I Bore Her To Sleep

I'm proving to be useful in certain situations. Somehow I've found that I can literally bore our little one to sleep .... Muhahahha! So when Meimei and the maid are unable to pacify her I would carry her and sing a short 2 verse tune to  calm and help her sleep.

" 睡觉了睡觉了 萱萱要～睡觉了，

Woo~La~La Woo~La~La 萱萱要睡觉了啊。

睡觉了睡觉了 我们做个好孩子

Woo~La~La Woo~La~La 我们这就睡觉了。"

Can you imagine singing this repeatedly for more than 5 minutes. There are times that I bored myself so much that I had to catch myself from dozing off while carrying Emily in my arms. I think she finds the tone of my voice soothing though, that and the light rumbling on my tummy as I sing might be helping too. Well whatever helps to make her quiet down and not scream endlessly.

King of Fruits

This is a fruit worthy of reckless indulgence.

Our Baby's Sick

This has to be a nightmare for all parents, especially when your baby is young and cannot tell you where they are hurting.

We had made a trip to Tiong Bahru last weekend to buy some frozen foods and the next day she started having rashes on her legs. We thought she had been bitten by a bug and didn't do much since she wasn't fussing over it. But slowly she started showing spots on her hands and arms. She must have caught something on the trip.

She started running a fever and it really got us extremely worried. It got so bad that we made a trip to the hospital on Sunday night but were advised to see the paediatrician first thing next Morning. A blood test the next day showed that she had a viral infection. Thankfully it wasn't anything worst, but still at 3 months old it is taxing on her little body.

It really pains everyone to see her sick but there is little we could do other than diligently feeding her medicine. Even then we were careful not to over medicate since she is still so young and her liver may not be able to breakdown the medication.

Her fever finally broke on Thursday morning when we were back at the paediatrician for a followup. Doc checked and reassured that the bug didn't infect her lungs. Phew ... everyone breathed a sign of relief at the somewhat assuring news.

This has truly been a harrowing experience though. I cannot imagine exposing our little cutie to any more of this. I've made it a point that she will no longer go to a new place for the next 6 months. She doesn't need to be put at risk for any reason.

Visting 外公外婆

Today is Emily's first trip to visit 外公外婆 at Bedok. This is her first trip to grandparent's place, we have yet to bring her to my parents place since they are further away at an hours drive.

And because it is her first time, 外公外婆packed a nice red ang pow to mark the occasion. Interestingly there is a band of multicoloured strings tied to it. Hmmm I didn't ask but I'm very curious on it's significance.

Its important to bring her to Bedok more often since we are likely to put her here when Meimei starts going to the office. I think once she is familiar with the place she can settle down ... she seems a little apprehensive this time. It's actually asking a lot from them to look after an infant but I think it really makes a big difference in a child's development when they have loving and doting caregivers around them.

I can imagine all the good traits, skills and EQ she can gain from spending time with 外公外婆. At the same time I also hope Emily brings them years of joy and laughter. I know I'll be looking forward to watching over my grandkids when I retire. Well thats very far off but hey it doesn't hurt to dream :-)

Happy To Forget

I missed an anniversary. And this is one I'm happy to report that I've forgotten. Remembrance would mean I'm still holding on, maybe not on a conscious  level but subconsciously. So forgetting represents a significant milestone ... It no longer lingers at the back of my mind, a sign that it is truly purged from my system.

Last month represents the 3rd full year I've stop smoking. And I've stopped thinking about it. Even though I recall it now, it is a casual thought rather than  an emotional reminiscence filled with strong feelings of accomplishment.

I'm gonna stop the count. There are more important things to remember now, more worthy things to note on my calendars.

The Poopy Song

I think no dad would ever thought they would be singing silly songs to 'encourage' their little ones to poop when they sign up for babies. Besides constantly fretting over her limited appetite, everyone is tracking Emily's bowel movements as if it were the stock market.

You can see the consistent sign of relief across the room when she poops. And when she doesn't, the maid will be entertaining constant queries on Emily's progress.

As a caring dad, I'm playing my part too. I would gently rub her tummy and cheer her on with my very own potty slogan.

" You know you're ready to make big poopy,

You know you're ready to make daddy happy.

Big poopy, big poopy! We want to make everybody happy!

Big poopy, big poopy! I just made myself very happy! "

- Pokpok, 31 May 2015 

The Poopy Song

So well I don't know if it works but it sure does tickle Meimei. And I find Emily must be finding it amusing as well seeing Papi dancing around and belting a silly tune on poop. :-) The joys of parenthood ha!

玩得不离手

I've just been escalated for playing too much. As Meimei describes it, my handphone goes everywhere i go aka 玩得不离手. I forget to eat the ice cream and desserts in the fridge. I spend every waking minute staring at the phone and playing summoners war.

Interestingly this has gradually happen as the baby arrived. Hmmm so my job hasn't been anymore hectic before than it is now. It used to be longer about a year or two ago. But leisure time has been the same over the past year ... so what did I used to do in place of all this game playing ... 

There is the housework that filled a lot of the hours. I used do most of the housework and it always took priority over any other non-work to-do's. But now with a maid, a whole chunk of time has been freed up for other activities. 

Also there's the tv ... I would spend countless hours in front of the TV watching mindless shows on the bundled channels from MioTV. That's changed too ... Singtel is charging $20 for the same channels in the new contract, and with a new baby on board, we decided to cancel MioTV all together. So now there is little to watch except the free-to-air channels. And even if there were interesting programs, I couldn't watch any show dedicatedly since I'm expected to help out with the little one whenever I can.

So what now? Fire the maid and subscribe to MioTV again? Real options but I doubt a knee jerk reaction is gonna help me. I think I just need to stone more ... go into do nothing at all mode, especially at home. Just sit there and stare into blankness ... I see the maid do that sometimes as she carries Emily and waits for her to go into deep sleep. I suppose from a certain viewpoint, playing games intermittently throughout the day can be stigmatised as being a loser, a useless bum, a non-contributor.

Oh well, in the interim I'll try out the blankness option. But over the long run I need to find an acceptable hobby I can do during the brief quiet times between feeding Emily or keeping watch while she sleeps. Something which I would not be escalated ...  

Baby Contest Worthy

Gosh she is cute. I melt when she pouts at me. Gonna be a challenge to discipline her.

Recollections

I recall random stuff from the past. It's usually spurred by current events and happenings. Sometimes I surprise myself with what I could remember. If you ask me now what I had for lunch yesterday I couldn't tell you ... but somehow i could remember a lunch I had from 15 years ago. Odd ... but i guess thats how the brain works. And when I say remember its not like I can call out the memory at any moment. It comes and goes.

So I'm gonna start a new tag to blog about random events I recall for future remembrance ... I might just forget them forever if I don't list it down hahah. And for the first one ... this is triggered by a recent news event where a 16 year old teenager made insensitive remarks about Christianity and was brought to task by the Courts.

This triggered a rather odd recollection of a scene from a lunch with colleagues from donkey years ago when I was working at Suntec City. I have this colleague who is a Christian pastor ... maybe not senior one but he does give sermons ... who ummm I would say is in his own world. We were queuing at an Indian stall selling Bryani and Nan curry. When it came to his turn, he looked at the Indians across the counter and ask for beef ... I was shocked at his request and immediately pulled his arm and told him this is an Indian stall! I think I remember this because of his subsequent reaction ... which was a look of blank bewilderment.

How does this link back to the news event? Well ... there are idiots on both sides of the fence. Even the most senior and educated folks can be douchebags living in their own hole. So I remembered this scene to this day ... because it shocked me that a pastor can be so insensitive. And this is no 16 year old but a father of 30 odd age. Oh well ... hhhahahha.

Summoners War - First Natural 5* Monster

Finally after 9 months I have my first natural 5 star monster from a scroll summon. I can't say I'm surprised it took so long. I've never been lucky in games. The good stuff always eludes me. But that's ok it's only a game. Plus I'm  pretty much a Free-To-Play player. I can't bring myself to spend on a mobile game.

So my first natural 5* is a Chimera. It's lacklustre compared to his Wind/Water/Dark/Light brothers. But hey, it's still a natural 5. I've already completed the 3 fusion hexagram to obtain 3 5* but this is different. This is purely luck based summoning. After getting 18 monsters to Level40 I was beginning to contemplate taking a hiatus or quitting all together. This has just brought freshness to the game again. Hopefully I'll get lucky again soon ... I cannot imagine having to wait another 9 months for my next 5*.

I Smell You

Every morning I would change and try to carry her, even if it is for a little while. That few minutes is enough to get her smell onto my clothes. I'm addicted ... the potent mixture of poopy, pee, milk, perspiration and assortment of ointments is my elixir to push through the day. I repeated this scent marking during lunch again. Its contagious, in a good way.

I think my colleagues are smelling it too ... though their reactions to the scent is markedly different. They are kind enough to leave me be and not call it out. I guess they are parents to new first borns too once upon a time.

The thing is I don't find it smelly. I can't even tell that she potty a couple of times when I did the smell test because her poop smells fragrant to me. Meimei jokingly commented to Emily that she should not rely on Papi to help her change diapers ... else she would be lying in poop the whole day!

Summoners War - Beating The Tower

Woot! Finally beat the Tower of Ascension in Summoners War after its XXX iteration. I didn't beat it this time because I had new powerful monsters, but rather I was more patient in working my way up the 100 levels.

Sadly the Lv90 Light & Dark scroll gave me a useless Light Bounty Hunter and the Lv100 Legendary scroll gave me a Fire Succubus ... Both went straight into storage, never to see the light of day again. I might take them out one day, but only for evolution or fusion material.

First Outing

Though Emily's been out of the house a couple of times for her regular checkups, today marks the first real outing as a family. And the first attempt at getting her used to the car seat.

It's just a short trip to the airport for breakfast but we were all geared up. As most parents would know, it takes a lot of work just to bring a baby out ... with all the bags, clothes, bottles, milk to cart along.

Surprisingly she took the car seat well. I think its the ramble of the engine that calms her. She'll scream when we come to a stop at a traffic junction and stop the moment the car starts moving. I think she is more suited for long trips on the highway rather than going to nearby locations.

Bullying Mami

Emily bullies Meimei.

She cries whenever Meimei tries to carry her and rejects every attempt by Meimei to build bonds with her. Meimei has tried rubbing her, dancing with her etc but nothing seems to work.

The only time Emily stays somewhat subdued is when she is breastfeeding. Other than this single activity she is rejecting all advances from Meimei. She is making her go into minor depression. It is made worst when Emily suddenly stops crying the moment she is being passed to the maid or Mama or even me. It's made Meimei second guess herself, self doubt and self blame for not being 'up to it' to care for Emily.

I hope Emily grows out of it asap. Not sure how long Meimei can take the emotional abuse. I feel so helpless ... there isn't anything i can do other than encourage Meimei and keep reminding her that there is nothing wrong with her, it's just a passing phase for all babies. I can only continue to throw words of encouragement to my deardear ...

Going Into A Routine

They say everything goes into a mess once the baby comes. Funny ... I kinda think things are more in routine.

Yes there are changes around the house. A crib now fills the spot at the centre of the living room. The baby sleeps there during the day when Meimei and maid can keep a watchful eye on her while they go about their day. We have to talk in softer voices whenever she is asleep. We can't go out on a wimp or enjoy a lazy afternoon anymore. Now everything is on baby time.

And thats where the routine comes in, for me at least. I wake up every morning and go check on Emily before I go off to work. Lunch I will come home and carry her awhile to get her fragrant smell on my shirt :) Then its home again in about 4-5 hours. We go for a walk if she is in a good mood, else we play with her till dinner is ready at 8pm. She changes at the same time and the maid tries to pat her to sleep.

Rinse and repeat the same for the past one and half month and its pretty much a set routine for everyone in the family. I read that routine is good for babies. So I suppose we'll try to stick to it. There are times though I wish I can steal Meimei away for a quiet night out for dinner. But it doesn't look like it'll happen anytime soon. She's getting pretty attached to Emily :)