Ryan had his first swimming experience today. We took him to a shop at Harbourfront Centre where they have tubs for babies to kick about, wearing nothing but neck floats.
Ryan didn't need much encouragement, he took to the water quickly and was happily kicking about within minutes. He was a delight to watch and the staff were surprised that this was his first time. As he enjoyed it so much, we signed him up for a package of 10 sessions.
Whenever I am in the queue at the PD’s clinic waiting for Ryan’s turn, I always wonder why other patients take so long. Ryan’s check-up today was over in five minutes. Maybe I should think of some questions to ask the PD at our next appointment.
Today's consultation was with Dr William Yip as Dr Ngiam is away. Dr William Yip is quite an amusing fellow. He called Ryan, "My darling" and made lots of lovely sounds to entertain Ryan (Teeteetortor! Teeteetortor!). He said Ryan is a big baby and, as Ryan is digesting his milk well, we need not and should not rush to start him on solids otherwise he will be overweight. Ryan measured 6.8 kg and 61 cm.
In other news, Ryan has started flipping over to lie on his tummy. Also, he loves to suck his fingers and fists now, which makes me kind of jealous - when I see him sucking his fists, I will stop him and put him on the breast instead. On my end, my wrist pain has suddenly disappeared - I didn't have to see the orthopaedic surgeon for a jab after all, so I'm very happy about that.
When we were out with the Fams for Ryan's mini full month celebration, Sheri mentioned that she had used an online site to advertise for a child minder and that she'd got some good responses. She suggested that we advertise there for a nanny. We thought that it was a great suggestion so Richard put up an advert on the site and we managed to find a wonderful lady, Mrs Chok, who lives somewhere in between our house and our offices.
We had checked out a few infant care centres and had more or less decided on one but we never got around to registering Ryan, perhaps because we were not totally convinced it was the right choice for us. The present arrangement with Mrs Chok is perfect for us and we are very happy about the way things have turned out.
Here's a shot taken when we were bringing Ryan to his nanny's place this morning. Over the weekend, we had already deposited stuff like diapers, baby wipes, Ryan's toiletries, towel, bedsheet, mattress, bottles and clothes with her so this morning I only had to bring my expressed breast milk. And Ryan, of course. 
Today is the last day of my extended time away from the office. I’ve had a wonderful time spending every moment of every day with Ryan. Apart from my motherly duties, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed being the housewife, cleaning and cooking and organising, and satisfying my inner domestic goddess.
Having said that, it will be great to be in touch with the ‘outside’ world again. There is a part of me that misses being at work, having adult conversations and doing my usual (non-baby related) activities. It will be refreshing yet comforting and familiar.
I don't know whether Ryan and I will be able to adapt to being apart after 12 weeks of being joined at the hip but everything has been so smooth so far so I'm confident that things will be fine.
For my last task as a stay-at-home-mum, I trimmed Ryan's nails. This is long overdue as Ryan has been rubbing his face and leaving scratches on it from his fingernails. I initially wanted to trim them while he was asleep, after hearing so many stories about mummies accidentally snipping the baby's finger. However, everytime Ryan fell asleep I either forgot and when I did remember, I decided that I didn't want to take the chance that I might disturb his sleep. Anyway, tonight being the last night, I couldn't put it off any longer. Here's a shot of it. He was drowsy at first but woke up quite quickly. 
We decided to spend the long weekend in KL as my last hurrah! before going back to work. Richard and I packed half a bag of clothes each. Ryan, at two and a half months old, had one entire bag of tiny rompers, pajamas, tops and bottoms plus one diaper bag and a stroller.
The best thing about the trip, and the whole point of it, was that we managed to spend some time with family and friends (Oi Lin and Kar Yee) to see how they are doing and to catch up with them. We also celebrated Richard's dad's birthday (which falls on 24th).
Ryan was the star of the show, of course. He was hugged and cuddled and kissed and squeezed and tickled and petted and caressed. His every expression elicited squeals of delight from his captive audience. It was really amazing to witness the joy a small baby can bring.
It’s my birthday today and Richard took me out for a lovely dinner at The White Rabbit to celebrate. Ryan was so good, he didn't fuss at all. Back home, we brought out a birthday cake and blew out the candle on a good year. Ryan stayed up with me till past midnight and, again, didn't fuss at all. My sweetie. Amazing to think that the last time I had a birthday, Ryan didn’t even exist and this time he is an important part of the celebration.
For my birthday, Richard bought me a beautiful Tiffany locket. The best thing about it is that Richard put two pictures of Ryan inside.
In other news, I went to see Dr Chan for a check-up two days ago. We brought Ryan with us to show Dr Chan. It was nice to see Dr Chan again, although it did feel a bit strange now that my tummy is empty and flat. I’d become used to the routine: waddling into the clinic and saying hello to the nurses, pee-ing on the glucose strip and trying to cheat the weighing machine by removing my watch and all my jewellery before stepping on. All that was strikingly absent and I felt almost like I was no longer entitled to be there.
I had been having some pain in my right wrist since my last trimester which I had hoped would disappear after the delivery but didn't. Dr Chan told me it was quite common in pregnancy and likely to be tenosynovitis (de Quervain’s). He said it might resolve on its own and if not, I could go and see an orthopaedic surgeon to get a jab which should take care of it. Everything else is fine. Got my pap smear done and no more appointments till next year or until I get pregnant again.
Today was a very memorable day - Richard took us to a Japanese restaurant for lunch!
Richard is the pickiest eater I know. There are many things that he does not like to eat, and that includes cold appetisers, sushi, sashimi, miso soup and cold Japanese noodles. I have managed to persuade him to have Japanese food only where it is hot and thoroughly cooked, like tonkatsu or teppanyaki (and I suspect that it is also because tonkatsu and teppanyaki are quite similar to Chinese fare). I certainly hope that Ryan grows up with a more adventurous palate.
In other news, here's a photo of Ryan taken today, in his favourite sleeping position.
