Just the Three of Us
Monday, October 25, 2010
Dear Grace

Firstly, apologies for the lack of updates, from your Papa’s perspective as I have been real busy with work.

Over the past few weeks, so much have happened. What struck me particularly is how mischievous you have grown. I do not mean this in the negative or bad way, but rather, it brings a smile to me as I type this. You resemble your old man to the extent where worrying thoughts of you being overly-demanding or passionate (depending on perspectives) may actually affect you negatively in future. I do think it is great for us to live our lives passionately, to laugh out loud, to cry/shed tears and to voice our opinions without any fear of repercussions. However, the truth is people are generally sensitive, and sometimes, we need to exercise a certain amount of self-control. Now, that will be a difficult lesson to teach you as even I am trying to find the right balance.

So what’s the plus side of your mischievousness? Well, you simile and laugh with no hesitation and that causes joy to radiate throughout our home. And for now, this is all that matters!

Grace! Watch Out!!!
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Grace has been very eager to perfect her newly-learned motor skill (walking) lately. Recently, much to our alarm, she started running around the house. Just as we were wondering when she would have her first bump, it happened yesterday afternoon when Mum was about to leave. She tripped and hit her head. My heart sank when I saw her face plastered against the shoe cabinet. She cried 2 weeks worth of tears. Heartache!

We sprang into action of icing her bump to reduce the swell before bringing her to the doctor. Though she returned to normalcy after wailing inconsolably for 10 minutes, she’s under close monitoring for the next 24 hours.

The Husband’s response?

Husband: I told you not be overly-confident.
Me: *silence*
Husband: So what do you have to say to me? *in jest*
Me: Nothing… it was an accident. *defensively*

Truth be told, it was really hard watching Grace get hurt. It’s even harder not to feel guilty. There were many thoughts of “I could have and should have” done this and that. Well, as part of the healing process, here’s the apology.

Dear Grace,
Mama is sorry for not being vigilant enough. It’s my negligence. I will try my best to prevent accidents from happening in future. How I wish the bump is on me and not on you. Praying much that God will continue to watch over you and keep you safe. XOXO

To the Husband:
Your “teachings” have not fallen on deaf ears. Have I got the 3 parts of a sincere apology correct? =P
1) I’m sorry.
2) It’s my fault.
3) How can I make it right? (The most important part which makes the apology sincere)

Addicted to Grace

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I'm so in love with Papa!

Recently, the Husband and I had to attend a wedding dinner of a close friend. To put it on record, that was the most elaborated wedding I’ve ever attended and most probably in my lifetime. We expected the dinner to end late, so we decided not to bring Grace along. Actually, I was secretly delighted as this would be the first time that the Husband and I had some couple time ever since Grace was born. We thought we could enjoy the night without having to fuss over Grace. We were wrong. We started to miss her even as we were walking to the car.

The Husband: I feel something's missing when Grace’s not with us.
Me: Yes. I miss carrying Grace’s diaper bag too.

As we were afraid of waking Grace up when we returned that night, we put her with my mum in the other room. You would think that the Husband and I could finally have a night of uninterrupted sleep. On the contrary, we didn’t sleep very well either. We missed Grace terribly that night. We had half the mind to carry her over to our room when we returned home at midnight. However, fearing that we would disrupt her sleep, we resisted that fleeting thought.

We realised that Grace has become so much a part of us that we are incomplete without her. Right from the start, we have always made it a point not to overburden my mum with the caring of our gal unnecessarily. We just cannot bear the thought of leaving Grace with mum while we take the night out to enjoy ourselves. At present, the Husband and I will take turns to have some “ME” time to go fishing, shopping or meet up with our friends every now and then. Other than work and the occasional time-offs, every waking minute is spent with Grace.

We heard of how unwise it is for a couple not to spend time alone with each other. On the contrary, Grace is the cement that holds our relationship together. In fact, we love each other more because we appreciate the sacrifices that we have made for the family. We have never been closer and happier.

To us, it was a conscious decision to start a family 2 years ago and we are determined not to go anywhere without Grace. If there’s a place or function that’s not child-friendly, we will give it a miss unless absolutely necessary.

Come end of the year, we are going to bring her to Phuket! We haven’t gone for a proper holiday for 2 years. Gosh… how I miss the smell of the aircraft! I hope Grace will enjoy herself there too. Will update our adventures AND misadventures when we are back. = D


Self-weaning
Monday, October 18, 2010

Grace seems to be very eager to embrace her independence and freedom recently. Ever since she started toddling, she can’t wait to take off at every opportunity. She will shrug away our offer to hold her hand and insist on walking on her own without any assistance. This is actually more backbreaking than having to carry her as we have to scamper after her.

My fear of weaning her from nursing proves to be unfounded. She actually weaned herself off right after she turned one. Probably she finds nursing too infantile for her now that she is a toddler.

Just a few entries back, I wrote about the trauma of weaning Grace off her night feeds. Apparently, she’s in the process of weaning herself off the night feeds too. She has her last feed at 9.30p.m everyday, sleeps before 10p.m and usually wakes up between 4.30am and 6am for a milk feed. On good days, she falls back to sleep. Otherwise, she will be very eager to begin her day as early as 6am. Theoretically, as long as a baby sleeps through 6-8 hours, that’s considered sleeping through the night. However, a part of me still greedily wishes that she will sleep for a longer stretch. Let’s see if the situation improves by the end of the year.

We have one more battle to fight. The Husband and I think this is going to be a BIG one. I shall call this “Mission Impossible – The Pacifier”. Although she only takes the pacifier to soothe herself to sleep, it seems that she's rather reliant on it at the moment. We don’t know when and how we are going to do it. I did some reading up on strategies to wean babies off the pacifier. However, I have my apprehensions as I have come to realise that there is usually a clear divergence between theory and reality. Without fail, the authors will include infamous disclaimers such as “Each baby is unique” or “It will vary from baby to baby”. I may just throw those theories out of the window and go with my instincts.

A note of caution to any parent-to-be who happens to read this post:
The pacifier is truly an ingenious invention. It soothes the parents more than the baby. With the pacifier, there’s peace in the household, but be mindful that this is just a short respite. So consider yourself warned. Don’t ask for trouble unless trouble troubles you!

Grace, Jia you!
Monday, October 11, 2010

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In the age of Facebook and Twitter, blogs seem to be losing its popularity these days. Uploading pictures with short captions seem to be so convenient and almost instantaneously, one can share photos and bits of their life with friends in a matter of a few minutes. Undeniably, the lure of this quick-fix to journal Grace’s life is great, especially when the Husband and I have very little time even to rest. We have been so busy that we don’t even have the time to formulate a thought. Nonetheless, we will persevere as far as we can to take time to pen down Grace’s developmental milestones.

In terms of physical development, Grace is pretty much on track. To name a few off-hand, at 13 months, she’s toddling around (unassisted) the house like an inspector, playing football and throwing balls in the living room, clambering onto the sofa and bed when no one’s watching, singing (you’ll have to imagine the melody yourself though) and dancing to music, etc. The “Happy Birthday” song and “Nobody” by the Wonder Girls are her all-time favourite.

While Grace is not meeting her speech and language developmental milestones as quickly as her physical ones, I think she’s still making great progress. At present, if she’s caught in the mood to talk, she’s able to say a few words like…

1) Mama
2) Nai Nai (Grandma in Mandrin)
3) flower
4) egg
5) map (all thanks to Dora, the Explorer)
6) red
7) black
8) bread
9) ya (her version of ‘yes’)
10) wait

We can’t wait for her to talk more so that we can be spared of trying to decode her babbling or making out what she’s pointing at.

Grace, jiayou! Mama shall endeavour to talk and read more often to you!