happy new year!

happy new year everyone! so I thought about posting last night, but figured one day late was no big deal. What a year 2007 has been - new house, new baby ... new life! This time last year I was already pregnant, so life was already pretty different. But - wow - I had no clue how much having a baby changes EVERYTHING! I guess part of me is still getting adjusted to this new life of ours, I still feel young and energetic. :) You just won't see me driving a minivan any time soon!

Our first Christmas as a new little family - Tyler is really the best present ever! I remembered the other day that last year, on Christmas morning, I heard Tyler's heartbeat for the first time on our little home-doppler thing. Before that, I had only seen his little heartbeat blinking at my 8 week ultrasound. It was QUITE a moment. I remember being so worried all the time in the beginning of my pregnancy - super stressed about anything that could possibly go wrong - thank goodness we have such a healthy and happy baby. :)
On Christmas Day, Will's family came over for hot pot lunch. It was by far the BEST hot pot experience I have ever had. Why you ask? I had an entire half pot to me this time - no mushroom or tofu was snuck in at all - yay! I had some really good Japanese fish cakes - so sweet and delicious. We just got rid of the Christmas tree on Saturday, and BOY was that a lot of work. The tree had gotten so dry and brittle that every time I pulled off an ornament, a whole bunch would snap off. It took forever to take everything off - and I ended up with lots of scratches too. I think we'll get a fake one next year - right now is probably the best time to buy one huh!

Will's parents with Tyler - I thought this was a really cute picture of Tyler and his grandparents.
With Kareen and Andy visiting, we had Yogurt Land many many times. YUM. I need no real excuse to go there anyway.
Last week we decided to have lunch at Taiko, this Japanese restaurant next to Yogurt Land. I don't know what it is about this place, but people LOVE it. Seriously. Love it to an extent that customers will line up hours before they open and hang out in lawn chairs. I don't get it, I've eaten there a couple times and was never really blown away. Anyway, Kareen and I had stopped by Yogurt Land last Thursday and saw the long line - got us wanting sushi so we convinced the boys to try it out for lunch on Friday. We got there at 11am (they open at 1130) and had to get in line too! (of course, we had yogurtland while we waited, heehee).

Tyler was pretty good and slept through most of the meal, but woke up near the end and wanted to play. Man, I can't wait until Tyler is big enough to sit in a high chair at a restaurant! Here's Tyler checking out the restaurant.After lunch, we stopped by the little Japanese cute stuff store next door. I can't believe I used to buy that stuff! Anyway, they had these photo machines there, like the type I remember taking in Taiwan a few years back. We couldn't resist and took some of the 4 of us and Tyler - we weren't sure what we were doing though, and those timer countdowns sure are stressful. Also, it cost $10! YIKES! Here's Tyler and a Pikachu from the store - it's not as cute as the ones we have at home though.Friday night was prime rib night! Yum! We stopped by Ralphs to buy groceries for dinner. I love prime rib and horseradish. Yum.... Andy really enjoyed pushing Tyler around in his stroller. It was so cute - the faster Andy went, the quicker Tyler would kick his little feet. So cute!The boys hard at work making dinner. I think Kareen and I did some shopping. :)
Oooh yummy, the prime rib is done! Oops, it ended earlier than expected and we had to eat before everyone got there! It was only Will's 2nd time making it, so we'll have to make sure we figure things out better next time. We also made creamed corn, mashed potatoes and green beans. And guess what - we used our kate spade serving plates! WOW! Maybe like the second time we've used them since we got them as wedding gifts 3 years ago. :) I like this picture, it looks like Tyler is checking out the prime rib. YUM.
Here are Kareen and Andy with Tyler. Awww, its so sad to see them go! It really is great having them stay with us during the holidays - I've gotten accustomed to calling our spare bedroom 'Kareen's room', haha.
Will and I had breakfast at IHOP on Sunday. We originally intended to use a coupon we had (free entree with a purchase of another one) that expired the next day, but turns out you can only use it on weekdays! Darn. We still had yummy pancakes though - and Tyler was GREAT during the entire meal - awake but not wanting to come out! Definitely a first.
Afterwards we headed to South Coast for a little trip, where I ended up buying a purse from Nordstrom's. It was on sale! Although, now that I have it home, I'm seeing some imperfections with it and may return it. Thank goodness Nordstroms has a good return policy. It sure is a beautiful purse though - perfect to carry all the tons of baby stuff I seem to always have on me! Tyler loved the mall - he just likes to be outside and watch stuff going on. I even nursed him in the 'mother's room' in the Nordstrom bathroom!
Another yogurt land stop afterwards. YES - I know, we go way too much - why not though! :) I like this picture, heehee, because Tyler only has eyes for the yogurt! Yum! We're raising a young Yogurt-Land lover.
Ooh that afternoon I had a lovely nap with Tyler on the couch and Will snapped a photo. I love these naps.I don't even know how Tyler got into this position - how dangerous does this look?! He had actually started out facing me and nursing, and then we both fell asleep. Good thing I had the blanket tucked under him to hold him there.
Will also took a picture of Mojo. Hi Mojo!! We really need to play with him more - he's really not a bad kitty, he's just been in a bad mood from being ignored. :(
On Sunday we made the drive up to Monterey Park to see Will's family again. We got a late start though, since Tyler took a super long nap that morning. I don't mind though, I never wake Tyler up when he's sleeping - NEVER! Here's Tyler on our drive up.
Will's parents took us (with his aunts and uncles) to a Chinese restaurant - a spicy one. Sigh. They all really like spicy food, which is great, except I don't eat spicy at all! Oh well, they do make an effort to order me a dish or two that isn't spicy though. Here's Tyler getting his picture taken by Will's mom's camera phone. They love taking pictures of him - I can't blame them! :)
New Years Eve! We headed out to the Irvine Spectrum for dinner with Jeff/Joan/Jake! It was tiring - Tyler was QUITE a handful and didn't want to chill in his carseat. That's one of the good things of hanging out with other couples that have kids - they've all been through it and understand all the commotion! :)

New Year Eve picture of our little family! (Unfortunately, Tyler didn't make it to midnight.)
We even brought the bumbo hoping he'd hang out in there while we ate. Didn't work so well - I think the booths were just too cramped. Next time we'll bring this nifty new portable high chair we just got.
Happy New Year!
So today was a pretty relaxing day. Tyler did well on his sleep schedule, and we made sure to run errands within his waking window. We bought some new stuff for Tyler, and had the hardest time deciding on a high chair. We finally decided on trying out a Seat Saver - a high chair that goes on top of a normal chair. It was cheaper than a normal high chair, but nicer than the really simple portable ones. Hopefully Tyler will like it. Here's Tyler checking out some high chairs - I'm really looking forward to having him join us at the dinner table!
Tonight we decided to give him some baby cereal mixed with breastmilk. He seemed to really love it! I think. Either that or he really liked to chew on the plastic spoon. Not sure. Regardless, it was quite messy. I'm excited to start on making baby foods for Tyler - although I'm sure it will be a lot of work - but why not!? I'm so busy as it is anyway, what's one more thing?

And, even though its one day late, here's Tyler' 25 week photo! he'll be 6 months on the 9th! whoohoo!
Some random shots:
He gets his good looks from his daddy. :)
Goofing around before bathtime. He's always so cheerful and laughing. We found out the other day that he seems to be ticklish in the small of his back - really ticklish-burst-out-laughing-ticklish. Also, today in the car he was cracking up when I was saying 'ma-ma' and 'ba-ba' to him. I wasn't sure if it was the words itself or my expression, so I tried out 'poo-poo'. Same reaction. Maybe he likes the repetitive-ness? I tried out 'lex-us' next and got the same reaction. Guess he was just in a really laugh-y mood. :)
Happy holidays everyone!