Baby's First Word!

Little Tyke said his first word!! It's "Mam-mam!' LT was officially 4months and 6days' old then.

Hehe, this happened when we were coming back from a tiring day of shopping at 1 Utama with LT's grandparents. LT was fretting cos he didn't sleep and eat well whenever we go shopping. He was fretting in the car as mummy was driving home.

Granma said LT was looking silently and grumpily at daddy the whole trip before he started fretting, and then it happened, out of the blue, LT said, "Mam-mam!" Everyone in the car heard it loud and clear! We cheered! However LT was still grumpy and he couldn't join us in cheering as it was 1/2 hour late for his milk.

Well done LT! We await for your next few words!

Celebration of a Milestone

Little Tyke was due for his baby wellness check-up on Tuesday and his 4 mo HIB jab and 2nd Rotateq.. He's now a big boy! 4 months and 4 days' old. Daddy and mummy went early to the hospital and found out that your usual doctor was on leave. Hummph.. No one bothered to tell us? So we have to wait another 45minutes before we could see another pediatrician, Dr Paran.
Mummy made a long list of questions to ask the doc, we managed most of it before he was called into the operation theater. LT was very brave, thou he screamed his lungs out before doc could touch him for his dose of Rotateq, his cries were lesser than the baby before him. Considering that they both got their jabs. Possibly LT already knew what was coming (the jab). He was fidgety the whole time in the hospital before the HIB jab.

Looking around in the waiting room, we noticed that LT was a bit on the small side. Especially when a great-grandma of another 3 month old baby boy asked if LT's 4 months. Wow, that great granny looked so young, and so wise! She took one look at LT and announced that he's 4 months and every bit of a rascal cos of his mischievous look. Her great grandson looked very chubby and had a bigger stature than LT. Hmm, that got mummy worried.

When it was LT's turn to see the doctor, mummy asked about LT's sleeping habits (only 10 - 12 hours a day!) and weight (LT now weighs 6.2kg, which was short of the expected 6.5kg). Doc said 10 hours of sleep is okay for his age. Then doc asked what formula was LT on, he said 750g gain in weight for a month is still above the minimum, so no cause for concern. Daddy told the doc that LT was on total breastfeeding (TBF). Doc gave a surprised look and exclaimed, "That's very good! Very little TBF babies are so chubby!" [At this point, you could see mummy's got relief written all over her face]

Mummy's always been a bit phobic on LT's weight. Ever since the beginning when many people commented that LT's skinny. We keep telling them that he's on TBF, but they seem to not register it in their heads. LT's been gaining 900g every month since birth until April.. Most babies we see in church and now chubbiness extreme. =) Very contented and sleepy babies.. Unlike LT, whose all eyes and curious as a little kitten =P. Mummy read somewhere that babies who are TBF are generally:
1) more alert
2) more active
3) progress faster (cos less weight to bear on their little bodies makes them easier to turn and crawl faster)
4) skinnier
5) healthier (less likely to be hospitalized due to antibodies provided in mother's milk)
6) smarter (higher IQ)
7) more confident (cos closer to and more skin contact with mum)
All of the above which encouraged mummy and daddy to persevere on BF.

Upon checking the growth charts, mummy found out that LT actually improved in his weight percentile. He used to be hovering above 25%, but now, he is in the 50% line. Hmm, it could be cos the chart tapers as babies age.

However, looking at the chart, Dr Paran marked LT's head circumference as 38cm, which was lesser than what Dr Peter marked 2 months back, LT was already 38.5cm then. Mummy went straight to alert mode! Daddy got concerned too and we measured LT's head again, yielding a healthy 42cm. Whew! Maybe Dr Paran didn't measure at the correct spot? Oh well, these things would have errors. Not that we have anything against Dr Paran, we think that he has many years of experience.. Possibly the next check-up would reveal a more accurate figure? The next check-up would be due next month, but the family is leaving for a week-long trip to see Granma and Granpa. Hmm, maybe we shall change pediatrician?

Dr Kwan's very good and he's got 30 years' of experience. More importantly, he's office opens on weekends and weekday evenings. That means, daddy doesn't have to take a day of leave to bring LT to see the doctor. Hmm, I guess we should consider changing from Assunta to Dr Kwan's..

Baby on Strike Again - Part 2

I'm glad to say Little Tyke is back on track again, taking both sides of the boobs. =) After a week of partial striking, he's back to normal now. Both hubby and I tried nearly everything to get him to take his normal meal portion for that painful week.. until mummy stumbled upon a great find!

Turns out that Little Tyke seeks out the boobs for comfort and sleep. Every time he gets sleepy, he would seek out the boobs. Also mummy found him more co-operative and easy on the boobs when he's half asleep.. =) We never did find out the reason for his strike.. Maybe it was a cold? or an ear infection? Only he knows...

The next time he's on a strike, mummy's got a few tricks up her sleeves.
1) wait till LT is sleepy, then feed.. =)
2) always tickle LT under the chin when he stops feeding and his eyes closed to prevent LT from falling into deeper sleep. Sometimes LT takes a breather after suckling too long but his eyes remain open.
3) switch breasts when he starts to drift to deep sleep, but only after 8mins.

Hopefully LT doesn't strike again..

The Beginning

My dear child, this blog is dedicated to you and your future siblings. Daddy and mommy would like to minute down every significant happening in our little family so that you know what happened during your early days. Mommy realized soon after giving birth to you that her memory is not as good as before, hence, to avoid losing these precious memories of your early childhood, mommy dedicates this blog to you.

Daddy and mommy got married on May 1st 2009.. Shortly after, you made an appearance =)!
We were so blessed to know the news of your impending arrival. God indeed has been gracious to us. We first broke the news to Mommy's parents (yr grandparents) during Father's Day 2009. Wow, were your grandparents happy. =) Then we broke the news to Daddy's parents.. Hehe, everyone was overjoyed and anticipating.

Our family had 3 persons in it before your arrival, God, Daddy and Mommy.. And with baby makes four! It was on the eve of 22nd January 2010, 1 week after your prenatal appointment with Dr Paul, when daddy and mommy were watching Monster Sharks on You-tube (cos there was nothing to watch on telly on a Friday night), when mommy felt tired and wanted to sleep early. Guess you were preparing mommy for the big event the next day. =P

You woke mommy up to toilet around 4.30am on 23rd January 2010 when mommy wondered why her pee would not stop flowing.. Mommy called daddy up, and together, we prayed hard, as we think 35 weeks is still a bit early for you to make an appearance. At around 6am, daddy decided to go to the market and stock up our fridge, cos we are running low, and just in case you arrive early, we would not have to make lots of trips to the market.

Mommy stayed at home and tried to call Dr Paul, he was on surgery since early in the morning. Mommy finally got his assistant at around 7.30am and he asked us to drop-by the hospital. His voice sounded calm and we thought, okay, maybe Little Tyke would not arrive so soon. Nonetheless, daddy and mommy took a shower, packed the hospital bag and went to the hospital at 9.30am. Little did we know, the nurses there ushered us all into the labour room.

When we knew what was happening, daddy and mommy were close to tears. Firstly, we were worried that you are born to early.. Dr Paul gave mommy a jab in the butt to develop your lungs. The loud cry you made while the nurses were cleaning you up shows that your lungs were were well developed. =P
Second thing that moved us to tears, was that we are to become parents! All the joy and the fear of bungling up the Christian parenting job overcame us.. We were laughing one minute and crying the next. Hehe..

We managed to take this pic before mommy's contraction became too strong. Picture was taken around 12pm.. Half and hour later, the contractions started coming around 15 minutes apart. It came faster and faster and finally, after much grunting and pushing, you made an appearance! Daddy remembered holding mommy's hand and encouraging mommy to push. Daddy was a bit worried when Dr Paul said he would assist mommy with the vacuum. However, the worry was unfounded as your head was the loveliest little head we've ever seen.

Mommy remembers the moment you were placed on her chest. Aww, such a sweet little thing. "Hello Little One.." was mommy's first sentence to you. Daddy looked at you so proudly and echoed the same sentence.. You are a little trooper! You managed to come out just after 4 and a half hours of hard work. =) Daddy and mommy are so proud of you! =) You are a feistiest, healthiest 2.9kg, 35th week-er we've ever seen (in fact, only ever seen)!

Daddy and mommy always say a word of prayer in the morning, to be good Christian parents to you and your future siblings. We intend to raise you all up in God's way, to prepare you all for the best possible gift of all, salvation thru Jesus Christ. So far, we managed to bring you to church after your fullmoon party. And we've been bringing you to church every Sunday ever since. Also, mommy tries to do her quiet time with you in the morning whenever you are awake. =)

Grandma and grandpa also joined in and gave you Sunday School songs in a CD to listen to everyday. Hehe, so far, we are pleased to see you enjoy yourself with the songs, especially Clap Your Hands. You gave your first laugh when grandma clapped your hands together! =) We can't wait when you could sing the song yourself.. The joy in your face would be a thing to blog for! We hope to introduce more of God to you as the days progress. Amen!

Baby on Strike Again

Our Little Tyke has endless ways of making daddy and mummy concerned. Last week during the bowel strike, this week, it's a nursing strike. Aiyah, Little Tyke hasn't even been to a union meeting, let alone joined one.. How come he does 2 strikes in a fortnight?

Last week we thought that Little Tyke was having constipation, and hence, didn't want to nurse so much. Before this, he was taking both breasts at a feeding. In total on-breast time would be around 25 minutes minimum. Then, he started shaving off some minutes, and it went down to 20 minutes. After that, he strike-off one side of the boob during a night time feed.

This week, he went from one feeding to the whole night feeding (3 times). We were super worried, but the book says it's normal to have a nursing strike between 3 months to 8 months. Today, he totally struck off the 11am feed! Mummy was so worried she called Little Tyke's pediatrician. Doc says as long as Little Tyke is not running a fever and suckles strongly during the remaining feeds, he should be okay and do not warrant a trip to the hospital..

Mummy did a little research and found out that it may be a teething problem (which we could not do anything about but sit it out), something weird that mummy ate (which is probably the flaxseed oil, fyi, mummy stopped taking that this morning) or he may be having a cold or thrush (neither of which he has.. by the way, breastfed babies rarely get cold or flu). So it's either possibility one or two.. Either way, we need to sit and wait it out. =(

Oh well, Wong household need to pray more now so that Little Tyke's nursing strike lasts only a few days and not up to weeks' like what the book says! Pray with us okay?