Little Bit of Today and Road Trip to 5 Months Old : Day 6

Today, my parents, Mya, and I attend a memorial service for Betty, (my good neighbor's mom) who passed away in a few days ago. I must say the memorial service was beautiful and the children of Betty made a wonderful speech about their mom. It got me all teared up. During the whole service, my mom was feeding Mya and during the pastor's speech, my mom was burping Mya and then there was a silent moment and all you heard burrrpppp. Mya was so loud when she burped and people around us turned to us and laughed. And said she was a good burper.

On the way home from church, I stopped by McDonald's to get my sweet tea! They are so addicted! It is like my own drugs. While I was in the drive-thru I had to use the bathroom so bad. So I went in with Mya still in her car seat and went to the bathroom. It is the first time I went to the bathroom with Mya. I put the car seat on the floor and did my business, and she started laughing! I told her next time I am turning her around facing to the wall so she won't see me going to the bathroom.

Back to Florida trip, on April 7th, the family and I decided to get Dunkin Donuts and bring them over to my grandparent's house in the morning before my parents fly home. My sister told me that she wanted to come over and see my parents before they leave so I woke her up and she didn't want to get up. We left without her. After my parents left, Mike, Shamere, Mya, and I decided to do a little tour. At first we were going to do air boat ride to see the alligators but then I checked on the internet, it says "no child under 4 years old is not allowed to ride". So I didn't want to be standing around while Mike and Shamere is on the air boat ride.

I checked on the internet to see what everyone can do. I found a place, Lion Country Safari. Its in Loxahatchee, near West Palm Beach. It's a drive-through wildlife preserve. It was pretty long ride and you can pulled over anytime to watch the animals. One thing I didn't like was we had to keep our windows closed. I wanted to roll down my windows to get good pictures. I got some pictures of the animals but not as good as I wanted them to be. We saw Llama, Rhea, Greater Kudu, Impala, Aoudad, Gemsbok, Buffalo, Blackbuck, Kulan, Lion, Ostrich, Wildebeest, Waterbuck, Rhinoceros, Zebra, Chimpanzee, Giraffe, and many more.

After the drive-through tour, they have a walk tour. The walk tour has a lot of activites for young children. They have little mini putt golf, water slides, little kiddies pool, wheel ferry, farm animals, camel rides, giraffe shows, and many more. When Mya gets a little older like 2, I am going to come back that place. This is my first time I got really close up with giraffe and we got to feed them! Their tongue are really long, black and scary looking. But they are so adorable and sure do look like Toy' R' Us!






When we were done, we decided to head back to my grandparent's before traffic starts. We had dinner and then everyone was tired and we all went back to Gail's place.

Road Trip to 5 Months Old : Day 5

Mike and Shamere decided to stay home at Gail's place. Mya, my mom, my grandma, and I went to my grandma's best friend, Thelma, who lives in Dewey Beach. Grandma wanted to shared her great granddaughter to her best friend. So we drove over there and we hang out a little bit as everyone caught up. I fed Mya while we were there. When we were done, we went to my Grandpa's sister, Doris, who lives near my grandma's house. Grandma said she didn't have time to go to Doris's place because she had to prepared dinner for everyone. So my mom, Mya, and I dropped my grandma off at her house and then we went to Doris's place. She lives in a secured retirement homes. It is a beautiful and big place. A lot of apartments for seniors. If I was living by myself at that age, I would live something like that. They have a lot of activities every week, on call nurses, etc.

I loved visiting Doris. She is like a grandma to me. She was so thrilled to meet Mya and she was so braved to hold her because my grandma haven't hold Mya yet because she was a little afraid. She didn't want to let her go. We talked a little and then we was time to go.

I went back to Gail's place and my mom went back to my grandparent's place. It was time for dinner so Mike, Shamere, and I went to my grandparent's house for dinner. It was my parent's last night staying in Florida.

Mike, Shamere and I wanted to see "How to Train your Dragon" and it was an open caption movie. So my mom offer to watch Mya for us so after dinner we went to see the movie in Boco Raton. We loved the movie! When we got back to my grandparent's place, Mya was sleeping on the couch with her grandpa. It was cute.

We all went home.

Road Trip to 5 Months Old : Day 4

A lot of things was going on this week, so I didn't have time to write. Let me try and catch up on Mya's road trip!

Monday, April 5th, 2010, we decided to get our nail done and then go to Ft. Lauderdale to see Christopher's place. His backyard is literally a beach. He lives in a condo and I love his place and his view. I would so live there if I was not married. There is a new Vietnamese Spa and Nail place near my Aunt's house and Mike and I loved going there. We make sure we go there every time we are in town. Casey and Shamere wanted to go with us. We would planning on going there at 10 in the morning, but someone was being a sleepy head and wouldn't get help. Surprisingly, it wasn't me being a sleepy head! If you know me, then you would know what I meant.

I asked my mom if she could babysit Mya for me and she was gladly too because she wanted to spent time alone with her. I didn't want to take Mya with me at the nail place because of the smell sometimes if there is a strong nail polish, etc. My sister asked me we needed to make an appointment since there were 4 of us. My dad wanted to go but he was busy buying something and he would meet up later. I didn't think we needed an appointment because it was a Monday and everyone would be a work.

Casey wanted a coffee so I dropped her and Shamere off at Starbucks and they said they will walk over to the nail place. Mike and I went to park and went ahead to the nail place. They saw us right away. About 20 minutes later, my sister and Shamere came and someone told them there will be a wait because they got busier. Mike and I got out pedicure done first and we both selected a premium package because we both much needed a pedicure since it been a while. I hadn't had a pedicure in a year because I was pregnant at that time and my midwife suggested not to get pedicure since they can lead pre-labor and I did not want that to happened.

It was so relaxing and never wanted it to ends. I wish I could hired a 24/7 feet therapist and that would put me in heaven! When we got our feet done, we wanted to get our hands done as well. We walked over to the front and I saw Casey still sitting in the chair. No one haven't seen her yet and I felt bad. And they just started on Shamere's. About 10 minutes doing my nails, someone finally saw Casey. When Mike and I were done, we knew we had to wait so we decided to walked over to the shopping center to find something to eat for lunch. So we tried this Mexican restaurant called Lime. It's like California Tortilla. After that, Mike and I decided to get Coldstone ice cream. So yummy!

When we were done, we walked back to the nail place and Casey and Shamere were almost done. I just saw dad too and he was getting his VERY first pedicure! He has been getting his manicure done before but I suggest him to get his feet done and he took my advise! Later that night, I asked dad how was his very first pedicure and you know what he said? He said, "I never put my socks on that smoothly and quickly!" He is too funny! Gotta love him!

Casey, Mike, Shamere, and I left and realized the time and we thought it was a little bit too late to go over Christopher's place since we had dinner at my grandparents' house at 6. So we decided to go to the pool for an hour near my Aunt's place. This is Mya's first time in a swimming pool! The water was cold and Mya did not like it too much. She cried and cried and then suddenly she calm down a little but then she cried again. I took her out of the pool and noticed she was getting a little sleepy. She wanted her nap. I brought Mya's bouncer to the pool and put her in the shade. She went to sleep right away. So we will have to try the pool again and hopefully next time the water will be warm.



We ate at my grandparent's house and grandma made us beef brisket! It is to die for! Grandma also made coleslaw, which is very good and Mike and Shamere actually liked them! And of course grandma made her famous cream cheese pound cake!

Well early today, my dad and my aunt went out for television shopping for my grandma. During dinner time, my grandma had to get something from the garage and when she came back in the house, she said "what's that box in the garage?" Dad and Gail was being sarcastic and said "what are you talking about?" And my parents and Gail told her that it is her early mother's day present. Well, my husband was so kind that he said he would installed the flat screen. He worked so hard because the tv barely fitting in my grandma's T.V. set. Mike had to take the doors off the T.V. set. So grandma can't cover the t.v. anymore. And that t.v. was there, he putted in the kitchen. And the one was in the kitchen, it went to Gail's bedroom. Grandma was so pleased with Mike. And she said "she wouldn't know what to do without him."

Road Trip to 5 Months Old : Day 3

It's Mya first Easter!

We left Lory's place at 7 in the morning and heading to Margate, Fl, where my grandparents lives. It is about 7 hours drive. I slept in the car most of the way because of the fears I was having the night before.

We finally got to my grandparents' house where all my family was there, including my grandparents, Aunt Gail, my parents and my sister. As soon I brought Mya in, almost everyone gather around to see her. It is my grandparents first time meeting Mya. Sure they saw tons of pictures of her on the internet, but it is not the same in person. I loved seeing my grandma's smile. Her smile really was really wide and cheerful. It melts my heart. She didn't want to hold Mya right away because she said it been 16 years she hasn't held one.

But my sister, who was so excited to see her niece. Casey never been a baby person at all but she is slowly getting used what to do with Mya. I love when Mya starts to cry while Casey holding her, my sister automatically gives Mya back to me, like she doesn't know what to do when a baby cry. Before when Mya cry, Casey be like "ew, here, take her away from me." Casey said the same thing this time, but I told her no, I didn't want her because I wanted her to get used handling a crying baby. Casey finally got used to it and Mya started to calm down.

Ever since my grandpa had his car accident in a few weeks before I got married in 2007, his mind just disappear. He doesn't talk as much as he used to, and he get upsets easily and worried about many things like his car, the house, his wife, etc. Every time I see him, he is more quiet and he forgets easily, like a short term memory. If you told him where you were going, in 5 minutes he will ask where are you going again. Sometimes he does remember what you said, but I think he is being a little lazy to remember things.

I was a little anxious for my grandpa meet Mya but it turned out more than I expect. He shouted happily and said "Baby!" And he would laughed and laughed more. I have not heard him laugh in so long and it really brings a smile on my face. He asked if he could hold her. He would touch Mya's leg when I am holding her. Grandpa was so focus on Mya and he would watch her while she doing her own things. I am so glad Mya is keeping him busy. I asked him if he knew what my baby name was, and surprisingly he said "Mya." Gail and I were shocked.

My grandparents' is Jewish but we had an Easter dinner anyway. My Aunt Gail's best friend, Christopher's family was in town also. So the entire family came over for dinner. We had honey baked ham, turkey, coleslaw and potatoes salad. It was so yummy. Gail made my favorite desert, banana pudding.

I think Mya was a little bit overwhelmed with all the people looking at her, touching her, and holding her. After dinner, Mike, Mya, Shamere, and I went to Gail's place because that where we stayed at. When we got there, Mike and I set up Mya's stuff so she can get ready go to bed. I knew she was exhausted from the long day she had from driving and meeting her great-grandparents for the first time.

Road Trip to 5 Months Old : Day 2

It's Mya first time in Georgia! And it is Mya's first time meeting her other cousin, Jayla. Lory, Mike's older sister, finally got to hold Mya as well. She visit Mya when she was in NICU but was afraid to hold her because she was tiny. I would be afraid to hold a baby who is tiny and wasn't my baby.

We decided to go to CiCi's for lunch. It was my first time there, and I like it a lot. Different options of pizza and they all were really good. There was one interesting pizza that had taco on it. I really love the cinnamon bun.

I wanted to go downtown Savannah. I heard it is an awesome place to visit and tour. Parking was terrible so we round up parking in the parking garage that cost 10 dollars. I didn't want to waste my day looking for a parking spot. We did not bring the stroller because we didn't have any room in the SUV because we had to pick Jayla up. If we didn't have to pick her up then we would have brought it with us. So instead carrying Mya in her car seat, which it's so heavy, I carried her in the babybjorn. Mya liked being in the baby carrier and she falls asleep really fast. I wanted to carried Mya on my back but I couldn't until she can hold her head up on her own. So she had to sit front of me and facing toward to my chest.

I fed Mya before we walked around the town and then I had to put sunblock on her, her very first's sunblock! I don't think she likes the sun too much. She kept squishing her eyes tight. Maybe she is not used to the brightness.

We walked around, I took pictures of things, building and people. Lory told me that every first Saturday of the month, there is a festival going on and we happened to be there at that time. A lot of cool handmade stuff people was selling. I didn't buy anything and trust me, I wanted to but I told myself no because I really don't have any room for it in the house since it is getting too crowded. There was 2 old riverboat and I thought we could go on it just for fun.



We got on the riverboat and heard the captain’s intriguing tales and historic facts. We learned about the history of Savannah, her port modern day and past, and saw the statue of “the waving girl”. It was Mya's first boat ride as well. She fell asleep on the table on the boat before the boat moved. And then when the caption spoke on the speaker, she woke up because it was loud. Mya enjoyed the wind blowing in her face. I fed her on the boat and then she fell asleep in the baby carrier. Jayla fell asleep as well too.




When we got off the boat, we decided to get ice cream because everyone I passed on the sidewalk was eating a cone of yummy ice cream and made my mouth watery.I had a mint chocolate chip, my favorite. I let Mya lick it, and wasn't too sure about it.

One thing was annoying while walking in Savannah, people was so nosy about Mya. They be like "aww. A baby!" Some just smile and try to look at her while she is facing toward to my chest. I understand babies are cute, but it gets really old when you have to repeat the same thing when they asked you questions, like "how old is she?", and then they go "wow, she is so small for her age!" I don't even bring up and tell them that she was a preemie baby because otherwise the conversation going to wind up really long and then actually starts to ask me more personal questions. So I just let them think whatever they feel free to because I know I won't see that person ever again.

We all decided head back to Lory's place and rest for a bit before dinner. We decided to go Outback since I have coupons from there that I could used. While we were in Outback, I noticed Mya been playing more and more with her carrier toy car that attached on the car seat. She been flipping around the turtle and the mirror. I also noticed she likes to look herself in the mirror. There is a frog on the toy that you push the eyes and it makes music and lights, Mya has not discovered that yet. She is getting pretty close though.

I had to go to the bathroom at midnight, so I got up and did my business. As I was looking on the floor, there was a giant bug just crawled from no where and touched on the side of my foot and I freaked out! I am still sitting on the toilet and my feet was off the floor and I was too afraid to move. I wanted to scream but everyone was sleeping, so I sat there for at least 15 minutes thinking what I should do. I know I am pathetic. I opened the bathroom door while I am still sitting on the toilet with my pants down, and decided to run from the toilet with my butt naked across the living room and got on to the couch and stared on the floor for the rest of the night. I couldn't sleep because I was afraid that bug was going to get me and I was actually afraid if I went to sleep and then when I wake up, the bug was going to be on my chest and looking at me. And I was afraid I was going to have a dream about bugs! I am still up at 2 in the morning and Mike woke up because he had to go to the bathroom but I told him there was a gaint bug in the bathroom and told him to kill it for me. He rolled his eyes and said he will pee later and went back to sleep. It's 4 in the morning, I finally decided to sleep because my eyes was hurting so much from staring at the floor. And Mike woke me up at 6 in the morning because it was time to go to Florida!

Road Trip to 5 Months Old : Day 1

Mya is 5 months old yesterday! She is getting more cuter everyday! My sister actually told me she is surprised Mya still have her face because by now, she would already eat her up.

Shamere, my niece, had 1 week spring break and Mike and I decided to take the family a road trip to Florida to see my grandparents and my aunt. I wasn't ready to fly Mya yet because I don't know what to expect with her. But I know we will be flying soon.

We left on Friday, April 2nd. Our plan was to stop in Richmond, VA, to pick up Jayla, Shamere's sister, from her dad's house. Jayla was already on her spring break but she had to go back to her mom's house because she has to go back to school. When we were going to stop in Richmond, I wanted to feed Mya. But of course, there was terrible, long, awful traffic on I-95 from Fort Belvoir, VA to Spotsylvania, VA. It took us 4 hours to get Richmond and that threw us off because Mya got hungry in the middle of the traffic. So we pulled off at a 7-11 and fed Mya.

We finally got to Richmond and decided to feed Mya a little more so we didn't have to stop in a couple of hours. When I changed her diaper, Mya had a little mess. Her poop went up to her back and got on her clothes so I had to cleaned her really good and changed her clothes. I really hate when that happens. Can't any diapers hold the poop down? What is the purpose of the diaper, if the poop going to find its way out? Someone needs to come up a better idea of using diapers.

We stop at a waffle house for dinner. I love when I am taking a road trip down south because I know there is many waffle houses we can stop at. It's cheap, so quick, so good, and so yummy. Before we went on the trip, I told my family, we were going on a "Waffle House Diet." Shamere rolled her eyes at me. I fed Mya at dinner and then fed her again in South Carolina.

We finally got to my sister-in-law house in Savannah, GA. I was beat and tired but couldn't go to bed right away because I woke Mya up when I taking her out of her car seat. Trust me, no matter how gently I tired to get her out of her car seat without waking her up, it's impossible. Mike set up her travel crib while I was feeding her and then she got so sleepy and didn't want to finish her food, I put her down in her crib. I love the travel crib because it is so easy to close and open it and very light to carry it. So I will be using that every time when we travel.

Mya was very good on this trip from Maryland to Georgia. It is a lot of work when Mya gets hungry because you have to pull off the road and find a spot and get out of the car, get her out of her car seat, change her diaper, then feed her and burp her. With all that, it takes total 40 minutes. But after a few stops, I was getting used to it and so was Mike. I thought it was nice to take a break from driving and then continue driving.

I forgot to mention, my mom brought me a bottle warmer for the car. It is like a car charger, and it works really well when you need to warm the bottle up. But when you need to warm the bottle, plan 30 minutes before you feed the baby because it takes a little while to warm it, depending how much fluids you have in the bottle. I had 5 oz of water in the bottle, so took about 30 minutes to get it warm.