The Great Leap . . .

Yipppeeee!!! Pop some champagne, do some cheers!!!!! Our little 玄玄 finally did an independent flip from back to tummy!!!

Daddy put her into her cot for her evening nap and went back to working on his PC. Mommy went to bathe. When Mommy finished her bath, she still heard 玄玄 playing with the bumper book in her cot.

A while later, Daddy and Mommy heard 玄玄 cry. So we 'dragged' our feet cos we had wanted her to nap a while, which obviously did not happen. But when Mummy stepped into 玄玄's room, she was shocked beyond words. Calling Daddy in, he too dropped jaw. 小玄子 was on her tummy crying for attention. Daddy and Mummy were so so so happy. She was picked up and kissed and praised for a good while (although seriously, no one knows if she understood why she was suddenly so loved). What a great leap ... she finally is able to flip independently without prompting... 1 week to being 6 months old!! (Daddy and Mummy were quite worried why she isn't flipping at this stage.)

Another milestone ... hit!!!

玄玄学游泳!!!

Mummy bought a neck float for 小玄玄 and finally found some time to let her have a go one Saturday afternoon. But since she is only 4 months old and have not tried it before, her debut swim will be .... in the bathtub!!!

Although she's tall enough to stand and easily keep herself above the water level, 玄子 could still float around. She was managing quite well as she floated around on her own and was even able to flip herself over when she reached the end of the tub, much to the amazement of Mummy. She seemed to like it, swimming around the small small 'pool', exploring how her kick can move herself forward in the water.

Mummy can't wait to let her try the bigger pool soon...!

玄玄嘎嘎笑!

She has just started to laugh heartily, moving on after she learned how to smile.

Excursion to the Zoo . . .!

玄玄 was woken up by Mummy early in the morning. While wondering why, she still managed to squeeze a smile for Mummy before being wheezed off to bathe. After dressing up and putting in some effort to cry for feed, we all hopped on to 爷爷's cab and tooted down to the zoo.

On reaching, 玄玄finally got her breakfast while waiting at the KFC for 姑姑, 姑丈, Sean哥哥 and Ning姐姐. After all are ready, we started our exciting day ahead. Mummy & Daddy tried to take the first photo with 玄子 at the entrance of the zoo. But she wasn't interested. Arghh.. how exciting!!


We walked pass the otters, the tapir, the monkey, and still, 玄子 can't make out what we are trying to show her. We walked pass the white tigers, 玄子 didn't even blink an eye at the monstrous cat. But maybe she did sit up when Mummy brought her to take a photo with the fake tiger statue, cos she gave the 'Mummy, run!!! It's a tiger...!' look at the camera.

And then it's nap time at the aquarium, tanning time along the way to the next destination and show time at the performance of 'Rainforest Fights Back'. She took the best seat in the arena, one with a comfy cushy seat and a dedicated fan to fight the heat. She looked intensely at the stage, trying to make out what's what and who's who among all the buzz and fuzz! After that, we went on to another performance about the sea lions & pelicans. But she prefer to lunch instead. After a full feed, it's Daddy & Mummy's turn to lunch, KFC again.









After a few more stops looking at the chimpanzees, the goats, the crocodile, the giant turtles, 玄子 decided that she want some more milk. It's snack time! Hack about the reptiles crawling around in their tanks. She snacked away oblivious to the giant python. After that, we headed to our last stop, the polar bear!! We met up with 公公，婆婆，舅舅，舅母，Toto 姐姐 and 4D 弟弟 for a brief while. After carrying Sean 哥哥 and Toto 姐姐 to take a peek at the polar bears through the glass tank above the water level, carrying 玄玄 was such a breeze!

So what has 玄玄 discover on this trip? Mummy hope she has some good exposure today cos at one point thought that she had brought 玄玄 to the Botanic Gardens instead. Cos 小玄子 was staring at the plants surrounding the enclosure instead of looking further ahead at the animals. *Roll eyes*

玄玄又打针了!!

玄玄满三个月了!!!

It's time to visit her pd again. And this time, she needs to take 2 jabs (5-in-1 & pneumococcal) and an oral vaccine (rotavirus). Mummy went with 小玄子 alone as Daddy overslept after watching the tennis finals which ended at 8+am.

The little girl was very cooperative throughout. Mummy did not have a hard time all the way to the clinic. She was weighed in at 5.3kg and measured 59.5cm. First thing her pd commented was that she is a cheerful baby (must be because she smiled at him. Haha!) Her pd did not comment on her stats but Mummy asked anyway. Average weight is supposed to be 5.5kg, so pd said she is on the light side, but he's not worried as she is breastfed and thus tends to be lighter. But her length is good.

After doing a few tests, pd said her neck is quite strong. And Mummy was so glad that she didn't create a big fuss when her pd put her on her tummy. All tests cleared, and it's time for the jabs. First shot in, and she screwed up her face in protest. Second shot in, she began to wail. But before Mummy could put on her shorts for her, she had stopped crying already. And all was forgotten before long as she interest herself in her surroundings and soon dozed off to sleep. Lucky enough, she didn't have fever or diarrhea, which are side effects of the jabs.

玄玄有护照了...!

小玄玄 gets her very first passport today!!

It's exactly 3 months after 玄's arrival and she lays claim to her very own biometric passport (Daddy & Mummy are still on the old-style ones). This $70 can at most last for 2 years though, cause babies grow and change fast. And the immigration aunties and uncles need an updated photo of Toddler 玄 instead of this Baby 玄's photo on the right!!

Daddy & Mummy really had fun trying to get a good photo of 玄子 for her passport. Hey, it's no joke trying to get a baby's good frontal view, without our hands in the picture, without her looking away and without her crying (or at least look alert if we can't get a smiley photo) or making funny faces. But we are rushing to get her passport done so that we can all buy air tickets for our year end trip. So we'll have to make do. See what we have to filter through before we decided on the photo above, and that is only the tip of the iceberg (and I mean the very tip).

玄玄 coos . . .!

小玄子 has started to babble!! And 舅母 said her coo'ings are so sweet, so girl, so gentle, and can melt her heart. Hehe!! Mummy & Daddy also love to hear their baby talk. Mummy does think she sounds dainty and sweet. Wondering what she's trying to tell us . . .

玄玄吃鸡腿!!!

Yes, it's a phase.. and 小玄子 has reached it. She has build up profound interest in her new found drumbstick... her right hand!!! Wondering what flavour it is. BBQ? Terriyaki? Feel like asking her if she'll like some ketchup on her drumbstick.

Smiley 玄玄 !!!

玄玄 has started to 'communicate' or socialize with us more over night. She smiles in the morning when Mummy changes her nappy, she smiles in the afternoon when Mummy and Daddy talk, coo or play with her, she smiles in her sleep (as per normal) and she even smiles when Daddy changes her nappy in the wee hours of the morning.

She has started playing. Apart from just staring at big cards, bumper books and cot mobile, she has started to use her hands to fiddle at the play gym that Uncle Gary bought for her while sitting in her rocker. Yipee.. that's another avenue for her to have some 'me' time while Daddy and Mummy have theirs!!!

小光头 ...!

Daddy & Mummy finally got down to doing something they had talked about for quite some a while. It's high time 玄玄 gets a shave cause her hair is getting longer, is very uneven, and is making her sweat a lot. So after giving her a full feed and making her satisfied and drowsy, Mummy slinged her and went hairdresser-hunting with Daddy & 奶奶 at West Mall. The first salon we saw, we went in and asked if anyone can do (and dare to do) a shave for our baby. Aunty Celine from the salon said yes and we all got down to work.

By the end of 10mins, not only did Aunty Celine do a good job in getting 玄玄 a new look, 玄 herself did a good job by sleeping herself all the way through. Daddy, Mummy and 奶奶 were so amused and satisfied with her new hairdo that we kept ogling at her throughout lunch. Here's the before and after.

玄玄做表姐了!!

玄 has a new status today. She is a proud 淇淇表姐 to her little newborn 4d表弟!! 表弟 was born on 23rd July, 6 weeks after 玄. She didn't manage to visit 表弟 at the hospital cos Daddy and Mummy think that it's not a good place to turn up with a healthy 6 weeks old baby. So we all had to wait till the third day to do a home visit to the little one.

The baby's so cute!!!! He has long limbs and is only a tad shorter than our 6-week old 淇淇. Daddy & Mummy have already forgotten 淇淇 was once lighter & smaller than 4d. Time flies . . . luckily, photos help to keep the memories!

玄玄打针计

Daddy & Mummy stepped out with 玄子 to head for her 2nd pd appointment, not knowing what to expect. Cos today was the day she'll take her 2nd Hep B jab (one of the many jabs that she needs to go through). She really did us a big favour today. Slept all the way to the pd in the cab, and stayed sedated even when awake during the wait. She's 4.05kg and 53.5cm and growing well!!! Pass all her tests, and her tummy is OK! Then it was the jab. We were trying to tell her not to move. She doesn't understand of cos but maybe she'll stay calm when she hears a lot of noise (her usual habit). The intimidating needle went in, and came out. And our dear little girl moderately 'eh' 3x and stopped. End of episode!!! Yippeee...! Brave little girl ...

玄玄满月了!!!

It's her full month celebration today!!!! The day is split into 2 halves. A lunch recep for relatives and certain friends. And a tea session for the majority of the friends. Xuan was so cooperative for the lunch recep that she overslept her lunch feed and needed to be awaken for a dose of milk before joining the guests downstairs. She slept throughout the lunch session, even though she was passed around quite a few hands.

But tea session wasn't that smooth sailing after she had sufficient sleep for the earlier half of the day. She wailed for feed at 3pm when the show had just begun. No choice, she had to be brought upstairs for feed. For the tea session, she was wide-eyed most of the time. And sometimes she'll cry a bit. That's not too pretty for the star of the party, but she's just too oblivious.

She has lotsa gifts today. Lucky girl!! Must thank all the uncles and aunties for their wonderful presents.

玄玄 visits 表妹

It's 玄子's first visit to her little cousin, Andrinna, who is only 5 days younger than her. But the big sister is as clueless about what's going on as her little cousin at the latter's full month celebration. 玄子's 表姐, Ning Ning, also came. She is 6 weeks older. And it's a funny sight when all 3 sisters are placed side by side on the bed. Andrinna & Ning Ning were fed and on their way to dreamland while 玄玄 was still waiting for her feed. She cried during the photo shoot, nearly hitting Andrinna and kicking Ning Ning. Andrinna was already fast alseep. And Ning Ning was trying to chew on 玄's clothes, thinking that it's her pacifier so that she could go to sleep. Hehe! What a sight!!!

An Online Photo Album for 玄子

Mummy has started an online photo album for 玄玄!! It sits with Daddy and Mummy's online photo album but with her own web addy.





http://babyestelle.fotopic.net

Anyone's welcome to visit!!!

表姐 visits ... !

玄玄's 表姐 came a-visiting today for the first time!!! It's more exciting for 表姐 then for 玄子 of course, as the latter is still blissfully unaware of what's happening around her. Toto 表姐 rushed in and looked around for 表妹 and even told the adults to put 表妹 on the floor so that she can have a good look at her. Ha! She even offered to carry 表妹, so sweet of her!! When 玄 let out a cry, the cute little 2 year old said to her, '表妹， 表妹，不哭，不哭!!' Hehe.... 玄玄's lucky to have a 表姐 who 'sayang' her so much!

Not buying the 'tutu' story . . .

玄 had her first taste of tutu today. Bought a pair from Avent, which are flat and will not cause the crease lines around the mouth if she suck too long. But, the tutu wasn't really able to stick with her for too long. After suckling for a while, she figured that we are trying to cheat her with something which has no smell and no milk. And so, she simply sticked out her tongue and spitted it out. Arghh...! Till now, we can only manage to have her suckle at it when she is halfway through dreamland.

That's her with a dreamy smile at 17 days old!!

'I have a new toy . . .!!!'

Daddy bought a crib musical mobile for 淇淇 yesterday!!! It looks interesting. When she cries (loud enough), it will activate the mobile, music will start and the little animals will start to spin. Wow!! She has something new to engage her free time with now. The sound sensor is really good. A sneeze from 淇淇 can easily activate it. Or maybe it's because 淇淇's sneeze is loud. Ha!

Since yesterday, she has had some personal time staring at the bumper book and the musical mobile. She has began looking around during her wake hours instead of just wailing for milk. We'll probably have to find things to keep her entertained.

10 days old . . .

玄玄 or 淇淇 is 10 days old today!!! And she has grown and changed quite a bit. Mummy thinks that when she is in pink, she looks like a baby girl, but when she is in blue, she looks like a baby boy. Daddy thinks that no matter what she dresses in, she looks like him. It's probably true. 玄 has Daddy's nose and long eyes and 内双眼皮. Maybe her chin belongs to me, or am I just trying to find somewhere, anywhere that resembles me.



So far she has started to tear when she wails since Day 1. Heard that it helps with her being able to see earlier. And she indeed can focus on pictures now. After her bath in the morning, when aunty wipes her dry and dresses her, she'll tilt her head up to look at the bumper book stringed along her baby cot. It has black, white, red & blue pictures of a smiling girl's face, a flower, a zebra, a house, a snail and a smiling boy's face. She seems quite intrigue by the pictures. Don't know if she is really focusing or she's just staring into blank space.

She has been smiling a lot. Not only to those who are carrying her, but also to herself in her dreams. Ha! Wonder what she is dreaming about to put such a wide, satisfied smile on her face even in her sleep.

Birth cert for 玄玄!!!

Daddy especially made the trip down to register 玄玄's birth! She has an official name now. Presenting... Estelle Tan Kye Hee, 曾楷淇!!!

玄玄出游记 . . .!

It's checkup day for 玄玄 and Mummy.We were all prepared for the journey at 945am. She was fed and dressed for her first trip out. We reached her pd's clinic just in time for her scheduled appointment. She slept on while we did her registration, but had to be woken up when she was unswaddled to be weighed. 3.16kg, back to her birth weight. Hooray!! Aunty quickly swaddled her back so that she can sleep. Phew... we succeeded! The wait wasn't too long and she had to be unswaddled again to be checked by her pd. She woke up again, made some noises, did some kicks, and went back to sleep after her checkup was done and was swaddled again. Yeah!! All done, slight jaundice and that's all.

After which was Mummy's checkup, which took longer as there were many people in the queue that morning. Luckily, 玄子slept throughout Mummys' checkup. We left at about noon and took a cab back. 玄玄woke up twice during the journey but was soothed back to slumberland. The moment we stepped into the house, she woke up and cried for milk. And that started a whole afternoon of the monsterous 玄玄who refused to sleep but want to suckle constantly.

Nevetheless, 小玄子's first step out is a success. No fuss, yippee!

玄玄 goes home . . .!

玄玄 got the clearance to go home from her pd early in the morning. Yipee!!! Weight was 2.9kg. Everyone's up and running to help with her journey home. Mommy woke up early to get the green light from her pd, Daddy came real early to wait for the hour, 公公 and 婆婆 arrived later to help with the checking out, 奶奶 let the confinement lady in to the house to prepare it for 玄玄 and 爷爷 arrived just in time to give 玄玄 her first ride home!!! Wow ... what an entourage!!!

After settling down, the confinement aunty gave 玄玄 her first bath!! Wow . . . shiok!!! She must have enjoyed herself, cos the whole process went on very well. No cries, no fuss!!! And soon, she's already all cleaned, dried and wrapped up ready to get some suckle. Breezy...!

Practise session on latching on!!

It's 玄玄's 2nd day, and she is coping great!! Latching on for feeds is on her daily schedule!!! And now suckling's her hobby!! Make it a habit ... feeds are at 2-3 hours frequency, including wee hours in the morning. While she's hard at work perfecting her skills, mummy has to work equally hard to catch up! Say 'hello' to milk-on-demand!!!

First trick . . . head turning!!!

玄玄 has a lot of visitors today at the hospital. She managed to sleep through most of them without a care. But she at least did some entertaining work at night when her cousins and relatives came avisiting. Propped up on 奶奶's shoulder, she managed to lift her head up and looked around, maybe surveying the whole gang of friendly faces!! Hey, daddy & mummy, that's my first trick!

玄玄 has arrived!!!

玄玄 finally decided to show her face on 12 June 2009. And she's a healthy 3.16kg and 48.5cm in length... So far so good, but daddy & mummy are really very tired!!!

The Final Countdown by THE GlenEAGLES

玄玄 is still nowhere to be seen, but her mummy is feeling terrible right now.... It pains her daddy to see her mummy suffer! But this is the Final Countdown!!! Be strong mummy, daddy and 玄玄 always on your side!!!

EDD came and went . . .

玄子 still doesn't want to check out of her 7-star hotel. EDD is 8th Jun. And it came and went ... uneventfully!! CTG scan shows she is in good form though. Thus Daddy & Mummy went on a shopping spree in Orchard after the checkup. Friday is the latest you have to check out, honey!

Still waiting . . .

No news yet. 玄 is happily staying inside her cosy corner, doing her usual stunts of kicks and jerks. She's approximately 2.9kg as of 28th May. Not causing me a lot of problems, except for my feet which have already swelled to the size equivalent to the term gigantic, and my tummy is causing me to be breathless even though I'm just sitting down doing nothing (not even shaking my legs), and finding a comfortable position to sleep in (getting kicked when sleeping on my left, weighed down when sleeping on my right, and pressed on when sleeping on my back), and that slouching will cause discomfort while sitting up straight will cause my back to ache. Hallelujah!!!!

It's gonna be anytime?!?!?!?

Dr Lee managed to freak us out today. My CTG scan shows more contractions, actually it's twice in 30mins. I had brushed it off as Braxton Hicks. But it seemed that Dr Lee & Iris are already in high alert mode. Dr Lee said it should be anytime. ANYTIME!?!!!!?!? I still have 18 days to my edd, and I'm just told it will be anytime now!!?!!?!? I asked for a more specific time span to manage my expectation. The answer is maybe a few days, maybe a week!!!!! Hey, that's still quite a distance from 18 days.

Everyday counts, 玄! Stay inside a bit longer ok!!! It's so snug and comfy and cushy inside. Take your time....!

Counting Down . . .

Touching week 37 soon, and we are counting down to THE day!!! Not too soon, hopefully, cos we do not have everything prepared yet. Xuanxuan, give us 20 days more ok? :)