My Baby is Sick

She is sick.. Caught a fever last Tuesday. Daddy did not realise that the little one is sick till when I came home from work. Daddy was complaining that the little one was rejecting dinner and was cranky the whole night.

I carried the little one out of the high chair wanting to clean her up since she does not want dinner only to find that she was running a temperature. No wonder she was cranky. Gave her a quick bath and measured her temp which was 37.8 degrees. Gave her paracetamol immediately and she slept.

Her temperature rose to 38.5 in the middle of the night and I had to bath her to bring her temp down. It was difficult to make her drink some milk before giving her another dose of medication. The worst thing was that I had to fly off the next day. I could only bring her to the doc in the morning and bring her to my in laws following that. Frankly, I flew with a heavy heart.

I am lucky that my in laws love her so much that they were willing to do anything for her. Hubs took leave the next day to take care of her as we were afraid that her temperature will spike at night triggering fits. He had to monitor her temperature faithfully throughout the night. Poor hubs... did not have sufficient sleep that few days till I was back. Luckily her fever broke on Friday and on Saturday she was feeling lots better.

They picked me up from the airport that day and I could see that she was very lethargic and weak. When I looked at her closely, I realised that she was having some rashes! I have heard that rashes were common after toddler's fever break. I heave a sigh of relieve but was still worried. The rashes did not disappear the next day hence we skipped swimming lessons and Zac's First Birthday Celebration.

Friends saw my post on FB and called me. Some also offered answers on why she was having rashes. A friend suggested that she was having Roseola Rash or Infant Rash. I googled it and the symptoms described on one of the websites really described what Janelle had.

1) Red or pink raised rash all over the body
2) Easily irritable

She had the runs today and we brought her to the doc as the rashes seem to have increased in numbers. I guess being a first time parent; we brought her to the doctor for confirmation. We were given some lotion to apply and medication to reduce the rash. Hope that she will be better tomorrow.

My First Mother's Day

This year's Mother's Day, we celebrated in School instead since Janelle has started going for her playgroup classes begining of May. She adapted pretty well in school although she screamed and cried whenever I dropped her off for the first two weeks. However, I heard that she had refused to go home when MIL picked her up!! Hahahhaa.

The school sent us invites to join them in the celebration, curious as what they have in stored for us, we agreed to join in the celebration. We met up with a few of Janelle's classmates and their parent when we arrived.


The invite which Janelle has afixed her thumb print. Really small isn't it?

The celebration kicked off with us doing a scrapbook on the family photo which we had to bring along. Janelle was not much of a help as she was more interested in making a mess of the things that were provided for us.


The completed project...


The family photo taken by Teacher Yaya


Janelle presented me with a flower

Which she broke into two....

Hahhaa... it was an unforgetable Mother's Day.

Janelle's Overseas Trip - BKK 29 April to 02 May 11

We flew the first time with Janelle in tow. We wanted to bring her overseas but could not decide on where we should go. The trip has to have a short flight and food must be suitable for a todder. BKK seems to fit the bill and there was a promotion for the air tickets there! BKK it was!

Packing a luggage with a todder is also not an easy thing to do. We had to ensure that she has sufficient food and diapers. Had to think about alternative food which we can bring over just in case she refuses to eat the food over there. We ended up with two huge luggages when we usually will need one!

We were lucky that Janelle was pretty cooperative during the flight, she just fall asleep whenever the plane is cruising along the runway and wakes up 30 mins before we reach our destination. I will say that our airport is the best! The presence of the baby stroller at the departure hall was something that really helped parents who are travelling. She was willing to be strapped in her seat while we have our meals at the airport. This aid us as there were no baby chairs around in the restuarant. Or maybe its just the one I went to.

Upon reaching the hotel, Janelle immediately checked out the bed! She just simply climbed onto the bed and made herself comfortable! Placing herself on the bed with the pillows for support, she just laid there while we busied ourselves unpacking the luggage and preparing to go for dinner! Talking about enjoying life. I think Janelle knows more about that compared to either of us.

Whenever we go to BKK it was either for work or a shopping trip. This time round, we changed our plans and headed to Dreamworld in BKK. We met up with Phi, Tib, Wanida and family for a group trip. It was raining in the morning and I was worried that we could not go ahead with our plans. As heaven has planned for us, the rain stopped and it became a cloudy day with fantastic weather for out door activities. It was not scorching hot but it was still humid. Better then raining.

Janelle with Ing on the tiger

Janelle in the Giant's Boots in Jack and the Beanstalk

Dear and Janelle outside the Witch's House in Hansel and Gretal

Little Ing and Janellle on Cinderalla's Horses

Janelle's virgin ride in the amusement park. Amazingly she did not cry and tried to calm Ing down when he cried. She only cried when she realised that her companion has left the helicoptor.

Ing and Janelle having a very serious discussion about the sofa over dinner.

Both kids seems to hit off quite well with Ing always wanting to be with Janelle during dinner. He also wanted to eat almost everything that Janelle is eating. It was always amusing to us to see the two todders communicate with each other in their baby languages. It was a pity that we did not capture the moments when they were chatting. Both of them always stop when we bring out our cameras.

Shopping is something that we could not miss out in all our trip to BKK. However the little one was not very cooperative when it comes to me shopping. She insisted that I carried her almost throughout the day. I was unable to try any clothings. It was a good thing that we brought our carrier there. If not I do not think I will be able to carry her over long periods of time.


Daddy and Janelle taking photos while waiting for mummy to buy lunch


Janelle loves travelling on our luggage
Will we bring her out again? I will love to... but Dear thinks otherwise. He wants some couple time. So where should we go next?

Confession of a Guilty Mother

I realised that I had not been updating the blog for more then 6 months! Janelle has turned 16 months and not one blog since her birthday. What a mother!! Hahahaha. Now I don't know where to start.

Sometimes I really hope that she stops growing. I preferred and miss when she is just a baby. I can carry her and hug her. Now, she just wants to play and refuses to let me carry her unless she is cranky or wants to sleep. Been more active now, she has also lost her baby fats and is not as chubby as before. I miss her chuncks of meat. hahhaha.

On her verbal growth, she hasn't really called me or her dad yet. She just goes mom, mom, mom. But I don't think she is calling out for me. She also refuses to say anything till CNY. We brought her to the market and suddenly she shouted, CAT! We were shocked. When hubs brought her to the playground, she chased after a school of birds and shouted bird, bird, bird.

I read the Sleeping Beauty book to her and asked her to point out where is the dog in the picture. She just said dog and that was it. She doesn't want to repeat it again. She is so stingy with words. I know that she understands what we told her and wants her to do as she will follow our instructions. But she just simply refuses to talk when asked to. Wonder when she will really talk.

Maybe I should just enjoy the moments when there is peace and quiet in the house. Most mummies told me that once she found her voice, there will not be any moment of peace. Hahhahaa.

Watching her grow up has indeed changed the way I look at things. Now I dare to say that she is my first priority in everything. I am sorry Dear, she over took your position.

Darling Turning One

My little darling is turning one!

Seriously I wondered where all the 365 days went. It seems that she was only born yesterday when she came into this world quietly and screamed after the nurse hit her butt. After that, we know that her cries and screams are loud enough for everyone to hear her.

Looking back at the photos which we had taken of her since the day she was born, I am amazed at how much she changed since day 1. Did she really change that much?

From the crumpled skin her to the plump baby to her now (she slimed down a bit).

From drinking only breast milk to formula to solids now

From when she could not even lift up her head or turn to standing and crawling now.

From not being able to recognize any of us till now she knows who is mummy, daddy (whom she bullies) and grandma and grandpa.

She have changed so much that I start to question if I have taken enough photo of her? Am I spending quality time with her since I have more responsibilities at work and flying around more.

Wonder what mischief is she currently up to at this moment in time when I am not around at home.

Janelle Standing up

Took this video before I head to the airport. My little girl is capable of pulling herself up to stand!

7 to 8 Months

Janelle is progressing so fast. She has started on eating porridge and grown two teeth!! Janelle is able to crawl a little, flip, sit up on her own and even stand up! She will always use us or things around her to pull herself upright. I only realised that she could sit up on her own after we came back from Japan. Shugz, I missed her first sitting up. I have already missed her flips and standing up. I wonder what I will miss next....

Janelle Loves Avocado

Janelle Holding Her Own Bottle

We have been trying to make Janelle hold her own bottle. Its only when Dear lost his hold on her bottle while feeding her that he realised Janelle knows how to hold her own bottle when it drops. Since that day, we did not hold the bottle for her anymore and always let her hold her own. We still have to hold the bottle for her when she is about to finish her milk.

Janelle seems to be on milk strike nowadays. She does not drink as much as she used to drink. Hiaz... Wonder if its because we fed her cereal and she has a taste of other food other then milk.

A Mother's Guilt

I am back at work for a month or so. In fact I have also travelled overseas for training and left my little precious girl in Singapore. While overseas I never fail to think about her whenever I am free and will scroll through her pictures which I have in my phone. At that point, I regretted in not having more photos of her in my phone. Hahhaha I must be crazy right?

Sometimes due to my work, I can only come back at 7pm. At that time, Janelle is about to go to bed for the night. I cannot spend more time with her. I feel so guilty about it. Ohhh... How I miss the days when I just spend the entire day with her. Can I go back in time? She is growing, changing and achiving different milestone each day but I am not there to witness it.

Recently at 4 months and two weeks, she started to flip onto her tummy on her own. She just suddenly learn to turn on her own without any signal or warnings. I feel so sad that I wasn't the first person to witness her first flip. sob sob.


Little play time with mummy.

During CNY, we also realised that she has learnt to recongise people. When we were at my mother's place, when my dad carried her, she will look at my dad and look around the house before starting to wail! She seems to know that the person who is carrying is not her parents and this isn't her home. I assume that she cried as she does not meet my parents often. However I was proven wrong when we went to Hubby's grandma's place and did not allow my MIL to carry her. My MIL has been taking care of Janelle for more than a month. Why does Janelle allow MIL or FIL to carry her?

I hope that I will not miss out anything in Janelle's milestone. I know there is no way that I can turn back the clock and do it all over again.


Little Janelle in her bounce-about







We also have started Janelle on solids. She seems to love the brown rice cereal which we first started her on. We also have started her on Avocado and she really loves it. She will cry and ask for more whenever we feed her. Next I am going to try carrots or peas. Hmmm hopefully she will like vegetables.


Janelle having her yummy brown rice cereal






I simply love it when she wear this bodysuit

3 months going onto 4 months

How fast time has passed, its already almost 4 months since the birth of my baby girl, Janelle. I am back at work for two days already. While at work, Janelle is under the care of my in laws. Its really difficult to leave for work each day when I place her at my in laws.

While browsing through the photos, which were taken when she was just one month old, I realised that she looked so different and how much she has changed since.


First month


Second Month


Third Month

More photos of her which I had took and had no time to post them.

Sitting in the highchair and enjoying it. We started to place her in the highchair when she refuses to lie down.

The first time and the only time she held her own bottle.

Sleeping position 101.... She simply loves to place her bolster on her face.

Smelling her smelly bolster

Bolster on her forhead.

Falling asleep while I was driving...must be pretty tired.

Seems like we were disturbing her.

3rd Month

Janelle has reached her 3rd month mark. Now each morning when she wakes up, she will smile at me when I pick her up from her cot. Then she will start chattering as if she is telling me what she had dreamt last night. Sometimes after she poo and I question her about it, she will smile at me sheepishly as if though she know that she has done something wrong.

She also got cheekier and naughtier with each increasing day. Now she wants to be picked up whenever she cries. She simply will cry louder and louder when she realised that we are beside her but not picking her up. She also seems to know when I am angry and tries to wriggle her way out by smiling at me. Isn't she cheeky.

I also have hit a milestone in breastfeeding as I have been breast feeding her fully for 3 months. This is certainly not an easy task since I have to eat right and wake up in the middle of the night to express out the milk since she has been sleeping through the nights. Recently she seems to be on a growth spur and start waking up in the middle of the night for her feeds again. I hope that I will be able to sustain the current amount of breast milk for her till at least I am back at work.

We also have brought her to my in laws' place to allow her to transition to stay at their place. The first time I brought her there as I had go back to office for a few hours. She cried so loudly that day as if she knew that I am going to leave her there. Maybe it was time for her nap and she found herself to be in an unfamiliar house. The following visit, I ensured that she was sleeping first before I bring her there. This time round she is not as cranky as before and was more willing to be carried by my in laws. Oh how I missed her when I placed her there and left. My mind was constantly thinking what she was doing over there. I felt so gulity when I leave the place and just could not help thinking what is she doing and whether she is crying for me.

She got all the attention she wanted over at my in laws. They carried her and played with her constantly. When she is home, she demanded the same amount of attention and when its not given to her, she just simply screamed. Hiaz...

However she is also settled into a routine that I am comfortable with. Unlike the initial two months where her sleep and wake time were all so uncertain. There are times she will only sleep for an hour in the entire day and there are times when she will sleep almost the entire day. Now she will take two major naps in the day and shorter naps in between. This gives me more breathing space and rest time.

No matter how tough it might be taking care of her, I am enjoying the process tremedously and is dreading the day when I have to go back to work. Can I stay home and take care of her???

Janelle Goes Swimming

Janelle always loves to kick whenever we bath her. Sometimes she kicks so hard that she hits her head against the bath tub. So when I got a voucher from a friend to bring Janelle go swimming, we brought her there today.

She was a darling when the lady over at the shop did warm up exercises with her to help her loosen her muscles. As she always hates people touching her head, when the lady placed the float on her, she screamed. The crying stopped immediately when she was placed in tub. She enjoyed herself tremedously in the pool. She started kicking and looking around when she is in there. She also rewarded everyone who played or looked at her with smiles.

She enjoyed herself so much that she cried when she was removed from the tub. We have signed up for her to go for another 10 sessions. After the swim she was so tired that she slept for 5 hours straight.

Janelle Fist Eating Movie

Janelle seems to be putting everything in her mouth nowdays. She starts with part of her fist and trying to lick the entire fist.

Janelle Talking?

Janelle has reached a stage where she will response to us when we talk to her. Finally we managed to capture a video of her cooing while I talk to her in the morning. Usually after she wakes up in the morning and starts to cry, I will pick her up and chat with her. It was a little difficult to capture this video as she will always keep quiet when the camera is rolling and start to coo again when we stop the camera.

Janelle has hit her 2 months mark and I also had successfully breast feed her for an entire two months. Hopefully I will have the willpower and strength to carry on as long as I can. Its not an easy task breast feeding a baby. If you are low on supply you worry that you do not have enough for your baby. If you have sufficient, you have to be careful and diligent to prevent the onset of mastitis due to engorgement. I also have to wake up in the middle of the night to express out the milk. That reduces the amount of continuous sleep that I can get. I am a big panda now.

I was sick

Janelle has started to sleep longer at night. There are times she will only wake up once for her feed instead of twice a night. On Tuesday, I brought her out for a gathering. She fell asleep while on our way there but woke up to the noise and sounds at Swensens. As there were other babies around, Janelle kept staring and looking at the others around her. She only took a nap when we were on our way home and totally knocked out after I fed and bath her for the day.

She was so tired that she did not wake up for her feed that night. I kept waking up at the timings which she usually feeds but she did not wake up. I delayed pumping the milk as I was afraid that she will wake up and has nothing to feed on. I only started to pump at 5.30 am after 7 hours since the last feed. I did not pump all the milk and wanted to feed her when she is awake. However she did not manage to clear all the milk. As the day drags on, the accumulation of the milk in my breast increased and I could not clear it by pumping. The milk ducts was blocked. It was then I started to develop a temperature. I suspected that I was having a fever and asked hubby to come home as soon as he could. While waiting for him to be home, it was a torturous wait as I still had to take care of Janelle.

When hubby reached home, I took my temperature and found that I had a fever of 38.8 degrees. I went to the doctor and was advise to consider stop breastfeeding. As I am breastfeeding, the Doc could not give me stronger medication to curb the high fever. By giving me weaker medication, it could mean that it will take a longer time for me to recover. If I could not clear the block ducts I may have to undergo surgery to release the milk. Hence I was asked to return for a follow up consultation on Saturday.

Luckily I could clear the blocked ducts after using cold compress and taking a warm bath. The fever has subsided and I felt much better already. This was really a terrible experience for me. I will not be lazy again and will wake up min 4 hourly to pump out the milk.

Photoblog

A happy Janelle

A very unhappy Janelle who is able to cry.

ahha

The pacificer is taped to her to prevent her from waking up and to sleep longer by my Dearest Husband.