Belle at 9.5 months

my miracle baby is now 9.5 months old.

her vocab
mama
meimei
papa
wawa
up! up!
baba
oooh oooh (tutu lips)

level of understanding
looks up to the ceiling and points to fan
points to nose (ours, not her own yet)
shakes her head when 'no' is said to her
waves byebye
does hi-five
nudges her forehead forward until it touches yours and does a Hongi greeting

motor skills
crawling fast
stands on her own, manages to stand hands-free for 1 or 2 sec
manages sit from stand well (will hold on carefully while lowering butt slowly before hand is released)

her emotional quotient seems to be high. she watches our expressions very carefully and knows if we're angry with her. she will look on until you soften and smile back at her.. that sends her bouncing happily up and down on her butt.

my precious miracle baby, i love you.

Another March Mommies gathering!

My baby is 5 months old

life has been incredibly hectic and exhausting the last couple of months which explains the lack of updates. so many times i wanted to blog but decided against it due to sheer fatigue.

my little baby is now 5 months old at 8kg. She's still not drinking as much as she should have been at her age but i'm not complaining since she's growing well.

my chest freezer is also near her full capacity and she's drinking 2 months old milk. of course i'm giving her largely fresh ebm daily, just thawing a pack of old milk everyday to minimise expiry too soon. i'm wondering if i should start to cut down on my milk production. what i have in my freezer is definitely enough to last her the next couple of months but i am reluctant to stop. am i addicted to pumping?? definitely not. what i will miss is the closeness and bonding when she latches on.. i dont want that to stop.. but the supply has to decrease.. she played a major role in sustaining this breastfeeding career.. without her, i would have been plagued with blocked ducts.. and the supply would have never gone up this much. churning out close to 1 litre a day has gotta stop. unless she can up her intake from 600-700ml. looking forward to her starting solids next month!

here's some milestones updates over the last few months:

• flipped at 3 months
• actively grabbing at 3 months
• first audible giggles at 4 months

looking forward to more milestones in the next month!

Mirabelle and her March baby friends!

Just for fun!

First digital scrapbooking

my first attempt at digital scrapbooking.

TEDIOUS! :P

Simply Statistics

My record high - 355ml per pump session

Her weight gain - 5.8kg at 7 weeks 4 days

My weight loss - 14kg from 76kg to 62kg. 5kg more to pre-preg and aiming to hit 55kg.

i'm sorry, my dearest

Dearest Mirabelle,

Mommy is sorry, for blowing my top at you tonight. I was really really frustrated and tired and could not understand why you kept rejecting your bottle and was wailing away. All Mommy wanted was to have a quick, peaceful dinner with Daddy so that we could quickly attend to you, but I suppose you were also tired.

Mommy knows that you did not sleep well the most of today and thats why you were behaving the way you were. Mommy really tried her best to soothe and pacify you but you were inconsolable and thats when Mommy lost it and yelled at you. Somehow you knew.. you understood.. you paused for a moment in the midst of your intense wailing and peeked through your tear-stained eyes at me.. you knew you were being chided. You decide to wail even louder. :(

You were put to bed earlier than usual and Mommy nursed you for only ten minutes before you fell into a deep sleep. You did not need your pacifier for comfort suckling tonight. It shows you were really shagged.

My beautiful little girl is now sleeping peacefully beside me. Mommy is prepared to nurse you as often as you require tonight to make it up to you.

I'm sorry my dear daughter. Know that no matter what, Mommy loves you deeply.

And I want to see your big, bright smile, first thing in the morning again.

Milk-stained mouth and leaky boobs

sooooooo many things to do... sooooo many things i wish to write about.. but with any spare time i have now, i have to catch up on my chores.. after updating facebook, there's hardly any energy left for blogging.

my little cub is now 6 weeks 5 days.. and she's really grown :)



a pity we didnt take much photos during the baby shower as everyone was busy entertaining guests.. i didnt even get to eat much!

some milestones in random:

• took off her mittens and trimmed her nails. this was better to develop her finger-grasping skills
• for the first time in history, she did NOT cry or whimper during her bath time! ha.. actually there's been major improvement since her first bath. cant wait to bring her swimming!
• baby's neck is getting stronger and stronger by the day.. actually she was able to lift up her head momentarily at 2 weeks already.. wonder when she'll actually be able to hold up her head for longer periods
• she's definitely getting more responsive and smiling more! love her toothless smile and crescent-eye grin :)

really enjoy dolling up my little girl.. hehe.. matching her outfits with matchy socks..

as for myself:

• weight still hovers around 63ish
• tummy still big :( massage lady say she couldnt massage for me as the wound is still swollen.. so sad.
• milk oversupply! so much that i had to stop feenugreek and only pump 3 times a day.. used up all storage bottles and cups i had and started freezing milk bags..

over supply of milk also has its cons.. the bub may not get to drink the freshest of milk and also freezing destroys some immune properties of milk. pumping less also bears risks of lowering supply.. max yield per pump is a record of 320ml.. i wonder if my boobs are capable of holding more? wearing breasts pads are a must if i dun wish to wake up in tee soaking wet infront.

pretty cupcakes too cute to be eaten from her baby shower!

getting more responsive

this morning when i greeted the little one, i gave her a tickle as i did so and she broke into a beautiful smile that completely melted my heart. :)

she's smiling more frequently at 5 weeks now and even chuckles in her sleep. so lovely to watch.

cant wait for her to start responding to our goos and gaas..