Look Who is Talking?

I have been wanting to record this but keep forgetting. You have always been a talkative and interactive baby. You started to jabber since you were like two or three months old. And you started to say PaPa to the delight of your most favourite person when you were 6 months old. Then you proceeded to say mama, bird, tap, bread, popo.....

And when you turned 9 months old, you started calling your daddy- DAD. Yeah, you would go: Dad, Dad, Dad.... You never fail to greet him every morning when you wake up or when he comes home from work. You would point at him with your forefinger and say: Dad. This never fail to melt his heart every time!

You also started calling me : Mom. But you dont call me readily or spontaneously. You would only call out to me: "Mom" when you want me. Alot of people are surprised that you dont call me mama or mummy but 'Mom'. yeah. I told them that you are my little maid.

You love to imitate our activities. When you see us on the phone, you would pretend to put your hand to your ear and blabber non stop. And recently you have started to talk on the phone. Haha.... You would grab my handphone at every opportunity and press the redial button..

I caught you many times talking non stop on my handphone. I thought you were just pretending but then I realised you actually pressed the redial button and started to talk to the other party. You would smile and laugh and go ehhehhhehhh for the longest time. Most of the time, you will call your grandmother or auntie G. And you guys can be on the phone for like 20 mins???? And that day, I met my friend and she was like: your daughter called me the other day to chat. Ummm...excuse me.. my 11 months daughter called you on the phone to chat? Now I cant help wondering who else has she called to chat??

And sometimes when I asked you to pass the phone back to me, you would shake your head and put your forefinger to your lips and ask me to sshhhh. OMG! You mimic us subconsciously. You learn through observation and repetition. These behaviours are passed to you unconsciously through our repeated behaviour. I really have to demonstrate the right values I expect of you by living it out myself.

Oh yes, this is unbelievable but you started indicating your wants and nos since you were like 2 months old? Your grandmother and I would asked you if you want your milk and you would go ehhehhehh upon hearing that. And sometimes you would shake your head to say no. In fact you shake your head quite often and I got concerned because I never see young babies shaking their heads before. I know I am paranoid but I started linking shaking heads with fits. But after some research, I realised that babies shake their head to show their displeasure like when they feel cold or uncomfortable. This is very true for you. You would normally shake your head besides telling us that you are full and also when you are sleepy.

YOu are one baby who is not afraid to indicate your preference.

And your grandmother is very proud that she managed to diaper train you when you were 2 months old. Every morning before your bath, she would put you on the bed and unfasten your diaper. Then she would say : Mmmmmp.....mmmmmmmp...mmmppp. And strange enough, you learned to pick up this cue and poo! So every time when we go mmmmp.... you would spontaneously start to try. You would try till your whole face turned red. So you were considered diaper trained when you were 2 months old!

You are just one incredible baby who never fail to amaze me with your developments every month. Will blog more of your little steps taken and milestones soon.

Guess How Much I Love You

Came across this book and I know I have to get it for you. You are still too young for this book so I am adding it to your collection of books.

Can't wait to read together with you. I am having a tough time controlling myself from flipping through the book. But I am saving it till you are a little older when you stop chewing on your books and enjoy the book together with me.

Guess How Much I Love You, Marsh?

Too much is No good

Last week, you started having mild diarrhea. You used to go like once a day around noon and rarely 2 times a day. But then last weekend, the frequency increased and the stool is soft and at times loose. At the same time, you had these little bumps on your tummy. I was getting concerned but monitored a few more days and watched your diet closely.

Then we decided to bring you to see Dr Terence Tan on last Tuesday. As much as I like Dr Tan very much, I hate to go and see him. He is too popular and the queue to see him is unbelievable. We reached the clinic about 1145hrs, hoping to be the last one before they closed for morning session. But we only managed to see him at about 1420hrs.

Anyway, you are not going to believe this. He took one glance at your tummy and said that the rash was caused by the 'chinese Ruyi' medicated oil we applied on you... ehh but you started using the oil since birth. He said some babies reacted slower. ok...

Then we told him about your dierrhea. After listening, he announced with a big smile that you have had too much nutritious food- too much fibre in your diet. WHAT?????? ok ok I admit that I have been pumping you with loads of greens. Your daily porridge is cook with vegetable+ meatbone stock (ingredients- leek/ sweet potatoes/ cabbage/ carrots/ parsnip +meatbone)

In addition to that, I make sure you have 1 main (fish/chicken/beef/ pork) and 2 side dishes (zuichinni/tomatoes/ broccoli/ cauliflower/pumpkin/peas/corn/spinach/ french beans/kailan....) per meal. ANd of course you will have your daily fruit- apple/ peach/ nectarine/ pear/ mango/papaya/banana.....

Dr Tan advised me to reduce the fibre intake. So I stopped using the vegetable stock for a few days and cut down on your vegetable. I concentrated on your protein and iron intake instead- eggs/ tofu/lentils/ beef/ liver. Your porridge for the last 5 days looked plain and bland. But thank goodness you did not fuss over it.

But you were still having loose stools so I called Dr Tan whom advised me to go for a stool test. So on Tuesday I took your soiled diaper to the clinic for the lab test consisting of Rotavirus, stool culture and stool Feme. The results came back fine and I was so relieved!!!!

You are better now. Soiling your diapers only twice or thrice a day. I have to be really careful now. I guess too much is really no good.

Making Music

You have a new hobby- blowing the trumpet. You seem to love to learn how to use the different musical instruments. I guess you pick up this from kindermusik. You mastered blowing the trumpet last weekend. Your dad was showing you how to blow into the trumpet and you took a try and voila! And everyone clapped for you.

SO now you are hooked. And you will stop each time to make sure we clap together with you. So cute..

High and Mighty

I cant believe this. I have always heard from other mummies and read on the forum that babies are standing up and falling down from the highchair. But I never imagine you will do that one day. Well, you did it today.

You never have any problems with the highchair. You will happily seat in your highchair for meals and sometimes to watch the telly. Today, you decided to fidget and struggle a bit to loosen up the belt. And then the next moment, you were standing up on the highchair! But thank goodness I was around and didnt let you fall.

I was amazed but not amused. I guess I cannot leave you in your highchair unattended anymore. But I take it as another milestone reached.

Sweet Dreams, Marsh!

These days you are getting so cute and adorable. You are such a happy baby. You are always laughing away and easily tickled. Everyone in the family and even the neighbours love you and your laughter. The auntie next door even label you as the mini laughing buddha. I said you get high easily.

Infact you are the sweetest baby since birth. You dont cry unneccessarily and your cries so far were all short ones and easily pacified. I am so blessed. And you started sleeping through the night since you were 2 months old. How lucky can I get, right?

I love watching you sleep. A sleeping baby is one of the most beautiful sights Nature has to offer. I am in the process of making a photobook containing pictures of you sleeping. The below is some preview of what is in the making.

Sweet tight, darling. Sweet dreams, my baby.

What is truly important in life?

Life is full of decisions. Especially life with a baby. Breast or bottle? work or SAHM? use the paci or ditch it? playgroup or cc? which kindy? which PD?

Maybe you'll grow up and question me of the decisions that I made now. Honestly, I am also unsure of the decisions I made but I am listening to my heart and following the instinct of a new mum.

I just want you to be a happy baby-play and have a happy childhood. I remind myself repeatedly not to fall into the paranoia. The last thing I want for you is to be a kiasu mummy. I can understand that all the kiasu parents are borne out of worry that their kids cannot survive the local system. But is the fear hitting me now? I hope it never does.

All the recent faze about schools/kindy registration is puzzling me. Finding a right nursery or kindergarden is challenging but I REFUSED to have the mentality that exclusivity and a long wait list are a mask of quality.

I want to go with my instincts and personal research. I want more than nurturing you but instead to impact your life in more ways than one. I hope I can inspire you to be kind and make happiness a priority.

My wish for you is to be able to live on your own terms and at the same time being loved.

In a nutshell, I just want you to be happy.

Kaleidoscope of Dreams

I was looking at you at play that day and suddenly realised that you have grown so much and you are now capable of throwing tantrums! It hits me then that your personality and character is shaping up as day passes. It makes me wonder what kind of person do i want you to grow up to be and what positive values do i want you to inherit and negative features to be left behind?

What will my legacy to my little girl be? I have been mulling over this question since then.

Where material things are concerned, I love the idea of passing down my treasured possessions to you. The notion that you will be one day wearing my favourite ring touches me to the core. That is why I am cracking my head to give you a significant gift that would appreciate over time. I dont mean monetary value but the true value that lies in the memories these gifts hold.

Heirlooms aside, I would also like you to inherit my appreciation of reading, travelling and music. My love of books and stories and of course values like kindness and consideration.

I hope you will grow up to be aware of your roots and be in touch with your instinct. Most importantly, live life abundantly and have a kaleidoscope of dreams!

The world is your oyster, my dear!

My Marshmellow turns 11 months

1st July 2009 Love this picture. You girls were having fun communicating through your chubby legs!

Mummy, I want to go there...

And there......

This is cool!

Hot! Hot!!!

I am coming back for more!

My Marshmellow turned 11 months on the 1st July 2009!

This month, I did not get you any toys to commemorate the event. But to celebrate you turning 11 months, we went to the ZOO!!! Yeah!!!! We finally went to the Zoo today. I had been procrastinating for some time and we finally made it. And Auntie Lina and Trudy made the occasion even more special by joining us. Thank you so much!

I am not sure about you, Marsh. But I was really excited. It was a long drive there but as usual you are an angel with carseats. I never have any problem with you in carseats since young. In fact I think you enjoyed the ride... humming along and clapping away with your Zoom Buggy's music.

I was worried about the weather as it was cloudy in the East. But the weather turned out to be really nice. We didnt get to see many animals (i know it is unbelievable) but I think you girls enjoyed the tram ride very much. We concluded the visit by playing in the waters at the children's world . Again, you had so much fun in the waters. And I have so much fun chatting with Auntie Lina.. heehee...

YOu fell sound asleep on the ride home. I looked at you sleeping snuggly in your carseat and realised how much happiness it gives me to see you so happy.

I am happy when you are happy.

Happy 11th months, Marsh!

Superwoman... Supermummy

OMG... I cannot believe that my last entry was in June. I simply cannot find time to blog these days. But there is so much happenings that I want you to remember... or at least read about them... I guess I have to try really hard.

I am so tired these days. I am more drained with less time to rest. You have transformed from a sweet marsh bunny to a Duracell rabbit with endless flow of energy. You are a fast crawler these days and attempting to stand and walk. You had also become more demanding and refused to be left alone. You like to cling on to me like a koala bear. It is extremely tiring but I actually love the way you hug me tight. And I know I'll keep on keeping on.

Motherhood brings with it a demand for energy that will force you to power through even the most exhausted moments.

And my wrists are hurting so badly these days. I can feel that they had deteriorated. Both my wrists hurt and my fingers stiffen at the joints. And the pain is impacting my left feet as well. These bothersome pains make it tough for me to get a decent night's sleep. I suspect I have arthritis. Just like my granny and mom. It is probably genetic. Damn...I am starting to worry for you.......

Despite that, I am so busy with you that I just forget to give these aches and pains the attention. Being a mother really gives me the superpowers like a superwoman.. hmmmm.. or SuperMummy.