Psalm 22:10

"From birth I was cast on you; from my mother's womb you have been my God."

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Who looks like who? Part 2

This is a follow-up to the "Who looks like who?" poll.

The Sims, the Ows, and the Lohs have tried it out and we thought it'd be fun to use it to see who Emma looks like.. hahaha


joyful laughing baby


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Cackles and giggles - Emma's Mommy's version

It has been quite a while since I last posted onto this blog cos it's a bit tough to type with one hand while holding onto Emma, so I've mostly been clicking on my mouse & surfing the web/Facebook lately. hahahah =D (Am typing this now after feeding Emma)

Emma's a joy to look at for the past few weeks. She's getting very communicative and will squeal with delight each time I talk to her or change her diapers. She especially loves her massage time on her changing table and would look up at me with her adorable gaze. I love the mornings when I see her smile so sweetly after a good night's sleep... it sure makes up for my "zombiefied" state after the sleepless nites of frequent feedings. (She still wakes up a few times a nite for feeds, 12am, 3am & 6am - well, she doesn't cry for feeds, but being a concerned mommy over her weight gain, I'll still feed her whenever i hear her squeak - she does make a lot of baby noises in her sleep, but i've learnt to distinguish her dream sounds from her sounds of hunger. =P)

However, despite Roy's optimism over her growth, I'm still a bit worried abt her weight gain. She's at the 2nd-3rd percentile of the growth charts and sometimes even falls below the charts (she should be 4.2kg at week 10, but she was only 4kg at her last weigh-in). I'm constantly worried abt not having enough milk for her growth and even though Roy reassures me every now and then, I still worry abt my supply. It's my daily prayers that she'll thrive and grow well. It's definitely a lesson on trust for me as I'm learning not to worry too much abt her weight gain and just entrust her in God's hands. Also, she's only this small for a short period of time and before we know it, she'll be too heavy for us to carry - so I'll just savor this moment as much as possible and carry her whenever she needs it. She does look extremely alert and happy when she's awake and she poos at least 5 times a day, so i guess there must be adequate inputs to justify the outputs. =P

Talking abt pooing, Emma seems to have a certain routine & timing - once in the middle of the nite, twice in the mornings, twice in the afternoon, and sometimes once in the evenings. Changing her in the middle of the nite is a constant struggle (and a skill of speed) as she would prefer to sleep in a dirty diaper than being awaken from her sleep & once she wakes, she'll wail. The mornings are a total different story though... she'll wake up with her needing to poo look and once I put her onto the changing table, she'll release almost instantly - so cute to see her "gek sai" look. hahahah... (she has given me quite a number of accidents at the changing table, so I've learnt to wait till she's totally done before changing a new diaper... parents, I'm sure u understand what I mean... heheh... bleah =P)

Alritey, I think I better go and sleep now. She should be waking up in a couple of hours time. Until the next time when my hands are free then... (*btw, she just laughed in her sleep... sooooo cute!)

Monday, October 29, 2007

first try of the playmat

Emma tried out her playmat for the first time this evening after being decked up in her sleepsuit following a nice warm bath. She was a little bewildered when she laid there for the first time, but I guess the view of the living room ceiling, and the view through the lower half of the living room windows caught her attention. No more blocked views like those in her cot and playpen when she lies flat on her back. Think she likes the expanded view of things while lying on her playmat.

We put her on her tummy as well, and my oh my, she was pretty strong, holding her head up high as she supported herself with her arms below her chest. I guess that'll be her daily exercise now, on her exercise mat. Hahaha. Check out the video clip of her sounds as she tried out her playmat.

oh ya, Ade and I were just recalling the entire journey with Emma (from conception till now), and we were just awed at how God kept Emma safe, and how He strengthened her to grow, and how she was fearfully and wonderfully made, with features that are uniquely hers. For example, it's amazing how much semblance there was between Emma at 53 days old, and Emma when she was still in the womb at 19 weeks of conception.
Check this out and see what we mean.

cackles and giggles of a growing baby

Emma Joy's 10½ weeks old now, and seeing her grow has in many ways proved that breastfeeding is always adequate to meet her milk intake demands. It's amazing how God has made us, and specifically the mother, such that her body is able to tune itself to the baby's feeding habit, and produce the right amount of milk at the right time, be it a full feed, or just a nice afternoon tea-break snack or supper snack. And it's really just right! No less than what the baby needs at each feed, and not excessive such that the baby becomes overfed. I'm just amazed at how God designed our bodies to be as such. No mommy is the same, and no baby's the same. Yet the needs of different babies are met by their respective mommies who're different in many ways. How can one sit by and not be amazed at this God-designed phenomenon?

anyway, Emma's abt 4kg now, and getting a tad chubbier, in the right places (e.g. her cheeks and bum.. hee). Ade and I are just all smiles whenever Emma's face breaks into a smile. We are heartened and thankful that she's still very healthy and alert, cackling and giggling away in her responses to our prompts, especially during her favourite nappy-changing times, and after feeds.
Though she's petite in size, she's still growing very very well, falling within the typical weight gain range for breastfed babies as shown in some charts. Thank God for strengthening Emma Joy.

We just bought a LG Bumper Playmat which arrived today. It's rather thick at 15mm, and super huge! Lots of space for little Emma to crawl around and roll around, without us fearing that she'll hit the hard floor beneath. That'll be Emma's "playground", especially during the day. Now that she's discovered new-found joy in sucking her fingers, we can't wait to see how she'll explore in her new "playground".

here's Emma's Daddy (who's on leave this week! yippeee!!!) signing off for now...

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

her first jab

Emma had her 2nd vaccination jab (1st one being the standard jabs at birth) last evening, and I'm so proud of Emma. She's so strong, to the point of her being oblivious to the jab that the GP administered. Well, almost. She just did a small "yelp", but for the most part, she was just curious about her surroundings, especially the lights. At 7½ weeks, she's already beginning to see more clearly, and was even able to follow our pastor's finger when she moved it from left to right and back. She's beginning to observe her room a lot more, focusing on the mobile that we've set up on her cot.

Thank God for watching over Emma. Emma's still looks a tad small when compared to many babies, but more importantly she's growing healthily! praise God! I guess Emma's small-size is genetic, since both Ade and I are slim and not very big ourselves. =)

well, the poll's ended, and many say Emma looks like me when I was a baby. hahaha.. well, that's a nice compliment, cos I think Emma's "fearfully and wonderfully made", and it doesn't matter who she looks like more. To us, she's uniquely beautiful in her own ways. I'm sure that all readers of this blog feel this way too, right? heheh