So happy today!

Today, the most amazing thing happened for little Kaijie when he was playing with Selene. He seemed so interactive and happy and it's like he's suddenly "opened" to the world and recognise people around him and can actually play with them! My new camera also came in handy and allowed me to take truly wonderful shots of this timeless moment. ;-)

I know it's been some time since we updated the blog, but we have been so busy with him, and have generated so much photos that we do not know how to sieve through them! I have like 1.5GB of photos just for the last 3 weeks and we really need some time to delete those no-good ones and archive the rest.

Ah, so happy and touched, dunno if I can sleep... ;-p

A real smile

Today my baby boy really melted my heart.

I have been looking out for the elusive smile that he gives me from time to time. However, I know that many times when he smiles, it's more of a reflex action than a genuine, happy smile. Ever since I have read this article, I have been looking out for his smile.

Today, I was playing with him (actually, "dancing" with him) while we were listening to Bee Gees (Night Fever, Stayin' Alive, You Should Be Dancing, More Than A Woman, etc.) because he seems to be really excited listening to the music while I was rocking him away. Then came that smile!! And I know at an instance that this was not the usual smile that I see, because there were distinct differences from his usual reflex smile:

- the smile was much longer, it stayed for around 3-5 seconds. Usually his reflex smile is fleeting (maybe 1 second or so).
- he "smiled" with his eyes, as in the eyes became a little "squinted" (like what we usually say 见牙不见眼). His reflex smile usually the eyes have no emotions/reactions one

It was so nice to see that he was really happy! But could not get him to smile again for the rest of the night after that. But still, I'm happy!!

9 Oct 08: My birthday celebration
Actually Kaijie's full month baby shower was over for about 2 weeks liao. We were so busy that we didn't manage to take much pictures. However, his birthday is actually 9 Sep, while my birthday is 9 Oct, so his "actual" full month coincide with my own birthday. We did a "mini" celebration on the 9th and bought a cake just to cut and take some pictures. ;-)

Our second attempt at a 全家福, this one is a little better than the one that I was struggling with a tripod since my mum was the one took this picture.


11 Oct 08: My father's birthday celeration

My father's birthday was just 2 days after mine. I have always jokingly told my mum that I was the birthday present for my father 30 years ago. ;-)

30 years later, my wife did the same thing for me. Our little astronaut was the best birthday present this year.

My parents taking a picture with the (lazy/sleeping) little boy. To be honest, I have never seen my father so genuinely happy for a very very long time. The little boy brought real joy to my family that I haven't seen/felt for a very long time. I'm so happy to see the change.


My parents enjoying a common moment of joy, at blowing the candle!


Our family side 全家福, the more complete version. Unfortunately my eldest sister is still overseas, though I have repeatedly asked her to be back for the baby shower. Hope she can quickly settle her work over there have her back real soon for good instead of shuffling between the 2 countries. Then we can take a complete 全家福,!


12 Oct 08: Baby shower round 2

We did another round of the baby shower, this time round at my in-laws place, since they wanted to make use of the opportunity to ask their relatives over to the new house to see see look look. My in-laws with our little baby:


Other picture updates

Since so long never blogged, actually got quite a collection of photos already. Picked a few to be updated in the blog. I realised that our little boy is so expressive with his facial expression, everytime that we look at him he will be make his "characteristic" looks. Here are some of them!

The standard "What is daddy doing" look:


The standard "I'm about to get pissed" look:


"Yes Sir!" salute.


Nowadays he really enjoys putting his hand up to support his head, especially when he sleeps!! But sometimes he does that even while awake, like in this photo while he's watching TV.


The "dazed" look. Also, he has already learnt now to recognise faces, so his eyes always tracks people as they are walking around, and he always knows that people are taking pictures of him!


The "O" look. He always likes to make his lips into a O-shape. But in this case, he has coupled it with a "du lan" look. Else the usual O look is with a very cute wide-eyes look!


The "don't mess with me" look:


Splashing/Bathing time! Little Kaijie looking on at his bather (me!) while taking a splash.


And he really loves his bathing time! He has never cried through any of his bathing sessions.


And in fact, most of the time he's always looking very happy to be in the water! Ok, need to look out for that elusive smile though.


Time for you as the reader to help us out!!

And FINALLY, time to get the reader to help us answer that age old question: who does Kaijie look like??

Actually, many times I have felt that he looks like me, as he has some of the facial features that I thought was mine. But then many times people look at the pictures or when we meet, and they say that he looks like Selene?!?

Ok, so tonight, the both of us decided to get an answer, and we both took turns to pose with Kaijie just so that we can get an answer!!

Take a look at the pictures below and drop us a comment with the comments box on the left ok?

Photo contest

I just uploaded a picture from the blog for a photo contest for little Kaijie. Support support hor!!

http://www.huggies.com.sg/photocontest/gallery.aspx?id=515

A father's revelation

I have to admit, I never thought that I would like babies. They cry. They poop. They puke. They pee. They keep you up all night long. There doesn't seem to be anything rewarding about having a baby.

Or so I thought.

However, even since little Kaijie was born, it is as if the world has changed. Something mysterious and indescribable simply happened, and the hidden paternal instincts simply overflowed and overwhelmed me. There is never a moment that I don't feel like hugging him. And when he's in my arms, I didn't want to relinquish him to someone else. It's a weird and wonderful feeling to have him close to me.

So to all those husbands and potential fathers, my advice is: DON'T WAIT! The world will simply change with the arrival of your little one and it will never be the same again. ;-)

Time for photos updates!

The little angel was sleeping so soundly while I was watching F1. For the 3 nights, he seems to love the sound of engines and that somehow coax him to sleep everytime!

Close up of the sleeping angel.

We managed to sneak out today, Kaijie's first ever outdoor trip! (Shhh... we did it secretly!) He was sleeping all the way while in Labrador Park so we didn't want to stay out for too long, so not much pics. Once the little monster wakes up, he will be screaming for FOOD!!

New milestone today!

Today, little Kaijie has achieved a new milestone: his little umbilical cord stump has finally dropped off! Look at him showing off his navel!


And the little prize...

Anyway, it's been a while, so time for photo updates!

Little Kaijie in his standard "I surrender!" sleeping pose.

Enjoying a leisurely burp by daddy after a good feeding session.

Stealing a glance at daddy.

And mummy too!

Our very first 全家福! Ok lah, but not very well taken since I was trying to position the tripod and the baby not very cooperative. Will try to take again in future.

The sleeping angel.

Also realised today that while reviewing his photos over the last 2 weeks, his facial features are beginning to change. His cheeks are a little less chubby, the forehead is more prominent, facial features are sharper and more defined, complexion is getting less red also. However, dunno why his double eyelids are beginning to disappear also, having hidden eyelids just like both his parents.

A little rendevous.... ;)

Yup, today we finally got down to sorting out all the admin issues like registering the name for our little prince, baby bonus, CDA account etc... and errr... I am embarassed to admit... but I was like REALLY looking forward to stepping out of the house...and was glad I was able to furnish a valid excuse to my MIL to go out... ;) (For once, the "wind" issue was not going to stop me from going out!) And yes... I think breathing a little of the "outside" air really kept me a little more sane... and I felt a whole lot better after I came back.... though little Kaijie was a little restless this evening.. and cried for almost 3 hours before he finally fell asleep. Felt a little guilty that I was actually quite happy to be away from him for a while, but well... they say absence makes the heart fonder right? Darling, promise I will try and work harder at my milk supply for you! Heh...

Little Kaijie seems to also have developed certain noticeable habits.... like pooping typically after a night/morning feed....he will usually latch on for about 10 mins... and stop after that.. and have a very serious look on his face... (will try and post a photo of this the next time).... this will be followed by a few sound "waves" and PRESTO! Actually, another problem we seem to face is that he will usually fall asleep after latching on... but burping after that seems to wake him up.. and then it's difficult to put him back to sleep again! But if we don't burp him, then he tends to throw out some milk as well... any advice from the experienced mothers out there??

It's official!

It's now official: our little astronaut's name is 黄凯杰! Finally went down today to get the registration done and got his birth cert.

Actually the name was already decided just before he was born, but we were arguing over the choice of the words, whether to use 杰 or 捷. I originally wanted to go with 捷 since he's born in the year of the rat, so reflect some characteristics of a rat mah, i.e., agile and fast. But we figured that 杰 would be easier for most pple and more common. Also, considering whether to go with a dialect name or just hanyu pinyin. In the end, we registered Kai Kiat for his dialect name.

M.Sc in analysing poop

"Newborn babies don’t do much. They cry and sleep. They gaze around some. They eat and spit-up. They pee and poop."

- taken from http://www.pediascribe.com/20060705/baby-poop-what-new-parents-need-to-know/

How true! Our little astronaut did not poop for 3 days when he was brought back from the hospital, and Selene and I were wondering if everything was ok. Then 2 days ago, he pooped for the first time and everyone cheered! This morning, he pooped 3 times in a row within 2 hours (from 0530 to 0730), then pooped again at 1130. The consistency changed to much more watery compared to the previous days.

So off I go to search the internet and do my research for my M.Sc in poop and got a million answer. Bottom line? I think we will just monitor for a day or so. It may look a little like diarrhea to me, but then again, some websites says it's ok. Hmm...

Oh, and one more thing, his little umbilical cord stump seems dried up. This morning while cleaning him there was a little dried blood around the area. Hope that everything is ok...

The price of parenthood?

*NOTE: JUST TREAT THIS AS SOME NONSENSE BLABBERING BY A MOTHER WHO HAS NOT BEEN RESTING WELL, AND HENCE.. NOT THINKING WELL. READ THE BLOGS BY THE FATHER WHICH ARE PROBABLY HAPPIER BLOGS*


Finally managed to sneak some time out for myself today, and decided to come online. And guess what, looks like Daddy Gee has been blogging much more than me! Caught red handed!
The past 3 days (Actually this was where I managed to blog to 3 days after our little prince came into our life. And I was supposed to have blogged this entry together with some of the pictures that we took, but think Papa Gee got fed up with my procrastination..and decided to do it himself) So let me try to start this blog entry again.....

THE PAST 8 DAYS ;) seemed to have just wheezed by so quickly, despite the fact that we had so little sleep every night...or virtually no sleep every night... so theoretically, we did have much more "awake" hours. And I must say, it has really not been easy... trying to cope with the physical healing from the birth, and more challengingly, the responsibilities of parenthood...and in a way, I somewhat feel I have lost my entire self over this period, and all I do now is to focus on the baby.... BF, catering to his every single need.... sometimes I think I don't even remember how I was like before...what I liked to do for MYSELF..and maybe only the mothers reading this can truly understand what I am going through... And as I look and think ahead.. I really don't know whether I will be able to break out of this cycle.... and I am hoping that all these negative thoughts and feelings are occuring because of my lack of rest.. and maybe some other issues..

Ok, don't intend my first blog after birth to be so gloomy actually... but prob because I have no photos to post...so ended up just taking this as a de-stresser...

And I am counting down to 12 days after birth.. because theoretically.. I can BATHE after that... (ACtually I have been quite nottie and have already taken bathes..I mean the #@$#@$@ weather is so hot!) So for those who are visiting me... don't worry..I won't STINK! ;)

Sooooooo tired...

The little astronaut has turned from the little angel into the little devil. Can never seem to understand what's on his mind! He sleeps throughout the day and stays awake throughout the night. Both Selene and I are thoroughly shacked out over the last few days (which also explains why the blogs have not been updated for some time).

Now, his new "pattern" is that he will feed on the breast for 5 mins then fall asleep on the breast! When we try to move him to sleep, he will start crying again and will only stop when we put him back to the breast. This on/off war will usually leave 2-3 hours per feed. By the time he is done, we are exhausted already and he will start the next round of war within the next hour. Really dunno what to do with him.

Daddy and baby catching their well deserved sleep after a typical war...

In the last few days, he's also starting to peel like a crocodile. At first it started off with a little, now the whole baby is starting to peel and the whole floor, our clothes, etc. are all his dead skin! Baby lotion seems to make the problem worse so we have decided to let nature take its own course.

See, the little angel is so cute when he's just doing what he is supposed to do, i.e., sleep!

More pictures and updates

Since the baby is sleeping, took the opportunity to find time to update the blog.

Baby taking his dose of suntan-ing. Looks like he's enjoying himself on the balcony!

Beautiful double eyelids are starting to show!

Went to the PD today for his check up. He is having borderline jaundice and expecting to the yellow-ness is expected to climb further these few days and peak between day 7-10. We are supposed to monitor his skin colour and go back to the PD if it turns more yellowish.

He was crying non-stop at the clinic, so mummy fed him some milk. So nottie, see his pouty look after the feed.

Ah, the sleeping angel. He's so cute when he doesn't cry!

The little rascal

Day 2 now, his face is evolving as the time passes. He's developing double eyelids (surprising to us, since both Selene and I have hidden double eyelids that cannot be seen usually). The ears are started to "pop out" after being folded (probably due to the squeezing thru the birth canal).

These days he's crying more than usual, my mum and Selene kept saying that he's hungry and demanded to feed formula! Dunno if next time he will get used to the "comfort" of the bottle and stay off the breast, sigh.

Will try to take some pictures of his beautiful double eyelids sometime soon. ;-)

Pictures and updates!

Took some opportunities earlier in the day to take more pictures.

Me looking confident and suave with the baby!!
Daddy is such a bore...

Oh no! Daddy strangling me becoz I complain abt him being boring!!

Ah, so contented!

Finally got discharged and came home. Baby was crying becoz he was hungry, so we supplemented with some formula milk. Both our parents decided to take leave to see the baby so the house is really crowded and lively! Selene is taking some time off to sleep since she had hardly rested. For me, should be the same tempo as her loh, i.e., will need to wake with her when necessary. Instead of sleeping here I am blogging, aiyoh... ;-)

I'm getting into the fatherhood mood liao!

First day of parenthood

Finally got out of all of the excitement and getting down to having some time to ourselves and the baby. The day has been hectic for everyone and actually realised that both Selene and I hardly had any sleep since last night. It's tiring as hell and Selene is now catching precious sleep as she has to wake up every 3 hrs to feed the baby.

Realised that I can never get bored looking at our little bundle of joy. He's just so full of expressions and I can just literally look at him for hours! His face is also evolving over time. Just look at the difference of just 1 day!

Immediately after he is born: face looks bluish still and head is elongated. Bruised on the cheeks, probably due to all the squeezing through the birth canal.


Just 1 day old: face is much redder and bruises are gone. Elongation of the head is reduced and slightly more roundish. And also, the baby is a real sleepy head... ;-)

Now the challenge is to face the baby without the comfort of knowing that the nurses are around when we bring him home tmr. Need to start learning how to bathe, feed, change nappies, burp him, etc. And also learning the wonders of night life (literally).

Little Astronaut is born!

After a 14 hour struggle, our little astronaut has finally decided to face the great big world!!


I'm so happy and excited that I dunno if I can sleep... ;-)

Vital statistics:
Birthday: 9 Sep 08, 0027h
Weight: 3.38 kg
Zodiac: Virgo
生肖：鼠

More updates to follow tmr, it's time for some rest...

>12 hrs since admission...

After more than 12 hrs being in the delivery suite, feeling tired, hungry and a bad backache from sitting on the worst designed chair in the world. Just managed to shift to the comfy sofa chair since Selene has finally started to take a nap as the epidural set in to ease the pain. I'm sure she's feeling a lot worse than me what all the contractions that goes on with 1-3 mins interval.

Now really have a mixed bag of feelings. On one hand I'm tired and shack from all the waiting and prancing around practically doing nothing. On the other hand, there is the anticipation on the birth of the baby anytime now. Don't know if I should be sleeping or waiting...

Argh, child birth is so tough...

Aiyoh, so slow!

Came into the hospital with 2cm dilation at 1100h. The first examination at around 1330 showed the dilation to be 3cm. At 1700h, the dilation is only 4cm!! *faintz*

Looks like we will have to wait till almost midnight before the baby wants to come out. Just had a nasi lemak while doing my "realtime" reporting beside Selene. She is now watching her favourite (thrashy) Stairway to Heaven on Channel U, which TCS has shown on TV like for the milionth time.

Back to surfing the net I guess...

In the hospital, real-time blogging!!

Selene has been complaining of pains similar to diarrhoea for the whole night but was "non-productive" in the toilet. She also "showed" last night. The whole night she was kept awake with the pain and I had to rub her stomach everytime I woke up in the night.

This morning went to work, and before I started work, Selene called to say she felt the pains coming in frequency of 5 mins. I turned around and headed home again. Called Bishan Woman Specialist on my drive back and Sharon (the clinic nurse) mentioned that the pains similar to diarrhoea is actually contraction pains and told me to admit her to hospital direct instead of going to the clinic. I sped all the way home on CTE (and even sped past a TP!) to pick her up.

The excitment is really building up now that she's admitted and the anaestician had already adminstered the epidural at around 1100h. The nurse examined Selene and confirmed that cervix has already dilated 2cm. Took a few pictures of all the equipment around the delivery suite.

The CTG machine, showing both the fetal heart beat rate and the contraction pressure.

CTG scan shows that contractions are coming about 3 mins apart as of 1150h. Fetal heart beat varies between 120 to 160 bpm.

The top part of the machine controls the flow rate of the isotonic glucose solution. It is set at 20ml/h as shown in this picture. The "best invention" for mothers, the lower machine controls the rate which the epidural is administered, which is set at 8.0ml/h (hard to see reading from the picture).

I'm going to be a father soon by tonight, woohoo!!!

The countdown... 10 more days!!!

These last few weeks have been full of apprehension as we await the birth of our little astronaut. Many times symptoms such as contractions, back pains, movement by the baby, etc. as signalling the arrival of the little prince.

Today we had our CTG done, now being on the 38th week. Selene was kind of disappointed that there was absolutely no contractions, nada, zip, kosong, zero. I think she is kind of sick over the pregnancy and can't wait for the baby to be born! I would think that that's actually when the nightmare begins.... heheh...

Also, the prep for the baby now I think is more or less ok liao, here goes the checklist:

Baby cot - checked

Baby secure sleeper (for cosleeping) - checked

Baby pram - not checked, mass order for the MacClaren XLR failed

Car seat - checked, got a good deal at the recent baby fair in Taka

Steam steriliser - checked

Bottle warmer - not checked, beg/steal/borrow required

Breast pump - not checked, have a standby one ready (Medala Swing), to be further evaluated

Clothes - checked, checked, checked (I think this one will have many ticks due to Selene's obsession)

Baby name - not checked, aiyoh, this one argue till cows come home

Maid - checked, took a long time to decide, should be coming in a week's time

Hospital admissions - checked, paperwork ready

Pampers - checked, I think we went nuts and bought a carton, and more

Baby wipes - checked, hmm... this is really useful stuff, I'm already using it for various household chores like wiping the floor, cleaning oily hands, wiping bird shit off car, etc. I was just telling Selene that I have to use toilet roll to wipe my face and the baby can use the wipes to wipe his ass!!

Any more comments of what I have missed out? I think we are more or less there liao... ;-)

Oh, and Selene is officially on maternity leave liao, so shock! I think she's going to clear out the whole of crunchyroll, watch-movie, veoh, etc. this period...

Am I ok.. or maybe I am not.... ;(

The past few days would prob have been the most difficult period of my pregnancy.... and it's strange.. considering that I am about 2 weeks away from seeing my little one.. one would expect me to be filled with anticipation and happiness... and actually that is what I thought I will be too..

But unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be the case. And in fact, if I could coin a term, I would say I am suffering from Pre Natal Blues... and it doesn't help that my legs probably weight a ton now, my left hand seems almost paralysed from I dunno what reason, and I just feel ultimately lousy about myself.... from the aches all over...from the breakouts I am getting and just from the sheer fact that I seemed to have lost my brains! I seemed to have just gone bimbotic overnight... I can't analyse things as well, I cry over the slightest issues.. and I am just so lost about almost eveything... and no one seems to understand...and it's always extra hurting to know that even those closest to you don't seem to take your condition seriously. Must it always take something major to happen before one would be taken seriously?

This is probably going to be my most depressing post...and I pray that God will make things better for me...