Milestone - 3rd and 4th teeth

It has been a week since I started on my new job. Needless to say, it has been a very busy week, getting myself familiarise with the products, the company, to manage the bosses as well as to do recruitment. I came back exhausted every day and by 10pm, was already in bed because I would have to wake up the next morning around 5:30am or 6am to give Ryan's his morning feed and to get him ready for his Day care while I get ready to work. It has been an interesting week.

I noticed that his upper second teeth has came out several days ago while washing him up and this morning, I noticed that his lower front teeth is coming out as well. No wonder, his bite has more sting now. Before long, he would have all four front teeth ready to give anyone who dares to put their fingers into his mouth a painful nip.

He has been adapting well to the Day Care centre though he hardly slept during the first few days, probably due to the new environment. The helpers were telling us, "Ini baby ar...tak mahu tidur oh...mahu main saja..(This baby refused to sleep. He just wanted to play)." Apparently, the few days record showed that he only have several naps of no longer than 15 minutes. And everytime, when I logged into the webcam of the day care to look at him, he is always awake, playing by himself or with some helpers.

The downside of sending him to the Day Care center of course, was exposing him to other children who might not be feeling well, something that we fear from day one. And true enough, Ryan came down with a running nose, cough and fever on Friday. He is much better now. Unfortunately, the daddy has caught the flu bug. My nose is blocked right now, my whole body aches and my throat is sore.

I better be well in the next few days, as I would need to travel on Wednesday and Thursday. It would be pretty interesting and challenging to leave Ryan with his mommy alone while I travel. It used to be the other way round.

Happy and Sad!

I have been extremely busy for the whole month. We have been busy hunting for either a babysitter or a day centre for Ryan. Went through a few and finally, we have decided to put Ryan with Small Wonder Playhouse at SS19 Subang from next Monday onwards. In fact, we left Ryan with them yesterday for several hours as trial. Well, happy to say that he seemed to like it there. I guess it is because of the new environment, toys and other kids. He is one curious baby.

The main reason of us looking for a day care centre for Ryan is because I will be going back to the corporate world next Monday and I would not be able to look after him as much as I have over the past 8 months. And we are not at all comfortable to leave him all alone with the maid, although she seemed to love him and vice versa.

I should be happy (and I am) to be able to secure a reasonable and challenging job in such economic times. I have been on semi-retirement for several years now to set some of my life priorities right. (Too much running around in my last several jobs). Although I enjoyed the freedom, I found that over time, I am no longer as sharp as I want to be. Probably, the lack of practice (and stress) have made me slower and dull. So I was on a look out to get back to work and to sharpen it before I become completely obsolete.

Yet in my anxiousness to get back to the boardroom and the rat race, I am also sad because I will be spending less time with Ryan. One thing that I treasure most in my last 8 months was the quality time that I could spent with him, giving me the very hands on experience that I never had before.

It doesn’t help when this new position requires me to work half day on Saturdays as well. So, I would have less time with them and I guess that I would really need to have quality time during the weekend. Getting back to the corporate world would also meant less time to blog and to read blogs, something that I have grown to love. So, don’t stop visiting if this blog does not get updated as often as before or I could not visit you as frequently as before. I intend to keep this blog as a growing journal for Ryan, leaving behind sweet memories that we could relive in days to come.

Lots of adjustments to be made next week and I guess the first thing to do is to get out all my ties which have been hanging idle in the closet for so long.

Planning his 1st Birthday

Comes 30th May 2009, Ryan would be one year old. This will be his 1st birthday and my wife is already planning on his 1st birthday party. I know it is a little too early but then we are pretty excited about seeing him touching one. We wanted to make it a memorable occasion for him and for us. Well, we have about three months to think about how we wanted to celebrate his 1st birthday party. As we plan, we are now constantly looking out for birthday party novelties suppliers who could give us ideas on what and how we could make it even memorable.

How time flies. It still seemed like yesterday that we were eagerly expecting his arrival in the hospital. I could still remembered clearly the night before his expected arrival and how my wife went into labor at midnight although she was told that the doctor will start inducing only at 7 the next morning. In fact, by 7:15am, Ryan was already smiling at us.

I could still remember the epidural episode which started around 3 am in the morning which lasted till 4 am. By 1 am, we have already informed the nurse that we wanted epidural. The anesthetist only arrived at 3 am, looking like he just woke up from his deep slumber. Apparently, he has to come all the way from Ampang and we were in Damansara Specialist Centre. As usual the nurse gave us the form to fill which warns us about the effects and risks etc etc. My wife was like, “Just give me the damn form to sign and get on with it!” The most heart stopping moment was when he has already given the first dose and has this puzzled look when my wife complained that she is still feeling the pain! Wow. Damn stressful!

I still remembered dozing off at 5am when my wife’s pain subsided with the epidural finally kicked in, only waking at 7am, calmly walking into the labor room without realizing that my wife is just moments away from delivering.

Sweet moments of his arrival comes flooding back and we could not help but be totally amazed with this greatest Gift from God to us.

Milestone - His Second Tooth!

After his first teeth, we were eagerly anticipating his second lower teeth to come out as well. But surprise, surprise! When I was cleaning his mouth yesterday, he gave me a bite and the pain sensation did not come from the bottom of his mouth but from his upper jaw instead. On closer inspection, there it was, his second upper front teeth just broke out. Now, I really got to watch out when he grab my finger and put it inside his mouth else I will end up with a bandaged finger. Happy to say, another significant milestone chalked up in his journey with us.

Ryan is 8 months old now

Hello. Sorry for the long absence and silence. It has been quite a crazy week after we came back from our Chinese New Year holidays. We have been busy hunting for a day care centre or a babysitter for Ryan as I will be unable to take care of him full time in about one week time. (More of that later in another post).

Ryan has just turned 8 months on the 30th of January. We managed to grab several shots of him while playing with him on our bed. Looking back, we realized that he has grown quite a fair bit.

Some updated information about him as at to-date:-

• He can crawl pretty well and will engage his F1 zoom speed when he sees something he wants and within seconds, will be grabbing it and happily putting it into his mouth. So, have to watch over him like a hawk in case he falls or grabs and chew on things he is not supposed to.
• He can sit up on his own now though he prefers to be carried.
• He likes to twirl and twist and climb all over us when we carry him, putting extra strain on my arms and hands. My mum calls him the `screwdriver’ and has been complaining that he is the `naughtiest’ grand child she has!
• He is a happy baby, smiling to everyone he comes across, even to complete strangers, hence, also attracting attention wherever he goes. This little guy got good PR skills.
• He cries and is cranky when wants to eat, sleep or wants attention. Give him the attention that he wants, and he is one happy little fella, giggling, grinning with his ever cheeky smile.
• He has only one tooth and he enjoys sinking that sharp little thing into my fingers whenever he has the chance.
• He is drinking 6oz of either breast milk or formula every 2.5 hours.
• He sleeps through the night most of the time if he has his last feed around mid night.
• He still likes to be carried to sleep but will sleep happily in his own baby cot.
• He has officially setup my wife’s and mine responsibility for him. Daddy is a play toy and to feed him. Mummy is `manja’ (sweet talk) and to put him to sleep.
• He is already on solids. He eats rice cereal mixed with steamed apple three times a day.
• He enjoys his daily bath though he hates having his face wiped or his head washed. So, daddy has been having a hard time getting this done everyday.
• He enjoys being completely naked and roll and crawl all the over bed.
• He hates wearing pullovers or jumpers especially when putting them on.
• He has developed his own set of vocabulary that no one understands.
• He is inquisitive and always curious with a sharp eye, constantly looking out for new things that he wants to grab and play.
• He is like a F1 driver once we put him in his walker.
• He enjoys kicking Zoewe, our toy poodle whenever she comes near