Hundredth Day Celebration: The Shave!

YL is Hock Ann. Based on the tradition of this dialect group, all new borns would have their hair shaven on their hundredth day. So we engaged the service of this hairdresser to shave Isaac at YL's family home. Issac's hair would in turn be made into chinese calligraphy brushes!

The outcome:

Look at the amount of hair he had....The calligraphy company said that his hair would be sufficient to be made into at least 4 brushes!!


We may be a little bias, but we think botak Isaac looks really cute...even more babyish!! :)

another jab...and some stats

Isaac got the first of his 5-in-1 vacination jab today... he cried a little during the jab, but turned out fine in the end. :)

Some measurements which we took during the assessment check-up:
Weight : 6.6kg
Length : 63cm

Wow, so the little one had doubled his weight (weight at birth was 3.320kg), and grown 14cm (length at birth was 49cm)!

his many faces...

 

Isaac loves saturday mornings!

Isaac had a wonderful saturday morning with daddy, piglet and cookie monster!

Me and papa...so nice that papa doesn't need to go to work today!!

I love saturday mornings 'cos we don't need to get out of the house so early! I can wake daddy and mummy up and tell them all about my dreams at night, my adventures over the past week, etc. etc...

Onward marching soldier!!!

Me and my best friends : piglet and cookie monster!


I love saturday mornings!! :)

Belated Valentine's Day Celebration

Both of us took half-day leave from work and went for a sumptuous meal at the Au Jardin Les Amis at the Singapore Botanic Garden. As Isaac was well cared for by his grandma, we took a breather from parenthood as well as work, and just took time to enjoy one another's company as well as lunch. It really makes a difference when Isaac isn't around and demanding our attention. We could finally just relax and take our time to enjoy the meal for what it is, as oppose to normally having to rush through it in record time! :)

Verdict of the restaurant?
Nice ambience,
Nice food,
Great service! 

I think he misses us....

Worked till really late last night and only got to YL's mum's place at 10.30pm to fetch Isaac home. By then, the little one was already sound asleep. So technically, other than early in the morning when we woke him up to be shuttled over to YL's mum's place, he didn't really get to see a lot of me yesterday.

So when we went to fetch him today at 6pm, Isaac burst out in tears and sobbed loudly. He refused to stop crying even when I carried him and hugged him. His tears too continued to flow when YL carried him. It was only when YL's mum took over that he calmed down a little...

Now, we may be wrong. But some people say that babies are actually rather perceptive. We think that he was trying to make a point - protesting against our absence!

Sze returns to work...

Technically, my last day of maternity leave ought to be on 12 Feb (also the last day of CNY 06). However, I've been recalled back to work a workday earlier (start work on 10 Feb) due to some exigencies of service.

I was so busy the whole day, but the little one was definitely still on my mind. I took time to call mum to check if Isaac was behaving well and more importantly, whether the milk which i had expressed the day before was sufficent for the growing boy with a huge appetite! Thank God that I had some frozen packs of milk in the freezer to meet his needs!

Back in the office, lots of people were commenting that I seemed to have quickly regained my pre-pregnancy "look", and some even feel that I had become even slimmer...haha...praise God for pants with vertical stripes!

My friend Jo, who was our office "breastfeeding activist", came to inspect my workstation cubicle to ensure that it would be conducive for me to express milk. She also offered lots of practical tips on the issue of breastfeeding and work. I was thankful to my colleague Lynn who had earlier passed me her "curtain" to secure over the entrance of my cubicle when it was time for me to express. At first, I was a little shy about expressing milk at work, but given the support from the various mothers-at-work, i soon got over it and got down to milking myself every 3-hourly...

:)

who's who?

Can u spot who's who? one's sze at one month old and the other one's isaac at one month old!!

:)

Fatherhood(s)

I know I've posted this photo, but I have reworked it a little here to show off the chaotic situation we sometimes meet in trying to photograph Isaac or any child! Had fun taking this snapshot of YL and Isaac, as well as our brothers-in-law (BC and Robin) and their children (Glory, Joel and Nicholas). It seems that as children get older (or as u have more of them), they become harder to control, especially when you are attempting to take a decent family photo!! But glad to see all the fathers are smiling here, regardless of their circumstances!
:)

Can you hear Joel's scream? haha... =)

Bathtime

Isaac loves his bathtime...
Unlike some babies who might be screaming or mischieviously splashing water, Isaac would be unusually cool and calm during his bath, letting his mummy or granny massage and wash him. All the while, his eyes would gaze contently straight into theirs, as if he is telling them how much he appreciates the coolness of the water and the warmth of their hands...

:)

Tears of a father and a grateful son

YL was showing me some albums of old photos of him and his siblings and cousins as children, who were all brought up by his granny, parents and aunties. He told me that he was not an easy child to bring up. For example, he had to be carried up and down along the balcony of their old HDB flat to be coaxed with a musical "drum" just to eat his meal! He was laughing and reminiscing about the good old days of his childhood.

Moments later, whilst helping to bottle-feed Isaac on the sofa in the living room, YL called out to me to bring him a tissue paper. I thought he needed that to wipe the residual milk from Isaac's mouth. To my surprise, I saw tears sliding down his face! The tissue paper was meant to wipe away those tears! Concerned, I asked what was bothering him. He said, "nothing". He then explained how he was just thinking of the past and waves of gratitude just overwhelmed his heart.

Now, as a father himself, YL could really understand and empathise the unconditional love his parents and granny had for him and his siblings/cousins, regardless of how difficult they may be as children or the inconveniences that they might have caused...

I took a look at my hubby, the tears and sentiments still fresh on his face.
My eyes then went to little Isaac in his arms, blissfully unaware of the anxieties that he might have caused us sometimes.
I thought of my own parents, their unconditional love for me too.

I was touched.
I took another tissue from the tissue box.
This time, it was meant for me.

Little YL & his Daddy back in the 1970s...