We gave Yee Sinn her first semi-solid on Saturday morning. We decided to let her try Friso Cream as it has a smooth texture which makes it very easy for kids to swallow. It got a bit messy as she wasn't used to having a spoon shoved into her mouth. I don't think she likes the taste cos she gave a "Yucks" expression. We're going to try again before we decide to carry on to Friso Cream to to just simply cook plain rice porridge instead.

Yee Sinn has a new toy.... well, it is not exactly her toy because we rented it instead of buying. I came across this website that rents out children toys. In the end, I rented an Evenflo Exersuacer (or something like that) to keep our dear girl entertained.

She seemed to be enjoying herself by bouncing and turning herself while exploring the features that comes it it. Hubby and I are just wondering how long her interest for the toy will last.... thank goodness it is on loan.

Last Saturday Yee Sinn had her 6-in-1 jab. As usually, she was down with fever in the night. Poor Mama and Papa could not have a proper rest as she was fussing the ENTIRE night. Glad she's all well and cheery on Sunday. She is growing up just fine. Dr Heng said she's in the 50th percentile range - not a very big baby in terms of weight. However, her motor skill development is excellent. She was amazed that Yee Sinn was able to sit so steadily during her check-up at the age of 5.5 months. Well, we did tell her that we are not overly protective parents - we let Yee Sinn tumble and fall so that she'll learn how to pick herself up quickly. Yes, we are so proud of our little baby for reaching all her milestones. Oh yah, did I mention that Yee Sinn can now associate the potty with pooping and peeing? Nowadays she gets it right 70% of the time. *Hee*

These few days, she seemed to be enjoying her little outings. Be it a simple trip downstairs to open the letter box, a car ride to Grandma Chang's house or to the playground downstairs, Yee Sinn never fails to show excitement when we tell her "Come, lets go kai kai!". Wondering when she'll be able to join Papa for his Sunday walks....

My favourite few photos taken recently

Papa was busy setting exam questions while babysitting Yee Sinn. Our dear girl just lay there quietly for almost half an hour, watching her papa punched in numbers into his pink calculator and writing down his questions.

Our ever curious baby seems to know that we're taking her photo. I took this while lying down with her during one of our playtime. Realised I have very few pictures of Yee Sinn and me.... let alone a family photo of the three of us.

Yee Sinn's favourite playmate is her papa. They always do silly things together, such as comparing whose tongue is longer.

We got our baby a small little toy to chew on. She liked to chew on it for the few days. She has since lost interest in that. Her thumb and 4 fingers on her left hand is STILL her favourite toy. Yes, even mama's breastmilk isn't as yummy as her hands. *Sigh*

Yee Sinn will be 6 months old next Saturday. We are thinking of introducing semi-solid food to her sometime next week. Right now, hubby and I are still planning what her first real food will be... Broccoli, spainach or carrot?

Now, Yee Sinn is able to:

1. Do a double flip ( that was how she fell off the bed)
2. Sit up on her own for a short while
3. Be on all fours though not very mobile yet
4. Leopard crawl very quickly
5. Tell us she hates something by "booing"

Yee Sinn likes to:
1. Play with papa
2. Be carried downstairs to open the letter box
3. Look out of the window every night
4. Talk to people
5. Go to the playground and watch little kids play
6. Take car rides
7. Stand up
8. Laugh a lot
9. Scream in frustration.

and the list goes on.....

Though she is a big responsiblity, it has been a joy for all of us at home having her around. It's really a blessing having her in our lives.

I have been indulging myself with taxi rides since I got back to work after my maternity leave. I figured taking a cab to and from work will allow me to maximize whatever interaction time I have with my baby. Yee Sinn wakes up early at 6am and sleeps at 7.30 pm. I really miss the interaction time I had with her while I was home for 3 months. Nowadays, work ends about 6pm, 5.30pm if I am lucky. By the time I take the train home, it’s already 7pm – just another 30mins and she’ll be in La-La-land. With cabs, I can leave home a little later. This allows me to feed her and sometimes, pat her back to sleep. I can also get back home before 6.30pms, which leaves me with enough time to bathe, feed and even read to hear before her bedtime.

Though taxi rides are expensive, I guess that’s the only indulgence I give myself for returning back to work after giving birth to our darling. Am looking forward to the day we get our own car....

Hubby and I had a scare yesterday morning. Yee Sinn fell off our bed while playing with hubby. It was quite traumatic for hubby – he thought he had killed our baby. But Yee Sinn was tough. Though she had a bad bump on her forehead, she was all well and smiley in the afternoon. We called Dr Chang straight after her fall as Yee Sinn was wailing away. She told us to monitor baby for the next 3 days. We’re observing her that she doesn’t have any fits, concussion, vomits, looks lethargic and sleepy. So far everything is well. Am hoping nothing eventful crops up.

Motherhood does strange things to you. It has changed my entire life…. In a good way I supposed. Physically, I’ve became one size bigger… from a size S to M. There is no way I can fit into MOST of my evening dresses anymore. I just realized this when I was searching for clothes to wear for an upcoming company staff’s dinner. I shook my head in disbelief that most of my clothes are either XS or S but eventually, gave my sister a call to borrow her clothes. Most mothers told me that breastfeeding will help reduce our post pregnancy weight. It is true to a certain extent. What they didn’t tell me was I’m constantly hungry and I’m always eating non stop as I need the extra calories for the milk production. So it’s basically back to square one.

Emotionally, my life has been richer with Yee Sinn around. I feel so much love for Yee Sinn in my every waking moment I spent watching her (well, almost). I grew to appreciate the people around me – My never- faltering hubby who is always around to guide me through difficult times, my parents, my mother-in-law, my siblings and even my friends. These are the people who have there for me when things get tough. There were times when I do regret having a baby – there were no more vacations, no more hanging out late after work and a big decreased in ME time. But I always remember that I don’t need to go through all these misery alone. When child rearing becomes a strain, I have learnt to talk to people and even asked for help.

Motherhood is tough. It is not just giving birth to a child. It is the entire process of nurturing her, teaching her the right values and giving her sufficient love. I won’t say I am the best mother in the world. All I can say is, I am still learning and trying to give the best I can to the people who are important to me. I am always grateful for the things I have and Yee Sinn is one of the greatest blessings in my life.

The greatest teacher one could have is life’s experiences and Motherhood is an experience itself.

The wedding studio that took our wedding photos 3 years ago called up on Saturday morning. They were clearing their old photos and asked if we wanted to purchase the sample photos and negatives that were not chosen for our wedding album for $150. There were 200 over pictures and we thought why not, because they will be throwing it away anyway. Come to think of it, I don't think they made a lot of money from us because we chose only a mere 30 images for our wedding album at that time. It sure pays to be patient sometimes.

Here's something some good old memories to share with, some really hilarious that were in the pile of rejects.

The classic black and white "Ah Kong & Ah Ma" pose

"Quick let's go"... but I was hot, tired and unglam

"Winne the Pooh & Christopher Robin"

The couple and their "maid"

I have not been blogging much the last week. This was because I was terribly busy at work and home. Kiddo was sick yesterday with high fever. I realized she was having a fever during one of her night feed. The temperature didn't come down despite our constant sponging. We did the next best thing - dunking her in a tub of cool water and that was 2am in the morning! Our little poor thing had to go through this again at 5.30am when she refused and puked out the medicine that we gave her. She almost tore the whole house down with her screaming as she had to endure cold baths for the rest of the day as her fever was lingering.

Thank goodness all is well now though her appitite has dropped a little. She even did a little lion dance for us this afternoon. My brave little girl. Think she'll grow up to be a tough fella.

p.s. I weighed her during her visit to the doctor. She's now 6.95kg at 5 months and 1 week. Am so glad that she's growing up just fine.