Her Sarong Experience

I remember when I was young, my mum would let me sleep in a sarong. The feeling is very good & comfy because the sarong wraps all around my body, making me feel very secured. So, since our friend gave us a sarong set, we let joey sleep in it during the day so that it's cooler for her.

The first time we put her down in the sarong, she was grinning all the way because I think she finds the hole-y sarong very amusing. But we don't even have to pat her, and she fell asleep within 5 minutes. Really good ah!

Look how comfortable she is!

Baby Dedication

Xia saw this photo when she was browsing through our online gallery. It's Pst Kong praying for joey during baby dedication!!!! =D

Blur Face?!

Many people have commented before that Joey has a blur look all the time. I sure pray that it's only her looks and not her personality. A blur sotong is not good at all! I think it's the fact that her mouth is always slightly open.. giving people the durh look all the time. I am so concerned about it that I even went as far as asking my MIL the other day, why is it that joey can't close her mouth?? Is it because she has been sucking on the pacifier too much??! Or is it because she's just too lazy to close it?!

Tickled

I am so tickled by this series of photos my MIL took of joey this morning.. Don't know what's wrong with her today but she kept laughing and laughing at anything & everything. Especially when my MIL put on the hairband on her, she kept pulling it and laughing at the same time.

Don't you think the two bottom ones on the left are so funny??! She looks so gu-niang!

You know, actually I have something against such hairbands. I think they make babies look so weird! Especially when the baby is still very botak. But I guess at least this hairband is not the lacy and very girly one, so I can still accept. For photographs only though. I probably still won't let her go out in that. Heehee..

Then all her attention was captured by the sun ray that came into the house. She really likes bright things! :)

Her Hair (Again)

I thought she just trimmed her hair?

I thought so too..

Joey in the Bedroom

Took these snapshots of joey just now when she was playing on my bed. :) She really likes to smile into my handphone!

Klessis-Lookalike-Feet

This morning I got a revelation from my MIL. She said:

"Do you know that Joey's feet really look like yours?"

"Huh.. what do you mean..?"

"Her toes are all flat flat one, and her 2nd toe is longer than the big toe."

"Oh.......I thought everyone's feet are like that too??"

"No la.... only yours special..."

"..........."

Now I get it. No wonder everyone commented that joey doesn't resemble me that much. It's because the features she most resembles me are her feet! Ha! And we let her wear socks all the time, so OF COURSE all of you can't see properly.

How my MIL can tell her feet look like mine, i can never figure out... =P

Fun @ Home

Joey's back is getting stronger by the day. She seems much more at ease sitting in her Bambo Chair nowadays. I really pray that her buttocks won't expand so fast, so that I can feed her cereals and porridge while she sits in her Bambo.

But frankly speaking, I seriously don't remember seeing babies who cannot yet sit by themselves start to eat semi solid foods leh. So weird right?? Will joey be able to sit in 2 weeks' time? I doubt it leh.

I tried to put joey on the sofa and let her sit, but she will always fall forward or sideways, unless I happen to place her at a real nice angle. The funnier thing is that she loves to sit.
In fact, she prefers to sit than to lie down. Whenever she let her sit (with our support of course), she will look very happy and gleeful. Well, come to think of it, if I were a baby, I'll be so sick of lying down all the time. Why wouldn't I want to sit, walk or be carried instead??

I Fell Down

Haha.. writing this entry reminded me of the last 2 times when I wrote about how I fell down when I was still pregnant. So, in total, I've fallen down 3 times while carrying joey - twice with her in my tummy, once with her in my arms.

It happened last Tue. I was on my way to office and I met Evangeline at the lift lobby at Suntec tower 3. Of course, I didn't notice a small puddle of water on the shiny granite floor, and I slipped and fell on my both knees. During then, there were 3 other ladies walking behind me, and all of them, including Evan got a big shock when they saw me fall! Haha.. because I was carrying Joey in my arms lah..

I got a shock of course, but was really glad that joey did not drop out of my arms or come to any harm. My right knee hurts badly though. Mind you, I was carrying joey and my laptop. I am not surprised if the weight came up to approximately 60kg (klessis+joey+laptop+bag). The blue black still has not gone down today. Sigh.

As for Joey? I don't think she knew what happened at all. *ignorance is bliss*

Carry me, Mama!

You know how kids will know you want to carry them when they see you clap your hands? I always wonder when my Joey will be able to understand that. And it seems that Joey has reached the stage! When my MIL is carrying her, and I clap my hands at her, she will know I want to carry her and she will open wide her hands and kick her legs and lean her body over to me. Seeing my daughter grow in her understanding of things is really fun! :)

Twin

I've always wanted to have twins because I think they are so adorable. And this is not as difficult as it sounds because in Isaiah's lineage, there were several pairs of twins. Imagine, having 2 Joeys lying side by side! :)

But today I witnessed something in the nursery which totally wiped that thinking off my mind. A father brought her twin daughters to service today, so he came in with his daughters and a woman in tow behind. Of course the first impression was that the woman was the mother, but I soon found out that the real mother was actually overseas and the woman who came was there to help take care of the babies. The babies were at most one month old, really small and fragile-looking.

Poor dad. He must had a real torturous night the night before, having to take care of 2 babies at the same time. He was practically dozing off every other second! And it didn't make things any easier that his twins started to cry one after another. One will cry, then the dad got to pacify and feed her milk. Then when she fell asleep finally after a long long while, the other one started to cry. So you see, having twins means double the work and an endless one!

And remember I mentioned the dad was super tired?? He was dozing off while making milk (He woke up only when he spilt the hot water over his own jeans). He was dozing off while feeding one of the twins milk (Until his friend hit him on his leg because the milk was kind of running down the poor bewildered baby's face). He was dozing off while trying to retrieve a pacifier from his bag (And ended up passing the pacifier cap to the baby instead...)

Frankly speaking, it was quite funny watching the dad taking care of his twin daughter while struggling hard to stay awake. Almost every mother in the nursery was watching him. Haha.. man, it's really not easy taking care of twins! And for a super tired father to do that?! I must say it was really hard on him.....

No twins for me!! =P

The Ring

Do you know whose hand is this???

It's Joey's hand with my wedding band! haha..

The Love of Grandma

My mother is obsessed with doting on Joey. Well, maybe not so serious, but she does go to extents to make sure she is well taken care of. I guess all grandparents are like that. They really see their grandchildren as the apple of their eye.

Just this morning, my mama called me to tell me that she bought more pearl powder for Joey, and also bought some nerve-soothing chinese medicine mixed with, yes, more pearl powder. Both are supposed to calm her down so that she doesn't get frightened so easily.

On top of that, she also bought something for Joey to eat. I don't know what that's called in english, but it's supposed to be something we can cook for Joey to eat to transition her into eating porridge & cereals. I can't believe Joey will be starting to eat cereals & porridge soon! Fast nei!

Anyway, books tell me that once my kid shows some interest in the food that we eat, that means she is getting ready to start on semi-solid food such as porridge. It appears that Joey's interest in my food is not small. She will stare and stare and move her lips alittle when she sees me eat. When we try to tease her with the food then take it away & put it into our mouths, she looked somehow annoyed. Haha.. I can almost predict that my daughter will be one with a big appetite.

My MIL said this morning that she saw some whitish thing on Joey's lower gums. Yes, that means her tooth is coming out soon. No wonder she's been so fidgety and drinking less milk than usual the past few days. It must be really uncomfortable for her, with all the itchy gums and all.. Rest assured I will take photo of her 1st tooth! It will be a memorable moment!!Before that though, let's enjoy some photos of her enjoying sucking her thumb to relieve the itchiness! :P

J-Babies!

In nursery yesterday.. haha.. classic!

Don't Give Birth Too Late!

I have been thinking about this the past few weeks. If I were 10 years older than what I am now, I wouldn't have enough energy to keep up with my daughter. Anyone who has carried Joey before can testify of this. She is bursting with energy! Always moving, fidgeting and 'hopping' out of your arms. When she sees things she likes or excites her, she will wave her hands up & down and she will kick & kick her legs.

The moral of the story is not to give birth too late! Because by then, it would be very tedious to take care of your kids. You really do need alot of energy & stamina. And I know, it's only going to get even more tiring when she starts to crawl and walk. *fingers crossed*

Today is Friday, so it's stay-home day with Joey. I enjoy it because I get to spend time playing with Joey. And Joey is a happy girl because she gets to be carried by mama all the time. :)

Here's Joey trying to snatch my handphone away when I tried to take a photo of her. She grabs anything now!

She seems more & more comfortable sitting in her Bambo chair now because I think her back is getting stronger. I tried to let her sit on the sofa just now, which she managed to sit for a whole of 2 seconds before falling face down onto the sofa. Well.. some things cannot be rushed. She can't even flip yet, how to sit?? Heee..

That's her whining in her cot wanting me to carry her. hehe..

Her Nice Sideview

I am biased. I think my joey has the loveliest side profile in the whole wide world. I simply love to take photos of her sideview when she's sleeping. It's got such a nice perfect shape! And I always feel tempted to go pinch her cheeks because they look so chubby & bouncy! Don't you think so??? :D

No scared, darling...

Dear friends, please pray for my Joey that she will get out of the stranger phobia quickly. My worst fears came to pass yesterday when I left joey in the office nursery. I was thinking over the weekend that if she can forget what my parents look like, she might forget what Auntie Lee Eng looks like (Auntie Lee Eng looks after joey while I work on Tues, Weds & Thurs).

So the moment I left the nursery to go back to my cubicle yesterday morning, joey started to cry really loudly! Even Dawn commented how come she was crying so fiercely. Sigh, no choice.. in the first place, my daughter has got a chili padi character, so the moment she cries, she can be louder than thunder. But I guess Auntie Lee Eng's experience paid off because she did manage to get joey to calm down after like 20 mins of crying. But throughout the day, she would burst out into tears periodically & keep crying for 20 mins each time.

And the fact that the nursery is next to the office, the whole office could practically hear joey's cries, even for me who sits the furthest away from the nursery. Imagine how life was like for those colleagues seated at the other end, right next to the nursery. I can only feel sorry.

I had to curb myself from going into the nursery to cuddle my darling, because I had to get her used to Auntie, otherwise I can forget about working anymore. It was so heart pain! Sigh.. But I do know it's only a matter of time before she will get out of this phase.

We have been feeding her pearl powder (yes, pearls grounded into powder & dissolved in water). It's supposed to calm her nerves, and my mum specially bought it for her because she said joey looks like she was frightened by something recently. In any case, she did seem to sleep better after taking the pearl powder. Expensive stuff nei. Even I don't drink such things for my complexion!

So, please do keep my joey in prayers. I hope she can be a real friendly baby rather than one who is so sticky to mummy & daddy.

U Know U're Too Stressed When....

Yesterday night something hilarious happened. As I was giving Isaiah a goodnight hug before we sleep, I subconsciously started to pat his back. Pat Pat Pat.. for all of 3 seconds, before I suddenly realised the horrors of it! My hands had automatically started to pat no matter whether it's joey's body or somebody else's!! Horrors of horrors!! Am I getting too stressed or what?!

Anyway, I do not really think it's stress, and even if it was, it would all be gone by the time I fell asleep becos Isaiah and I had a big laugh about my 'automatic' action.

As for joey? She just continued sleeping in her cot next to our bed, totally undisturbed and unaware of the little joke. Talking about changing lives ~ She already changed my life before she knows how to spell C-H-A-N-G-E.

My Fair Princess

Joey's born with a natural tan skin tone. Which means she takes after me, because I've never had a fair day in my entire life thus far. The good thing is that although her limbs are all quite tanned (and my mum in law calls her a 'black pearl' because of her tanned skin...), her face is rather fair. So thank God. Cos it's always easier for a fair person to get tanned skin, but for a tanned person to become fair, a considerable amount of whitening products are often required.

Recently, it seems that joey has become fairer and fairer. Only her face though. Her hands and legs are still rather tanned, but her facial skin tone has turned even fairer than when she was born. Then again, I keep thinking this is only logical since I did not bring her for any sunbathing, so she spends most of her time indoors.

Oh yes, by the way, I did notice that Joey's preferred hand is her right hand because she usually extends out her right hand to grab things. So she is likely to be a right-hander. Like Isaiah & I. :)

Wrist Rattles

Joey's new toys.. I find them so cute too!

Motherhood makes Women Smarter

I am so thrilled by this article I wrote that I have decided to blog about it. So many times I have heard comments like 'after giving birth, your memory seemed to have failed..', "Becoming a mother makes you do things slower hor??" However, research has shown that motherhood does make women smarter. Haha!

The research studies broke down the word 'smart' into five attributes: perception, efficiency, resiliency, motivation, and emotional intelligence. Each category is supported by many animal studies as well as some human studies showing ways in which mothers have an edge.

The first category, perception, deals primarily with the five senses. One of the most interesting studies showed pregnant women had sharper "visual acuity" than women who weren't expecting. By that I don't mean they suddenly had 20/20 vision but they do notice a lot more. Studies show that pregnant women also have an enhanced sense of smell, which theoretically serves to protect the unborn baby from foods that are potentially harmful. Wow. This is what I call 'amazing'.

Other findings show that mothers can experience a boost in motivation, fearlessness, and the ability to multi-task and cope with stress. There's also exciting new research suggesting that oxytocin — a hormone important to labor and breastfeeding — improves moms' capacity for learning and memory.

Emotional intelligence is probably the clearest category in which mothers benefit, though. One of the biggest brain boosts for moms is the ability to see the world through someone else's eyes. In so many relationships, if you don't agree with a person you can just walk away. But you can't walk away from your child. At least, not if you want to be a good parent. Instead, you've got to stretch your mind to understand his or her point of view.

People's expectation that mothers are "less smart" after we had children can make us feel as though we're going to accomplish less in life as a mother than I otherwise might as a childless woman. So I refuse to be bathed in this kind of low-level demoralising theory. The truth is I am SMARTER because I've given birth!

And all the mothers say.... AMEN! hahaha..

Pst Kong Prayed for my Joey

Today Pst Kong asked for all the babies who were dedicated last week to go stagefront again so that he can lay hands on every baby and pray for them. So blessed!

This is Joey waiting in the nursery before service. See her nametag!

In Grandpa's Car

Took some photos in joey's grandpa's car when we gave a lift to huiling & lilian the other day when they came over... (I think the resolution's too high so I had difficulty uploading them big.. so got to make do with small versions instead....)

Joey always gets sleepy when travelling in a car....

In the train home from Orchard today...

Went Shopping

We went shopping after service today at Tangs, cos we have a $60 voucher that we need to use. So we went to the kids level in Tangs and can I say, I am so amazed by the really awesome baby and kids clothes they have there. In the end, we didn't get any clothes though, cos they're all designer wear and really not worth the price to pay for. Instead....

WE GOT JOEY HER 1ST PAIR OF SHOES!

Aren't they nice?? Take a closer look...

So sweeeetttttt! I love it!

Got her another bib. A green one! And look what it says on the bib...... The daddy is so proud of his little baby girl..

And of course we bought a teether for joey because her gums are itching bad recently. This will ease the itchiness a little rather than putting anything her hands can grab into her mouth..

Stranger Phobia

It is really true. Joey is scared of strangers.

Today my parents very kindly offered to babysit Joey so that I can attend service. So my dad came over to sembawang to pick us up and headed for home at Pasir Ris. After dropping my dad & joey, Isaiah and I took the car and drove to expo for service. I was really excited! It's been a while since I got to attend service in the main hall!

But horrors of horrors, the moment I stepped out of the car and started walking to expo hall 8, I got a call from my mum who frantically told me that joey refused to stop crying and she had been crying from the moment she stepped into the house! In the background, I could really hear her loud wailing & uncontrollable crying. Oh man.. I had no choice but to rush back home again.

Throughout my 15-minute drive, my mummy called me 3 times! And she kept saying, "Come home quick.. quick.. !!!" I almost went mad. What else could I do??? Isaiah was already speeding up..

When we reached, we literally ran all the way from the carpark to the lift and quickly dashed to the house. Indeed, Joey stopped crying when I carried her. She's so poor thing.. cried until her eyes were puffy red and she even vomited out her milk earlier on! Then, knowing that her daddy & mummy are back, she started to smile again. sigh.. *heart pain*

My poor parents were so traumatised by the whole incident! And very bruised of course, because their grand daughter was scared of them. Sigh... Stricly speaking, she was not scared of them, but the fact that she was in a strange environment and no familiar faces.

This stranger phobia is really getting out of hand. It means I could not leave her with my parents anymore by herself (and mind you, she sees my parents at least once every week so they hardly qualify as strangers!!!) or leave her in the church nursery and go attend service. Oh man... will she ever grow out of this phase???!

It's a Flattering Thought

Yesterday I brought Joey out with my parents because my dad needed my help to renew his business licence. The funny thing was the moment my parents carried joey, she would be very cranky and immediately pout her lips to cry. Then she would open her arms wide and looked at me with teary eyes, as if pleading me to carry her. Indeed she would immediately stop whining when I carry her. Maybe it's the smell on me???

Although she looked so pitifully cute, it was really quite flattering to know that my daughter prefers me to anyone else.

I always thought it is not possible that Joey would have the fear-of-stranger syndrome so soon. But it appears so. For my parents, although they're no strangers to her, she always needs some time to warm up to them when she sees them once a week. Kids forget very quickly, so even just within a span of one week, she would forget what her grandparents look like!

But of course, her level of crankiness differs depending on her mood and whether she's had her milk and sleep. After a nap, she is usually all smiley infront of no matter who. Someone commented that day that Joey has got to be one of the most smiley babies she has ever met. Haha.. what a compliment. To a certain extent, I sometimes think she has a very sam seng woman character because everything is funny, everything is hilarious.

Did I ever mention before in this blog that there was 1 afternoon when I was working on my laptop at home and I put joey in her rocker chair infront of me so that she was facing me. All of a sudden, she started to giggle and laugh all by herself. Which of course caught my attention and I looked at her. She laughed somemore, really amused. Then I went back to my laptop and she immediately made a 'errrrhhhh!!!' sound trying to catch my attention. So I looked at her again and she giggled again. And this went on and on for at least 15 mins! So funny, ok.. don't know what was so amusing.. Maybe she just likes to laugh and smile. I would like to think of it as the joy of the Lord. :)

Look at this photo that Lilian sent me the other day. She probably took it with her hp when she met Joey the other time. What a weird thing to do to my Joey! Trying to enlarge her nostrils???!! My poor joey, so defenceless.....

Time to Flip?

On National Day, we brought Joey to Hoe & Xia's housewarming. At their house, we met Keng Hoe's mother who casually mentioned that Keng Hoe's cousin or sister learnt how to flip when she was 2 months plus and for Keng Hoe, it was slower - he flipped at only 3 months. And I looked at Joey and thought to myself.. Joey is 4 months already and she hasn't flipped!

Actually I am not so concerned about it. According to the growth & development milestone chart, Joey is far ahead of the schedule. Except for the flipping part. The truth is she is just too lazy!

Not that her mama, yours truly, hasn't been making any effort to encourage her to flip. Infact at every possible chance, I've tried to swing her leg over so that she can flip easier. But even when she's halfway through her flip, she refuses to make any effort whatsoever and just hung in that awkward position. Then proceed to cry of course.

Sigh.. if she doesn't want to make any effort, what else can I do? I shall just leave it to nature then. :)

Soft Hair No More

I am so sad... ever since Joey had her hair cut, her hair has become so coarse and hard. It's no longer the feathery soft hair which accompanied her inside my womb. I don't think there're baby hair conditioners on sale right?? I've never seen before lah.. cos babies' hair are supposed to be nice & soft wat! boo hoo~

Anyway, it appears that joey may have natural curls because they are now appearing in wavy form. If so, she takes after Isaiah who also has a little bit of natural curls. Hmm... People with natural curls usually have coarser hair, it seems. Maybe that's the reason why joey's hair is so hard.

No wonder her hair keeps standing up... It's too hard to be tamed!

My 1st Keyboard

She's My Gal..

Dear took a nice black & white photo of Joey & I last night.. We love the shot! It's now the wallpaper on our handphones. :)

The 1st Cut

I've not been sleeping enough the past 3 to 4 days, so I took a nap this afternoon. It's been so so long since I had a nap! But it sure felt good that I had some rest..

When I woke up, I was greeted by a surprise:

JOEY CUT HER HAIR!

Well, of course joey didn't cut her own hair. My mum in law cut for her. It's grown way too long & messy and we have chosen today to be the fateful day for her haircut. But I didn't know she would do it in the day, thought maybe at night.. Haha...

It seems that Isaiah's brother had a hard time holding joey while my mum in law cuts her hair. My mum in law's skills are really superb. Joey looks good inspite of her constant fidgeting! And I dare say her hair got style.. the top part retains the longish flow, but the sides and back have been trimmed. :)

I still think my gal looks very cute now.. and her cheeks look even chubbier now that the hair is shorter!

The Gal with A Bib

Sigh.. I always thought that babies with bib are so uncool. But too bad, due to joey's oversupply of saliva that will always find their way to people's shoulders, I have no choice but to make Joey wear her bib everywhere she goes now. To minimise her uncool-ness, her daddy bought her 2 nice looking bibs so that people won't notice it's a bib. Hee hee... Introducing the 1st bib.. Quite nice ah?

Dedicated To God

Yesterday was the annual baby dedication ceremony in our church. Joey was one of the 200-over babies dedicated to God. There are significant spiritual principles in dedicating babies to God. Please read Isaiah's blog for more info..

Here's Joey in the overflow area waiting for the baby dedication...

Joey is wearing a new pink velvet romper bought for her by my mother in law, specially for her baby dedication ceremony. It's a really expensive romper, I must say... *heart pain when I heard the price*, but it is really really very nice. When Auntie Shirley came over to see Joey, she also commented that it's such a sweet romper. hee..Blessed Joey!

Mummy with joey!

Nigel jiu-jiu posing with niece joey!

Here comes Uncle ziwei, who came over to take a photo with Joey!

Ziwei: See, I so good to you. I purposely didn't edit the photo or add any border so that you can download it onto your computer and see my joey everyday. Hehe.. Good ah?? Pity she didn't look straight into the camera. We can take another one another day ok!

My favorite photo of the day - Me & my 2 darlings!

This year, Pst Chris Pringle (Pst Phil's wife) was the one who proclaimed and prayed blessings over our babies. I could really sense the presence of God when she was explaining about the importance of dedicating our kids to the Lord. Frankly speaking, whenever our church has a baby dedication ceremony, never had I thought that I will be one of those dedicating my kid to the Lord. The thought just never came into my mind although I knew I would have a kid and I would want to dedicate him or her to the Lord. All of a sudden, it just reminded me that it is in God's best timing that Joey was given to Isaiah and I, and it is the best reminder of God's goodness in our lives.

After the service, we also took a family photo (me, isaiah, joey, mum in law, david, nigel & kat) using the services provided by our church because it's our 17th anniversary! I wonder why there were no long queues because the photos were taken with studio standards! I think many people really missed it. I am so looking forward to seeing the final product next week!! I will sure blog it & show the world! :D