First Fever & Road Trip

A couple days ago (9/12) Spencer got his 4-month shots (even though he is almost 5 months old). He was moving around the table but he got through the shots okay. He's very strong. The nurse goes quickly and it was like last time, four quick shots, two in each leg plus the oral vaccination.

This time, however, Spencer developed a fever that reached 102.9 F the next day (9/13) but with some Baby Tylenol, he was fine that night (thank goodness). When Linh called the doctor, it was bring him in if it reaches 104!!! That's pretty high and luckily the fever passed quickly (though it never feels quickly as a parent).

I had a meeting for IEEE in San Diego (where some of my friends finally got to meet Spencer) so we spent Saturday in San Diego for our anniversary (6 years!). So I took the Amtrak from Fullerton to San Diego, my first time on Amtrak. Lesson learned: there is only a small parking structure in Fullerton where you can park overnight (up to 3 days). Because of this, I missed my train and my business class seat (Amtrak automatically refunds your money! Don't you wish airlines did that?). Eventually, a spot miraculously opened up and I parked there. The next train did not have any business class seats left so I was dreading the ride. It was sort of full when the train got there (15 min late) and picked a seat on the aisle. However, after the first stop people got off so I snagged an exit row seat! This had tons of leg room, I was by myself (no one sat next to me and it wasn't because I didn't shower that morning), and it had electrical plugs (for my laptop). Actually, the car was soon pretty empty. So I make my way to the "dining" car where the refreshments are and when I got to the Business Class car, it was 100% full and not as much legroom (though you do get refreshments for free). So not only did I get the better and more comfortable seat, I paid $12 less ($20 one-way, $32 for business class).

Linh drove with Spencer Friday night after he went to sleep and got to the hotel. So Spencer slept in his first hotel bed (not including the hospital he was born at, which was like a well-run hotel). Linh was like Mr. & Mrs. Howell, bringing like six bags for a one-night stay. So we'll have to get better at packing, I'm sure. Aunty Van and Sam came over and took us to this amazing dessert place called Extraordinary Desserts. They really excel in presentation. You have to remember what you want in the display window when you sit down because the menu only has specials/seasonal listings. I had to go back and find out what I wanted (don't ask me now, just some chocolate chocolate truffle something (Truffe Framboise?)). It was good but I think others made better choices than I did. So this was one day Spencer got to stay up way past his bedtime.

Spencer-cise!

Spencer finally made it to his first Gymboree class. He met his teacher and gave her a big smile right away. She was so impressed with Spencer that she kept complementing him. He sure knows how to impress a woman, I don't know where he learned that from. Spencer was also showing off his other skills. He was next to a 3-month old and a 6-month old baby but he prefers to compete with the 6 month old baby. When the teacher instructed all the mommies (about 10) to put their babies on the tummy, she passed out this miniature bobby pillow to the 3 month old babies to help them support the upper part of their body. Spencer didn't want the pillow, he preferred to raise himself up with his own two hands. He kept himself up pretty long and was staring at the other babies. The teacher and the other parents were so impressed that they kept staring at him. This mom didn't believe that he was only 3 3/4 months old. When it was time to sing the different nursery rhymes, Spencer realized that his mommy didn't know all the words so he helped her out. He was talking and smiling so much that his teacher commented to all the parents that Spencer really likes this class. So mommy got sucked in to signing up for 14 classes. Thanks a lot Spencer. For the next 14 Satursdays, Spencer will be sleeping very well after his Gymboree class.

Spencer Potter & Specks

First crazy thing we did with Spencer? Take him to Borders for the Harry Potter midnight madness book party (7/20). Since this was last minute, we had to get standby tickets and they assured us there will be enough books. Doug came down once he decided how much fun we'd have standing in line :-) I have only read the first couple chapters of the first book and have seen just the first four movies. I like HP a lot and one day will read the books which sit in the computer room. Spencer was enjoying the sights but eventually sleepiness crept in. We stood outside for a while and thus, the infamous Beckham jersey (I mostly kid my most expensive piece of clothing) shot. After about 1 am, we decided I'd take Spencer home since the it may be a while. About 3 am, Linh came back with book and free poster in hand (I managed to snag a free "wand" earlier). All in all, for the last HP book ever (until the $$$ come calling again), it was a cool experience.

At 9:41 AM, Spencer Eats...

We just put Spencer to bed and I'm amazed how he just falls asleep (well, some of the time). We (er, Linh) have worked really hard in putting Spencer on a schedule (for eating, playing, bath, napping, and bedtime) the past couple months. Before, we would need to make sure Spencer was sleeping before we put him in the bassinet. But now, when he's drowsy, and it's a naptime/bedtime, you can just put him down (with or without a pacifier) and he will soothe himself to sleep (most of the time). Linh was reading a couple of books about putting your baby on a schedule and I was skeptical, especially for an infant. I mean, how does the infant know that this is his time to sleep? But sure enough, we are seeing the fruits of our labor.

Daddy: I don't... I don't believe it.
Mommy: That is why you fail.

The Where's America's Cup

One cool thing about Blogger is that you can change the date of the post. So I could have changed the date of this post to yesterday and say I think Alinghi (Swiss boat) is going to squeak by Team New Zealand (TNZ) by less than two seconds today and win the America's Cup. Sort of makes this quirky, but I'll take it. I'll try to post some stuff from past events and pre-date them. So I apologize for not posting but Spencer and work have taken up a lot of time and energy.

But my first non-Spencer post is about one of the most exciting and tense sporting events I've seen on TV. America's Cup. Race 7. I taped from Race 4 on, because usually these are routs (the last three were 5-0 wins) and I thought I would just watch the last leg (4) and be done with it. Wrong. You have to watch the whole race (about 2 hrs) to get the whole feel for it and what other sport has excitement and gameplay 5 minutes before the race starts? I would rather watch an America's Cup match in full than an NBA Final game (with no local team involved) in full. The NBA game, you can just tune in the last five minutes of the game and not miss anything. In the AC, you'd miss TNZ nearly forcing Alinghi way out of position before the race started, TNZ blowing two leads, Alingi luffing TNZ into a stall, a near head-to-head collision between the two boats, and a rare AC penalty (on TNZ), and therefore not realize that Alinghi nearly choked and why TNZ stopped and turned before the end. Because of the penalty (TNZ needed to do a penalty turn before it finished), Alinghi, leading 4-2 in the Best-of-9, was on its way to successfully defending the AC with huge lead and TNZ still needing to take a penalty turn. All Alinghi had to do was coast to victory (literally).

Then Alinghi had a mast break (not a big deal cause they could coast). But then the wind crazily shifted 180 degrees, stalling a flat-footed Alinghi team who still had their spinnaker up while TNZ had already compensated for the wind change, TNZ roared past Alinghi toward the finish line. Problem? Penalty turn. It's a 270 degree turn (not full circle) but TNZ turned too soon and by the time it exited the turn and headed for the finish line a few yards up, Alinghi recovered and was soaring forward and beat TNZ by just over one second. Closest AC race ever. And how does a land-locked country win the AC... twice?

D-Day

D-Day. Yesterday (7/2), Spencer got his first vaccination shots since he was born. Four of them. This was a day we were both dreading as no one wants to see their baby in pain. We were nervous as the nurse brought in a tray of shots, ointments, and bandages. Linh held Spencer's head while I held his arms, which kind of started the crying (wouldn't you?). The first shot went in and out and no real change in Spencer's crying. But after the 2nd shot, Spencer cried a little louder and there were still two shots to go. Luckily, our nurse did it really quickly and applied band aids after each shot, two in each thigh. The whole process probably took less than two minutes but it felt like an eternity.

So I was holding Spencer who was starting to calm down. I was rocking him back-and-forth as Linh was making his next appointment in September. And he was falling asleep. I kept telling him how strong he was today and he slowly fell asleep. I was very proud of myself. Then in the car, Linh told me most babies fall asleep after the shots. Blech. However, Spencer woke up in the car ride home and was active for most of the evening (Linh said she thought babies are prone to sleep longer), moving his legs as if it were yesterday. Of course, the band aids reminded us to be careful, but Spencer was moving his legs trying to crawl up Daddy's shoulders. In fact, he was up every hour til around 11 am this morning, waking up (and us) constantly. His temperature reached 100.0 but with Baby Tylenol, it was between 99 and 100. The doctor told us that after shots, temps above 104 are worrisome. 104! I'd freak out at 102. All in all, Spencer is doing fine and I removed his band aids this evening after giving him a wash without a sound. His wounds are a little swollen but they aren't red and don't hurt when I touch it. Next D-Day: September 12th.

Double the Size, Double the Fun

Today (7/2), our trip to the doctor confirmed that Spencer has now doubled his birth weight (6 lbs, 0.5 oz) and is now 12 pounds and 6 ounces, which is the 75th percentile. He is also 23 1/2 inches, gaining 4 1/4 inches since birth and at the 50th percentile. And again, despite our questions (dry scalp -> baby oil, back rash -> different detergent, thick legs/bowl leg? -> Nope), the doctor said Spencer is very healthy and she'll see him two months. Of course, Linh has taken him in twice in-between visits, once for a rash/baby pimples and once to confirm that he is indeed teething. So our doctor was asking if Spencer is socially smiling and/or talking and as if on cue, Spencer started cooing and smiling in Linh's arms. Then the doctor put Spencer on the table as she needed to take a look at his back "rash" and put turned him on his stomach. So Spencer frantically starts moving his body and legs as if he's trying to crawl (his arms still aren't coordinated yet so he doesn't get very far), impressing our doctor who said he was very active at 11 weeks. Spencer was either trying to show off... or trying to escape.

Snoopy & Spencer

Well, it was bound to happen. Spencer and his first picture with a cartoon character. For Linh & Carina's birthday (and a belated Father's Day for Grandpa Phung) we decided to try something different and went for the Champagne (yes!) Brunch at Mrs. Knott's Chicken Dinner Restaurant. It had a lot of variety (especially dessert) and was decently priced (for a Brunch). And a bonus as up comes Snoopy walking through the restaurant. We got two pics (one in the car seat and one with Grandma Phung) of a very playful Snoopy (I wonder if he was still playful at the end of the day). So we are more comfortable taking Spencer out now as he is stimulated by the new environments and forgets to cry and he gets out of the house. So this past weekend, we took him to Ruby's Diner, Claim Jumpers, and now Mrs. Knott's. Maybe because his shots are coming up...