His royal chubbiness

Hey there Boy Boy!

As you are approaching 3 months old, you are becoming more and more entertaining. Just this afternoon, Daddy was happily telling Mommy how you tried to join in singing when Daddy was singing A-B-C to you... When Daddy sang "A", you followed with "A!", and when Daddy sang "B", you still went "A!". Same with "C" -- you responded with "A!". Of course we know you were probably just vocalizing your happiness, but it still thrilled us to think that you know at least one out of the 26 letters of the alphabet... Seems like the A-B-C song is your favourite song to date. No matter who sings it and how many times you hear it, you will still listen intently and join in sometimes.

We got to do a weigh-in again yesterday at WIC. At 11 weeks old, Boy Boy is now about 14 pounds (6.4kg). No wonder you are beginning to feel more and more like a sack of rice, and a real squirmy one too! Your chubbiness has now spread from your thighs to your arms, and you are filling up your onesies quite well. Mommy really likes to play with all that baby fat of yours. Every time you are feeding, Mommy will disturb you by pinching your chubby legs and arms -- couldn't resist it! Once, Mommy got scolded by Po-po for doing that "哎哟！你不要再弄他了啦！" , and that I should let you drink in peace... Well, like a friend mentioned, this baby fat of yours is "for a limited time only"... better pinch while I still have the chance!

Boy Boy has also found the joy of sucking your little hand. Sometimes you will lick it as if it were yummy ice cream, and other times you will munch on it as if it were a chicken drumstick. The sucking sounds can be pretty loud at times! In the beginning, you couldn't control your hands that well: Every time you tried to bring your hand to your mouth, it will hit your face or eyes, as if you are hitting yourself... And then you will start crying and Daddy will laugh at you... so evil of him right... But to his credit, he will still help you put your hand in your mouth. Nowadays, Daddy has fewer chances of laughing at you already, since you are getting better at finding your little hand.

Lastly, Mommy is proud to announce that your hair is finally growing! No more jokes about botak-ness and baldness... Well, your head still feels like a fuzzy peach right now, but at least it is better than a bowling ball... Hopefully soon we will be able to use a comb on you and create some really funky hairstyles...

Sleep-deprived Boy Boy...

Dear Boy Boy,

I swear this is not a posed photo

It is starting to become apparent that Boy Boy really likes looking at your surroundings, and maybe even starting to recognize things. Every time Mommy puts you over my shoulder, you will be staring intently at the light behind, so much so that Mommy is getting worried that the bright lights will damage your eyes. At night, no matter which way Mommy tries to carry you, you will behave like a sunflower -- your head will turn towards the direction of the light and your eyes will be glued to the light.

You also love looking at your 小老虎 -- part of the CNY decorations left on the wall which Daddy and Mommy have neglected to remove... I am not sure what Mr 小老虎 is saying to you, but every time you stare at him, he makes you laugh so happily! Maybe one day you can share his jokes with us ya?

Today, we brought you out shopping, and went into Borders. You were pretty excited in there, staring at everything with your eyes big big! We established a few things while we were there: 1) You didn't really like the big Elmo soft toy, 2) Furry puppet ducks are okay 3) You paid more attention to books than to soft toys. (Po-po's theory is that you are more attracted to regularly-shaped things)

Unfortunately, Mommy, Daddy and Po-po are having difficulties coaxing Boy Boy to sleep. For instance, Boy Boy was awake from 11 am till 10pm today, with multiple failed attempts in between to make you fall asleep -- you are so unputdownable! We will be carrying you all around the house trying to get you to sleep, but you will be more interested in staring at everything, as if you are trying to absorb your surroundings visually with your eyes. And even if we manage to put you down, you will wake up within 30 minutes. It doesn't matter whether it is your crib, Daddy and Mommy's bed or Po-po's bed... you don't seem to sleep very well. The result is a super grouchy and irritable Boy Boy at the end of the day. I think you finally fell asleep out of exhaustion... finally cannot keep your big big eyes open anymore huh! And when we thought you have finally gone off to dreamland, you started sobbing in your sleep! Poor sleep-deprived Boy Boy... Daddy had to carry you to calm you down. He is probably your favourite bed so far -- soft and warm and cushy...

Boy Boy, don't be too excited to see the whole world so soon, ya? Babies need lots of rest to grow and grow, okay? Sleep more!

Obviously, Boy Boy is still unaware that people usually sleep at four in the morning

Feeding woes

Hey there Boy Boy!

Recently, Mommy and Daddy have a new mission, which is to train you to use a bottle. Mommy will be going to work soon, and will no longer be able to act as your food source the entire day. However, things have not been as smooth sailing as we hoped.

We did a little reading up, and found out that it is better for Mommy to go far far away when Daddy is bottle-feeding, so that you will not be tempted to feed from the familiar and reject the bottle. So for our first attempt, Mommy hid in the room. (Okay, so I peeked a little, but I don't think you can see me, right?) Unfortunately, you didn't know what to do with the bottle nipple in your mouth, and couldn't get the hang of sucking it. Before long, you got frustrated and started wailing, as if to say: I am hungry! Where's the milk and what is this rubbery thing you are trying to stuff in my mouth? *angry tiger growl*

So attempt #1 = Fail... Mommy had to step in to feed you instead.

Boy Boy did improve over the next few attempts... you figured out how to suck from the bottle, but sometimes you will forget, become frustrated and show your (very loud) protests. There were also good and bad days. Some days you will totally reject the bottle without even trying while others you will be super obedient and finish the whole bottle, to Daddy and Mommy's delight! We learnt that we need to pick the right times to test the bottle on you, during the times of the day when you are most contented, which is usually in the mornings.

Right now, you are doing two bottles a day, which is pretty good. But you will still want to drink from Mommy as a source of comfort after the second bottle, otherwise you will show us your "colours" again. I guess we will just have to take things one step at a time, and hopefully we will have enough time to transit you to the bottle.

P/S: Boy Boy, you are still feeding every two hours! So hungry ah... When will you consider feeding less frequently? Or else Daddy and Mommy very hard to go watch movie leh...

Checkup at 2 months

Hey there Boy Boy!

We went for your check-up today. You were sleeping soundly when we brought you to the clinic, which helped a lot because you barely protested when the nurse and doctor did their poking and prodding on you. Only that you refused to open your eyes when they wanted to check on them! Daddy says you have inherited Mommy's stubborn nature. Mommy prefers to think that Boy Boy is displaying his determination instead... same difference, ya?

Growth-wise, Boy Boy is doing great and we can't ask for more! Jaundice is no longer a worry, although we can still see a tinge of yellow in your eyes. Weight now is 12 pounds 10 ounces (about 5.7 kg), which is double your birth weight, and according to Dr J, in the 75th percentile. Height (or should we say length?) is 23 inches (80th percentile)... Looks like Boy Boy is going to be tall like Daddy huh!

Dr J asked if you had a preference in the direction which you turned... We had to think a bit before we answered. Now that she asked, we realized that you turn your head to your left more than to your right. Dr J said she could tell because your neck muscles are tighter on one side than the other. So Boy Boy has to start doing some neck stretches now! Basically we have to make you turn your head to your right while you are laying down, and press down for a few seconds to stretch out those muscles. We can tell that they are pretty tense, coz you really don't like it when we do it!

As for the vaccinations, Boy Boy had to drink the oral sabin and get poked three times. I bet the sabin didn't taste good, coz you were spitting up so much of it, we wondered if anything actually went in at all. And when the first jab went into your big juicy thigh, there was a pause, followed by a big loud wail. While you were crying, the nurse quickly jabbed the other two vaccines in, and before we knew it, you fell asleep again! Phew!

We had to monitor your temperature to make sure you don't become too feverish. Fortunately, you only had a low-grade fever for about a day that resolved with Panadol. It was also a relief for us that you liked the cherry-flavoured solution -- don't have to shove it down your throat...

Two months!

Hey there Boy Boy!

In a few more weeks, we will be going back to SG! Lots of people are waiting to see you, especially your Ye-ye and Ma-ma... You must be on your best behavior, okay?

Guang Hao smiling at Po-Po...

Mommy is pretty anxious about the trip back home. We will have to drive 3h to the Chicago airport, take a domestic flight to Houston (2.5h), transit there for 3.5h, take a flight to Moscow, then another transit (1.5h) before our final flight back to SG. In order to get ready for the big journey back to SG, Daddy, Mommy and Po-Po have brought you out for two "big" outings so far -- both to Indianapolis, which is slightly more than an hour away by car.

Our first trip was on the 4th of July, to Uncle N's house for a BBQ-pot-luck-cum-fireworks night. Boy Boy was pretty obedient in the car both ways! You were sleeping most of the time, and only cried once to indicate that you were hungry. We had to stop at the gas station to feed you because, unlike in SG, it is against the law to remove you from your car seat to feed you while in a moving vehicle.

The second trip was an impromptu trip to Daddy and Mommy's favourite buffet restaurant in Indy. Unfortunately, Boy Boy got hungry on the return trip, and there were no gas stations to stop at in the vicinity. (Yes, Indiana is that ulu...) So poor Boy Boy was wailing non-stop for twenty minutes before you finally relented and took the pacifier. Mommy felt pretty helpless listening to your cries but yet unable to do anything to help you... Hmm, must learn to tune-out baby's cries sometimes...

New (and huge) present from your 舅舅 and soon-to-be 舅母... You were super excited while playing in it -- lots of kicking action!

Sleeping-wise, Boy Boy has managed to sleep four hours straight for the past few nights, which really helped Mommy a lot in terms decreasing the level of panda-ness during the day. But Boy Boy still gets real grouchy at night every night, which Daddy has dubbed your 闹闹 period... Hopefully this 闹闹 period will gradually disappear as you grow older, Boy Boy!

Guang Hao sleeping in his favourite pose

Tomorrow, Boy Boy will be going for your two-month well-baby visit, which includes your jabs... You must be a brave boy, okay? Mommy will treat you with an ice-cream if you are good. But since you can't eat it now, Daddy will eat it for you first... :)