Thank you, Loupo!

For taking care of our dearest Ning and also my dinner!

I love you, Loupo!

Ning's sitting @ 6m

She's able to maintain sitting by using her arms for support, either against the floor or legs for up to 10 minutes. First observed this afternoon on sofa facing her favourite Pucca cushion. She kept trying to kiss and touch the cartoon face. I kept up with kissing sounds while and she's smiling and chuckling all the way.

So adorable.

Sigh.

Lately, she's been whining to sleep until i rock her in my arms or when she falls asleep from exhaustion. I sing and she still rolls left and right restlessly. Will try reading to her and other distractions than rocking her to sleep.

She loves standing

And sitting when she tires, and finally lying down. It's the only time when she'll willingly grasp my thumbs.

She's got scabs on her forehead from her thumbnails. When she's sleepy or frustrated, she'd thrust her thumb, palm opened wide towards her forehead. At first I wondered if all babies did this, then suddenly it hit me, it's the ASL (American Sign Language) sign for father! I might have missed the Mummy sign! No wonder she's so frustrated! And here I am thinking thinking "milk" or "toilet" will be her first signs!

I feel like I've missed so much! Must be more alert!

I felt quite uncertain about the way I'm teaching the math materials. So I went and borrowed it from the library. Found "How to multiply your child's intelligence" and "How to teach your child to be physically superb". A quick thumbing thru proves me right. I should've started with reading, followed by encyclopedic knowledge then math! Always trust your instinct over someone else's notes on second hand flash cards.

One too many mosquitoes

in the house!

She's got 4 or 5 bites already. Heart aches.

Caught and killed 1 large and full mosquito after showing Lougong last night in the living room, sitting on the sofa. Nasty.

I hope nobody's breeding them here, especially not the Aedes mosquito!

She rolled off the bed to her potty!

2 mornings ago, after holding her over the potty, I went to the toilet myself and left Ning with Papa, still asleep.
 
She rolled across the foot of the bed, off it until her face was right next to the potty before crying for help! When Papa roused, she's already face-next-to-potty. And her diaper's wet!
 
Wow!
 
I'm so amazed! Hee hee. I think she's actually trying to go to the toilet by herself. When she couldn't pee in it, she cried, after that long journey from the bed!
 
Double wow!
 
Can't wait for her to be able to sit and stand, let's see if she'll be able to go by herself. Hmm, then there's still the task of taking off the diaper/pants to tackle... Will try look for those 'split' pants which splits open when they sit down. Heard that babies in China all wear them. I remember seeing them on a show where all the tiny 2-3 year old orphans wear them :)
 
Time to work fast and source them online!!!

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First Teeth @ 6 mths 2 wks

Shay Ning's first teeth burst out from the gums and can cut!!! They're the middle lower jaw teeth! First spotted it yesterday, while holding her over the potty. The first one's on the right and is completely surfaced. The left one's half out, but today it's all out!
 
I'm so so happy :D
 
Also a little afraid she might graze my nipples after falling asleep nursing.

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Hard to make her stay on her tummy

Since she's learnt to roll back, it's hard to get her to stay on her tummy. Sigh. Whenever she's tired of tummy time, she'd roll back. I can't even get her to stay on her tummy for more than a minute yesterday. While a few days before, she was able to stay on her tummy for up to 20 minutes at a time.

Tummy time is good for strengthening her back muscles for sitting upright and crawling.

The little one is one smart cookie.

Love those chipmunk cheeks!

By the way, the missing right double eyelid has finally made it's appearance this week! Now, both her eyes look more symmetrical. *phew* I'm so relieved, I was so worried it'd be lopsided and she'd have no end of teasing once she enters childcare.

Sucking lips

She's recently started this really adorable sucking lips habit. I'd love to catch it the camera. It really reminds me of someone... someone like... Popo ?
 
Hee hee, it'd make a cute entree in the 3-6 months DVD.

She rolled back yesterday all by herself :)

For the second time... The first time she rolled over and back, I think was mainly due to momentum.
 
This time, it is intentional :)
 
Have a long backlog of photos and videos to organize, print and compile, have gotta catch-up. Lougong, you could help too, since you've got more computer time than I do, in general ;)

Out by myself and Ning > 6 hrs yesterday...

We had to extend Ning's social visit pass a the Immigrations & Customs Authority office yesterday in person. So that mean both of us have to be there.
 
While there, I had to fill in a form, photocopy her birth certificate (long queue), feed and change her after submitting her application. The 30 day extension wouldn't have covered us until 22 May, when we're going back to KL. The kind ICA lady actually helped us enquired and obtained permission to extend 31 days to 22 May, so we wouldn't need to go back there for 1 day extension :) Thank goodness we talked a bit ;)
 
After that, I thought, since we're so near Bugis, we're not going to be around during the Vesak Day weekend, I'd bring Ning to the Kuan Yim Temple to pray. She slept like a log and wouldn't rouse even when I tried to. So I just prayed and bowed with her in my sling.
 
Then, we went shopping at BHG but not before I get a freshly juiced watermelon drink for $1 at Bugis Street market. Yummy! Fed her again at BHG, the nursing room there is quite alright, spacious, with built-in bench seat and curtains. Lots of changing stations, with hot water and tap.
 
Alright, she's starting to tire from watching Mummy type on her lap. Adios!

Ning sucked the skin off her thumb...

Her teething must really be quite unbearable by now for her to suck her thumb so badly.
 
I keep checking her gums for any teeth buds but couldn't find any.
 
Will chill her teether and give it to her more often. Also, will rub her gums with wash cloth as often as I can remember.
 
So poor thing... =(

First cold (runny nose, cough)

We both got our first cold since Ning's arrival.
 
It's been raining daily and I've been sleeping in milk drenched tops. That's how I got it last weekend. It got really bad on Sun, 11 Apr 2010, and Lougong took leave to take care of both of us on Monday.
 
Thankfully, the worst is over and we're on our way to recovery, hopefully very soon.
 
Her runny nose is almost to the last drip, and my cough is almost gone.

Yesterday was rollover day!

Though this isn't the first time, it is a regular start!
 
Caught her rolling over after throwing her nappy into the laundry bag. She rolled from middle of bed to her tummy, heads up, then back again. By the time I got the camera, she's stopped.
 
Then, I decide to hide behind the divider with camera on her, she did it again! Yay!
 
After that, she got stuck and couldn't get roll back. So I had to help her. Think her stamina isn't there yet. And the whole day, no matter where I put her, she'll keep rolling over left to her tummy and couldn't roll back. So worried!
 
I was actively watching and helping her the better half of yesterday, yet didn't feel exhausted as I expected. Maybe it's because I'm so happy :)

Increasingly active participation..

in her demeanor...
 
Yesterday, while having lunch outside with Ning Ning in my sling, she surprised me by suddenly reaching out for the piece of carrot on my plate. I have just had 1 spoonful of rice with vegetable, and she looked at me expecting me to give her a mouthful. When I didn't, she just grabbed the carrot! (4m)
 
Now I must take care not to let her drag the whole plate towards us :P
 
When we reached home, Papa fed her pumped out milk for the first time with a spoon! She had at least 40ml! Good girl!
 
Wow, this is a really big wake up call for baby proofing our home!

Potty: After the first 3 days...

It seems that I'm totally out of sync with her EC. She seems to want to go all the time but when I pot her, she'll be struggling very soon. Sigh. Now I missed the first 3 days, I'd really rather pot her now.

We went out for lunch @ Causeway point on Good Friday and I needed to feed her. While waiting for the nursing room to be available, there was this lady who came in angrily with her daughter (in disposable diaper) who seemed older than 3 years old (Cerys' age).

I was wondering why she was so angry until she tore the diaper apart and the stench greets us! Oh my goodness! The poo stinks as bad as Lougong's 3-day old toilet stint. She was angrily wiping away the poo from her daughter's bottom and didn't wrap the diaper properly before throwing it into the bin. I had to nurse as if I was in the toilet, ew!

That's when I resolved to pot Ning full time instead of part time soon as possible. Once she starts solids, her poo will not smell as nice and changing her won't be as pleasant. So, let's hope she knows how to tell me she needs to go more regularly really soon!

Triple Challenge: How to hold 3 toys?

I've been reading this book I borrowed called "Your child at play: Birth to One Year". One of the games was the Triple Challenge. About 2 days ago, I play this with her the second time.

We gave her 1 blue teether, she held with left hand and starts mouthing it. Then we gave her the yellow teether, which she held with her right hand, still mouthing the first blue teether.

Now, I hand her the soft book, which according to the book, she'll either try to grab with both hands full, or let go of one, then grab the third toy.

Here's the best part. She bites the first blue teether with her mouth, then her left hand grabs the book! I laughed until my stomach hurts. Her response is even better than the what book says. She overcame the challenge the Shay Ning way!

By the way, this is a 6-month old game (she's coming to 5 months in 2 weeks), oh, so fun! I checked after the event :P The first time I played this game with her, she reacted by letting one go after some deliberation (3 days ago).

She just rolled over this morning!

Yay! Her first roll over happened while we were on the new playmat :)  At 4 months!
 
We were both lying side by side, about my arms length apart. She was swinging her legs over towards me and I was reaching for her hand farthest away from me. Then she did it, she swung over, and was immediately in push up position (heads up).
 
Unsuspecting, I'm really surprised :)
 
Papa ran out from bedroom upon hearing me say it aloud, but too bad, no encore for Papa just yet :P

Ning's toy handling

Ning Ning can pass toys between her hands now!
 
And she knows how to look for her teether when it's out of sight (thrown by her) instead of waiting for us to get it. And her favourite teether is the one Papa bought, yellow-red one. Sigh.
 
She's also babbling a lot, and loudly too. On the downside, when she complains, it's also quite loud AND extended :P
 
So fun!

First week Ning on the potty...

She wetted only 6 diapers on the first 3 days...
She stayed dry for over 3 hours while we had dinner at Causeway point over the weekend...
then poo'd and pee'd after I shower and put her on the potty. I'm so proud!
Now I do diaper laundry only once a week compared to the 2-3 times (every 3 days).
 
Am beginning to get the hang of it. Lets see how things go next week.
 
If she can get by without more than 3 wet diapers a day, will put her in training pants (bought one already ;) instead of diapers.
 
Am raring to go and get the portable potty (foldable, plastic bag for containing urine), maybe the one that's also convertible to a toilet seat reducer, if not too pricey.

Happy Anniversary, loupo!

Time flies. Our lovely baby girl, you and me - A HAPPY FAMILY!