Merry Christmas everyone

Christmas was a quiet affair this year. We missed the Christmas service in church which was the Sunday before Christmas as baby Sophie was sick. And since we had no plans for Christmas day, baby Sophie celebrated her first Christmas with Daddy and Mummy at home. The whole family was decked out in Christmas hats and we took some family photo shoots.

Baby Sophie already getting ready for Chinese New Year?
Gong Xi Gong Xi

Christmas Greetings from Santa Sophie
(Check out her round tummy)

Hit by the flu bug

The flu bug surfaced at home last week and all of us fell sick. It started with Alexis then me and eventually Sophie was also down. It was the all works of cough, flu and sore throat for the adults. And poor baby Sophie had the occasional fever too as her body battled her first illness. Naturally she was irrated and uncomfortable by what was happening to her body, so for some days she was extra cranky and difficult. As a result, both Alexis and myself were also tired out from her crying and more frequent waking in the nights.

I cant say how much it means to me that Alexis is a hands on Dad and took over to take care of Sophie when I'm left drained and tired. No wait, he also helped with the housework which I'm very appreciative of too. And yes finally I'm most thankful for him putting up with my lack of patience and occassional flare ups when it just got all too over whelming for me. So for this, thank u dear!

Praise God Sophie's much better after a week and is back to the infant care centre today. But while she was ill, I kept asking myself if leaving her at the ifc is really good for her. Of course, I was told to be prepared that she will get sick sometime down the road. But to be sick in just one week? There's no denying that she could have also caught it from either of us too since we were down and out ourselves.

And so the dilemia starts all over again.... Especially with recent news that my office may soon shift out of Raffles Place, I wonder if its still viable putting her at the ifc since I will not be able to see her so often. Of course, not forgetting the fact that it will be entirely on Alexis to bring her to and fro and ifc.... What should we do, what should we do...

Shall not worry too much about the future and enjoy her as much as I can now.

Looking cute even though she's sick.

Such a darling :)

Sophie goes to Infant Care

Now that I'm back to work, Sophie is in the infant care centre for the day. And I'm glad to say that the first week went quite well. Though there were some adjustments for her, being in a new environment, not having mummy by her side all the time and being cared for by others for the first wee, she seems to be adapting well and has even made some friends.

The reason for putting her in the infant care is because my mom has a dog in her place. And for those that know me, I don't just dislike dogs, I'm really quite scared of them. Regardless of my mom's claims that her dog is well behaved and all, there is no way Sophie is going near her dog, especially since it sheds so much fur. As for the option of leaving her at my in laws, we figured the traveling time just makes it tiring for everyone especially when it can be almost half an hour for just one way.

Anyway the best part of having her just opposite my office makes it so much easier for me to drop by and visit her during lunch time and sometimes during my teabreaks and after I pump. Just to know and see that she's near by makes separation anxiety for this mummy a thing of the past :)

I recall the 2nd day when I left her at the infant care for the afternoon and went out for a movie with Alexis, I was actually crying in the theatre because I was so worried about her adjusting to the place and not having me around and if she was receiving enough attention form the caregivers. Of course it didn't help that she wasnt taking her naps well for the first 2 days and that made me question our choice. But as the days pass, she started to take to the caretakers and was sleeping better and even started to drinks up to 150ml for her feeds! I was of course happy since I was complaining that she was only drinking a max of 120ml and not putting on as much weight as I wished.

Now when I visit her, she's usually in a good mood, smiling and talking away to the teachers and even to the other babies there. I even joked that she has a new BFF there, another baby who's a month older than her by the name of Ashley that she usually "talks" to. The teachers are so funny and feels that the two of them looks a little similar too. Hopefully as she grows up there, she'll learn to be more independent and more sociable too.

My Babbling Darling

At 16 weeks, Sophie has started to be more talkative. Her talk or rather babble is really cute and boy is she one big chatter! Most of the times, she amuses me when she starts talking and at times she also exasperates me when she starts to "complain". How do I know when she's complaining? You can tell it from her expression and tone which is sometimes still funny. She'll complain when she gets bored, when she wants to be carried or simply just wanting some attention from us.

But what gets to me is when she wants to have a conversation with me when I'm feeing her *faints* And when I do show her my angry face (and a bit of an animated angry face) she laughs at me, like I was trying to humor her. Which of course makes this mother break into a smile as well.

Time flies and next week she'll turn 4 months. Which also means that its the end of my 4 months of maternity leave. (Probably the best thing from the govt for working moms) I can still remember it was only last year in Dec that I found out I was pregnant and fast forward one year later, Sophie's already 4 months!

I simply love all the time I spent with her and this week I totally maximized the last week of freedom and went out everyday! And on Monday, Alexis even took leave to go out with me and baby Sophie to celebrate a very special moment for him. The first time that Sophie called him Daddy! We figured she was just repeating it and don't know what it means yet, but how's that for a 16 week old that knows how to call Daddy. But that also means it was pretty much a once off thing and we haven't had much luck hearing her call Daddy again. This little girl sure knows the way to her Daddy's heart. What a Daddy's girl :)

When will you call Mummy, my darling?

Daddy gets his hands dirty and bathes for baby Sophie