18, 19, 20, and 21 weeks

At 18 weeks I started feeling my little biscuit moving around.  I didn't feel Copeland moving until about 21 weeks so it's exciting to already have this connection.  Ryan and I joke that this one might be more like me because he tends to get very excited around meal times (Copeland was busy at ALL TIMES).

At 19 weeks I finally started wearing some maternity clothes.  The Tuesday before Thanksgiving I was wearing my normal wardrobe...and the Friday after I wasn't so comfortable in most of my pants.  I was still able to wear some of my regular pants for awhile but I think by now I'm in maternity pants for the rest of my pregnancy.  I am still wearing some non-maternity shirts and dresses but I wouldn't be surprised if that ends in the next few weeks.  Strangely, I started showing much later and much more subtly with this pregnancy than last.  Everyone I talk to says that they showed so early with their second pregnancies.  I still hadn't reached my pre-pregnancy weight at almost 21 weeks.  With Copeland I started gaining weight steadily from day one!

At 20 months, I had a visible bump.  I don't have a 20 week picture but here is a 21 week and 2 day picture where my bump has now become much more visible and I definitely feel like I'm pregnant now.  I have finally surpassed my pre-pregnancy weight which means I gained quite a bit in the last week!  Probably has something to do with having my appetite (and sweet tooth) back!

Oh YOU'RE his Mommy!

I didn't quite know what to expect when I heard that from a Mommy at day care that I'd never even seen before.  Come to find out, Copeland gives this Mommy a hug when she comes to pick up her daughter and she said it makes her day every time.  I later found out that Copeland hugs are not exclusive to just one Mommy because there are several Mommies that look forward to Copeland hugs at the end of the day.  My child is a very social child.  :)

Musings on Pregnancy Number 2

• Pregnancy symptoms are even less than when I was pregnant with Copeland.  During the first trimester I was a bit tired and food averse but not nearly as much as last time!  I still am averse to certain things like garlic and onions (two things I normally love) but I remember last time I didn't want to eat at ALL during the first trimester and stayed averse to many things for the rest of the pregnancy. 
• I had forgotten about getting calf cramps at night last time but remembered once I started getting those again.
• I have actually lost weight.  Doctor says that's absolutely fine as baby is doing well but at 16 weeks I'm about 6-7 lbs less than when I got pregnant.  I think it's due to a variety of factors:  I'm losing muscle because I'm not working out; I am slightly food averse with a smaller than normal appetite for me; I was sick with bronchitis for a month during the first trimester; I never did lose the extra weight I gained when I was pregnant with Copeland.
• I KNEW this was going to be a boy...and I was actually right this time!  I am so excited to have two little boys in the house!  I grew up with two brothers and have always felt that I'm a little (or a lot) of a tomboy so having a houseful of boys is right up my alley.
• We had a scare and it was AWFUL, AWFUL, AWFUL and I am currently restricted from doing just about anything strenuous or stressful.  Baby is absolutely fine and the complications have to do with my body only so I just have to make sure to do what the doctor says in hopes that I carry to term without incident.  So far, so good.  My biggest challenge is trying to not stress out about the complications.  Also, it is difficult/strange to go from being super active to super sedentary and I do miss CrossFit something fierce.  It's second nature for me to go on a hike, or pick up Copeland for a dance party, or run after him so it's strange to not be able to do even those little things.  
• Being called "advanced maternal age" is just mean.  I feel quite young, thank you very much.
• Copeland says "Baby brother is in Mommy's belly" and it is pretty much the cutest thing in the world.
• I'm not wearing maternity clothes yet but I think I will be in the next few weeks.  Looking back in my archives I saw that I started wearing maternity clothes at 17 weeks with Copeland.  I do have a little bump but like I mentioned previously, I've actually lost weight so it might take a little longer for me to outgrow my current wardrobe.  
• I've already been told twice at doctor visits that this baby is very active, which means I am truly in for it.  Copeland was very active in the womb and is VERY active now (as in we even get comments on how busy he is from other toddler's parents).  I can't imagine what it's going to be like with two very active boys.  Please say a little prayer for me.  
• I wake up a lot at night for trips to the rest room.  I don't remember it being this bad before.  I also don't remember it lasting this far into the second trimester.  
• My sense of smell is super sensitive.  It's actually driving Ryan a little nuts because I declare everything stinky.  
• We asked Copeland what he wanted to call his baby brother and he said "Peanut Butter" so that's what we call him.  My colleagues call him "Doobie" as his due date is on 4/20, which is a rather big "holiday" here in Colorado.  (I really don't want to deliver on 4/20...)

I don't have a bump picture but this is cuter anyway and at least one party to the hug seems to be enjoying it.

On to Taipei

Much like our last trip to Asia, Ryan and I decided we couldn't fly all the way to Hong Kong and not also spend a few days sight seeing in another Asian country, so we flew to Taipei, Taiwan the day after Pau Pau's birthday party.  Copeland "helped" us pack:

We spent a little more time with family before leaving for the airport.  They were headed back to the US:

And then headed to the airport:

Where we bid everyone adieu except...Pau Pau and Mo Ching!  They went with us to Taipei!  I was so, so excited about spending more time with family.  I knew Mo Ching was planning to come with us but she surprised us by bring Pau Pau with her.

The flight to Taipei from Hong Kong is about 1.5 hours and we expected to be there ready to explore no later than 2 pm, but the flight was delayed for a couple hours.  It's probably a good thing because we were cutting it close on boarding time, partly because we spent some time searching for one of our bags that we didn't know Mo Ching took while we were changing Copeland's diaper and partly because we'd had a leisurely lunch with the entire family before heading our separate ways.

The flight was pretty standard, minus being pointedly asked by a flight attendant if everything was okay.  I couldn't figure out why she had singled me out and I'm pretty sure I looked at her like she had three heads.  I later felt bad about looking at her like she had three heads when I figured out Copeland had been repeatedly paging her with the remote.

With the flight delay and the 45 minute taxi ride to the hotel, we didn't get settled in until around dinner time.  Pau Pau and Mo Ching were in another hotel, because the hotels in the metropolitan area where we were staying were very small and they couldn't get into ours, so we decided to part ways and meet up the next day.  We wandered around a bit in search of sustenance and were immediately impressed.  The city was clean and walk-able and everyone was SO nice.  And the sidewalks were sparkly and that pleased me irrationally.  

Everyone in Hong Kong had been telling me how good the food was in Taipei so I was determined to find something for dinner that the city was known for.  Unlike Hong Kong, English speakers are not as prevalent in Taipei and Mandarin is spoken, instead of Cantonese.  In Hong Kong, if I have to I can limp along in Cantonese and make my basic requests known, but I know nothing about Mandarin except how to say thank you (and I'm pretty sure I say it with such a strong accent that it's barely understandable).  As we were wandering around, I was finding it difficult to locate an authentic Taiwanese eatery where we would be able to order easily.  Lo and behold, Mo Chang and Pau Pau were inside a restaurant and saw us wandering around and pulled us inside and ordered for us.  Thank goodness!  So glad Mo Ching can speak Mandarin (as well as Cantonese, English, Portuguese, and Korean)!  She ordered us a noodle dish, which reminded me greatly of PF Chang's dan dan noodles, a cold chicken dish, and a tofu dish.  No pictures - we must have been too stinking tired.

Note: After I finish my blog series about our Hong Kong/Taipei trip I plan to write a question and answer blog as I've received a few questions and realize there are probably many other interesting tidbits I haven't addressed.  Please feel free to comment with any questions about our trip, about Hong Kong,  Taipei, etc. and I'll try to answer them.

Last Day in Hong Kong

Our last full day in Hong Kong...started with noodle bowls.  :)  Just posting these pictures makes me want a noodle bowl...

Then later we rode the top level of a double decker bus across town to have lunch with some family.  Oh my goodness, writing this post so far after the fact makes me miss Hong Kong so much!!!  Even the pictures of Hong Kong streets!  Wahhhhhhh!

That night was my Grandma's 91st birthday party, which is kind of a big deal.  Apparently odd numbered birthdays are more important for women, while even numbered birthdays are more important for men.  I still haven't figured out why.

Unfortunately, the party didn't even begin until 9 pm, so Copeland wasn't able to attend, which also meant Ryan wasn't able to attend.  That was a real bummer but the party was amazing.  We started the party with dessert!  I think the Chinese character cake says long life, but I'm not positive.  There is something about Chinese cakes that I love.  They're more airy and less sweet than what we're used to and the taste is amazing.  They also oftentimes have fruit in them - yum.

It was Wendy's birthday too so there was a cake there for her to cut.

Then we sat down for our EIGHT course meal.  And then after the EIGHT courses, they brought out rice and noodles.  And THEN they brought out two types of dessert!  I got pictures of everything except the rice/noodles and desserts.  I was in a food coma by that point.

Pork

Shrimp

Magical seafood with broccoli

Magical seafood roll-up things

Magical seafood soup

Abalone

Fish

Chicken

Here are some other fun photos of family that night.

Cousin Lok Yan and Aunts Siu Ye and Miu Ye

Tea Ceremony.  Mom had to tell me what to say.

Here is a shot of most of the people there.  Notice how tall everyone is?  I get questions a lot about how can I possibly be half Chinese when I'm so tall (I'm 5'9")?  Well, not all Chinese people are short!  In fact, most of my Chinese family is tall.  It depends on where your family comes from.  In general, northern Chinese are taller than Southern Chinese.  I'm in the back on my tiptoes and you can barely see me!  

Oh man I can't wait to go back.  I think it might be awhile, though, as I think it would be better for Copeland to be a little older.  I am so super thankful that we were able to take this trip, even with the challenges of world travel with a toddler.  I think it will be so cool to show him pictures when he's older.  I hope that someday he can continue to visit family in Hong Kong and make his own fond memories.

Oh, one last thing:  Lindsay asked about the protests and what people had to say.  Really no one talked about it to us at all!  I made mention a couple times but no one really engaged in discussion.  I don't know if that means it isn't as big of a deal to them as it seems to us (kind of like how the Occupy Movement in the US really didn't disrupt a huge portion of cities - at least it didn't disrupt my life at all - but there was so much news coverage) or if it is an even bigger deal and a bit too scary to discuss.   

Russian Roulette Food Fail

On our fourth full day in Hong Kong we decided we wanted dim sum for breakfast.  The restaurant we chose did not have any English speakers and they only provided us a very limited English menu so I decided to play dim sum Russian roulette and order some items off the Chinese menu in addition to our English menu selections.  This was a bad idea.  Luckily, my Mom and two of my aunts were at the hotel when we got back and they took us to a proper dim sum.

Then later that night we had hot pot!  This is where you cook all your meats and veggies in boiling broth, much like fondue.  We had done this last time we were in Hong Kong and didn't want to miss it this time, even though we hadn't been able to join all the dinners during the week.

I will say that it was definitely very different traveling with a toddler than when just Ryan and I went two years ago.  Copeland really was such a good traveler and hardly protested about anything, but still, we really had to plan around nap times, meals/snacks, diaper changes, as well as letting him adjust to the time change.  And in Hong Kong, everything happens late in the day/night and our son (like his father) is an EARLY BIRD.  It may seem like all of my posts are about food...and that kind of is what dominated our time there this year!  In the mornings we would do our little family activities before anyone else was awake, then we would usually meet family for lunch, then usually we would go back for Copeland's nap, and then it was pretty much time for dinner and bedtime!  Even with the various challenges of traveling with a little dude, I was so happy to have been able to share it with him.