Our babies

It is six days to Christmas. The tree is already bought and trimmed. The stockings - brand new and embroidered with the names of Zoe, Evan and Zachary - are hanging on the mantle, ready for "Santa" to fill. This Christmas feels extra special. It is the first where Zoe is really cognizant of Santa and what Christmas means (an occasion for presents, lights and candy canes!!!). She is really excited about it and we in turn are excited because she is. This is also the first Christmas we are spending in our home and our first Christmas with Evan. How wonderful all this is.

Eight Weeks Stats

Evan had his eight weeks Well Child checkup yesterday. He is now 23" long, 11 lb 4.1 oz (5.105 Kg), and has a head that is 15.55" (39.5 cm) in circumference. Pretty good!

Seven Weeks and Three Days

Dennis and I are today seven weeks and three days into our journey as parents of two. Zoe is today seven weeks and three days into her journey as a big sister (and hopefully friend) to Evan. Evan.. well... he is also on this same journey as a member of our family. So far, he seems to be content (mostly) with us; and when he is not, he let us know about it! In short, we are all adjusting to our new little one. Some days are better than others. Some days Zoe is not bothered by the diminished attention she is getting from us. Some days, Evan feeds and sleeps well. Some days, we sleep relatively well or I get an afternoon nap. Other days, we get no sleep, which makes everything else so much less intolerable.

I remember the time when I thought Zoe would never be sleep trained nor have a schedule. But she was eventually sleep trained and our lives attained a new rhythm. I expect the same will happen again with Evan. Time is passing much faster this time - where did the last seven weeks go? - but right now, I can't wait till both Dennis and I get a good full night of uninterrupted sleep.

Oh the things you can say!

Zoe uttered so many amazingly amusing things today I feel I need to record them before I forget them. Here they are, the two I can still remember:

Zoe sees me pumping milk.
Zoe: Mama, what are you doing?
Me: I am pumping my milk.
(Zoe comes closer to examine the entire contraction).
Zoe: Oh, why?
Me: I am pumping it so that Evan can drink it later.
Zoe: But how would you put it back later?

We are in the car driving and Zoe tries to tell me which way to go.
Zoe: Mama, you have to take the "Puma Path."
Me: Uh-huh.
Zoe: You got to take the left because you need more light. Why didn't you take the Left? Why didn't you trust me?
You must trust me the next time ok mama?

Poop

Is it ok to curse on one's own blog? For really, instead of saying Poop, I really want to scream out loud "shit!" I've been dealing with flying poop the last couple of days - really since Dennis went back to work. Dennis has been, heretofore, the main diaper changer. And I suppose I'm just not as adept or less lucky in the diaper changing department. I spent an hour cleaning up poop that sprayed across the carpet yesterday. Oh, did I mention it went all over the table first and down the little space between the drawers and table? It made the other poop accidents - the ones I managed to stop in time with my bare hands or diaper but nevertheless soil enough of Evan and clothes and surrounding area - seem so easy in comparison. But still they take their toil, especially when it happens twice in the middle of the night. A thorough cleaning always wakes Evan up fully, which means a prolonged wake and soothing time, which means lost sleep. That's one poop issue I have. The other comes from Zoe who refuses to use the potty. I've been so good about not pressurizing her - because I did before and it backfired. Well, this morning, I lost it and pressured her again. When Zoe came and told me to leave her alone - code word for she is about to go poo poo in her diaper - I suggested gently she use the potty instead. When she went from zero to one hundred on the cry dial, I lost it and yelled at her. I told her that she has to learn at some point because she is a big girl now and she replied "No, I am a baby still!" I had to leave the room because I was so mad and I really shouldn't say anything when I'm mad. So now, as I type this, she may well have a budge in her diaper that needs changing. I'm so vexed. I know that no child goes to elementary school with diapers, but I don't know when Zoe is going to learn. I fear that my occasionally pressure is two steps forward and one step back. I should go out to the garden to curse. Because that's all I want to do now. Then perhaps I can say "C'est la vie" after. Life is, after all, very good.

Update: Sometimes Zoe says such disarming things I don't know if I should cry or laugh. Following the outburst with Zoe over the potty - as recounted above - I left Zoe alone in her room to "think about it," while I retreated to blogging about it. All was quiet for about twenty minutes. Then I hear Zoe's feet peter patter out. She walked up to me and addressed me. When I turned to face her, she said, "Mama, I forgive you." I was speechless! Then, I said, "And I forgive you!" 

Evan Kim

It is truly four Kims now! Evan, our little boy weighing 7 lbs 1.9 oz, was born on Monday Sept 20, 2010.

Euphoria doesn't quite capture how we felt when he first emerged from me. It was part relief, part disbelief, but mostly joy. Overwhelming joy. This joy was compounded by the fact that about twenty minutes before Evan's birth, I was convinced that a C-section was imminent. (More on the birth story later). But here he is. Our little baby boy.

Computer Literacy

Zoe loves her early birthday present from Grandma and Grandpa.

Here is a summary of the things she apparently looks up on the internet:
-- A recipe for Chinese beef, with chocolate and raisins
-- Where to find Costco, so she can buy nectarines for Baby Tad (her toy frog)
-- A picture of Uncle Paul
-- Photos of starfish, Uncle Paul, "and stuff"
-- A photo of Lancie, hiking. We're not exactly sure who "Lancie" is; Zoe alternately claims she's a bear or a mouse.
-- Pictures of marmots
-- A picture of a big sculpture from China
-- Pictures from New York City: the museum (dinosaurs) and the Statue of Liberty

Getting ready for the baby

Of course there is no way one will ever be totally ready for a new baby, but we are, at least in the preparation department, getting close. This week, the beautiful dresser Haraboji and Halmoni bought for bun 2 arrived. Once that was in - the crib arrived more than a month ago - I got busy with decorating the walls and making it all nursery like. I also got around to ordering other necessities like a shower tub (the old one of Zoe's got moldy) and a new diaper changing pad. Today, we picked up a bag of newborn baby diapers and placed it next to the burp clothes (retrieved from Zoe's room), receiving blankets, and bibs. We have an appointment with the police station to help us install the baby car seat next Wednesday. Once the infant car seat is in, we would basically be ready to receive the baby.


Here, the "we" I mean refers to Dennis and I. Though we talked to Zoe about it, read books about babies and new siblings to Zoe, we won't know how ready Zoe is for Bun 2 till he arrives home. I'm not even sure how well (or I should say badly) Zoe will take to my not being home for a few days. Just a couple of days ago, Dennis and I went out to a movie in the evening. We thought we would let Uncle Ben put her to bed, just so she gets used to the idea of being put to bed by someone other than us. She couldn't sleep till we came home. She waited. Ben said she looked like she was in tears. Later, she told us that "she missed us."

Despite the worry that Zoe will have a hard time, we are excited about Bun 2. We still don't have any names (English nor Korean/Chinese). Dennis and I can't seem to find one we both love in unison. Zoe has been trying to help with many of her own suggestions. Names like "Fit Kim!" "Peanut Butter Kim!" She laughs and laughs at her own joke too!

Storyteller

This is a long video, but if you can get through it, you'll hear Zoe's version of "The Big Bad Wolf and The Three Little Pigs." In her version, the Pigs are camping.

New Piano

The piano arrived about a week ago, a very generous and thoughtful gift from her Po Po and Gong Gong. Zoe is still too young for lessons - hands are too small and we doubt she has the patience and aptitude for formal training yet - but she certainly shows enthusiasm for playing and singing to it!

Aphids, Ants and Ladybugs

We have a severe infestation of ants and aphids on our corn. I noticed the ants way earlier, but thinking they are not too much of a problem, I didn't do anything about them until about two weeks ago, when I realized that they are all over the corn. I sprayed the corn with diluted vinegar because that supposedly chases the ants away. Going out to check on the corn a few days ago, I realized that the corns are turning black with aphids. It turns out that - after some basic research on the internet - ants "farm" the aphids. The ants keep aphids the same way humans keep cows. The aphids are terribly proficient at sucking sweetness out of saps, and the ants milk the sap out of the aphids.

I thought I would resolve the problem by introducing more ladybugs to the area. Every ladybug can eat hundreds of aphids a day. It is not clear to me if this will work at all now. I noticed, after dumping a box of ladybugs onto the corn, that the ants were actively attacking and chasing away the ladybugs. The ladybugs are much bigger than the ants and yet they seem easily deterred by the ants.

In short, I think I will probably have to resort to a different method: more neem oil and soap.

We probably won't be eating home grown corn this season.

Sequoia National Park

We went out to the Mineral Kings area of Sequoia National Park over the July 4th weekend. I think it is one of our best camping trips ever. The area was beautiful - full of alpine scenery, lush green meadows and vistas of jagged peaks. We camped right next to the Kaweah River and fell asleep to the sound of rushing waters. And we got plenty of exercise, though we didn't quite make it to the alpine lake we wanted to get to. We are, alas, no longer in great physical shape. I have bun 2 in the belly and Zoe plus pack is just about 30 lbs on Dennis' back. Still, we got to romp through the dusky wild. We think Zoe enjoyed the trip very much too.

Zoe sayings

All the things Zoe said today:

During toothbrushing time, she told Dennis: "I think you need to help me Papa.  I am too exhausted to do it myself." 

To me: "My butt is hurting. I need to put it down gently" 

The Joy of Zoe

Both Dennis and I feel so lucky that we have somehow managed to produce a daughter like Zoe. Her jabber, her spontaneous songs, her bright smile, her affectionate ways all bring joy to us. Zoe has been especially affectionate to me. She would say, "I love you, Mama Bird!" or "You are my sweet, purple butterfly." I am taking care to savor it. I imagine that this love, if we are lucky, will stay and grow. But she would probably express it less exuberantly over time as she seeks independence and separation.

Anyhow, I was inspired to revisit some of William Blake's poetry this evening and I thought this is how I feel about Zoe and and bun 2. 

Nurse's Song - Songs of Innocence

When voices of children are heard on the green,
    And laughing is heard on the hill,
My heart is at rest within my breast,
    And everything else is still.
'Then come home, my children, the sun is gone down,
    And the dews of night arise;
Come, come, leave off play, and let us away,
    Till the morning appears in the skies.'

'No, no, let us play, for it is yet day,
    And we cannot go to sleep;
Besides, in the sky the little birds fly,
    And the hills are all covered with sheep.'
'Well, well, go and play till the light fades away,
    And then go home to bed.'
The little ones leaped, and shouted, and laughed,
    And all the hills echoed.

Blight in the Garden

Sadly, it looks like blight or some kind of fungus infection has arrived in our garden. All but one of our zucchini plants have white spots all over the leaves. One is covered in a down of white. The tomatoes on that bed - two of them - were so healthy before. They have been looking wilted and listless the last two days. Watering didn't help. I am beginning to think they have blight.

Blight is bad news. They travel. The spores are carried by wind. I'll make an attempt at curbing it tomorrow with a milk treatment (apparently, a diluted 1 to 10 parts solution is a great fungal treatment) and also cutting back of some of the plants. I hope it helps. I'm quite bumped by it. I have been watching the zucchinis closely for two weeks now. But the eggplants and tomatoes is a real bummer. They were just starting to fruit!

I guess this is a rite of passage for any home gardener (or I should say wannabe homesteader): Dealing with diseases and bugs.

Zoe studying my book on plant diseases and insects. She loves the pictures of bugs.

Our eggplant when it still looked relatively healthy. In retrospect, the leaf in the foreground already looks ill.

Birthing Plan

I have been thinking more about the delivery of bun 2. I had, when I first got pregnant, assumed that I'd have to do a Cesarean birth again. I remember asking John, who is an OB/GYN about this point soon after we had Zoe by Cesarean birth. He had said that about 80% of patients are directed to have a second C-section. However, on the day Dennis and I told our pregnancy to John, he mentioned that the policy/guidelines regarding VBAC (Vaginal birth after Cesarean) is under debate again. It appears that there is some rethinking about VBAC and the risk assessment regarding the primary reason for shunning it - primarily uterine rupture at last cut - as well as the costs and risks of repeat Cesarean birth. He spoke strongly of studies indicating the high risks of repeat C-sections, and the benefits of vaginal birth for both the mother and the child.

I want what is good for my child and myself, which means I should attempt a VBAC. Luckily for us, Kaiser is fairly supportive of VBAC. And the doctor I have been seeing - Dr. Beecher - is not opposed to it. (Apparently, some insurance does not allow it and some hospitals' malpractice insurance forbids it too. Interesting, considering how C-section is so much more expensive than vaginal birth. Most women who have had a previous Cesarean birth do not end up with vaginal birth the second time round. Here, most is at about the 90%, according to the National Institute of Health. That's a huge number. But it hasn't always been this way. Back in 1996, nearly 3 in 10 women (or 28.3%) who had a previous Cesarean birth managed to give birth through the vagina. What changed between the years?)

Anyhow, we discussed it and the current plan is for us to try a VBAC if I go into natural birth by due date, and to schedule for a Cesarean birth should I go over due date. Induction is no longer a possibility as the chemicals used for inducing babies apparently lead to high incidences of ruptures, which is vastly dangerous for both mother and child.

Since I did more research on this topic and having talked to my OB, I regret that I allowed so much intervention in Zoe's birth. I've learned that Pitucin - the drug used to induce labor - causes stronger contractions that actually stresses out the baby. The stronger contractions leads to more discomfort and more intense pain, which then increases the likelihood of a woman in labor to ask for an epidural. The epidural relaxes the muscles and numbs the lower pelvic area in such a way that slows down labor, which then leads to another dose of Pitucin, thus doubling the stress level to mother and child. At the same time, as the baby makes its way down the birth canal, it has higher propensity to get stuck in the sunny side up position now that the mother is relaxed by epidural and not able to shift about (being stuck on the bed) or push. The result? More intervention culminating in Cesarean birth. Well, that sounds like my birthing experience with Zoe!

There is still more reading, thinking and researching to do (see http://consensus.nih.gov/2010/vbac.htm).

But his much I know right now, I'll threaten to sue any nurse or doctor who tries to put Pitucin into my system or tries to break my water to speed up the process. (Yet another surprising thing the doctor said today. They would not induce, but the medical team at the hospital may want to use Pitucin if labor becomes stalled. But I thought they just said it increases my risk of rupture?) Also, I want to move around. I learned this much about the labor process, lying horizontal with the legs wide apart is the worst possible position for pushing. This means I can't have epidural. I'm going to try!

Bun 2

I am currently 25 weeks pregnant with Bun Two. Every day his kicks grow stronger and it is quite a wonderful feeling to feel him move about. Perhaps I remember incorrectly, but I believe he is - at this stage - less opinionated than Zoe. If ever I pressed too close to the table, fetus Zoe would kick really hard. Bun Two seems to be more easy going. From this, I like to imagine that he is in temperament a lot like Dennis. Gentle and kind in all ways. Very patient. That would be good. Zoe seems to be more like me in the patience department, which is to say, not very.

Only 15 weeks to go! I'm still debating whether to attempt VBAC. I was very convinced that that is what I want. But a little part of me is worried. Different doctors say different things about the cost and benefits and risk. My mom - and I'm sure Dennis' mom would say the same thing - pray and it will be just alright. We'll see!

Daikon Greens

I thinned out some of the daikon I started out from seed a couple of weeks ago. I probably would have thrown the greens into compost bin if mom didn't tell me that they are in fact edible. Come to think of it, why shouldn't they be edible? I stir fried it with garlic and it was quite tasty. I expected it to be peppery, but it tasted slightly like pea shoots plus spinach. I also stir fried some freshly harvested green beans. Dennis and I thought the vegetables really tasty and sweet today.

On edibility, I learned that the nasturtiums are actually edible! We have a lot of them in our garden. I planted them around our zucchinis. They supposedly deter the bugs that love zucchinis (I say it works pretty well, but not completely). And how they grew! I have had to cut them back so that they don't completely choke out the Zucchinis. I think we might have them for dinner tomorrow night. Dennis and I were talking about how we eat a wider variety of vegetables these days, no longer confined to just salad greens, carrots, tomatoes, zucchinis, broccoli, cauliflower, and the occasional cucumber, frozen green beans, peas and packaged beets. I guess that's good!

Preschoolers of the World Unite

My Fair Lady

Zoe got to watch snippets of "My Fair Lady" when Haraboji and Harmoni were here visiting. It made quite an impression on our little one. Zoe has been talking about the white dress Audrey Hepburn worn to the ball. Just now, she was "throwing a party." And this is what she said of it:

"Look, I'm all dressed up for my party. Look Mama, I'm dressed up like a lady. And this is my dress just like the one the lady wore in My Fair Lady."

Zoe, who was in her blue PJs, was using her imagination. Imagination and pretend are such useful devices. With it, we are one minute at the beach and another at a grand ballroom.

Garden Growth

It appears that the few strawberry transplants I put into the ground have recovered from the neglect and abuse I put them through. I wasn't sure if they were going to make it since they looked so at the brink of death when I put them in. I'm glad to see them flowering and even fruiting!

I got around to thinning out the Choggia beets I started as seeds some weeks ago. I took out 14 ounce of it and I guess we'll be eating stir-fried beet greens some time this week. It is pretty amazing. The little plot we cultivated is already providing us with so much greens that we really have no need to buy any vegetables from the market anymore.

On a different note, we finally - after more than two months of delay - planted the plum tree yesterday. We had it set on the west side of our property and today I scattered carrot, shiso and lettuce seeds around the tree. I put the carrot seeds further away from the root ball so that they don't disturb the roots of the plum tree.

Strangers and Candy

We had an encounter with an elderly gentleman today that served as a reminder on the importance of teaching Zoe about strangers. Zoe and I were walking into Nijiya to get lunch when we passed this elderly man sitting outside on the table. He smiled at Zoe with such delight we could only smile back. This old man was no longer there when we came back out with our own lunch. But he showed up before long and made eye contact, and then proceeded to sit down a short distance away from us. I got the feeling that he was going to offer Zoe something to drink (he was opening one for himself) and decided not to. All that time, he was watching Zoe the way a grandfather watches a grandchild, with a beaming smile. Then, he got up and we waved goodbye. I saw him push his shopping cart away into the parking lot. But he returned with the cart and went into the store again. This time he came out and pushed the cart straight to us and proceeded to offer Zoe a piece of candy. What can I say? I didn't want to outright rebuff him - he is probably just lonely and wistful for a grandchild. But I also wasn't comfortable with Zoe taking candies from stranger. I nodded my head and Zoe took it. The old man said he would have one himself. And Zoe wanted her candy right then. So I opened it for her. He smiled and then seemed to go away only to return to try to offer her another one. I shook my head and used the excuse of "limiting her sugar." He replied "oh, at this age, it is ok!" He offered the second time and Zoe took it. Sigh! Quite naturally, I had her say thank you and could not wait till he was out of ear shot to explain to her that she must never, never take candies from strangers when mama and papa are not around. And also that she must never follow strangers just because they offer candies. She must always stick close to mama and papa! What a conundrum! I don't want to freak her out. I would like for her to feel free to wave hi to people she meets on the street, but I also want her to have a healthy skepticism of strangers and never to succumb to offers of candy. I'm going to have to talk to her again about the appropriate behavior towards strangers. Anyhow, I was so anxious to get out of there - the old man was hovering about us the whole hour we were there - that I skipped shopping at Nijiya after lunch.

Challenges Ahead

We are so grateful and happy that our little vegetable pad is doing well - thus far at least. There were instances of suspected fungal issues (which went away after I watered less straight after transplanting and avoided overhead watering), some aphids issue (which we resolved by releasing a whole lot of ladybugs into the garden), and caterpillar issues (which we determined were the bad sort and is currently under control by the use of some neem oil as well as physical removal of the voracious eaters). I am still watching the lemon and blueberry shrubs carefully, which all seem to be malnourished or not quite 100% given their yellowing or disfiguring leaves. For them, I've added iron and sulphur as well as other nutrients. I hope it's not Nematodes or other more serious disease I am not aware of. I've been reading so much trying to figure out what's wrong (and what to do), yet one can never be sure based simply on a few pictures. Just as when Dennis was ill (he is all well again, thank goodness. A case of food poisoning or stomach flu is what we think it is), all his symptoms corresponded to all kinds of illnesses. Same with the plant leaves coloring that I tried to match to pictures I find on the internet. For now, as a matter of expediency (for lack of time), I can only sit back, observe, and hope that I've provided the best possible care already and hope the plants have sufficient reserves to fight back on their own.

Looking ahead, there is so much to do still. Since we didn't grow up with gardening and do not have natural green thumbs (they were heretofore rather black), we embarked on this in a rather academic fashion. That is, we haul loads of gardening books home from the library, I signed up for classes, we research online, take notes.... Part of the challenge is that not only do we want to grow food, we want to do it ecologically, sustainably, and do it beautifully. And did I mention economically yet? In short, not only do we (or I) have to come up with a grand design in terms of uses and look/style, we (or I) have to think about and incorporate all kinds of ecological and biological variables that would make or break the plan.

And there is so much to think about! How to design such that we can have a sustainable garden that invites friendly wildlife, have an area to entertain and have fun with the children, as well as relax and unwind? What would go where?

We say patience. Sit back and observe first the land, how the sun falls, the wind blows, the life that the soil supports (weeds)... however, sometimes, the weeds and the general messiness makes my heart impatient. Still, I'll have to be patient. Bun 2 will be arriving in three months and some and I expect I won't have much time in the immediate months after to do too much planning.

More harvests and illnesses

Dennis has been going through a rough patch health wise. It began with the awful episode of gout, which started to plague him during our trip to New York (seriously marred our trip). His toes started to hurt, but the pain migrated to his knees (not sure if it was gout too or it was because he was putting his weight all funny on his knees), and then caused all over distress in general because he couldn't get comfortable. It wasn't until a few days ago that he regain full use of his body and was fit enough to walk normally and even to do gardening work. In short, it took just about three full weeks for him to recover. Unfortunately, he woke up all tired today. We didn't think much of it and enjoyed a morning with our friends. But as soon as they left, Dennis practically collapsed into bed. He was so tired he was shaking. He had a long nap, but woke up with a massive headache and nausea. Thinking it was simply a case of having too much sun and not enough hydration, he took an advil and drank plenty of water. He recovered enough to take Zoe to pick up groceries. I decided it was not a simple case of exhaustion (or heat exhaustion) when, after dinner, Dennis started to get the shivers and chills again. He came to bed to rest, and woke up only to throw up, hydrate and brush his teeth. Very worrisome!

He is sleeping next to me now, under two layers of blanket. I'm hoping the Chinese method of sweating it out - i.e. elevate body temperature to kill the virus - would help. But he seems not at all sweaty under all that layers. I don't think he is even feeling hot at all. Sigh!

All the healthy eating of fresh produce from our garden hasn't helped. Alas!

Sheet Mulching!!

We have been meaning to sheet mulch many areas of our garden. We finally started on a section of our front yard this past Friday. Sheet mulching, by mimicking what happens on a forest floor, is a method of soil improvement without tilling and for killing existing weeds. Basically, to sheet mulch, one lays down layers of manure, compostable weed barrier, natural mulching material such as leaves or seed free straw, more compost and a final layer of weed barrier such as grass clippings or fine wood chips. One is supposed to water well in between the layers.

The method sounds simple. Most books or people who have done it says the challenging part is the gathering of all the material needed before hand. I would agree with that. But now that we have done it, I'd say they should have warned that it also takes quite a few hours to lay the material down in layers. For us, it was really a full days' effort for an area about 8' x 45' in size. I started on Friday morning with cutting down the weeds and putting down a layer of manure and things like blood meal. Dennis and I continued with putting down the card board (the weed barrier layer) in the late afternoon. On Saturday, it was basically another full 6 hours of labor on Dennis' part to get it all done.

The completed sheet mulch

But what satisfaction it is when it was finally done! We have been admiring it since. I really hope this helps improve our soil condition - it is hard, hard clay we have.


We still have six bales of straw leftover, and our friend Sean and Christina promised to bring us more of the moving boxes they want to get rid of. So, with any luck, we'll probably get around to more areas in two weeks' time.

First Harvests

Our little dream is coming true! We are starting to eat from our garden! I harvested a few zucchinis for lunch on Friday (cooked it with tomatoes, garlic, chickpeas and tossed with penne). The zucchinis were still small, around three inches long. But I read that they are good and tender at this stage. Also, I noticed some were hanging low to the ground and I didn't want to rot before we have a chance to get them. Today, I cut a bunch of spinach leaves from the heads we have been growing to go into the miso udon soup we were having for lunch. It made for a nice, light and wholesome lunch.

Looking like a school girl already

A woman's love of shoes must be innate

Dennis and I decided that a woman's love of shoes must be innate. Today, Zoe saw for the first time the pair of sandals PoPo and Gong Gong bought for her. First she tried to put the pair of sandals on herself. Without success, she let Dennis help her. When it was on, she looked down at her feet and declared them "lovely." Then, she did a little pose with them. Dennis kept asking me if I taught her this, unbelieving that our little girl has such a love for shoes. It has nothing to do with me! As much as I love shoes, I haven't indulged in shoes in a long while and so she has never seen me salivate after shoes. It must be instinct.

Talk about instinct, we are also very pleased with Zoe's generous instinct. Today, a Giggle Store catalog arrived in the mail and I showed it to Zoe. She studied it closely and not long after pointed to a playmat said "Mama, you should buy this for baby brother! He will like it." She also admired greatly a height chart (because it has a few star fish on it) and said that "I'll get this for baby brother." It made us smile. Bun 2 is so lucky. His big sister already loves him so!

Garden Progress

"Everyone who owns a piece of land should husband that land as wisely, knowledgeably, and intensively as possible."

I forget where I got this quote from. But that's what we are trying to do these days with the land we have. Though we have come a long way, there is still a long journey ahead. It is May now and I am happy to report that we have one garden bed going (and looking good). Another one is planted with seeds (carrots, lettuce, choggia beets) and some store bought young plants (spinach, beets, onion and garlic). One also set out seeds in another herb bed, but that's been two weeks now and has failed to take it seems. We also planted one Dwarf Meyer Lemon tree and five blueberries plants a couple of weeks ago, and I just sowed plenty of New Zealand white clover as cover crop in the space between them. Hopefully these grow In short, I've met put of my goal of getting at least one vegetable bed going this year. And I'm trying to - or setting them out as best as I can - using permaculture principles.



What the garden (and house) used to look like



We discovered a friendly snake while clearing the garden area right outside the kitchen


Dennis working in the garden with Zoe watching


The area cleared of vegetation and partially amended


Zucchini - When it was still small



They got big!


Our little garden helper

New Template & New Title

I haven't been posting to the blog the last couple of months with great regularity. It all stemmed from frustration with blogger. For some reason, I was not able to post pictures. The upload would be successful, and the preview would show the picture but the actual published post would be sans picture. It was all very vexing. I was about to abandon Blogger altogether last night (after yet another failed attempt to understand why I could not longer post pictures) when Dennis finally intervened. After some investigation, we figured out that it is not my mac that is causing the problem (Dennis used my computer to post pictures to the blog successfully). After further investigation, we realized that the interface I got and the interface he got for posting to the blog was different. Finally, clever Dennis found out that blogger had switched me to "Updated Editor," which clearly wasn't working out for me. He switched me back to "Old Editor," and voila, everything works the way it did again. I am happy as a clam again, but until Dennis resolved it, I was a raving mad bull about to rip some asses and rib cages! Have I become a Luddite? I really don't like it when technology company - albeit ones providing free service to me - change things without asking and change things for the worse no less.

Anyhow, now that the picture upload is resolved, and I feel renewed vigor towards keeping our blog updated, I thought it is a good idea to change the address and blog title to reflect the expected arrival of baby boy Kim. Dennis agrees and so we changed the address from Dennisjackie to Fourkims and to shorten the title from "Adventures and Misadventures of Dennis, Jackie, & Zoe" to simply "Growing Children, Growing Plants." It is more accurate too since we are out hiking & backpacking less (or hardly) these days and our main preoccupation (after work and Zoe) is gardening.

I also changed the template to reflect the changes that are happening and will be happening. I'll probably muck around a little more before settling on a look that both Dennis and I like.

It's a....

Boy! We went in for our scheduled Amniocentesis yesterday morning. Right before it, we - baby and I - received a thorough ultrasound check up. And there, after a few minutes of looking at the vital organs, backbone, bone structure and so on and so forth, the technician asked us if we were interested in baby's gender. We said "yes!" She maneuvered the - whatever that thing is called - to the baby's genital area and we saw quite clearly that bun 2 is going to be a boy! Even though Dennis and I didn't really have a preference, we were both overjoyed to hear that bun 2 is going to be a boy (subject to the results confirming this of course). A girl and a boy we would have. What happy news. Zoe is going to have a little brother, and Dennis and I are going to be parents to a boy too.

Baby Inside

Zoe knows of the baby growing inside me almost right from the beginning. We thought she deserve to know, and should be prepped for it, since her life would be vastly impacted after the arrival of another little one in the family. So far, aside from a short period where she was at turns extra clingy and extra hard on me, and insisting that she is a baby (and no longer the "big girl" she was so proud of being), she is taking it very well. She says things like "I'll sit right here next to Mama so that I don't squeeze baby, alright?" or "I'll sit down carefully on Mama's belly, alright?" She obviously took to heart what Dennis said about her being careful with mama and not plopping herself down to hard on my lap. The other day, she stuffed one of her animals under her dress and proceeded to tell me how she too she a baby in her belly!

Of course, no matter what, there must be a period of insecurity when a new baby comes home. For the first couple of weeks, as I recuperate and adjust to taking care of a newborn again, I'd have less time for Zoe. No longer will she have (almost) undivided attention from me. She'd have to share!

We are preparing her for it - at least trying to tell her about the things she can do. We tell her that she can teach the new baby things. In fact, when I told her as much the other day, she thought - with her thumb in her mouth - for a minute, and then declared that she would teach the baby "how to suck the thumb!" (Of course, She removed her thumb from her mouth just long enough to make that declaration).

Sixteen weeks inside!

Expanding Family

Soon, if all things go well, we'd have to change the title of this blog to the "The Adventures & Misadventures of Dennis, Jackie, Zoe and Bun 2." Yep, we are expecting. :)

I hope we are not plain old crazy to want to do this again. Well, too late now!

Potty Milestone

Funny thing to record here, but record here I will so that this milestone will not be forgotten: Zoe managed to go successfully on the potty three times today. One of the time, it was on the portable potty (we had to wait for nearly half an hour while she sat on the portable potty in the trunk). Zoe kept saying "not yet" I thought it was yet another failed attempt, but when I lifted her up, the yellow pee was clearly there. What joy! I think she was so interested in the new portable potty, and encouraged by her success, she became immensely interested in using the potty. Exciting!!

Two Months into the New Year

How fast time flies! This is the first post I'm writing since the new calendar year! Lots of updates. Part of the reason why Dennis and I haven't written anything - though there was certainly much to write about - is because we have been extremely busy. We moved into our new home in early January. There was a flurry of furious activity leading up to that and after that (remodeling and all that it entails, packing boxes, moving, unpacking boxes). Then, not a few days after we moved in, we began to get a stream of family and friends who came to town for Grace's wedding. Both sets of parents were here, plus guests who put up at our new home.... it was festive and busy. When every one did leave, we reset the house and I took a break I very much needed. Instead of cleaning or reading or writing in the afternoon when Zoe napped, I too would sleep. The whole remodeling process - I didn't realize fully - exhausted me. So for about two weeks, all I was capable of, when Zoe was not up, was sleep. In fact, there were days when I had her play next to me while - lazy bones I - slept. When I finally became more rested, I busied myself in the garden... so that's how I didn't post a single thing here the past seven, eight weeks.

Anyhow, here we are, eight weeks into the New Year. Of the goals I set aside for us at the beginning of the year, I still need to sit down to figure how the baseline and how we are doing so far. I think we should be doing better than last year. It depends on the comparison basis of course - comparing the same month year to year? Or just by average? - but I should think that the trend is towards less. Our first energy bill was much lower than the one in Escondido ($40 vs $200 and more). But the comparison is a bit unfair since we had the pool pump we had to pay for whether we like it or not (since keeping it or not is not for us to decide), and the refrigerator, being 16 years old, must be quite an energy guzzler. But that aside, we ran less heat in Jan than in Escondido and we stopped running the heat at all a couple of weeks ago - we figured out that we don't really need it (yay to double pane windows!). Our second bill was shockingly high however. $140 and I think it might be the electric dryer's fault (We had a wonderful gas dryer in our old home). Since then, we bought another drying rack and have been air drying our clothes. (Or mostly, since it has been wet of late. I still hang it out to let it dry as much as possible and then, if it does not dry by evening, stick it into the dryer). We probably saved some on the energy used to wash our clothes because we only ran them cold (partly because of a plumbing issue we just resolved). I intend to keep running them cold only.

Water used - minus the extra water used when guests stayed with us - has been good so far. About $40 was our bill last month (compared to the two hundred some at our old place. So high there because of the gigantic lawn, and in spite of the limitations on irrigation). We continued our skipping showers every other day. That said, I am going to investigate if I take longer showers as a result. I feel that I end up taking longer showers because I double shampoo and cannot resist standing under the water just a bit longer. This past week, I took more showers because I was out in the yard turning compost and digging and all that. Somehow, I just have to have my shower after.

Gas usage must be lower than the last half year of 2009. I'm no longer driving Zoe to daycare, and then another 30 minutes to our new house to oversee the remodeling, and then to wherever I needed to go to research products, and then to home, and then to Zoe's daycare, etc. etc. etc.

Still, I should look at the gas receipts and all to know for sure how we are doing.

We are not doing so well on the consumerism front however. I had Dennis buy new working shirts (on sale, but still quite a wallop). Then there was that Bose Music System for Dennis's birthday (present for him, but really for all of us). Not to mention the books and gardening supply. In short, in two short months, we already exceeded the $1000 annual limit. Not good! Not that I ever thought we could limit ourselves to only $1000. It would be cool though. Surely when we attain that, we would be able to save more!

I'm still researching preschools for Zoe. I think what is going to happen is that I'll keep Zoe with me the next few months and we enroll Zoe in preschool in the fall. The trick is finding one that we would love for Zoe. Having Zoe with me all the time the past few weeks, I concluded that if I ever want to do the home school thing, I have to be supremely organized and would have to work out a syllabus for Zoe. I can't handle it otherwise. Zoe - and I - need structure.