Cool Sunnies

Yes the Husband is back from his trip and with a bag load of stuff for Marc! See his latest accessory - sunglasses! Realised we should have removed the "shatterproof" sticker AFTER we took the photo, but oh well, its cute anyway. He didn't pull the sunnies off, which surprised us. He went around Church with his sunnies for quite a long while. I asked for the Husband to buy a new wetsuit for Marc and he came back with board shorts and a surfer tee. SO COOL! Will upload pics of him in his new swim gear when we go to Church camp next week.

A Taste of Single Parenthood

Its been 9 days since the Husband left for his business trip and I'm still alive! I have to say my helper has indeed been a great help and I wouldn't have been able to balance it all without her.

After the Husband left last Saturday, I was left with nothing to do - a very bored mummy means a very bored baby which means restlessness. So I planned lots of activities this long weekend. On Saturday, Marc and I headed for Botanics with E and her 2 girls. I think E and I had more fun chatting than the kids. Marc was hot and bothered by the time we left! Brought Marc to a colleague's dinner and he had a ball swishing his feet in the pool and interacting with my colleagues and some other kids at the party.

On Sunday we went to Church as usual and enjoyed a pasta dinner thanks to my sister in law and her boyfriend. Headed out to Botanics again this morning with W and her son. The boys hated the heat and we retreated to Venezia at Guthrie house. The minute we stepped into the aircon, the boys were happy and chattering away. We lamented that Singapore is just not outing-friendly, the heat is terrible and we are forced to retreat to aircon malls and buildings.

Marc has been having sleep problems lately, which has left me quite troubled. To sleep train or not to sleep train him? He wakes up periodically in the night crying...he usually settles after we pop the pacifier in his mouth. Some of my friends tell me to let him cry it out or he will never learn to settle himself back to sleep. I'm trying to eliminate other possibilities, like teething, hunger, discomfort, etc. Its not an easy decision to allow your child to cry. In densely populated Singapore, one of the biggest deterrents are the neighbours! Marc is really loud and I'm sure the neighbours would call the police if I let him cry for more than half an hour.

As he grows older and more aware, he's so much fun to be around with. Just today he learnt to put his head on my pillow and lie beside me whilst I make funny faces at him and do fart sounds on his tummy. He sits there and chuckles, stroking my face. He even plopped his wet lips on my cheek, whether its deliberate or not I'm taking it as Marc's first kiss for mummy!

Hitting the 8th month mark

Marc eats a phenomenal amount. He pooed a total of SIX times today - that's normal for a newborn, he's not a newborn though! He's starting to become more expressive and more affectionate. He'll touch the faces of family members that he recognises and puts his hand on your arm and grabs you if he wants you to come over. When he sees food, he stretches out both his arms and yells in excitement. No one taught him that! But there's no doubt that he's my son! Like mother like son!

His sleeping habits have gone bananas as well. At one stage, he woke up at 12midnight and refused to go back to sleep. He wasn't hungry, refused his milk, and just wanted to sit on his feeding chair and play. The Husband and I were ill so we let the helper take care of him. She put him back to sleep at 3 and he kept waking up every 15 minutes. At 8am when I saw him, he was alert! He woke up at odd times for a few more days and has reverted back to his normal sleep patterns. But we can't seem to shake certain bad habits. He sometimes wakes up yelling, and only falls back to sleep after his pacifier is popped back into his mouth. Other times he yells and falls back to sleep on his own. I'm tempted to start some form of sleep training on him, but I don't have the guts to let him cry it out.

He's also able to crawl and pull onto things around him for support when standing. And he moves fast!! He's had a total of 2 falls already. The recent one resulting on him landing on the tiled floor - thankfully his bumbo seat was still attached to his bum when he landed and it broke his fall.

And he's VERY ROUGH. When I play with him, I always end up tired and secretly asking God to make sure my next child is a girl. He loves being thrown in the air, wrestled, or anything remotely like rugby. I can't get him to settle to read a book. But he will sit down and watch Baby Einstein for a good half hour. And he won't just watch, he'll watch and burst out laughing! Its quite hilarious observing him. I notice that the particular segment that he likes is when the Crayola crayons start dancing and drawing shapes.

Thank God for a good helper. I've learnt to let go and not let the jealousy get to me. Now that Marc is more expressive, he shows his excitement when he sees me. I make sure that I'm the one comforting him after a fall and at times when he's fretful, he is only comforted when I carry him. He loves my helper and vice versa, I count it a blessing because I know she won't hurt him and takes care of him out of genuine concern. I think its good for young kids to form attachments and have the security of knowing he can rely on adults around him to give him unconditional love. I still miss him heaps when I'm at work and I try to give him my undivided attention when I'm home.

And he's said his first word - no prizes for guessing what it is. "Mum Mum", which unfortunately doesn't mean mummy - it means food!