2 weeks at work

Mummy n Daddy is back..Yeah!

En Xi has made an amazing progress during these few weeks. She can hold on to our finger or her favorite rattle, and responses very well to the musical gym. Ah Ma also witnessed her first rollover to her tummy! A more amusing sight is whenever I nurse her on my right side; she will be mumbling a chain of “ehh” and “errrr”, as thou she is trying to talk to me.

Eh? Where's the milk in the bottle?

Baby Mozart at practice

We also realized that she really likes to watch TV…haha.. this addiction really takes after me. However we are mindful that we have to control such unhealthy habits, as it will affect her learning capabilities when she grows up.

It has been almost 2 weeks since I started work. Having to express and juggle with work is really no easy task. However, all the stress and worries will miraculously dispel when greeted with En Xi’s adorable smiles. Now, I can finally understand why some working mums choose to give up breastfeeding when they head back to work. It really takes a lot of perseverance, and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I can hang on till En Xi is 6 months old.

En Xi with Auntie Sophia, Uncle Sam and birthday gal Estelle

The 3 spoilt brats in my family - Princess En rXi, Shourei - the Spiderman wanabe, and Shoucong - the Tyrant

Looking back

En Xi @ 3 months

It’s finally back to work tomorrow.

En Xi has been sleeping thru the night for the past few days, and finally I was able to catch some rest after weeks of interrupted sleep. Perhaps, En Xi knows that Mummy is going back to work, and she is trying to let Mummy have a good rest. Thou she had a bad case of allergy a couple of days back (a bad breakout on her cheeks coupled with an abnormal greenish-coloured poo), she wasn't cranky or difficult.

The past 3 months with En Xi has been full of ups and downs. Nonetheless, nothing beats the wonderful moments when I caught her 1st milestones; her 1st smile, 1st cooing sound & the 1st time she grasp my finger etc. As the date of back-to-work was nearing, I even harbored the thought of giving up my career so that I can always be there to catch her future milestones.

En Xi and her favorite baby posters - she loves to speak to them when she sees it

Drooling all over mummy after her 1st 5-in-1 jab

I never expect myself to feel this way. 2 months back, I was even contemplating to return to work after my confinement, to get away from her crankiness and inconsolable crying. At that point, I even doubt if I have what it takes to be a mother. But now, I am proud to say that I have done pretty well as a mummy. To all women out there – don’t doubt your maternal instincts, it’s more powerful than you can imagine.

I will probably take a while to adjust myself to the tempo at work. Life will be more challenging than just feeding and changing diapers from tomorrow onwards. Well, if I can managed the most demanding "client" back home, guess no client can be more difficult rite?

Ah Ma giving me a Jacuzzi bath - my favorite activity of the day

Fingers...yum yum

The days with Sister Charlene

Charlene trying to entertain En Xi with her breakdance.

The past 1 week has been a madhouse in the family, as we are kept busy with Charlene, Edwin’s 3-year old niece. As she is highly active and constantly clinging to Ah Ma, I was taking care of En Xi most of the time. As a result, it seems that En Xi is very attached to me now, and only be pacified by me whenever she wants to nap.

For Charlene, it’s almost like she is attending a “holiday” camp at our place. I guess because all the restrictions at home have been lifted, it was truly hell let loose for her. We were constantly amused by the comments she made, and whenever she “sa1 jiao1” (whine) at Ah Ma. Being very talkative, Charlene was swarming everyone with her “why” questions on every single thing that we do or say. We are also very amazed by how disciplined she is (attributed to her strict boot camp training at home), ie take her own temperature before she goes to sleep / and refusing every kids’ fav “Pokee” biscuit because her mum has gave her strict instructions to refrain due to her cough.

Here’s some interesting trivials about her:
> She is constantly quoting “My mummy says…” to justify the reasons for some of her statements/behaviour. For this reason, we decided to give her the nick “Mummy’s girl”.

> Ah Ma needs to be by her side the moment she wakes up in the morning, and no one else is allowed to attend to her except Ah Ma.

> She is quite a vain pot - when Edwin was teasing her that her hands are dirty (because of the mozzie marks), she almost burst into tears.

> She pretends to have stomachache every morning so that she don’t have to go to school (but Ah Ma always managed expose her plot).

> She thinks that En Xi is having a diarrhea everyday (as the stools of breastfeed babies are runny and typically yellowish).

Charlene & En Xi's first cable car ride

Ah Ma...why so noisy? Ah Ma..why is the door closed? Ah Ma...why..

Charlene never fails to surprise us every day with her unexpected statements. The house was definitely livelier with her around, it almost feels like we have 2 daughters for the past 1 week. It also gave us a little preview of what En Xi will be when she is 3-years old. Can’t wait till En Xi grows up!

Daddy's First Post

En Xi's first trip to the Botanic Gardens with Uncle Willie & Family

After much sacarsm from me wifey that I'm not contributing to baby En Xi's blog, I finally found time to do so. Well, En Xi is now a much happier baby & she's starting to smile a lot more.

Smiling More = More Attention

Now, instead of having to constantly shower attention to my other half, I'll be seen "goo-ing & gaa-ing" to En Xi. She seems to take a liking for talking, always making funny sounds that never fails to makes my parents go "Ohh! That's so cute!"

I've been following a former colleague's blog of mine about his baby gal, Noelle (noelletan.blogspot.com). As his baby is slightly a month older than En Xi, it seems that whatever that Noelle is going through seems like a prelude or sneak preview of what's coming up for En Xi. Very interesting indeed! Noelle was going through the phase of not wanting to feed through bottles & only wants direct feed from her mommy. And now, En Xi is going through the same this week.

Anyway, enough about En Xi and a little about myself. For daddy's to be, a little warning and advice.

1. Never play your Wii / PSP / PS3 or read your newspaper or watch soccer in the presence of your wifey. When you're home, the expectation is to take care of the baby & nothing else.

2. You used to be Priority 1 for your wifey. Now the only time that your missus will look straight into your eyes, is when she says "Can you stop xxx, take care of the baby, you need to bond with him/her"

3. When you both wake up in the morning, instead of turning over to say "Good Morning, my dear...", she will turn to the baby instead and check on her diapers & say "Her diapers very heavy leh, can change for her or not?"

Daddy... I "Pang Sai"... Can change for me?

Welcome to parenthood!
I'm not complaining & is still loving every minute of it.

My brother's little gal, Charlene is now at my place for a week as they are away at Taiwan. More posts about her next time..

Charlene Ong (En Xi's Cousin)

Our first date

Happy couple, happy parents

Sashimi addict

Our first movie since we became parents

Our princess in DreamLand while we are out

My sweet hubby suggested that we should go on a date over the long weekend; a night out exclusively for the both of us. I was thrilled but guilty at the same time; isn’t it irresponsible to leave En Xi with his parents while we have a good time ourselves? I was assured by Edwin that she will be in good hands, as we shouldn’t neglect our “couplehood” times thou we have a baby.

Edwin was determined to treat this seriously like a “first” date, thou that was almost 7 years ago when that happened. We opt for Sushi Tei to satisfy my craving for SASHIMI (cos this was a no-no during my 10 mths of gestation). No date is complete without a movie rite – that was a tough debate as we have radically different preferences. Well..since this is suppose to be a romantic first date, the deciding factor was that it has to go with a romantic title too. We decided on “The Leap Years”, a made-in-Singapore love story.

We had a really good time! For me, it really feels like we are back to our dating days. Edwin even took the effort to shave – something which is impossible over the weekend, as he always insisted that that’s the only time he gets to look “grunge”. He was a complete gentleman that day, ie queuing for seats while the lady goes for shopping. Touched touched :)

The movie was great and completed our day. It’s a rather unconventional love story with a simple plot. But what makes it endearing are the words of wisdom about life and relationship. If you are a fan of “Serendipity” or “The Lakehouse”, I’m sure you will love this movie too. And yes – I cried at the end when the lovers finally got together after 12 years (thou theoretically they only met 4 times during this period). My dear hubby was bewildered by my over-reaction saying; “Can you pls pls tell me which part of the plot have the effect to move your tears???”.

I guess...the men just don’t understand.

She is smiling!

En Xi with her favorite rattle

The best gift to date - Music gym from Uncle Kurt and girlfriend.

I love Mummy (and Daddy too la)

Who loves me? Everyone love me!

Hypotised by the attractive hanging mobile (courtesy of the uncles and aunties from JWT)


Over the weekend, we made another visit to the pediatrician, as En Xi’s wheezing and snorting is having a relapse. After going through my food diary for the past 2 weeks, she suspected that it could be caused by the MILO and condensed milk that I was taking. I was told to go on a stringent diet, cutting out all the possible food that may trigger her allergic tummy. This is really challenging cos most of these food are staple that I need to take everyday, ie wheat (rice/bread), dairy (milk). Oh well, I guess it’s a good chance to start a sane diet as well, since I have been practically eating 2x as much as compared to my pre-pregnancy days. It’s time to lose some inches off that “buoy” on my tummy.

We are very proud of En Xi, as she is becoming a tougher chick and more resistant to her allergies with less fussiness. En Xi is also beginning to reciprocate our efforts of “entertaining” her with her angelic smiles.

After a few weeks of trial and error, we deduce that there are some activities that tends to trigger that megawatt smile of hers:
- After she is being fed or changed (esp in the wee hours of the morning or before bedtime).
- Her favorite “bottle-shaped” rattle.
- Singing “Old Macdonald had a farm” while massaging her.
- Ye Ye (Grandpa) talking to her

A note about Ye Ye - he seems to have some amazing powers to calm En Xi down when she is fussy. I think En Xi recognizes that Ye Ye is always talking and playing with her, so she is more obedient when Ye Ye talks to her. I remembered that most parenting guides advocates that nothing beats constant interaction with your kids, to promote bonding and brain stimulation. It seems that what Ye Ye has set the best example to model this.

As for me and Edwin, we are particularly exhilarated each time when she smiles or lets out a coo-ing sound in joy. As En Xi was constantly frowning in the initial weeks, we were rather worried that she might turn out to be a grouchy girl. Haha..guess our worries are unfounded for! I came across an article in Mother&Baby magazine, that best sums up how we (or every parent) are going through during the journey of parenthood.

“…I realize that as parents, we have to take things one step at a time – whether it’s feeding, burping, bathing or changing diapers. I should do the things I can control and not fret those that I can’t. As parents, we grow with our babies, and enjoy every stage of their development, from conception and birth, to sitting, crawling and even drooling.”

Hope that this series of pixs will bring some smiles to your day, like it did for us :)

Grumpy Baby

I want my miiiiiiiiiilkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk!!

Grumpy baby on a car ride

Eh? Why no milk? (trying to stall for time while milk is being prepared)

Just when we thought that things are rosy, En Xi's fussiness makes a comeback.

Over the past week, she has been quite a difficult child. Not only does wants to be cuddled all the time, she even refuses to take her naps! The only way to calm her down is to drape her over our shoulders and pacifying her with our limited selection of off-tune nursery rhymes. Just imagine a mother chimpazee carrying her baby, that's pretty much how I look most of the time. The good thing is that as a result of the cuddling, I have developed some well-toned abs over the past few days.

That's not all. And she seems to be hungry all the time!! She gulps down 3 ounces of milk in less than 5 mins, something which is a rare feat for a 7-weeks old baby. And within minutes, she lets out her piercing cries again, demanding for more food.

It has been a truly tiring week. But the rewarding moments are when she finally calms down and greets us with her lovable smile. Hope that things will improve soon :(