Monday, 29 June 2015

Hello again, pumpkin!

Japanese pumpkin was the first solid food I fed Titus when he was approaching his sixth month. He disliked it and I didn't press on. There were so many other fruits and vegetables to try!

Since then, he has been snacking on Japanese sweet potatoes, bananas, apples and pears in between his usual milk feeds.

Today, almost a month on, I've decided to get him reacquainted with pumpkin. Instead of giving it on its own to Titus, I mixed a thin wedge with two teaspoons of rice cereal and water. 

And voila! Titus loved it! Good boy finished the serving with little fuss and resistance. 

Next, I'm hoping to get him to love avocado.

Saturday, 27 June 2015

Night falls

From the time baby wakes, my day is packed with activity - a tiring cycle of feeds, playtime, diaper changes and patting him to bed for naps.

And when he's asleep, it is time for house chores and my own meals.

You would think that I'd look forward to him finally going to bed for the night, so that I may rest and do whatever I so fancy.

Well, you thought right. Once he's fast asleep at 8plus or 9pm, I shower, change into clean clothes (finally!), lie in bed and access the photo gallery in my smartphone. I spend my next hour or more looking at the numerous photos of him that I had taken that day, reminiscing our time together and wondering if he had enjoyed his time with me. 

And the more I do that, the more I miss him. So I tip-toe back into his bedroom to sneak one more peek at his lovely, sleeping face, perhaps lightly brush his soft cheeks, pat his tiny hand, and adjust his little beanie pillow across his belly.

And before I leave him side, I whisper one more time, "Who does mummy love, darling? You. Mummy loves you."

Wednesday, 24 June 2015

Thanks for a great night!

Awesome baby slept from 8.45pm to 5.30am, the longest stretch ever!

He woke up crying only once at about 11pm, but settled back in within seconds after I adjusted him back into a comfortable position and popped a pacifier into his mouth.

Been a long time since I last slept through uninterrupted. 😄

The downside? My boobs are threatening to explode now, from the unexpected lack of service.

Saturday, 20 June 2015

Say cheese!

There's one thing I've learnt about trying to take family shots with a baby: keep smiling at the camera and keep snapping; there's bound to be one shot in which baby happens to look straight at the camera and, if you are lucky, he will be smiling too.

Deleting failed shots later will be a bitch, but it is worth the time.

Here is a recent shot of us three. It is a perfect shot. We all look great and smiley, and baby Titus is simply radiating joy. :)


If only it was taken with my DSLR instead of my smartphone. I'd have loved to blow it up into a portrait and hang it on my bedroom wall.

Friday, 19 June 2015

Evolution of sleep

After five months of sleeping apart from the awesome husband, the time has come for us to be reunited!

For two nights in a row I've returned to my own bed. The change was made possible by baby's ability to move confidently on his own and to self soothe when he stirs up in the middle of the night.

I've slept in the nursery since his 2nd month out of concern that he may flip onto his face and not have the dexterity to get back up, and suffocate. :(

Well, the time has come for me to get back to my good old bed, and I rejoice being able to chat with the awesome husband until we fall asleep. Although, I must admit, I also miss spending my nights with the tiny bub and hearing his delicate sighs while he slept.

Anyway, I wonder if it's a coincidence that baby has been sleeping through the night since I moved away.

The first night he woke only at 4.40am, after going to bed at 9.30pm. He fed and returned to sleep until 7am.

Last night, he went to bed at 9.15pm and stayed in till 4.50am. He was wide awake sit on his feed though, and it took quite a while to pat him back into slumberland.

But oh what progress! Baby is becoming a big boy!

Thursday, 18 June 2015

More love

Titus is becoming increasingly affectionate now, reaching out for me with his arms outstretched and looping them around my neck once I take him into my arms.

He'd even talk to me excitedly whenever I'm close to him, in his funny baby language.

While he gets just as excited with daddy, sometimes more so than with me, I am the only lucky one he'd reach out for.

I'm so proud of myself! He loves this cow!

But because of how he beams with joy whenever he lays his eyes on me, it has been so painful for me to leave his side every morning to go to work. Oh I wish I didn't have to work and could stay home all day to snuggle with this tiny chap.

Unfortunately we got to pay the bills and more.

Sunday, 14 June 2015

Someone grew up overnight

It has been an excellent weekend with the husband and baby.

Just 11 days into his sixth month, Titus has become a lot more fun. For a while now he has been babbling on and off, and would chuckle when we play with him. He has also been crawling and trying to push himself up against anything that helps him to stand.

But somehow, he seemed to have grown up a lot overnight. Today, he was far more sociable than usual, sprouting a greater variety of 'words' (oh, ooh, ah, ma, ee, ha, ba) without any prompting or stimulation by us.

He also laughed heartily with little teasing. In fact, on Saturday afternoon, he had laughed out loud for a long time when he made eye contact with his daddy, and daddy had merely smiled and said hello. Today, Mr Happy smiled and laughed at anyone he came across, even strangers at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse where we had Father's Day lunch.

It is great to note that today, for the first time ever, he willingly sat in his pram while we ate, and did not try to escape. Just like a big boy, he sat quietly and watched us eat and offered an.occasional chuckle when one of us waved at him. :)

Titus is also suddenly a lot more mobile. Although he has been able to crawl steadily and stand with support, he could not sit upright on his own. Often, he'd fall forward or backward when he tried to sit.

But today, he was not only able to sit upright, he was scooting all over the playmat to reach for his toys. My big boy!



It is crazy how fast children grow. If I had gone away on business trip yesterday or today, I'd miss so much of his development. And that thought makes me wish I no longer have to travel for work.

Friday, 12 June 2015

Scary world out there

Before I was a mom, I would read news stories of abducted, abused, or neglected babies and feel sorry that something like that had happened.

Now that I am a mom, such stories shatter my heart and I tremble with fear and anger as I imagine the same being done to Titus. I cannot consume such news anymore.

Two days ago I saw this headline on a tabloid, "Kindergarten teacher staples boy's ears", and I averted my eyes right away. I didn't have to read the story to know how the poor, defenseless child, had suffered.

I made the mistake of reading a story last week of how a nursery caregiver had brought two little girls to the bathroom and smacked their ears and roughed up their faces as a form of punishment. One of them went home with swollen ears, hence alerting her mother to the abuse. I broke down, crying and telling my husband that I would end up with blood on my hands if I ever found out dear Titus was being hurt like that.

Then there was this horrifying case late last year when a caregiver at an Incheon daycare center tossed a two-year-old toddler around and onto the floor, like he was just a ragdoll. It was enough to put me off infant-care services for life.

I dread to think of those children who were smacked but had no visible injuries to 'save' them from further abuse.

Then, just moments ago, a friend shared on Facebook some photos of an Asian street beggar with a Caucasian child sleeping in his arms. The photos were placed next to a notice advertising a similar looking child who was abducted. Images of the poor boy being drugged and beaten to submission by his abductors to play the role of a beggar's child, came flooding into my mind and I shuddered.

What a scary world it is for children!

Oh how devastated I will be if Titus was taken from me and made to live such a life, and there was nothing I could do to hunt down those people and take him back home.

There's so much I would give up to ensure the safety and well-being of my child, and incidents like these strike fear in my heart because they could very well happen to him if I were ever careless.

Tuesday, 2 June 2015

Sick leave is a waste on mommies

Went to the doc's in the morning and he told me a joke. "Here is a day's MC for you to rest at home," he said.

Rest? Sure.

I went home, took my meds, saw there were things to be washed in the sink, so I did.

Then out of the corner of my eye I saw the laundry basket overflowing with baby's dirty clothes and bed linen, so I put them in the washer.

Realised the boob that baby didn't take earlier was a little hard, so off I went to express. When I was done, I figured I should shower before going to bed.

Oops, baby woke just as I stepped out of the shower. Let me latch him on first. Ok, baby's fed and it was now time for my own lunch.

Lunch's done, but so was the laundry. Let me quickly put them out to dry.

Figured I should make a little sweet potato puree for baby to snack on before I go lie down.

Oh, time for baby's bath. Ok, let's get that out of the way first. Baby's smelling so fresh and looking so cute; we should play together a little before I go rest.

Gah, all that activity got me too sweaty to sleep. Another shower won't hurt.

Uh oh. 4pm already? Time for my daddy to get off babysitting duties and for me to take over.

Rest? Never mind la, I'll do that once baby goes to sleep proper for the night.