Kaelyn fell sick

Kaelyn fell sick for the first time in 6 months. Well, before this, she had visits to the doctor for excessive phlegm and blocked nose. But I wouldn't really count these as illnesses. This time, she had fever which came on and off over almost a week.

It started on the fourth day of CNY, beginning with very poor appetite, not wanting to drink milk or eat her cereal. In the middle of the night, she became very irritable and restless. That was when we found that her temperature shot up to 38+ degrees. We fed her paracetemol and put wet towels on her to bring her temperature down. At first we thought it was a sign of teething, but another visit to the doctor (the first visit was when her temp was 37+ and doctor said it was due to teething) confirmed that she was down with virus infection. Must be all the visits over the CNY..

For over almost a week, her temperature was as volatile as the stock market. One minute 37 degrees and the next 39.9 degrees. She was often screaming away to vent her frustrations and show her discomforts. Due to her loss of appetite and frequent night wakings, I could see her already petite frame shrink even further. It really pains me to see how much agony she was in..

With the help of Paracetemol and Bufane (both to be taken in a staggered manner), hourly checks on her temperature, towelling her before she became too hot and lots of tender loving care from her Papa and Mama, Kaelyn was on the mend. The rest of the family can breathe and sleep easy once more...

Kaelyn's thoughts

Hi aunties and uncles, this is the first time that I am 'speaking' in Mama's blog.

Papa and Mama both need to work, so they have to put me with Ye Ye & Nai Nai or Gong Gong & Po Po. I love all of them. In order not to 'overburden' them and also to provide me with equal amount of exposure to them, Papa and Mama put me with them for 2 days each week.

Mondays and Tuesdays will be at Ye Ye and Nai Nai's place. I love to look at Ye Ye's fishes swimming in the tank. The best view is from my rocker chair in front of the tank, but I dont mind if someone carries me to have a close up look too. What I also like there is Nai Nai's sarong. I fall asleep almost immediately when Nai Nai rocks me in the sarong. It's so warm and cosy in there... zzzzzz Nai Nai likes to buy me new clothes. Everytime when Mama comes back, she will comment that I am wearing new clothes again. Hee hee....

Ye ye
Nai Nai

Thursdays and Fridays will be at Gong Gong and Po Po's house. This house is much bigger with 2 storeys. But I stay on the first storey most of the time. Apart from Gong Gong & Po Po, other people will come over and play with me too, like Lao Yi and Mama's cousins who live just next door. Gong Gong and Po Po buy many many things for me, like my favourite bumbo chair, zebra soft toy, teethers, musical tool bench, Sesame street DVDs etc etc.. I love the bumbo so much that Mama has brought it back to our home so I can sit in it to play on my Winnie the Pooh mat.

Gong gong

Po po

Playing with Ernie at Gong Gong Po Po's house

On Wednesdays, Mama has taken leave for Jan and Feb to stay home with me. At home, I like to play on my Winnie the Pooh mat. I call it my playground. There are lots of toys for me to play there. Sometimes, Mama will play the piano for me and also read storybooks to me. In the evening, I look forward to Papa coming home to play with me.

My playground at home

I feel so blessed and happy to have so many people doting on me. Ye Ye, Nai Nai, Gong Gong, Po Po, Papa and Mama, I love all of you!

We all love you dearly too, Kaelyn!

A typical day for me

I have been back at work for 1.5 months already. Hence the significant decrease in frequency of posts. There is simply no excess time for a working mum! A typical day goes like this:

• Wake up at 6.45am and pump
• Say hi to Kaelyn and prepare for work
• David drops me off at the MRT station and fetches Kaelyn and maid to either parents or in-laws (there is a roster, I will elaborate in my next blog)
• Work, and pump once in office around lunch time
  
• Reach parents / in laws at about 7.30 - 8.30pm depending on whether it is a busy day at work or not
• Proceed to pump before having dinner, or vice versa
• Play with Kaelyn, if she is not sleeping, sleepy or throwing tantrums cos she doesnt want to drink milk
• David, me, Kaelyn and maid goes home
• Settle Kaelyn down to bed
• Time for me to pump again before hitting the sack, which is usually around 12 - 12.30am already...
• And the cycle goes on again....

It really is very very tiring! And it doesnt help if I have a really busy day in office. I can even fall asleep while pumping.. Weekends are used for catching up on sleep, lost time with Kaelyn, supermarket trips and paying bills.

Kaelyn is 5 months old

It's time for my monthly update again. Kaelyn is 5 months old. In the 5th month, she does not have any specific newly acquired skills but overall seems to be more aware of her surroundings. She has also improved a lot on the skills developed in the 4th month.

• She is 6.4kg.

• Can sit unassisted momentarily before she falls over towards her front. But she can sit with pillows supporting her for longer periods.

The little mafia queen
Another use for the breastfeeding pillow

• She's now trying to push her chest away from the ground using her arms, although only momentarily. She's still not strong enough to fully support herself in this position.

• Likes to pull at both her feet and stuff them into her mouth! Needless to say, anything she grabs will soon find their way into her mouth too.

• Is more aware of her surroundings and the people around her. She'll smile at David and me when we got back from work.

• After our trip to Sentosa to watch the "Songs of the sea" performance, her "singing" is now louder and longer, sometimes launching into a "performance". This really brings smiles to all in the family.

• Laughs out loud more often now. Sometimes, when we were not looking, she'll giggle and laugh while playing by herself. = )

• Started on solids (rice cereal) again recently, after a failed attempt at 4th month. I think she likes it now.

• Is able to hold her bottle momentarily and push away the bottle when she has had enough.

• It's easier to make her sleep now. In the past, we had to carry and rock her to sleep. Now, we have trained her to sleep on her own i.e. laying her on her bed when she's sleepy and patting her for a while. Sometimes, she doesnt even need us to pat her before drifting off to dreamland...

• She doesnt scream and cry as often as the past 4 months. She'll only fuss for a while when she's sleepy or hungry, or sometimes when she wakes up from her nap. I think this is a marked improvement from the past months. So it's now much easier to bring her out.

Blogging

Yes, it's been a while since I blogged. I'm on leave today, trying to recall all the happenings this past month that are worth blogging on. So watch this space.

Our first holiday after Kaelyn's arrival

David and I love travelling and we used to travel overseas once or twice a year. We no longer enjoy this mobility now that our angel is here. Bringing her out for a few hours of shopping is already a challenge, I didnt even dare to think of bringing her overseas with us. Our girl is on breast milk but she does not like to latch on direct. So I had to lug my expressed milk in a cooler bag, hot water bottle and my pump machine whenever we bring her out. An afternoon out is like going for an overseas trip, in terms of the number of bags we have to carry.

We finally managed to get away as a family a few days back, just a week before I go back to work. Although it was only a 3D2N at Sentosa, I enjoy the trip very much. And it was really a great achievement. We decided on Sentosa (over the other alternatives like Bintan and Pulau Ubin) because if the little gal decides to make a big fuss, we are still able to "deposit" her with parents and enjoy the rest of the holiday as a couple. But thankfully, she was very well behaved throughout the trip..

Preparation : -

It took me 2 days to pack for the trip - milk bottles, detergent, cleaning sponge, hot water bottle, breast pump, cooler bag, sterilising tablets, diapers, baby's clothes, bibs, handkerchiefs, towels, blankets, beansprout pillow, hat, mittens, booties, baby carrier, toys, milk, baby bather etc etc..... Plus our clothes, swimming gear, track shoes etc etc... Gosh, by the time I get to the end of the list, I had 1 huge suitcase (which David and I used for our honeymoon to NZ for 9 days), 3 haversacks and 2 paper bags. I almost wanted to bring the play pen too! But good thing we found out Rasa Sentosa can provide a baby cot. Phew!

Kaelyn all dressed up for the trip

Day 1 : -
Checked into Rasa Sentosa in the early afternoon. We got a room with pool view so that if we have to stay in the hotel for whatever reason, we still have something to look at. Although the weather was not very good, we were able to go for a swim while the helper and Kaelyn stayed in the room and watched us from the balcony. Later in the evening, we watched the "Songs of the Sea" performance, a combination of musical fountain, laser and fireworks displays. Our gal was mesmerised by the performance and even 'sang' along out loud throughout. It was really funny.

The view from our room

Songs of the Sea musical fountain display and the souvenir shop

Day 2 : -
Travelled around on the beach tram. Kaelyn was complaining throughout because of the heat. Visited the Underwater world with Kaelyn asleep in my sarong. We decided to wake her up in the tunnel so that she can at least look at some fishes and take photos before we leave. We got upgraded to a room with seaview because we complained of the noise coming from the renovation works just above our poolview room.

A happy baby in her new baby cot
A family picture at the Underwater World

Views from our upgraded room

Day 3 : -
Papa brought Kaelyn for a walk along the beach and to look at monkeys and birds while Mama was busily pumping away. Then we all headed to the Dolphin lagoon for the pink dolphin performance. After that, it was home sweet home.

Watching the dolphin performance at the Dolphin Lagoon

Although most the time was spent on feeding Kaelyn, bathing her, waiting for her to wake up from her nap in the baby cot, and waiting for Mama to pump, it was nevertheless a good and enjoyable trip. In the past, we would have visited a lot more places but with Kaelyn around, I have significantly lowered my expectations. I told David before the trip that we should only target 1 attraction a day, which was what we have achieved. And the sea view was a bonus!

First solids

Kaelyn had her first taste of rice cereal at a week after she turned 4 months. I mixed a little rice cereal with my breast milk and tried feeding her with a spoon. Think she was not used to eating out of a spoon, so half of the cereal ended up on her bib and on the floor.... But I think she likes the new taste. Not too bad for a start.