谁说我不乖

Rumor has it that I do not sleep very well and I have not been very sweet to my mom and pop. Well, I would like to set the record straight by showing to you all ah ma, ah gong, opa, oma, aunties and uncles that it is totally not true.

As you can see from the photo, I sleep like, well, a baby. Actually, I even have two sleeping locations. One of them is in a sarong/hammock in my parents' bedroom and the other is my own bed in my own bedroom. So you can see how well and how much I sleep that I need two sleeping places. & ok, maybe I have not been the sweetest model baby for my poor parents but I am doing my best hor.

Comments are welcome only if you are defending my position too.

Saturday Afternoon at the Coffee Company...

Took my mum 'n dad to a coffee place last weekend. Obviously they needed a bit of the good ol' caffeine to keep themselves going. Good thing they had WiFi so I could update my blog. Changed the layout as well, so here we go: check out the new skin, people!

Everytime a good time, on the changing mat

Mommy blog - Is this rock bottom - the answer.

According to a famous American pediatrician (Dr. Sears)...."Your baby acts the way he/she does because that's the way he/she is. Your baby acts the way he/she does, not because of your parenting, but because of his/her personality." It's such a relief to know and along with it a sense of peace too.

I guess it gives the assurance that I am not doing such a lousy job as a mum afterall because we have tried everything to meet Max's needs and somehow he's never really satisfied. He's actually just a baby with high-needs. Seriously, that's what it's called high-need baby. There are about 12 characteristics listed for a high-need baby and ours fulfill about 11.85 of them. Knowing that he's a high-need baby does not actually make our lives any easier. According to the article, it's about making the baby feel secure and fulfilling his needs to have "shots" of human contact. In practice, we would still have to "kangeroo" him around everywhere because everytime we placed him in the buggy, he will protest until we carry him out. I have vaccumed the floor, emptied the dishwasher, tidied the apartment and did the groceries with him tied to me. I guess I just have to figure out how to go to the toilet and shower with a baby attached to me....haha....

I believe that the issue with excess stomach acid did not help with the situation but now I know that the cries might not always be an indication of pain. Believe it or not, there are also many blessings of a high-need baby (according to the article). One of the things that I have experienced so far is that I just have to go with the flow and continue with the normal daily life. For example, we would continue to have dinner at our usual time while he nurses (because it always takes about an hour before he is done and he seems to enjoy "dining" together with us). It's a great training for the right-half brain since now I have to learn to eat with my left hand. Well, this is also another added bonus. I guess knowing what I know now lighten up the situation a little bit and make our expectations more realistic.

If nursing him and carrying him around all the time helps perhaps I should cancel my membership at the gym because I think I will get my fair share of workout. Only time will tell how things will work out, just when you think you have figured it all out, life throws you a freaking surprise. As you can see my answer to the question is one that is full of nuance.

Back in Town

Hi everybody!

I just came back from a trip to Switzerland with mum and dad. It was my very first time in an airplane, but it wasn't scary at all! I did not like the hotel room very much so I decided to cry and cry and cry, just to tease my mummy and my daddy. They didn't like it and tried to put a pacifier in my mouth many times but I kept spitting it out, hehe.
Mummy and daddy got really sad and tired so I decided that today I would give them a break and let them sleep a little bit.
Anyway, daddy made some pictures and asked me to put them on my blog, so here they are:

January Video

Mommy blog - Is this rock bottom?

Is almost 8 hours of non-stop crying and being fussy the rock bottom? Does it get better from this point on? Our osteopath did warn us that Max could get a little fussy after the treatment but this is beyond, way beyond, what I was prepared for.

Sometimes, I wonder if I have already met the "real" Max. He is such a different baby when he is not screaming and crying in pain. Today, he smiled and almost laughed at something silly that I have said and I was surprised that this is one side of him that I do not know of. It gave me such a boast and made my day more bearable. I do feel gulity being so frustrated and angry. This should be the time when I can enjoy being with my new-born child but up to now I do not have the feeling that I can "enjoy" him yet. There has rarely been a moment when he is awake and not crying (except when he is nursing). I wonder if it is the reflux and colic-ness or do we just have a difficult baby?

Time really does fly, Max is almost 7 weeks old and I am still looking forward to when things "get better". I do hope that we have reached rock bottom and things do get better soon.

Carolyn