Precious daddy and son moments

I love weekends.

I love even more the chance to see the awesome husband play with baby Titus, as he really knows how to get the little bub to chuckle.

These days Titus enjoys rolling about in our bed, treating it as his private playground and leaving saliva stains all over. It's alright, we don't mind.

Have a seat, baby!

Baby's got a new chair!

But he is only willing to sit in it for a couple of minutes before stretching to the sides, trying to escape. :)

Still, it is a few minutes of free time for me to run to use the toilet or get myself a drink! So I can't complain.

Happy birthday to me!

I used to think that life is sweet enough with Joshua next to me. Then along came Titus, and I realised that life could actually get sweeter.

This year I celebrated my 35th birthday as a mother to a healthy, happy baby boy and a wife to a very supportive, selfless man.

Somehow, motherhood made me appreciate my parents a lot more. The exhaustion and filth I have to endure as a time-strapped mum must be something my parents went through too, with me and my two younger brothers. So that's three times the exhaustion and filth! :)

So this year, I also celebrated my special day with my parents.

And I packed everyone off to Hotel Fort Canning, a lovely colonial style property at the peak of the serene Fort Canning Park.

It was our first family staycation in Singapore, and I am just glad everything went well (read: baby was happy and slept well).

I booked us connecting rooms, so my parents could simply skip over and play with baby any time they fancied.

The baby cot provided by the hotel was well maintained and came with two firm mattresses, a fluffy mattress topper, clean cot bumpers, two bolsters, a pillow and a blanket. I sure did not expect that, and had packed baby's blankets, cot sheets, pillows and bolsters. So, yes, I was impressed!

Once we were settled in, we left our lovely rooms and went to fill our bellies at The Salon, the hotel's only all-day dining outlet. The menu was extensive and we indulged with too many dishes for tea time. The one that rocked my boat most was fried mee siam with lobster. I would go back again and again just for this dish.

Baby dozed off on my dad's shoulders half-way through our meal, so I retreated with baby to our room and had a little snooze myself too. Any opportunity to grab forty winks is valued these days.

After he woke, we brought him for a little swim in the bath. He enjoyed wading around, but hated his neck float. His chin kept going under, causing him to ingest some bath water. Eeks.

Then it was off to dinner at Okinawan Diner Nirai-Kanai in Liang Court, one of my favourite Japanese restaurants in Singapore. It was spectacular that my brothers came to join in too, and everyone knocked back Orion beers. Everyone except me, cos I needed to breastfeed. Boo hoo.

Never mind. I will make it up to myself one day. :)

We were up early next morning - sleeping in is a thing of the past with baby around! After a quick breakfast at the hotel's buffet line, Joshua and I took a stroll through Fort Canning Park and enjoyed some time to ourselves.

When we got back to our room, I found a little birthday cake from the awesome people at the hotel.

I've travelled a few times on my birthday, both for work and pleasure, and this is the second time all these years that a service staff paid attention to my details and wished me happy birthday. It takes so little to send birthday greetings, but it means so much to the recipient AND signals great service.

So, well done Hotel Fort Canning!
 
We rounded off our one-night staycation with another feast at The Salon because the food was too good and there were so many other things we wanted to try. And before we left, we were already planning when to return for another meal at The Salon! How Singaporeans we were!

Sleepy baby

Seeing how Titus was wide awake after his 7.30am feed, we decided to start Sunday early and visit Grandpa Yue. But by the time we got ready and left home, he fell asleep! Aiyo.

Oh, and here he is with his new haircut from yesterday. :)

First haircut!

How many people does it take to trim an infant's hair?

Three. One to carry him. One to still his head while singing a messy medley of lullabies, pop songs and comforting words. One to cut his hair.

Exhausting!

Happy little pill

Titus is such a darling and everything he does seems to melt our hearts.

Yesterday he surprised us with a loud "HUH?" while the husband and I were distracted by the TV. He did it again this morning when I was staring into space. It was as if he wanted to know why the attention wasn't on him. :)

He has also seemed to have gained some independence lately. He's now 68 days old, and the past three days he has allowed me to put him down in his cot for at least five minutes, as long as I turn the musical mobile on. That's just enough time for me to dash to the toilet, brush my teeth, pee and dash right back to pick him up as he starts to grimace.

I have also been able to put him in the bassinet and a little chair the paternal grandparents had bought him, and play with his hands and feet while singing to him. In the earlier days, he would wail to the high heavens whenever I did that. Nowadays, he 'talk' to me during play time and chuckle silently. I love these moments!

And oh boy is he smiling a lot lately! There was an evening when the good husband had baby on his lap and held his little fists, pounding them on the dining table as he mimicked an angry Hitler, going "Nein! Nein! Nein!". Baby laughed so hard! If only he could already vocalise his laughter, it would have been music to our ears!

I think Titus is such a happy little child. He hardly throws tantrums and his cries are always for a reason and are seldom long-drawn. I like to think that his peaceful temperament must have been due to my happy pregnancy. :)

Mummy love you, Titus. You are my happy pill!

Our first dinner outing as a family

Baby Titus did extremely well on our first dinner outing as a family. 

He slept through most part of the car ride to town, and sat quietly in the baby carrier as we dined at Ryoshi Sushi Ikekemaru. Later, he even remained in a pleasant mood throughout our supermarket shopping!

Thank you very much, darling, for being so cooperative! Mummy and daddy will take you out with us often from now on! :)

Hands free finally!

There are some wonderful blogs maintained by mothers of newborns and young children. I'd love to ask them where the heck did they find time to post frequently?!

Baby Titus is a real darling and I love him deeply, but it has been a little tough - physically - to care for him. You see, he craves human contact so much that he refuses to be put down in his cot (or any surface for that matter) in the day, so much so daddy and I have to take turns carrying him all day. And it isn't just carrying will do for him. He demands that his caregiver walks around. No cheating allowed; he knows when we are seated! :)

As such, the Manduca baby carrier has become one of the best buys I've made so far. The other being the Medela Swing breast pump, for its awesome draining power in a short period of time.

Thanks to the Manduca baby carrier, we have been able to keep our hands free and take baby's weight off our arms. While Titus still insists on us standing and/or walking while he's in the baby carrier, at least we are able to do some light chores such as washing the dishes, doing the laundry and mopping the floor.

And when I'm alone at home with him, the Manduca baby carrier allows me to go pee whenever the call of nature arises! :)  Pre-Manduca days, I had to hold it all in and wait for the husband to come home after work so I could pass Titus on to him. It was crazy.

The Manduca has also give baby and me some glorious moments in the park. I've taken him for strolls in the park, with him in the carrier. And because it is so comfortable, Titus would almost always fall asleep half-way through our little outing.

I shouldn't complain, really. He's only going to be a baby for a while. Before I know it, he will start to crawl and wouldn't want to be in my arms all day.


Alright, gotta get back to baby! Till next time.

Frights

Darling Titus is feeling pretty insecure this evening, a result of a few unsettling events that took place earlier today.

It must have started with his second dose of Hep B jab early in the afternoon. Although the brave boy did not wail at length like all the other babies at the clinic, the jab certainly took him by surprise and he let out a loud, forceful cry that turned his head bright red.

Later, when we got home, I placed him in his cot - he was asleep by then - and went to prep his bath. Little did I know that he woke up soon after, and the sound of running water drowned out his cries for attention. By the time I picked up his cries and got to him, poor Titus was all red and trembling. :(

I held him close to my bosom to calm him, whispering continuously in his ears that I love him and will never abandon him. My poor darling!

When he seemed somewhat settled, I gave him his first bath for the day. Now, if there's anything baby Titus absolutely hates, it is having a bath. He knows it is coming and would cry forcefully once I begin stripping him down. So as I begin unbuttoning his bodysuit, he got all agitated again. Unfortunately for him, a bath must be had.

To make things worse, two minor accidents occurred during bath time today. First, I lost control of my weakened left wrist while turning him from back to front, causing him to slip on the bottom of the tub. It shocked him and made him cry even harder. Then, while rinsing his back on a face-down position, I failed to realise that he was placed too low and his face was submerged in water. When I brought him up, the tortured chap was sputtering.

I COULD HAVE DROWNED HIM!

I AM A HORRIBLE MOTHER!

It took a warm bottle of milk to help him regain his composure, and he fell asleep in my arms soon after.

It was apparent how the string of incidents had affected him; he startled more easily during his nap and I had to keep patting him and telling him I was there with him. Hardly surprising that the nap did
not last long.Unfortunately, when he rose, I was washing his bottles in the kitchen and did not hear him cry. Once again, he was all red and trembling when I got to him.

It took longer to calm him this time, and he would only be quiet when I cradled him tightly.

Now, the sun has set and he is still agitated. Oh man. I think it will be a long night for me.

Got milk?

Got!

What do you mean you know what I had for brekkie?