New Years' Eve 2009

Kate is 15weeks old today (I wonder how long I can keep this week-counting up) and here's a quick inventory check of her developments.



She yells like madness when she's hungry, cranky, uncomfortable, bored - basically she knows what she wants and she LETS YOU KNOW IT. Loudly.



She can communicate with baby coos and gurgles.

She smiles and laughs (I've only heard her laugh aloud a few times, I wish to hear more!).

She is ticklish (about her body and her neck).

She is attracted to bright colourful things like books.

She can lay in the playthingy and watch the toys carousel above her head.

She recognises people.

She does not like places that are very-very noisy.

She eats everything she gets her hands on. Including her hands.

She can twist her body to her left-side and nearly flip-over.

She can roll over (I've seen her do that once) but her one hand was still stuck beneath her body and her response is to cry in frustration (which is really cute haha).

She rubs her eyes and yawns when she feels sleepy.

She feeds efficiently from both bottle and boob (yay - the bottle-feeding-worry I raised in my previous post is no longer!)

She likes to sit upright (assisted) and ends up looking like she's doing crunches half the time.

She went through a phase where she hated showers; thank goodness that phase has passed.

She has sensitive skin.

She has responded relatively well to the 2-vaccinations she'd already taken in the 2nd & 3rd month. She was very grouchy and felt warm but no fever!

She can see clearly and is attracted especially to moving objects.

She is becoming used to sitting in the car seat and has even dozed off and slept in it on a few occasions.

She can hold things in her hands.

She is becoming aware of her hands and stares at them intently (making her look a little cross-eyed which is truly cute).

She stretches herself when she wakes up from a nap - like her lazy Daddy.

She burps rather quickly after feed.

She listens to you when you talk to her.

She has some hair now.

She can sleep up to 6-hours at night (woot!); most nights she sleeps about 4-5hours before waking up for feeds.

She can lift her head up in a 'crawl' position - cannot crawl just yet.



While talking with the husband the other night, I realise that having a baby is love in its purest form. You don't love the child because of something he/she has done (let's not go into what the child makes you do); you love the child simply because.




LOVE YOU MY DARLING KATE

2009

Tonight, the husband and I found ourselves heading out with no agenda nor baby; and we decided to explore a new place for dinner. It felt just like the times before Kate; where we could indulge in leisurely meals.



The food was pretty nice and over dinner, we took the time to recollect our year together going over the highlights of each month and we realise that the entire year was all about Kate. From the pregnancy discovery, the 9-month journey, her welcome to her existence; she has made a huge difference in our lives.

The husband said that we ought to do a quiet dinner every year to do this recollection together and I agree. It'd give us time with each other and summing up the year together is pretty meaningful. I love talking with the husband.



Our first Christmas with her feels that bit more special this year, and I'm sure every occasion that comes along will be that bit more special. She brings more meaning to celebrations.

Thanks for the brilliant 2009 dear husband and Kate. I'm looking forward to 2010 with you both!

Christmas is in the air

I'm not religious, so Christmas had always been a fun-time more than anything. It'd be a time where it's always fun and thrilling to exchange gifts, a perfect excuse to party and tuck into yummy food.

Then in the past 3 years, Christmas took on a more definite shape with me joining in my then-boyfriend, now-husband's crew in the usual dinner-pig-out-drink-make-merry-exchange-gifts-fun-gatherings. It became tradition for this crew to meet up and celebrate Christmas together.

This year, Kate celebrates her first Christmas with us, and a first Christmas as a family of three. Becoming a mother has put a fresh spin on many things in my life and December - which is always a happy month - is sweeter this year because of my new bundle of joy.

I've become more appreciative of what I have in life; life just seems better somehow.

I'm trying to find words to describe how I feel; but I find it difficult to find one word that captures that feeling. It's more like a mishmash of gratefulness, happiness, love, patience, bliss.


To Kate: Mommy cannot begin to tell you (again) how much I love you, how precious you are and how you have made my life so much better. You have made Mommy a better person; more patient and giving. You mean everything to me.

Happy Christmas my darling baby Kate, happy 14-weeks old December 25th.

Daddy to Kate 22 May 09

Hey my sweet baby Kate..

Hello, how have u been doing since we last spoke.. heard from Mommy that u are very obedient.. listened to Mom's advice to focus on growing.. and heard that u are quite an active girl too.. that's all good.. a healthy active baby..

Daddy is still away.. will not be back for another 2mths.. we got so much to catch up on.. my priority, or rather Mom and my priority will change after you are born.. In fact, it has already shifted. This will be my last long deployment, I wanna concentrate on us.. you, Mom and me.

We will try our best to provide you with all the stuff to make you a happy child, to have a pleasent childhood, teenage life and all.. I'm already thinking how to handle myself when you bring ur 1st boyfriend home. We need to have open communication, just like Mom's family. I hope along the way you will be sensible and make it easier for Mom n I cos we are new in this.. ok this sound like my first nagging to u..

We love you Kate, and you will be a major part in our lives.. you will bring a whole new perspective to us.. looking forward to see u ya..

Love, Daddy

New experience

Today, I bottle-fed Kate myself for the first time. It was a totally new experience, and I felt strange.

From the onset, I was determined to breastfeed and was steadfast in my belief to only breastfeed without introducing the bottle to Kate (after hearing stories of nipple confusion and babies rejecting the breast). It was after Kate was 6wks old that hubs and I decided to make the introduction - I felt that I was ready to start expressing milk for various reasons; and I also wanted hubs to feel the intimacy and bond with Kate during feeding.

She's a clever one, displaying no problems with bottle-feeding; nor did she reject me after. I was very pleased.

The number of times that she's been bottlefed has decreased through the past weeks and sometime this week, hubs raised his concern that Kate isn't feeding too well from the bottle. She fussed, cried and he'd to change bottles and teats in an attempt to get her to feed.

Since I was going back to work in a few weeks' time, having her reject the bottle now is not an option (it'd be a disaster, really. I don't want my baby to starve!). So hubs and I decided that if he's around to help out, I'll express milk whenever possible so we can 'train' Kate and allow her time to get used to bottle-feeding again.

That's how I ended up with the new experience this afternoon. I don't mind it, since it's an eventuality that I'll bottlefeed her, but I do prefer breastfeeding. It's much more intimate and it totally reinforces my role as her provider.

Here's keeping the fingers crossed for successful bottlefeeding training!

at the very beginning

Dear Kate,

Mommy didn't know that she was pregnant with you at all. I didn't think I was and on a sudden whim, I went to buy a pregnancy test kit (a really cheap one) after I bugged Aunty Angelyn enough so much that she told Mommy to 'just go test'. Because the kit was so cheap, I kinda botched the job and could NOT believe my eyes when the test was positive. I told Aunty Evelyn about it and she told Mommy to go to the doctor for a test. Funnily, the doctor's test was not affirmative and the doctor said that perhaps, it was still very initial stages.

That evening, Mommy rang up Aunty Tanny (who's in Ireland) and told her all about my silly episodes through the day. Aunty Tanny was very very excited and Mommy could not stop giggling. I kept my day's excitement to myself.. because I didn't want to disappoint Daddy in case the results were negative. I had prepared another test kit for the next morning. Daddy and Mommy had been trying to conceive for a whole year already and on many occasions, we'd tested and Daddy, especially, was very nervous and we yearned to have you.

I had very nervous, jumpy sleep that night and it felt very strange to keep a secret from Daddy. We never keep secrets from each other. Our relationship is based on open communication and trust.

At the break of down, I crept awake to test and I cannot describe the feeling. I was nervous, so much so that my fingers were actually shaking! The reliable pregnancy test kit came out positive - again. I was stunned, smiling and totally bursting with emotions. I rushed back to the room and slipped into bed with Daddy. Daddy is a sleep-in sleeper (not much of an early riser except for work. He's very responsible) and he was very annoyed (nearly angry) when I spoke to him "baby. *poke.... baby! *poke poke" He looked at me with a furrowed forehead and I quickly jumped to whisper "I think I'm pregnant"..... I had to repeat myself but I believe he woke up nearly immediately after that. We were very very happy to see the + sign on the test kit.

You are truly a most amazing thing.. a miracle and the love product of Daddy and I. I think, unknowingly, at that point in time, we already loved you.

Love, Mommy