M for Measles

Exactly at 6 month old, Chloe had her first fever. we were nursing at 6 am in the morning and I felt that her body was warmer than normal, I took her temperature and it was within the normal range. By the time she woke up at 9 am for her next feed, she was like a fireball, I took her temperature again and this time it’s 38.5 ºC! Off to the pediatrician!!

Dr. Belinda confirmed that her ears, throat and lungs are fine, no sign of infection and so the fever could be due to 3 possibilities. 1. Virus attack 2. Urinary tract infection 3. False measles (Roseola). She ruled out the first 2 possibilities as she’s still very active and normal, no sign of listlessness, fever is constant and not roller coasting, so most likely false measles. So for 3 days, she had fever ranging from 38.5ºC – 39.7ºC and true enough fever finally subsided on the 3rd day. Today, her body is covered with red rashes; I panicked a little and called the doctor to confirm. It’s going to go off in 1-2 days time. Thank goodness!

We tried not to medicate her so much so we hold out by sponging and sticking that cool pad thingy on her forehead to keep her temperature down. Okay, the first time I stuck it on her, she whined a little but leave it alone for a couple of hours. The second time I put it on, she struggled to get it off and eventually managed to ‘scratch’ it off. No luck of putting it on again as she knows how to get rid of it. Itchy fingers!

Her first taste of paracetamol brought out the most constipated look on her face and some crying, phew! But after that she would cry and fight off the syringe the moment she saw Simon’s hand approaching, so we have to spend like 15 mins. to coax 2 ml of syrup down her throat, which she would spits out 0.5 ml. And then she decided that enough is enough, no more funny stuff sticking into her ears! Every time I take her temperature, she swats the thermometer away and turns her head. Okay, I asked for it, cos I will take 3 readings just to be sure, very paranoid, right? Anyway, she doesn’t appear to be sick at all, other then the first day when she doesn’t really want to nurse. She’s still so active, in fact even more active after taking paracetamol (wonder what they added in my bottle of medicine). She took a dose and stayed awake for 7 hours straight, playing and babbling. Side effects?!

We had sleepless nights worrying about her fever and wondering what causes it. When it’s down, we pray that it stays put, when it’s high, we hope it doesn’t get any higher. Well, she’s fine now other than the red polka dots on her body. Phew! : ) And Chloe says 'Yabah! yabah!'

Cool headed

The big fat sponge

Green cool gel pad on my head

The Private Diner

Chloe went on a half day nursing strike yesterday. We knew she was fussy about where she nurses but not to this extend. She would rather go hungry then to ‘dine’ anyway else other than my room – my bedside, to be precise.

Between 0-1.5 months old, I can still nurse anywhere, restaurants, car and nursing room and she will still take the bottle. Around 2-3 months old, she refuses the bottle flat. No bargain! By the time she’s 4 months old, she will nurse in a restaurant while we are having dinner ONLY when she’s really hungry and if she does, it’s only for 5 mins. before she gets curious about her surroundings. Nursing rooms and the car are still acceptable then.

Now, she will check her environment the moment you want to nurse her. She will look around and start to kick her legs signaling the end of the session before it even begins. The nursing room and the car are out now. She only wants to nurse at her own cozy, private spot, my room and not other part of the house too. Sigh, I wonder where she inherited this streak of stubbornness. :)

So, yesterday, while we are out with friends, she chose to sleep off her hunger or suck her fingers. My many attempts to nurse her in the car, nursing room or the restaurant are counter attacked with back bends. Yes, she will arch her back and kick up a big fuss to stop me.

I guess the ambience, is important to her, dim lights, air-conditioned and quiet, just her and me.

Nestled in papa's arm, snoozing away.

We Love Celebrations!

Last Friday, we attended Eileen’s graduation ceremony. Well, we did not sit through the ceremony, Chloe wouldn’t have like that, boring (hee..ee), we were there for photo taking after the ceremony ended. The person in limelight seems to be Chloe than the graduate, 99.99% of all the pictures I took have our baby girl in it. And of course Mummy and papa are beaming with pride, so proud!

After the ceremony, we went to The Line @ Shangri-La Hotel for dinner, a twin celebration, Eileen’s graduation and mum’s birthday (early celebration). The Line is known for their sumptuous buffet spread. Good spread of seafood, sashimi and dessert. Okay, the real killer is the dessert counter. They have chocolate fondue, crepe, beautiful cakes and yummy mousse. I’m drooling again. It’s only at a buffet where you can start your dinner from the bottom of the menu, dessert first, and no one will mind! Chloe is not very co-operative; she wants to be seated together at the dinner table and not on her stroller. Simon tried to coax her to sit in it but no success and she screaming, so he escaped to the poolside. I can still hear her cries after that, good lung power! So in the end, I had to sling her throughout dinner and eat like a one-arm bandit. She did snooze for a short while and woke up feeling better.

Friday the 13th did strike us a little but fortunately the day ended nicely. It was drizzling on our way to SIM, and on the expressway a motor bike hit our rear bumper. And guess what, he actually sped off! Simon did not stop as traffic was really bad and he initially thought he went over something on the road. I was the one going hysterical, making sure that Chloe wasn’t startled by the bang (not very loud) then took down his license plate number, ‘The bike hit our car! There!! I think it’s FD 2886!!’ That lucky pig got away due to heavy traffic, otherwise I would chase him and make him pay for it. Pig! Simon said that’s no point making a police report as we are not sure of the number. Sigh! He was quite pissed off, well who wouldn’t. ;)

Congratulations!!
A little sleepy Chloe taking in her surroundings

One for the family album

Pictures round the campus

Wrong direction... look here. :)

With Grandpa & Eileen

With Grandma & Eileen

Batwomen & Batbaby

Chloe looking bored.

Happy Birthday Mummy! 52? 53?

Now that I have the strawberry, I need the chocolate fondue
Sweet & cheery smile!
Finally! Back home on mama's cosy bed with my bunny.
The best carrot I ever had!

Wiggly Baby

Bath time is fun time for Chloe and a work out session for me! Serious, you will burn at least 300 kcal bathing a wriggling 7 kg baby.

I have to confess, I still bathe her in the sink then transfer her to her baby tub for play because it is so much more convenient and safe. These days, she is no longer contented staying still while I clean her. She will dangle her leg over my lap and swing it while I struggle to keep her hand off my face when I wash her hair. She will blow saliva bubbles and grumble when I wipe her face. After sitting her down on the sink, she will start her ‘free flow’, hands and legs all over. The tap, the sponge and anything within her reach would end up in her mouth. Sometimes, I wished I had another 2 pairs of hands to grab hold of her.

How difficult is it to dress a baby? Grab her legs, slap on the diaper and pull a shirt over their head. Right! Our little mischief thinks otherwise. She will grab her romper from the bed, fling it around and proceed to put it into her mouth. So now, romper has saliva, happy. After sliding the fresh diaper underneath her bum, I will apply her bum cream on soonest before she brings both her legs to her mouth, preventing me from sticking on the 2 sticky tapes by the sides. Faint! Today, she adds to the level of difficulty by pressing her bum up with her feet and wiggle sideways then rolled over! I have to pull, tug and reposition her diaper umpteenth time.

By this time I would be perspiring while she lie on the bed smelling fresh and clean grinning at me. She thinks it’s a game mama is playing with her, me coaxing her fingers out from her mouth, gently pulling her feet down and patting her bum. As she gets bigger each day, she’s also getting smarter, trying to gain a hold over everything, very soon she will want to have her say.

I have to admit it is quite tiring at times, especially when she stays up the night before, but that big cheery smile and babyish giggle is enough to wash off everything and charge you up instantly. After all, she’s not 5 months old everyday and very soon we will be missing these funny moments. As the quote goes ‘Living one day at a time; Enjoying one moment at a time.’

Conversation Starters

Sunny bumming on the sofa

All dressed up! Ready to go shopping.

Not as yummy as my fingers

Babies and dogs are good conversation starters. Trust me, if you’re carrying your baby or walking your dog in the park, chances are you will definitely have someone smiling at your baby/dog then at you and if you return it, a conversation will begin. It depends; you meet good ones and yucky ones.

Stranger: So cute! Male or female?
Me: Thanks. It’s a boy.
Stranger: Jack Russell right? Wow, very active dog. Handsome yah.

And the conversation will drift from the brand of food they eat, the shampoo they use to the funny habits they have. In this way, I have made lots of new neighbors in both my old and new estate.

Sunny is a very popular guy in my old estate in good and not so good way. He is so well liked by the kids that I was having ‘little tours’ to my apartment showing them where he sleeps, his bed, the food he eats, the bowl he’s using and all his toys. Not so well like by the residents who dislike dogs, as we play fetch every evening on the grass patch with the kids. We will always have security guards chasing us because of the noise, it’s not Sunny but the kids who are shouting and cheering, but that's how kids play.

Now with Chloe, people will smile at her, say hi, and make silly face to attract her attention or try to touch her hands. I noticed that this group of people are the ones who do not have kids yet or their kids are grown up. Okay, the point here is I dislike strangers coming up and try to touch her. I’ll turn away, hold her hands or tell them, ‘Don’t touch her hands, she likes to suck her fingers.’ Period. The ones who have babies will ask about the feeding and sleeping routine, they will not try funny things, they probably had enough with their own.

Well, I met an irritating conversationalist over the weekend. We were at Centrepoint on Sunday (again!) to buy a mattress for Chloe, so while Simon went to put the mattress in the car, I waited with Chloe outside Crystal Jade. And there on the other end sits a skinny haggard looking aunty, the irritant.

Aunty: Boy or Girl? (keeps looking at us)
Me: Girl.
(So obvious, she’s in a purple dress! I know she doesn’t have much hair but still!!)
Aunty: You breastfeed?
Me: Yeah.
Aunty: Good. You working?
Me: No.
Aunty: Enough milk ah? Some working mothers pressed out their milk to store for their babies.
(Starts to makes squeezing action near her breast. Hello, it’s pump, not press out. You think what, cow?!)
Me: Okaayy ...
(I looked away and talked to Chloe, big hint already that I don’t want to talk.)
Aunty: You give formula? Must mix; give her formula, blah, blah, blah, lah, lah.

Ultra-super irritating! Who is she to tell me what to feed my baby?!! I feel like hammering her head then. Thank goodness Simon appear to save her kutu head. I suspect she must be an old hag hired by some formula milk company to hang around shopping malls during baby fairs to promote formula milk. Hmm... new strategy?

Jealous!

Chloe's having lots of 'first time' this whole week, her personal milestones. And last night she did a few and one which I'm REALLY jealous of. Well, she rolls over (nothing new) and fell asleep on her tummy. We were surprise cos it's something which she doesn't like before. I think that's because she's too tired from all the rolling. Hee...ee ... And then she woke up about 10+ p.m. (with a pool of saliva on the bed, now you know why Simon's complexion is getting better) and decided to play!

Yes! We tried tummy-to-back for fun and she did 1 on her own! Applauds!! She has got it but still not very good but it's there, just a matter of a few more flips before she's a pro. : ) I feel like a prata man, flipping roti pratas on the bed.
Okay, that's 2 first-time. And this one, argh... I'm jealous!! Chloe called 'Papa' first!! How can that ever happen?! Sob! Sob! I'm going to label it, as a one-off, baby babbling, sounds alike.

We're lazing on the bed after play and she was laying side ways facing me and started her baby babbling, 'Ow, ow, ow, oh..he.' Then suddenly, she goes really loud. 'Ah, buuu, buuu, aaa... ba.. pa..pa!' Simon and I looked at each other and I was like she did she just called papa? Simon is just so excited, grinning from one ear to the other. 'Chloe, say mama, MA MA, MA MA.' She squeals with delight, stick her fingers in her mouth and smeared my face with saliva.

Mum said I called 'Mama' first when I was 6 months old, looks like she's not going to follow my footstep. Oops! I said that's a sound alike. ; p

Jab, Shop and Eat

Since we're at TCC, I want my cappucino.

One with mama

Finally we finished all of the 5-in-1 vaccination, there are 3 jabs, one every month. Chloe's a toughie, no cry baby, just a frown from her. I think she's more upset when Dr. Ong carried her up and shoved her into my arms to be comforted. It's super long weekend, Good Friday. And to make her feel good, we decided to bring her go shopping. The shopping trip was more for me :).

We went to Centrepoint to check out the new extended mall. They have move the entire babies and kids section to the 6th floor in the new wing and it's only accessible by lift. You need to navigate a little to get up there, the whole place is really quiet, which I'm quite glad, no screaming and running loose kids. There are more sales personnels than shoppers, we spotted only 2 pregnant ladies. So while I went around looking for an inflatable float, Chloe fell asleep in the sling and where's papa? He's busy checking out the strollers. Why do we even need a second one when we didn't even get enough mileage out of the present one. Well, Simon wants a light and compact one, small enough to be slotted into the front car seat, the boot is pack with his work stuff.

Robinson stocks Aprica which I've never paid attention to before. Hmmm... why cos I dislike strollers with small, thin wheels. It's like waiting for the wheels to be trapped between tiles, just like you have your high heels getting stuck, not good. But Simon is very thrill, cos the one which he's looking at is a merely 4.6 kg, open with a throw and folds up real compact. Price $659!! That's more than our Peg Prego , which was 75% sponsored by our good friends. (Chloe's first month gift). Ahem, her 1 year old birthday is not very far away, I don't mind receiving some advance presents. : )

The sales personnel patiently demostrated how each one works and there's this panel at the back for ventilation. Cool! Chloe almost ended up with the new stroller if I had said yes. The rest of the whole evening after that, Simon was telling Chloe, 'Papa's going to buy you a pink pram, okay' Yes, it's pink, striking pink! Our baby was smiling like she understands what's going on. Mmm... now you know who will spoil her in future.

Rollie Pollie

Straddle in the air

Help! Turn me, please.

Airing my bum after bath :)

Out of sheer boredom, I started exercising Chloe with yoga when she was 3 months plus. It started with teaching her to grab her toes, which she master in a few days time. Then we did the opposite hand and leg grab, not very good at it as she still doesn't know how to cross her mid-line yet. Being very naughty, I put her toe into her mouth one day. Flexible girl, she knows how to suck her toes then. : p So she now sucks her fingers and toes for entertainment.

About 4 months old, we tried rolling from back to tummy, not very successful cos her head support was still not very good yet. Then suddenly at 4 months 3 weeks old, she decided to roll over by herself. Sharks! I missed that historical moment. She chose the minute I walked into the toilet to do it. Argh ...! The thing is our baby doesn't know how to roll back onto her back, so she'll be suck there, screaming for help.

Grandma's Place

Scratch, scratch...great grandpa's chin feels funny

I'll go over to mum's place once a week for dinner. Before Chloe's here, I used to lug the dog crate and Sunny there. He'll have a ball of a time, cos mum will cook salmon (a big piece!) for him, without fail. These days, it's Chloe going over to grandma's place. Poor Sunny got to stay home.

Going to grandma's place is a big affair, after all it's once a week. Everyone will make it home early from work. Great-grandpa will be waiting eagerly, mum will be back early to cook, papa will be back (no over time), my sister will practically 'flies' back from office and my dear brother just can't wait to show her funny faces. Chloe will have to dress up, the theme is cute, no rompers please. There'll be photo sessions, little gifts from Yiyi (sister) and everyone will be cooing over her.

Now that she's 5 months plus and is able to take pureed food, my sister is even more excited, so besides the small gifts, Chloe's now getting bottle pureed food. Different flavor each week, mango and apple, blueberries and something. Yesterday, we went to the supermarket together and Chloe had the pleasure of 'choosing' the flavor. Eileen held out 2 bottles and she stared at one of them and started to grab it, we mixed it up again and she chose the same bottle. Apparently, she likes the more expensive one. : ) See, she never returns home empty handed.

Debut Post - P Day

Always ready for the camera

It's funny how we can easily discuss babies poop and not feel disgusted or offended. If you were to talk about how much you poop and how your poop looks like, I'm sure you're be asked to shut up. Discussing about Chloe's poop is like talking about what you had for lunch today. Simon would ask everyday whether she has pooped, a lot or little? My mum would ask whether her poop is okay. And of course, I'll be staring at her soiled diaper, checking the texture and categorizing it under 'alot' or 'little'.

We are a little obsess with her poop as we freaked out couple of weeks ago when we saw blood streaks in her poop, not lines but patches. So we went to the doc and she thinks it's food allergic - nuts, overdose of nuts from post-CNY goodies which I was still munching then. I kept a food diary since then and writes down everything I eat, in case the poop turns 'bad' again.

This afternoon, Simon and Chloe had a great time together while I went to buy lunch and grocery shop. What did they do? Simon had great fun cleaning her dirty butt. She made a huge one after I went out. Papa tried to figure out how best to wipe her without a. dirtying the bedsheets (I just changed it yesterday) b. without dirtying her any further. In the end, he 'dry cleaned' her with a ton of tissue. Chloe was laughing all the time when Simon is cleaning her, she must be thinking 'Yeah! Papa playing masak-masak.' I got the full works of the whole operation when I'm back, Simon cooing about how co-operative she was, how much fun she had disturbing him.

That's daddy's girl! And a great day complete with poop.