To the Zoo!!

"We are going to the zoo, zoo, zoo.. We are going to the zoo, zoo, zoo.." I have been singing this to Rianne for a couple of weeks, and finally we went to the zoo on the Hari Raya public holiday.

There were a total of 7 of us - 4 adults, and 3 babies. Can you imagine the high ratio of infants to us adults, can at anytime make us call for help and breakdown if all 3 were to stage a protest at us?! Lucky, that didn't happen.

It was really an enjoyable outing, the happiest I had been in a long, long time. All the babies were well-behaved, and they appear to be having a ball of time (or did I idealise it? hahaha..). We were prepared that the babies might get cranky due to the heat and fatigue, and thus we got strollers, carry-slings, and portable electric fans all ready.


Rianne sling-ed in the front of mummy

After a quick brunch at KFC, we began our zoo tour with me carrying Rianne in the sling, little Jayden walking on his own but with his mummy holding his hands, and my brother-in-law slinging baby Joelle. Think the only baby who could probably make out what was in the exhibits, was the eldest one Jayden. Nevertheless, the two girls were still displaying expressions of curiousity at some really close-up animals.


The excited Rianne at the rhinocerus exhibit!!


Soon, Joelle started to show signs of fatigue..

And finally Rianne, completely K-O (Knocked Out)!

By late noon, the younger babies were completely exhausted; and so are us adults. We finished viewing the last few exhibits quickly and left the zoo for lunch at Sembawang Shopping Centre.

We needed so badly to rest our feet, and our arms (achy from carrying the babies the whole day!).. but not Jayden boy, who is forever so obsessed with Barney, the purple dinosaur! And he had dragged little Rianne along too.. (evidence below!!)

Little Junior is 7 months old!

2 blog posts later, Rianne is 7 months old! Wow, how fast children grow man!! Hahahaha..

We are now introducing Rianne to semi-solid food, which isn't considered too late to begin as I have known of 1 year old toodlers still suckling their mama's boobs at meal times! Rianne will have brown rice cereal on its own at noon, and porridge cooked with ikan bilis, dried scallops, potatoes, carrots and even broccoli sometimes, will be taken for dinner.

I have also changed a different follow-up (for 6 months old onwards) formula milk for Rianne. Her previous infant formula from this "SXX" brand was still fine, but when we continued with the follow-up formula; I found that she has problem finishing each feed. Also the milk powder was never dissolved completely, leaving chunks of residue on the milk bottle; and this makes washing so difficult. Especially when outside, we won't have the baby bottle detergent with us; so the bottle is hardly very clean.

I decided to ask for samples from other brands available in the market, and see which one meets my expectations. Surprisingly, the second one I tried does. It is a hypo-allergenic formula, gives all the required nutrients, and most importantly; Rianne likes it! She can finish the milk, and sometimes not even enough for her. This "NXX" brand of milk doesn't produce any grease on the milk bottle, so washing is like a breeze!

Well, I couldn't believe it when I discovered that Rianne was teething! She had been cranky, and keeps putting her fingers into her mouth, then pulling them out abruptly. She was also having problem drinking her milk. My colleague who express milk together with me in the office, was complaining about her daughter's teething woes. The syptoms were similar, except that her girl had fever and Rianne didn't. I told Annie Mummy, and she confirmed my suspicion when she rubbed Rianne's gums and found jaggered tooth buds on her upper teeth bed..

Rianne now has 2 teethers, one in the shape of a zebra and the other, looks like a biscuit and a cookie. She loves most the biscuit & cookie from Combi Toys, and always reach for them when she see me holding them. To ease her teething discomfort, I bought a teething gel which can be rubbed onto her gums whenever she's feeling sore.

I remember my nephews Joaquin & Jayden looked so adorable with their bugs bunny tooth, and I really can't wait to see baby Rianne looking like Bugs! Hahahaha..

Here's a video of Rianne having porridge for the first time, super cute her!! ;p

6 months old, and getting naughty!!

Baby Rianne loves hair accessories, of all sorts & shapes!!

However, sometimes she still get hair like Beckham..


Her first drumstick.. yummy!!

And after that, a poop in the potty!!

Rianne is 6 months old!

Being a preemie, it's not unusual for Rianne to be smaller in size than the other babies of her age. However, when her cousin Joelle, 2 months younger than her has the same weight as Rianne, I became rather conscious.

Rianne does drink lesser milk than Joelle, if you look at the intake per feed. My baby takes 80-100ml/120ml of breastmilk every 2 hourly, and the latter drinks 175-180ml formula milk at an interval of 4 hours. But on totality, Rianne actually has more milk than her younger cousin. Not forgetting the twice cereal feeds Rianne drinks with 70/80ml of breast milk.

My little talkative princess although smaller than her peers, is not developing any slower than any of them! Take her motor skills for example, she's learning to sit already (pictures as shown in previous post) and before she could even sit on her own; she's now taking baby walking steps on a walker! It was my mum's idea to put her in a walker, and surprisingly she managed to take several steps.. ermmm, however they are in the reverse direction which I don't know why! Hahaha..

The other thing which I am so proud of Rianne (and I'm very certain Annie Mummy is too) is, her ability to poo using a potty! Yes, you have not heard me wrongly; a potty. Some toddlers only learn and succeed pooing in a potty at the age of 1-2. My darling baby knows it's poo-poo time when granny flashes the brightly coloured (it's orange in colour!) potty after her morning feed, and another time after she had cereals. Now then I realised how baby poop actually look like in solid form, when it's not squashed in a diaper.. Nasty.

Rianne does have a few unusual habits, even at 6 months old. She shakes her legs when she is seated on people's laps and when she hears music. She loves to check herself out in the mirror, especially when her hair is being combed. She likes looking at you from the mirror, and then at your face just so that she knows it's is the same person. She enjoys watching the telly, but not animation and the cartoony stuff though she still like the nursery rythmes dvds we got at home.

She loves it when you play peek-a-boo with her, and the more I play with this little bundle of joy, the more I wish I can stay with her all day and night..

Back!!

Been out of blogging actions for a while, due to a faulty router. The D-Link router which my brother-in-law gave (during his courtship with my sis, trying to curry my favour I suppose! hahaha!!), became totally powerless one day. Regardless how me and my mum tried to connect the AC, it simply doesn't work! Then my colleague reminded me that I still have a modem. By plugging my lappie directly to the modem, I will be connected to the network..

Well, some updates on Rianne's condition. After she's been diagnosed with the genetic disorder (NF 1), we've been following up with eye checkups at the hospital. Poor baby her.. she was put to horrible eye tests with administration of 8 different types of eye drops, to see if there's anything growing (likelihood of a tumour) at the back of the eye. My little princess was so brave to got through the first 6 drops without shedding a single drop of tear. However, this smart baby was so clever to know that the second time into the treatment room would mean another round of eye drops; she immediately struggled and cried when my mum tried to keep her still.

There were many other kids & babies older than Rianne, (except one who's only 4 months old) at the eye centre awaiting to be checked in the scariest way ever.. A father & mother of a 2 year old girl was telling Annie Mummy and me how some of the checks were carried out. They said the doctors would pry the eyes of the young children with paper clips, and then shone super bright lights into the poor sockets. I was so terrified that Rianne's doctor will be using such method, but I had overworried. The 'nerdy' looking female doctor was so gentle, and even sang "Twinkle, twinkle little star" in a lulluby version to Rianne. Her nurses were also so kind, and used lots of toys to distract Rianne while the doctor checked.

The doctor explained to me that currently there isn't anything behind Rianne's eyes, probably just a small cafe au lait mark on one of her eyes which is harmless. However as the growth of a tumour can develop anytime, and Rianne is still too young to notify the adults of any discomfort/visionary problems; the doctor recommends us to come back semi-annually for checks.

At the counter while checking out, Rianne was the limelight at the eye center when she made singing-like sounds, and was 'chatting' to almost everyone. All the nurses love her, as Rianne was all smiley and talkative! Hmmmmm, maybe my darling's trying to create good impressions so that the nurses will be kinder to her the next time. Hah!

Hey, Bumbo!

My darling, Rianne is finally sitting on a chair.. on the Bumbo chair made in South Africa, said to teach infants age 3 months on, to sit up straight.

I had bought 2 Bumbo seats around the same time last year for my nephews Joaquin & Jayden. One year later, my own daughter is sitting on the never-been-sat before Bumbo. The other one in my sister's possession is now in the hands of my colleague, whom I regularly share the nursing room in my office with. Her daughter is about 1 month older than Rianne, and has started sitting on the Bumbo at the Infant Care centre.

Modernization has cleverly produced an useful tool (I wonder how the babies of older days learnt to sit?!), which even a traditional woman like my mum is impressed by it.

Pictures of Rianne on Bumbo, so adorable I am proud to say she is.. Enjoy!

Life - happy for some, and short for others.

Time flies.. Woof, and Rianne just turned 5 months old yesterday! I am of course thrilled, but a part of me actually feels anixety as I watched my darling grow.

One thing I am most afraid to know, and hate to come to terms with; will be Rianne's inheritance of her daddy's disorder. As the appointment date with the genetic counsellor gets nearer, my mind starts filling itself with all the bad thoughts. "What's going to happen to Rianne if she really has NF?!", "Will it affect her growth and brain development?!", "Is she gonna look different as she grows?!", and most critically, "Will it lead to cancer?!"

Well, as news of Michael Jackson's death start flooding all media, I tell myself I should just quit worrying. MJ had a life full of twists, fame, accusations, and surgeries (it's the truth!), but he was never a sad person. His Neverland brought joy not only to the boy inside him, but to many young children who has never been to a wonderland like this..

Undeniably, life is as fragile as it can be.. be it a life worthy of living, or a life that is slumpy and filled with endless suffering. Live it upright and happy. God has his plans for you when he come and take you away..

I know God has taken you to be by his side, Uncle Ah Seng.. You will always be remembered, dearly in our hearts.