Latest fashion trend

Did you notice that I look different today?

Yes! I've got a new piece of fashion accessory!

Mommy has put on the bib for me because I always wet my clothes and even my body whenever I drink from the bottle or from Mommy. Sometimes, I even wet Mommy's arm and body. Heehee...

Mommy says I'm a messy eater, just like Daddy.

Didn't they say "like father like daughter"?

Rock-a-bye Baby

Recently, due to my colic, Granny likes to put me inside my Amby hammock to sleep. It's supposed to help my colic so that I'll sleep soundly for a longer period of time.



Here you go, this is my own little hammock. Usually, before I fall asleep, I like to stare at the two clowny fellas Mommy has tied on top. I like the orange fella better cos he can make some nice music.



That's me sleeping so soundly in my hammock.



This is the orange fella I'm talking about. He makes some nice music that will lullaby me to sleep. He's my fav toy for now.

I've Grown!

Yesterday, Mommy and Granny took me to NUH for my check-up. Dr Yvonne declared a clean bill of health. Hooray!

My new statistics -
Head circumference: 37cm
Length: 56cm
Weight: 5.07kg

I've grown quite abit, ya?

Think I might have put on quite abit of weight, coz a Chinese lady actually called me 小胖子, as she compared me with her grandchild who's 8 days younger and much smaller in size. She said no matter how much they feed him/her for 8 more days, he/she won't grow to my size. Mommy and Granny found it all quite amusing initially, but got a little upset later thinking back. How can she call a pretty, adorable little girl like me that? Quite insulting I must say. Correct?

My Little Girl

Looking at my little girl from birth till now, she has really grown into a healthy and bubbly baby. I love to look at her when she's sound asleep, for she looked so happy, contented and beautiful. It makes all the fatigue and anguish so worthwhile.

Hubby is right. Parenthood is truly a joy for us.

Granny's New Hobby

Granny has developed a new hobby - taking photos of me with her mobile phone. After doing so, she'll whip out her mobile phone whenever she's free to admire these photos. She will be laughing out loud to herself as she browses through my every expression.

Is it really that fun? When will I have my own mobile phone so that I can also snap photos?

Fun Day with Ah Zor

Today, Mommy and Granny brought me to Ah Zor's place. I had so much fun playing with her! She's so fun to be with!

Ah Zor gave me a tummy massage, and also gave my back a good rub-rub. Feels so good. Ah Zor also fed me water when I have hiccups. More importantly, Ah Zor allowed my hands to roam FREELY!! I can wave them in the air, punch them high up and do whatever I like! Hooray!!

I had so much fun that I didn't feel like sleeping at all!




Mommy, are we going to visit Ah Zor again tomorrow?

My New Nickname

Ya, I know, I already have a handful of nicknames. But today, Grandma bestowed a new one on me.

You see, because of my nappy rash, Mommy and Grandma have been trying to air my butt. They will lay a cloth diaper under me and let me sleep naked waist down. This is supposed to help my nappy rash to recover.

But this created another problem. As you already know, I poo alot. So by not wearing diaper, my poo will fly out whenever it happens to come out when I stretched my legs up high. As a result, Grandma has more cloth diapers to wash, and also bedsheet and quilt cover. Sometimes, when Grandma was cleaning my butt, my shit will fly out when I fart, and it can land anywhere, even on Grandma. Hahaha.. so funny!

As a result, Grandma now calls me 小李飞屎(pronounced as xi2).

My Visit to The Kid's Clinic

Yesterday, Mommy and Grandma brought me to The Kid's Clinic at Rivervale Mall. They wanted the doctor to take a look at my red buttock as well as asked the doctor why I've been crying and refusing to feed at night for the past 2 days.

After getting a queue number, we went to Ah Zor's place to visit her and to wait for our turn. We waited for nearly 5 hours before Mommy got a call from the clinic for us to go back.

Dr Lilian Lim was a nice and friendly paediatrician. First she listened carefully to Mommy as Mommy recites all my ailments and all that she's worried about. Then Dr Lim put me down on the bed and checked my heart, lungs and buttocks. She concluded that I've a bad case of nappy rash. Ya, it was so bad that my butt's all red and some parts were bleeding due to the frequent abrasions. The condition was made worse by my constant poo-pooing.

Actually I wasn't too bothered by it, but that made Mommy even more worried as she thought that under normal circumstances little babies like me should be crying as my wounds look very painful. Dr Lim said Mommy's lucky to have a brave little girl. Oh yes, I'm a fighter!

Dr Lim prescribed a PP wash, a medicated cream and a nappy rash cream to treat my bum. At the same time, Dr Lim is going to give me some tablets of good bacteria to drive out the bad bacteria in me, so that I won't poo so often. This is almost like the Yakult Mommy and Daddy like to drink.

Dr Lim also told Mommy that I'm suffering from slight colic, which explains why I've been crying at night and refusing to feed. My tummy has alot of wind which is causing the phlegm which Mommy was concerned about. Also, Dr Lim said the wind can also give me heartburns. She precribed a colic drop for me. Mommy was told to put me at a 30 degree angle after feeding and also to burp me well. Eeks, I hate to be burped!

After receiving the medicine, Mommy and Grandma took me shopping in the mall! It's so fun! There're so many shops selling all kinds of things. So interesting!

But soon, I got tired and my eye lids got heavy so we took a cab and headed back home.

Full Month Celebration - Part 3 - Baby Shower

Mommy and Daddy held a buffet celebration at Granduncle Peter's condo on Sunday (18 May). They've invited alot of their close friends to celebrate my first month with me, I'm so excited!

Early in the morning, Mommy and Grandma woke me up to feed and bathe me. Then they changed me into my new pink romper with little flowers embroidered on it. I look so sweet and pretty in it, right?

Erm.. ya I know, it's a little big, cos Mommy has bought a size big enough for a 6-month old baby!






Then somehow, Mommy and Grandma got a little bored and came up with the idea of dressing me up like a kitty, for they've always called me 小醉猫whenever I refused to wake up from my slumber.



We reached Granduncle Peter's place at around 1040am. Guests started to stroll in only after 12 noon. I was wide awake by then. The party was very crowded with many adults and little kids. I had a lot of fun! Mommy and Grandma said it was so rare that I kept my eyes wide open throughout the party. Finally, I get to prove them wrong. I am no sleepy kitty!

Mommy and Daddy were so busy throughout the party that they forgot to take photos of the party and the guests!!!! Can you believe them??!!

Full Month Celebration - Part 2 - 'Bai Bai'

After my hair-cut, we proceed to Ah Zor's house to pray to the deities and ancestors. We brought along the yummy cakes, ang ku kueh, red eggs and glutinous rice from Melrose which Mommy bought to give away to the relatives.

Ah Zor led me through the ritual of "bai bai" to the deities as well as to Zor-gong and Zor-zor-gong and Zor-zor-ma.

Granduncle George commented that he has never seen my eyes because I'm always sleeping. Hmm.. is that so? But I can't help it, I feel so tired that I can hardly open my eyes.



But no matter how sleepy and tired I am, I can still safeguard my ang baos! Hee hee...

Full Month Celebration - Part 1 - The Haircut

I turned one month old on 20 May 2008, but my full month celebrations actually started on 17 May when Great-grandma came to our house to give me a haircut. I was fortunate to be born with a head of beautiful black hair. Everyone loves my hair, so it was decided that I won't be shaved botak. Great-grandma will only trim my hair to signify that I'm now one month old.

Great-grandma came to our house early in the morning, well-equipped with all the tools needed for my haircut, such as scissors, comb and red eggs. In every step, she will rub an item on my head and recite something in Teochew. I don't know what the words meant but they sounded so nice, like the music Mommy plays to me.

The scissors and comb which Great-grandma uses to cut my hair were antique. They were at least 40 years old! Great-grandma used the exact same scissors and comb to cut Mommy's hair when she turned one month old!


The scissors


The comb


The entire set-up


The hair-cutting ceremony

Great-grandma complained that I moved too much, so Grandma was roped in to hold me down.



There you go, me and my new hair-cut! Gorgeous right?

Decoding Tessa's Cries

I'm-So-Hungry / Are-We-Done-Yet Cries
These will come in the form of (extremely) loud wailing, usually when she's hungry. Sometimes, these come when she's impatient while we are dressing/changing her. Her eyes will be tightly shut, her mouth opened wide and she'll be wailing on top of her voice until her whole face is red. She will only stop when her mouth finds my breast. Sometimes, she'll still sob in between sips of her milk.

Can-Someone-Come-And-Look-At-Me Cries
These will come in the form of short cries. This usually happens when she's left alone to play on her own, gets bored and wants some attention. This is what we classify as "fake cries".

I-Can't-Free-My-Hands-No-Matter-How-Hard-I-Try Cries
These come in short rhythmic cries (longer than above). She hates to be swaddled and will struggle very hard to free her hands. Often she'll do so by kicking her legs very hard to loosen the cloth diaper we used to swaddle her. When failing to free her hands, she will first deliver her signature frown, start to look frustrated before breaking into such cries, hoping that we'll give in and free her.

Happy Mother's Day

This is my first Mother's Day. But it was a super quiet day which passed by just like any other day.

It was spent feeding, cooing, cleaning and taking care of baby. Ya, all the babying stuff. No present, cake, nice dinner at restaurant, greeting card...

So what's so special about this day except it's my first Mother's Day? Hmm...

The day came and passed with baby not knowing anything about Mother's Day. Wonder when I'll receive my first hand-made Mother's Day card from her.

Happy Mother's Day, anyway.

幸福

自从有了小雨桐之后，每天都过得很累但是很快乐。看到小雨桐一天天长大，越来越活泼可爱，那段怀孕头晕、呕吐的难受时期似乎很遥远、很微不足道。甚至是生产的疼痛以及过后伤口的痛楚、精神上的压力和身体的疲惫都变得很渺小、不足挂齿。

现在只要每天一早看到她可爱的模样，在我怀里吮吸着奶液，就会觉得很快乐。家里有了小宝宝后，时间似乎很容易过。每天，我也很期待老公回家的那一刻。我喜欢看他和宝宝玩乐时的幸福模样，充满了对宝宝的爱与挂念。我更喜欢临睡前，老公把我紧搂在怀里，我知道他感激我的付出，疼惜我的疲累。

生命里多了个小雨桐，再加上老公、妈妈和爸爸的支持与疼惜，我的生命现在很美满。这就叫做幸福。

印度姑娘

你看！嫲嫲把我扮成了印度小姑娘，美吗？

Pretty in blue

That's me after my daily bath (ohh... bathing is one of my favourite times of the day!) in my new baby blue shirt with new baby blue mittens and baby blue socks. My mittens and socks are printed with the words "I love my Daddy" and "I love my Mummy".

最新发型

最近洗澡后，嫲嫲总爱给我梳个小葱头。然后她就会一边欣赏我的模样，一边呵呵地笑。我的样子真的很好笑咩？

嫲嫲说，这个是David Beckham的发型，很garang。什么叫garang？我都不知道哪个家伙是谁，我才不管呢！我只想知道：我什么时候有奶喝？！！我的moomoo在哪里？

What is Baby listening to?

This Mommy's favourite song at the moment which she sings many many times a day to me. And I love it!

唐诗300首

每当我在妈妈怀里喝奶的时候，妈妈总会重复再重复再重复地念着这5首唐诗给我听。Hmmm…… 难道妈妈真的要念足300首唐诗？

咏鹅
鹅鹅鹅
曲项向天歌
白毛浮绿水
红掌拨清波

静夜思
床前明月光
疑是地上霜
举头望明月
低头思故乡

悯农
锄禾日当午
汗滴禾下土
谁知盘中餐
粒粒皆辛苦

春晓
春眠不觉晓
处处闻啼鸟
夜来风雨声
花落知多少

相思
红豆生南国
春来发几枝
愿君多采撷
此物最相思

Contentment

The pregnancy days of morning sickness and bloatedness seem so far away and insignificant now. Even the delivery ordeal and the postpartum fatigue, pain and anguish seem so distant and forgettable.

Every day, waking up to Baby's cries for feeding and seeing her latched onto my breast is sheer bliss. And one of the happiest times of the day is also waiting for Hubby to come home. I love to watch him play with Baby, knowing that he loves and misses her so much. After which I'll look forward to the time when Hubby climbs into bed and pulls me into his arms, knowing that he appreciates and loves me. Mom and Hubby have made this confinement period much more bearable than expected.

Watching Tessa grows day by day and seeing her surprise us with new tricks each day are what that made my day now. I am truly thankful, happy and contented.

Tessa is...

A little shark... when she opens her mouth wide and searches frantically for Mommy's breast to feed on.

A little monster... when she wails so loudly until her face is red and impatiently waits to be fed/changed/clothed.

A 小醉猫... when she dozes off contentedly after her feeding or when she refuses to wake up when it's feeding time.

A little worm... when she wriggles about and refuses to stay still when she's feeding or sleeping.

A little darling... when she's asleep or when she plays quietly on her own.

Other than that, she's also Daddy and Mommy's precious little girl and Granny's 心肝宝贝and Grandpa's 小老鼠.

Tessa looks like...

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celebrity - Collage - Morph

The Many Faces of Little Tessa