Journey with You

Talking about less poopy diaper last time, we went ahead and bought a box of baby oatmeal and started right away because he hadn’t poohed for three days. It really worked. He is having one, sometimes two, poopy diapers a day now. They are getting seedier and more stinky though. >_<

He is really good at flipping over from back to tummy now. He sometimes would arc his back to find nipples or a toy and unintentionally flipped over. He can even touch the mobile. Thus we need to take it down soon. Now he is reaching out to touch everything, I really need to be careful when I’m holding him while I eat because he can easily pulled the food off the table.

Another note on reaching out, he seems to prefer using his left hand. He would use his right hand if we encourage him. We hope that doesn’t mean he is going to be left-handed.

I forgot to mention last time that I knitted a winter hat for Cyrus. It took me three weeks, which is not bad at all. I am planning on going to a local yarn shop to see if I can find a summer hat pattern for him. I am so excited.

Cyrus and I are going for a long trip in two weeks. We’ve already got our tickets and Cyrus’ got his first official ID-passport. It’s going to be a LONG trip for me and I hope Cyrus can cooperate and people can be understanding when he fusses on the plane.

Nope, he hasn’t been able to fall asleep on his own and need me to nurse him to sleep when he wakes up twice to three times during the night. I am still co-sleeping but I think we are going to need to play hard to let him learn to sooth himself. We will need to let him cry for a few nights until he gets used to it. We’ll wait until we come back from the trip though.

Last weekend, my brother-in-law and his beautiful fiancée came in town to visit us, my in-laws. They just got engaged on new year’s eve so it’s like a special celebration. (Her ring is absolutely beautiful. I think it’s a 2C diamond.)

Anyways, last few times when I took Cyrus to visit his grandmother, he didn’t seem to like his grandmother holding him. He used to be fine but it changed a couple weeks ago. I didn’t know why. I thought maybe he was just cranky or hungry. When my brother-in-law and his fiancée came to our house and I tried to let him or her hold him, he started crying and gave me a look like “why aren’t you holding me, mommy?” No matter if my brother-in-law walked him around, he wouldn’t calm down. My brother-in-law’s fiancée then said to me: “I think he has stranger anxiety.” They are both doctors so I believe her. That explains everything.

It’s tough on me though because I would like to have someone hold him so I can have a break. It’s better for him to see different faces also. Thank goodness after a while he seemed to get used to them and actually was laughing out loud with them. It’s really exciting to see him being social.

He is building his mobile skills quickly these days. He’s been trying to sit up. Though he still needs support, he can quickly flip himself over from tummy to back and turn himself from back to tummy once so far. I am quite impressed.

He is also reaching out to everything. When I sit him in the high chair, he would arc his back and raise his arm, trying to touch the top part of the toy. He used to simply stare at the mobile but he would reach out to touch it now. He is now a really active and aggressive baby.

Past couple days he woke up really early, around 4-5am, and talked to himself for a long time. I thought he was hungry at first and tried to nurse but he would turn his head away. I don’t know what’s going on. It made me tired though. Hopefully it’s just temporary.

He’s having less dirty diapers this past week also. I asked a nurse about it and she said it’s probably the rice cereal because it constipates babies. She suggested me to switch to oat cereal. I think I’ll give him rice cereal for another week and start trying oat cereal.

My precious Cyrus is 5 months and 2 days old today. There is no regular checkup this month so I don’t exactly know how much he weighs. He is getting big, that’s for sure.

He laughs out load a lot these days. When I nurse him, he would stop and look at me. I smile and he smiles. I laugh and he would laugh too. He is just so adorable!! I love him SO MUCH!!

He’s been able to finish 2 tablespoon of rice cereal with 2 ounces of milk (I sometimes use pumped breast milk, other times formula.) I’ve been giving him rice cereal first thing in the morning and am thinking to give him rice cereal other times of the day as well. I also would like to try other vegetables soon. It’s going to be so much fun when he can eat more variety of food. I still want to continue breastfeeding as long as he wants it though.

I’ve noticed that he would have chewing motion even when there is no food in his mouth. Possibly practicing?

I took him with me to a government office the other day. There was a sign: NO FOOD, NO DRINKS. The security guy asked me if I had any food and drinks with me. I said no. He said “really? Not even for the baby?” I just realized another good thing about breastfeeding: no security issue. Hehe!!

He naps twice a day. Usually two hours in the morning and another hour in the afternoon. Sometimes another half hour in the evening. He sleeps totally about 14 hours. I am still hoping he can sleep longer at night though. Sleeping and eating kind of goes hand in hand. If he can’t sleep longer than it’s really hard to let him sleep on his own. It’s really a win-win to co-sleep if he needs to nurse a few times at night.

He poos once a day now, which is normal now. Thank goodness. When he was sick a month ago and poo a few times a day, it really was a lot of work.

It was cloudy and cold out yesterday. We took Cyrus to a botanical garden in south town. He saw and touched lots of different plants. We also bought a little palm tree home.

Cyrus is going to be 5 months old in two days. Every time I look at him, I am just so amazed. This is the little guy growing in my belly not too long ago and he is so big now. I love him so much. He is the meaning of my life. He is a miracle!!

He giggles a lot these days. He likes to smile at me and his daddy. When I was putting him to bed and walked away from his daddy, he would start making oo-aa noises to his daddy. It’s almost like he didn’t want to leave his daddy. So sweet.

He also started to response to our calling his name. He would turn his head and look at us. In the morning, when he woke up, I would call his name and he would smile even before he saw me. One time when we stood in front of a mirror, I said hi, and he giggled. I was wondering if he started to realize that the mummy in the mirror is the same mummy holding him.

He is getting used to the rice cereal. I’ve been feeding him rice cereal every morning. He couldn’t sit in the high chair for too long but he can sit through the whole meal now, about half hour to an hour. He used to push the rice cereal out, but he can swallow about half of it or more now. He also likes to grab the spoon and put it in his mouth. I am really happy about the progress. I hope a full stomach can calm him down and help him sleep.

Yep, we’re still co-sleeping. He gets up two to three times during the night to nurse. He doesn’t even need to open his eyes, simply opening his mouth wide and arch his back to look for the nipple. So funny. DH said he is addicted. I tried a few times to move him to the crib after he fell asleep but then he woke up because of the motion.

He likes to sit up, though he can’t do it by himself yet. He would lean forward. We’ve been trying to give him many tummy times to help him strengthen his arms and legs. He can handle it longer than before and we even noticed him bending his knees and tried to push himself forward. That’s really exciting and encouraging to us. We’ve also given him some time to sit/stand in the exersaucer. He seems to like it and really focuses on toys around him.

This is Cyrus’ first Christmas and new year. He got lots of gifts from everyone, DH’s aunt, my mother-in-law, my father-in-law, my brother-in-law and his girlfriend, my aunt, and my parents of course. Got lots of toys and many outfits. My brother-in-law and his girlfriend bought a baby keepsake kit that can save Cyrus’ hand and foot prints as well as a really pretty cross necklace for his baptism. My aunt bought him a few traditional Chinese outfits. Only a vest fits though; others are too big for him. Hopefully they won’t be too small next winter.

We bought him some toys to put in his stockings and a few books. DH thinks most of his books are too lengthy for him just yet but it doesn’t bother me. He’ll grow into them anyway.

We spent the day before Christmas (in the afternoon) with my MIL. She prepared lots of snacks. We exchanged gifts. However, DH and her got into an argument and we went home in the evening. We sang some Christmas songs at home and went to bed early. We didn’t go to a Mass because we worried it’s too much running around for Cyrus.

We opened gifts at home on Christmas. I got a tripod, a novel, a box of chocolate, and some money. Tripod is great; I don’t need to be left out in the pictures anymore!!

We then went to my FIL’s in the afternoon. My FIL, his soon-to-be-ex-wife, my brother-in-law, and three of us had a wonderful dinner and exchanged gifts. My FIL bought us a lot of goodies, mostly food.

New year’s eve, we invited our friends Don, Camille, and their son Thomas to join us. Our downstairs tenants came up for a little bit as well. We prepared some veggies, dips, chips, and some sweets my parents mailed me. Cyrus went to sleep for a couple of hours and we woke him up for half hour before the New Year. We all put on party hats and took pictures. We somehow missed the countdown because we turned to a wrong channel. We all had fun after all, opening a bottle of sparkling juice and toast.

To a happy 2007!!!!