Baby Le Xin

Saturday 18 December 2010

Crying!

 
I get very distressed everytime Le Xin cries. As much as I understand that crying is an infant's way of communicating, a way to let me know her needs - that she is feeling uncomfortable, but  I still feel panicky each time I see her cry. Many people have given me old wives advice for example "Don't pick up your baby too soon if she is crying, if not you are just spoiling her and she will always demand you to carry her" Another advice "Ohh of course you must pick up your baby if she cries too much,  she will soon develop colic"
 
Alright so which is which? Hmm....I've decided to follow my heart! Sometimes my minds tells me otherwise :p I decided to pick her up to comfort her simply because I do not have the heart to hear her crying painfully as if something terribly wrong was going on. I think that it's really too early to assume that she will be spoilt and allowing her to "cry it out" often makes me feel nothing but distressed and guilty :(
 
Here is something I will do, I will carry her in my arm and start singing "我要向高山举目" haha it calms my heart and then I will keep praying that Le Xin will feel my calmness too!
 
I am glad I follow my heart because according to Ages and Stages by Karen Miller "Babies who are picked up promptly and cared for in a very responsive way turn out to be more content and compliant in the second half of their first year, and later toddlerhood. An adult who responds dependably to a baby's distress is a direct predictor of a child having positive social relationships with other children later on."
 
To some extend I feel that the above statement is very true! Have you read this poem? -> Children Learn What The Live  I am a strong believer of this poem so much so that I even pasted this poem in her room so as to remind myself that I must never ever get irritated when she cries :)
 
Having said that, years of my early childhood teaching experience did not prepare me for this.....a crying infant! I called almost all the mummies in my HP list because Le Xin would cry from 9 plus at night to 6 plus in the morning, yeah I know I am on maternity leave but I still instinctively feel distress!!!
 
救命阿 was all that I could  think of when she started crying, I tried all sorts of method, feeding, changing of  diaper, bathing, burping her, walking with her, rocking, singing, even using a pacifier but that didn't stop her from crying. Strangely, during the day, she just slept quietly like a sleeping beauty but somehow at end night she just start to sing like Stefanie Sun!
 
Once she even screamed so loudly that it soon became quite freaky to us which left Daddy Scott placing a bible below her rocker. We were really at our wits, I finally decided to get one of the Pastor from Church to pray, however,  the crying episodes went on and went on till one fine day, I decided to seek help from my ex-principal. She just gave me one simple advice which was try to keep her awake during the day and kept explaining to her that the sky is bright now time to be awake, the sky is dark now - time to sleep. I was really having doubts but as long as anyone could save me or rather us a desperate me will be more than willing to give it a go and try it out... So I tried and guess what?....she slept perfectly and soundly that night!
 
Phew, finally the crying nightmare was over! So I guess, she just slept too much during the day... Nothing very serious, I still gave her grip water thinking she had colic = -------->Bad Mummy! From time to time, we as parents still suffer from sleepless nights with her unexplainable mad crying especially when she felt sick but couldn't express it.... Ohh well, I guess we can only comfort ourself by saying "Probably it's just (hum-bin) a Hokkien term which means bad dreams.
 
Offering reassurance is the best thing to do, if you can't provide physical assurance at least try to provide a verbal one. I often say Why Le Xin, Mummy can hear you cry, don't be sad....I know you feel tired right? Sometimes it could be that she is hungry, even though it's just my assumption, at least I try my best to let her know that I care about how she feels.....Crying is really part and parcel of a child's life, don't take it too hard on yourself especially when an infant cries, place your child near to you and let her hear your heart beats then pat her gently that's when somehow you two will feel the connection.... CheerZ!

Tuesday 30 November 2010

Smiling!

This was the very first time I witnessed Le Xin smiling at me......I was mad happy, nothing could describe my joy as a mother. Her irresistible social smile really warmed my heart, I really felt like the luckiest person on earth at that moment and even if you ask me to choose my life all over again...... I still want Le Xin to be my daughter and no one else....Aww~ So emotional suddenly!
 
Here's a cute video of Le Xin smiling when she was just 2 months old!
 

 
According to Ages and Stages by Karen Miller (One of my all time favourite Early Childhood Books) "Smiling is a critical step in the bonding process in which the baby captures any loving adult in the vicinity. A baby usually smile at almost any face that appears about one foot"

Sucking and Mouthing!


 Babies under a year usually has a strong need to suck! I am glad Le Xin never ask for a pacifier but seriously I was quite worried when she began to suck her thumb......I know it's perfectly normal for her to do that but I was really worried that it will eventually turn into a bad habit.
 
It's not my fault that my fist looks like a drumlet!
 
Change menu: Mittens today!
 
Yummy! I'm loving it!
 
Not interested in my thumb anymore, let's try my index finger now!
 
I suck my thumb  and finger even when I am deep in thoughts!
 
Don't stop me!!!! Nothing's going to change my love for you finger :p
 
Who told you my milk bottle wasn't involved? hmph!
 
The sucking went on for a while and MummyT2X became a little paranoid and soooo she decided to introduce.......
 
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
V
A pacifier...how crazy was that! It's not that Le Xin has turned into a fretful baby....I was just being "too worried".... well at least pacifier is not considered as harmful by doctors, as long as I kept it clean so what's the big deal? However, Le Xin kept pushing it out of her mouth....so I need to respect that and stop giving it to her after a few tries.
 
Sucking her thumb again.......Alright! I give up.....
 
It's was not long before she started mouthing every objects she found whahahhaha...
 
 First up, was her toy who kept making a "yao gui" sound (Daddy Scott and I were laughing cause Yao Gui in Hokkien means greedy)

Then I gave a rubber ring which was like the shape of the number 8. She appeared to enjoy biting and sucking it. Soooooo cute!

Even when we were out, I packed it for her so that she could bite it :)

I have this Pigu massager that was given to me by my student and somehow Le Xin loves it......She particularly likes to bite the tag of the toy!

Trying out which happy meal toys taste better whahaha :p

After a few months, just when I thought the mouthing was about to stop.....

I WAS SOOOOOO WRONG!

She even attacked the toy I lent from school.

Daddy Scott and I could stop laughing when we saw what she did.......It was soooooo hilarious and I am glad Daddy Scott immediately took his iPhone and snapped a shot of her!

Leaving you guys with a cute video of Le Xin's sucking her thumb....ignore my voice as I was just talking on the phone. Everything happens for a reason now I know there is nothing much to worry actually when Le Xin was sucking her thumb or fingers and putting things in her mouth. Having said that, please be mindful never to leave an infant or toddler alone when he/she is holding a potential object that might cause chocking!
 

Sunday 14 November 2010

Baby Friendship!

 According to research, infants have a genuine interest in other children . This is because they generally enjoy looking at faces, especially faces of children. I have to completely agree with this!
 
One day, I went over to my sister's place with Le Xin for some parenting tips....yeah my sister is afterall a mother of three so surely she would have a lots of tips to share with me right? So during my visit, I placed Le Xin beside Tevin and guess what? It was such a blessing that I got to observe how Tevin was trying to interact with Le Xin. I am not too sure about how Le Xin was feeling at that moment but it appeared that Tevin was really curious and interested to make friends with Le Xin...He is just sooooo adorable!
 
Ending of this short post with a cute video of the both of them....It's cool that Tevin (4 months old) was already displaying the ability to initiate baby friendship by touching Le Xin's face and attempting to hold her hand... Le Xin was still quite passive I guess that's because she was only two months old. Nonetheless this was indeed a valuable observation!
 

Tuesday 7 September 2010

My Dearest Baby Le Xin!

Okay, this post will mark the first post in my blog! The above photo was taken on the day Le Xin was born...and probably the most memorable day in my life.
 
Blessed is the person who gets to spend time around an infant. You can never imagine the kind of joy a child will bring to your life until you experience it for yourself. When I share with others, I often say nothing prepares you for Motherhood.......really! No matter how many books you read, courses you attended and even parenting tips from other mothers somehow it's just different from what you are going to experience for every child is an unique individual.
 
I couldn't thank the Lord Jesus enough as the government has already implemented their 4-month maternity scheme when Le Xin was born. At least, I could spent the first few months with her. I have to admit too that I was really envy of my mother in law who later had the opportunity to further witnesseed the miracle of Le Xin developing from a chubby infant to a cute little toddler.
 
Many people thought that infants just spent most of their time sleeping, being fed or diapered... actually there is still time for us to give them a litttle cudle, play peekaboo games or just simply enjoying and observing what's it means to be a baby!
 
Years of my early childhood experience didn't prepare me at all for these....Looking back at the sweet memories of Le Xin's development is just  like I am falling in love with her over and over again hahaha! Leaving you guys with this photo which I did as an update on Facebook. I hope all mummies and daddies are out there are like me.....who enjoy having a child to dote on and experience what  unconditional love really means...