Cloth Diapers

I LOVE cloth diapers.

But when I was doing research while pregnant with baby E, there were so many different terms (AIO, AI2, pocket diapers, prefolds etc) that my head was spinning.

Plus I could not get over my hangup about touching poop, even if it was newborn breastfed baby poop which was supposed to be easily washed away and not very stinky. So we used disposables until baby E was about 8 or 9 months old before I took the plunge and bought some Bumwear diapers.

I'm busy, mom (periwinkle bee print)

Maroon turtle print

Green dino print *rawr*

White with black trim

Love the batik inspired patterns that Bumwear prints on their diaper covers. Baby E's bum has never looked cuter.

I then set about building my diaper stash because I knew I would need the extra diapers (and maaaaybe part of the reason is that there are so many cute diaper prints out there!). He now goes through 4 - 5 diapers a day, I change him often because he's gotten a rash before from being in a pee-soaked diaper for too long (was an overnight diaper, have not been able to resolve the issue so he sleeps in disposables to keep his bum dry and happy).

So now his diaper stash includes Bumwear, SgBum (also local Singaporean brand), Charlie Banana (bought from Takashimaya during their introductory promotion), SunBaby (China brand, bought direct off their website) and Bumkins (US brand, bought through a local seller on FB). 

We still use disposables when out and about for most of the day for ease of use and disposal. If it's a short trip to the supermarket then I leave him in a cloth diaper because I know we'll be home in time to change him. 

Baby E also had some diaper rash issues and I racked my brain to figure out what was happening, stripped his diapers several times, changed the amount of detergent used, tried baking soda etc. I finally realised that all I had to do was add an additional insert when stuffing his pocket diapers because he was peeing so much as he grew bigger!

The best part is cost savings. I'm not under pressure to potty train baby E as the cloth diapers will last him another year or so (maybe even longer) and he can start whenever he's ready. A friend of mine was bemoaning the cost of the XXL sized diapers for her son (1 year older than baby E) and she was trying to get her son potty trained ASAP so that she can stop spending on his diapers. 

Babywearing

The memories of baby E's first year are slowly fading into the recesses of my mind, becoming hazy images filled with a sense of overwhelming love and affection for the little guy.

Before these memories fade any further, I feel a need to write down what I felt during that time to remind me of what it was like.

You know, just in case we decide to have another baby.

Baby E was a terrible sleeper. Terrible is putting it nicely. He is such a bright, attentive baby that it seemed like he just could not relax enough to close his eyes and fall asleep. And all I could hear were my mother-in-law's constant comments about 'babies need sleep to grow, why is he not sleeping? I think he's grown smaller!' ringing in my head so in my fuzzy, tired 'new mama' brain I was obsessed with getting him to sleep.

I guess it didn't help that even as a newborn, his crying was really (incredibly) loud and demanding. He would go from sound asleep to yelling his head off. I was constantly worried that he was in some sort of pain because I would do diaper changes, swaddle then unswaddle, walk him around the house, sing to him, lay down with him, give him wind drops, try to burp him etc. Nursing always helped but then I worried he was constantly nursing and might be having an upset stomach from too much milk.

Almost 2 months

I had seen a shop selling baby slings and carriers when I was pregnant but had some reservations about babywearing. The shop owners were really helpful and took the time to recommend and demonstrate the use of a Sleepy Wrap (now known as a Boba Wrap).

After baby E was born and the minute my confinement period was over, we went to buy a Sleepy Wrap. Right in the store, I wrapped baby E up and he fell asleep almost IMMEDIATELY. I was SOLD on babywearing. It wasn't just for convenience, I am convinced that it saved my sanity as well. 

Looking back, I probably had some postpartum depression in those first few months. Being able to wear baby E in the wrap meant I could keep him close yet still get things done around the home. And at the time, keeping things neat and tidy at home was tied to my mental state. It helped me feel like things were under control.

The hubby was also able to use the wrap and get baby E to nap which gave me a break.

2 months (photo taken by auntie J)

I loved the Sleepy Wrap. LOVED it. It did get a bit warm in our hot and humid tropical climate so I always dressed baby E in sleeveless onesies or thin shirts and he was happy.

5 months

As baby E grew bigger, I wanted a more sturdy carrier. So back to the same shop we went and bought a Manduca carrier. The wide waist belt helps distribute the weight of the baby more evenly which is great for the hubby who has bad shoulders. I could even breastfeed on-the-go with baby E in it.

The Manduca has since replaced the Sleepy Wrap as our go-to carrier and we never leave home without it!

15 months

Baby E has reached a stage where he refuses to be carried in the Manduca anymore. He's also started falling asleep in his stroller without needing to nurse. So more often than not, the Manduca is stashed away in his stroller basket these days.

I guess what I am trying to say is that the phrase 'This too shall pass' is true. Baby E has grown and adapted to life on the outside (of the comfort and safety of my womb) at his own time and the test for me was to take a step back and let him develop at his own pace.

Sleep or Speak?

Baby E has been talking more lately. Wait, let me back things up a bit.

A couple weeks ago, baby E seemed to be settling into a regular sleep pattern which included a nap at 11am and bedtime at 6pm with little to no protest from him. He was super cooperative, like super duper agreeable and slept pretty well. After bedtime at 6pm, he would wake at 10 or 11pm for milk and to say hi to daddy before going back to sleep which is my cue to turn in for the night. Baby E would still drink milk at night while we are sleeping but they would be short, peaceful nursing sessions.

Here's what I think of sleep, pffft!

I recall Dr Teoh (baby E's pediatrician) telling us to be prepared as a child's sleep can take up to 3 years to settle into a regular pattern. That week of great sleeping by baby E gave me hope, maybe a little too much hope.

Because the week after that, he went from great sleeper to fighting the sandman every step of the way. His only daytime nap was pushed to 12pm and is now at 1pm. He would find any excuse to not sleep, like asking to change his clean diaper (which I had already changed in anticipation of his impending nap), taking all his books out to flip through the pages and point out the pictures to me. Or opening up my box of disposable breastpads and emptying the contents out onto the floor and taking all his neatly stacked diapers and throwing them around the room. I tried everything from coaxing, patting, singing, ignoring him to finally losing my cool and being very stern with him.

Not only that but his bedtime has gone from 6pm to 7pm and is currently now at 8pm. His eyes were closing at 7pm, then he started rolling around in bed and shaking his head to wake himself up. Nursing has also become a challenge with him digging his fingers into my flesh and the pinching, kneading and poking was starting to get on my nerves.

But then I noticed he was talking more. In actual words. Baby E's paternal grandparents heard and understood what he was saying as well so it's not my mummy brain playing tricks on me. Couple days ago I swore he said 'Gugu (Ed's sister) go work.' It sounded more like 'Gugu gowerrk'. Yesterday his ah gong (paternal grandfather) bought some durians home in a big brown paper bag. Baby E walked up to him and asked, 'Wat dis?' while pointing at the bag. He says words like truck, baby, koko (older brother), mei mei (little sister) and a bunch more that I can't recall right now.

So I figure his disrupted sleep is a result of his brain working overtime to grow and develop. I also figure his unwillingness to cooperate is part of his growing up process. Or so I tell myself because I've skimmed over the emails that Baby Centre (or whichever baby website I signed up on when I was pregnant and bored) sends that outlines toddler development and says that this is the stage where he figures out that he is an individual with his own opinions on things. Which is a good and normal thing.

Freedom, yay!

I've also tried being less strict with insisting that he stay in the stroller if we are in a reasonably safe place and he agrees to hold my hand 70% of the time. And I also take him out of the stroller in the MRT if he asks me to and I find that he is much more willing to sit back inside the stroller when I explain that we've reached our station.

It's all about give and take. Without having him climb over my head. A real delicate balance.

The payoff is that he actually FELL ASLEEP IN HIS STROLLER on Wednesday after lunch with a friend. And he stayed asleep for over an hour while I had my coffee and a piece of cake in blissful silence. Just me and my sleeping baby.

Best. Feeling. Ever.

Cuteness Reminder No. 2

Hey there!

Like my teeth?

And my tongue?

Yep, that's me. I'm the cute one.

I really need this reminder today.

Baby E has officially entered the Terrible Twos and nothing I did today was up to his (extremely) high toddler standards. From refusing to change his diaper, insisting on sitting up to nurse before his nap (which results in him falling asleep sitting up and then waking up when I move him to his bed) to refusing to sit in his high chair, things went downhill pretty quick.
 
He's finally down for the night and there is nothing sweeter than a sleeping baby (or toddler!)

Cuteness Reminder

Hi cutie!

Found this photo in the 'Received Files' folder on my computer, taken by my cousin when baby E was 6 months old.

It put a smile on my face after a particularly challenging day taking care of baby E who is now a strong-willed toddler who knows his own mind all too well.

C is for Curry, and Curry is for me...

Ever since E's graduated to regular food, having meals outside has turned into an even busier event for us. He'd point and gesture at our food and we'd try and figure out where he's going with this (to eat, squish, throw, use it to feed us... in no particular order). There are times though, that he'd cut to the chase. Picture below of our very own curry monster lapping it all up.

Who knew?

Bo chun ... MORE?

Gotta Have Socks

Lurrrrve my socks mom!

For some reason, baby E insisted on wearing socks a couple days ago. It was a really hot and humid day, probably 34C outside and the sun was blazing down.

Yet baby E woke up from his nap, went to his sock drawer and pulled out this pair of socks and insisted that I put them on for him before going off to play with his toys.

Ahh, now my outfit is complete, time to play!

Sometimes I wish I could listen in on baby E's thoughts and look at the world through his eyes. I bet there's some really interesting things going on inside that cute lil' head of his.

1.5 Years

Not sleepy, mom!

Happy 18th months my lil' ray of sunshine.

Have I really been a mom for that long? It feels like longer.  I was so uncertain in the beginning, seeking parenting knowledge from books, online forums and family. Worrying about whether he was getting enough nutrition, if he was growing well. Wondering if my parenting skills are up to the task of raising another human being (my previous experience being limited to four-legged furry companions, big and small. Mostly small). Feeling like every little thing I did affected his mental and physical development and putting pressure on myself to keep him stimulated because I thought if I didn't he would have remained a helpless screaming blob forever (which I now know is totally not true).

Now we've got a routine going that seems to work. I've come to terms with him needing less sleep than other kids, he's already down to 1 nap a day and if I'm lucky he'll sleep for 90 minutes. Mostly he just sleeps for an hour and is up and raring to go until bedtime which is 6pm (thank goodness). I'm still learning about his personality and figuring out how to deal with a toddler who understands so much but still isn't verbal enough to string a sentence together. Constantly reminding myself to trust in baby E's abilities and stop worrying about his food and milk intake. Some days he just can't get enough to eat and some days he's just 'Meh, not really interested today, mom.' His pediatrician assures me that baby E is growing just fine and developing normally.

Baby E now knows a few words but sometimes just grunts and points and expects the correct response from me. It's like having a pop quiz in school and if I get the answer wrong he has a mini-meltdown. Really keeps me on my toes.

We love you baby E, lots and lots!

Breastfeeding at 18 months

This is a follow-up to my initial post on breastfeeding baby E which can be found here.

It's a couple days away from baby E's 18th month of being breastfed. I'm really excited and grateful that we've managed to come this far. Our breastfeeding journey has not been without it's challenges and I'm writing about them on this blog before the memories fade and my brain retreats into lala-land making me think that it was smooth sailing from Day 1.

Which it wasn't, it wasn't smooth sailing at all.

Reading the KellyMom website helped maintain my sanity in the initial few weeks when nothing seemed to be going the way it was supposed to.

I do have to say I am eternally grateful to my mother-in-law who cooked yummy confinement food which helped keep my strength up. And I am also thankful to the ENT my mother-in-law visited to get treatment for her persistent cough because he told her that cow's milk causes lots of problems, not just in adults but also babies and that she should encourage me to breastfeed baby E for as long as possible. I could feel her being supportive with all the fish & papaya soup she made during my confinement month.

However, note to those who are living or tending to a brand new mother in confinement - even a passing remark on how the baby's looking can cause great mental anguish to her! My mother-in-law kept commenting on how baby E seemed to be losing weight every now and again during that first month and on top of his constant crying / yelling and non-sleeping I had a mental breakdown and the hubby came home to find me crying my eyes out after she had passed that comment for the umpteenth time.

However, I'm happy to say that we made it though those challenges and baby E has been on breastmilk ever since. He's recently started asking to drink cow's milk which he seems to like and it hasn't affected his nursing. I drink LOTS of cow's milk in my morning coffee (it's more like coffee-flavoured milk at this point) and my observant lil' guy wanted to have some too.

From this...

To this!

I'm glad we made it this far and I'm looking forward to following baby E's lead on weaning off the boob. He's older now and understands when I ask him to 'wait' if I'm finishing up a task and he'll nurse after so we've got a good system going. He's got 10 teeth in but no biting yet (knock on wood!).

We're still co-sleeping and baby E nurses a few times at night, mostly without waking up and I'm vaguely aware that he's latched himself on and he rolls away when done so I don't squish him.

Last but not least, I have to say kudos to daddy E for being so supportive of us breastfeeding and co-sleeping. Because baby E kicks him mercilessly at night. We love you daddy E!

5am Comes Pretty Early

Can't sleep anymore, mum

This is what baby E looks like at 5am in the morning, tired but not able to sleep. I'm not sure what affects his wake-up time because he goes to bed at the same time every evening, give or take 10 minutes (sometimes up to 30 minutes).

I've tried making his bedtime later, doing more activities with him during the day to tire him out, adjusting the a/c colder / warmer, dressing him in long sleeves, short sleeves and a bunch of other things but they don't seem to affect his wake-up time. So most of the time he wakes up around 6:30am, sometimes 5am and sometimes 7am.  Usually he's content to nurse in the morning and roll around the bed until I wake up, but sometimes he wakes up and is ready to go immediately. These are the mornings that I dread, I'm absolutely NOT a morning person and I need lots of sleep (LOTS of sleep).

So when baby E wakes up at 5am, I change his overnight diaper then put his Mother Goose DVD on and let him watch until I'm awake enough to start the day with him. Before having kids, I SWORE up and down that I would not let my children watch TV before they turn 2 years old. I guess I have to eat my words now because if I didn't have Mother Goose to distract him in the morning, I'd be a complete wreck.

The hardest things about motherhood so far? Sleep deprivation. I am looking forward to the day when baby E is old enough to wake up, wash up and feed himself independently, that's my light at the end of the motherhood tunnel.

The Boy That Would Not Sleep

A while back Baby E was suddenly down with high fever. We were puzzled - there were no triggers that we could think of. But that's not the point.

Throughout the ordeal, Baby E still WOULD NOT SLEEP!

What can I say...my boy's a fighter. That's the closest he came though *sob*

I was thinking of composing a ditty a la Dr Seuss but prolonged sleep deprivation has put some serious dampener on those creative sparks...

Trekking with Baby

Comfy baby

Just a quick lil' snippet from our holiday in Las Vegas. Took baby E to Red Rock Canyon and hiked with the family (except my parents who chilled out in the car). It was an easy trail, meant for children, that led to a small waterfall. The weather was perfect, nice and sunny with a cool breeze.

Baby E enjoyed his ride in the Manduca carrier. I love that carrier, it's been a lifesaver in more ways than one and it was perfect for trekking. Baby E fell asleep on our way back from the waterfall and had a short nap in the car, still in the Manduca carrier on my back. Took a bit of maneuvering to fit in the back seat but we made it work.

Baby Abroad!

Sent the missus and baby E off yesterday to the airport; they'll be off on vacation for the next 2 weeks or so. Got this shot of baby E this morning and that he's handling it well, even it'd been a whopping 18+ hour flight. If I were him, I'd have a much sleepier look than this.

The missus kept teasing how I'd be able to have some quiet time while they're gone and I can finally get a good night's sleep. 

Ironically, that's not happening. 

Not being able to go on vacation together means I am constantly worried about what may happen to them, if they're eating and sleeping well... The reality is, I'm now a husband and a father. Even when I have free time my thoughts will always gravitate towards mia famiglia. That emptyt nest scenario that you hear about in the news - totally get it now...

For now, have fun mommy and baby E!

~ dullrock

Like My 'Blue' Hair?

I'm blue dubba dee da dum

Came across this photo taken when baby E was 11 months old. We were changing him and the hubby put baby E's shorts on his head and baby E loved it.

He kept it on for a good 5 minutes before losing interest.

My lil' Fireman

Hi grandpa!

Took baby E to United Square to meet up with my sister and dad for some shopping in January. He loved the fire engine ride and played on it for a good half an hour, even without putting any coins in!

Happy Year of the Dragon!

Dong dong dong chiang!

Here is the best shot of baby E dressed up in his Lunar New Year clothes, courtesy of auntie J. There were the usual festive activities like visiting relatives and being visited by relatives but we skipped the reunion dinner this year as both the hubby and baby E were sick.

Technically this is baby E's 2nd LNY, here's a picture of him last year in the same outfit.

Dong chiang dong chiang!

My Babies

15 years vs 15 months

Just a picture today.

Lavander, my 15 year old Jack Russell Terrier and baby E who's almost 15 months old.

Toddling!

Happy baby, oops I mean toddler

Baby E is officially a toddler! He's been practicing his walking skills the past few weeks and over Chinese New Year he walked clear across the living room all by himself several times.

We're so proud!

Except now that he's mobile but not quite steady on his feet, I've got to double my watch on him. Plus he's tall enough to reach for things off the edge of the desks so there's some further baby-proofing to be done.

Lil' Old Man Face

But I AM smiling, dad!

My dad taught baby E this scrunched up grimace months ago and he's been doing it ever since. Especially when he's tired but wants to keep on playing with whoever is interacting with him.

We were at Cafe Epicurious at The Rail Mall having breakfast and it was fast approaching baby E's morning nap time so he kept giving my hubby the lil' old man face when asked to smile for the camera.

Gotta love my silly baby boy!

Happy 2012!

No photo, just some thoughts.

This time last year, baby E was just over a month old. 

Ok, I lied. 

Maybe just one photo taken around this time in 2011.

Mummy's Sunshine

Our happy, laughing lil' bundle of joy that we constantly worried over. Was he sleeping enough? Eating enough? Getting enough stimulation and exercise? Thank goodness we have a supportive and experienced pediatrician who took the time to address all our questions. Questions like 'What's this blue vein on the bridge of his nose and why is he a bit bluish around the mouth? Is he getting enough oxygen? Should we take him to the A&E???' (Turns out it can be normal for newborns and yes he's getting enough oxygen and his brain is just fine). Baby E's crying is more like YELLING so all the effort it took to cry that might have contributed to the bluish colouring.

Now baby E is a healthy, active almost-toddler and looking back on all our worries (well seems like they were mostly my worries, maybe due to the roller-coaster of emotions I was going through postpartum and being stuck at home under confinement DID NOT HELP). But my MIL cooked fantastic confinement food and I'm very grateful to her for that. I don't know how I would have kept my strength up without her food, especially since I spent almost every waking moment worrying about baby E and not doing much else to take care of my recovering body.

Baby E has been teething the past few days and he's had another allergic reaction to mosquito bites when we visited my mum's place for Christmas. All this combined is affecting his sleep again so I've got my work cut out for me over the next week or so.

Welcome 2012!