Together

I am always reluctant to take picture with Caden because I feel so huge and fat. But if I don't take any pictures with him now, I will have no pictures with 'small' Caden and I know that I will regret it later. So today I told myself to forget about how fat I am and try to feel confident to take pictures with Caden (although reminding myself not to take close-up photo). Yes I think I should do this more often!

I am not sure how can auntie Valerie took this pictures below..it's so cute.... They were spending time together and auntie Valerie took his picture and the next thing I know, I download the pictures and it was all nicee... "Thanks ii for the nice pictures of me..."

Happy Chinese Lunar New Year!!!

at paragon

Went out shopping with oma today. Caden was sitting quietly in his car seat and looking at the people passed by and the stores in Paragon. Mom said, "I should have brought Caden out more often so that he won't act like a 'kampong' boy!" But I don't believe it. By keeping him at home he will have the maximum rest that he need and avoid awful diseases from visitors at the mall.

Happy Valentines day!!

bumbo chair

Auntie Valerie called this chair as "Caden's Throne" and made a small crown for Prince Caden to wear whenever he sit on it

This past few days, Caden doesn't really like it when we put him on his back or tummy, he wants to be sitted on our lap. Then I saw this bumbo chair at Takashimaya and another time at a child-care center that I mistakenly thought a school for infants. When I asked the owner of the child-care center about this bumbo chair, she said the it is really good for babies who just started to learn how to sit; the chair is also safe and confortable for them.....they could not stand up from it as the rubber suck their bottom to the chair when placed on flat surface.

So this afternoon I went to Takashimaya and bought this chair for Caden. I just hope that Caden will like his first chair to play with.

PS: His left eye on the photo is a bit shiny, that's because we put vaseline on it as Caden scratch it with his own nails. It was pretty deep!! Believe it or not vaseline really helps to heal it faster.

Noah met Caden for the 1st time

Noah and mommy came to visit Caden for the 1st time. Caden and Noah seems to get acquainted very fast (they are holding hands in no time). I let Caden rub Noah head which has full of hair a few times...hoping that Caden will have hair similar like Noah soon. ^_^

Noah mommy and I had a great time, too. It's been a while since we met. We chat a lot but this time, mostly about our babies...hehe...how time has changed...we knew each other since we were Secondary School and never thought of getting married, but now, each of us have a son of our own.

Come by again Noah! Next time, bring your float and swim suit too...so we can go swimming together.

PS: I looked so huge...I still had 10kg with me...yup! TEN KILO!!!

Going to school!!

I want to enroll Caden in a school for him to have fun and meet his other little friends. I thought it could be an interesting experience for him as he doesn't have any small friends in the family (he is the first child, first grandchild from both sides, and first great-grandchild, too). Most of the school in Singapore start at 6 months but I found this school called 'The Little Gym' that allowed infants as young as 4 months old in their 'bugs' class (4-10 months of age). So I called last week to have a trial session.

The class was great. It was a relatively small class with only about 6 children and their mommies. Teacher Amy was great too; she is a young, energetic person who teaches us (parents) lots of tricks to increase the child ability to build a strong bodies as well as high self-esteem using songs, or props in the gym.

1st time in the class Caden looked very happy. He smiled and follow the class quietly and attentively. So I conclude that he like the class..that means...we will be coming here every Wednesday at 9.10am. Yey...!!!

swim @ ardmore

Today is the first time Caden swim at ardmore. The swimming pool was great but unfortunately they don't have heated pool at all; they have 4 swimming pool -- 1 big and 3 small ones but none is heated. Luckily Caden can tolarate the cool water ... people said he likes water therefore whanever there is water (whether is cold or warm), it's okay with him.

Caden loves the small pool because with the 'car float' that I bought him, his feet are just right touching the bottom pool floor so he could sort of walk in it. He was so enthusiastic 'driving the car' forward, backward, right and left.

Today is Saturday, daddy is at home so daddy took Caden swim and had a great time. Paul has been away every Sunday night to Friday night so he doesn't get enough time to see Caden and wherever Paul is in Singapore, he always make use of Caden's wake up times to play together. I guess, Paul is just afraid that Caden won't recoqnize him as his daddy if he did not make the time. Whatever it is, it's good to have a fatherly bonding for Caden and Paul and I will definately encourage this father-son time.

Fever for 2 dayss...

Caden had a slight fever after his 4 months immunizations. He was fussy and had trouble sleeping. Today is the 3rd day after his immunizations. His body is not as hot as yesterday but at the same time he has not recover fully yet. For the past 2 days, he has been crying for mommy to hold him a lot and refused to be hold or put to sleep by his baby-sitter, so I have been doing nothing much other than spent my time with Caden -- of course I am alright with that... When Caden need me, I will always be there!!!

Update by his 4 months check up:
Weight: 7.3 kg or 16 pounds and 0.6 oz
Height: 66 cm or 26 inch

Lunch w/ Ima Nanny

Tommorow Caden and mommy will be going back to Singapore to meet daddy!!! So Ima Nanny invited us for lunch @ Keyaki, Shangrilla Hotel. She wanted to see Caden before we go. Since we arrived at the restaurant Caden was a bit cranky, he wanted us to hold him and hungry was probably another reason but when I gave him my breast, he did not want to suck on it. So then I let him walked around with the baby-sitter. At almost 2 pm, it's time for Ima Nanny to get back to the office to work so that she could buy Caden moreee toyssss...... ^_^ Thanks for the food, Ima...it was goodd!!! I could taste the salmon sushi in mommy's breast-milk!!!

to puncak...

@ Amen Restaurant, Puncak

Caden and I went to puncak last weekend. We drove from Jakarta on Friday, January 12 and went back home on Sunday, January 14. At first I was reluctant to go because it was quite a long drive to yeye's (Paul's aunt) house in Puncak -- about 2 hours -- and I was afraid Caden won't be comfortable and would cry a lot in the car and at the new bedroom there. But Paul's parents and yeye's family really wanted Caden to come along, so then we went.

The journey was not bad. Caden wasn't cry at all, he sat on his car seat and looked at the outside scenery and then fell a sleep. He was cranky at times when he is hungry but he wasn't eat that much anyway in the car. I was afraid he would get dizzy and throw-up as the winding road was pretty bad (I myself felt a bit dizzy). I was also afraid he won't sleep well in the new bedroom but it turn out not bad at all. He was a little fuzzy, of course but I was still able to manage it.

We went to factory outlet there and bought a lot of clothes for Caden. ^)^

more milk?

I have been feeling quite happy lately. It seems like I am producing much more milk than before, sometimes it even leak. Yey!!! I am so happy and proud that my decision of pumping my breasts even when they are not producing any milk really helps.

Caden has been feeding straight from my breast with only a little supplement from the formula for the past month and when the formla is given, that is only when I am gone past his feeding time -- so I tried as much as possible to come back home on time at his feeding time.

Paul, ai Ayun and Mom has not been supporting on the breastfeeding idea. Paul supports me on the breastfeeding idea so that Caden will have better health and future but he wants me to loose weight asap. How can I do that when I always feel hungry after breastfeeding? Also, you are not suppose to go on diet when you are breastfeeding as you may not giving your child enough vitamins and minerals.

As for ai, she said my milk production is very little and would not be enough to feed Caden (she predicted that my supply will dry up by Caden 3 months old). She used to insist that Caden would need to be given formula after every breastfeeding. And mom, she said breastfeeding will make my breast look ugly and plus I could not go on diet soon when I am still breastfeeding.

*sigh*

I know I look so very ugly now – very fat. But I think giving breast milk for Caden is the best option for his future. I will loose weight (I promised) but wait until I had stop breastfeeding. I guess some people are not that patient when it comes to your appearance.

But so far, I will stick into my decision. I am determined to breastfeed Caden for at least 1 year – I don’t care what other people say. Now, the most important thing is what is best for Caden.

popo birthday...

Happy Birthday, Popo

January 2, 2007

Yey...it's popo (word for grandma) birthday. Six of us (Paul's parents, Paul, me, Caden and ai) went to Fajar Restaurant -- the one closer to Pondok Indah --- to have dinner. The food was okay, although the chicken rice -- just the rice tasted unusual, but the restaurant itself looked quite dirty...plus they allow people to smoke inside the restaurant. ihhh...I hate the smell of it and more importantly I did not want Caden to smell that toxic smell that could cause lung/brain damage!!! I was not enjoying my time at the dinner.. I feel I just want to finish the food as fast as possible and get out of here. Luckily it was just a small dinner, so there was not any time wasted on chatting with each other.

3 months birthday + first swim experience

Grandpa, Grandma, Aunt Valerie, and the three of us went for a vacation to Bali. We stayed at The Ahimsa Villa in Jimbaran. It was a very nice 3 bedroom villa with our own private swimming pool. We were exited to have a great first vacation with Caden there but then our hope were diminised right after we arrived at the airport. We wasn't expected that the weather would be so hot. Rumor said that it was because the wind from Australia brought the extremely hot weather to Bali. We barely (at least Paul, Caden and I) went out from our full air-condition room and once we are out, we would sweat all of over that we had to take a bath right away. We were so not in the mood to go out especially on the afternoon, we rather swim at the pool for watch TV (thanks for the individual TV at each of the room).

But we managed to go out for lunch to Bebek Bengil (Paul's favorite restaurant there) on the 28th of December -- it was Caden's 3 months birthday!! yey!!



Caden was also enjoying his first experience in the swimming pool. I wasn't thinking of carying him around in the pool but after playing with him in the shallow water, he did not seems scared or cry, so I thought "why not try to bring him to the middle of the pool?" Hehehe.... So there it was his first swim experience and yup he was a born to be swimmer, he enjoyed it and loved it. I told myself to bring him out for swimming more often when we are back in Singapore.

Caden @ 3 months

I Love Milkkk...!!!!

PS: This very cute outfit was a gift from Uncle Patrick and Auntie Cindy for Caden's first Helloween.... Thanks to both of you!!

A month has passed by...

Feel just yesterday that I experienced those extremely painful labor pains, the joy of giving birth to a son, and not to forget the start of my “less sleep at night” days. First few weeks were hard…adjusting to a mom’s life and making decision for Caden and hoping that those decisions were the best for him but eventually I get a hang of it.

And now, a month has passed by. Caden is entering his second month of his life and are healthy and strong (although that involves a lot of cries and less sleep for me…). A lot has happened since that time when he was out of my body on the morning of October 28, 2006; he has gained almost 3.5 pounds (almost 2 pounds goes to his cheeks ^_^), increase in his length by 4 inches, and able to hear and see more clearly.

Update by his one month check up:
Weight: 4.35 kg or 9 pounds 5.7oz
Height: 55.9cm or 22 inches

bathing caden for the first time

Caden is 1 month and 2 days old today. For the past week I had been learning from Ai how to give Caden a bath and by looking at her doing it. I already told myself that I will try to give him a bath when he is 1 month old, so I thought, today would be the best day. We give Caden a bath everyday in the morning; once a week is enough for now. Caden woke up at around 8 am, we let him play under the morning sun for a while then I gave him a bath.

I started by shampooing his 'no-hair' head and then dipped him in a small tub to clean his body (front and back) with Johnson baby soap thoroughly . It was not difficult at all, I just need to be careful of the soap that could make his body slippery which could lead to dangerous falling into the bath tub -- and that's need a little practice. Also assuring Caden that I will always hold him tight will help him a little too -- Ai said, Caden seems a little scared when she put him into the bath tub as he curl up his fingers tight (that's why we left his hand's mitten until the end of the bathing time and put on a new one after).

He has very sweet-smelling right after that; so cute, tiny and handsome ^_^