I got toof

C got his first tooth today. His left lower front tooth has broken through the gums and the right tooth is starting to show through. C has been rather cranky these 2 nights, waking up almost every hour, giving his parents a pair of matching Panda eyes.

Being first time parents, we did not know what is wrong with him. But I did suspect that he was teething. Not only was he drooling rivers, he was also constantly trying to chew on things. These 2 nights, he awoke only to calm down after I put the pacifier in his mouth. He must be feeling rather itchy.

I was kinda anticipating his teeth to be coming out soon as I heard from my friends and MIL that some babies start to grow teeth as soon as they are 4 months old. But C's mummy, aka me, forgot to check his lower teeth, thinking that his upper teeth should be showing first. Boy, was I wrong. Babies grow their lower teeth first then their upper teeth and the rest will come along and he should have all 20 baby teeth by the time he reaches 3.

Yeah, I did not do my "teething" reading. Hehehe! Anyways, I am so excited about C's teeth. Next comes teething toys, toothbrush, solids.....etc etc

PS: Tried to take a picture of his tooth this morning but his tongue was covering it. Maybe next time.

Sichuan Earthquake

Recently, Asia has had its spate of bad luck with two natural disasters almost occuring consecutively. It is really sad to read or hear about the victims and survivors from the Myanmar Cyclone and the Sichuan Earthquake, so now I have basically stopped reading the newspaper on these two events. I would even change the channel if the news on TV starts to report on these two events.

All the updates I get are through other people's conversations. The reason why I do not follow the news about these two natural disasters is not because I do not care but really because the stories of these victims and survivors are all so heart wrenching.

Stories how a pregnant lady from the Sichuan Earthquake was rescued after 170 hours and delivered the baby as soon as she was rescued or the story about a Chinese lady who left her baby at home to travel to Sichuan so that she can help to feed the countless orphaned babies in Sichuan or even another story of the discovery of kindergarden children still with crayons in their hands. Just relaying stories like these around the dinner table is enough to make me imagine the pictures vividly and cause me to wrench in pain. Maybe it is because I am still breastfeeding and all the pregnancy hormones have not cleared but really, these stories are enough to make me cry.

The stories surrounding little children are the worst to bear. I think being a mother just makes you more vulnerable. In each situation, I imagine "what if it was C" and immediately, I cannot bear it. I would rather die than have to see C go through what these Sichuan children went through. Everyday, we worry about things or accidents that could happen to our children. You can start to drive extra careful or not go on holidays to disaster prone areas or even check and re-check the locks on your doors but seriously, you can never never fully truly protect your little ones.

So parents then have to go crazy worrying about your children. Well, reading Stormie Ormartian's book about praying for your children, she says that we have to trust God to take care of our children. Yes, as human beings, we can never guard our children 24 hours a day but God can. He can protect our children when we are not able to. So, we ought to start praying and trusting God that He could AND would protect our children because they are His creation and children too. He loves them as much as we do or maybe even more than we do.

Of course, knowing the truth and acting upon it is two separate things. It is hard to let go of your possesions to God, how much harder is it then to let go of your children to God? It is definitely a challenge for me in this area as I am a natural worrier. If RH does not call to let me know that he will be home late, I would be frantic, trying to call him upteen times just to make sure he is ok. I might even drive to his company in the middle of the night just to find him and see for myself. But each time I panic, I have to consiously remind myself that God is in control and He loves me and C (and RH).

Thank you Father for Your love and faithfulness so that we can trust You always always.

Psalm 103:13

13 As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him;

Little Mr. Bumbo

Tried out the Bumbo seat on C yesterday! Here is a picture of him in his throne albeit not a clear photo. I will try to take another picture tonight. His thigh barely made it into the seat cos it is too thick. Hahahaha!

{C on his aqua Bumbo Seat}

C got quite a handful of stuff from Grandma when she came back from USA. Here is a chicken bib that Grandma brought back. Hihihi!

{C, in his new bib}

{I have a yellow bib}

4 months ago...

I was 20kg over my regular weight due to the pregnancy and when I weighed myself last night......drum roll....

I am pleased to report that I have finally gotten back to my pre-pregnancy weight. I know some of you ladies out there are going to kill me for saying what I am about to say....but I really did not exercise, did not diet and ate as much as when I was pregnant. What can I say? I really have to credit it to breastfeeding and the lack of sleep. For some people, being tired and stressed will cause them to gain even more weight but fortunately for me, I tend to lose weight when I do not sleep enough. No matter how much I eat, just as long as I have panda eyes, my weight just seems to go downhill.

Also, BF also helps. According to BabyCenter, a lactating mom loses an extra 500 calories a day. So, I do believe that BF is the fastest way to lose pregnancy weight. Of course, if I had not eaten like a cow, I would probably have lost all those kilos faster but I am glad that all that weight did not remain with me.

**********

By the way, Kidzloft in Tagore Lane is having a sale. A mummy from the Dec Mommies Thread alerted me to it and I got myself an Aqua Bumbo Seat. Wanted to get a neutral color in case my second is a daughter. I wanted to get the green but after looking at the actual color, decided that Aqua is nicer. The purple is quite nice too but it is a tad dark so Aqua it is.

First Swim

We took C for his first pool experience yesterday! Last week, in anticipation of this day, I excitedly went to get him a swimsuit. There was the less expensive one and a more expensive one with floats embedded in the swimsuit supposedly to help keep the little one afloat.

So, of course, I bought the more expensive one. Being really excited over my firstborn's first swim. :P Wrong choice, the float were so rigid that it was a torture trying to get C into the outfit and then after he was all strapped in, the float collar covered half of his face so only the top half was visible, making him look as if he was wearing an astronaut suit getting ready to be launched into space instead of going down to get his feet wet in the condo pool. RH, the maid and me spent a good 10 mins roaring with laughter at C's get-up. What was C doing all the time we were laughing at him? You would think he would be a really annoyed and angry baby but he was happily licking and sucking on his collar which was comfortably in front of his lips.

{Houston, 3, 2, 1, Launch!}

So, I ended up removing the float on his chest so the whole suit can move downwards and finally C was able to get his chin over the collar and finally we were ready to go down.

{One last shot before we go to the pool}

As you can probably guess, C did not do much swimming. He was just carried in the water from one end of the pool to the other end. The whole experience only lasted 15 mins before I thought it was enough stimulation.

{Its cold, mummy!}

{I hate swimming}

{Oh, ok, its not that bad after all}

{Actually, it is quite enjoyable after I get used to it}

Pommes

Finally, our first dessert job is done. It has been a tiring week leading up to the event. Thinking of last minute things and trying to churn out over 300 pieces of dessert is no mean feat.

That morning, I went Trinity @ Paya Lebar at 9:00 am with my 2 "free labor" hunks aka my husband and brother to set up the table and decorations. My sister, SY, together with BX was in charge of final touches of the dessert. Getting all 75 creme brulee sugared and torched, putting on the chocolate beans on the tiramisu, setting the chocolate feutillies onto the Triple chocolate mousse and finally packing all 300 over desserts so that they will arrive at the venue with no mishaps.

{Dessert Table with no desserts yet}

{Pink Theme requested by the Bride and Groom}

I stayed on in church to finish setting up the tables while RH went to pick up SY and the desserts. They arrived at church at 11:45 am and the reception was supposed to start at 12:00 pm. Luckily, the solemnization started late so we had a leg up. Everything was set up beautifully by 12:00 pm, ready and waiting for guests to arrive.

{Complete with Pink themed desserts}

I had to go and pick up more rose buds and chocolate beans and change into my dress so by the time I came back to church, the party was in full swing. Dessert glasses were being swept up left and right. We had really positive comments and I think most people liked the decorations. *Beam*

{Tiramisu, Raspbery Ganache Cupcakes and Macarons displayed on transparent acrylic boxes filled with rose petals}

By 2:00 pm, ALL and I mean ALL our desserts were gone and some of the latecomers did not get any desserts. It was really a slight on our part as it was our first event and I think we might have miscalculated the quantity of the desserts. We estimated based on the number of desserts that people consumed during C's first month and that day we had lotsa leftovers. Unfortunately, when people think of buffet, they somehow can eat more.......hahaha!

All in all, I guess, our first event went pretty well. No major hiccups but we learnt our lessons well, we really need to cater for more desserts next time.

One sick little boy

When mom got back from USA, she brought back the babylegs that I ordered. So, when C was sick and needed to go to the PD, I took the opportunity to put on the bblegs on him.

{C in his bblegs}

That morning, he had blood in his stools again. The night before, he did not get a good night's rest, waking every hour because of stomach upset.

{C at the PD}

That evening, he got a slight fever and so I put on the japanese compress on his head. He looks both pitiful and cute. I think only babies can manage to look both dat.

{C with his compress}