The Little Family: 09/01/2010

Since I last wrote in June, work has just been getting a little bit busier. I now travel almost every other week and in days where I am at home, I sometimes work till the wee hours just to get the work done and out of the way.

It is times like these when weekends become even more precious and indeed downtimes like now ( I am writing this in Manila after getting back from dinner and clearing my work), become a time for me to reflect on what keeps me centered and grounded.

When I got into the hotel in Manila this afternoon, I received an email from Eve - pics that she had taken this morning of the two girls. I remember vaguely that I we were trying to make Saige laugh this morning for the camera, but as usual, in my rush, did not have time to see how the pics turned out. As it turned out, the shot was fantastic - not only were the girls smiling, it was so natural and so casual, the lighting was so well composed, it was like a studio shot - even better perhaps.

Which goes to show the miracle of kids. Faith this morning had gotten up quite grouchy and sleepy. You wouldn't have guessed from the broad smile on her face holding up her little sister.

The night before, she had a lecture from daddy and mummy on how disappointed we were in her behaviour for the past few weeks - eating problems and all. When she went to bed, we all hugged and she promised she would be a good girl. Later, before falling asleep, she told me again that she "would be a very good girl for me so that I would not get sad". Such is the innocence of children.

Lately we have had more of these talking sessions with Faith - because lately, she has learnt and been using phrases like "go away" and "I don't want you" in her fits of anger. I believe that fundamentally, Faith has a kind heart and is naturally good-natured. Her spontaneous outburst into dance, her love for music, her hugs when I come back - all these make me believe she is still a young baby at heart. In this baby though, there is now some growing angst - she is maturing - she is able to reason, she no longer cries when she goes to school, and she is now the jie jie of a precocious baby that has just started to crawl, Yet, she is all of 3 years plus and still craves the attention of her parents - one who is distracted with work and the other with taking care of the littler one. Once, when I had a telecon I had to take in the evening, she came into the room and started to fiddle around with the PCs - when I tried to bring her out the room, she was really angry and said she only wanted me to keep her company and she was asking why I was still working (after coming home).

It is true that life is about the choices we make. Overall, I feel the family leads a very blessed and indeed, to some extent, a privilleged life. We never worry about our day to day needs, the kids get the full attention of their mum at home, and our family support from parents of both sides are immense. I sometimes wonder how do working parents cope - if I already feel guilty sometimes with my travels, wouldn't it be worse for families where both parents worked full-time? Then again, I grew up with mum and dad working full-time, but I never felt any less loved..oh well.

When Eve emailed me the pictures this afternoon, she wrote "Lovely shot, darling. ESP like the one of the girls laughing together. So natural, so happy. We are lucky, darling."

Indeed, we are truly blessed.

Saige with this kawaii "fake-hair" hairband that I absolutely love and Louis absolutely hates

How time flies. The initial three months with a new baby always seemed to be the most difficult period to get through. But once the milestone has been reached, the rest of the time just seems to fly by.

I've not been vigilant about keeping the blog updated with Saige's progress. These days, my preferred mode of diary entries tends to be on the Total Baby application on my iPhone or quick posts on FB. As with technology, there is always the risk of data loss -- accidentally or otherwise. I had kept some records on my iPhone but it has been erased accidentally by Faith.

Of course, my brain has turned to mushed and since some of the records have been lost, I can't remember the dates. But here's whatever I have managed to start afresh after the data loss:

1, Grabbing of her two feet @ 5 months, 5 days old

This, I confessed, was an engineered skill. Babies come into their respective milestones or learn a skill at their own pace. I was looking back at some of Faith's postings and noted that she was grabbing her toes and putting them in her mouth when she was 4 months plus. Thus, to ensure that her little sister isn't too far behind in this particular skill set, I had been teaching Saige to use her little hands to grab her little feet.

Saige manages to bring up her feet with her hands and brought her toes to her mouth to gnaw/suck on them at 5 months, 5 days old.

2. Cutting tooth @ 5 months, 8 days old

My kids *always* sprout their teeth at the time when I least expect it.

Been touching and feeling her gums whenever Saige had sleepless nights around the time she was 4 months plus, just to see if she was teething. Alright, alright... so, I was overly anxious. But those baby books put the age range starting from as early as 4 months. You never know, right?

Funniest thing was that she displayed no symptoms of crankiness, diarrhea, fever, face rash, excessive drooling etc. Nothing except for 2 nights of repeated night wakings. Out of curiously on the 3rd day, I felt her gums and could feel something hard and slightly sharp from her lower gums.

Two teeth sprouted at the same time. She sprouted her teeth nearly a month earlier than Faith was during her time.

This little tiger cub sure lives up to her zodiac sign. These days, she enjoys bringing our fingers to her mouth and biting on a small section of our finger pads. Hurts like the dickens :)

Can you see her two teeth?

3. Started her first solids @ 6 months, 3 days old

Being a 2nd time mom, I relish the convenience and ease of breastfeeding. The first time around with Faith, I was rearing to give her solids and started her at 5.5 months, with one meal a day and progressing to 2 meals a day after Faith fully turned 6 months old.

With Saige, I dragged my feet until she was a few days past 6 months. I'm slightly ashamed to confess that 3 weeks later, she's still on 1 feed a day of solids. Alright, mummy! Time to haul a** and be more hardworking.

Her repertoire of food given to date: avocado (likes), pumpkins (neutral), banana (likes), apples (dislikes cos the type of apple I chose was too sour and tart), rice cereals (likes).

Of course, I'm less zealous about maintaining the 3-day rule while introducing new food. In between, when the mood strikes me, I've also given her some rice grains and rice puffs. Both of which she quickly gums them and seems to like.

The differences between feeding Faith and Saige around the same age was rather contrasting. With a few exceptions, Faith pretty much ate whatever we gave to her in the beginning. And she quickly build up her appetite and was eating significant portion of food despite her diminutive size. The only clue as to when she's full was when she gags.

With Saige, the first few experiences with food was not as encouraging. The taste and texture of solids (or shall I say liquidy solids) was rather foreign to her, even though she had been eyeing the food we ate for the longest time. She took only a few spoonfuls and refused to open her mouth thereafter. When she had enough of the food, her signs to signal the end of meal times are pretty obvious. She would clamp shut her mouth, turn her head, become distracted with everything else but the food.

Time will tell what kind of a eater Saige would turn out to be.

With only Faith as an example, showing an early interest in food certainly didn't result in an enthusiastic eater at toddlerhood or as a pre-schooler. In fact, its quite the reverse actually.

4. Creeping @ 6 months, 17 days old

Saige's gross motor skills development has been good.

She learnt to flip very early on -- shortly after she turn 3 months old. These days, she's been very mobile. She can turn a mean 360 degrees and creeps along rather quickly all on her tummy. Looking at her creeping, its almost like a commando doing the leopard crawl on an obstacle course.

Its a fairly coordinated movement where she would use her feet to dig in and then propel herself

forward with her forearms. Her favourite 'toys' to creep for are mobile phones, remote controls and my breastpumps. You can see her look of concentration as she creeps towards the targeted items and her sense of satisfaction when she pounced on the items of desire. Unfortunately, that self satisfaction is short-lived as the item would be remove quickly from her as soon as she reaches it, else, all electronic devices might be short-circuited due to her tendency to gnaw and salivate over them.

5. Other developments

The little one has strong legs. She loves being pulled up to a standing position while gripping onto our fingers. When you do that with her, she would laugh delightedly. Yesterday, we sang and played "London bridge is falling down", with her grabbing onto my fingers and standing up, while Faith crawls in between us. Saige was giggling and laughing so much.

She can also sit for a few short seconds with the frog style or tripod position.

Overall, Saige is a smiley and happy child. Louis and I feel blessed to have 2 kids that are always happy and smiley.