Baby turns 4 months!

How time flies indeed! It feels like only yesterday when I posted the entry on Justin turning 3 months old, yet now another month has passed and he's moving along in his very young journey of life.

Previously, I mentioned that when Baby turns 4 months, he should be able to do the following:

1. better control of head and turn to explore surrounding due to increased curiosity

2. sit up with support

3. better control of hands and bring them together

4. use hands to reach for things more accurately

5. bring feet up and play with them when lying on back

6. roll over from stomach to back

Well, it seems like he's covered most of the grounds, but needs a bit more time and practice to be able to do #2 and #6, because as of now, while he can sit (either on the couch or on somebody's lap) with his back and head entirely supported, he won't be able to make use of a bumbo baby seat just yet. Also, he hasn't rolled over from his tummy to his back, although he did try to flip a couple of times without success -- he ended up stuck in an arched position and sobbing, the poor little dude. Then it's either Daddy or Mummy to the rescue!

I do enjoy looking at the following picture of how he displays his ability to do #1 though:

It certainly wasn't easy to capture this shot, where Justin's looking so comfortably at the camera and holding his head high and steady above his cot mattress, and even managing to give a wee bit of a smile there. Very nice, I feel! I'm so proud of all his achievements so far. They might seem like nothing to an adult, but to a baby, I think they are real mean feats! Kudos to Baby Justin, and all other developing babies out there! :)

We've also been having a bit more fun with Justin as he's starting to babble even more these days. Yes, not just coo, but babble 'ber ber gu gu ma mu...'. It's so exciting hearing him mumble, or sometimes even yell, the combination of consonants and vowels! I'm really looking forward to the day when he mutters his first word.

Happy 4 months to my boy. Happy 16th to Hubby as well. :)

Days of...lemons.

You know the saying, "When life throws you lemons, just make lemonade outta 'em". Well, at certain points, life does pelt me with lemons. Very sour ones. Loads of them. But what happens when I'm not exactly armed with a juicer to deal with the yellow citrus fruit?

That's the question I'd like answered.

It sure felt like this question was plaguing me for almost the whole of this week.

I reported to work due to official involvement in certain school and departmental events over a course of a few days. Within these days and prior to these events, I've had to endure:

1. A last-minute instruction for me to go through a few pages of notes designed to explain what is to be expected for an event that involves a large group of people but which this same group of people was clueless about, simply because the one person who's organising it does not like to conduct any meeting or briefing and is always vague about her ideas even when approached about her event personally. What's up with that? I mean, if you organise something and require the presence and assistance of so many of your colleagues, isn't it just right for you to let them know beforehand what they are expected to do and the rationale for certain decisions? Why keep people guessing till the day of the event? And is it fun to send out an email over the weekend, telling your co-workers to read the attached notes on a Sunday before the event on Monday, when previously you refused to provide concrete details about the event when asked?

2. Biased decisions that promote somebody's own interest on the pretext of wanting to benefit several other groups. This involves pressurising these other groups to conform and be involved when the one who stands to gain the most is none other than that person herself.

3. Lack of respect for fellow colleagues. I never like anyone treating me or any of our colleagues as a child or student who has to be talked down to. I'm not the confrontational type, so you never have to deal with me in an intimidating manner. I am a professional at work. I am an adult. If you need something from me, speak to me like one. And don't go putting all the smiley emoticons in your SMSes when trying to resolve a work conflict when you don't actually mean them. It just goes to show how much of a moron you think I am, not understanding the sharp daggers you are throwing at me behind those pretentious smiles. Oh, and don't go demanding people to be present for events that don't actually require their contribution at all when everyone is so busy with other work commitment. It just makes people feel plain foolish sitting there and thinking of how much they could have accomplished if they were elsewhere.

4. Job confusion and power struggle. I used to know exactly what I'm in charge of, and how to go about doing my job. Even if I stumble at first, I will find my way eventually and get things done. Now, with the absence of an HOD, I'm assigned to take over part of the HOD's job, but someone else in the department likes to claim that she is the 'biggest'. Not that I've anything against that. In fact, if you wish to take over the leadership role, by all means, go for it. But don't keep saying that you make all the decisions and yet keep coming to me and telling me that I'm in charge when you need someone to clear some rather unpleasant duties. You obviously enjoy the limelight of being regarded as the head, so why point the finger at me and say I'm the one in charge at times, just because you don't want to do certain things. So now who's doing what exactly? I no longer know. But I WILL find out. I need to, or the line will always be blur.

There are several other 'lemons' that I can think of, but the above beats the rest. More days of 'lemons' will come, I know. I certainly dread the thought of bidding farewell to my days as a stay-home mum and having to be physically present at work, facing people who make the workplace a less pleasant one. I can only hope that I will be able to handle this transition well, so that I can still return home a happy wife and mother at the end of the day. An unhappy mum makes a bad mum, and can do more damage than good for her baby.

It's time to start building my juicer.

Back to work.

It's always lovely getting a warm welcome from others at your entrance. NOT the kind that's like "Oh, you're back! Great! Hey, the next semester's gonna be such a crazy one. It's already so tiring in the first semester. Next one will be far worse, I think. Anyway, glad you're finally back with us!". (Yeah, that really happened. I mean, I'm glad that my contribution to the organisation is very much valued, but HELLO, I'm still nursing the wound of having to throw myself back into the deep end of the pool, knowing that life will comprise daily crazy struggles once more, after swimming leisurely in the shallow areas for the past few months. Such a welcome just serves to remind me of the terribly rough and bumpy ride that lies in wait for me.)

Anyway, the welcome I appreciate much more is the sort that comes from people whom you know are genuine towards you, and who've missed your company at work. :) I returned a couple of days ago just to feel the ground once more, a day before I had official reasons to be there. It actually felt surprisingly good meeting my friends-cum-coworkers in the office and engaging in the kind of conversations that we were so used to before. Like I told Hubby after that, just being physically present at the workplace got me feeling more ready for work. Guess it's a natural tendency to feel that -- work is, of course, strongly associated with the physical work environment.

But how positive (or otherwise) the work environment is depends a lot on the people you work with. Take this afternoon, for example. I attended a department meeting with people whom I've always enjoyed working with -- well, most of them anyway. Maybe it's because this was the Pupil Welfare Department and most of the colleagues here have a similar temperament as mine and/or share the same beliefs and values when it comes to caring for our students. The meetings are always focused and injected with occasional jokes and laughter, particularly when it comes to mini activities that aim to release us from information and discussion overload at suitable points. If only all meetings were as non-stressful or taxing as these!

Refreshments in the form of catered assorted sandwiches and sweet treats from Delifrance were also served to the whole department as a welcome back for me by my PW boss. Yummylicious! Totally enjoyed them -- just didn't dare to go for a second helping even though I was fairly tempted to! Thanks, Charine! :)

Shall have to be back next week again for a camp. I've a feeling that the first few days of next week may not be as sweet as today though. One can only hope...

My first birthday with Baby Justin.

It's official. I've taken yet another step into the big 3-Os. Half my age earlier, when I was still a teenage girl, even the age of 20 sounded old to me. However, a decade past the time when I hit twenty, age doesn't feel such a big deal anymore. In fact, I hardly think of myself as one who's 31 now. I guess it also helps when you are working in an environment that allows you to interact with teenagers for most part of each workday. When you're surrounded by youthfulness, you can't help but feel like you're just as young. The only time when you are reminded of how old you are is when your ex-students start joining the workforce as young adults in their 20s. *gawk*

Anyway, though my age isn't exactly a big deal, this birthday is, for there is now a new family member to celebrate it with me! I think this little guy is the most wonderful birthday gift I can ever ask for. :) Of course, there are also other lovely treats and gifts to cherish.

Yummylicious premium oreomisu cake from Emicakes, thanks to Jess & Vincent.

So rich and moist!

 Lovely book that aims to inspire, from Beebee.

 Sweet personal sisterly touch added to the gift:

notes of inspirational lessons that can be gathered from various parts of the story.

Simple chocolate pudding cake bought by mummy,

the first in many years since I stopped being a kid.

Birthday mee sua soup with 2 eggs, a yearly tradition.

A pair of pearl earrings Hubby had me pick from Thomas Sabo's charm collection.

I've taken a sudden liking to pearls. A sign of feminine maturity?

I'm just thanking my lucky stars that I didn't have to report for work today, despite my maternity leave having ended. I almost thought I'd have to spend a dreary morning dragging my feet to the office with utmost unwillingness on this special birthday but, fortunately, I found out after checking that if I didn't have anything on at work, I wouldn't be expected to be there. Otherwise, I wouldn't have had the opportunity to go shopping and dining with Hubby and baby on this day.

~ Happy birthday to me. ~

A day...at the salon.

With pregnancy comes several less than pleasant symptoms. That's a well-known fact. The same applies for post-pregnancy conditions.

Well, recently, hubby noticed more strands of my hair lying about in our bathroom. This situation didn't escape my eyes either, of course. I'd also realised that and guessed it must be post-partum related, since I hardly shed any hair throughout the course of my pregnancy.

That, coupled with the fact that this couldn't go on due to the fact that I was without good hair genes and my hair wasn't that thick to begin with, did it. It was time for a long overdue visit to the hair salon.

I decided to head over to Jantzen's at West Coast Plaza in the afternoon and just spend a couple of hours getting a haircut to lighten the weight of my hair as well as some usual protein treatment. I managed to get a scalp treatment aimed at reducing hair loss as well. It was a good two hours spent there as I got what I wanted and enjoyed the shampoo and scalp massage given by one of the girls there. Ahhh...having skipped the hair salon visits for a whole year, I'd forgotten how relaxing a thorough shampoo cum scalp massage can be. Nearly fell asleep in the chair while the girl's fingers were hard at work.

Something weird happened after the visit to the salon though. The stylist who attended to me had actually recommended a particular brand of shampoo for my hair condition. I ended up walking away without purchasing it. Strangely enough, the next day, when I was rummaging through a drawer in the bathroom, I chanced upon a smaller sample set of the exact same shampoo. I don't remember how it came to be there, and hubby was clueless when I asked him about it as well. Weird. Anyway, I've been using it since. Hubby even bought a larger bottle of it for me for $70.

We shall see if it's indeed worth the cash.

And here comes the SMURFS.

"La la la la la la... la la la la la...!" The blue people have made a good comeback!

Yes, the very famous Smurfs have recently been introduced to those belonging to the much younger generation who had absolutely no idea how huge these creatures were to people who grew up in the same era as I did. (I'm now experiencing a flashback in my mind in which Hubby looked totally delirious with joy when he located, back at his parents' place, a whole bagful of Smurfs figurines he used to collect when he was younger. A selected few can now be found hanging out at different spots of our apartment.)

Well, now they do. And I must say that some of these young people I know are now self-proclaimed Smurf fans who'd love to live in the same land as these blue dudes. Just look at how fast the Iphone covers that featured Smurfs, sold exclusively by Bossini, were snapped up.

Apart from Bossini that brought in the classic Smurfs merchandise (in fact, I'm wearing a white blouse with Smurf prints that Hubby bought for me some time ago even as I type), it's all thanks to the recent movie "The Smurfs" that the craze was able to return.

But imagine Hubby's and my surprise when we discovered that there were actually graphic novels of the Smurfs that came in a series, with a few stories packed into each book. Hubby managed to get all five of what he found at Popular Bookstore @ Jurong Point:

Nice! Though I'm not exactly in the mood to read comics just yet, I WILL eventually get down to reading these titles. I mean, it's the Smurfs, whom I grew up with. After the daddy and mummy are done reading them, we'll pass them along to Baby Justin for his reading pleasure in future! :)

Baby's diet.

I used to think that it was relatively easy to tell when my baby was hungry and needed milk. He'd repeatedly utter a classic 'heh-heh' and begin pawing at whoever was carrying him while straining his neck towards a particular part of that person's chest, guided by his infantile instinct. It sure didn't matter to baby if that person was male or female! Other than these moves, he might start sucking his fingers to relieve the hunger or, if push comes to shove and he still doesn't get his milk, he'd start bawling with whatever power he could muster from his lungs.

However, for the past few days, it was getting a little more difficult to read his cues. In fact, there were times when he'd present some of these hunger signals, only to reject or end up not finishing the milk he was given. There were also times when he'd appear to be famished, but immediately calmed down and looked as though all had been peaceful the minute he was picked up.

I know I mentioned in an early post that I'd learned not to be such a worrywart and expect things to happen the way I wished for baby. Nevertheless, it's a little tough not to become anxious when Justin had been drinking a consistently good amount of milk at fairly regular intervals for some time, but is now showing signs of being distracted when drinking milk, and perhaps even seeming to lose interest in it. I'm just wondering: Does this mean that my baby boy's finally tired of drinking the same milk for the past 14 weeks of his young life? I mean, it's easy for me to put myself in his shoes, if that's the case. I used to love the wanton mee from the stall near my parents' place and now miss it occasionally when I crave for this delight, but make me consume it for all 3 meals for 3 months and you can imagine how fast I'd run if you presented yet another plate of it to me.

Anyway, if Baby Justin is really tired of his milk, at least both of us can look forward to the next stage of his dietary development -- semi solids! Just another few weeks, my boy, and we can start you on some rice cereal with milk...yipee! That ought to whet your appetite a bit if variety's what you really want. I'm also really happy with a purchase that Hubby and I decided on recently -- a combined steamer and blender that can be used to prepare fresh soft food for Justin later on.

Pretty good, this item. According to what the promoter demonstrated to us, we'd only need to use a bit of water to steam a bunch of items. Turn the container upside down and voila! We get to use the blender function without having to transfer the items to a separate machine. This promotional item came with an adorable toddler meal set as well: 

Super cute, I thought. I know I'd just be so encouraged to eat if my plates and cutlery always came in such fun colours and designs! Hopefully Baby Justin'll feel the same way then. I'm just so keen on introducing more food textures, colours and tastes to baby when the time comes. So many opportunities for some experimenting! It'll be great educational fun for his tastebuds and other senses! :)