Friday, August 29, 2008

Ian Is 5 Months Old


Ian is 5 months old today!

Some interesting stuff on him:
  • Plays with toes, or even put his toes into his mouth
  • Sleeps before midnight till 7am for his feed, then goes back to bed until 10-11am
  • Learning to crawl like a lizard, and can turn his body clockwise/anticlockwise on his tummy
  • Sits with some support
  • Stands with some support
  • Grabs things that are put in front of him, then sometimes, put these things into his mouth
  • Likes to sleep with a pacifier
  • Likes shopping
  • Likes the GD Maths dot cards (he will smile whenever I show him those)
  • Starts to show interest in the food we eat by mimicking our chewing motion
  • Loves to yell to catch our attention

Thursday, August 28, 2008

New Clothes and New Books

Recently, I bought 3 pieces of Carters clothings from the Babycenter sale. 2 pieces of pant set at USD$5.10 each and a piece of romper at USD$1.99. It was simply too hard to resist.


I also bought the following 2 books, to read up on introducing solid food to Ian:

Today, we upgraded all the Dr Brown bottles to level 3 teats. We have been using stage 2 teats on and off and the flow seems OK. We tested the stage 3 teats on Ian today, and he finished all his milk within 10 minutes. Or maybe it was 5 mins? It was incredible how fast the milk was going down. Feeding him has become a chore because as his intake increases, the time taken to finish his meal lengthens too. Sometimes, I think he becomes frustrated at the slow flow and starts fidgeting and loses his focus. Now, it seems so good that he can finish drinking within such a short time. We are going to change all the Born Free bottles to stage 3 teats too!

After More Than A Year


The Orh Nee - I have craved for this dessert for over a year. Since the beginning of my pregnancy, I had to refrain from many kinds of food for the benefit of my child and my weight gain. And in the last trimester when I started to gorge on my faves, we just could not find a place that sold this.

Last weekend, we went to the Pine Gardens to buy some bread and hubby bought this too as a nice surprise. It did not come with the coconut milk though. We bought it from Shop & Save later on. We enjoyed it as our supper - and thanks to the milk for making it fragrant and smooth.

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Subtraction

Yesterday, Ian has started on the subtraction equations in the GD method. He has had 2 weeks of additions being shown to him, and I wonder how much he has absorbed?

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Toes II

According to hubby, this morning, Ian has been caught eating his toes shortly after he woke up. I have yet to witness it myself, because as usual, hubby is always the first to see his new abilities. *shrug*

PSSS... Ian has been trying to crawl on his tummy "lizard-styled", as hubby puts it. His legs will curl towards his tummy and his hands are stretched out, scratching on the floor. I think, he needs more luck with his hands-legs coordination.

Monday, August 18, 2008

A Year In Retrospect

Over a year ago, it was just the two of us. Life was carefree, and we went wherever we liked.

Not long after we returned from our Hokkaido-Tokyo (2nd) honeymoon, I got a positive sign on the pregnancy test kit. I had spotting, and received two weeks of hospitalization leave to have bedrest. The doctors banned me from housework in the first trimester. However, my job became hectic and more shit came my way. It was a test of endurance for the next few months. Hubby also decided to get a car for the sake of convenience and safety for me.

We also had our fair share of worries when we had a scare that the pregnancy might be an ectopic one when the TMC lab scan did not detect any sac in the first checkup. However, Dr Tan was really cool and steady. She detected what the lab did not and saw the water sac, although she still wanted to be on the safe side and asked me to return the following week. On 2nd visit, the pregnancy was confirmed when Dr Tan detected the yolk sac. The first trimester was not too bad as compared to some other mummies who merlioned everything they ate. It was just fatigue, nausea and the lack of appetite that made the entire trimester hard to bear. And also, a lot of restrain in eating the food that I had been used to. No maguro, no ootoro, no soft-boiled egg, no coffee, no tea, etc... But luckily, Dr Tan gave the green light for sushi and sashimi and many other food. Thus, I still enjoyed salmon for the entire pregnancy, and also a little shellfish.

I was glad that the 2nd trimester arrived, because my pregnancy became more stable and the nausea also went off gradually. The placenta had been developed. My tummy progressively grew from a flat one to a pointed one. It was getting obvious that I was pregnant. My comrades in work had been extremely kind to me, offering to help me carry things, plug the cables, letting me decide where to have lunch, etc. At the 16th week or so, Dr Tan detected the male genitals in our fetus. As the worries of any mishap subsided after the 1st trimester, we started our crazy shoppings in preparation of Ian's arrival. Wherever there was a sale, we were likely to take a look.

The 2nd trimester breezed past us. My tummy ballooned rapidly and the extra weight was having an effect. My backache developed too (and I still have it now!). The 3rd trimester was tough with a big load in front. I started to outgrow even my maternity pants and had to get a couple of new ones. I started to wobble due to the increasing pressure on my pelvic area. It was hard to squeeze with the crowd and we stopped going to sales, except for the Mother & Baby fair in March.

Just when we least expected it, my water bag burst in the morning of 29 March 2008. My hubby sped down the roads to send me to TMC in record time. And when I least expected it, my labour was a fast one (reached hospital at around 3am, delivered before 8am). I did not have time for epidural, and I thought my world was crashing down with the labour pain. With encouragements from hubby, Dr Tan and the nurses, Ian is born.

The u/s machines were one of the best inventions in this age. We witnessed how our little one grew from a water sac, into a yolk sac, and from a tiny pea with heartbeats into one with limbs, and gradually we saw the eyes and fingers. The shape grew more and more human-like as days passed.

Ian must have been camera-shy even before birth. At the 32nd week 4D scan to see his face, he turned inwards so that the probe was not able to see his face. When finally the Dr got a front view, he used his hands to hide his face. Now, Ian will stop his antics whenever he sees a camera, and then stare at it.

It has been a year since I was first discovered pregnant. Motherhood has been a struggle with tears, stress, fatigue, backache, pains, and happiness when we see our little one growing well.

In the blink of an eye, Ian is almost 5 months old. Before going to bed, and when we wake up in the morning, it is always a delight to see our sleeping baby. It just take a smile from him to brighten up our day.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

You Want To Crawl?

Ian has made my day again!

First, he finally flipped on his left side. All the while, he has shown a clear preference for his right side.

Although it was only yesterday when I saw his butt wriggling around while he was on his tummy, today, he actually moved around on his tummy, from the 12 o'clock position to the 8 o'clock position, before he started to throw tantrums again.

According to the GD book, crawling is moving on tummy, from point A to point B. (Creeping is moving on all fours.) So, is this crawling?

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Ian, My Heart Missed A Beat

While Ian was having his usual tummy time on the playmat, he started to wriggle such that he actually swayed his legs from one side to another. He appeared to be trying to crawl. His hands were scratching on the mat while his feet tried to kick. I heard that some babies could crawl by 5 months. I wonder if Ian could do that too? He is going to be 5 months in another 2 weeks.

He also gave me a shock today. I was sorting out the GD cards while he was on his rocker. Sensing that the rocker was rocking, I turned around to check on him. My heart jumped when I saw him bending forward, head almost touching his knees, and looking down at the floor. I made him lie back on the rocker again. But, within a few seconds, he tried to get up again and he was back to the bending position. Hubby and I have realised that recently, he has been trying to sit up on his own from the reclining rocker. We must really keep a close watch on him, more than ever.

Saturday, August 9, 2008

Happy 43rd Birthday to Singapore!

We spent the afternoon meeting many babies, mummies and daddies, at mummy Dolly's place. Hope Ian has had fun getting to know so many babes and hunks!

In the evening, we went to Causeway Point to have dinner at Ichiban Sushi, to use up the $10 voucher that we had earned from previous meals. The sushi and sashimi were very fresh, perhaps due to their good business (fast stock clearance!). We also found a new love for the kajiki sashimi. The taste reminded us of the delicious ootoro that we ate in Tsukiji, Tokyo last year.

For the first time, I drove back from Woodlands - it was a "night driving" too.

The Taka Baby Fair

Yesterday afternoon, Ian and I took a cab to Takashimaya for a little shopping. The bi-annual baby fair has started on Thursday, so we went to take a look although there was nothing much that we needed. And also, the renovation work at a neighbouring unit was still going on, thus we needed fresher air. By the time we arrived, it was well past 5pm but the crowd was still OK.

We walked around for only a while before hubby met up with us. We had dinner first, before going back to the fair again. The crowd was not OK by that time. We bought a few things: Huggies diapers (L size) at $14+, 2 packs of travel-size J&J wet wipes at $4.50, and feeding utensils to prepare for solid-feeding (spoons with soft tips, bowls, and a drinking cup with straw top). The diapers came with storybooks and a form for redeeming the tent, and also a free bowl & spoon set, and a nursery songs CD.


The Pigeon bottle exchange program was back again, but the bottle up for trade was a non-BPA-free one. On overall, most items were cheaper than normal prices, but there were a few that were at the usual prices too, like the LeapFrog books and Pigeon wet wipes (3 packs bundle). Not too bad.

I noticed that the shoppers were made up of many, many pregnant women. It reminded me of those days during my pregnancy, when we used to shop around to stock up on baby items. And perhaps because of the stocking up, and also that it is tiring with a baby, mothers do not really care for such fairs already?

As a side note, it is the opening day of the Beijing Olympics games.

Monday, August 4, 2008

Toes

Yesterday, I noticed that Ian has started to play with his toes. He will curl his legs with knees on his chest, and his hands will start to reach towards his toes, and hold them. Is this a milestone?
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