I just can't help but watch Laguna Beach.  I'm not even remotely into watching reality shows on regular channels, but whenever MTV airs one, I'm immediately hooked on it (must be the teenage life genre that appeals to me).

 

On the last episode, I was quite surprised Stephen and Lauren "LC" knew Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" song, let alone knew the lyrics to it.  And on last year's episode, Lo was singing to a late 70s/early 80s song (I forget what it was). 

 

Strange or not?

What does that spell? 

It spells my electricity bill is about to break my bank!

 

Keep cool, my friends...

Sophia's potty training is going so well, infact, too well.  She doesn't even want to tinkle in her diaper at nights.  Last night, she woke up at 11p JUST TO TELL ME SHE HAD TO USE THE POTTY (she's generally in bed by 9:30-10p).  I told her she was wearing her diaper and it's alright to tinkle in it and SHE DEFIANTLY REFUSED.  She demanded to be taken out of her crib and be taken to the bathroom.  I had no choice but to give in and comply.

 

Thank goodness she slept through the night.

We're watching the news and a Honda Civic commercial comes on.  Sophia immediately pipes in, "Mommy, Daddy's car!!!"  Out of all the car commercials we've watched, how did she know the specific make?

 

Plus, she loves the Saturn commercial where everyone screams out "DIBS!!!!!!!"

 

Strange....

Move over Wiggles, you've been replaced by The Blues Clues.

More like, ASSHOLES strikes again in London.  Un-fucking-believable. 

The last time I nearly fainted, it was the Persian Gulf War parade down in City Hall in 1991.  I was coming back from college classes at my local community college, so I decided to hang around and watch the parade.  I had no water bottle with me and the sun was starting to beat down on me pretty hard.  Next thing I knew, I felt myself leaning on another spectator and summoned the police for help.  I was treated by an EMS and was fine after fifteen minutes.  The EMS guy had the gall to ask for my digits too! 

 

So this morning, after getting breakfast at the school, Sophia and I felt the blistering heat and humidity at 9a.  We went to the basement to look for the nanny (she was doing the laundry), but she wasn't there.  I turned on the tv and Sophia watched Sesame Street for about ten minutes before I decided to bring her up just incase she had to tinkle.  I tippy-toed to reach the off button on the tv.  By the time I walked into the elevator, I felt my vision slowly getting darker, my breathing getting heavier and my legs weakening.  I was hoping to get into my apartment before I blacked out since Sophia was with me.  Luckily we reached the door and Phil hurried to help me get some cold water.  I was fine.

 

Being pregnant in hot weather just isn't fun.

My girlfriend, Karen, predicts that I will have a girl.  She got this prediction from a Chinese Lunar Calendar that is determined by the women's age and month of conception.  I won't know for sure until I get my amniocentisis done (zoikes).  It's generally when the woman  gives birth when she is 35+ years old.  The procedure is done by withdrawing a small quantity of amniotic fluid that determines if the baby has chromonsomal abnormalties.  I'm actually petrified of getting this done.  I heard the needle is extremely long that will go through my belly button.  Plus I can risk having a miscarriage.  So much fucking stress.

 

Anyhow, today I am officially out of the danger zone and entering my second trimester.  I weighed in 131 pounds.  I only gained one pound since last month.  I thought that was pretty good considering I lost five pounds with Sophia, thanks to nausea and the inability to eat.  I'm all healthy, bloodcount good, iron is looking good, blood pressure excellent.  And I'm counting the days 'til I give birth...I can't stand having nausea and indigestion everyday. 

 

Lately Sophia is off the wall.  She enjoys jumping off anywhere- the couch, her futon bed, her potty (there is a cover on it), the chair (if you hold her hand).  She doesn't mind that she falls on her face.  She thinks it's funny.  She'll keep doing it until I threaten to throw out her Teletubbies down the chute. 

 

She is tinkling a lot like a dog.  I say that because every fifteen minutes, she keeps telling me she has to use the potty.  And she really does need to use it.  I think the next step is learning how to piss all in one shot.  And poo too (she poo'd once last week in her potty, but she feels more comfy using the diaper).  We're slowly getting her there.  I feel so confident about this toilet training, I might as well train her to clean her potty too...

I remember back in the days of EEG, on Friday nights, I would go around saying, "Have a nice weekend" to everyone who sat in the path of the exit door.  I made an extra stop to Sam and Jeff's office (they used to share an office) and say bye to them as well.  Sam recently complained on his blog how at his new job, no one says that to him.  I find that awfully sad and unfriendly. 

 

Sam IMs me this morning and says, "A good buddy of mine used to work at ESPN mag.  If you are looking for some peeps to hang with there, I can get their names, maybe that way you'll have someone to say goodbye to before you leave on Fridays."

 

How thoughtful is that of Sam?

Every weekday morning as we make our way to the elementary school to get breakfast, Sophia LOVES to watch a gym class through the six feet high window.  There are mornings with people doing yoga, tai chi, aerobics, etc. and Sophia MUST stop to work out along with them.  I have to admit that she is pretty good at emulating them.  I often burst out in giggles.

 

Just the other day, she asked my mother to buy her a ballerina's dress (her actual words were "paw-paw (grandma), buy ballet dress?".  Everyday I am surprised by her knowledge.

 

She loves to talk to herself and dance in front of our mirror.  She can't stop but to smile at herself at her reflection.  She seeks approval from any audience. 

 

Could my little girl be a future entertainer?  I fear for the worst- Las Vegas showgirl.  AAAAAAAAAAACK!!!!!!!!!!!

I typed a post, decided I didn't want to post it, deleted it and accidentally deleted the "Pregnancy Party" post as well.  Oops.

 

Again, two shout outs to my friends- Norman and May, Scott and Julie- they're expecting!  Congrats to the both of them!

 

 

 

 

I'm at Pathmark, shopping for food.  I'm emptying my cart onto the conveyor belt and a middle aged man decides to ram his cart onto my cart.  I don't know if it was done accidental or intentional, but I wasn't going to stand there and let the loser get away with it.  Maybe he didn't expect a petite, Asian pregnant woman to say anything back, but I don't believe in being the shy, submissive, "hee-hee" cover your mouth type.  

 

Me:  HEY HEY HEY!!!

 

Guy: You should be more courteous (or some shit like that).

 

Me:  Excuse me?  You rammed your cart onto my cart.  If anybody should be courteous, it should be you.  AND you should be apologzing to me.

 

Guy: Alright, alright... (he never apologized)

 

Me:  (My whole face turning red from being pissed off).

 

UUUUUUGH. 

This evening, I bent down to Sophia and waited for a kiss from her.  She was aimlessly looking around the elevator, totally missed my lips and was kissing my nose instead.  A couple of seconds later, she realizes what she's done and she stops kissing my nose.  She attempts to lift my nose out of the way in order to reach for my lips.  She had me laughing pretty hard.

 

Sophia can form her sentences pretty well, but generally it's one at a time.  For example, today I asked her what she had for lunch (the nanny took took her to the local elementary school for free lunch) and she told me she had pizza, carrots, ice cream, milk and fruit (sometimes it takes awhile for her to name everything).    But, if you don't spend a lot of time with her, you might not understand her words coherently.  I guess only I can really deciper her words unless she's speaking in Chinese or Korean (very rarely would she use words I don't use on her) to the nanny or my mother. 

 

Lately, it's been hard for me to get motivated.  In my pregnancy condition, I'm always tired and sleepy, always dizzy, always headachey, always some problem.  I do hope this blah-ness that I'm feeling will kick out once I'm out of my first trimester (I'm currently in my 11th week).  And I just wanna state HOW I HATE POPPING PRENATAL PILLS.  It is just absolutely the most repulsive thing to injest.  BLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECH.

 

Also, I don't want to eat Chinese food.  I want egg salad sandwiches on a roll with tomatoes and lettuce.  I want a burrito with sour cream and guacamole.  I want mashed potatoes.  I want a tall, glass of cranberry juice with ice (my body is just too hot for anything warm to drink).  Anything other than rice or Asian food, I WANT IT.  Actually, what I really, REALLY want is a honey turkey sandwich on a hero with mayo, lettuce and tomatoes.  No coldcuts, thanks to the listeria.  Goddang it.

 

Sometimes I wonder how the hell did I manage to function at work when I was pregnant with Sophia.  Maybe because I had a very caring and understanding boss.  Maybe I was able to do my job I had for seven years with my eyes closed.  Maybe I just needed the distraction to get me out of my nausea state of mind.  Or maybe I just really loved my job and the people I worked with.  Man, I need to get my ass hauling. 

 

Oh!  I forgot to mention that I got a part-time job at ESPN magazine.  I'm just waiting to hear back from them about the start date and pay.  They even said I can start to work from home once I get into the groove.  AND, eventually, they're gonna try to get me a full-time job next year.  Could anyone say....US Open (tennis) tixs?  World Series?  NBA Playoffs and Finals (if the Knicks manage to pull a decent season)?  Jets and Giants games?  Woo... 

Dear Mommy’s blog,

 

I am temporarily filling in for Mommy since she has one of those “blinding headaches” that seem to come and go.  Yesterday I had Mommy laughing.   I climbed on the rocking chair to look out the window and I saw a man that looked like goong-goong (grandpa).  I shouted with glee and told Mommy goong-goong is outside.  Mommy ignored me.  I repeated several more times and she came over to look out the window with me.  She asked me where goong-goong is and I pointed him out by the pizza store.  She laughed and said that wasn’t goong-goong even though the man outside had the same dark skin tone and was wearing the same color jeans and white t-shirt as goong-goong.  Oh well.

 

Also yesterday, Kim moh-moh (auntie) took me out for a walk to buy me a balloon.  She bought me a big, yellow, happy-happy balloon.  I love anything with a happy face.  It makes me smile too.   I guess Kim moh-moh felt guilty for accidentally letting my two balloons fly away a few weeks ago.  I think I’m going to cherish this balloon because Kim moh-moh doesn’t always buy me a balloon.  This one feels special.  Oh!  And Kim moh-moh bought me a pair of kick-ass Adidas shell top sneakers.  Mommy thought it was a waste of money but Kim moh-moh thinks I will look pretty fly with them on.

 

Today Mommy and I went out for breakfast at a diner because Daddy was sleeping.  He hasn’t been home often because he’s been working overtime and I miss him a lot.  He comes home around 6a and mommy keeps yelling at me to be quiet.  Mommy doesn’t understand that I am just a kid and it’s hard for me to keep my voice down. 

 

After breakfast, we hung out downstairs our complex and fed peanuts to the squirrels.  Mommy had crayons and a crayon book for me to draw on.  I don’t know how she stores all these toys for me in her small bag.  Mommy drove paw-paw (grandma) to work since Mommy was obviously killing time so Daddy could sleep longer.   After dropping paw-paw off, we parked the car and went to the park.  Mommy said we had to pick up Daddy’s dry cleaning after going on the swing.  I love the cool breeze on the swing.  Daddy finally called Mommy and said he was awake and hungry, so we picked up lunch and brought it home to eat.

 

I had so much fun writing today.  Maybe Mommy will let me write more tomorrow.

 

Love,

 

Sophia

xo

I woke up around 7ish and was lounging in bed.  Normally Sophia is up by 7:15, 7:30 but she was still sound asleep.  Good.  I turn on the TV, channel surfed and came across the BBC news.  In big letters, it mentions London was hit with several explosions.  I jumped up to comprehend what was really going on.  First thing that came to mind was flashbacks of 9/11.  Completely freaked me out.  It really saddened me to think people are injured and possibly killed in London. 

 

Has anyone realized the time the first incident happened (which was 8:49BST) was approximately the same time as the plane hitting the WTC?  Coincidence...or not?

 

Stay strong London.  Our thoughts and prayers are with you.

Oh, and I caught a-ha, Faithless, Sarah McLachlan, The Cure, Jet, Kaiser Chiefs and Muse.  Tomorrow I'll watch Placebo, Roxy Music and Andrea Bocelli. 

 

Update on Sophia's potty training-

Sophia manged to piss in the potty TWICE yesterday but today, not just one, not just two, but THREE times, she failed to tell me and pissed all over the carpeted house. 

Whilst showering, you notice the drain isn't massively clogged with hair.

So NYC lost the 2012 Olympic bid.  In a way, I am a bit sad we didn't win, but I am so fucking glad London beat Paris.  Those pompous, rude Parisians don't deserve to win.  I'm never going back to that ugly city ever again.  Okay, maybe just one more time for the fresh baked baguettes and crepes.  But I'll take London's fish and chips, a pint of beer, Boots, Brit music anyday.  Hooray London!

Watching Oprah.  Today's theme is "Wildest Dreams Come True."  There's one particular episode where she makes a single mother with nine children (six are her brother's that she adopted) a new home-owner with a decorator to help furnish her new furniture, new appliances, new toys for the kids.  Totally breaks my heart, but with joy!  And of course, in my condition, I start crying like Niagara Falls because Oprah just knows how to break down mothers-to-be to mega mush.  Wah!

I just love the NY Public schools.  Free breakfast and free lunch for kids under the age of 19.  But, how is it possible that I do not have any friends who has kids around Sophia's age, that lives near me to have lunch together?

 

This fucking sucks!

After the big announcement, I feel I have to send out some apologies-

 

I love BBQ's with family.  It brings back lots of memories when I was a kid.  My family used to gather their friends and family, head up northern NY to Mohansic Park and BBQ all day.  I remember playing frisbee, wiffle ball, dodgeball and rollerskating with our cousins and kids our age.  We also went swimming and rowboating.  The adults MJ'd (mah-jjong).  My sisters and I each had a godfather assigned to us according to our personalities.  As the sun began to set, we would chase fireflies and catch them in our hands and watch them glow.  Those were the good ol' lazy days of summer. 

 

As I grew older, the BBQ's with the family and friends stopped.  All of my parent's friends and family got married, moved away and moved on with their new lives.  Living in Manhattan, there are no grills in our apartment complexes.  Nor are we allowed to grill at our local park.  I depended on my older friends (with cars) to arrange weekend camping trips.  Those were good times, but somehow, it just didn't strike the same chord as having BBQ's with family.

 

Yesterday, my father, Kim, Phil, Sophia and I (Judy and Rolly showed up later on) drove out to my Aunt Susan (my father's sister) and Uncle Edmond's house- they threw a huge BBQ party.  Her three kids (who are in their teens to 20s) invited their friends also.  The BBQ buzz came back to me as I sat on their lawn- watching Sophia kick the ball with other kids, my father chatting with his other sister, Aunt Lily, Kim grilling with Uncle Edmond, Judy having a beer with our cousin's friends. 

 

I only hope Phil and I will have many BBQ's with our family and friends for Sophia and her sibling to enjoy.

 

Oh wait, I haven't made an official announcement.  I am pregnant!

Technology is fucking amazing.  I got to watch Bjork, Sir Bob Geldof, Travis, Coldplay, Richard Ashcroft, Madonna, Duran Duran, Dido, Youssou N'Dour, Annie Lennox, U2 and Pink Floyd, all performing on AOL (I really, really wish I lived in London).  It was so addicting, watching it from the computer all day.  MTV was only airing the popular artists, so I didn't get to catch some of the ones I liked.  I'm hoping to catch Pet Shop Boys, The Cure, Stereophonics, Placebo and Andrea Bocelli on the rebroadcast.  In my old blogs (December 1), I wrote about remembering where I was when Live Aid aired in 1985.  Do you? 

 

As an advocate of helping the unfortunate ones, go out and do volunteer work.  It will do your mind and soul good.  Do something about poverty!

Ah, so much to recap-