Skill and Character Development Update

Over the past weeks, I’ve observed that Declan had acquired some new skills and behaviors.

1) Kick Kick

When someone hold him in a sitting position with his back facing the person and his bum resting on the person’s arm and you say :” Kick kick” , you’ll see this little boy happily swing his legs with all his might.

2) Jump Jump or Dance Dance

Let him stand on a surface (with our support of course) and say “dance dance” or “jump jump”, he’ll move his body and attempt to jump. Of course he can’t really jump; his action will resemble squatting and then stand upright more than jumping.

3) Lantern, flower and “pip blok pip blok”

Bring him under the doorway leading to our bedroom where 2 tiny red lanterns are hanging and ask him :”baby lantern, where is lantern?” and he’ll raise his head to look at the lanterns with a smile. I’m really not sure what is so amusing about this, but he’s always smiling when we ask him to identify the lanterns.

Bring him near the alter and ask him :” baby, flower, where is flower?” and he’ll look at the flowers at the alter. Though sometimes he’ll miscue and look somewhere else.

Just tell him “pip blok pip blok” (resembling the sound of fire crackers) and he’ll look at the fake fire crackers (aftermath of CNY) hanging from the ceiling.

4) Learning the meaning of ownership

When he’s younger, you can take anything from him and he’ll be ok. Now, if you take whatever he is playing (especially if it’s a new toy which he first lay his hands on) away, he’ll cry and wants you to give it back to him.

We first observe this behavior during CNY, when he was given his first ang baos. He started chewing on the ang baos, so I took it away from him and he kept crying and crying until someone else gave him another one...and BINGO no more cry…..

5) “Diminishing” Stranger Anxiety

Previously, he’ll wail whenever a stranger or a seldom met relative tried to carry or talk to him.

Nowadays, things have improved. This vain pot even allows a complete stranger to carry him while we were traveling in the train. He can even play peek a boo with a fellow train commuter. What a flirt!!!

My mum is no longer a “stranger” to him. He no longer fears her and she can now carry him around with ease and peace.

6) Weird drinking habit
This boy refuses to drink water from the bottle. He prefers his water to be fed through spoon….

7) Tell tale signs of crawling

This boy started off like a little missile. He’ll “borrow footage” from whatever his feet land on and push with all his might and launch himself forward suddenly. He’s able to leap quite a distance in such a way. This lasted for awhile and now, he’s able to do leopard crawl. Dangle an object a distance from him and you’ll see him half crawl half drag himself on his tummy to reach the object.

I guess in a few weeks time, he’ll be able to lift his tummy up and crawl properly.


But this lazy boy ahhh still can’t sit very stably. He prefers to slump against his chair and to lie on his tummy then to sit upright.

Wrestling

Play with me?

Whack!!

Bite

Won!!

Welcome!

Hi people, let's welcome Mama Stacey and Mama Fannie on board. They've both join the club of blogging mummies.

Mama Stacey is a friend with a 4 months old girl - Claudia.

Mama Fannie is my sister in law, our hubbies are Twins! She got a 3 month old girl - Ethylyn.

Do visit them often at their page and share advice and experiences with them!! I've added their links in the right column.

WELCOME WELCOME!!

喉宁powder

My aunt recommended me 喉宁 (hou ning powder) from Eu Yan Sang to help ease my boy’s phlegm. She warned me that it’s expensive but effective. According to her it’ll cost me about $30-$40 per bottle. I thought if $30-$40 can relief my boy of his phlegm, it’s pretty worth it.

Just now, after lunch, I dropped by Eu Yan Sang to pick up the “hou ning powder” and my god!! It’s so expensive wor!!! It cost me $58.60 per tube. 1 box only consist a tiny tube which can be separated to 3 dosages. For a 7+ months baby, he should be fed 2 dosages per day for a span of 3 days for it to be effective. Which means, I have to purchase 2 tubes. After obtaining 5% discount with my Citibank Visa, I have to pay $111.34 for a 3 days course of 2 dosages per day.

What an expensive baby I have!! Hope that this powder can really help him to reduce his phlegm. I shall monitor and post the results of the powder in a few days time.

*keeping my fingers crossed*

Unsung Hero

My little boy is near full recovery. In this whole sickness episode, there is an unsung hero whom I’ve yet to mention and say thank you to. That unsung hero is none other than Daddy Kiat.

While baby was ill, I was also down with flu virus. Thus he gotta shoulder the task of nursing the baby plus giving in to my demand of water lah, tissue lah, medicine lah, on the fan lah off the fan lah etc.

Not that he only take care of the baby when he’s ill or when I’m down. In fact, he has been very participative in bringing up Declan since he’s a newborn. He’s a daddy who will do and knows how to do everything for the baby, unlike me. I’ve never bathe my baby before. Yes… you heard me right… till this day, Declan’s already 7+ months and I’ve never attempt to bathe for him. In the initial month, mil didn’t allow me to bathe the baby as she’s worried that I might drown her precious little grandson, after that, I dare not attempt as the baby grew more figety and heavier by the day. So, till now… I only watched him get scrubbed down and never participate in his bath time.

Back to our unsung hero. While Declan was ill, he could not breathe properly as his nose was clogged up by mucus. We could hear his laborious breathing, especially during night time. Guess what the 二十四孝老爸 did? He actually used his mouth to suck out the mucus for baby prior to us obtaining a nasal passage clearing pump. So 伟大 right? I’ll never be able to do that.

Let’s join me and applause for this Daddy. Well Done Kiat! Declan is so fortunate to have a dad like you!

Moments as Espirit Mannequin

Saturday, we went Marriot for high tea. Sitting behind our table were Quan Yifeng, Bryan Wong, Lin Zhengrong (not sure whether I got his surname right) and the hairstylist Eddie Lee. Ohhh man Quan Yifeng was sooooo skinny and her hair was a fiery red!

Anyway, I really enjoyed my food. Not sure about daddy though. I tried to give Declan tiny pieces of kueh lapis but he could not really handle them and seemed to keep choking. So to play safe I stopped my attempts.

After a delightful tea with a relatively well behaved baby, we thought we might as well try to catch a glimpse of chingay live since we were already in Orchard. The moment we stepped out of the hotel, we immediately disposed that thought as the weather was really so warm and humid… So we ended up shopping. We strolled to Wisma via the underpass and ended up in Wisma Isetan. When we were at Espirit (Level 3) Kiat noticed that we could actually viewed Chingay from Espirit display windows hahaha. Its full length glass and it overlooked the main road. Hhehehheeh so we chanced upon a “cool spot” to watch the show!! We waited there since about 6.30p.m, the show was supposed to start only at 7.00p.m. On and off you’ll see curious shoppers joining us at the display window. Ended up, if you were to be at the balcony of lucky plaza, you might notice that out of a sudden, Espirit had a lot of additional “moving mannequins” hahahhaha. If you look carefully at Kiat’s pic, you would be able to see an escalator full of viewers in the background. That happened to be the escalator just outside Wisma.






So how do the 3 of us fare as Espirit’s Mannequin??

But sigh…. The only action we managed to catch was the Harley Davidson bike squad….. cos Declan started to fuss and we were also running late….

Like Mother Like Son

Then it was Like Father Like Son.



Now it's like mother like son.



Daddy snapped this pic while I was busy blogging and baby was busy meddling with his ang bao. Though I'm caught in the most undemure pose... neverthelss I still decide to share this with all here. *sigh.....* can't daddy just warn me and ask me to move my legs a little closer to each other before snapping the photo???? Don't laugh ok??! Don't even snigger!! Otherwise next time I don't share with u guys liao!

My Belated Valetine Pressie

As Declan was ill till 不清不楚 for the past 1 week, we did not really plan for Valentine's Day. So nothing romantic happened that day unless you consider a trip down to KKH as a romantic trip lah. Anyway I'm not a lomantic person in the first place. I dread mushy stuffs. Cannot tahan cos my hair will all stand heheheeee.



See? That was how I spent the first part of my Valentine's Day. Doozing off in the waiting area of KKH with baby in hand. Got caught red handed by Daddy. All 3 of us had not been sleeping well ever since Declan fell sick. So ahh whenever I have the chance, I'll try to catch my ZZzs. Don't worry for Declan, I will not drop him. I didn't really drift to dreamland, I just closed my eyes for a few seconds to rest my eyes.

Today when I came back to office, Daddy sent me an email titled "a present to u" with this photo attached.



Can you see the little message he created? I don't think you guys can see the words right? Anyway it says :"Hi Mummy, Happy Belated V-day. Hope you and dad will be lovely forever." and it's "signed off" as Love Declan. hahahah so cute, but dunno why my little Declan's pic looked so stretched. I guessed he meant "loving" instead of "lovely". So folks! That's my belated V-day present.

Fever Came Back

Fever came, fever went... Cough came, not yet leave, sneeze and running nose arrived.... cough, sneeze, running nose not yet leave, fever came back.... Those are my baby's CNY guests. Persistent guests who came and refuse to leave even though today is the 6th day of CNY already...

These "unwanted visitors" set us back by 100+ bucks on "ang bao". Within the span of 6 days, we brought him to the doctor thrice. The most costly was today's visit to KKH walk-in clinic. The moment we register, we had to pay $65 consultation fee. So steep right?! I should have gone to our PD... I thought our PD would be more expensive... who knows... Anyway... cost is not our main concern now.. we are more worried about the little one's health...

His milk intake further dropped to 40ml...yesterday night was worse.. his usual 40-50ml night feed dropped to 10-20ml.... I put in effort to make mash potato, carrot, and half an hard boil egg yolk and mixed it with a little cereal for sweetness, tried to feed him but he just refuse to eat....

I told the KKH doctor about his lost of appetite and he told me I'd better try to feed him otherwise he'd admit Declan and put him on drip..... Let's hope that all will be well for this young man soon.

Cough Cough

I thought all was well again when Declan's fever subsided... How wrong I was... He woke up yesterday morning with a mild cough, so I sent him to a GP clinic and was prescribed a cough syrup. His cough elevated from mild to bad cough by night time....

He coughed the whole night, unable to sleep. So poor thing. Just when he's about to fall asleep, he'd cough... causing him to wake up again... and as he was about to doze off again, he'd cough again... The equation went like this - baby couldn't sleep = daddy and mummy also couldn't sleep..

This morning, the 可怜宝宝 woke up with a running nose on top of the cough... sigh...

Does anyone has any tested cough remedy? His appetite is really bad too.. Should I still continue feeding him his cereal? I did not feed him any thing unusual, where does the cough comes from? Can it be due to my diet? Any suggestion on a suitable recipe to boost his appetite? His milk intake is still at about 60ml per 2.5 to 3 hr feed...

Feverish New Year

Declan fell ill on CNY eve…. The day before CNY eve, he was exceptionally cranky. He was basically screaming throughout the whole day. For no reason, he’ll shriek in a high pitch voice to show his displeasure with god knew what. Kiat grew impatient with him, thinking that he was merely throwing tantrums. But I told him that something was obviously bothering this little baby for him to behave so unusually. It’s just that we really did not know what was wrong.

Nothing seemed to be able to soothe him. Carried him – didn’t want, let him lied down on bed – he didn’t want, put him in sarong – he didn’t want, gave him toys – he didn’t want, talked to him, sang to him – he didn’t want…… All he did was cried and screamed…. The worse thing was he didn’t want to take his milk, nor his porridge or cereal….. Before this episode, his milk in-take had already dropped quite a bit ever since he started on solid. For a 7 months old baby, his milk in-take was only about 100-120ml per 3 hours feed. He had lost much of the chubbiness accumulated over the first 6 months. Many friends and relatives noticed that he kind of trimmed down. I was not too bothered about him trimming down so long as he’s healthy and active. This time, his milk in-take dropped to a sinfully low of about 60-80ml….and he rejected his porridge and cereal as well…… That really got us so worried….

CNY eve day, he woke up pretty “warm”. I hugged him and thought that he was running a fever. Kiat tried to take his temperature with an ear scan thermometer, he refused to keep still and kept whirling his head and screaming, making it impossible to register an accurate measurement. We let it go, bathed him, fed him a bit of milk, let him continued screaming and put him back into his sarong for him to sleep again. When he woke up again, I touched him and still thought that he feel slightly “warmer” than usual. So, we decided to send him to see a doctor. We looked at the time… sharks! It’s past 12p.m….. and it’s CNY eve… where got doctor??!! Still, we tried our luck and checked out at least 4 clinics but all closed. Finally, we went to a 24 hour clinic at clementi central. The doctor measured his temperature to be about 37.3 degrees Celsius and declared that he’s not running a fever but nevertheless prescribed fever and stomach wind medication for him…. That made me felt like a kiasu and kiasee mother…..

But hor, I’m really not convince that he’s not having a fever… really felt warm leh…. Anyway, we let him sleep again once we reached home, the next time he woke up; he was “steaming hot” on the head! AH HA! See??!! I was right!! He’s really running a temperature. I quickly fed him the medication with Kiat’s help and slap on a piece of “OK pok” on his forehead. At first I was worried that he might not like the feeling on a piece of thing across his forehead and might tear it down but luckily he seemed pretty at ease with the “ok pok” and could still manage a smile
when I teased him.





His temperature only subsided this morning. He ended up with a piece of “ok pok” slapped across his forehead throughout CNY eve and first day of CNY. As for me…. I ended up with a bad bout of flu Sickly on the first day of CNY… what a way to welcome the new year….

Code REd

Somehow this year‘s Chinese New Year there is extra emphasis on red clothes. My mil has been harping us to wear red this year but I really do not wish to be a walking ang bao, so I bought pink for myself instead.

I keep thinking that the “wear red” rule only applies to us adults until yesterday, when mil says:” New Year is coming, must wear red red for baby, don’t wear dark colours for him.” OOPS! I didn’t buy any red clothes for Declan. The closest is an orange t-shirt. How HOW???!!! Sure kanna nag…..CHam!

Declan's New Cap







Came across this bandana cap while shopping for Little Dec’s new year clothes. I thought it looked really cool so I bought it without realizing that it’s actually a bit small for my little boy’s head. I tried it on for him at home and after awhile, he’ll pull it off…..waste my money…

When will he learn to sit?

My boy is 7months old now. The Chinese old folks always say baby will sit at 7 months, crawl at 8 months and “sprout” teeth at 9 months. Now at 7 months, my baby can’t really sit up straight without support for too long. He preferred to be propped up and have something to lean against. Lazy fellow….You sit him upright, he’ll obliged for awhile, after that he’ll cry out for help. If no one comes to his rescue, he’ll just relax all his muscle and let himself topple over. Hahahha.






I guess if he put in enough effort, he can actually sit on his own now. Anyway, I’m not taking any chances. I don’t wish to see him topple and land on the concrete floor, so I usually let him sit on cushion surface and only with adult supervision.

Let’s see how long he’ll take to be able to sit on his own for extended period.

Retreat of Mozzie Clan

Yesterday my ever helpful and caring SIL bought a bottle of Johnson & Johnson Baby Clear Lotion and a bottle of medicated cream for Declan and brought it all the way to MIL’s house for us, after hearing Little Dec’s encounters with the mozzies. So nice of her.
I’ve never seen the J&J lotion before. It came in a clear green bottle and it was stated on the bottle that it could help keep mozzies away.

Before Little Dec turned in, we applied the J&J lotion on areas which he could not reach with his mouth and hands. We were so Kiasu, we even applied some on his head, rubbing it into his hair as if its some conditioner. No choice! Somehow his botak head seem to attract the mozzies alot. I’ll rather he lost all his hair then to have him contract Dengue Fever. A Plus point was the lotion actually gave off a pleasant flowery sweet smell.

For double protection, we lighted the mozzie coil also.

The double protection seems to work! This morning when I checked, no more new mozzie kisses on Dec!! None on me either! Kiat didn’t complain, so I suppose he’s alright too!

Mozzies had retreated!! Yahooooooooooo!

To play safe, I’m gonna do the same tonight plus RU YI YU on his tummy as suggested by bolasiow. Triple protection tonight for Declan!

Death to the mozzzzzzzzieeeeeeeeesssssss!!!!!!!!