Exploration of new terriorities

Just when I thought that Sophie was just having a case of false alarm with the dreaded HFMD, she started to have spots on her body last night. They looked pretty harmless but since her mood still didn't improve and she was still rejecting food and milk, we decided to play it safe and have it checked by the doctor. And our worse nightmares were confirmed, she really was having HFMD. And with her as the latest "casualty", she became the 7th kid to get HFMD in her infant class.

Needless to say, she's house bound and must avoid going out. Since she cant go out, she decided to start making plans to go on a holiday by checking out the latest travel offers from HSBC credit card.

Daddy, lets go Club Med! The sun, the sand and the sea. Yeah!

And then she proceeded to check out the mooncake offers too. Which reminds me, I totally missed it last year as I was on my confinement.

Can I eat mooncakes too Daddy?

The little one got restless at home but can you really blame her since she hasn't been able to get out of the house since Wednesday? So we decided to attempt letting her wear her shoes again. Now whenever we mention about the shoe, we tell her that she has to wear shoes to go "gai gai". Initially she was shaking her head when I brought her pair of shoes to wear then somehow as I was telling her she has to wear shoes to go out, she suddenly nodded her head. So I quickly slid one side on her foot.I was waiting for signs of protests from her. Since she was quiet, I hurried and wore the other side for her.

I had to keep my end of the bargain after she wore her shoes, so I brought her out for a short walk along the corridor. She was so happy just being out of the house and walked happily to the lift lobby where we made an about turn and headed back.

Being her usual curious self and peeping into the neighbor's house despite being sick

After we got home, I taught her where to leave her shoes at the doormat so that we can ear our shoes when we go out in future. She bent down,grabbed her shoes and wanted me to put them on for her so that she could go out again! I do believe my little adventurer is welcoming the idea of wearing shoes to explore new terriorities! So proud that she took to the shoes much earlier than I expected. Way to go, Fifi!

Dreaded HFMD

Poor little Sophie has fallen ill. After the long weekend over her birthday and National Day, a case of HFMD surfaced in her infant class. That same night she developed a high fever of 40 degrees. By the next evening, she started to have blisters on her tongue. The pain must have gotten unbearable as she started to reject food and milk. The only thing I could do was to nurse her as she felt a little more comforted by it. Really pains my heart to see her suffering. And Alexis was also sick and down with fever and diahorrea. So worried that he might have caught the virus from her. Needless to say the nights were bad too with her frequent wakings.

On Day 2, her fever was on and off and the blisters on her tongue subsided but she was still in a very lousy mood. Without the obvious signs like blisters and sores the doctor can't confirm if she's having HFMD too. She was no longer the little ms sunshine that she used to be and even had to be carried while taking her nap.

We tried to take her mind off the pain and brought out her belated birthday present from us, a tricycle! Can't say that she was excited by it as she was still in a pretty cranky mood but it did help to take her mind off the discomfort she was feeling.

Having a sick child really is a nightmare and today is only Day 3. Praying and hoping that she'll get better in no time. There have already been 4 cases of HFMD in the infant care. In such a dilemma if I should even bring her back to the centre next week. But for now, all I can do is pray for her, keep my cool, be patient and get more rest.

Get well soon Fifi!

I'm ONE-derful

Sophie celebrated her first birthday on 7 Aug, 2 days before she turns one. We had a small and simple party with a few close friends over dinner. As some of them had little kids, we kept it short too from 5-7:30 so that the little ones will not get too tired.

Sophie however took a late nap and only slept 10 mins before 5 when her guests started arriving at 5. So the little one was a real a diva that day and kept her guest waiting for her.When she was finally up after a long nap, she was overwhelmed by the guests that were in the house that she must be wondering where did everyone come from.

Nevertheless she had a good time seeing new faces, playing with balloons, eating her birthday cake. Her play area was invaded by the older gor gor and jie jie and since she's only started walking she was not confident to play alongside them. So she was happy to reclaim her territory after everyone left and played with the balloons that Daddy blew up.

And since she has turned one, my Mom bought her a pair of shoes so that she can wear them when she goes out. But to our amusement, she was so scared of them!

We tried to shower praises of how nice her shoes were and how pretty she looked with the shoes, but she was terrified and threatened to cry if we didn't remove the shoes from her feet. I'm guessing this little darling is not going to be a shoe fanatic like mummy is she?

The next day it was presents time. True enough she was more excited by the wrapper, paper bags and the boxes than some of the gifts. I'm guessing that her favorite must be the toys for now since she wasnt interested in the rest after she starting playing with her new toy.

Daddy's wish for you is that you'll be strong and healthy and be a bright and cheerful little girl just like you are now. And Mummy birthday wish for you is that you'll grow up being confident and loving yourself for who you are. Stay happy my little sunshine. You'll always be our little cutie pie!

Step by step, oh baby

At 11 and a half months, Sophie has taken 8 continuous steps on her own. Just last week, she only managed to take 4 steps. So I reckon that she'll start walking when or even before she turns one! It's so exciting to see her lift her little tush off the ground and then start taking one step and then another step.

A sight that I really warms my heart is when she holds onto Daddy's hand and walk together. It's a scene that just says, "I've got you, walk on little one".

For now I'll just enjoy the moments that I don't have to chase after her ..YET! I know that those days are coming very soon and I may need double dosage of patience and energy to keep up with her.

How to keep a baby in her car seat?

Everyone knows the importance of have your child belted up while travelling. In Singapore, it's not only encouraged to have your baby in a car seat, it's compulsory, mandatory, necessary- the kind where you can get fined and be given demerit points if you don't have your child buckled up.

Ever since we changed Sophie's car seat to forward facing after she turned 10.5 months, she's been less cooperative to stay in her car seat. I can attribute it to various reasons.

1. Being forward facing now means she don't get to have any toys or books in front of her to keep her entertained. After all the space in front of her is just the gap between her child seat and the car seat in front.

2. Her view is blocked by the car seat in front of her. Though on that same note, she will have a different view now and is no longer just subjected to seeing headlights of the cars behind.

3. She is starting to have a stronger personality and has a mind of her own. And staying still in the car seat is just not going to go down with her as it used to.

So as the CEO- Chief Entertainment Officer, I had to resort to doing all kinds of things to keep Sophie happy in her child seat. There was the DIY net that I made out of a laundry bag and clothes peg to keep her toys and books within reach. But that didn't stop her from throwing her books and toys down the floor and getting frustrated that she has nothing to play with.

There was also the song singing, from "itsy bitsy spider" to "the Wheels on the bus" to "1 little Indian"...the silly games like me pretending to be "sleeping" and springing up to scare her, or giving her the cloths peg only to have it bitten by her.

But the one that works like a charm now is offering her a biscuit every time she's belted up. You know like a reward for good behavior. It works so well that I think I may have conditioned her to expect to be given a biscuit whenever she in her child seat that she'll call out "Mumm mumm". So much so that when I tried to ask her if she was calling me "Mama", she shook her head and went "Mumm Mumm" again!

Looks like my little girl already knows her priorities! Maybe I should try taking a video of her when she's in her child seat to show you her true greedy colors.

Stay tuned!

Sophie at 11 months

With just one more month to her big one, Sophie has mastered a few new skills

1. Learning how to point
She's recently learnt how to point when she wants something or when we ask her, "where is ..." As she turns into a toddler very soon she'll be pointing to us that she wants a new toy, her choice of food at MacDonalds...

2. She's learnt new words
Her babble no longer just sound like baby talk but more like proper words especially when she can repeat words back at you. She did that for words like "there", "duck", "mum mum (for food)". With more teeth on the way, she'll learnt to say her first word, and I mean saying it with understanding.

3. Standing unsupported
She does this quite easily for about 10 to 15 seconds already. Last Friday I even caught her holding on to a book and somehow getting up on her own. Hehe so daring to stand unsupported.

4. Taking her first steps

Alexis has witnessed her taking two tiny steps unsupported as she lunged towards her walker. And I only saw it yesterday, when she took a step and lunged towards me.

But so far she's been an ace walking supported mainly on her walker. And on days when she's active she'll keep walking around the house from one end of her play yard to the other. She knows how to squeeze herself in front of the walker when she's hit the end of the room and then push the walker in the opposite direction and then start walking again. I'm pretty sure my little baby's going to start walking before she turns one. Time to go shopping for shoes!

5. Knowing how to resist taking medicine
Fifi fell ill recently and we had to feed her 4 different type of medicine. 3 of which had to be administered by the syringe. Now she can even recognize the syringe after being fed medicine for a couple of times and will struggle to get out of our clutches. Today we had to trick her by alternating between feeding her medicine and water. Wonder what new tricks we need in future.

6. Learning how to say no with her hands

Like pushing her bottle when she's had enough. She used to just turn her head away from you if she's had enough. She'll also pushed my hands away when she didn't want me wiping the mucus off her nose.

Alexis was just commenting how amazing babies grow, from a little helpless babe who can only cry, drink milk, poo and sleep to now having emotions, learning new skills and showing signs of her own personality and a mind of her own. And before we know it, we're about to cross the one year mark as Sophie becomes a toddler in one month's time. And just when I thought that things will get easier, the dear baby whisperer just reassured me that it will not! *sigh* welcome to Toddlerhood!

Teething woes

With just 2 more days before Sophie turns 11 months, I have a feeling that her milk teeth are all trying to make their way out of her gums. And because of that Sophie transforms into another baby at night-wakeful, cranky and absolutely inconsolable!

Touching her sensitive gums

For every night since Saturday, she has woken from her sleep crying from the discomfort and pain. We tried the teething gel, teething tablets, giving her a teether and even tried to give her the pacifier, all fail! Only thing that brings comfort is when I nurse her. I hope I don't set myself up for night feedings when this teething episode is over. But already with one tooth, feeding her can be quite a pain painful. Cant imagine if she has more teeth out!

Can you spot her first tooth?

Finger in mouth again!

Today I tried giving her the Woodsward gripe water. Wondering if it was really effective or was it already way past her bed time (9:50pm!), she went down with much lesser fussing.

Just going to keep my finger crossed that she'll wake up only when it's time, 8am!

I can feel my teeth mummy

Its these times when our patience just gets so worn out and our tiredness just gets the worse of us. Got to remember that they don't go through this period forever.

Endure, endure!