Baby Leia's personality

Today, I'll like to write about our lil one's personality. Sure, she's just a newborn but we can already see her unique traits shining through. As she grows everyday, we come to learn of her individual tendencies, preferences and funny habits. Our baby leia is becoming a real person if you know what I mean. It's amazing and I want to document this journey of hers.

So here's a list of things about her so far.

1. Leia loooooves her 'milk milk'. (I somehow love to repeat the word twice when talking to her) We find her a voracious eater who does the alligator snap whenever the bottle or boob nears her mouth. And she gets really impatient and fussy (yes, she cries and cries) if you don't give her milk when she wants it. She's drinking quite abit of milk for a newborn and we have been increasing her intake constantly because it's always never enough hehe.

The good thing about Leia is that she loves both breast and formula milk so we don't have to worry about that. 

2. She needs to be carried alot! Like most babies, our baby craves for human touch and warmth. And maybe it's because she's used to being rocked in womb, she still wants it now! All of us have to walk, rock or bounce her to get her to fall asleep. Yes, it gets tiring but I've stopped complaining and calling her spoilt. I've come to terms that our leia is just a baby who wants to be loved and cuddled! And she needs help to get to sleep. Why would we want to deprive her of that?

3. She gets reeeeaaaalllly fussy when pooping or farting. This is quite funny actually. I'm not sure if its normal for babies to experience this but it gets to leia all the time. She hates to poop and fart because everytime she does, not only does her face turn bright red and grumpy, she also cries. And it's awfully hard to soothe her when this happens because we just can't do anything about it! I tried rubbing her tummy and cycling her legs to make it easier for her but it usually doesn't work. The only thing we can do is to pick her up and rock her, hoping that the process will be over soon -.-

4. Leia makes the funniest, cutest noises. When she drinks milk, she always make this 'hmm hmm' sound and it's super adorable. I just wanna cuddle her to bits! 

She also has this one cry to call for attention. It's this one second cry out that's not continuous, almost like a shout.

And oh my, when she sleeps, she's the noisiest. She kinda resembles a lil dino, making all sorts of dino sounding high pitched sounds which we really cannot decipher. I never knew babies were capable of such a high frequency. 

5. Baby totally loves her bath time! She's always so awake and wide eyed when being bathed. But there was once, she was so comfy that she fell asleep haha.

6. Strangely, she likes being on the high changing table. She always seems so calm and inquisitive on the table and we really wonder why. Is it the height? Is it the colourful patterns on the table? Who knows. 

7. So far, baby often displays a grumpy expression. G and I call her Miss grumps sometimes hehe. But there is the rate occasion when she smiles and it makes my heart melt. Sure, her smile is often crooked but its still sooooooo cute that I could die haha.

8. During her extremely awake moments, her eyes are really really huge and adorable. And she loves to look around as though the world is just one big wonderland. 

Baby milestone!

Omg baby can follow the black and white flash cards! Super super super adorable. My lil girl is growing up so fast!

Leia's first time out!

We just brought baby Leia back to Nim's to visit gong gong and po po. It's really her first time going out, other than going to the hospital hehe. And she did well!

So happy that my dad got to see her since he was in Shanghai when she was born. My granny carried our lil one too and she seemed so so happy just looking at her and saying her signature 'Ang ku ku'. And the family had a hearty lunch together. My mum's Japanese beef curry was awesomeness! Yummy licking good.

Baby leia was so awake after her feed so my parents got to play with her. She totally enjoys being held by granny! I guess it's the way mum holds her upright. She was happily looking around with her cutie round eyes and listening to all the different voices around her. My dad was also interacting with her by moving his hand and fingers in front. It was such a heartwarming sight. =)

Guess I can bring her back more often now! 

First time home alone.

I'm currently home alone with baby and our guinea pigs! My FIL went out, G's out for night soccer and MIL's having her tai chi class. It's my first time managing baby on my own! 

To be honest, I was feeling kind of scared and uncertain before G left the house. I dreaded him going for soccer. I guess I wasn't sure if I could handle leia on my own. 

After everyone left home, I guarded by her cot to wait for her to wake up. I wanted to catch her first waking moment so that I can change her diaper and feed her before she goes into 'bankai' mode lol. And so I did! And now she's sleeping after I walked around for 20 minutes to make sure she's in deep sleep before I put her in the cot. Let's hope she sleeps peacefully, at least until G comes home! 

Happy 5 weeks honey buns!

Leia turns 5 weeks today! And it's also the start of G's paternity leave. So yay! 

I'm so thankful that G's very good with baby. Leia must love her daddy so! 

Happy smiles *heart melts*

Baby Leia was in such a good mood moments ago! She was previously crying but I picked her up to soothe the little one. Brought her to my room to talk to her and sayang her. And my gosh! She totally loves it when I stroke her lil arms and legs! 

She kept smiling and smiling. And also did a semi laugh. I felt soooooo happy just looking at her. The feeling is just indescribable. I decided to quickly blog about this so that I can remember this moment. She's such a sweet lil darling. Love her looooooaaaaaads!

Took this photo right after her happy, smiling episode! 

End of confinement =D

Yes! Baby's one month marks the end of my confinement. Muahaha! *jumps around gleefully*

To celebrate, G and I had our date night yesterday! We are so grateful for G's parents who looked after we whilst we went out. It so happens that I was looking at Lady iron chef's cafe list when G asked if I wanted to head out for dinner. I was reading about Table Manners on his blog and thinking about how we haven't checked the place out.

So we decided to go! Whee! The restaurant wasn't crowded since it was a Monday and we got seats immediately. Loved the woodsy decor of the place. So my kinda decor! I ordered the King's Burger since it was recommended on HGW and it had my favorite truffle fries as a side. It was gooood but could have been better if I didn't ask for well done for the beef patty. And we ordered their famous sea salt chocolate caramel tart too. It was a tad too hard and only so so to me. Anyways, I truly enjoyed dinner with G! We talked and talked about his work and of course, about our lil leia! 

Our date ended with us going to Cold storage to buy diapers lol. It's amazing how our lives have evolved. 

Here are the snapshots of our date!

Happy 1 month my baby Leia!

Leia turns one month today! Yeah, it's been a month since I popped. It's crazy how time slips by.

To celebrate her baby shower, we threw her a party on Sunday and invited our relatives + friends. To make things special, G and I put up DIY decor based on a pink and slightly Star Wars theme. There was a hanging pink banner, pom poms, an Instagram baby photowall, a pink 'dessert' sweets table and cute Star Wars characters randomly placed here and there. We did it with the use of free printables I found online. Gotta love the Internet and its many freebies!

For food, we catered from Chilli padi and it was awesome! Looooved the yummy spread. Everyone was saying how tasty the food was. The fried mee siam, chicken, fish, ang ku kueh, bo Bo cha cha all soooo goooood. 

I was very happy that my ij, VJ, ex spring and current colleagues could come. After a month of being confined, it's just great to see my friends again! All together at one place to share our joy and see our previous little one. 

Baby leia was good throughout the party! She didn't really fuss and slept through all the noise =D 

I can't believe we didn't really take photos tho! G and I were so busy entertaining and caring for baby we didn't make it a point to take photos with all our guests. Such a pity! Baby wouldn't be able to see these pics next time. I'm gonna remind myself to take pics for future parties! 

Only managed to capture some decor pics and a few taken by others. Here u go!

Tough nights.

Last night was tough and very exhausting.

Unlike earlier nights, baby Leia woke up a total of 4 times, at intervals of 1-2 hours. It was driving me insane. I'm the type who needs her sleep. If I don't get it, I become highly frustrated, cranky and impatient. These traits make it awfully difficult for me to be a good mummy to leia at night. It was so bad that G had to take over the 2nd time she woke up because I was carrying baby and she we unable to calm down in my arms. They say babies can sense emotions so maybe she sensed me frustration and did not want to be near me.

Once again, I felt inadequate, having to rely on G and unable to comfort my own girl on my own. I realize that one of the greatest challenges motherhood is the need to battle these self doubting thoughts. And high expectations of course. It's very mentally and emotionally tiring. 

And I actually felt angry at my poor lil helpless girl because I was so exhausted.   All she wants is to be comforted and fed. To her, she doesn't know that mummy and daddy are tired. She just trusts and relies on us to meet her pleas because she's lil and can't do it on her own. He wants and needs us. I just really need to get this in my head when she's more fussy at night. 

Nowadays, I keep telling myself that baby leia is still a baby who needs me. Very soon, she will grow up very quickly and I will miss her as a baby. So cherish these moments and be there for her. Bond with her because you may not get a chance to next time. 

I'm starting to also feel that I should just carry and rock her when she wants it now. Until now, I've always subscribed to to 'Don't carry/pat her too much or else it will become a bad habit' or 'Don't rush immediately to her when she cries because she needs to learn' beliefs. I'm beginning to waver simply because our lil one is just a baby. She deserves all the comfort, love and security no?  

Anyways, I just had an awesome bonding with leia! Just breast fed and took a nap with her on my lap. I just adore looking at her fuzzy hair, cute button nose, grumpy cheeks, cupid's bow and pretty lips! Her arms and legs have more cutie Michelin folds now! Such a wonderful and blissful feeling. I totally hearts her! 

Fuzzy feeling!

I love it when baby falls asleep on me and makes the cutest sounds! She quietens when I comfort her. Feels awesome to be able to do this as a mummy! *big hearts* ❤

2014 New Year's Resolutions!

Finally, here are my 2014 resolutions! 

1. Live a healthy life.

- Get back on my 'eat healthy, be healthy' project. My pregnancy kinda threw me off course so I wanna get back on track again! Think  oatmeal, cereals, whole grains, fruits, veggies, steamed and soupy dishes. Come on clean eating!

- Exercise at least twice a week. I stopped my body combat and attack when I was preggers. Now it's time to get back to it after I recover from the strains of delivery. I wanna do some Pilates or yoga for strengthening too!

2. Be a good wife

- Spend more quality time with the hubba. Remember date nights! 

- Give small gifts of love to remind him how special he is.

- Minimize nagging and emotional dumping! 

3. Learn to be a good mummy 

- Take care of and spend a lot of time with lil leia during maternity leave. 

- Be more patient and practise, practise, practise!

- Take lots of photos of leia and document her baby memories!

- Read more on how to better take care of our lil one.

4. Have a happy move to our new home.

- Equip and decorate our Punggol home to make it adequate, comfy and cosy!

- Personalize our decor to make it truly 'us'.

5. Continue to connect with family and friends. 

- With our new baby, I know this is gonna be tough but I really still want to spend time with my family and friends. This means more planning so that I find the time to do this! Hope G and in laws can help out so that I can squeeze some time out. 

- Try to visit home at least once every two weeks. It used to be every Friday after I got married but that's gonna be challenging. 

- Go for all the birthday celebrations for close friends! 

6. Find time for my hobbies like craft and decor. 

- Do some projects!

- Continue to get inspiration from blogs like Beautiful mess, Scandinavian home, Bird's Party etc. 

Our home reno: Renovation complete!

Yay our home renovation is done! We met our ID today for handover. Most of the minor defects have been rectified except for some tile cleaning, painting  works and filling of skirting gaps.

We're really happy with our home! It's just the way we want it to be. Before our ID came today, we even chilled in our study room, on our amazing comfy courts sofa. We were staring at our window at the clear blue sky. Felt so good to relax in our own home with all the privacy we need!

We're likely going to move in march if we manage to get a helper to move in with us. Can't wait to decorate! I just hope our home will look even better after decorating and not cluttered or anything -.-

Here are pics of our humble abode! 

2nd PD visit!

Hello! Leia had her second visit with Dr Low today. My mum was free this morning so she sent us to Parkway East for the checkup. Thank goodness for mum! *hearts*

We got Leia's weight taken and she got heavier! Yay! She was 2.75kg last week and today she was 3.11kg. Glad she's adding the pounds since that means she's drinking enough! 

Dr Low checked her and said she was physically doing fine after his routine check. But we still had to get her blood test taken cause her thyroid levels were still a lil elevated =( the blood test is the worst thing ever! They had to jab a needle into her tiny bruised (from last blood test) hand let her blood drip out. She was crying the whole time and my heart was aching! Wished I could go 

through the pain instead. So this is how what parents feel like -.-

Anyways I'm really hoping her blood test will yield good results! Hope she doesn't have thyroid! *prays*

Here are some pics that I've taken of my princess! 

Daily baby routine and mummy duties!

My days are now my nights and vice versa. Over the past 2 weeks, we have more or less set up a routine for baby leia to follow. As emphasized in the Secrets of the baby whisperer, a structured routine helps to bring order and consistency to babies' lives. Babies prefer to follow a routine since like us, they are also creatures of habit.

So my day starts from midnight since I'm the one taking care of the night shift. Gerald started work at hq so he definitely needs sleep at night. It will be terrible for me to let my in laws take the night gift too since they are after all not so young anymore. Thus my mummy duty is to care for baby at night. 

It has been a challenging and trying experience with ups and downs. When the downs hit, they feel a lot worse and get me pretty upset, depressed and disheartened. On good nights, baby can sleep from 11pm to 5am straight. I can catch some sleep too. On other nights, she wakes up three hourly to feed but falls asleep once she gets her milky. On bad nights, when we struggle the most, Leia wakes up every hour and cries -a lot-. And she can't seem to fall asleep unless someone walks and rocks her for a loooong time. I had such a night two days ago and it was terrible. I ended up crying and running to G for rescue at 2am in the morning. Trust me, I felt like such a bad wife when I had to turn to him for help cause he had work the next day. I kept crying and kept thinking I was inadequate and a bad mummy. I couldn't even settle her to sleep. The next day, I suspected I was having post partum depression -.-

I'm trying to hang in there because everyone (family, friends, forums) says it gets better. I'm trying to be mentally and emotionally stronger so that I can cope with such encounters when they hit. 

Mornings feel better because my PILs take over and I get to rest and express milky for leia. I cherish these restful moments! When it comes to the afternoons, I try to feed her whenever I can and she falls asleep most of the time.  My gosh she sleeps a lot! But it's good because babies grow in their sleep. 

Leia only becomes more awake from 7pm onwards since she's really a nocturnal character, even when she was in my belly hehe. G comes home at about 8pm so it's good cause he gets to help too and play with our lil one. I'm so glad he's a proactive daddy who knows how to feed, change her diapers and comfort her to sleep. *super hearts* 

So that's our daily routine for our princess! Can't believe she's growing up so fast. Before I know it, she's gonna be able to sit, crawl and walk! Oh my. 

Being an overwhelmed new mummy.

Being a new mummy is tough. I love my baby girl and cherish her more than anything. But being a new mummy also means being overwhelmed by many people's advice, opinions and thoughts on how to raise babies. These include close family parents, siblings, aunties, friends and the list goes on.

I know and understand that everyone has  good intentions for giving advice. But it can really feel overwhelming and imposing on a new mummy. That's how I feel anyways. This is especially so when everyone's advice is conflicting due to different schools of thought. I feel stressed and pressured to listen even though my maternal instincts may feel otherwise. There comes the inner turmoil. 

It dawned on me that being a new mummy entails having the strong will and conviction to know how to raise your baby amidst all the well meaning, diverse and external advice. It means trusting your own maternal instincts to know what's best for your lil one. It means having the courage to tell people that you rather do it your way.  After all, that's how you grow and learn as a parent. For me, I really need to work on this. I need to do this for my baby leia.