Family Gathering with Marie, Michael and Michaela

Su fen, Annette, and the kids drove down from Davis this morning to San Leandro to meet the newest addition of the family.

They got there first, and picked a restaurant, called "Chili Palace". I got there with my parents second, and Marie, Michael, Michaela, and Michael's mom Virginia showed up last. We had quite a large lunch (thanks Dad!), and Michaela slept through the entire lunch.

After lunch, we all drove over to Marie and Michael's house, where lots of picture taking ensued. Michaela will have no shortage of pictures of herself as a newborn.

My mother also wishes to correct a previous post where I said officially Michaela was born at 6:53am. My mom was in the room when Michaela was delivered, and said the actual birth time was 6:57 am, and said the nurse stated this to the doctor, but he mis-heard her, and wrote down 6:53, which is what it will most likely say on her birth certificate. This is significant because of the Chinese belief in numerology and fortune telling (see other posts in this web log). My mother said it's very important when we look up Michaela's fortune using her birth date and time, that we use the correct time as 6:57am.

While we were visiting with Marie and the family, Michael's older sister Jane, her husband Tom and their daughter Madeline also showed up to pay everyone a visit. Madeline and Amelia, who already knew each other from being flower girls at Marie's wedding were fast friends and playing in one of the bedrooms in no time. Daniel trailed not far behind them playing his own game of superman with his blanket as the cape. Amelia and Daniel both seemed very fascinated with Michaela, and only gently touched her on her legs and arms.

Everyone commented on how large Michaela is (rather lengthy for a girl baby). She's doing well, and this was verified again at a doctor's visit this morning. Her bilrubin numbers were down again, a good sign, and no further unscheduled visits to the pediatrician are necessary.

My mother commented on how many people are calling from Taiwan and the rest of the U.S. to provide advice to Marie on how she should be taking care of herself and what she should be eating, now that she's post-partum. Many of these bits of advice, are long held Chinese beliefs passed down from mother to child.