Yummy yummy

Think our girl should be teething, drooling like nobody's business and goes through 4 cloth towels and 3 bibs a day (in addition to leaving saliva all over our shoulders, pillows, beds...).

My mum introduced fruits to her at about 3.5 months old, starting with orange, then banana, and apple. She does seem to enjoy them (though after introducing them, her bowel movements were strangely quite erratic/not as regular, and she had bouts of non-shitting for 3 days, 4 days, and the longest was 10 days afetr which we had to put an anal suppository to stimulate the kaya-like shit! Anyway, that's another more disgusting story...).

I am not feeding her fruits as regularly now and would like to re-introduce them when she turns 6 months, when I will start weaning her on cereals first.

However, she has been developing a very strong grip and snatches our foods (bawls incessantly if we refuse to give her the apple/pear we are eating and is somewhat inconsolable...)

When foods are not around (she salivates alot more and stares at us enjoying our food...poor thing), she will gum on anything in sight, especially her poor toys.

Failing which, she'll just eat her own hands and feet (her feet are bundled up here, so she can't chew on them as much, unless during diaper changes, heh!).

Welcome one and all!

When I was still at work and started on this blog, I kept it closed so that only family/friends back in Singapore could read it and get updates.

Now that I have folks in both China and Singapore who would like to get updates, I have decided to open up this blog and make it public for one and all to gain access.

Happy reading from the Shis!

Comparisons

Me and my sis when I was 7 months old (my sis was 4.5 years old):

Rosabelle and Marianne when she was 5 months old (Marianne was 3.5 years old):

Everybody says Rosabelle looks like a little Wayne (his 100-day photo as below), but there are some similarities to me..heh. We've kept the bamboo chair till now (it's my older cousin's and we've kept it in the family for more than 40 years!). Doesn't Marianne also look like my sis?

Also, I just realised that Rosabelle is now wearing the same clothes/sweaters that Marianne was wearing in Perth when she was 2 years 3 months old - albeit with sleeves that are too long and slightly bulky...hahaha!

New beginnings in Beijing

Since we came back home some two weeks back (reached Beijing in the morning of 27 March), baby girl seems to be adjusting well (albeit not as 'free' as she was with minimal clothing, and we take ages to get ready to bundle up and go out). As she does not have much winter clothing, we just deck her out and pile on the layers - as my sis said, totally mismatched outfits (so not me when I would take ages to match her clothes to her socks to her hairclip in the past), and the hats we brought over and way too small for her growing head now...

She gets pretty much attention wherever she goes, mainly because she looks so round and cute, and also cos she has a ready smile for strangers, though there were times when she was decked in blue and folks thought she was a boy. The nanny and I have been bringing her out for daily walks in the morning (and in the evening if she is awake and the weather's good). The sun aids in calcium absorption (Vitamin D) and the outdoors do her well - she also enjoys looking around and shrieking her way in glee around the neighbourhood. What gets my goat on these walks are:

• people who do not leash their dogs, and these big dogs bound on up to us (cannot blame the dogs as Rosabelle looks like a huge, tempting, juicy meatball - I blame their owners)
• people who assume they can touch her face/clothes/hands with their dirty hands (I make it a point to now wash her hands after these walks, as the winds blow dust all over as well)
• people who say she is fat (well, superstitious belief that if you say a baby is fat, she will not feed well)

The Dongbei nanny has been quite a big help (she had former experience taking care of a boy till he was 4 years old), and her advice have also been helpful. Rosabelle has also taken well to her and likes playing with her (other than when she gets sticky and starts looking for me...). We've been trying to get her into a routine of sleeping/waking up early, and taking morning/evening naps, but with little success as she does not sleep much!

Wayne's parents also finally got to meet her over last weekend - Rosabelle performed well (as she had a short nap prior) and was all smiley upon the first meeting. They also couldn't get enough of her and did not seem to get tired from carrying her...haha...

Thank goodness she has also gotten used to people calling her 'Yue yue' and now responds to 'Rosabelle', 'Belle belle', and 'Rosie' as well...heh!

When in Singapore, she had more playmates in my mum, my sis and brother-in-law, Aunty Riza (my sis' domestic helper), and of course Simon and Marianne. Whenever my family calls, I will let them 'speak' with her and her response is to grab the phone and gum the receiver! I am so looking forward to my family coming to visit us in June over the children's holidays - the kids miss her and I'm sure she misses my family too. If all turns out well, when my brother heads back to SG for a short break in Septemeber, hopefully I can bring her back for awhile too! I have developed photos of her times in Singapore and put them on the fridge and point out the people in the pictures so she can recollect and remember them all - heh!

At first I was afraid she would not get as much stimulation and thus slept alot more when the weather was cold because she was bored from no playmates (heh, maybe it was nice weather to sleep). But she has adjusted well and also met up with Tim and Vanessa's baby Rachel (born less than 24 hours after her on Oct 25). It was quite hilarious to see the two of them playing alongside (not yet with) each other, and making baby talk at times.

We've also been bringing her out over the weekends, whether for grocery shopping, or to the park etc...helps that we now have a car as it's so much more convenient to get around!

She seems to be happy enough lah - however, in the first week she developed a red patch on her cheek - thank goodness for my brother in law who did a remote consultation and advised me to put some fungal cream (could have been caused by the cold weather). She also has some purplish red spots on her shins over the past two days, but since no fever, he advised me to just monitor closely lah...
Till the next update, here's the usual 'happy baby' signing off for now!

Enough procrastination!

It's been eons since I last updated this blog (the last post was a hasty update on the birth) - no excuse for taking care of Rosabelle day in, day out... decided I needed to start somewhere so here goes...I'm posting the last few monthly email updates and collages of photos I've been sending to family and friends. And then I will (try) to post more regular updates henceforth of our baby girl, who is now in Beijing and coming out of the wintry cold.

A quick update on Mummy's end - I tendered my resignation yesterday and decided I will first focus on Rosabelle, and enter the workforce again when the time is ripe - we've hired a local nanny to help with things and the housework. So...enjoy reading the 'updates' first (albeit old), and stay tuned!

• First 15 days
  
  Dear friends,
  
  After a hectic two weeks or so, the Shi family has settled down (somewhat) with the newest addition to our family coming out on 24 Oct 2008 - Rosabelle SHI Yue. The little one decided to come out early at 37 weeks+2 days old, weighing at 2.74kg, and measuring 48cm long. Mummy and little Rosabelle are doing great, though she (not Mummy) has a spot of jaundice still. Thanks to all for your well wishes!
  
  For those of you accustomed to getting emails directly from Wendy, she's understandably out of action for now, so don't be surprised to receive this email from me instead! For the StarHub and NYGH folks, she can only remember Jeannie's and Jinxin's emails offhand, so feel free to send this email around.
  
  We have attached some photos taken in the first 15 days - enjoy viewing them and we look forward to sharing the bliss of our bundle of joy with you!
  
• One month
  
  Dear friends,
  
  Some updates since our last email on Rosabelle - she turned a month old on 24 Nov, which was celebrated with an intimate family dinner. Now weighing at 3.9kg and measuring 52.5 cm, she is turning out to be rather feisty with her loud cries!
  
  She looks slightly differest from when she was first born, huh? Once again, enjoy the photos and thanks for all your continued blessings!
  
• Two months
  
  
  
  Dear friends,
  
  Greetings of the New Year from the Shi family! It's been a season of celebrations - Wayne got his best birthday present ever in December in the form of a darling Rosabelle, and we spent our first ever Christmas (not so 'silent night' in the form of crying...) and New Year with the addition to the family.
  
  However, brave Rosabelle had to go for an inguinal hernia operation on Boxing Day (endured 9 straight hours of fasting - can imagine how angry she was) and an overnight stay at the KK Hospital - she was a fighter and went back home the next stay and is now healing well. Her last weight before the op was 5.68kg, measuring 60cm - hope she catches up on any blood/weight loss! (She has been fast outgrowing her clothes, thank god for hand-me-downs!)
  
  She is starting to learn how to interact/play with us - favourite activities include watching nappies/clothes/curtains fly in the wind, staring at lights, enjoying a good bath (howls when we take her out of the water), and making lots of cute/funny noises in general when we talk to her! She also likes kids around her, taking well to Simon/Marianne, her cousins.
  
  Till the next round of updates - keep well one and all!
  
• Three months
  
  
  Dear friends,
  
  What an eventful month for Rosabelle! She celebrated her first-ever New Year, Chinese New Year, and turned 3 months old on 24 Jan, or a 100-days-old (a milestone in China) on 31 Jan. She also had the chance to follow the throngs of crowds at Sentosa with a trip to Underwater World.
  
  Rosabelle's favourite activities (in addition to on-going favs like bathing and looking at laudry flying in the wind) include catching peeks at the TV, playing with musical toy mobiles, kicking her feet, chewing on her hands, and enjoying walks/excursions away from the house (bawls if we bring her back in).
  
  We have not taken her latest weight/height, but at the last session on 22 Jan (where she was FINALLY cleared of her jaundice - yaay!), she weighed 6.8kg (97th percentile), and measures 60 cm (50-75th percentile) - imagine the 'workout' we adults have from carrying her around!
  
  We are planning to head back to Beijing in late March - till the next update, take care now and enjoy the pix as usual!
  
• Four months
  
  Dear friends,
  
  A short month, but photos galore nontheless! Rosabelle is now 7.47kg (close to 3 times her birth weight of 2.74kg), and grown slightly longer to a length of 64cm (birth length was 48cm).
  
  Favourite activities now including looking at books (and talking to the books...and talking quite a bit in general), doing exercise with the beach ball, and of course, going out around Singapore and looking at different things--in Singapore it's mostly eating around, and we even saw/took photos with Hong Kong celebrities Liza Wang and Law Kar Ying at Oriental Hotel!). We also took her to the Text 100 office in Singapore and she enjoyed being carried by and interacting with Daddy's colleagues. We've started feeding her teaspoon servings of bananas, oranges and apples - does not seem to be enough for her and she makes alot of noise if we are too slow with the feed, or stop giving it to her.
  
  Daddy Wayne is already back in Beijing, and will come back in end-March to fetch the ladies (Mummy and Rosabelle) - it'll be another exciting phase for Rosabelle when she's home in China, and in the mean time, she will get to enjoy sunny Singapore for another month!
  
  Signing off for now!

• Five months
  
  Dear friends,
  
  A jam-packed month as we got ready to head back to Beijing, as Daddy Wayne went back to Beijing first for his work (and getting the house and new car in order). Rosabelle made her last rounds of catching up with Mummy's friends and ex-colleagues, and having various outings and meals with the family (since it was the school holidays for Kor kor Simon and Jieh jieh Marianne).
  
  Rosabelle now wants every single utensil/cup she sees adults using, and will salivate heavily upon seeing food (haha, Mummy's genes to love food). Hopefully we'll have a fun time weaning her. She also has started 'talking' more, and chuckling heartily when we play with her.
  
  It was a slightly teary farewell (for Mummy Wendy at least) when being sent off by the family - no words can express how much gratitude and thankfulness I feel for going back to Singapore for Rosabelle's initial months as we were in good hands and showered with love all round (almost everybody who sees her commends Mummy dearest for taking such good care of us as Rosabelle has grown well). Thankfully darling baby girl slept well on the plane, and we landed in 2 degrees celsius Beijing weather in the early morning of 27 March.
  
  No more mere singlets/diapers for her like she was wearing in Singapore - back in Beijing, she is bundled up like a bak chang all the time, so poor thing, she can't kick and dance as happily, nor can she enjoy her 'clothes off'/naked time before baths. When we go out, it takes time to dress her out and she is confined to a stroller and rendered immobile because of the thick clothing-heh! The weather here is dry, so her cheek has broken out in supposed ringworm...she has also taken to sleeping quite a bit (maybe it's like aircon weather all the time and our house is quiet in the day, and she does not have so many people to play with in the day time).
  
  Thankfully, she has taken quite well to the local Nanny we have hired (the Nanny also has experience and really dotes on her too, and helps keep the house spick and span-phew!), but she still sticks to me and looks for me most of the time, so we'll have to give her some time to get used to her before I slowly get ready to go back to work in about another 3 months' time...

Reason for my inaction... for two whole months!

Rosabelle Shi Yue

Born: 24 October 2008, 1328 hrs (for you 4D fanatics)

Weight: 2.74kg / Length: 48 cm

It's been a whirlwind two months, and I just about have enough time to just upload two collages from the past two months - so there (signing off for now to go do baby stuff!) She is now 4.5 kg, measuring 56 cm (as of two weeks ago), and bringing joy into our hectic lives every single moment...swoon...

Still Around!

It's been more than a month since I blogged! No Internet access at home, and my work laptop screen died on me...haha! I realize it's possible to survive without emails/Internet...and so many things have happened in the past month since I came back home to Singapore.

Some quick updates since I am doing this post from the StarHub Customer Service Centre in Vivo City (trusty StarHub - yaaay!) -

- Nope, not popped yet, but am growing bigger by the day, and Rosabelle's kicking well!
- Wayne's already in Singapore with me, and is working part time from his SG office - he brings me down for swims (I can't swim, but waddling around in the pool takes the weight off my tummy...haha)
- I celebrated my first birthday at home in as long as five years (thanks to friends who sent well wishes and to Jeannie for remembering and craftily sending me a Noel hamper!)
- I visited the library for the first time in about 7 years and have been getting alot of baby knowledge from books there (and it's nice to go back to paper for books and newspapers alike now that my main source of info isn't the Net!)
- My family seems geared up for baby and I've bought most of the stuff for Rosabelle...next check-up's on Monday, but I'm hoping she hangs in there till at least November! And Wayne and I have decided on the Chinese name Shi Yue (instead of Shi Yi Yue)...hehe. Vanessa also has yet to pop, but it's exciting times for us all!
- I've been catching up with my friends over this period..real nice to just hang around and not have a packed schedule...

No pix for this post for obvious reasons as this is done at a public place...but stay tuned for Rosabelle's upcoming appearance!

Till then!!!