two weeks old!

You are two weeks old today, Little Pebble, and you’re turning out to be a guwapito (of course, Mommy and Daddy are biased in this department).

The past 14 days have been humbling. Mommy thought she was ready with all the guidebooks she has read but she had to go through each and every one of them again and again after little mishaps.

In one of Mommy’s panic reading sessions (very similar to cramming for an exam), Daddy asked her, “Don’t you get confused with all these things that you’re reading?” Mommy said that she does not completely trust the advice she’s been getting from some of the hospital personnel and she’s doing her own research. Lest you think that we’re building you a Time Machine, the questions Mommy and Daddy have grappled with the past few days may sound surprisingly mundane to you. Examples: how to check if baby has jaundice; how much sun does baby need; how to sponge bath the baby; what to do about a colicky child; or how to clean the umbilical cord).

You’re asleep most of the time during the day we hardly had time to socialize. Mommy’s Infant Stimulation Program has flown out of the window past two weeks and has been substituted for the Parents-on-the-Job Training Program.

Q: How many people does it take to bathe the little pebble?
A: Three, and they're still not doing a very great job.           

We’re getting better though, little one. Yesterday, we’ve been able to wash you properly without making the whole procedure seem like a major surgical operation or absolute mayhem. Mommy and Daddy have asked for a demonstration on how to bathe you before we left the hospital but it seemed much more complicated to do at home. On our first try, Mommy forgot to wash your face. On another day, you pooped all over Daddy’s hand just as we finished washing your behind.

 

Am cool!

We’ve also been able to get you out of the flat and give you your sunbathing sessions (You look so cool lounging by the pool, Anton Lee Thomas with nary a care in the world). We’ve also managed now to get you into a schedule which has allowed Mommy and Daddy seven hours of sleep last night, interrupted only twice to feed you and clean you up.

What’s happened:

1.       On your first week, you could track your black-and-white checkerboard by 45 degrees! Not bad, little one, not bad at all.

Look! No more umbilical stump!

2.       Your Baby First Year’s Journal says that the umbilical stump generally falls off between the second and the fourth weeks. Your umbilical cord stump has fallen off by the end of your first week! 

3.       You love your head and face being washed but it’s quite another story with the rest of your body.

4.       By the end of your first week, you’ve been smiling a lot in your sleep. “What to Expect the First Year” says that most babies don’t smile in the true social sense before four to six weeks of age.  So most of your smiles now are just gas or may be signs of comfort and contentment.

5.       You can hiccup quite a lot (there is no known cause for a newborn’s hiccups; these are not bothersome to the baby but if its bothers the parents can be addressed by nursing the baby).

6.       When you do your toilet business, you make it sound like the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius. “What to Expect the First Year” says that these movements and sounds are normal, the result of gas being forcefully expelled from an immature digestive system.

7.       The skin on your hands and legs are starting to peel. Your Baby First Year Journal says that this is a natural process that makes way for a new layer of skin. 

home sweet home

 

We finally got home on 19 September, Wednesday, late afternoon, after spending six days at the hospital.

You were sound asleep during your first car ride and you didn’t stir even after we put you on your new bed.  Little did we know that you were just gathering momentum.

An hour after we arrived, you woke up demanding to be fed. Then you pooped. And then pooped again. And pooped some more. Three and a half hours after we got home, Daddy has become an expert changing your nappies!

It was a sleepless first night for Mommy and Daddy. Mommy got up to feed you. Then Daddy burped you, and you decided to stay awake. Very wide awake. By the next feeding, Mommy and Daddy have wisened up and started to do shifting schedules to keep you company.

Mommy and Daddy were exhausted with the first night that we all had breakfast at 9am the following day. We missed the morning sunlight, little pebble sorry.  We will hope to wake up earlier tomorrow.

You’ve been asleep the whole day today, just waking up for your feedings. You had no time for Mommy’s Infant Stimulation Program. Just in case you wake up later in the middle of the night and Mommy and Daddy are asleep, we put within your eyesight range your first toy (Mommy has lots of faith in you little pebble. She’s sure you will voluntarily sign up for her Infant Stimulation Program).

welcome little pebble!

Daddy is calling you an accelerated child.

You were supposed to arrive on 17 September, Monday, but when the doctor examined Mommy last Wednesday, the doctor said that we shouldn’t wait anymore and have you out at the soonest possible time.  Mommy’s blood pressure had suddenly gone up to 150/80 and her hands and feet have become swollen. The doctor asked Mommy to have a urinalysis. Good thing it was negative for protein otherwise the doctor would have taken you out on Thursday and Daddy was just en route to Manila. He would have been very upset.

So Mommy and Daddy’s grand plans for Thursday until Sunday have all been for naught. Daddy wanted to have dinner with Mommy at their favourite Italian restaurant Friday night, have early morning breakfast at this really nice café in Salcedo Village on Saturday morning, and meet some friends during the weekend. Mommy had to quickly tidy up last Thursday at work since she was expecting to finish on Friday. Little Pebble, you know you had two more Board meetings to go through before you were scheduled to arrive. Did you try to escape these last two?

And so you arrived on 14 September, Friday at 10.57 am. You were 17 ¼ inches, 6.3 pounds, and with an APGAR score of 9.9 at 38 weeks. (There is another child at the nursery with an APGAR score of 9.9 but Mommy bets he is 42 weeks old.) You were perfect Little Pebble, Mommy and Daddy couldn’t stop looking at you. Daddy was fabulous as well. He didn’t pass out even if he saw Mommy at the operating table and was able to take great photos and videos of us three.

In all these excitement Little Pebble, you have taught Mommy and Daddy their first lesson: Now that you’re here, you take precedence. Yes, they may make the most grandiose of plans, but the Little Pebble has veto power. Mommy has a feeling one day, much as Mommy and Daddy may want to go again to Italy, we will possibly end up in Disneyland. Or Universal Studios. 

one more week!

Hang on there Little Pebble! Daddy is arriving in 7 days. But don't get too excited yet. You still have 2 more Board meetings to sit with Mommy.

happy father's day!

Port Adelaide gave Daddy a wonderful present for Father’s Day. Today, in their last game, our team tied up with Richmond. Wooohoooooooo!!!!

We’re now on our official countdown, Little Pebble – 15 days to go! We went to the doctor last Tuesday as Mommy has been having tummy pains for two days.  The doctor told us to take it easy little one, we don’t want you coming out before Daddy arrives on the 13^th.  Anyway, the doctor gave Mommy instructions for symptoms to watch out for, and whether we like it or not, we need to rush to the hospital, if she experience any of these signs.  We don’t want to upset Daddy, ... so hang on there until he arrives, ok?

Because Daddy likes seafood and it's his special day today, Mommy made today seafood pesto pasta for us.

Seafood Pesto Pasta

¼ kg shrimps

Tuna (200 grams)

1 bottle pesto (200 grams)

Cheddar cheese, cut into small cubes (about 40 grams)

1 onion, chopped

1 garlic, chopped

Olive oil

Butter

Olives

Capers

Salt and pepper

1.       Heat olive oil in skillet

2.       Brown onions and garlic

3.       Add butter

4.       Lightly cook in shrimp

5.       Add tuna

6.       Slowly add in pesto

7.       Add cheese

8.       Add olives and capers

9.       Add salt and pepper to taste

You definitely love your pasta, Little Pebble. Mommy notices that you even start getting active now even while she is cooking. Seems you’ve really gotten used to your weekend treat.

We’re really, really, really getting near to having you, dearest.  You cannot even begin to imagine how excited Mommy and Daddy are. All we do is keep talking about you now.

making space

We are now at the end of the eighth month little pebble. The book, “What to Expect When You’re Expecting” says that you are now about 18 inches long and weigh 5 pounds.  Growth, especially of the brain, is great in this period and you can now see and hear.  Most of your systems are well-developed but your lungs may still be immature.

Mommy and Mildred (your nanny) have been hard at work the past weekends preparing the flat. Voila, here’s how it looks now!





Mommy Bear's Corner





 

 

 


   





 

Daddy Bear's (The Master Chef's) Corner)



Anton Bear's Corner



Mommy searched high and low for your first layette. She's read that you will be focusing on the colors white, black, then red in your few few weeks. Imagine how pleased Mommy was when she was able to find this exact color combination.

We're also giving you a head start on the alphabet, little pebble. That wall quilt should catch your attention in the morning :)  Your lola said that you'll probably come out from Mommy's tummy already with a Masters degree.







adieu, happy bachelorette pad

When Daddy first saw Mommy’s flat (which he called a shoebox) he said to her, “You really planned (note the past tense) your entire life just working and travelling.” Mommy had to extol the virtues of her flat which is so convenient to clean, easy to lock up when the travelling bug bites, and near but not-that-near to her workplace.

Ever since Mommy and Daddy received confirmation that you’re on the way, Mommy had been slowly packing up her books and storing her clothes and shoes to make room for you while your own nursery is still being prepared.

Mommy today officially closed a chapter in her life. Paintings, which she's picked up from her travels, had to be put down as she is afraid that they might accidentally fall on you. She’s got you closets for your stuff.  She’s made space in her shelves for your books.

Three weeks to go buddy!  Mommy and Daddy are counting the days of your arrival!