Saige at 6 months and 24 days old

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.

You know, I really really like being a second-time mom. I'm enjoying my time with Saige so much more at every stage than I did with Faith.

That's something that I totally did not expect :)

Little Family at my birthday dinner on 22 Aug 2010

What's the problem?

Kids say the darnest things and increasingly, it is getting to be true with Faith. These days, the little one picks up words and phrases very easily from her environment -- home, school, friends, TV programmes etc. Her conversations are usually a reflection of things she mostly picks up from us at home, in school or TV programmes. Sometimes, watching her speak is like a mirror effect. It makes us more mindful of the words/phrases we use in front of her. Other times, I don't have the vaguest clues where she picks things up from.

Like all things, there are always the good and the bad. Sometimes, whatever that she's saying seems beyond her age and astounds us. She would sometimes asks Louis when he returns home, "Daddy, how was your day at work?". A few weeks ago, when Louis was travelling quite often, she one day told him, "Daddy, you don't work so late. Come back and spend more time with us."

Louis, the ever dotting father, tells me that his little girl says things that melts his heart.

Most recently, she sometimes would ask me "What's the problem?". That's when my internal antenna starts to twirl and I'm strike by anxiety. Call us annal retentive, but Louis and I are particular about how she speaks and the phrases she uses.

Kids at this age are pretty innocent. They say what's on their mind. They have not much idea about the nuances of words and intonations or how simple words/phrases could mean so many things when spoken in different tones. Hence, we are zealous in reminding her like a broken recorder to keep using words like may I, could I, would I. And telling her not to start a sentence with Give-mes and I-wants.

Does it work? Not all the time, which is why I say we are constantly reminding her like a broken recorder.

Increasingly, I have to remind Louis or my mom and even myself to be mindful of what we say in front of her, no matter how innocent it may be. Most recently, I had to catch myself mid-sentence when I was so irritated by her whiny behaviour and actually raised my voice at her to ask her "What's your pr(oblem)...?". I had to swallow my words and rephrase it to "What is the matter with you?" instead :)

Thankfully, she's not using that much Singlish. For now. Some friends, who knew that I was anxious about it told me stop worrying. Its a matter of time that she picks it up in school sooner or later.

That may well be true, but nonetheless, hope springs eternal. Louis and I are still of the opinion that if we continue to be mindful in how we speak around and to her, the grammars and correct sentence structures would be instilled in her mind. She might lapsed into Singlish - as we tend to do and enjoy doing so - but at least, she knows to use proper English and to phrase her words politely in the right situations.

Happy 4th Month Saige

Saige is 4! Months that is. It may not be 4 years yet, but still it is something to rejoice about. Perhaps because this daddy has been travelling since the day Saige was born, this day makes it even more "significiant". Absence does make the heart grow fonder.

I probably haven't been spending as much time as I should have with Saige. Probably is likely an understatement because the travelling (which now seems to be happening every two weeks) takes me 2-3 days out of town at a stretch. When I am in Singapore, I probably get to really spend time with her in the early mornings of the weekdays and on the weekends; on the weekdays - before I prep Faith for school and rush myself off to work, and on the weekends - less the three to four hours we send Saige packing to join her sis at my mum's place, so Eve and I really have some quality time. Come to think of it, the longest stretch of time I got to spend time with Saige in the 4 months - was in the first two weeks when I was on home leave after she was born, and when the little family (with dad and mum included) were in Hong Kong just a few weeks back.Saige is a smiley kid and I like it when I know I can make her smile so easily just by calling her name. And she has that special way of smiling - when she is in a really good mood, she smiles and kicks her legs and brings her hands to her mouth - that's when you know she really had a good nap. However, she reserves her chuckles for mummy - Eve somehow is the only one who can consistently make her chuckle. Somehow, Saige doesn't chuckle no matter how much I throw her in the air or tickle her. Eve calls it the special mummy's bond.
Saige is now able to recognise our faces. She reserves her puzzled look for Faith each time Faith sings to her - she must be curious why this jie jie sometimes jumps around and wiggles her buttocks while coming so close to her face. It doesn't help that Faith does monkey faces each time she comes close - Saige must be wondering why this face looks vaguely familiar.

Saige is now getting increasingly curious. She has started to turn her head around to look at who's talking to her. More tellingly, she turns her head to the TV when the Disney Channel is on. I think it's a matter of time that the two girls start competing for which channels to watch.

Saige is getting more expressive. She makes it clear when she is upset about not having enough sleep; she shows her frustrations when she gets her hands jammed under her body when she flips over; she coos when mummy talks to her. Eve and I have noticed that her tongue is really sharp. I hope she is able to pick up Mandarin so she can debate/quarrel with her sis in Mandarin - someone has to teach Faith the language.

As Eve would say, Saige is now at a really fun age - she is able to interact and so far, does little apart from sleep, eat and play. Eve is already looking forward to bringing her for music and gym classes when she grows older. As for me, second time round has really been different -I definitely spend less time with Saige compared to when we first had Faith. And Eve is already complaning that the two little girls are the only Daddy's girls for now. Sigh - we need a holiday soon - it seems that holidays are the only real bonding time I get with the girls - Eve included :)

Saige at 2 months and 3 weeks old

Is it just Louis and me that think it, but the 2 sisters do bear resemblances to each other? Its not that all babies look alike, right?

Sure, they might not have been carbon copies of each other, but there are similiarities. Here and there, now and then.

Saige is just a week short of turning 3 months old. She is growing and gaining weight at a nice and steady pace. She has not turned out to be one of those Michelin babies, with fat chubby thighs and arms that I had so fervently hoped for. Then again, she was only 2.7kg at birth. Comparatively, she's much bigger than Faith was at that same age.

She gurgles, babbles and coos even more now. To me and whoever that is willing to sit and talk to her. You can hear her laughter too if you swing her up and down - gently of course. Her neck is also getting a little firmer. Still not very steady, but strong enough that she can hold it up steady for a few minutes, without flopping.

I've managed to capture the picture of her smiling, and looking rather like one of my favourite pictures of Faith at around the same age. I was trying to take a picture of Saige for the application of her passport. Yes, we want to be prepared to be able to travel if the opportunity crops up.

Not sure when that would be but we'll see :)

Music Time

Faith has always enjoyed music and her lessons at Kindermusik.

Last week, I put on one of her Kindermusik CDs and the 3 of us were listening to the music in the living room. Faith was inspired to take out her bell shakers and maracas to dance, prance and wriggle to the tunes. She particularly enjoy bending her knees and doing a little jiggling and wriggling of her tush :)

Meanwhile, Saige was on her playmat, observing and just looking around at the house.

Updates on Faith & Saige

Saige is now 9 weeks old. I can't wait for the 3rd and 4th month to go by quickly, cos that's when the little one will (hopefully) be more settled into her routine and life gets a bit easier for everyone with an older baby.

Unfortunately, the nights haven't been great for this week since Saige started sniffling and sneezing over the weekend. Finally, what we have been dreading for the longest time has happened. Saige is down with a stuffed nose.

Since Saige was discharged from the hospital, Faith has been sick virtually every single week - I've been told by many the tendency to fall sick on a frequent basis for the first six months of school. In all the excitement of having a new sister that she can finally see and hold, Faith's been clamouring to kiss, hug, touch and play with Saige. We tried our best to let Faith do some of these when she wasn't too sick. We didn't want her to resent the baby after all.

I had to bring Saige in to the PD and for a young infant, there's really not much medication that she can be given, except for some nasal drops, to be used sparingly. And so, Saige has been a little fussy, especially at night. Just at the time when I thought that she was settling down nicely into a routine of only waking up once a night for feeds. Now, we are back to her stirring or nursing at least 2-3 times. Oh well....

As for Faith, she's been a great little sister to Saige. She loves her sister so much. She would talk to her a lot, try to play with her and elicit the social smiles since Saige was capable of giving at since she turned 6 weeks old. Of course, she has her moments of temper throwing, seeing that she's still a 3-year old who has been depraved of what has been heretofore been the sole focus of Louis and my attentions.

Louis copes a lot better with her and she's almost her normal self when Louis is at home on the weekends. At least then, she gets all the attention from him, while I am gratefully able to spent whatever amount of time needed to nurse Saige, change her and put her to sleep without feeling guilty. It is on weekdays and days when Faith is sick and at home that proves to be bit of a challenge.

On her sick days, the tempers come flaring easily. She insists on having things or doing things her way or purely, wanting me to spend time with her playing, feeding, sleeping, reading, regardless that I have to put Saige to sleep or nurse her.

To Faith's credit, she has never once transferred any of her frustrations or temper at not gaining my attention onto Saige. There's no worry that she would hurt Saige by hitting or pinching her. She still plays, coos and talks to her sister lovingly.

It is a period of adjustment for Faith and everyone at home too and there are many moments of ups and downs for me, having to spread my time and attention with 2 kids. While my mom is thankfully around to help on weekdays, especially with the chores, it is still very much my attention that she wants, rather than that of my mom.

I am sure with a little bit more time, Faith would adjust and cope much better, knowing that I can never give her that same amount of attention I did, pre-Saige. I only hope that as Saige gets older and can respond better to her sister, they would be great companions and playmates to each other.

And finally at 9 weeks, I've managed to capture a single picture of Saige smiling on camera. Here's another picture of the sisters together. Faith is pretending to read while Saige is all comfy in her swaddle sleepsack.

Sisters

Have been wanting to take pictures of the 2 sisters together and put them up. That way, folks can comment if the sisters look alike or not at all. Sometimes, when we go through some of Faith's old pictures, there are some resemblances here and there between them, depending on the angles the pictures were taken.

Faith doing "monkey faces" whenever I try to take pictures of them together

At 6 weeks, Saige is starting to respond and smile at me this week. I'd tried to "induce" her to smile for the camera, but to no avail :) She's still waking up twice a night for feeds. I don't know how long she's going to keep at it, but I hope she would be kind to me. Soon.

Saige @ 6 weeks

Faith has been great so far as a sister. She shares her favourite bolster and isn't too upset at having her sarong being utilised by Saige most of the time. By and large, she is loving towards Saige, wanting to kiss and hug her all the time. These days, when she returns from school, she would tell her little sister, "Hello, Saige. Jie jie is back from school" :)

There's not much response from Saige so far. Hopefully in a month or two, she would be excited to hear the sound of her sister's voice, as I've read and also been told that babies of about 4 months are capable of doing.