Sleep

It is always a beautiful moment when a crying baby is pacified and sleeps in your arm as a result. It means that she trusts you and feels secured.

Yee Sinn has picked up a bad habit of needing to be carried while going to sleep. We wished she would be able to sleep on her own when we put her down. We have tried putting her down when she’s in a drowsy state or patting her while lying next to her in a mattress once she has her first yawn. Unfortunately, she still cries and wants to be carried to slumber-land. Sometimes her cries are soft whimpers, sometimes they are loud screams. Guess I’ll just have to be more patient with her while putting her to bed. After all, she is just a baby and crying is her only form of communication.

I enjoy the early mornings most….around 7am. Because it is when Yee Sinn and I will snuggle up together under the blanket for 1.5 hours before she gets up to poop at 8. Sometime she’ll have her tummyaches. When this happens, she’ll be lying on her tummy on my chest and the compression will make her feel better.

Trip to Grandma's House

Yee Sinn is already 5 weeks old and weighs about 4.6kg. After some considerations, hubby and I decided to take her to my mother’s place today for a short visit today. While going there, we put her in the Baby Rock Sling and she seemed to like it. Guess it kind of reminded her of her time in mummy’s womb – all squashed up but felt close and secured.

All at home were pretty excited with Yee Sinn’s going over. Her Ah Yi surprising woke up a little earlier to welcome her. She also took tons of pictures of her niece. Grandma and Grandpa Chang all had a fun time with her during her wakefulness as well.

Yee Sinn adapted quite well to the new environment. It was also because we timed our outing to her EASY schedule so it made traveling and having lunch together more pleasant. We planned the trip in such a way that she was sleeping while we traveled to Grandma Chang’s house. When we reached there, it was just in time for her next feed. After satisfying her hunger, she played with the folks. The adults can get quite silly doing stuffs to amuse the baby. It was soon after that she fell asleep on a mattress in the living room after her play so that mummy and daddy could have their lunch in peace.

We're all looking forward to the next trip out together.

Back to work for a day

Grandma Lee had to visit the dentist to fix her dentures yesterday. So for the first time, I was taking care of Yee Sinn alone at home. Though it was tough managing her on my own, it was kind of fun. Perhaps some may even call it mother and daughter bonding session. Hah hah.

Yee Sinn seems to be enjoying her bath these few days. There were times she even fell asleep in the tub while I was scrubbing her clean! I have been bathing my daughter myself for the last few days. I explained to Grandma Lee that I would like to spend as much time I could with her before I get back to work and the morning bath time would be something I will miss once I start work again.

So today, I left Yee Sinn to deliver cakes to my colleagues at work after I bathe and settled her down. We ordered a few dozen cupcakes and we hope the folks at work liked them. It was nice catching up but unfortunately, I had to rush home for Yee Sinn’s next feed. I did not stock up enough supply to be able to stay out too long. I’m not too sure how it’ll be like being a SAHM but I’m sure I’ll be missing the bonding time with my girl. Sigh…. Don’t think I’m looking forward to going back to work anytime soon. 1 month down… 2 more to go. Must cherish the time I have with my girl now.

One Month Old

According to the Lunar Calendar, Yee Sinn is officially 1 month old. We did not do anything elaborate to celebrate her “Man Yue”. We just had a simple prayer with simple offerings to both Guan Yin and the Ancestors to mark this day. Hubby and I wish Yee Sinn well. May she always be healthy, happy and wise.

Mother-in-law hosted Yee Sinn’s one month old celebration yesterday by inviting hubby’s relatives as well as her long time friends to our place for lunch. As both hubby and I were never a great fan of buffet food, we took quite a while to decide on where to order the lunch from. We eventually catered from this place called Chilli Api Padi Catering. Thank goodness the food we had was quite decent. Apparently, they are the subsidiary of Chilli Padi Noya Resturant along Joo Chiat Road.

"Super- Neh"

Told hubby that I’m no longer his sexy wife but rather an um-glam Super – Neh. What’s Super-Neh? Think of superman… the moment baby crys, I’ll immediately go to her rescue by ripping of my top and give her my “neh”. Hahhaha.

Anyway, Yee Sinn was trying to do a flip yesterday. Unfortunately, she only managed a half flip to her side. She looked kind of cute curling up by her side like a shrimp while asleep. Not too sure when I can introduce the bolster to her.

Birthday

Today has been uneventful- thank goodness cos many things could have gone wrong. Older? Yes. Wiser? Perhaps.

There wasn’t any special celebration as I reached the BIG three but I guess it’s no big deal really. I was joking with my colleague over the phone yesterday on how I have moved up the category from being in my “late twenties” to “early thirties”.

Little surprises sprinkled the day. A little card next to Yee Sinn as I changed her nappy in the morning…. A stalk of flower on the dining table in the afternoon…. An evening stroll with hubby along the shops at Toa Payoh Central… Mundane to some, but a little adventure to me.

It was a Happy Birthday.

Tears

Being a stay at home mother (for now) means a few things. I will be able to witness Yee Sinn’s many firsts. I watched in amazement when Yee Sinn first lifted and turned her head from left to right, and right to left again. (cheap thrill some might say. Hahahah)

Today, Yee Sinn had her first drop of tears. It was so heart breaking….. Yee Sinn always has a problem swallowing her milk. This morning, she cried for her milk, gulped a few mouthful, then wailed loudly because she drank too fast. It was then, I saw a drop of tears from her left eye trickled down her cheeks. The only thing I could do was to burp her immediately as she continued to cry. Other than that, I was helpless.

I am wondering if I should stop latching her on my boobs and start pumping out the milk into bottles instead. Perhaps it will help Yee Sinn in her swallowing… The other advantage is I’ll be able to know how much she’s drinking and perhaps the pumping will be able to simulate more milk production. Also, more people in the household will be able to help out with her feeding. The flip side to this may mean the end to the very personal mother-baby bonding that I have with my baby. Though it may seems like a battle each time she whines and screams her head off when latching on doesn’t seems right, it’s a very fulfilling experience to see her end her feed with a contented and satisfied smile.

I’m going to try latching on for maybe 2 or 3 more weeks to see if things will get better… else it’ll be pumping and sterilizing of bottles from then on. Am keeping my fingers crossed. Wish me luck folks!