Growing up

I’m growing up real fast – too fast for Mummy. I’ve learnt to move a lot, turning sideways easily now and to my front or back while lying down also. So, I’ve discovered that I can actually move more when Mummy changes my diapers or change me into my clothes. This has become a nightmare for Mummy coz it takes longer for her to do these simple chores now. I really cannot help it coz it’s so boring staying still there.

Mummy said she cannot believe how in less than a week, I’ve become unmanageable at the dressing table. She has tried all tactics that she can think off to have me stay put while she changes my diaper and clothes. She gave me toys but I still turn left or right with the toys. She sang me songs which works for that few seconds before I turn back to touch the things around me. Her last resort is to get Papa to hold me down while she changes my diaper at least. But Papa can’t be around all the time! hehe…

I find myself in the total opposite direction when I get up in the mornings. Mummy will put me on my back at the bottom of my cot when it is time for bed but I am always either at the middle of the cot sideways or at the top of the cot. At times I find myself facing down too or stuck at corners which I can wiggle myself back to the centre.

Mummy and Papa are worried about me starting to crawl. They’ve made more space for me at the living area but they still have a lot to do in getting their stuff out of the way.

Mummy's entry - From fists to fingers to thumb

Before Rye Li was born, I was already praying that she doesn’t suck her thumb. I know for sure I will not give the pacifier to her after reading some negative impacts on them.

In the earlier months of Rye Li’s life, I was glad that there were no indications of her wanting to suck her thumb but now looking back, I should have known better that there were telltale signs.

While bathing, there were many occasions where she will be sucking on either of her fists. And when she was wearing her mittens she will be having the mittens in her mouth most of the time.

So when we stop wearing the mittens on her (around midway of her 4th month), she has gotten this habit of having either fists in the mouth. Soon after that, it was either 2 or 3 fingers at a time. And by this time, I didn’t really care much coz she wasn’t sucking her thumb.

Then several weeks after her Penang trip, she managed to find her left thumb and it has been history after that. She has yet to find her right thumb and I don’t think she will coz she looks really contented with her left thumb. Many times when I’ve observed her sleeping, I noticed how she will find her left thumb to suck on and then when she’s in a deep sleep, she will let go of it. When she realizes her left thumb is out, she will put in back into her mouth again.

And since it’s only her left thumb, her head will mostly be on her left side. So when she unconsciously turns to the right and realizes her left thumb is out, she will automatically turn back to the left to get her thumb back into her mouth. I realized from her body language that she’s tired of sleeping on her left side but she has no choice if she wants her left thumb. I do so very much want to help her find her right thumb and yet I don’t want to encourage another thumb.

She does look adorable sucking her thumb away but I’m worried of its long term effects. My elder sister who sucked her thumb all the way till she was about 10 or so still have that thumb looking funny till today. And then I hear from other Moms that their kids suck so long on them that it can bleed or have hard bumps on them. I really don’t know whether I should introduce the pacifier to her or not. Even if I wanted to, her nursery does not encourage it. Maybe I’ll just try it at home to see her reaction but I doubt it will work coz even when I feed her from the bottle or nurse her at times, I notice she will get her left thumb into her mouth too.

Oh well, on the brighter side, I’ve not come across anyone who has sucked their thumb before to become abnormal later on in their lives. So I guess thumb sucking will not do her any harm.

My Papa

Father’s day is around the corner and I thought I should show my appreciation to my papa who will be celebrating father’s day for the first time.

My papa has been well, my papa! He has adjusted well to being my papa from the time I was born which has made mummy very proud of him. He may not realize it (coz he has voiced out numerous times that I’m more attached to Mummy) but hanging out with him is really refreshing coz it can be very boring being with Mummy all the time.

Papa takes me for walks around our condo over the weekends when he needs to go buy newspapers. I like this a lot coz I get to see the garden, playground and the swimming pool before heading down to the shop. At times, there will be people and children at the playground and swimming pool so I get really curious and will be staring at them. If not, I will be staring around at the plants, trees and birds (if I’m lucky).

Papa loves fishes a lot. We have a lot of them around our place which keeps me occupied at times. Not just moving ones but non-moving ones too on the walls and really colourful they are. We also have some moving fishes at our balcony which makes me really curious coz of the water sounds that comes from it. Every time papa carries me out there for sure I will look towards the fishes. I’ve learnt that one of the tanks in the house has sea fishes in them and I like this one the most coz it’s big and bright when the light turns on. The fishes never fail to get my attention coz they move a lot. And on the outside of this tank, there’s a non-moving fish that is stuck to it. When you pull it out, it will vibrate back in. I find this really ticklish at times and will laugh at it.

I’ve heard that when I get bigger, papa is going to take me fishing and also to the waterfalls. Papa just loves water (which is probably why he loves fishes too). He may not look like a person that loves swimming (coz of his size) but he can swim pretty well and a natural at floating (mummy says it has got to do with his fats). So he’s a firm believer in our natural surroundings. I guess if our weather is not so hot, he will be taking me camping too.

Papa doesn’t sing to me like how mummy does – he claims that he was not taught of any songs at school. So he plays me music instead, mostly from his handphone and if not, it will be from the computer.

When I get cranky, papa tries his best to calm me down and if it doesn’t work, he will cry along with me. I find this irritating coz he mimics whatever I do. And when he cannot stand my screaming any longer, he’ll take me to mummy. There were many times when we followed mummy around the house, even when she’s in the shower. But this works coz I get to be carried around and I like being carried.

I do not know what we’ll be doing this Father’s day yet but I heard that papa will be taking me swimming! Yippie!

Happy Father’s Day Papa and I love you!

Mummy’s entry – Perhentian Island

I cannot believe that our Rye Li is like us – she’s a born traveler alright. Her Grandma says she is exactly like us that is, she cannot sit still also. Guess the traveling to Bangkok and Perhentian while she was in my tummy paid off! ;)

The journey to Perhentian went smoothly with some fusses from her now and then. We left KL early at 4-30am and this girl was wide awake already from all the moving about so after nursing her and still she didn’t want to sleep, I let her be in her car seat and she fell asleep on her own. The journey took us about 8 hours, we stopped in between for pee-stops.

We had to take the speedboat in to the island and I've forgotten how strong the wind can be on it. Was worried that she will be frightened from the ride but this girl shocked us all by sleeping through the bumpy, noisy and very windy ride. It was a good thing that she was tired. The boat stopped at another resort to drop off another family on our boat and this was when she woke up. I thought she will start crying when the boat started again but she didn’t – phew!

While we were there, it was so hot that I let her be topless with just a bib and her diaper, first time for her and us too. Was thinking if her grandparents or my aunties were around, would have surely gotten some naggings! She was the youngest there but there were also 2 other babies who’s 3 and 6 months older than her. They seem to be ok with the hot weather coz they’re not sweating as much as Rye Li. And this girl is a pro at PR – she allows everyone to carry her and not just that, she talks to all of them too, even the babies.

We took her swimming that evening – hubby has been really excited about this and first thing he did when we arrived was to blow up the baby float we got her. Lucky for him, we used the diving air tank to blow it up – he was going to ask all the uncles there to blow it up.

She had shocked and serious expressions throughout the swim and I thought she would cry too. But she didn’t – guess her curiosity got the better of her. This was her first time. The next day, she was more at ease with her swim in the float and she was kicking away. And the following day, she was not only kicking away, she was with all smiles and talk throughout. She drank some sea water when she accidentally got her face into the water. Her eyes were red and she had the shocked look which we all expected her to cry but she didn’t. I was really worried but seeing her back to her normal self after we wiped her face and gave her some water, I was really proud of her. She’s definitely braver and more adventurous than her mummy and I’m so glad that she has lived up to the meaning of her name in English – Riley means courageous and it’s so apt.

The wedding went smoothly although this girl missed out a lot coz she was sleeping in between. She even slept through the helicopter sounds when the bride & groom had a gala time up there looking down at the rest of us on the island.

When it was time for us to leave, we were worried about the boat ride but this girl proved us wrong again coz she was sleeping throughout. And again she woke up when the boat stopped to pick up a passenger from the small island but she went back to sleep shortly after that through the noise and all. It’s either she’s really tired or she just loves the wind and the bumpy ride.

We spent 2 nights at Kuantan before heading back to KL and this girl was quite ok with the hotel and the baby cot that was provided. Phew! At the island, she was sleeping in between us and she moved so much that it was disrupting our sleep. I was reading a lot that babies can be stressed out with new routines and I was expecting the worst for this trip but rye li proved me wrong. She did fuss a little especially late evenings till night time and made me rushed like mad to have my dinner but overall, she is a very good baby. We had comments from others that she doesn’t cry much but this is just her naturally from day 1. When she really cries, then we will know it’s something serious. But having said this, lately she has learnt how to demand for things by crying when her fusses cant get her anything.

We went for a swim at the hotel’s pool and I found the water really cold but this girl didn’t mind it and was happily kicking and smiling away. Hubby is going to be one busy papa during weekends now coz he’s going to take her swimming at our condo’s pool.

Only setback of this trip was that everyone was always carrying her so on our way back, this girl was fighting away with her car seat. I’m not proud of having to take her out of it but I cant let her cry for hours during the journey. Don’t worry, she wasn’t out from it the whole journey. And now that we’re back home, she wants us to carry her most of the time – will cry if we ignore her fusses when she’s in her cot or her rocker chair. And not only that, she also wants us to move around when we carry her. Sigh! Wonder how will she adjust back to her daily routine at the nursery tomorrow.

Now here’s Rye Li’s version of her adventures:-

I had my first swim! It took me a while to realize where I was at coz I was wondering how come there’s so many people bathing with me. And also why isn’t my bath warm anymore. I kept looking around and there were so many people around me, Peh Deh (Papa’s brother), Aunty M, Kai Yeh (my godfather), Papa and Uncle R with his niece. And oh boy, were they all fussing around me. I was too engross with this yellow thing around me to pay attention to all of them. Before I can actually enjoy myself, I was pulled up and was nicely wrapped around my bathrobe, getting ready for my actual bath.

The next day’s swim was more fun. I actually managed to kick myself around. Although there were just as many people around me, I didn’t care, I just went kicking around and found myself still engross with that yellow thing in front of me. Tried tasting it and it tasted funny – mummy and papa had to stop me all the time but it didn’t work. I just like tasting it.

The next morning, on the wedding day, Mummy was taking me out to go get some water when we noticed a huge crowd at the beach right in front of our room. Kong Kong Hwang (Kai Yeh’s & Aunty PS’ father) came to us and said there’s a turtle there that had just laid eggs. Mummy passed me to him and ran back to get the camera. I was fascinated with the crowd more than the huge thing in front of me. Next thing I knew, Kong Kong Hwang put me on the turtle and asked Mummy to take my picture. I was told later that this is nothing to be proud of and Aunty PS wasn’t too pleased too with what her father did. I heard something that we have evidence to proof what he did and that was my picture being taken on that turtle. But I’m the only baby or perhaps the only human we know for the time being that has sat on a turtle – ok, I’m not going to brag anymore coz Aunty PS may be reading this.

Papa had been taking me for walks in the mornings on the beach and I really like this. It’s so much better than the walks I get at home when he goes to buy papers coz I get to see so much more.

I slept through the wedding ceremony so there’s nothing much to write on that bit except that there were a lot of people around and that I managed to wake up in time to take some pics with Aunty PS & Uncle R.

And I did swim again that evening. I really had a good time this time round coz I was used to it already and was happily kicking away. This time I had more people around me, Aunty PS (she’s freer now that her ceremony is over), Por Por Hwang, Kong Kong Hwang and the usual people that were around me the last 2 days. I guess I got overly excited that my face fell into the water a little and boy did it sting my eyes! I was shocked coz of the stinging and also the awful taste of the water when I drank some of it. But that didn’t stop me from wanting to have more fun.

I was such a good baby and I had so much fun in the water that Peh Deh said I will be given free life membership for diving from Aunty PS and Uncle R and perhaps, Mummy's sifu (teacher). Will see what Aunty PS has to say about this but the thing is, I have to wait at least I'm 7 years old. That is such a long time more!

It was time to leave the island and it took so long for the boat to come get us that I fell asleep while waiting. One thing I didnt enjoy about the island was that it was too hot for me. I was sweating like mad the whole day. So the breeze on the boat was so welcoming that it was easy for me to sleep through the ride.

We went to Kuantan after that and I had another round of swim but it was a different type of water. Nonetheless, any water is fine with me as long as I get to kick in it.

My holiday came to end when we headed for home after Kuantan. It was no fun having to sit in the car for so long and I made that known to Mummy & Papa very loud and clear throughout the journey home. Mummy said she wonders how will I be reacting to my first plane ride in December - oh boy, I cannot wait!