Jordanology

Motoring along

2012-02-13T10:30:00.000-08:00

It's pretty impressive to see how Jory's motor skills change over time. Just a few weeks ago he was totally enraged by "tummy time," probably because he has a giant head and a skinny neck. He'd strain and scream and just barely manage to bob his head around.

Now look at him! What an improvement!

He's also starting to push himself up on his arms to get his chest completely off the floor. He'll probably be wiggling around in no time ... and the cats' lives will have become even worse!

In transit

2012-02-11T13:16:00.000-08:00

We had a lot of travel recently, including Jory's first four - four! - plane flights. Fortunately he didn't have any trouble at all with his ears ... most of his screeches were due to boredom.

He even had a flight alone with mommy, and while traveling alone with a baby is very tough, we were lucky to have a baby with hair that everyone wanted to touch!

The above picture is my favorite of this series, before things started to deteriorate:

Fortunately, Jory managed to sleep for four hours on the empty seat next to mommy!

Shark!

2012-02-06T10:16:00.000-08:00

We're trying to ~~brainwash~~ get Jory excited about scuba diving and the ocean as soon as possible. You've already seen how much he enjoys his sea creature flash cards.

We've moved on to peppering his wardrobe with marine creatures (thanks Devaki!) and he owns two rash guards, two wetsuits, two swim diapers, and a life vest. The wetsuits and life vest are too big for him just yet, but he'll grow into them!

Jory is doing much better with tummy time!

2012-02-04T11:34:00.001-08:00

Jory and his babysitter

2012-02-03T08:14:00.001-08:00

Jory's first ocean adventure

2012-01-21T23:39:00.000-08:00

Jory braved the Pacific for the first time today.

He seemed to be at least mildly amused by the experience. He got the hang of kicking, but we're not sure he's ready yet for scuba diving...

When's dessert?

2012-01-21T21:19:00.001-08:00

Where's that kona coffee ice cream?!

Go Dragons!

2012-01-18T23:51:00.001-08:00

This post is for Debbie and Pinkesh...

Even more resource misappropriation

2012-01-16T19:31:00.000-08:00

It's really amazing how everything made for babies - everything! - really appeals to cats too.

Yes, that's a Baby Bjorn in the next picture! Ours is only rated to 11 lbs, so our 14-lb cat technically shouldn't use it. Tell that to him, though:

And finally, another video of a cat (the other cat!) savaging the baby's activity mat. I can't really blame him - the toys are small, plushy, they squeak, and they swing. Made for cats.

Jordan Huang Talks to Animals

2012-01-15T15:36:00.000-08:00

Sea animals, to be precise.

Say hello to your mother for me, all right?

A thousand words

2012-01-13T14:13:00.000-08:00

I frequently wonder what my son is thinking.

And he seems to wonder what I'm thinking too!

Now that he's gotten a bit chatty, I also wonder what on earth he's trying to tell me. Occasionally he furrows his brow, clasps his hands, looks right into my eyes, and babbles very intently. I don't know why he's so worked up about goo, ah-goo, or hooooo, but it's surely important.

Not everyone enjoys naptime

2012-01-10T17:44:00.000-08:00

You can see India in the upper left of this picture - she's also not happy.

Jory's first hike

2012-01-08T14:58:00.000-08:00

Well, his first ex-utero hike ... he did some high-altitude hiking last June in Colorado.

On our last full day in Cambria, it took us 4.5 hours to get out the apartment because someone was having a volcanic melt-down. We finally dragged ourselves north to San Simeon, had a very yummy lunch, and then decided to hike San Simeon Point even though we were completely exhausted. I mean, it's vacation, right?

During lunch we made the discovery that we could just flip Jory around in the Baby Bjorn without any restrapping, so Jory had the full view of our hike along the beach, up the cliff, and through the forest. When he was awake, that is.

It got a little chilly toward the end, so we did the natural thing:

Mr Demille ...

2012-01-07T17:42:00.000-08:00

Jory's not ready for his close-up. Yes, even our little camera-hog has his not-so-flattering pictures.

Yes, that's a milk soul patch and a double chin:

It's not the hair that bothers me, it's the weird skin color:

Dad, I said no cuddles on camera!:

I SAID NO CUDDLES!!:

When Jory figures out how to delete images, we're going to lose a lot of double-chin pictures:

La Cuesta Encantada

2012-01-07T17:28:00.000-08:00

The other major event of our trip down to Cambria was our visit to Hearst Castle. Jory snoozed through the vast majority of our visit (thankfully), but KC and I enjoyed it quite a bit.

The house itself is ... well, really something. Obviously there's no accounting for taste. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed our tour, but I won't be redecorating any time soon.

The gardens were immensely enjoyable, though, especially since our rainy season hasn't showed up yet. The weather will probably end up being a disaster for the farmers, but we felt very lucky for the sun during our little holiday.

The most memorable part of our day at Hearst Castle? Jory started getting very fussy as we were waiting in line for the bus back down the mountain at the end of the day. So I breast-fed him in the back of a jam-packed bus careening back down the hill toward the ocean. Booya!

Jordan looks Asian

2012-01-02T16:30:00.001-08:00

Elephant seals, oh my!

2012-01-02T10:05:00.000-08:00

There are basically two things to do down in the Cambria area (besides shop at the "art" stores in town): Hearst Castle and the elephant seal rookery at Piedras Blancas. Let's take the second part first!

The rookery is a short drive up Rte 1 from San Simeon; we headed up there after lunch on our first full day in the area (come to think of it, we never managed to accomplish anything before lunch!). There's a long boardwalk next to the highway that overlooks a stretch of sand that hosts male, female, and juvenile elephant seals - including tiny pups.

So why aren't there lovely family photos of us with the elephant seals? It was pretty windy, and Jory woke up just long enough to register his annoyance before falling back asleep under his protective yellow towel. KC and I enjoyed checking out the seals, but it smelled kind of awful and we had a quickly approaching date with Hearst Castle, so we didn't struggle for those photo ops. Ah, well!

Relaxing in Cambria

2012-01-01T21:13:00.000-08:00

Last week we took a short holiday down the California coast to Cambria and San Simeon. We wanted to relax, but we also wanted to do a dry run on traveling with a baby.It'll come as no surprise that, in addition to the main events of the vacation, there was lots of unglamorous family time.

For example, lots of naps were necessary:

We made breakfast in the condo, including Jory-sized pancakes (don't worry, he only got his pancakes second-hand):

Frankenbaby came along for the holiday:

And of course we had the usual activities of diapering:

Incessant feeding of Mr. Piggy:

And trying to figure out how the entire day had gone by and we'd accomplished very little!

Happy New Year!

2011-12-31T17:58:00.000-08:00

2011 sure has been an interesting year ....

Here's wishing you all a super 2012!

David vs Goliath

2011-12-31T17:54:00.000-08:00

As usual, don't ask me to explain what's going on here.

Yes, KC's doing karate at his son.

Yes, Jory's doing it back.

And yes, my son lives in a pink room. It wasn't supposed to be pink, but it is what it is.

Like I said, don't ask me to explain.

Mommies and babies

2011-12-30T18:40:00.000-08:00

PS - the elephant seal is from the Piedras Blancas rookery down in San Simeon ... more vacation photos soon!

Christmas eve lunch

2011-12-27T20:49:00.001-08:00

Chinese food, of course!

Jory at Saravanaa Bhavan for the first time

2011-12-27T12:40:00.001-08:00

The cheese dosa is bigger than Jory!

Jory's Christmas wardrobe

2011-12-26T12:34:00.000-08:00

Most days, Jory's ... activities ... necessitate multiple costume changes. Christmas was no exception.

He started the day in his Halloween outfit. Don't ask me why.

Then something horrible happened (let's just say the first diaper change of the morning is usually rather shocking) that required not only a new outfit but a bath. Which then led to a Christmas half-time nap:

And then we spent the rest of the day admiring his Christmas hairdo, which was remarkable even for Jory:

Notice Zanzibar lurking in the back of that last photo, in the bouncer!

Christmas cleverness

2011-12-26T12:24:00.000-08:00

Jory's first Christmas presents were all due to the cleverness of his Daddy ... Mommy figured that the "gift of life" was sufficient present-giving for the year (you might as well read that as "Mommy was too tired to think of what a 3-month-old needs").

Daddy took a note from Uncle Mats' (lab) book and crafted a set of rattles for Jory. Quite clever, actually, although I confess I'm not crazy about the acid content of the battery-containing rattle. The other rattles contain pipette tips, thin-walled thermocycler tubes, and paper clips. The cats have attempted to shanghai the rattles for themselves, another blow in the ongoing battle of felines-vs-baby (and no doubt will inspire another "misappropriation of resources" post).

Daddy's other stroke of cleverness was co-opting Jory's wetsuit when the Christmas stocking went missing:

And yes, that's the wetsuit that I bought for Jory literally just before heading into what I thought was a routine OB appointment. The wetsuit sat in the car for a week while we were hospitalized. Funny how things turn out, isn't it?

More pre-Christmas photos

2011-12-25T11:32:00.000-08:00

Just a few more pictures of the pre-Christmas madness - Enjoy!

Christmas Eve eve

2011-12-23T21:53:00.000-08:00

Thanks to our dear friends Lee and Melinda, we finally have a properly decorated Christmas tree!

They sent us literally hundreds of ornaments from their collection. KC and I had a great time putting them on tonight (Jory slept through it).

Now we just have to wait and see what the cats do when they discover the tree ....

Frankenbaby

2011-12-22T13:08:00.000-08:00

We have no idea why he sleeps like this. Apparently it's not normal. Or usual. Whatever. It's especially creepy when his nails are long ....

Off-duty superhero

2011-12-22T13:06:00.000-08:00

When not saving Gotham from nefarious evil-doers, Batman enjoys long walks in the park, filling his diaper, and kickin' it old school with mommy.

More resource misappropriation

2011-12-22T11:00:00.000-08:00

The video misses the best part of this incident - when India takes a running leap onto the top arches over the mat ... again, note absence of baby.

Blurry but cute

2011-12-19T19:08:00.000-08:00

It's really hard to get pictures of a wiggling baby ...

Jory Likes Balloons: The Movie

2011-12-18T18:50:00.000-08:00

This is what Jory did when I showed him a Hello Kitty balloon this morning:

Don't ask me why he has one sock on. Or what he's chewing.

Where babies come from

2011-12-18T17:52:00.001-08:00

Jory likes balloons

2011-12-18T10:09:00.001-08:00

At least he likes Hello Kitty balloons...

Little astronaut

2011-12-13T13:09:00.001-08:00

The life of Jory - so exhausting!

Update: five minutes after this photo was taken, Jory perpetrated a volcanic spit-up down my hoodie and all over my chest. Somehow he managed to avoid soiling his own clothes, which is good because I've already had to change his clothes two other times since 1 am! I had to change my clothes after one of those too ... and this is why I do laundry. Every. Day.

I guess that makes him a gas-tronaut ....

Can anybody find me

2011-12-12T19:46:00.001-08:00

Somebody to love??

Misappropriation of resources

2011-12-10T11:14:00.001-08:00

Nursing pillow:

Car seat:

Crib (note absence of baby):

I've spared you the pictures of me with a cat on my knees, a cat on my lap, and a baby at my breast. You're welcome.

Chrismas at Allied Arts Guild

2011-12-06T11:56:00.001-08:00

We visited the Christmas Market at the Allied Arts Guild with Jory's maternal grandparents:

And we attempted to get some good Christmas shots, but the California sun was so bright!

But we kept trying!

Fortunately we got a few nice pictures:

Jory sees the sea

2011-12-06T11:43:00.000-08:00

Jory's first trip to the Pacific Ocean happened last week with his paternal grandparents!

Of course, his parents were there too ... how trite!

And one week later, we went back to Half Moon Bay with Jory's maternal grandparents:

Yes, Jory's that blue bundle!

Jordan's First Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T19:08:00.001-08:00

Sure, it's all second-hand (or second-breast, take your pick), but today was Jory's first Thanksgiving. He's enjoying the aftermath of especially large portions of smoked salmon (yum!):

And let's not forget the dessert buffet:

Of course, if his father were nursing him, it'd be all corn dogs for the next few days:

Happy Thanksgiving!

Meeting his grandparents!

2011-11-22T15:19:00.001-08:00

Channel Jory

2011-11-19T14:06:00.000-08:00

At home just after a feeding:

Well, after a feeding or not - that signal he made with his mouth means "FEED ME! NOW!"

Multilinguistics

2011-11-17T09:34:00.001-08:00

Starring in Jurassic Park IV: Revenge of the Spit-up...

2011-11-16T19:11:00.001-08:00

Courtesy of Ilina Bhaya Grossman!

Go Stanford!

2011-11-12T11:30:00.001-08:00

Beat the ducks!

Like father ...

2011-11-08T15:07:00.000-08:00

Finally! Photographic evidence of the genetic link between KC and Jordan!

and ...

Of course, he still looks nothing like me!

Jory at his first In and Out!

2011-11-05T12:25:00.001-07:00

Quality you can taste! We will see how he does with a double double and animal fries well done in his breast milk...

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T09:43:00.001-07:00

This is the first appearance of Jordan's alter ego: Assistant Professor Chaos!

Motherhood

2011-10-29T20:19:00.000-07:00

Apparently this is all I've got. ;)

Jordan's cultural heritage

2011-10-29T17:15:00.001-07:00

Jordan got his chance to taste of dim sum today, but wasn't quite ready for the number 19 (char siu bao).

Then we bought Jory this tank top/smock/apron/uniform at the GW. Anyone who can tell me what "wheter makind, or a country, or an indiual, wirhout onthuataem, ... bye any one of th..." means, wins a prize. Wooya.

Just so we're clear, I only spent 2 bucks on this. And he's going to wear it.

Jordan's first Halloween party!

2011-10-29T16:51:00.000-07:00

I tried to dress him up as an actual mummy, but only got as far as wrapping the top of his head with toilet paper before Jordan started to get fussy. Plus Tiffany was pretty sure that TPing him would set off some alarms at Social Services.

Three generations of the Huang family

2011-10-27T14:05:00.000-07:00

That's great-uncle KY on the right.

I also got this photo in the email of another baby that was even chubbier than Jory is currently. Apparently this kid grew up to be quite dashing...

Jordan gets a new car to drive mommy around in

2011-10-24T00:01:00.000-07:00

JAx is getting so big that we had to get an SUV just to fit him in, as you can see. We haggled with an Algerian fellow and ended up with a Mazda CX-7. He was very helpful, except when he was setting up my iPhone to sync over Bluetooth, I thought he asked me to say someone's name to call but in fact he was asking me to name my iPhone for the car's memory. So... now when I get in, the car says "Hello, Tiffany Vora." Ah well.

Jory's first trip to the tacqueria el grullense!

2011-10-22T12:26:00.001-07:00

How do I feel?

2011-10-20T16:24:00.000-07:00

Tell me how do I feel?

Worried? Tired? Hungry?

Concerned that my mommy disagrees with my propaganda?

And seriously, what's with these bluish eyes??

Jordan weighs in

2011-10-19T21:23:00.000-07:00

A few bits of news: first, Jordan received his first piece of mail and is now officially "on the grid".

Second, he's been at home on a heavy regimen of eating and sleeping, and the result has been what the nurse somewhat vaguely termed a "3 to 5-day growth spurt" that led to him gaining 5oz over the last 2 days. He's now at 5lb 6oz, putting him at 21 oz of weight gain over the last 12 days, and he's increased in length by 2.5 inches.

I've been keeping track of all his weighings, and I felt like we had enough data to do some estimation. As you can see, there is a reasonable linear fit that can be extrapolated to his weights at the end of year 1 (18 kg = 39 lbs), year 2 (34 kg = 75 lbs), and a health 165 kg (363 lbs) by the time he turns 10.

Fig. 1: Biophysical model of Jory's weight as a function of time.

Our three children!

2011-10-18T21:42:00.000-07:00

He's no good to me dead

2011-10-16T15:41:00.001-07:00

This onesie was honoring Jason Wingreen, the voice of Boba Fett.

The Jury's Still Out on Scientists

2011-10-16T15:24:00.000-07:00

Hello world! My name is Jordan Alexander Huang, and I arrived on September 30, 2011 at 5:37am (four and a half weeks early!) As you can see, I'm very excited to be here!

My parents will be using this blog to keep you up-to-date with my current status, at least until I've gotten old enough to type. If you're interested in seeing more photos of me, they'll be using this forum to share them. Please sign up to follow my blog! (click this link for instructions) Disclaimer: they are experiencing a few technical difficulties with my upbringing...

Looking forward to meeting all of you in person!