First Christmas

Asher's first Christmas was pretty exciting for a little boy I think. On Christmas eve we went to Grandpa's house, and on Christmas day we visited 2 houses. and he received his first Christmas present ever!

Was good to spend Christmas Eve with family, catching up, chatting, and just having a very pleasant time. Asher was in a fairly good mood and was a very good boy throughout.

Then on Christmas day itself, happily decked out in his Christmas outfit we headed for Aunty PS's house for a popiah party. Normally he's quite happy with company, but for some reason he was quite fussy there, and we had to spend quite a bit of time soothing him. Still, that didn't stop us from playing board games with the others :) Nice to meet with friends on Christmas for some cheeriness :)

But the journey between the two houses was far from cheery. Asher had a dirty diaper when we left the first house, and we thought we could change it when we got to our second destination. But Asher was totally unhappy with that decision. He then went on to make his (very noisy) point by shrieking all the way from Simei to Woodlands - a good 25mins! Our poor ears!!!! He was inconsolable! I literally had to use my fingers to cover my ears for a while to give them some relief! For a small boy, he really had big lungs! Thank goodness we got to the second house eventually!

Asher spent the rest of the evening sleeping in the sling while Jon and I had yummy Christmas fare at Aunty E's house.

Anyway, interesting little piece of trivia (for me at least). Aunty PS bought cupcakes spelling out 'Merry Christmas'. Do you know that from those alphabets you can spell "My Asher"? :) She was packing them for us to bring back when we discovered that. Actually, she was going to spell out 'Cry Asher', but decided to go for 'My Asher'. Makes no difference though, he still ended up crying after the visit! :)










So he received his first Christmas present from Kong Kong and Po Po :) A Christmas stocking! We couldn't resist stuffing him into it hee hee. I would have stuffed him in further if not for his poo-ey diaper. Didn't want any accidents!



I have a present! Do you?








Hmm...what can it be?










I wanna open it NOW!









Mine! Don't touch!









See how big it is!












My first Christmas!

Hello, Hi and Smiles!

Asher's been smiling! And he's been mouthing the words 'Hello' and 'Hi'! Really!










It came as a surprise! At the changing table after putting on a clean diaper, he suddenly mouthed "hello" in reply to my "hello" and gave a happy, toothless smile! :) It seems he's always so happy after diaper changes that that's one of the places he often shows off his smile. So the changing table has become a place of great sorrow (being peed on, having pee all over, etc), as well as a place of great joy! :)













It's even more endearing when he initiates the hellos all on his own! I foresee many cheeky and fun-filled days ahead!

Christmas Musings

Now that I've a kid of my own, it gives a new perspective to Christ's birth. Jesus was a baby! A baby! Just like Asher! I mean, I've always known that, but it never really hit home that he was just a small, helpless, infant.

Then I'm wondering. Did Jesus cry a lot? Did Mary and Joseph have a tough time getting him to sleep through the night? Did he have colic? Or was he really a serene and peaceful baby as all the pictures of the nativity scene show? I wonder how he was as a baby. One the one hand, he was here on earth just like any of us, so he could be just like any baby, i.e., coming with all the usual babycare woes. Or, he could be divinely good natured, didn't cry for no reason, slept through the night easily, etc.

Hmm...

It's a whole new look at Jesus as a baby! There are no answers I'm sure. Just one of those many questions to ask God next time :)

Botanic Gardens Outing

Bright and early on a cool Saturday morning we decided to head over to Botantic Gardens for a walk. We've been wanting to bring Asher there for some time already.

Lovely breezy day!

Many other families were also there for a morning walk, but I think Asher was the tiniest baby there. Almost everyone who walked past whispered, "He's so small!"

While sitting at one of the benches, we were looking at some other young kids who were running about, and I was imagining what it would be like to run around the gardens with Asher in future :) Will be fun I'm sure. I'm hoping there'll be many picnics and outings to Botanic Gardens - I love that place!

The Niu Niu Comparison

Asher's grown in length. Check out the entry on Nov 22 and compare this picture with the one there! Asher's almost as long as Niu Niu now!

When Silence Is Not Golden

One would think that silence is a great thing when you have a baby. And well, in certain circumstances that is true. Like, when you want your baby to sleep at night, or take a nap in the day (i.e., stop crying!).

But there are times when silence really isn't a good thing. Like, when you are changing Asher's diaper. He can cry and kick a fuss, but I've learnt that when he becomes quiet, it's really the calm before the storm. What happens next is usually me (or even himself) receiving a shower of blessing. It's happened more than once, and I've come to be wary of such silent spells which brings on this dilemma:

"Oh no, should I continue changing his diaper? Should I wait till he's peed?"

Only once or twice have I out-smarted his bodily functions, but I've been caught unawares many more times. After waiting for a decent amount of time to pass, thinking I'm safe and I can proceed with the diaper change, it'll be just then that he decides to spray me. Great.

Un-golden silence also occurs when he's lying on my lap. Like today. He was fidgeting about and making some noise, then he became calm, and I thought "oh yay!". Then I suddenly feel this warm sensation on my belly. I look down and what do I see? Number 2! The big one (only that for babies it's soft and goo-ey). Fantastic.

"Alright Asher, Mummy still loves you"

Diaper change. Pick Asher up. Put him back on lap for more play time. Then...I see something that makes me think of Britney Spears.

"Oops, I did it again"

Not me, Asher. He pooed again! And it leaked onto his socks, and narrowly missed me. Back to the changing table we go.

"Yes Asher dearie, Mummy still loves you"

Such has been his great love for me. He loves me so much he wants to mark me and have me for himself. I've been peed on, and pooped on at least 5 times in total :)

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Anyway, another time when Silence is not golden is when we have guests over! We have discovered that our dear little boy likes noise! Whenever there are visitors and the chatter in the house goes up in volume, Asher actually sleeps more soundly!

So, like my aunt said, we should have more parties if I want him to sleep more.

Oops, the guests just left and my baby boy is starting to stir, right on cue.

Alrightie, till next time. Ta!!

Anniversary!

It's been two wonderful years of marriage! Truly, I can't imagine being married to anyone else ;O)

How quickly time flies. It doesn't seem too long ago that we were in London celebrating our first wedding anniversary! And if you look back to my entry last year, you'll see a picture of Jon with two glasses of champagne. We actually clinked the glasses on the agreement that we'll try for a kid. And now, a year later, Asher's here! :)













In his Christmas outfit! :) I'm milking it for all its worth this December, cos he'll out-grow it really quickly!









So, wedding anniversary Number 2 saw us escaping confinement and going Christmas shopping! We had planned to go for breakfast at Queenstown Macs, and then hit the stores early, but being novice parents we took much longer than expected to go out! :) First we had to re-figure out the pram - which we hadn't opened since we bought it. And then there was the whole string of activities linked to babycare - change, feed, change, change (there were some mishaps lah). So we decided to order MacDelivery instead. And then in between all that we had to squeeze in getting ourselves ready :) We finally made it out the door at 1145am! Our first family outing!

He's so small he hardly fills up the pram!












Looking at the world pass by in his car seat.









Amazingly, Asher slept throughout the entire trip! I think he likes the noise, the people and the air-con. He slept so soundly that I had to wake him up for his feed! We've seen how he likes noise and people at home, and it seems quite consistent now that that's his preference. Jon and I were joking that for most people, maybe they can't go out cos their kid is cranky; but for us, we should go out otherwise our kid will be cranky haha :)


zzzZZZZZZ

Conversation with Baby

Today Asher and I had a heart-to-heart conversation. Word-for-word, or rather sound-for-sound, it went something like this:

On the sofa with Asher propped up on my knees facing me.

Me: (in a coo-ey voice) Hi Asher! Mummy here! Can you see me? Do you like Mummy?

Asher: ppoooooooooooooooooooooootttt (that's him poo-ing very audibly, by the way)

Me: Great, is that really what you think?

Asher: pppooooott pooooooooooooooottt poot (seems like the last one was for emphasis)

Me: -silence-

Asher: poooooottt pooot poott poooooooooott

Me: Okay, I get the message. You want your diaper changed (note the denial).

Asher: (Gives me this I'm-so-sleepy look)












End of Conversation

And He Rolls!

Asher managed to roll over on his own the other day! He did it twice, then I think on the third try he was too tired, and when he couldn't do it he got frustrated and started crying :)

But yay! Good on you, boy! Of course, this means we have to be more careful when he's on the changing mat.

And he can hold his head up!

It's exciting to watch his development, and observe the changes day by day - how he discovered that his flinging hands can cause his body to move (once he flung his arms and when his body moved he freaked out and started crying. Now he is able to use both arms to try and steady himself), he can hold a gaze, sometimes he can track for a short while.

And he's grown. Now when I look back on the pics taken on his first day, he looks so small! He's still small now, but he's definitely starting to fill out. His cheeks are chubbier, and he looks taller. It's true what they say, that kids do grow quickly. Two month old children look so different from newborns! I guess it'll be the same with Asher as well. Better appreciate his small size and light weight for now. It'll be my arms that'll be getting a real workout in a couple of months!

Asher's version of Blue Steel! (Didja watch Zoolander?)

Trying to charm Mummy

Hi! I'm getting a tan!

Early Case of the Complex?

Asher's such a funny boy. He meows. I'm serious. When he stretches, when he yawns, sometimes when he's just sitting there... :)

Maybe it's cos I'm like a cat in that I love to eat fish (and I've been eating TONS and TONS of it lately since fish soup is supposedly good for me); or maybe it's cos I sometimes meow when I stretch too ;) Or maybe it was because when I was pregnant I was still squatting by the side of cars looking underneath and meowing to find the cute little kitty hiding there, or just meowing at kittys in general...erm...I'm sociable :)

And he poos and pees at the funniest moments. On more than one occasion he's peed over himself after we've bathed him. Once he pooped on the towel we were drying him in. Today, he peed in his bath! As a result, we had to re-bathe him again :)

And once, he tried to attack Jon with poo. Jon was changing his diaper when suddenly Asher passed some gas. Jon lifted his head from behind Asher's butt, and just as he did so a burst of poo exploded and sprayed all over the changing mat. It was hilarious!! And a really close call for Jon :) For me, either way would have been equally funny (okok, i admit, maybe if he pooped over Jon it'll be funnier ;) )

Anyway another funny thing happened the other day. Asher was fussing quite a bit and Jon managed to calm him down. Just as he was about to dose off I just felt like giving Jon a kiss, and as I did, Asher suddenly scrunched up his face and started crying inconsolably!! Hahaaa. Early case of Oedipus Complex? Not supposed to happen until between the ages of 3-5! So, ya, better condition him to be used to seeing us kiss! :) Tsk tsk. Jealous boy :)