The Bub in the Belly

As long as I have been on leave, and apart from one drive out to the nearby TB Plaza, I haven't been out of the house with Ryan alone. Today, I made significant progress on that front. First, I took Ryan to my office and he was so good. He entertained everyone with his chuckles and smiles and let everyone entertain him with their koochie-koos. He certainly knows how to turn on the charm. After that, we met up with Sheri and Jousy nearby and after that, we went home.

Photos with Sheri and Jousy.

Today Ryan and I attended a smaller and cozier gathering of SMH Dec/Jan 2009 mummies. This group is for those living near Tiong Bahru Plaza. It was the first time that I drove out alone with Ryan. Ryan slept through, on my tummy, for most of the gathering.

25 March 2009


23 March 2009

Yes, Ryan has started sucking his thumb. Actually, it's not just his thumb, his whole fist gets the finger-lickin' good treatment and if you let him grab onto your finger, he'll give that a generous helping of drool too.

In other news, we took Ryan to one of our favourite hangouts today - Colbar at Whitchurch Road.

Today is the last day of my maternity leave (8 weeks have flown by!). I won't be back at work yet, however, as I am extending my leave by 4 weeks.

Today I hosted a gathering at our house. More than 20 SMH mummies attended with their Dec/Jan babies! It was absolutely fantastic to see all the babies together. This was also the first time that I met up with the mummies since we delivered so it was a welcome opportunity to catch up. There were some new faces also, which is always great.

11 March 2009

13 March 2009

17 March 2009

After we got Ryan's passport issued and his immigration papers sorted, we drove back to Malaysia to celebrate his full month. First stop was in KL, where my brother, Kenneth, got to have the first look at Ryan. Next was Richard's family, including Ryan's young cousins and Aunty Jessie. Then, we drove up to Ipoh for the official full month celebration - dinner at a Chinese restaurant with my extended family (grandma, uncles, aunts and cousins) and Richard's extended family and family friends. We had about 4 tables. Aunty Sharon was fantastic - she made all the arrangements for us, including booking us into a very nice hotel for our stay. Margaret kindly offered to make red eggs but the restaurant provided them free.

I fell terribly sick during this time, had a fever and the flu. Jimmy and Margaret gave me some medicine (safe for breastfeeding) and I continued to breastfeed Ryan. Richard eventually succumbed to my germs and fell sick too. Amazingly, Ryan didn't fall sick, there was not a single sniffle from him despite being constantly in my arms and co-sleeping with me at night.

Ryan had some greenish poo for a day or two - we were running about quite a bit and I often had to quickly feed him on the go with a lot of interruptions. As a result, he got mostly foremilk, hence the greenish poo. That immediately went away when things calmed down and I could sit down and give him a proper uninterrupted feed.

In Ipoh, we met up with some budakkampung - Soo Ling (and her sister) and Cathryn (and her lovely children, Nicole and Ethan) and in KL, Oi Lin and Kar Yee.

Photos!

25 February 2009, lying in my lap.

28 February 2009, Ryan with his great-grandmother at the full month celebration dinner

28 February 2009, met up with Cathryn and Soo Ling in Ipoh

1 March 2009, met up with Oi Lin and Kar Yee in KL

1 March 2009, zonked out in his car seat as we drove up and down the country