Chez Mui Richard

Check out Chloe’s new outfit courtesy of Grandma. She looks pretty girl-ish I must say… and her hair… it just blows everywhere…

And in the blink of an eye, it’s been two weeks and the end of May is upon us. We’ve been quite busy as you can imagine with a toddler and a newborn under the same roof. Just imagine, it takes three or four adults to manage the household and take care of the kids. Thank gosh for Grandma and Grandpa helping out!

Here are some updated pictures of Sebastien. His sleeping patterns are much better – we’ve finally moved downstairs to the bedrooms as I don’t think he’ll wake Chloe up in the middle of the night anymore. We were waking up 3 times between midnight and 7am and now we’re down to 2 times which is nice. He is eating well and gaining good weight – you can see his face has already changed quite a bit since he was born almost three weeks ago. And he’s still a gassy pooping machine – definitely going through a TON more wipes and diapers than we did with Chloe as a newborn. Must be a guy thing…

Great picture from Sister Emilie of Baby Sebastien half asleep with a smile!

And yes, that is my son in pink, yellow and green flowers – they’re called hand-me-downs. All he does is eat, sleep and poop in it anyway, he can yell at me years from now when he sees these pictures and ask me why he looks like a girl and I’ll answer “1) Because your mother is cheap and 2) Because your sister was born first”.

My favorite picture so far of Sebastien.

Chloe continues to amuse us everyday. The weather has been a bit cooler lately than last week and so to keep use of the pool, Daddy was very clever and filled it with some ping pong balls so Chloe could play outside.

And here is Chloe on top of the kitchen island entertaining herself with the fruit bowl (although I believe that is Grandpa entertaining HIMSELF as he puts the two bananas on Chloe’s head). It’s amazing to think that just fifteen months ago, little baby Chloe was sitting in a Kitchen-Aid bowl, barely able to support her neck, and now she’s this little person with a HUGE personality.

When the weather is nice, we definitely take the opportunity to head outdoors. It seems that Chloe will wear a baseball cap when it’s super sunny outside. She’s a smart cookie this one, I tell you…

Here are some video clips of Chloe at the park, enjoy!

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I’m sure at some point I’ll start to blend post updates of the two kiddies but this one deserves it’s own spotlight for sure. Chloe is fifteen months now and the “terrible two’s” have definitely started. Home girl has an attitude and a feisty temper (gee, I wonder where she got THAT from). She is loud, makes herself heard and readily pouts when she doesn’t get her way. Give me a few more weeks for my stitches to heal and we’ll see who is the boss… at this point, all Chloe gets is the death stare from Mom which stops her in her tracks but only momentarily.

Here are a few Chloe updates:

1) Chloe LOVES cellphones/tablets (what baby doesn’t). But now she’s figured out “the button” that makes the screen turn on and she can “swipe” to unlock the devices now. As you can see below, she is completely engrossed and I don’t think she even realized that she wasn’t holding onto the sofa anymore!

2) I don’t know WHERE she learned this from, but it was SO HILARIOUS that I had to run for my phone and take this quick video. Chloe had my mother and I laughing so hard that it hurt all the way through my stitches!

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3) With the few days of hot weather that we did see this week, Daddy set up the kiddie pool that Grandma bought for Chloe. It has a built in sprinkler and a slide. As my dear friend Xiu-Gen perfectly put “that is one tricked out pool”. I couldn’t agree more and I think Chloe feels the same. Thank you Sab for the CUTE swimsuit!

4) I know we’ve posted tons of videos of Chloe’s silly dancing but this recent one reminded me a bit of the naked dancing baby from Ally McBeal (for those of you that remember that show). Enjoy!

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5) And last but CERTAINLY NOT least. Happy fifteen months to my baby girl Chloe who celebrated by taking her first steps on her own. I can’t explain to you the joy and thrill of watching her walk. I always secretly dreaded that I would miss a milestone event like this because of all the hours I work and so I’m incredibly thankful to have been here to see this momentous occasion. Go Chloe!

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It’s been a crazy first week. Crazy good. Where do I begin? Of course we had family stop by to welcome our newest bundle of joy.

Grandma is staying with us to give us a helping hand. Actually it’s probably way more than a helping hand. She is watching Chloe (who is a terror lately but I’ll come back to that in another post) and our personal chef. Lunch and dinner are always on the table ready to go (it’s SO AMAZING) and all these old Chinese recipes for things to eat/drink after giving birth. I’ve decided that there is no way I am going to remember any of these recipes and so I’m writing them all down the best that I can in the hopes that should Chloe have children of her own, I’ll be able to do all the amazing things that my mom has done for me through both pregnancies. THANK YOU MOM. I LOVE YOU.

Sebastien seems to be adjusting to life at home. He sleeps like a ROCK throughout the day and seems to sleep less steadily through the night. I can’t quite figure out why – I don’t think there is a why when it comes to babies. I am testing a theory out – I think he sleeps better with noise and commotion and perhaps it’s too quite at night and so I “borrowed” Chloe’s Graco music player and that seems to have helped him sleep the last two nights. I guess only time will tell.

Here are two side by side comparisons of baby Chloe and baby Sebastien in their first weeks. Can you tell who is who? =0)

May 7th has finally arrived. While we were due for May 14th, the hospital was booked solid and so our cesarean procedure was scheduled a week early. I can’t tell you how many pep talks I had with myself, my stomach, my unborn son, whatever higher being there is for me to make it May 7th. Work was absolutely crazy – even crazier than my last pregnancy if you can imagine that – and so I was so happy that Sebastien behaved and stayed put where he was until Mommy was ready to have him. And thank you to my wonderful supportive and patient husband who never questions my dedication to work and has been my rock and cornerstone despite all the challenges over the past year. I love you Laurent.

So off to NY Methodist Brooklyn Hospital we go. I’m told I can’t eat anything after 6am for our scheduled procedure at 4pm. Yeah right. So I have tea and a small piece of banana bread at 7:30am and try to hold out. We arrive at the hospital early around 1pm and I can’t. At the encouragement of my husband, I get a vanilla shake and we agree that we won’t say anything because what’s the harm it could do? It’s liquid. It’ll be out of my system, I’m not worried. =0)

Same procedure like last time, we check in and register, and we wait. And wait. And pass the time watching home movies on our tablet. Then we’re called in to be prepped and get in our sexy hospital wear. Must be the same fashion trends as last year because the pictures look pretty familiar.

And what happens after we’ve been thoroughly checked in? My husband tells the nurse that I had a milk shake. <dead pan stare> Yes he tells the nurse. And so now the anesthesiologist is considering pushing back the procedure because I might vomit. Really? You know I want to punch my husband in the face right? I know he meant well but more waiting? Luckily, my awesome OB is able to convince the team that we’re good to go and off to the OR we go. Sebastien Richard Mui (middle name Richard, last name Mui!!!!) is born on Thursday, May 7, 2015 at 7:07pm with no complications and as scheduled. In and out we go. Weighing in at 6 pounds 13 ounces and 19 inches, he is slightly heavier and longer than Chloe but not by much.

Funny coincidence, the room that they put me in overnight is the SAME room I was in when Chloe was born, except we get the window side this time which is much nicer and much bigger. The family comes to visit as you can see but we’re only there a short while thanks to my OB who cleared me to go home Saturday afternoon.

Look at how silly Chloe is. What a personality. Wonder where she gets that from LOL.

The jury is still out as to who Sebastien looks like – I think it’s too early to tell. His eyes are lighter than Chloe’s eyes and his nose is a little bigger and he’s got these crazy long earlobes (very lucky in Chinese tradition – it means longevity). And when he sleeps, he’s got both arms up in the air just like Chloe did when she was little. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see who he looks like but I think he’s going to look pretty much like his big sister. More to come…

Just playing catch up with a few more pictures of Miss Chloe before Sebastien’s arrival.  So excited for the beautiful weather, a three month maternity leave and spending much deserved and long overdue time with the family.

Happy May! Less than a week and baby Sebastien will officially join the Richard-Mui family. This second pregnancy has been relatively mild, much like my pregnancy with Chloe. No complaints – no morning sickness, no appetite change, no swelling of face/hands/feet. But he is definitely WAY bigger than Chloe. Last week he weighed in at 6 pounds 10 ounces whereas Chloe was born at an even 6 pounds. I think he’ll probably be a few ounces over 7 pounds when he is officially born. The other major difference between this pregnancy and the first was that Chloe sat underneath her placenta while Sebastien is sitting on top of his placenta. As such, I feel a TON more movement with Sebastien and actually, partially through the pregnancy I started calling him Lionel Messi junior because he would just kick the crap out of me for 15 straight minutes. Laurent didn’t believe me and I would put his hand on my stomach and we would count Sebastien’s consecutive kicks which always ran up to somewhere between 20-40 kicks. Here’s a quick video on some of his active movements, the first two are on the left hand side and the last two are on the right hand side – see if you can spot them!

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Looking into our archives, we’ve got over 700 pictures of Miss Chloe in the last fifteen months. It makes me wonder whether in the next year or so, we’ll maintain that CRAZY count or if it will be more because I’ll be busy snapping pictures of both my kiddies. Only time will tell. In the meantime, here are a few updated shots of Chloe.