restaurant because you have to eat early. And thus, we were finally able to get a table at Burma Superstar at 5:30 PM (half an hour later and the small restaurant was packed). We have tried probably three other times to go to this restaurant, but gave up because we were told the wait would be 1 hour or more. It is a local San Francisco favorite, serving up unusual foods like fermented tea leaf salad, samusa soup and other delectable Burmese selections. This restaurant has been featured on the show Check, Please! Bay Area and on the Food Network, which turned it into an even more popular spot. It is also nice that Burma Superstar has a fair selection of vegetarian foods, or foods that they can adjust to make vegetarian, including their famous tea leaf salad.

We started with the samusa soup. It has a deep, spicy, rich curry broth with vegetables and chunks of potato samusas.

Someone once told me that this soup is supposed to induce labor, and that many pregnant women who were desperate for the baby to come out have ordered this soup. One of the three previous times we tried to get into this restaurant was during the last week of my pregnancy. Perhaps if we had gotten in and eaten this soup, little Emma would have arrived on time, or even early.

We also tried the fermented tea leaf salad. It has a lot of ingredients - split yellow beans, sunflower seeds, peanuts, tomatoes, lettuce, jalepenos, etc. - but the real star of the salad is the fermented tea leaves. Our waiter brought out the salad, explained each ingredient, then mixed the salad at the table. The salad was salty, spicy, crunchy, sweet and delicious.