Baby Leia's milestone: 14 weeks and counting...

Our sweety just turned 14 weeks! 

We just found out that she's actually teething. That explains all the drooling, sucking of hands and fussy behavior. Can't believe our little one is starting so early. Gotta buy her teething toys to soothe her discomfort! 

(Being Mummy) Can't fall sick!

I never liked falling sick. I guess noone does. It always feels horrible... And you don't feel like doing anything except for snuggling and sleeping in bed. 

The thing is when you're a Mummy, falling sick is an even bigger NO NO. Firstly, you don't want to pass your ill was to your little one since their immune system is still weak compare to adults. Secondly, it's soooooo hard to take care of your child when you're feeling crappy.

Yesterday, I had this really bad headache in the late afternoon. And Leia was being grouchy. She didn't want to sleep in her bouncer and wanted to be carried. And yes, she was crying intermittently. So I carried and walked her around whilst my head was pounding. Seriously, it felt really eeky. I was looking at the clock, waiting for time to pass quickly so that someone could come home to save me and my baby. It felt challenging to take care of her.

It made me realize that I really can't afford to fall sick as a Mummy. I gotta be healthy for my lil darling. It's no longer just about me. Time to work harder at my healthy projects!

(Baby Leia) Super cute moment!

Leia had a super cute moment today. After her routine walk with my FIL, she looked really sleepy. So we put her own in her bouncer and she reached her hand to touch her crabby friend. And the next thing we know, she fell asleep! Without us bouncing her at all! This is kinda a mini milestone for her lol. I think she knows the bouncer is where she sleeps so she just kinda knocked out when we placed her there.

Here's the cute moment of her reaching for crabby:

(Home building) Shopping at Courts!

G and I just got all of our home stuff from Tampines Courts! Yays!

Here's the list of things:

- Samsung 7 series 46 inch TV, $1,899

- Tefal Steam generator iron, $399

- Rowenta silent vacuum cleaner, $299

- Zujiroushi rice cooker, $239

- Dreamcast single mattress, $89

- Kudos Standing fan, $59

Kaching! $$$ gone! 

I know, the our steam iron is freaking expensive lol. But it's  supposed to be super easy to use! No need to adjust any settings in between ironing of clothes (very confusing). It can even be used to iron silk clothing. 

Anyways, we're set for our new place! Whee! We've got everything we need =D

Ahh! We joined a lucky Rowenta/Tefal lucky draw and got picked! Just won ourselves another Rowenta vacuum cleaner (ergo compact one) and a Tefal waffle maker haha. This is the first time we won a lucky draw together! Looks like we have a lucky home *beams*

Here's G looking all happy on the prize stage. 

Baby Leia's milestone: 3 months old!

Happy 3 months baby Leia! We love you so so so much. 

Our lil girl's having a growth spurt now. According to baby center, a big spurt is happening in baby's brain development now. She's more attuned to the environment and more sensitive to changes around her. This is so true because Leia has definitely become more alert. She's always looking around and staring at things like a curious lil one.

Here are her recent milestones!

1. She recognizes us now and shows it. In the morning when I pick her, she always looks and smiles at me. Other times, she bursts into smiles, flails her arms and kicks excitedly when she sees me. It's really so adorable! She quiets down when I carry her during her fussy periods too. 

2. Leia is starting to coo and gurgle -a lot-, especially when I put my face near hers and talk to her. I always try to have a two way conversation with her, saying something and always waiting for her to respond before I continue. And she's so happy when I do that! I speak to her normally instead of using baby language because I've heard that babies hate the latter lol. I only mimic her occasionally when she's making the funniest and cutest noise. How I wish I could video cam every time she speaks! So precious.

Apparently, interaction at this growth stage is very important. Babies who are spoken to extensively supposedly have higher IQ and bigger vocabularies. That's partly why I spend time everyday talking to her. 

3. Leia has been waving her arms and kicking frequently these days. And she always lifts her lil bum when she kicks! And lately, I've observed that she actually puts her tiny hands together, and plays with or holds her own fingers. She hasn't been able to reach or grab things yet so we'll just have to patiently wait for that to happen. Time to develop her hand eye coordination!

4. We think baby has learnt how to play with her tongue and also suck on things. Recently, she has been sticking her tongue out alot, even during her feeding sessions... Which makes it more challenging to properly feed her lol. And now she loves to suck on things... Her own hands, her lil comfort pillow, our shoulders (during burp time), our hands or anything in front of her mouth. We think she's trying to soothe herself when she does that, which is not a bad thing. 

5. She can lift her head slightly for a short while when we put her on her tummy. We kinda regret not giving her everyday tummy time since she's been born. I just learnt that it's crucial for her to develop her neck, shoulder and abdominal muscles. Without it, she may experience delays in learning how to turn, crawl and walk. Crossing my fingers that she won't lag too far behind =(

(Couple time) Lunch date at Cucina!

G and I have been making it a point to have lunch dates together. On weekdays,  my PILs always look after Leia from 10am to about 3pm so I can meet hubba for lunch near his workplace! 

Today we decided to lunch at holland v =D When I was waiting for G, a fellow approached me to talk about this promotion for this new restaurant. It's an Italian restaurant called  Cucina, located near Fosters. They were selling this $29.90 promo card which would give a bottle of red wine worth $45 and unlimited one for one main courses until October this year. Sounded like a good deal so we bought it!

To benefit from our card immediately, we decided to eat there. The restaurant actually looks quite atas. It had a nice ambience, with low lights. Kinda romantic  =D it's quite small though so I think we'll need to make reservations in the future. 

So G ordered a chicken steak which was quite decent. My tomato based seafood pasta (came with crayfish mmm) was yummy! 

(Being Mummy) Recent nightmares.

I hate to admit that recently, I haven't been the best mummy. Perhaps due to a growth spurt, Leia has been extremely fussy this past week:

1. She only wants to be rocked to sleep in her bouncer. For both day naps and night sleep. Now we can't rock her to sleep in our arms anymore. She will kick up a big fuss and won't stop crying.

2. Unlike previously, she does not stay asleep after her middle of the night feed. So I gotta rock her to sleep in my grogginess and exhaustion. This is soooo hard because I have to get used to being very awake in the wee hours again. I can't just transfer her to the cot immediately after feeding.

In response the her recent behaviors, I'm ashamed to say that I've actually done the following on separate occasions:

- Let her cry it out for 5 mins on her crib. This 5 mins seemed like the longest 5 mins of my life. My heart felt so painful looking at her sob but I was too frustrated to pick her up. I was at the brink of my sanity. 

- Bounce her a lil too vigorously. I'm definitely not proud of this. This happened last night when she just won't.go.to.sleep and rocking her in my arms didn't seem to work. I kept wondering out loud why she was being like this since she always fell asleep after her milk in the past. Thank goodness G was there to help me regain my patience and remind me that our little one is just a baby who needs comforting.

- Speak to her in harsh tones. I've whispered fiercely telling her to go to bed. I've told her how naughty she was. How tired she was making me. Things I regret saying because she's my lil angel who doesn't know any better.

One one hand, I've been feeling so frustrated and angry at Leia. Her constant crying was driving me insane. On the other, I feel so guilty, remorseful and inadequate as a mother. I felt horrible that I could not soothe or calm her. Worse still, I was mad at my own baby for expressing herself through crying. 

It's hard being a mother and I'm trying. I'm trying to be more patient. I'm trying to  remind myself my darling is just a baby who loves me and I love her. I'm trying to be a better person for her. And I pray for strength. Please please let me pull through this. 

Baby Leia's milestone: First time out on stroller!

It's a happy Sunday and we brought our lil one out on her stroller for the very first time =D 

We didn't go too far... Just tampines round market cause G had to deposit money at Maybank. She slept in my arms for a bit when G bought us yummy breakfast! Leia was such a good girl when we put her down in her stroller so we could eat. We reckon that it's surrounding noise that keeps her amused and non fussy. She was still happy when we pushed her stroller to the bank! Yay, our first time bringing her on the stroller was a success =D

Our outing could have been better and less challenging if it wasn't raining though. It hasn't rained in the longest time and of all days, it decided to rain today -.- It took us forever to get a cab to go home! 

Anyways here are some pics of our lil outing!

Baby Leia's milestone: Yay 12 weeks!

Our lil princess just turned 12 weeks =D She's going to be 3 months old next week. 

Our cutie has learnt how to recognize faces! When I bring her to Nim's, she cries when my mum or sis carries her. She immediately stops when they hand her to me. Lol. It feels nice that she wants me but I also hope she can be close to her granny and aunt as well! Time to get them to carry her more!

Recently she has been very fussy from 5pm onwards. Not sure if she's having a growth spurt since that causes more fussiness. But she doesn't seem to be drinking more milk though. 

Whilst we love her, she has been driving us crazy crying non stop every night. Carrying and rocking her doesn't seem to work anymore. Either a boob or bottle (or bottle teat) can sometimes do the trick. We had to turn to the bouncer one night when we couldn't placate her with our usual ways. Soooo tough. Sometimes I feel like every night is a battle between her and us haha. Hope it's just a phase that will pass quickly! *cross fingers*

Baby Leia's milestone: Learning to sit!

Yesterday, G and I were chilling out with baby when we realized that she was trying to sit up! It was soooo cute. Basically, she was propped up against our pillow (her favorite position) and kept scrunching forward, as though half rolling into a ball. Most adorable thing ever! 

We tried to put her back into her original position and everytime she would try again. Our Leia's such a persistent lil one lol. I think she's gonna strengthen her neck + back muscles and sit up in no time. I have on you my baby girl! *fighting!*

Baby Leia's milestone: 11 weeks!

Our honey buns is 11 weeks today! 

She's smiling and cooing more these days! Love it when she laughs during play time =D

(Healthy project) Update on non sweet week

I'm so proud to say that I did not have ANY sweet drinks for the entire week! Yay! It wasn't easy to resist all the yummy fizzy or fruit drinks, especially when I have a super sweet tooth. 

But sad to say that I didn't do so well in resisting desserts. I was actually doing quite well initially. Really. I didn't have any until Saturday because G bought 12 cupcakes for me specially and I could not bear to say no to him AND to the wonderful cupcakes. It was hard. Too hard. So that's something that I could have done better. 

It really feels awesome to be able to resist all the sweet drinks though! It makes me wanna continue to fight the urge to have any! I feel like this project makes me a more disciplined person. 

Let me try to continue...

(Mummy time) Out with baby on my own!

Last Thursday, I was out with baby on my own! Accomplishment unlocked!

Gerald was going to play Magic at City square mall so I decided to tag along with Leia after realizing that the mall was a baby friendly one. 

Before he left for Magic, we checked out the nursing room together and was very delighted at what we found. The nursing room was very spacious, clean and quiet. It had 2 private cubicles for nursing, hot +cold water dispenser and was very nicely decorated! I felt a sense of relief there, knowing that I could come to this safe haven if baby started fussing. 

G helped me put Leia in my pupsik sling and off he went! Thank goodness for the sling! It kept Leia nice, cosy and close to me. And it helped spread her weight across my body and I was also hands free =D My walking around the mall provided so much bouncing comfort that she slept through half our lil adventure out together. I roamed baby R us, Metro, Daiso and around the whole mall. To be honest, I couldn't quite focus on window shopping because I was also worried about her... Like if she was comfortable or if it was time to feed her. Or if the lights were too bright and over stimulating. *sigh* Guess this is life of a mummy.