Frequent flier

At 10 weeks old, Jacob is a seasoned traveller in mummy's carrier. We go places together...

Mummy's office

In mummy's colleague's arms...

Dinner date with Auntie Mary...

Now, if I only have less back ache, I figured I would be able to travel around with him even more.  My legs are doing fine with all that walking...but the back is weak!  No matter how I minimize and simplify, my backpack still weighs a ton. And Jacob weighs another 6kg. And if we travel with jiejie Gloria, then I have to add a little more patience....

I hope I get better and stronger! 

Look at how he grew!

My little little Jacob is growing fast! 

Daddy E doesn't want him to be a mummy's boy. Well, some things can't be dictated. Much like whether they are thumb suckers or pacifier users... They prob decide that on their own... 

Sleeping patterns too... From unpredictable and carrying in arms all day to sleeping in his bed after sucking his thumb (on a good day), he has grown and matured....

But some days, he is still sleeping in my arms... Like right now...

Sophie the giraffe

For Jacob, I think we will really save on toys and clothes... We are blessed to have friends give us hand me downs and preloved toys.... And I also learnt after having G that even if you buy a toy, you also need to invest energy to play with the kid... And one toy is probably good enough to last a long way although the kiasu parent's instinct is to get as many toys as possible! 

But one toy that I decided to buy for EJ is Sophie the giraffe. Safe for teething... Squashy and squeaky... 

Checking out nursing rooms....

Nursing rooms are such an important feature of shopping malls for breast feeding mums... And because of EJ, I am getting acquainted with nursing rooms all over again.  Even E is getting more and more familiar with nursing rooms. :) so far, we have checked out:

1. Westgate

2. MBS

3. Tiong Bahru Plaza

4. Vivo

5. Ion orchard

6. Isetan Scotts

7. Takashimaya

8. Ikea

I really like the ones with private cubicles for breast feeding and common area for changing diapers. Those with just ONE cubicle for both breast feeding and diaper changing is the least friendly. If it is occupied, then we will have to wait a long long time!!

Daddy E

This post is dedicated to Daddy E, Dad, Tito and dearest E, who is the special"est" man in my life. And for me to read whenever things don't go the way I want them to... To remind myself of how blessed I am, to have him in my life. 

This maternity leave really leaves me with a lot of time for self reflection and for remembering things of the past. The body is busy but the mind has time to think and remember.  In reality, we have been together for 2 years...since April/May 2014. But it seems a long long time. We seemed to have done so many things together. Dating, falling in love, parenting, dating, having baby, parenting.  The parenting component seems so overwhelming at times... But we still have time to date and have one-to-one time. 

I remember when we first started, we spent a lot of time chatting on whatsapp. He is engaging and makes me want to talk to him. I found him interesting. And we had sob stories to tell each other! Haha. 

Then we got a little more serious and started bringing the kids out for dates. East Coast Park...Vivo... Dempsey Hill. 

I decided to move out and stay with him. Some rebellion.  Something inside me wanting to be independent. I hurt my parents in the process. That is stubborn me. I remember him telling me that he was excited that I am going to stay with him. He is excited that I am going to be near. 

And we stayed at Henderson. A small place. Cramped. But he told me that it was functional. And it was! We survived through constant breakdown of electrical appliances... Washing machine and fridge. Stove. Resorted to using the portable gas burner for cooking, microwave and a air fryer.  

He accompanied me every morning to Gloria's school at Bukit Merah Central. And after we dropped her off, we always take the escalator up. That prob is my favourite escalator with sweet memories. 

He accompanied me everywhere. Almost. But I still have my freedom to go wherever I want. And that is what I like about our relationship. Intimate but not stifling. Rational but not unromantic. 

Thumb sucking

At just 2 months ( beginning of his 3rd month), Jacob seems to have found  his left thumb and sucking it for comfort just before sleep. 

Should I let him be? Or should I replace it with a pacifier? 

Vanity adventures with Jacob

Since this is already my number 2 (baby), I feel like I should be able to accomplish more things with Jacob than with Gloria. Maternity leave is a time of self-reflection. Even though I am busy physically and so tired physically, mentally, I seem to have so much time and space to think about things that my thoughts run wild. 

Anyway, back to mummy milestones during maternity leave... Here is a list of things which I have done in months 1 and 2:

1) go for a hair wash at the neighbourhood salon. Which includes a chat with the middle aged aunties... Who advised Jacob to shave his head so that the hair will grow out nicely in future. Who advised me to dye my hair only just before returning to work (it is not good for baby to dye now). Who commented that I looked pale and asked if I had done my confinement properly. :(

Jacob was sleeping in the carrier throughout the hair wash and only woke up when my hair was blown-dried.  Aunties were considerate enough to then use the air blower instead, instead of the noisy hair dryer. 

2) go for B. waxing at Tanjong Pagar Plaza.   Pretty quick affair here... I really liked the lady Yvonne who is so swift at her job. And Jacob was sleeping in the carrier while I lay on the bed.

3) go for facial at ultimate spa at Bukit Batok.  There are just two sessions left and I never seem to have time to go for the session previously when I was working.  Jacob woke up just after my face was cleansed. So I decided to latch him on... And he did drink in prone. What a boy! And the facial lady offered to help me carry him while I continued my treatment. How kind! It was a 75 min session... And the lady skimped on the shoulder massage..but overall it was great. I fell asleep during the mask... Could have been nice to sleep a while more! 

These are my vanity adventures with Jacob. Next up will be a pedicure... After I bought my sandals... I think a good pedicure is most necessary. My toes are about the ugliest part of my body, ranked side by side with my fingernails. :((

Jacob's been such an angelic boy... The only thing stopping me from more adventures is my own energy level!

Photos with Kuya and Jiejie

Kuya Vance... It is so difficult to get a photo with him because he is always on the iPod chatting on FB with his girlfriend.   Wonder if Jacob will be like that when he reaches 13 years old... Or maybe even earlier!!

Kuya Ian... A little cheeky but always loves to carry Jacob around. Probably Jacob will grow up to look like him? :)

Jiejie Gloria... Loves to sing to Jacob while squeezing with him in the stroller at Westgate. Jacob is only about 4 weeks old then.

Gloria loves to greet Jacob early in the morning... But will sometimes push daddy E away... These two... Are usually bickering in the early morning or late at night... After waking up or before sleeping. 

 

Gloria smiling with her signature "eyes closed" smile... Jacob is 2 months old!

Photos with gramps...

Sleeping patterns in month 2

Since the confinement lady left on 15 Apr, I have been managing at home, at times with E's presence but mostly on my own. Transition is not an easy phase... And even if this is 2nd time round, all the things are still slightly different. Now that we have come to the end of one month alone, I think I am managing alight now. Definitely there are up days and down days... But EJ has slowly turned out to be more predictable...especially with his sleeping patterns. It was somewhat trying between week 5-7. He was glued to my arms for almost all the naps and was impossible to put down but somehow in week 8-9, there was a turning point. :) he turned out to love his cot/playpen after all. 

Initial attempts to let him sleep unswaddled.... 2/10 success

Attempts to let him sleep in prone by himself... 1/10 success

Loves napping in arms... 9/10 success

Knocked out at gramps' home... Must be exhausted after visit to eye doctor

Knocked out with jiejie - both in their own worlds...

Swaddling helps a great deal. I must thank Ah Yee for handing down her two swaddles. I decided to swaddle him for his naps again, sometime last week and it seemed to work magic! Well, some magic at least. 

Swaddle magic - 9/10 success. He is usually a one-arm swaddler. :)

I also lowered the blinds in the room, so it appears slightly darker and not bright and cheery. And then I laid him sideways.  I don't shush much but I just tapped him a little (depends on my mood) and then I leave the room. On good days, he popped off on his own. On bad days or times, he wailed non-stop. But I tried to avoid carrying him in my arms. I carried him upright for a little until he quietened before lying him down again. And sometimes I repeat the cycle again and again and again. 

Weight gain... Little pumpkin...

My little pumpkin has grown a lot since he was born.

Jacob Dela Rosa -

3.59kg on 24 Mar (8th day) 

3.68kg on 27 Mar (11th day)

4.6kg on 17 Apr, 54cm, head 37cm

5.43kg on 5 May

So he has put on about 1kg since he was born. :) 

I think the polyclinic nurse showed his weight gain on 17 Apr as at 75th percentile.  Total breastfed baby....I am proud of his weight gain. Although papa E is concerned that he is too fat... Nah... I think he is just right! 

Eczema :(

:( It has been a week since baby EJ got the flushed, rough and flaky spots on his cheeks. It started off on 27 April with just a couple of spots on the upper cheeks and I thought it was heat rash. Or could it be baby acne? 

I dabbed breast milk on it, after hearing advice that it is liquid gold. And once I dabbed sebamed facial cream. But it didn't seem to get better. Instead it became flakier, drier and very rough. What happened to baby skin?!?! My poor baby....

We waited and waited and I decided to wait till next Monday when we would bring him for the rotavirus vaccination. And we waited and waited. It seems so long.   

Poor thing... I almost wanted to bring him to the PD on Saturday but managed to wait it out. Perhaps it is cos I am second time mum, or perhaps from Gloria's HFMD experience, I knew how fast baby skin can worsen and then recover. I decided to just wait... E didnt have any violent objections, other than warning me not to apply any more breast milk or facial cream! 

Good old Dr Chong at Dawson Clinic diagnosed it as eczema, based on his presentation and my history of asthma. Urgh... No cataract, but got sensitive skin like me. :( Dr Chong was quite reassuring and gave two creams. A mild steroid and a moisturizer... 

:) and after just one day, EJ skin is getting better... :)) will have to take care of his sensitive skin. 

Lazy Sunday

Big E - Eat, watch movie, sleep

Small E - Bf, play and cry, sleep

It is just the three of us this Sunday and we are hibernating at home. One of the best ways to enjoy a Sunday....

1. Reading Sunday Times

2. Dry-moping the floor so that the feet feel clean

3. Bustling in the kitchen.. Arranging stuff, cooking...

4. Walking around the house without a baby attached to you. Baby EJ is attached to papa E instead. :)

5. Watching E rock EJ to sleep.... 

EJ gets a couple more bottles of bm today while mummy gets to pump. At times, pumping compared to direct latching is a pleasure. I just hug onto your funnels while you can multi-task on your iPhone. But if I DL, I have to hug onto baby. There are times when I need a baby break! 

Sleeping unpredictably...

Little EJ naps at the most unpredictable times. When you think he is going to wake up, he will nap long, which is anything more than an hour. E says he can't nap in his arms and in the blue rocker but he could nap in his cot cum playpen. I'm not sure how true that is, EJ could just be zoning out after a long stretch of tiredness. In any case, just as I think I can start blogging, EJ wakes up! 

Sleeping soundly

My little boy at 6 weeks + really moves a lot! Almost 90 deg while finding a comfortable position at night to sleep. He squirms and grunts. Like tonight, he wakes up at 3.45am to bf and then when I put him down at 4.15, while I sit down to pump and empty the breasts, he was grunting away. And when I finally finished my pump 30min later, here is his final position. 

Blogging randomly

I am hoping to blog more frequently now that I have downloaded the blogger app on my iPhone. So difficult to blog consistently on my laptop... With a 6 week old who seems to nap unpredictably, I need to really streamline my daily tasks and prioritize them. 

1. Washing and sterilizing bottles and pump equipment

2. Cooking soup and longan tea

3. Laundry which includes cloth nappies

4. Cooking simple meals

5. Daily down time in the afternoon, to make up for the night wakings

6. Taking care of EJ, which is essentially bf, bathe, change diaper, get him to nap. and some pumping after bf to try boosting my milk supply. 

Doing all the above leaves me with no energy and no time to switch on my laptop and blog. So it is the good trusty iPhone that I have to turn to, for companionship, for pinterest, for Facebook, for baby schedule app and now for blogging. 

Since I have downloaded all the photos during the confinement month into my laptop, I only have the latest photos of baby EJ in my iPhoto. Will have to blog backwards!!