Diary
My Life at June 2008
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June 30, 2008(Monday)
We went to donate some baby clothes to goodwill and also renew the parking pass. Afterward I went to gym to workout and run. Hansel wrote in his diary that he worked very hard, and has great improvement in running. I am trying to push myself more to match his progress too. It is not easy and I am not able to push too hard yet.
At night, Carmen and I went out to have a walk with Cailyn outside because the weather is very nice again.
June 29, 2008(Sunday)
Our good fellowship friends Shangmin and Tanyue will return to Taiwan coming week and we had a prayer during Sunday worship with them. This is quite sad to see them leave, especially because they helped us so much when we first arrived and they helped the church a lot too.
We also rearrange some furniture at our home. When Cailyn knows how to crawl, her area will be the living room. The first step of rearranging the living room is to move the digital piano. I decided to pack the digital piano, and use this again 2 years later when I move to a new place. We also moved the shoes shelf too. The living room suddenly feels much larger.
June 28, 2008(Saturday)
I played badminton with some church friends today. I haven't played for a long time. Then afterward I tried to run 6 laps on treadmill. Hansel said that his record is 9'26". I tried to run and it took me 9'33". If I run on track, I need to make turn, which would slow down my speed. On the other hand, I am running by myself and need to run more constant speed. If I have competition from next door neighbor and also free to explode my energy at the last laps, I should have a faster time. Therefore I think that with lots of effort I should be able to match Hansel's speed. It is amazed to see that he improved from 11'02" (which I can match this speed easily) to 9'26" (which I have a hard time to catch up).
We had deacon board meeting afterward. At one point we discussed about whether we should buy some song books that consists of the traditional hymn. There are deacons that support this view. However I am strongly against this. It is because I would do more song leading, if there is no rule that restrict me to choose songs from these traditional song books, I would not do so. And I would hate if there is rule that restrict me to choose songs from these traditional song book. I think that after sitting through HK's church and Vancouver's church, I somehow develop a negative feeling about traditional hymn. Not that they are bad but because people who lead these songs make them boring and caused negative feeling inside me. I am a much more contemporary person. It is true that we should be able to worship in whatever songs. So why not restrict to traditional hymn?
At night we had deacon board gathering, for farewell Shangmin/Tanyue, Daniel/Yangching and JC. I served with these three deacons last year and they are the core of the church. It would be difficult to continue to serve without these people. We also had sharing about appreciating these people.
Carmen and I think that Cailyn has the talent of language. At least, she pays great attention when we teach her how to say "ba" and "ma". Also, Carmen thinks that Cailyn can distinguish whether she is talking in English and Chinese, and would get fuzzy if she talks to other in English! That is amazing!
June 27, 2008(Friday)
We went to see Pediatrician today because Cailyn's left face has problem. The disease is called Eczema, which is because baby has too much saliva drooling onto her face. We are glad that this is not a serious problem, but cause irritation.
I had a golf lesson today. I did quite well in the driving range. Using the 6-iron I am able to hit the ball most of the time. I am still learning to hit with the driver though. And when I am playing putting, I am quite accurate, and I hit a 66 feet hole. I am happy about this. I usually need people to guide me or stand by me to have a good performance.
At night we had a baby shower for some fellowship friends.
June 26, 2008(Thursday)
Cailyn's left face now has several rashes. Previously it was only her left chin but then it has spread to more places. We suspect that she always drooling and that makes her face wet. However, we will see the doctor tomorrow and hope that she will be fine. She also made some sound which sounds like "ba" today. I am lucky enough to capture it in the video.
We went to prayer meeting and then Border's bookstore to read comic at night. Cailyn woke up in the middle of my comic reading session so we have to go home early.
June 25, 2008(Wednesday)
I went to play golf by myself today. It is quite a family event in a sense that I see lots of parents bring their kids to play driving range. I hope to bring Cailyn to play golf when she is older. I also went out to run. The weather is pretty hot and it is not easy to run at this temperature. Cailyn is better at turning herself now. Therefore she wants to turn whenever she goes to bed, or do other thing. That gives our lives harder when trying to change her diaper or put her to bed because she wants to roll over.
June 24, 2008(Tuesday)
We used to be quite active and involve in the Macedonia group. However ever since we had our baby, we scaled down a lot. Moreover the composition of the people is different too, and we are not as closed to the new members as the old one. Today, we invited Vivian and Chris to our house for dinner and Bible Study. This is definitely what we used to do, but haven't done it for a while. Anyway, I led them Bible study after dinner. Then we also cut cake for Vivian's birthday. We spent the whole day preparing the food and this is how we serve God. Carmen cooked several dishes and prepared the cake. People were amazed and surprised (as usual) about Carmen's cooking talent. I am proud of her.
Cailyn is much calmer today than yesterday. She is also able to rotate her body and also turn her body too. Therefore starting today we raise up the bar for the baby crib.
June 23, 2008(Monday)
Cailyn is quite fuzzy today. Sometimes she cried very hard. It has been 5 days since she took the vaccine shot. We hope that she will get better soon.
June 22, 2008(Sunday)
After church, we had a BBQ for the parenting groups. There are 13 little children (including babies) going, plus their parents. This is for farewell Shangmin/Tanyue and their twin babies. It seems like time flies, and our friendship circle changes because now we are more involve at families, ever since we had our baby.
Cailyn still doesn't know how to turn around, but today she can slowly move her body a bit, from north-south position to east-west. She had a hard time going to bed (as usual) and was sucking her thumb and making strange noise. Then her leg would make her body move one little bit at a time.
June 21, 2008(Saturday)
Usually (ever since the birth of Cailyn) I sleep at 4 or 5am and then wake up at 11am or noon. At first it is because I have to take care the mid-night meal of Cailyn. Ever since Cailyn can sleep overnight two months ago, I took the time to study because it is hard to concentrate during the day time. However, since my professor is taking a vacation for these two months, and I got some progress on my paper, I don't have to push myself so hard. Therefore I went to bed before 1am last night and wake up 7:30 am to feed Cailyn! (But I have some afternoon nap afterward to make sure that I have more than 8 hours of sleep per day).
Hansel told me that after several months of training he only needs 9'26" to run 6 laps (compare to 11'02" before he started training). I am very amazed because even for myself (I have trained myself for 10 years) I think that I would be out-of-breath and lucky if I can finish it in 10 mins. I think that we are now more rounded (previously I only work on cardio while he only works on strength, now we both work on both type of training). He also trains his brain though lots of memory skill while I training my analytical skill throughout the PhD program. I also remind him to train spiritually; Carmen and I will study the online New Testament Theological course offered by HK Baptist Theological Seminary and we hoped to have a better spiritual life this way.
Today is a relax day. I don't want to rush through my paper, so I decided to take today off. We went out to buy grocery. Cailyn is also fuzzy, possibly because she got the vaccine shot two days ago. Therefore, I brought her outside to walk. She likes the nice environment and the nature. Therefore she is more peaceful when she was outside. I also watched TV movie Spiderman too.
June 20, 2008(Friday)
I had a meeting with another professor this morning about the healthcare paper that I am working on. Since my main professor is gone for the vacation, my life is much relaxed now. However, I am still pushing myself to make sure that I work hard. I still spent a couple of hours working on papers. Cailyn's health is better now. And when Carmen does the workout, I sometimes bring Cailyn to visit her, and today Carmen also brings Cailyn so that we walk together to the gym room.
June 19, 2008(Thursday)
We went to the clinic for a four months check up. Cailyn is now 14lb12oz (75 percentile), 25 inches (75 percentile) with 41cm head circumference (50 percentile). She is looking very normal. Then the nurse fed her some medicine that should be taken orally, and then gave her three vaccine shot. Two months ago she was fine when eating the medicine, but then suddenly cried aloud when the three shots are taken. This time she is already crying when eating the medicine. And when taking the three shots, she also cried a lot. I did not have the video last time and I video-taped it this time. It is certainly a painful experience to both Carmen and I and also to Cailyn. However this is good for Cailyn. Before we go to the clinic, Cailyn had the innocent smile without knowing that big trouble (taking shots) is coming. It reminds me about the story of Abraham offering Isaac when Isaac asked innocently about where the sheep (for offering) are.
After the shots, Cailyn obviously cried a lot, and got very fuzzy. Carmen spent a lot of time dancing in front of her to make her feel good. Carmen is very tired after all those dancing! We also went out to have walk to enjoy the nice weather, and to calm Cailyn too (She likes outdoor).
June 18, 2008(Wednesday)
I had two meetings in the morning about the two papers that I am working at. It is because the professor will leave US for two months, therefore we have a lot of things to discuss and plan what to do next. Moreover regarding about the health care paper. The result that I have indicates that the hospital should close down Post acute care. This is not what we are looking for, and not what the hospital is looking for. We think that how we model it undervalue the post acute care. Therefore we have to use another heuristic and try to model it again.
At night we had dinner with the pastor. He withdrew from our pastoral search process several weeks ago, because he does not want to bind himself to be a pastor, rather he prefers to continue his mission work. He may still come to Bloomington to live and provide some training, but not formally hired as a pastor. I have spent several weeks working on this and I am a bit disappointed because the hiring process failed, yet relieved because I don't have to spend as much administration time working on this issue.
June 17, 2008(Tuesday)
I am working on the paper today, plus enjoying the sunshine and walked outside with Carmen and Cailyn.
June 16, 2008(Monday)
My professor will leave Bloomington for vacation this week, therefore I have meeting with him again today, and another meeting this Wednesday. Hopefully I can get as much done before he leaves, so that I know what I should do during the next two months.
The weather is also very nice today. Therefore after dinner we went out for playing swing and walked around. With such a nice environment outside and we frequently went out to walk, I think that Cailyn will become a girl that really like outdoor environment.
Carmen also helped her to have a hair cut. She was constantly moving; even though I tried to hold her, she still moves a lot. It reminds me that when I was young I made a lot of trouble at the barber shop and cried a lot.
June 15, 2008(Sunday)
My first father's day! Cailyn asked Carmen to write me a card! This is also the first special day that I cannot share with Carmen (e.g. birthday, Valentine’s Day, anniversary, etc are special days that I shared with Carmen)
The weather is nice today again. The temperature is around 27 to 30 degrees. It is a bit hot during the afternoon, but during the evening we went out to have a walk around the campus. The weather is very nice and we enjoyed it a lot, and I am sure that Cailyn enjoys it too; probably throughout all these walking exercise, she starts to love the outdoor activity and will be a very active girl in the future.
June 14, 2008(Saturday)
Currently Cailyn is eating less frequently. Usually we feed her every three hours but today we fed her every 4.5 hours. She is getting bigger and bigger and behaves more as an adult, in terms of number of meal per day.
There is parenting group today and it is always good to listen to other young parents about the struggle and the problems that they are going through. Jacky also went to our house for dinner.
June 13, 2008(Friday)
I had a long day today. In the morning I met with professors about the two papers, and the during afternoon there are some guest speaker coming here to give a presentation, and then he chatted with the PhD student afterward.
Cailyn today can firmly hold on to her two foot now.
June 12, 2008(Thursday)
I had meeting with professor today to do some data sorting for the healthcare project. Afterward I spent more time working on this project, letting Matlab run the numerical study. At night we also went to prayer meeting. There aren't many people (5 today, including the 3 of us) going and the other two people may leave Bloomington for good by the end of this year. I wonder how to encourage other people to attend prayer meeting.
June 11, 2008(Wednesday)
We went to Wal-Mart to walk around and shopping. I also spent more time with Cailyn, such as walking with her and playing swing with her. Regarding about my paper, I am facing some very clumsy math. I am not able to obtain neat insight and I need to talk to advisor about what I should do next. Therefore in the mean time I have nothing much to do. I am also working on the Matlab code of the healthcare paper. I have already written and checked the code already, but since I haven't got the data yet (I will meet with professor tomorrow to discuss about the data), I can't do anything.
June 10, 2008(Tuesday)
We brought Cailyn to see optometrist today. The IU Optometry School has free eye exam for infant; Cailyn has normal eyesight. However when the doctor put some medicine to her eye or try to open her eye, she cried and I felt bad for her. Just like my experience when Cailyn took her vaccine shot about 1.5 month ago, I think that I cannot tolerate seeing the loved one (not restricted to Cailyn of course) to suffer.
I also spent more time working on the paper on healthcare project. We have been waiting for the hospital to give us data on bed cost since last October and we haven't got any. It is time to move on and we just made some educated guess. I also need to use Matlab to run some program and I find that my laptop is quite slow. For example, it takes more than 10 mins from starting the laptop to successfully starting the Matlab program. I purchased this laptop about 2 years ago because it is relatively cheap (around $500). It is slow as expected and I need to do more multitasking (e.g. do something else when starting the computer). I still hope to purchase a newer laptop when I start to work.
June 09, 2008(Monday)
I had three hours meeting for the two papers that I was working on. There is quite a bit of things that I need to do, and by the end of the meeting, I need to go out for a run in order to clear up my mind.
There were lots of thunderstorm lately and even the highway to Indianapolis was closed! Tonight there is raining and thunderstorm again, and the electricity of our house go out for about 1 second. The weather (thunderstorm) is not that bad, but I wonder why the building is so fragile that the electricity went out. We had everything prepared though. The most important thing is a light torch, which belonged to grandfather 20+ years ago and I brought that to Venezuela and now to Bloomington.
June 08, 2008(Sunday)
After Sunday worship, the Macedonia group had a meeting at our house. Then we went out to have dinner and purchased some grocery.
June 07, 2008(Saturday)
After working out and running, I went for swimming. Previously I was not able to swim for 2 mins, but now I can swim two 4 mins. I think that I am adapting to the swimming environment. The weather is also very nice and a bit hot so running outside is not good. But it felt good to swim. At night we went out for grocery shopping. Cailyn also loves me to giggling her when she was washing her head.
June 06, 2008(Friday)
We had nothing much to do. One of our free entertainment is to use coupon and go to Sears to take family portrait. We got a free 10x13 photo and this is our third time going. We kept on getting these coupons and we will go there next time again.
At night we had a final pastoral search committee meeting. The pastor sent an email three days ago saying that he wants to withdraw from the pastoral search so that he can focus more on his existing ministry. It is disappointing because I would like to have a pastor at our church. On the other hand, we don't have to spend as much time in finding a pastor. Then at fellowship a philosophy PhD student Daniel Cheung came to our fellowship and gave a talk regarding about whether a believer and a non-believer can date and get married. It is pretty deep and interesting.
June 05, 2008(Thursday)
Today is pretty hot; I went to workout and then swim; it felt pretty good. At night we went out for dinner and then to prayer meeting.
June 04, 2008(Wednesday)
The weather was quite bad today. There was major thunderstorm and raining this morning and this afternoon.
I had a three hours meeting with professor about the healthcare paper; it has been half a year and all we did today is to check the input data we used earlier, whether these are accurate or not. I think that this is too time consuming but I am glad that I got that taken care of.
June 03, 2008(Tuesday)
Today I had prestudy with a church friend Kenneth. Rather than I lead him, I let him lead the Bible Study and I give feedback afterward. After dinner with him, we went to play ping pong. I did pretty badly today, missing all those shots and smash. I also weighted very heavy today, 144lb which is the most I have ever weight. I think that I had some muscle, plus I just finished dinner. I also helped Jacky to move some furniture at night.
June 02, 2008(Monday)
For the past month Cailyn sleeps for 8 hours at night. This is such a blessing because we know some friends with kids still not able to sleep overnight even when they are more than 1.5 years old!
This afternoon I had two meetings with professor, one about my dissertation and the other is about the healthcare paper. I haven't worked on the healthcare paper for 9 months because we have been waiting for the hospital staff to give us the bed cost for ICU and acute care but we never received that. So it is time to move on and use the best estimate.
I also walked with Cailyn because the weather is very nice outside. The benefit of doing PhD in 5 years is that I can be more relaxed now. And when she was sleeping on my bed, I looked at her, and I got tired and slept besides her too, for 30 mins. I think that compare to almost all other couples that I know, I am the father that spent the most time with the kid, because other father needs to work. I don't think that I will ever regret that. I doubt that when we have the second child, and I am likely working at that time, would I still have the same amount of time with the second child.
June 01, 2008(Sunday)
Carmen and I served together at church today. This is one of the first time since we had our baby. We don't have a sermon speaker today so we spent more time on songs (almost 10 songs) and some sharing. Carmen was the singspiration leader while I am the worship leader. We are grateful that we got a chance to serve together again. Afterward there is a workshop on Catholicism; I am not able to listen to the whole thing because I have to take care Cailyn at the mean time.
Afterward there is a BBQ fun time with fellowship friends because someone who left Bloomington last year returned to visit us. There was thunderstorm in the middle, but afterward we went out to play Frisbee again.