Baby is bullimic

Zoe has taken to sticking both fists in her mouth or digging ten fingers down her throat.

She makes herself gag. And ever so often, she makes herself puke.

Anything to look good for the boys...

Here she is deciding which of the two boys she'll bother with today.

So many men... so little time.

Lounging around

WE have two lounges at home - one upstairs and one downstairs.

Cool huh?

They have a lot of land here in Malaysia!

Anyway, we used to spend most of our time downstairs where we have a super comfy couch.

Since upstairs was really a secondary lounge, we used the apartment-included three-seater sofa to watch TV there occasionally.

But since Mopes came along, we've taken to spending most of our time upstairs for easy and quick access to her.

So for the last alomst five months, I've spent about ten hours a day (sometimes more!) parked on this crappy sofa breastfeeding, entertaining Mopes or just winding down from breastfeeding and entertaining Mopes.

As a result, my back is perpetually in spasms.

So yesterday, when I chanced upon a very chic furniture store, I bought a new couch.

In fact, I bought two - a three-seater and a two-seater. Both within minutes of stepping in. Oops!

Today, they delivered them.

Mopes and I spent a very enjoyable and comfortable rainy afternoon watching Baby Einstein videos.

Ahhhh lumbar support at last!


Incidentally, D is away for a work trip till tomorrow and I didn't tell him about the purchases... wonder if he'll notice the lounge - and his bank statement - looking a little different when he comes home!

Zoe goes to work

GOLFING for "work" was again on the cards today, but at least D had time to take us for a scrumptious brekkie.

Zoe was being carried in the Baby Bjorn and since there was no where to put her, D wore her while he ate.

But he made sure her head was safe from crumbs... and maple syrup.

Looking at the photo, I just realised I went to Dome two days in a row for brunch. Zzz.

After scoffing, we popped into D's office for a little while.

Yes Zoe, this is where Daddy makes the money for us to go shopping!

A Saturday without Dad

D PLAYED golf for "work" this morning so Zoe and I were left to entertain ourselves.

So we decided to play dress up.

Introducing Zoe in the fashion of tough chic:

Despite the non-stop camera flashes by paparazzi Mom, Zoe decided the blue sunnies had to go. She actually took them off herself!

Even without shades, she was still soooo cute so I decided not to waste a perfectly good outfit. Took the little gangster to Megamall to run some errands.

On our way there, I arranged to have coffee with Vandana and her girls at Dome. They have been wanting to meet Zoe for months.

Lucky Zoe got a beautiful present - a silver feeding spoon, cup and bowl on a tray, and an intricate rattle:

And that was basically our Saturday without D!

Playing peek-a-boo

SO funny that she laughed till she cried.

A very strange phenomenon.

Note: Excuse the high pitched voice.

On a rainy afternoon

A HUGE storm hit so we were stuck at home.


Zoe: What do we do now, Mom?

Me: Why, watch TV of course!



Zoe: Wheee!

Favourite toys

AFTER gym class today, Zoe played in the kiddie pit.

She found a plastic sausage and thought it was the funniest thing ever. Can't blame her, all the adults thought it was pretty funny looking too!

As you can see, Zoe is wearing a wrist bracelet in the photos above.

It is part of the Lamaze Garden bug Footfinder and Wrist Rattle Set.

The rattles are supposed to help her discover her hands and feet, and improve hand-to-eye coordination skills.

Zoe just likes to eat the bugs.

Her favourite toy is another Lamaze product.

Freddie the Firefly was given to her by Aunty Smell when she was born, but it's taken her nearly four months to finally appreciate it.

And because she loves it so much, I bought her another similar toy: Pupsqueak the Puppy, which is super cute.

She likes it a lot too.

Week 16: When can I go for a real swim?

I REALLY can't wait to take her swimming.

C bought Zoe swimmers from London. It is supposed to be for a nine-month old baby but I had to shoe-horn Zoe into them.

Here she is dry practicing:

And then the practical:

Zzz for Zoe

SLEEP or food?

Zoe always picks the Z's.

If she doesn't get enough shut eye, the smiles quickly disappear.
Tonight was Zoe's first dinner outing.

Normally she goes to bed at 7pm. But we thought since dinner was at a friend's place, she'd be able to sleep there.
We were so wrong.

Dinner was over by 9.15pm.

You'll never walk alone, Dadz!

THE EPL season starts tonight so Zoe got dressed for the occasion.

Little does she know, she won't be getting any attention when Liverpool is playing!

Letter to Violet

VIOLET the baby fashionista thought it was about time Zoe got groovy and sent Zoe her gorgoeus romper.

As you can see, Zoe just loves it!

Dear Violet,

Thank you for sending me your lovely romper. I love it! Please thank your mom for thinking of me too and tell her it fits really good! I got my mom to take a photo to show you.

I really wanted to wear my hair just like you but I didn't have enough to tie into ponytails. So I decided to wear the matching hat. What do you think?

You know, I can't wait to be able to sit properly like you. I'm sick of falling over sideways.

Anyway, I hope we get to play sometime soon... if our moms ever get organised.

Love, ZoE.

Hands and fingers

NAIL polish, rings, diamonds - a couple of reasons why women stare at our hands and fingers.

In this respect, Zoe's a girly girl coz she's made this discovery early.

Her hands and fingers are her new favourite toys.

She is just so fascinated by them. She's realised she can make her hands and fingers do things...

Her little game is to bring her hands together in front of her, clasp and unclasp them, wriggle her little fingers all about... and then, it all goes into her mouth!

Zoe's also made another early discovery.

She loves Rockstar SuperNova and thinks Dave N is cooool.

Bandana-ana

Zoe, Zoe bo-boey
Bandana-ana do-doey
Fe-fy-mo-moey
Zoe!

So we just got back from the gym.

Val and ten-month-old Alex were doing a hand and foot cast there.

Maybe I should get one done for Zoe too. A professional can do it and have it nicely framed for about RM300.

I wonder if this may be one of those useless baby things people do with their first child...

But it would be a shame to forget her teeny lovely hands and feet.

Maybe I'll try one of those do it yourself kits.

De-feed-ted

"YOU'RE not my mother", she says to the bottle.

We've coaxed, pleaded, begged, sung till we turned blue in the face, let her watch TV as a distraction, tried to force it upon her, bounced her, used deceit and trickery... all to no avail.

So we are throwing in the bib.

For now, at least.

Zoe just gets too upset whenever we try to bottlefeed her.

She just doesn't want it and that's that.

So now, if I am away from her, we'll spoon or cup feed her. She should drink enough milk to take the edge off her hunger and then when I'm back, she can tank up.


Procedure for Cup Feeding
* Use a small cup (shot-glass size) that holds 1 or 2 ounces of milk.
* Use a bib to absorb dripsand you might want to swaddle baby to keep her hands out of the way.
* Hold baby on you lap in an upright supported position.
* Hold the cup to baby's lips and tilt it until the milk just reaches his lips.
* Be patient. Allow baby to lap up the milk and swallow at his own pace. Don't pour the milk into baby's mouth; he may sputter and choke. Let baby set the pace, and let him decide when he's finished.

Spoon Feeding
* Support her upright on your lap as you would for cup-feeding and offer small spoonfuls of milk, placing the tip of the spoon on her lower lip. Allow her to take the milk and swallow at her own pace.

A little patch of grass

A DAY of a couple of big firsts.

I took Zoe out in the car alone for the first time.

It was a short drive to the Prince Hotel but still, I was concerned that she'd get a little distressed along the way as she doesn't really like being in the car seat.

So I sang all the way to the Prince Hotel: Ten Green Bottles, Itsy-Witsy Spider, Ring-a-ring-a-rosie, and when I ran out of kiddy jingles, I ended up belting out UB40's version of I can't help falling in love with you.

By the time we reached our destination, my throat was in serious need of hydration... and I was rather exhausted! Red Bull, please.

Zoe and I had a play date with Jennifer and James, Tiffany and Thomas, and Carly and Sienna.

We spent an hour sitting in the shade on a grass patch next to the pool and then when it got too hot, we headed up to Carly's apartment.

Zoe really enjoyed herself in the garden. It's really not often we get the opportunity to spend the morning outdoors.

And the little bubz really enjoyed her first play on grass.

My little lettuce head

WE went grocery shopping today and passed a booth selling very colourful clothes.

Needless to say, I couldn't resist... again!

In the vein of the Cabbage Patch Kid, here's my little lettuce head modelling her new outfit:

Lying in the lettuce patch...

Getting picked...

Pray, please don't eat me!

Zoe jiejie

A NEW baby has arrived and Zoe is no longer the youngest!

At 1pm on Thursday, BL's third daughter popped out. We went to visit on Saturday. Here she is with her big sister:

Awww...
After our visit, where Zoe supped sucked with the new baby, we headed off to brunch at Alexis in BSC.

I had two eggs benedict, three sausages, tomato, baked beans, mushrooms, toast, juice, and a latte - AND I WAS STILL HUNGRY after!

Well, as least I could eat in peace as Zoe was kept entertained with cuddles from the girls.

In the afternoon, I finally had some me time and went for a hour and a half long massage.

*Bliss*

Except that when I got home, I felt guilty coz D said Zoe refused to drink from the bottle, even though she was starving, and wailed for AN HOUR!

Sigh...

Day 102: Zoe's first letter

SMS from my mother-in-law: Zoe has a post parcel. Ha ha!

It's from from little Ollie and Viv, all the way from Colorado, America.

Thanks so much.

Zoe can't wait to open it!

Help for mastitis

IF mastitis is a problem for anyone else, this is a fantastic site for reference.

It seems that taking lecithin helps prevent mastitis so I'm going to try it.

And as an incidental benefit, it also burns fat and helps increase metabolism.

Very handy!

Day 100: A pregnant pause

TO think that 100 days ago...

...I was like this, from which out popped this!

Whoa.

Birth
Weight: 3.185kg Height: 51cm HC: 36cm
Today
Weight: 6.5kg Height: 62cm HC: 41cm

A pain in the neck

SADLY, the grandfoggies left today.

Wanted them to stay on but they had "a lot of things to do, you know!"

Imagine grandparents with more important stuff to do than to entertain the baby.

The recalcitrant grandfoggies say byedebye

For the last six days, my Mom has been singing to Zoe and my Pop has been having long conversations with her...

Z and Kongkie

No more karaoke. No more discussions on the mideast crisis.

The house is very quiet.

* * *

I have a major crink on the right side of my neck.

Wonder if it is from bad posture while breastfeeding.

Or maybe I twisted it during the night or jerked it at fitball class this morning.

Anyway, it hurts.

* * *

D is recovering from a bad bout of flu.

After his weekend away, he's been more or less at home. But the poor guy hasn't been able to cuddle and play with the baby in case she catches his germs.

He's been banished to sick bay and Zoe's taken his place in the bed!

Three days of being out of sorts has him pretty frustrated but it's been good for him to finally catch up on some Zzzz's.

Well, at least the house is quiet now...

Grandfoggies in town

KONGKIE and Poh have been here since Friday and we've been VERY busy!

Here we are at 1Utama pigging out on Assam Laksa and Nasi Lemak.


D has been away on a work trip and the foggies came up to keep us company.

It's about time they spent some quality time with their only grandchild, considering that they last saw her when she was one month old.

Gramps tries to calm the baby...

J the midwife came today. Zoe is doing very well and here are the stats:

Sex = girl
Age = 3 Months
Length = 62.0 centimeters
Weight = 6.5 kilograms
Head circumference = 41.5 centimeters

Based on the data you submitted, your child falls into the following percentiles:

Length = between 50th and 75th percentile
Weight = between 75th and 90th percentile
Head Circumference = between 75th and 90th percentile

Just do it

EXERCISE is so much more enjoyable when you have the right outfit.

Here's the bubz all decked out in for Mommy and Baby pilates:

...and a bit of a mess after class, not to mention a little tired and grumps!

Working (it)) out

GETTING out of the house and doing stuff is becoming easier each time.

It's great that Zoe and I have more social activities now. We are really getting into our Mommy and Baby classes at Fit4Two.

On Wednesday, Zoe and I went to fitball. It was a good workout. *Sweat*

Surprisingly, Zoe was well-behaved through the entire class. She fussed a teeny bit at the start, but not to the extent that she had to be taken outside and handed over to Liz.

Zoe even broke into a smile or two at the end of the class when we did some baby exercises accompanied by lots of singing.

Row row row your boat...

You know, I never knew there were so many verses to the song. I was the only Mommy who didn't know the words. Fail.

Then it was time for a chitter-chatter lunch with Julia and Elise - while babies Sofia, Delphie and Mopes slept!

Tomorrow, we'll be heading to pilates.

Oh here are a couple of funny stories from the day's outing:

[1]
I was chatting to some ang mo mother while waiting to get into the studio.
AMM: Is your baby sleeping through the night yet?
Me: That's my fantasy!
AMM: No wonder you look so tired.
Nice.

[2]
Elise was telling us about her husband who was trying to pacify a very hungry Delphie. He thought it'd be comforting - and funny - if he let the baby suck his nose. Elise saw what he was doing and said, "Don't do it coz..." But it was too late. He got a hickey on his nose!

Kiss my butt

SHE doesn't quite like tummy time as you can see... but it's a good opportunity to air her pantat!

Reflections at THREE months

LIFE is supposed to get easier now that you've hit the three month mark.

You are a lot more settled now. There is a pattern to your day, set times you play, sleep, and eat.

But why does your day have to begin at 5am?!?!

Every morning, I take you from our room (so that Dad can sleep on) to the nursery to hang out.

Sometimes you do The Baby Rap:

But mostly we chit chat on the bed, laugh at the silly sounds your toys make, and gawk at your vegetable flash cards.

Sometimes I can't help but drift in and out of sleep and when my eyes open I see you staring at the ceiling fan going round and round and round. I wonder if I can use it to hypnotise you into sleeping till 9am.

At 6.30am, Liz takes over and I head back to bed. While I catch up on some Zzzs, you work out at the (play)gym and see Dad off to work at 7.30am.

Maybe part of the reason you wake up so early is because you go to bed at 7pm.

It's a little too early coz your Dad gets home about 7.30-8pm but we're reluctant to mess this up coz you sleep so deep till about 2am, which gives me a good SEVEN hour break.

Also, when I finally start going out and doing things at night (please let it be soon!), it will be good to put you to bed before I head off. I'll rest easy knowing you're resting easy and not in need of anything while I am away from home.

Our biggest challenge right now is getting you back on the bottle.

I don't know why but you still hate drinking from the bottle.

After your bath every morning, you and Liz battle it out. Fight fight fight.

Each daily attempt at giving you an ounce or two of milk in a bottle is greeted first with grumbles, then tears and then RAGE.

For the last week, I've seen ounce after ounce of very precious breastmilk dumped down the sink. *Ow*

But my baby, this is just one example of how your little personality is emerging.

Each day, we see more and more glimpses of a little character.

You are a feisty little thing!

But you are also a very happy baby who is so content to just be with me. You love to chat with your dad. And you are starting to giggle and laugh which is so precious!

And you never fail to make us smile everytime we see your crooked little grin.

Happy Happy three months, my little baby!