6 hour nap..?

so we're trying 2 shifts to get us some sleeps... i go to bed around 8 or 9 PM after feeding then will be up at 3 or 4 AM until dawn. Marco will bottle him at 11 PM then goes to bed and sleep through the night. Tonight will be day 2 ... we'll see how long this will last or if it works...
Good Night!

at 1 months old

This was taken at 1 month old (12/3/2010) and that was baby Ty visiting us. She's a month ahead of Luca and she's all filled out- just the cutiest thing. Thanks for visiting us Ana, Jason and Ty.

sleepy time

Luca is so cute! when he sleeps he smiles from time to time. Apprently it's just reflex, I wonder what is he dreaming about?!
I think Luca was about 2 weeks old here.

afternoon walk

Marco has been home for a month now and he'll be going back to work starting next week. We usually take a short walk around the neighborhood and Luca loves being in the carrier it keeps him nice and warm.

let's Tango!

faces of Luca at 1 month

Luca Tsao Alves

The name Luca came about it was because I was trying to give him a chinese name (still undecided yet) the meaning Light/Bright (明) was a character in my mom's chinese name. We really like the meaning of the word and I like the chinese character of the word with Day 日and Night/Moon 月 = Bright 明

so... with that in mind we looked for a name..and Luke, Lucian, Luca came up and here's what we found out about the meaning of Luca.

Origin: Italian

Meaning: The Italian name Luca means - a form of Lucius. The Latin name Lucius means - light; bringer of light Surrounded by light.

Impression: most people would imagine a person with the name Luca to be: Out-going and quick-witted chap

Hospital visit

here's my grandma visiting us at the hospital and she's 98 this year and here's Luca at 2 days old. Amazing!!!

here are some pictures from the hospital. He's tiny...

hello comfort food

my friend Lisa gave a list of her Favorite Breakfast restaurants in Oakland and thought to share it with you. This week i've been thinking we should try all of these yummy restaurants in Oakland since we never have the time or forget to try new restaurants, so Marco and I will explore some new places this week- can't wait!!! (a treat after each Dr. appointment :-) )

here's Lisa's list:

Aunt Mary's Cafe - Southern style. They have a rotating brunch menu with more unique dishes, but be sure to go after 10am to get them.

http://www.auntmaryscafe.com/

Montclair Egg Shop - specialty crepes and build-you-own along with more basic breakfast dishes. All the parking is metered street, so be prepared on Saturday.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/montclair-egg-shop-oakland

Diggery Inn - good basic breakfast food, CASH ONLY!

http://www.yelp.com/biz/diggery-inn-oakland

Blackberry Bistro - Never been there, but my best friend says it is great and the crowd on the weekends does too.

http://www.theblackberrybistro.com/

Rudy's Can't Fail Cafe - Big menu, lots of choices. I like the Popeye which is hashbrowns smothered in melted cheese and topped with egg.

http://www.rudyscantfailcafe.com/

And for your Southern baked goods...

Marita's Sweet Potato Pie Co. - You can get full dishes or single servings. Everything I've had there has been great!

http://www.buylocalcampaign.com/maritasSweetPotatoPie/

I think we're ready for him

We packed our hospital bags and Marco packed his snacks (beer too). We've test drive the stroller and the baby car seat is in the car. Marco finished up some last minute crib modifications over the weekend. As you can see the baby will just going to be right next to our bed (baby gets a corner). I went to the doctor today and it doesn't look like he's ready yet.... we're counting the days... 12 more days to go.

Chinese Post-Partum recipes

My friend Ana was asking me about the chinese post-partum recipes that my mom is getting ready for, but she had her baby a month ago so her diet will be a little bit different than as if you were to do the 30 days after birth diet.

my Taiwanese post-partum cook book has a section on what you should eat at what stage of your post-partum, the below are recipes for 30 days after birth.

here are some basic concept for the ingredients:
sesame oil = detox
sweet rice = regain your strength, help with digestions, avoid your internal organs to drop/misplaced
red bean = help with more frequent urination
black or red color fish = help you with your scarring
tropical fruits = help with digestions and constipation
barley = help with swelling

here are recipes:
sesame chicken - eat 2x a day
it was too hard to translate from my book, so i found a recipe online. i would skip the wine ingredient.
http://www.momsinmind.com.sg/chicken2.html

sesame fish soup - eat 1 bowl a day
1 whole fish
ginger with out skin 15g cut in slices
sesame oil 60cc
water 100cc

wash the fish, sesame oil in the pan in high heat then put the ginger in,then turn the heat down until the ginger floats up but not blacken. then turn the heat up high put the fish in with water until it's boiled, then turn the heat down-covered and steam for 5 min (or until it's cooked).

sweet rice - eat once a day
if you want to make it savory you can add cut up small steak meat or pork belly meat or chinese sausages and dried shrimp, mushroom, and carrots. soak the rice 300g (serves 4) for 8 hours then drain and throw all ingredients in the wok and stir fry it with 2 Tbs of sesame oil until you smell the aroma (will not be fully cooked) then transfer it to a rice cooker and cook as usual.

barley rice - eat once a day

sweet rice dessert congee - eat once a day
soak the rice 150g (serves 2) for 8 hours. then boil 2000cc of water with the rice and bring it to boil then turn it down to simmer covered to cook for 1 hour. i would stir here and there and feel free to add more water to your liking. once the rice is cooked put in brown sugar 200g and dried dragon eye 100g stir and cook for another 5 min. and serve.

red bean dessert soup - eat once a day
soak the beans 200g (1 serving or i use 1/2 cup for 4 serving) for 8 hours. cut ginger 30g with out skin in small slices. combine the beans and ginger with 1000g of water then bring to to boil for 20 min. then turn it down and simmer for 1 hour. i would stir here and there and feel free to add more water to your liking. once the beans are cooked add brown sugar 150g stir and serve.

Nursing
i think any of these dishes will be fine to help you with milk production.
http://www.momsinmind.com.sg/milkrecipes.html

i also come across these 2 websites that i think are pretty good and have some classic chinese post-partum dishes you can try.
http://www.101healthyeasyfoodrecipes.com/healthy-easy-traditional-chinese-confinement-food-recipes/healthy-easy-traditional-chinese-confinement-food-recipes.php
http://www.momsinmind.com.sg/confinementrecipes.html

oh and also my chinese dr. said to not drink any water but to drink red dates water. it will help your liver to detox for the first 30 days. you basically boil a day worth of water that you normally drink (72oz) and just throw in a handful of dried red dates (10-20 pieces to your liking) and the end result is this sweet drink. serve warm or keep it in a thermo so you'll always have it warm (we bought a thermo). whatever you don't finish keep it in the fridge and warm up the next day in a pot never reheat food or this drink in a microwave.

Muir Woods

I thought since I've never been to Muir Woods ... why not do it this weekend and cross it off my list. This walk at Muir woods were killing me and my belly were sooo tight (contraction) and that didn't make it comfortable. I guess the baby doesn't like all the redwood/fresh cool air smell. The park was beautiful I wish we were not on the tourist path but other beautiful trails they have at Muir Woods. I think we'll just have to go back next time with the baby.

I've realized this week that if I walk for more than 2 hours it will feel like you've been standing for 6 hours. My feet & legs were killlling me and I even have the gel pads in my shoes, but that didn't help. I think we walked total of 1.5 miles... good thing I didn't go into labor or else we will be in trouble heading to the hospital through HWY 1.

I'm 37 weeks here

baby alves at 37 weeks

I went to my final ultrasound this week and here's a real good snap shot of baby Alves face, he's laying sideways... It's amazing to think there's a little person in my belly and i'm reminded every time he moves/punches in my belly.

Baby is healthy, weight in at around 6.5 lbs (2.9 kg) he's right on target at 37.2 weeks and at 50% tile. He's been head down since i was at 33 weeks and that's a good sign, hopefully he will not turn at all.

Are those Chinese eyes?... i think he already got Portuguese eyes!

bust the move

I've been on maternity leave since 10/4 and the first day I'm off I went to my prenatal yoga class. I've been meaning to go for a long time, but the thought of going right after work from 6-730pm just does not sound like fun or relaxing... I'll be starving the whole time in class I thought.

I've been going to my yoga class 2x a week in the morning now and I love it!! I couldn't believe how many poses I can still do and I get to meet other mothers to be there too.... although I'm the latest (due date) in my class I still feel pretty good about going other than my feet being really swelled up and a little uncomfortable because my ankles just can not bend/fold a certain way anymore.

here are some funny pictures I was trying to show Marco some of my moves!

I'm 37 weeks here

Baby Shower

here are some pictures from the baby shower on 9/19/2010. Thanks Mom, Michael and Irene for putting this all together and working with us on this special event. All of our friends had a really good time and we did too.

I'm 34 weeks here.

summer harvest

this year i decided to plant some strawberries and Russian tomatoes (black tomato). i think we got total of 4 strawberries... and there are still 4 tomatoes on the stem right now. it was delicious!!! I'll probably do plant these again next year!

Maternity Photos

I wanted to take my maternity shots earlier, but due to my shingles at the time this was delayed i think for 3 weeks. By this time my tummy was getting pretty big and my feet were pretty swelled up especially that day was a warm day :-( let's just say i had better days...

We were very lucky that my co-worker Lisa was able to take some nice photos for us at Lake Merritt and you will see some photos with Lake Merritt Hotel in the background where we had our wedding reception there 2 years ago.

You can view more pictures click here.

I'm 32 weeks here.

Babymoon - San Diego

over Labor Day weekend we went to San Diego, our little babymoon trip before the baby arrives. We were hoping it to be sunny and HOT in the south, but it was overcast. We tried hanging out at the beach, but it was just too cold. I can image if it was sunny it would be a beautiful town. The hotel we stayed at was pretty nice and for some days we just stayed in and watched movies and took naps. One night we thought we would go out and check out the night life in gas lamp dist. ... boy- were we out for an adventure! There were kids (20's) being super loud and crazy on the streets and girls wearing short mini shirt where she has to pull down her skirt every 2 steps with her bended knees because of her super high heels- I say ladies don't wear those heels if you can't do the walk and boys... cut back on the cheap cologne. We then soon turned around and walked back to our hotel room after walking door after door of clubs. I'm not sure if it's because we're too old or if this town is just not 30's friendly. We had a good time relaxing and exploring SD but I don't think we'll miss coming back anytime soon.

To view more pictures click here.

Jon & Cynthia's Wedding

horrrayyyy for Jon and Cynthia to finally tied the knot after many-many years :-) we're so happy to be there and witness the day!!! It was a beautiful day in SF and Cynthia prepared an ice cream cart for their guests and it was perfect and so yummy- i still dream about the pistachio gelato!!!

They also had a photo booth right outside of the reception hall and we all had fun with it! Congratulations again!!!

I'm 29 weeks here.

Bob's Wedding

My college buddy Bob finally found a great lady to marry. We're so happy for both of them and the wedding was beautiful in SF with a nice view of downtown SF.

i bought this "non-maternity" dress almost a month ago and at that time i thought it looked cute with my belly and then today when i tried it on it was a little tight and the design of the print got larger because of my belly...oh dear...

I'm 27 weeks here.

shopping for the baby?

It was our first time browsing for car seat, crib, dresser, etc. stuff... it was so overwhelming. We went in not even knowing what we're looking for, so we were hoping the sale people there would help us out. We first stopped at Lullaby in San Bruno and they gave us a good overall education of what a baby car seat is and the 3 stages that the baby will go through with car seats ($$$). Then we went to IKEA, since we haven't been there in a while and I know that they have kids furniture there. We were hoping to get a dresser there, because everything we've seen so far were not that nice. Did you know that they have baby cribs there...? a little scary I thought, but actually later found out that their cribs and baby mattress were actually better than some of the American brands. Then we came across a dresser we really like and this will also be the baby's changing station ;-) off we go to isle 32 bin 48 and we took it home!!! Then on the way home we went to Babies R Us since it's right next door. They have "expected mothers" parking spots! of course I took advantage of it... after all I did shop for 6 hours.

I'm 25 weeks here.

Baby Dresser

it was a long day walking through IKEA and we haven't been there for at least a year. We decided to browse through the store to look for a TV entertainment center of some sort and check out waht they have for baby furniture.

We didn't plan it... but I love this white dresser for the baby and the counter will be use as his diaper changing station - we bought it and brought it home :-) I'm thinking i just might have to get some cute hardware pulls!

music time in the eve...

4th of July

It's 4th of July weekend and we went for a bike ride to Alameda and checked out the famous street parade. We went around the beach shore and then followed the parade for a little while until my butt got really tired (2 hours later).

I'm 23 weeks in these pictures, but yikes! some images I look huge....!

Long Weekend

Finally we have a 4 day weekend!!! We didn't do much over the weekend- we decided to head out for the day to Pescadero off of HWY 1, Davenport, Santa Cruz, then to my uncle's birthday party in the evening. It was our first nice sunny weekend in the bay area and the drive down HWY 1 in the morning was a bit foggy, but it cleared up by noon. We stopped at Pescadero for lunch and watched the world cup soccer game at Duarte Tavern and they got the best artichoke soup it's soooo good! Then we headed down towards Santa Cruz and want to catch some sun and walk on the beach. We stopped by this beach near Davenport, but I can't remember the name all I remember was the long staircase back up to the parking lot. The beach was very private and quiet and its got lots of seaweed! We then finally arrived at Santa Cruz, but by then it was already late in the afternoon... and started to get cold. We just drove through the town and made one stop for a shot. It was a nice relaxing day until the next long weekend...

**IT'S A BOY**!!!

I knew it!!!!

My mom, Marco, and I went to my last ultrasound on Friday and the baby look normal and healthy. We found out that he's a boy!!! I think all of us were not surprised but very excited that it's a boy.... somehow I just knew it's a boy :-) let the planning begin!!!

We still don't have a name... it's really hard to come up with one, but we'll keep looking out for a good name (pedro.. fabio? j/k- not!).

here's baby Alves at week 20... and yes that's a leg/thigh.

hear the Heartbeat?!

This was at week 18, our second time hearing our baby's heartbeat.... pretty cool! The baby's heartbeat is at 155 hpm.

cousin Allen's wedding

Fatima & Joseph

Friday night Fireworks at the Falls & family outtings at the casino...

Rehersal dinner

The Wedding!

Garden Party Mr. & Mrs. Chen

my cousin Allen is getting married in Niagara Falls in Canada. This will be our first major trip to the east coast. we both have been there a long time ago and i was there back in the 80's. we took 5 days off from work and flew in a red eye flight to Buffalo then drove across the border. Marco's aunt and uncle decided to join us for a day from NJ to Buffalo then we went to the Falls together for one night. It has been a while since the wedding, it was really nice to see them for a short period of time, then off they go to Chicago for vacation.
The wedding was beautiful the town was beautiful and the Canadians were too nice, us Cali's thinks it's a little weird. Our entire family all flew in except for e-ma. we were worried about me getting nauseous from flying, but i think by flying the red eye and wearing the wrist band really helped this non-stop long flight - i was totally fine. i actually felt the baby kick/tap for the first time the night before while we were packing for the trip.
here are some fun pictures we have taken.

I'm 19 weeks here.