Going back to work

How time flies. My maternity leave ends this week and I will back to work next Monday on 31 Mar 2008. How sad I am to be away from Kendrick the whole day! I think I have been feeling the blues this week knowing that a change in lifestyle will soon be a reality. The lifestyle of looking after Kendrick daily had gone by so fast. There's so much more that I want to talk to him and teach him as he develops. But I guess I can only do this at nights after work. I wonder if he will change much with his grandparents looking after him??! Not that I'm not appreciative of them looking after my baby, it's just my own concern whether they will be able to properly take care of him in the manner that I would. Maybe I'm just being a bit of a perfectionist here. I know many people say that with others looking after your child, you just have to "close one eye, open one eye" unless it's something seriously wrong. I just hope that I can adapt to it. A friend also told me the first week of work will be most unbearable as I will keep thinking of my baby and find it hard to concentrate on work. I truly think so...being with Kendrick is like a drug...you just can't get enough of him! :)

Anyway, with each week, we discover new things about Kendrick. The talkative part still exists, with him baby-talking to people whenever his attention is caught. Now new words/sound that he is making include some "ohm" like thing. He also sticks his tongue out alot. And when we actually let him freely suck his hands, it's so loud like it's so darn delicious!! Cannot understand why babies are so fascinated with sucking their fingers!!

Ok, here's some new photos to update...

Kendrick's first haircut (21 Mar 2008)

Kendrick had his first haircut on the Good Friday public holiday when we brought him to Dear's aunt's hair salon. He was rather well-behaved in the cutting process and all I had to do was to hold his head up to prevent it from jerking too much while the aunt did the trimming. It was quite fast actually. Simple hair trim after all. Kendrick fretted at some point in time, but otherwise, it was a first for him!

Talkative Kendrick

Just as I was mentioning in my previous entry about the little milestones of Kendrick, I wanted to add on that he has become more talkative now :) Haha... I was reading in some baby development book that as the baby learns to talk by looking at us adults talking to him, we can encourage some form of conversation with them as well. So by echoing the words/sounds that he is making, Dear and I have been able to make small 'conversations' with Kendrick. This is especially so after his milk when he is happy and satisfied and will start smiling and talking when we start doing so with him. It's quite interesting indeed as it really seems like a 'conversation' when the sounds from Kendrick come non-stop for a while in response to whatever that I respond back to him. I've actually videoed down some of this but no time to edit and upload, so another time perhaps.

And on his hand sucking/licking thing, just as I expected, he soon learnt how to do it with his left hand as well!! So now it's either right or left hand that he will lick whenever he feels like it!! Arrgh...this boy ah! :P

Some updated photos of Kendrick....

Funny smile again

Taken on his 2 month old day

Sleeping soundly in my arms

Taken after talking to me

Currently my fav photo

Little milestones

Kendrick is now just over 2 months old and in the last 2 to 3 weeks, I have noticed little milestones in his pattern and behaviour. He continues to smile a lot whenever we smile and talk to him, particularly after drinking his milk. Happy and satisfied I suppose! He also started to make little baby noises about 2 weeks ago. It then became more frequent as we talked to him that it has grown to baby words like 'ah', 'gee', 'ah goo' etc. Interesting indeed. This little boy is learning to talk already! You can see it when he opens his mouth and curls his tongue before some of those sounds come out. I guess he is learning from us and watching our mouths as we talk. So far, he is most talkative during his bath time.

Another not so good habit that Kendrick has picked up though is to lick/suck his right hand. It started out as a signal that he was hungry and I thought that was pretty smart. But just one day last week, this action of his suddenly became more frequent! Before milk, after milk, basically when lying down by himself, he would every now and down try to place his right hand or rather mitten at his mouth to lick. Although he does not lick his hand for very long, he keeps repeating the action again and again. Tried telling him no many times and putting his hand down each time I caught him doing that. The main thing is, I'm not quite willing to give him the pacifier yet. Still waiting to see if he will grow out of this! Gosh..how do babies learn so fast ya?! Must be all the milk he's drinking...lol...

That smile on his face....priceless

I've been looking after my little Kendrick since confinement was over for me in early Feb. My mother-in-law who stayed with us during my confinement, moved back home to stay. As such, I began my journey of caring for Kendrick daily. It was quite daunting initially as I was quite nervous whether I could cope with looking after him and wash his clothes and manage other minor stuff around the house. As the weeks went by, you could say that I gained more confidence and also learnt to handle my baby much better, getting a hang of his 'pattern' and behaviour. It is a very interesting process as you get to see his development on a daily basis, week after week. Though it could be physically demanding, there is only one word to describe the feeling - rewarding :) The smile on Kendrick's face each time you talk to him - priceless.....

I suppose there could be a motherhood instinct in all of us ladies. Somehow, when it comes to your own child, you will feel overwhelmed by the amount of love you have that pushes you on despite the tiredness. I enjoy the breastfeeding process when latching him on as it feels so interesting that one is able to nurse your own child. Carrying him to make him sleep also feels good as it gives him a sense of comfort and security. Playing with him when he is awake and alert gives an opportunity for him to learn about you and his surroundings. Of course, dealing with his vehement cries can be a challenge of your patience and love too. To sum it all, I think I enjoy motherhood very much. Yes, I know it's going to be more challenging ahead as the baby grows bigger and perhaps get tougher to handle compared to the early months, but nothing beats seeing your own child grow up in front of you!

Cheers to all mothers and mothers-to-be! :)

Kendrick around 3rd week

Kendrick in his 4th week...funny smile!

CNY hairdo!

Lying on Daddy's lap

Already 6 weeks plus and such a messy sleeper!

Kendrick's First Month (3 Feb 2008)

Kendrick's first month celebration was held on 3 Feb 2008 where we invited mainly family members and some friends over for a luncheon. This also marks the end of my confinement but was still advised by the old folks to 'behave' in a confinement mode in terms of looking after myself. Haha..Anyway, quite glad that I can bathe and wash hair again. Thinking back, the initial 2 weeks of the confinement seemed the toughest to bear...was really hot and sticky and tired. Now that I think back, I do miss eating some of the confinement food! Here's some photos of Kendrick on the day we celebrated his first month. We didn't take a lot as we ended up too busy entertaining the guests :(

Getting ready in the morning

Changed into his new clothes