Papa, where are you?!

Papa’s been missing… I’ve not seen him lately. Usually, he only goes missing for a short while but it’s been days since I last saw him. Two nights ago, I heard him but I couldn’t see him. I was about to fall asleep when I heard him saying “Baby!”. I quickly got up and stared at that black little thing which Mummy calls it “phone” but I cannot see Papa. I just stared and stared at it coz I kept hearing Papa’s voice coming from it but I don’t see him.

I got a little scared and looked at Mummy for some reassurance and she went “It’s Papa girl, It’s Papa talking to you”. And then I went staring at the phone again.

I wonder whether Papa’s disappearance has got to do with Ah Kong (paternal grandpa) and Ah Por (maternal grandma) being around. They have been staying with us just before Papa disappeared. I miss my walks in the evenings with Papa but at least I get to have Ah Kong & Ah Por entertained me while Mummy has to do her stuff before I get to bed. It's way better than being stuck to my chair while watching her doing all her stuff. At least I get to be carried around.

Papa, where are you?

Mummy's entry - Cough, cough & cough!

My heart aches whenever she coughs. This time is worst compared to the early weeks of her life. It started more than 2 weeks ago as a mere dry cough which was pretty mild. Then after several days, it got worst with more coughing. We went to see the doctor to get some medication but it didn’t work. In fact, the phlegm started and she had to cope with some difficulties in breathing at times.

That weekend itself, we were in the car on our way to my parent’s and I was driving while her papa was with her at the back. She started coughing slightly and my mistake was to ask her papa to give her some water then. She sort of choked on it and started coughing non-stop with long breaths like as if she’s suffocating. I got her papa to get her out for her car seat while I stopped the car by the side of the road. He was stroking her back trying to help her but the poor girl went on coughing and coughing with her face all red as if she’s struggling when she finally vomited her recent feed out. It was projectile vomiting and there was a lot that came out. And I thought that will be it but she still went on coughing as if there’s more to come out and shortly after that, some more came out. Both her papa and I were so worried as we have never seen her in this condition before. One would expect a baby to cry after going through that ordeal but this girl just went to sleep on her papa’s chest after that. Her papa had to ask me to see if she’s sleeping coz he dare not move her then. We just let her be in that position till we reached her grandparent’s. At one stage during the drive, I had to ask her papa whether she was breathing. The whole incident just made us extremely paranoid.

Since her cough was getting worst, her papa took her to her regular doctor the next day who gave her another type of medicine and said to expect the cough to be around for 2-3 weeks. It’s been more than 2 weeks and I’m glad that she is getting better except that she have a running nose too. But I’m not complaining coz she’s still her usual self and the fact that she’s back to her normal routine of sleeping through the night these past few nights. Just before this, she was waking up several times a night and we realized that it has got to with us not switching the air conditioner on…she’s one weird gal. We thought that we’re helping her with her cough by not switching it on but instead she is fussing coz she’s hot and prefers the aircond to be on.

From this episode, I got to realise how my heart bleeds whenever her bout of cough comes and I feel so helpless not being able to stop her from her sufferings. Then I thought about those moms and dads whose kids are really sick and how much more they are going through. My heart really goes out to them.

Thank you GOD for giving us such a beautiful and healthy baby!

Mummy's entry - Starting Solids

I decided to start Rye Li on solids mid of June at 5 and half months. The nursery had the privilege of starting it first (sob sob!) and they started with baby cereal mixed with formula. They started with half an oz of cereal and this girl finished them all at once. The next day they gave her 1oz instead but she didn’t finish it.



Over that weekend, I gave her 1.5oz mixed with breastmilk. What seems an easy task (after all, 1.5oz is really little in our adult’s world where we can finish it in 1 gulp) took me about half an hour or so to feed her. No wonder the books or websites say to feed babies at a time where you’re not rushing to do other things.

What I have learnt from feeding her:-
- you not only have to be alert but you need to be super fast coz there will be a lot more coming out from her mouth than going in. So you’ll need to be able to scoop those that are coming out before it droops down to baby’s neck or clothes or bib or chair or floor

- get a big bib (ideal one would be like raincoats)

- get an umbrella on standby because your baby can sneeze when you’re just about to put that spoon full of cereal into her mouth (rye li did this to me twice!). of course you’ll have to be really fast in covering yourself and not to get those brolly with the sharp pointers at the tip

- make sure baby is positioned in an open space area so even when she sneezes, it will only affect the floor and not your sofa or tv or table or toys

- make sure you have loads of tissue paper on standby coz the towel and bib won't be sufficient anymore halfway through the meal

- to have handcuffs or perhaps strings to tie hands down (OPTIONAL), trust me, hands can be everywhere and anywhere (in rye li case, she also sucks her thumb in between...sigh!)



And these are all from feeding her 1.5oz of baby cereal (probably less than 3 tablespoons full or thereabouts). I cannot imagine when she starts eating larger amounts.

Mummy's entry - Interesting baby facts

Got to know some interesting facts recently from a friend which I’m sure many of us are not aware. Do you know the differences of a baby’s body to that of an adult?

Some of them are:-

1) When baby’s arms are up in full length, they only reach the head or perhaps slightly higher than the head.

2) Their ears are positioned just slightly above the shoulders.

3) The proportion of their head size to that of their torso is like 1 to 1 and a half

Compare these to that of an adult. Hehe.

Anyway, there are many other differences too. Tried to search on the Net but the only thing I found was this :-

"Body proportions change remarkably from birth to maturity. At birth, a baby's head is one-fourth the size of the body, the forehead is wider than the chin, the lower jaw is small and receding. Growth lengthens the limbs and trunk so that at about two years of age the general body configuration is longer and thinner and the head is about one fifth the size of the body. At six years of age, the body has stretched out further so that the head occupies about one-sixth of its length. The tendency for linear growth continues until puberty when the body tends to broaden relative to height. At about age 15 the head is one-seventh the size of the body which is maintained through life."

And back to the thumb sucking issue, I came across www.drgreene.com which stated fast facts on thumb sucking…

- Children who suck their thumbs are able to begin at an early age to meet their own need for sucking. These children fall asleep more easily, are able to put themselves back to sleep at night more easily, and sleep through the night much earlier than infants who do not suck their thumbs.

- A study by Dr. T. Berry Brazelton indicates that as many as 94% have finished with sucking their thumbs by their first birthdays.

- According to the American Dental Association, thumb sucking does not cause permanent problems with the teeth or jaw line, unless it is continued beyond four to five years of age.Many studies have looked at the number of children who continue to suck their thumbs at this time. As it turns out, somewhere between 85% to 99% of children have finished thumb sucking spontaneously before this period (the numbers vary depending on the study).

- When investigators looked at this group of late thumb-suckers for common traits, they found that they had one thing in common that distinguished them from other children -- a prolonged history of a strong battle with thumb sucking at an earlier age. It is striking that many well-meaning parents have actually encouraged this behavior by trying to forcibly take the thumb out of their children's mouths.

Click here if you want to read more on this.

6 months

I had 2 jabs over the weekend! I repeat 2!!!!! And this was supposed to be my last until I’ve reached a year old but no, Mummy and Papa have agreed to go ahead with another 3 jabs (which will be spread out in the next few months) that’s good for me. What are they thinking of??!!! On Saturday, even though I didn’t feel the 1st jab I had, the 2nd one was pain enough to make me scream. Luckily, mummy and papa know how to calm me down.

On a brighter note, I’ve grown taller and bigger. I’m now 60.5cm in height and 6.5kgs (6 weeks back I was 57.2cm and 6kgs).

My developments so far :-

- I not only talk a lot, I also move a lot. I can roll over to my front and back but still get stuck at times. When I turn over, I’ll use up a lot more space than I used to so I’m mostly surrounded by pillows if I’m on Mummy’s bed.
- I can get on all fours and will rock to and fro and then I will fall over on my sides (Mummy says I should be learning how to crawl forward soon instead of moving backwards most of the time)
- I can push up my butt real high
- I grab on for anything that is infront of me and I like putting them in my mouth. If I can’t get hold of it, I will pull myself forward to have a taste of it. And if I can’t taste it, I will still have to touch it in anyway I can.
- I can put my toes into my mouth and shoes too when I’m wearing them but mummy doesn’t like me tasting my shoes
- My bottom 2 front teeth have not erupted yet but can be seen under my gums since a month back
- I sleep through the nights (have been since 3 and half months but will get up once or twice when I don’t feel so good). I will be asleep by 9 plus and will wake up from 7am onwards.
- In a day, I drink at least 25oz of breast milk, 1-2 feeds of formula milk and a feed of baby cereal
- I’m very vocal at times, responding to people when they talk to me. At times, when I’m overly excited, I will squeal and laugh especially in the mornings when Mummy or Papa greets me at my cot
- When I’m excited, I will be moving my arms and legs about in the air. Mummy said I look like a puppy swimming when I do that.