Dear Alexander

Dear baby Alexander,

You’re almost 3 months old now, and soon you won’t be considered a newborn. Yet your chubby size and alertness get you mistaken for an older baby. Imagine, even clothes for a 3-month old is a little snug for you. Mommy has to get you clothes for a 6-month old. In fact you’re almost the same size as many older babies, especially the size of your big head.

The only thing that gives your infancy age away is that you require neck support. You try to lift up your head to look around you, and you especially love going out when you are exposed to new environments. Feeding you, when you are outside, takes longer because you get distracted. You have such curiosity for new things. For this reason, you prefer to be held upward rather than being cradled, or to sit on daddy’s or mommy’s lap, facing out to see what is going on around you.

You’re definitely developing fast. Sometimes daddy and mommy half expect you to sit up and start talking. You respond to us in goo goo and ga ga, as if you are trying to tell us something but words fail you. We know that you are an alert baby even at birth; at a few days old, you were able to look at the person who was talking around you.

As you get older, the interval between feeds also get longer. First you were able to last 4 hours between some late night feeds, and now you only wake up once between midnight and 7am for a feed. You’re also not sensitive to wet diapers. That is a great relief for mommy as it means the number of times she has to get up in the wee hours is greatly reduced.

But sometimes, there are exceptions, which is to be expected. Like last week, for a couple of nights, you didn’t fall asleep right after a feed which you usually do late at night. Instead you were wide-eyed and bushy tailed. Daddy got a little desperate and thought of taking you out for a car ride at 3am, or take you out in the stroller to walk round the condo estate. But mommy knows the better option is to put you in the rocker, gives you the pacifier and rock you to sleep. For 2 straight nights mommy had to do that. Thank God since then you’ve been able to go back to sleep after the feed. Unfortunately during the ‘witching hours’ of 7.30pm to 11pm, as mentioned in Troublesome Tots, it’s rather difficult to put you to sleep when you are cranky, and wants to be held by daddy (it doesn’t work for mommy which daddy attributes to mommy being too boney). Sometimes even the rocker isn’t effective. We hope that you get over this ‘witching hours’ soon because it’s quite an effort to soothe you for a few hours. We know that you’re feeling cranky but we’re not sure why. Right now, we’re using the rocker, pacifier and white noise or music to help you to sleep, which by the time you do, is the late hour of around 11.15pm.

You’re also taking fewer feeds, 7-8 times, compared to 11-12 feeds previously. In fact you’re having less than 1000ml a day now, which got daddy to comment that you’re less chubby than before. Still you’re gaining weight, though slower; and this means the 6-9 month old clothes can last longer.

Daddy and mommy know how you like motion. When we push you around the estate, despite the bumpy ground, you can still nap away. It’s pretty funny when we take you out to the mall, you would cry when the stroller stops moving, and we have to then push the stroller to and fro to generate movement. But this also means we have to put you in a rocker to get you to sleep. For the time being, this has to do until we can sleep-train you.

It baffles daddy and mommy that when you are not in deep sleep in the cot, you would lift your legs in the air and plonk them hard on the cot and would slowly slide down to the end of the cot as you keep lifting and plonking down your legs. But that’s pretty good exercise for you. Despite the chubbiness, you’re a pretty strong baby; in fact you look like a baby sumo wrestler with the mittens and booties.

Both daddy and mommy are glad that, other than the hospitalizations for jaundice and slight fever during the first month, you haven’t fallen sick since. We hope you’ll continue to stay healthy and strong.

Love
Daddy & Mommy

There are baby rooms 2

I have checked out baby care rooms in some other malls and here are my verdict.

I was rather surprised that Bedok Point mall has a nursing room which has the requisite amenities and also rather clean, though it’s not very roomy. It has a water pot with hot and cold water. A changing table and a sink with soap and paper towel. There is no diaper or changing linen dispensers, but I guess those are nice to have.

A separate room is available for nursing, which can be locked.

I rate the baby room at Bedok Point 4 out of 5 stars for not having full amenities and limited space. (But I have to admit Bedok Point is a small mall and so I have to commend the developer for providing a baby care room.)

At Changi Airport terminal 3, we discovered a bigger nursing room at basement 3, next to the food court, which is also nicer looking than the one at the arrival hall on the 1st floor. There are 4 changing tables, and also hot water dispenser. But no other dispensers.

There are even armchairs for resting inside the baby room. Though we notice the one nearest the door has stains on it. I hope there is diligent cleaning of the room and its amenities.

There are 4 nursing rooms with doors, and a comfortable swiveling arm chair for nursing mothers.

We notice that staff working in the airport are using the nursing rooms as their rest area. Maybe there’re not many nursing mothers around, but I hope the staff are not taking up available nursing rooms. Anyway I rank this baby care room 4 out of 5 stars as well. I have taken half a star away for not being spanking clean.

At Tampines One mall, nursing rooms are available only on the 2nd and 5th floor, of which the room on the 2nd floor has only one nursing room compared to 2 on the 5th floor. Also when I was there last week, the hot water dispenser in the 2nd floor room is broken. Anyway here’s what the room on the 5th floor looks like.

As mentioned, there’s a hot/cold water dispenser between the 2 nursing rooms. There are 2 changing tables next to the sink. No dispenser for diapers or changing linen. The room is only big enough only for one stroller.

The nursing room is cordoned off for privacy with curtain.

I give this room 3.5 out of 5 stars for not having full amenities and lack of space and no door for the nursing rooms.

My husband told me that the baby care rooms at 313@Somerset is highly rated by a mom. So we checked out the room on Level 5 (where Food Republic food court is) yesterday when we were at the mall. I understand that there are also baby rooms on the 2nd floor and basement 3. (Update on 4 Sep: the baby rooms are available on B3, 1st and 5th floor.) Anyway the one on the 5th floor is rather spacious and clean; there are two nursing rooms, two changing tables, hot/cold water dispenser and even a microwave for sterilization use. But honestly, I wouldn’t recommend sterilizing plastics in microwave. At the end of the room is a child toilet.

The 2 nursing rooms are cordoned off with curtain. One of them has the curtain hook missing. There is a long bench and and an armchair inside the nursing room and it is also rather roomy.

I rate the baby room 4 out of 5 stars, as I really prefer nursing room that can be locked.

I have also used the baby care room in the Singapore Expo, which I mentioned in my earlier post ‘There are baby rooms and there are baby rooms’ dated 31 July. The changing tables are a little worn and one of the garbage bins is not working well. But it fulfills its function. I notice that the Expo staff also use the nursing rooms as their resting place. Again, I feel this is a misuse of amenities. Anyway I rate this baby room 3.5 out of 5 stars. The place has a basic feel to it, though it does seem clean.

Stories 4: Crazy, stupid, drunk

Story 1

It was the night of the company’s dinner and dance (D&D). The General Manager had given everybody time off from 3pm that afternoon so the staff could qdoll up for the evening’s theme, Music.

A bunch of girls were all ready by 6pm, with three of them dressed up as a girl group and one impersonating Rihanna. Since it was still early, they decided to go to a bar for a drink before proceeding to Hyatt hotel where the D&D was held. They had a round of beer and finger food of buffalo wings, which were yummy, after which the girls were off to the hotel.

It was pretty fun guessing who was impersonating who; there were John Lennon, Lady Gaga, Amy Winehouse, and Liza Minnelli etc, not to mention a rock singer, Phantom of the Opera, and a Elvis Presley wannabe. Even the CEO came dressed as Bruno of U2.

With the presence of wine lovers, you can be sure that wine would be aplenty at the event. Not only that, there was champagne to celebrate the 10th year service of a manager. One of the girls, X, was determined to immerse herself in the revelry. She downed the champagne during the toasting, and next, the wine on the table. By the time the night was coming to a close, you can say she was drunk.

X grabbed hold of the wife of a senior manager and said to her, “do you know that your husband talks really loudly? He is fierce to us!” She pleaded to the lady, “can we have a hug?” The wife graciously obliged and X clung on to her. A colleague tried to pull her away.

Just then, X spotted the CEO, who was about to leave as he had a flight to catch. She went over to him and grabbed his arm, “D, please don’t go. Do you know that the Delhi office staff miss you?” The CEO promised to return, though no Delhi staff was present. But X still held on to his arm, refusing to let go. Thank God the colleague was able to pry X away before she caused the CEO to miss his flight.

X wasn’t the only one who got drunk that night. A manager was downing the wine like water at his table. In the middle of the night, a table game was played in which each table had to perform a dance based on the music assigned to the table. His table was given ‘classical music’. So the group decided to do an European classical dance (whatever that is). Said manager danced with his wife who was dressed in a tutu. But when he was twirling her, because of his intoxicated state, he let go of her hand and she fell! As the rest of the group members looked at them stunned, instead of picking her up, he turned his attention to a colleague standing next to them, and extended his hand to her to continue the dance.

How you wish you could erase those embarrassing moments!

Story 2

B was young and bored with her life. She sought excitement from online chats and meeting up with these ‘Internet friends’. Many of those she chatted with were from overseas, particularly Indonesians. One of them was a younger guy, whom we shall call ‘Budi’.

B was looking for a place to go for a vacation end of the year, and Budi suggested Bali where it was the place to be to welcome the new year. He was also going there with some friends, and so they arranged to meet at Bali. Budi came with 2 friends, one of them was a girl who asked if she could share accommodation with B. The latter obliged since she was on a budget trip.

On new year eve, the four of them went to Kuta for seafood dinner and decided to hit the club scene by the beach after that. Kuta was full of people, many of them from Australia. It was as if the entire twentysomething crowd from down under had descended on the beachfront playground. There were also hell of a lot of cars and motor bikes on the narrow street, honking like mad. The restaurants and shops were decked out in festive decorations. There was a fun and party mood in the air.

Budi suggested checking out a club in the vicinity which had bungee jumping for patrons. B baulked; she might be crazy to go on a trip like this with strangers, but she wasn’t crazy enough to bungee jump. The new-found girlfriend wasn’t keen either. So they agreed to split and meet up again at 2am.

The two girls checked out a bar where there was dancing. In between the drinks, B had to accompany the friend to the beach to lend a listening ear to her talks of her boyfriend. But when midnight approached, B urged the friend to return to the bar for the count down. A whole bunch of intoxicated people were getting really excited as they eagerly chanted. “10, 9, 8, 7, … 3, 2, 1! Happy New Year!” People started kissing each others and B found herself grabbed by a middle-aged Caucasian man who planted a kiss on her cheek. Before she got herself kissed by every guys in the bar, she and the friend escaped to the beach.

It was 3am, but you wouldn’t know it by the partying going on and the number of people around. The girls were exhausted and wanted to return to the hotel, but they hadn’t heard back from the guys even though it was way past 2am. When they finally managed to get hold of the guys, the boys were having too much fun to leave. The two girls got fed up and decided to make their own way back. There were taxi touts lining the road, and they approached the girls if they wanted a ride. After negotiation on the fare, they hopped into a car/taxi. In addition to the driver, another guy also got into the front passenger seat.

The trip back to the hotel went through padi fields, which were literally pitch black. If not for the lights from the car, you wouldn’t be able to see a thing. During the entire ride, not a beep was uttered from both girls. B thought to herself, ‘what the hell have we done?’
By the time the taxi reached the hotel, both girls were completely sober. After getting off, they looked at each others and exclaimed, “fucking hell!! I was so worried just now.” “Me too!”

B never tried such foolishness again. After all, when you’ve safely ran through a firework factory with a lighted match in your hand, you wouldn’t want to tempt fate again.

Story 3
It was a late Friday afternoon, and there was a celebration of a successful closure of an assignment in the office pantry. There was finger food and a senior manager even arranged for white and red wine for everybody.

I had a glass of red, and Mei Ling told everybody that the white was good and we should try it. I got a glass as well. Just then the Managing Partner came into the pantry, and he was given a glass of white. He looked at it and commented in Cantonese, “so much? I can’t finish it.” He looked at my glass and said, “can I give you some of mine?” Stupid me said yes, and he went on to pour half the wine into it.

I thought if I had the wine with some food, I should be alright. After all this is wine, not vodka. So I had a couple of glasses (I think). By the time I was about to return to my desk, I was feeling tipsy. Christine and Jenny looked at me and the latter exclaimed, “she’s drunk!” I smiled at her and they laughed out loud.

I think I tottered back to my desk as best as I could in my heels. I was going to leave the office earlier that day as I had an appointment with SF Loh at The Private Suite in KK hospital. I was going to finish up a report before I leave. Honestly I didn’t know how I could still type out the report. Perhaps the alcohol hadn’t kick in full force yet. Christine said something behind me and I turned around, smiled and nodded my head. She was so tickled that she shouted, “Jenny, I didn’t even talk to Maria and she turned around and smiled and nodded her head at me. She’s really drunk!” I didn’t think I was drunk, I was only a little tipsy. I figured if I drank lots of water, that should purge out the alcohol.

Jenny came over and asked me, “are you sure you can go for your medical appointment?” I replied slowly, “Yeah, I’m taking a taxi there.” I got up, took my stuff and started to walk out of the office. I felt since I was still a little tipsy and wearing heels, I should be careful. Jenny couldn’t help hooting with laughter as she pointed out, “she usually storm around in her heels. But now, she walks as if she’s floating.” She then asked me if I needed help to go to the ground floor lobby, but I declined because I honestly didn’t think I was drunk.

I didn’t have difficulty getting a cab since one arrived just as I got to the drop-off bay. Inside the cab, I was texting with Jenny.
* gotr intro can
^ huh? What?
* taxi. Insidd tax i
^ Good, you’ll now get there in one piece

When I reached the Private Suite, I walked up to a nurse at the registration counter and said to her very slowly so that I could pronounce the words clearly, “I … am … here … to see … Dr Loh.” Without blinking an eye, she gave me a queue number ticket. I walked slowly to the sitting area in front of the assigned consultation room.

Jenny continued to text me.
^ are you at the clinic now?
* yea, waitung top see doctor
^ are you sure you can see him like this? You can’t even type properly.
* yea, i willj take lotss if waterc and oee.
* pee

So that was what I tried to do, taking lots of water so that I could pee out the alcohol. Though the redness on my face is a tell-tale sign. I did go to the bathroom a few times, and by the time my name was called, I didn’t think I was as tipsy as before and my face wasn’t flushed (as least not much). But I knew I wasn’t really my usual self. When I saw Loh, I smiled at him. Throughout the entire meeting, I was relatively subdued. Loh did all the talking, including telling me a story and, I just sat there looking at him in silence. If he suspected I was drunk, he sure didn’t show it.

It was the first and only time that I hardly said anything to Loh. Thank God I didn’t go emotional on him, which I tend to be when I’m drunk. Next thing I know, he might strike me off the IVF list for being emotionally unstable and a drunk.

Cupcake, anyone?

Cupcakes With Love

Recently I discovered a new cupcake shop at Tampines One mall. The mall has undergone significant changes in its retail mix, especially the 3rd floor, which now includes Daiso the $2 store, Awfully Chocolate, Jumbo Hotpot and the cupcake store, Cupcakes With Love.

The cupcakes may look a little plain but they are pretty good. Unlike most other stores, they are moist with the right amount of sweetness. The first cupcake I tried was Chocolate Storm. It has a white chocolate rice ball sitting on a chocolate fudge icing which is not cloyingly sweet. The base is a moist chocolatey cake which is tasty.

I like it so much that I returned a few days later to get more cupcakes. This time I bought (clockwise from top left) Durian cupcake, Matcha Marvel (Green Tea cupcake), Red Velvet and Adult Chocolate (chocolate cupcake with rum).

The icing on the durian cupcake is said to be made from pure durian purée. Personally I think it’s alright, not particularly sumptuous, the purée doesn’t taste like durian flesh which I prefer. But Adult Chocolate is pretty good; the rum enhances the chocolate taste. Red Velvet is not bad but I’m not a fan of this cake. My husband had the Matcha Marvel, and even though he doesn’t have a sweet tooth, he likes it and wouldn’t mind having it again.

Each cupcake is S$3.50 (US$2.80), and it’s not very big, about 3 2.5 inch in diameter across the widest part. But I like it this way, after all we should practice moderation in our diet. Other than the durian cupcake which has to be refrigerated, the rest can be kept in room temperature to be consumed within 3 days of purchase.

Butter Studio
I chanced upon this bakery, Butter Studio, at Changi Airport Terminal 3 basement 3. It offers cakes, muffins, macarons, but the attraction is the cupcakes, like these of the Angry Bird design.

There are interesting flavors like Chocolate Milo, Violet Kit-Kat and Go Bananas etc. And you can see that they are also rather pretty.

As per my usual habit, I bought one to try, Chocolate Mint. The cupcake is slightly smaller, at 2.5 inch wide. But it’s also cheaper at S$2.90 (US$2.31).

The cupcake has mint chocolate bits on top of the sour cream icing, sitting on a chocolate cake base. I’ve to say I’m not a fan of it, I find the combo strange. The mint chocolate just doesn’t go well with the sour cream. The cake base is not as moist as that from Cupcakes With Love. In fact it’s a little dry.

Cedele

I’ve never tried Cedele’s cupcakes until a few days ago. Funny thing is Cedele doesn’t call them cupcakes but cake even though they shape like the former.

The one above which I tried is called ‘Chocolate Chocolate’. It’s basically a death-by-chocolate cupcake, the icing is a Chocolate fudge ganache sitting on top of a chocolate cake base. I made the mistake of putting the cupcake into the fridge and having it only the next day. So to be fair to Cedele, I will not comment on the cake. But I want to say that I’m not sure if the ganache is the right choice; instead of having icing like any regular cupcake it’s like eating a piece of chocolate with a cake. Anyway the cupcake is S$3.80 (US $3.03) each and is the same size as those from Cupcakes With Love.

Update on 21 August

To be fair to Cedele, I tried the Chocolate cupcake again. I realize that because I stored it in the fridge, the ganache icing hardened and so when I had it the last time it tasted like a piece of chocolate. So that was my bad.

This time, I had the cupcake on the day I bought it. The ganache turns out to be a very chocolatey icing and the texture now goes well with the sponge cake beneath. But the cake base is not as moist as the one from Cupcakes With Love. In fact Cedele seems unable to make moist sponge cake, at least not for the chocolate flavor. I’ve tried their chocolate sponge cake with raspberry jam, and I was pretty disappointed by its dryness. Anyway for the cupcake, i like the rich chocolatey taste but I wish they would tone down the sweetness. Maybe it’s meant to be eaten with coffee, still they should consider those who want to have it on its own.

Parenting, self taught

Some parents have said no amount of reading on baby books or attending childbirth education course will prepare you for taking care of a baby. That, my dear, is absolutely 200% true! For new parents, and maybe for experienced parents too, there’re a lot of trials and errors because each baby is unique.

First of all, how would I know breast feeding will not come easy and I should be prepared for blocked milk ducts which hinder me from feeding the baby? All the literature and experts kept saying supply will come with demand, and advocate total breast feeding if possible. Yes, but how about also giving us the various scenarios that may hinder a successful breast feeding? In my case, blocked milk ducts reduces supply, and because I didn’t realize what was happening and considered formula milk (FM) as inferior, I caused baby Alex to get dehydrated. Even without the milk duct problem, supply may not meet demand for whatever reasons.

The truth is breast milk doesn’t flow as you wish. My friend, Mae, told me to stand by formula milk just in case I need it. But I didn’t take her advice; I was too gungho. In the end, Alex is fed more formula milk than breast milk because my supply was drastically reduced. Still I’m slowly making a comeback, starting with half a feed of breast milk a day, to one full feed and now 2 feeds.

When it comes to formula milk, it’s not all the same and trial and error come in. We tried Dumex HA (hypoallergenic milk) Infant milk powder from the beginning and it suits Alex. Unfortunately it’s not widely available, and so when my husband couldn’t find it at the supermarket, he got the Similac brand of infant milk powder, which is not HA, without realizing the difference. He got an earful from me, and even though I was ambivalent, he didn’t think the difference mattered. But it turned out he was wrong. The milk powder caused Alex to become more gassy than usual and as a result, he was upset. In fact he was difficult to console and I had to rush to the nearest 24hr supermarket to look for the Dumex FM and thank God it was in stock.

At another time, my husband decided to try another brand of HA FM, Nan. But after trying it a few times, again it’s found not suitable for Alex. But this time he couldn’t find the Dumex HA milk, instead he tried his luck with the non-HA formula from Dumex. Strangely Alex is able to take it, but we don’t know why the powder produces a lot of bubbles after we mix it with water. Anyway we’re definitely sticking with Dumex. But now we’ve to get rid of the extra tins of Similac and Nan FM my husband bought. I’m going to try to sell them at a discount. The same goes for diapers. We tried a few brands such as Mamypoko, Merries, Pampers, Drypers and Huggies. Personally I like Pampers for its snug fit, good absorbency and easy to use, but it’s also the most expensive. Currently Alex is using both Huggies and Mamypoko. We still have half a bag of Drypers which we’re looking to give away.

We’ve been told initially that we shouldn’t rock baby to sleep. Even Gina Ford stated in her book that baby should be allowed to sleep on his/her own. But guess what? When baby refuses to sleep and thrashes around for more than 5 mins, and then started crying, you can’t just let the baby cry it out. Alex doesn’t cry himself to sleep, he can wake up the dead! The rocker we bought is a God-send when it comes to soothing him. Yes, we rock him to sleep and my husband also cuddles him to sleep as well. Once he does, we then put him in the cot. But he doesn’t sleep very long in the cot during the day. Thing is he wants company and he doesn’t like us leaving him in the cot alone in the room. There’re experts who advocate cry it out, but according to the blog, Troublesome Tots, that should not be attempted for newborns (1-3 months old) because at this young age, babies require a lot of soothing. We’ll deal with the sleep problem when it comes later, and will look at the cry it out method.

I did try to put Alex on a routine but it’s not been very successful. Right now we’re following a very fluid routine which basically is the morning feed (between 6.30am to 7.30am), after which I don’t put him back into the cot as he’s supposed to be awake until 8am. Most times he can’t stay awake and will nap after the feed and it’s almost impossible to wake him up. I put him in the rocker instead as he doesn’t like the play mat now. He prefers to sit up and look around him. Then there’s the morning bath which takes place between 10.30am to 11.30am. In the early evening, there’ll be feeding then follow by a wipe-down between 7.00pm to 8.00pm, and bedtime. But he doesn’t fall asleep easily and even when he does, he’ll wake up after 30 minutes and stays awake until 11pm. It’s really not possible to follow the nap time in the Gina Ford’s routine, because Alex has a mind of his own.

The good thing now is that Alex is able go 2.5-3 hours between feeds, and during wee hours of the night, it’s even longer, between 3-4 hours. So I realize, at least for Alex, I shouldn’t expect a newborn to go longer than 2 hours between feeds before he/she is more than 2 months old. Even when Alex seems to show hunger signs when it’s less than 2 hours or even at 2-hour mark, he’s not really hungry. When we rock him, he goes back to sleep instead, and only when he keeps crying despite being rocked is he truly hungry. I seriously do not know how a newborn (under 2 months old) can go on a 3-hourly routine.

Oh, the advice to us not to buy too many baby clothes is a good one. Alex has already outgrown his newborn clothes, and now wearing 3-6 months old clothes. Thank God his amount of feed has reduced from 1.3 liters a few weeks ago to currently 1 liter, which means his growth rate will stabilize.

Alex hearts his rocker

Babies fall asleep easily in car seats as any parents will tell you

(Update on 10 August)
If only baby can talk. There’re times when Alex cries even though he isn’t hungry and it’s not because he requires a diaper change, nor is he sick. Sometimes he just feels cranky or we think he is cranky because we seriously don’t know why. The only thing we can do is to cuddle him. He prefers to be carried by my husband than me; my husband thinks it’s because he feels more secure being carried by him and besides he has a broad chest which must be comfortable for Alex. So I mostly cuddle him for a while before putting him down on the rocker. Now the couch is my second bed. When I’ve to put Alex in the rocker in the early hours of the morning, I sleep on the couch to keep him company.

I’ve also just realized that I repeated half of my points here, which were brought up in various earlier posts. Goes to show how sleep deprivation affects memory. I can’t even remember what I had for my dinner 2 days ago.

Alex the Chubby Baby

Alex turned 2 months old last Wednesday, and what a big difference in terms of size since he was born and when he was 1 month old. We took him to Dr OK that day and his weight was taken and it was a whopping 7.14kg (15.71 lbs). That is more than double his birth weight! Dr OK told us he’s now in the 97th percentile of the weight for babies in his age group, but she is not alarmed by his rapid weight growth. She told us that it’ll slow down from now. My husband thinks most of his weight is due to his large head, which is measured to be 40.1cm in circumference. His body length has grown to 59cm, which is a little less than what I hoped for (I was hoping he would have developed long legs).

That same day, I brought Alex to have lunch with Natasha and baby Liam at Canton Paradise restaurant. It was funny to see Alex being the same size as Liam even though the latter is 4 months old already. One restaurant staff even asked us if they were twins. Natasha thinks Liam has thunder thighs but she was amazed to see Alex even chubbier. Here’s a picture of both of them, too bad Liam’s stroller had his shade down and so his face is in the shadow. I know, my bad photography skill.

Last Monday, my husband and I went to Toys R Us to look for a swing for Alex to sleep in. I had earlier checked out this blog Troublesome Tots on how baby sleeps better in a swing and the author also suggested playing white noise to the baby. The rationale is that when the baby is inside the womb, he/she experiences a lot of movement and pretty loud noise for 9 months. In fact the noise level is only slightly lower than a lawn mover. So baby actually likes loud white noise. This also explains why colicky babies tend to settle down when they are in a moving car or stroller or exposed to white noise such as that from a vacuum cleaner or dryer.

We got Alex to try out a swing and a couple of rockers. He didn’t feel comfortable in the swing, my husband commented he had a worried look on his face. But he was comfortable in a Fisher-Price rocker which has a vibration function. It’s a pity the rocking motion is not mechanized. It turns out Alex prefers the rocker to his cot. He can go into deep sleep in it. I know there’re baby experts out there who advise against rocking the baby to sleep, but if you deal with a baby who refuses to sleep on the cot on his own, you need another solution.

Here’s a happy Alex in his rocker.

Alex can get rather cranky in the evening, what the blog called the ‘witching hours’ of between 5pm to 11pm when a baby doesn’t want to sleep. Lately he also wants to suckle on the breasts rather than taking to the bottle of milk. To be honest, I rather that he takes the bottle since it’s quick and less tiring for me. Unfortunately i don’t know why, he’s rejecting the bottle more often than not now, unless he’s very hungry or sleepy. So most times in the wee hours of the night, he takes the bottle with no complaints, same when we’re out. So you see, there’s no such thing as nipple confusion with Alex.

We bought this Medela nipple called ‘Calma’ which is supposedly developed through research to make baby suckle just like from the mother’s breast. Guess what? Alex doesn’t like it. In fact I’ve better success feeding him using the wide base Medela nipple, though I have to use stealth to quickly shove it into his mouth to fool him when he only wants to breast feed. But it only works sometimes. The boy’s too smart for his own good! The problem is I only have one wide base nipple cuz it comes with the breast pump from US. I called the local distributor here and found out that only standard nipple is available in Singapore. WTH!! Anyway we found out that as long as we make sure he’s really hungry, he takes the bottle regardless of standard or wide base nipple.

Alex is also trying to raise his big head, even though his neck muscles are still not strong enough to raise his head without support. But he’s undetered and keeps trying. We put him down on his tummy on the changing mat after his bath recently, and he managed to raise his head for a bit of time. He looks like the Michelin baby here with his chunky arms.