handwritten on July 2, 2023
Dear Luna,
We just simply cannot believe you are officially two months. How much you have grown since we brought you home! This past month has been magical because we began to see you smile for the first time. You have excellent eye contact, and you love to look into the face of whomever is holding and rocking you. When you are cheesing extra hard, you have two giant dimples that pop up making that grin even more beautiful. Just like your daddy, you truly smile with your eyes, and we love that about both of you.
This month, we can say with great confidence that you are the ultimate snuggle bunny. You love to be held and squeezed extra tight (especially if you're sad.) You got three shots...
handwritten on June 1, 2023
Luna Mae Zhu you are officially one month (and a few days over) old! You are one spunky and opinionated little muffin. Daddy likes to call you his little grunt muffin! You make nine millions sounds per day and your facial expressions lead us to believe that you are going to be an individual with a BIG personality! You love to eat, and you certainly become a bit angry when you are not fed. You are starting to coo, can track very well and you have quite a strong head for such a little nugget! We love to see your dimples come out when you smile at the fan or in your dreams, and we have even heard a little giggle or two come out of you during your slumber as well. We cannot wait to see your...
handwritten on May 2, 2023
We recently just received a baby care book from one of Xiao's attending, and he wrote a beautiful message which began with these words: "Welcome to a world where your heart now exists outside your own body." We felt these words were so profound, that we decided to tape them on Luna Mae's wall of art corner. I don't think we could have said what we were feeling better than the way in which these words were so eloquently phrased.
Today is day 6 of having sweet baby Luna Mae brought into our world. A true symbol of growth and rebirth and spring for all of us The best way to say how we have been feeling is simply: having a child of your own is the releasing of a love you never knew existed...
handwritten on April 23, 2023
It has been such a very long time since I reflected formally through a journal, and I figure as long as the little one continues her delay, I should use my time wisely! This year has been so very overwhelming in terms of understanding and transformation, reflection and remembering my vocational origin and feeling intense gratitude for who I am, who I have become and who I wish to be as a thirty-year old. I came upon a quote which I found timely and profound and it reads like this: "During your transformation, you might feel like everything is falling apart, but in reality everything is coming together for your higher good. Your authentic life is what is in process of unfolding now."
I do...
handwritten on December 26, 2022
Now that I'm off for a bit of time and have taken a break from curricular writing, I have decided it was about time to write a small blog reflecting on ten years of knowing and developing and just being with Xiao. Might I just say, that it truly is scary just how quickly ten years goes by. Every year I wish for time to slow down just a smidge and every year, it just seems to go by so much faster.
It's hard to believe I have been teaching for 8-9 years (including full time student-teaching) and it is impossible to believe that we met at 20 and 22 and are now 30 and 32 years old. It is also hard to fathom that Xiao is now in his 5th (second to last year) of residency training at Pitt...
