It's his world now and I just live in it

 If you are a first time mom like me, I am sure you are also taking lots and lots of pictures of your baby.

  Lukas' favorite play spot

Have a good weekend everyone!

Kitchen Mama

I received a powder pink stand kitchen mixer for my birthday and I've been messing around the kitchen baking all sort of yummy goodness.  I've always found baking as this soothing thing to do so you will always find me covered in flour especially when I'm stress or overwhelmed.  I guess it's because the process is guaranteed a treat as long as you are precise.  

Savory cheesy biscuits

Homemade House Bread

Vanilla Cupcakes with chocolate ganache

Weekend festivities

As you well know my fellow mommies that weekends are no longer spent sitting in front of our manicurist getting nails done, gossiping with our hair stylist for 2 or so hours or nursing a bad hang over.  It's surprising to me how much I had free time before Lukas and how busy I thought I was.  Now a days my weekends is even more valued and appreciated because it is 2 days with Mark at home helping me out with Lukas.  Although our weekends are much more family friendly these days we try to take advantage of everything we can do locally.  This weekend we visited the San Francisco farmer's market.  It was sensory overload for Lukas who enjoyed people watching, looking at fresh produce, and watching sea gulls swimming at the San Francisco Bay.  I bought some fresh italian parsley, basil, fennels, a sack of orange and admired the wide variety of tree oyster mushrooms but the highlight was lunch at the around the corner food truck called Rotti Rolli.  The line to purchase was so long that we were intrigued enough to spend 45 minutes in the line waiting for our turn.

 I think we were more curious and at awe than actually craving the food.  I mean tell me this isn't enticing to you! 

Pork-ciutto sandwich is made of slowly roasted pork belly,onion jam topped with spicy arugula.

Tree oyster mushroom 

I have to say the food truck food was overly hyped and not worth the 45 minute wait. But aside from that we had a blast and San Francisco is never a disappointment well minus the old naked guys who rode their bicycles shouting earth day, earth day.  *sigh* I can't even imagine how those poor parents explained that to their little ones. Never a dull moment I must say...

Happy Easter Everyone

I feel like every holiday is much more special when you have a little baby especially during their first year.  One of the beauty of having a child is that you get a chance to spend every holiday like it was your first time as well.  Today's easter was simple, intimate and all about me and my boys.  Mark requested chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast so I whipped up pancakes and made everything from scratch.  It was instant sugar overload!  After breakfast, we headed to church to attend my friends baby boy's baptism and Lukas behaved so well.  He was very entertained with the choir and of course the lights. He sang with the choir and stayed curious with everyone at the church.  We then enjoyed some good food and good treats at the baptism party.  It was indeed an awesome day...

To make it even more extra special I made cinnamon cream by whipping heavy cream, confection sugar, and cinnamon powder.

 Goofing around with Dada

 The party favor was ice cream container filled with chocolate. I turned it upside down and made it into a party hat for Lukas :)

Easter is best spent with family and sugar high!

Finger Food

I started to introduce "finger" food to Lukas 2 weeks ago.  I usually cut up some bananas or oranges for him to munch with but he's favorite is broccoli!  I have to say, introducing ALL kinds of veggies from the beginning is paying off because he doesn't have any problem eating his greens.  Instead of steaming and boiling the veggies, I tried roasting it just to wake up the flavors even more.  Here's what I did.

 Pick whatever vegetable your child likes. I cut mine in a semi thin strips so he can easily hold it and bite into it little by little. Drizzle olive just enough to coat the veggies. Sprinkle just a pinch of kosher salt or sea salt just bring out the flavor of the veggies even more.

Place all veggies in a single layer into a sheet pan and bake it at 375 degree preheated oven until really tender (carrots are longer to cook so I separated it from the others)

Once cooled, let your baby enjoy!!

Few things I want to share about giving baby solid food:

• I only give Lukas solid food when I'm close to him and he has my full attention. 
• I usually give him solids when he's in a full sitting position.  
• I don't give him food that have round edges 
• I make sure that the texture and size are very safe and not hard for him to swallow. 
• I checked with my doctor and did tons of research  before I give him anything for the first time. 

Bon Appetite!!!

My little musician

I just want to share this silly little video I made about Lukas.  I just think he's the most adorable baby in the world.  I am sure that every mother thinks of their child the same.  Enjoy!

Sunny Days

I've been enjoying the sunny weather we had.  I just love hanging out with Lukas and make ordinary days extra special.  Watching the world through his eyes is just amazing so I try to do something new when the beautiful weather permits.

We finally went to Golden Gate park for a walk and I can't believe how much more of it we need to discover

One of my recent favorite thing to do is to walk to our local park and take him to the swing.  It gives me exercise and it's a fun mommy and son day everytime!

I also celebrated my birthday and I had the best time just spending time with my husband and son.  We went to my favorite restaurant Cafe Borrone for lunch.  Intimate, fun and surrounded with my main loves..

Someone shared my cake with me..Can you tell what kind of cake I had? 

 Lukas is now over 9 months and he continues to show me that even unconditional love can grow bigger in every each day that comes.

I'm all packed up

Having a baby as you know will change your life in many many ways that when you look back it's almost impossible to know what life was before the baby.  Before Lukas I am unstoppable and impossibly impatient.  I grew up in a very strict upbringing with a 6pm curfew so as soon as I was able to make decisions for myself I just travelled as much as I can and vowed to never say no to adventures.  I would pack my suitcase and spontaneously go for long drives for a long weekend vacations, or empty my bank account and travel out of state or over seas.  I was a confident traveller who is master in packing and could go through airport check ins effortlessly (in 4 inch heels may I add).  You can only imagine how excited I was the first time my husband and I planned our very first vacation with Lukas.  I made a packing list and checked it twice but I found myself having an anxiety attack the night before again the what ifs ran rapidly in my head.  What if I didn't bring enough formula?  What if I didn't get a chance to warm up his bottle?  What if we get stranded in an airport without enough diaper or formula or blanket?  What if the air pressure bothers him?  What if he gets sick because of all the germs?  and How can I pack everything he needs in sensible carry on bag?  All of a sudden going on a trip for me became a heavy task and even though my husband is very hands on I feel like everything still falls on me.  I don't know why so many of us mother thinks our way is the ONLY best way.  When we got to the airport everything went smoothly it definitely helps to have a partner that is very much in sync with your process (we talked about how were going to do it before hand).  Team Supreme as he calls us.  Yes, I got the pat down because of the liquid formula I brought in but I just took it as a thing to do to keep us safe.  When we got to the airplane and got seated I immediately informed the flight attendant if I could have hot water so I could heat up Lukas' milk and surprisingly she was very accommodating (I guess, I should've known that many families travels and this is an actual normal request for many) I gave Lukas his bottle as the plane took off to avoid air pressure pockets in his ears, sanitized the seat belts and anywhere he could potentially touch and off we go.  Lukas did very well in the flight and I immediately realized that I made myself worry for no reason at all.  The vacation went smoothly.  I tried my very hardest to keep him on the same schedule but gave myself space for errors or if something didn't go accordingly to how I would do it at home.  I learned from this experience that being a perfectionist isn't fun for anyone especially for myself. On the flight back home Lukas started teething and he cried for 5 hours I became very embarrassed but amazed how understanding other passengers were (Thank God for ear phones).  Vacations are different now in many many ways and the amount of adjustments you have to do is enormous - it's not just about us anymore.  But the benefits are worth it,  to see Lukas discover things for the first time is priceless and worth every stress and work we have to put in and the experience and memories we build as a family makes my heart want to explode with happiness (after all I kept my 4 inch wedge heels just to add the old me in the mixture).

My Baby traveller must haves:

• Baby bottles 
• Individually packed formula  or breast milk (you can also buy individually packed liquid formula with twist off bottle caps) I pack this in a freezer size ziploc bag so I could easily take it out for inspection. 
• Lots of Diapers and baby wipes
• Sanitizing cloths and sanitizing hand liquids
• 3 extra binky 
• 2 blankets
• Hat
• Sweater 
• 2 extra change of clothes
• Bibs
• wash cloths
• Baby Tylenol and Mylacon (for emergency)

Battle with the pearly whites

I have survived yet another 24 hour cry fest with a teething baby boy.  When Lukas first started teething, I went to get baby orajel but I read reviews horrible enough to scare me not to use it ever again.  So I went back to the basics with teething rings, frozen damp cloth, a tiny bit of baby tylenol, and lots of prayer and love.  When Lukas is teething he doesn't eat or take his milk like he normally does I think it's because his gums are very sensitive and sore but this adds to my worries and frustrations not to mention his naps are fewer and much shorter than normal.  It is definitely challenging taking care of a baby crying for hours, I go through my ups and downs and I definitely feel guilty when his crying and my helplessness gets the better of me.  But when he's fast asleep and I got a little break I quickly realize this is me and him time and that we go through it together and the only way out of this is to go through it.  Right now I'm on day 2 and I'm not going to sugar coat it because I know that it's another challenging day so I'll be exercising all those meditation techniques I've learned for childbirth.  But the main thing that I have to learn is that I have to learn to forgive myself when I loose my patience at times.  I'm going to admit that I haven't mastered this because the guilt I feel is just so much I convince myself that I'm the worse mother in the world.  I hope I'm not the only one who feels this way....