Coming to 6 months

In a couple of weeks, Sherrie will be 6 months old! :) I cannot believe she has been in my life for that long already! She certainly has turned my life upside down and brought loads of joy to my life. And I think it has made me a better & stronger person.

Her development these days is really fast. We've started giving her cereal for about a week already and she is taking well to it. The first time we did it she gave me a disgusted look, but now she actually likes it when it is mixed with breastmilk! Today she had 2 teaspoons and still wanted more when it was all finished. She also tried to reach out for the spoon and the bowl containing the cereal. Her hands are really so active! Upon finishing, in order to show that she wanted more, she used her palms to hit the bumbo - almost like beating drums! As the pedi has advised waiting a little longer before giving her more cereal and fruit purees, we didn't want to give her more. Instead, I distracted her by playing with her, singing to her and letting her roll about.

She is also starting to sit up! In her rocker, she holds onto the bar and tries to prop herself to a sitting position! And she can do it quite well. In fact, whenever you let her sit up or pull her up she can't wait to do it and always lets out a huge smile! It's really so lovely to see. Oh yes, she also does tummy time on my tummy and lets out such big grins and chuckles. I simply must do it twice a day.. but of course, it is very tiring!

Yesterday, I read in the babycentre email that babies love bubbles, so we made some soapy water and blew bubbles out of a straw. She was fascinated and when the bubble burst, she looked so shocked because she didn't know what had happened! In the bath, we try to make bubbles by using a cup to scoop the water up and let it fall into her palms. She tries to touch the stream of water!

In terms of pooping, she now poops once a day, sometimes once in 2 days! It certainly makes diaper changing easier and a lot less messy. Of course because of the increased quantity of milk she is drinking, she also pees more. And these past 2 days, it really seems as though milk is just not enough! My baby is growing so fast!

The last visit to the gynae revealed that she is now 67cm and 7.95kg! She is close to 8kg and not even 6 months! My friend's daughter who is 9 months is only 8.5kg! Soon my arms won't be able to support her.

Finally she now can spend time by herself either playing with the plastic ball, lamaze toy or in the leapfrog. When we first put her in the leapfrog she didn't like it and cried almost immediately. That was last week. Fast forward to today and she spent about 15 mins inside playing with the items around and bouncing around in it. I'm not sure if she is a fast learner, but she certainly adapts very quickly to new things.

Stranger anxiety has begun!

Sherrie is starting to feel stranger anxiety.... It is now confirmed because when we went to Kaufoo's place yesterday and there were many unfamiliar faces all looking at her, she promptly cried and let out a loud wail. I tried many times to go in slowly but somehow she just couldn't go in. She was also hungry, so I guess it made the situation worse. But anyway, I read on the blog that it's true, stranger anxiety begins around 5 months. She was ok when we went to che doo's place subsequently. There are many more familiar faces there so it's no surprise.

She can also bear weight well on her feet, when I hold her up. She steps on my thighs firmly and when I hold her with her feet on a solid surface, she will stand firmly as well. She is really growing fast! And the changes are on a daily basis. I bet soon she will be moving forward with her crawling. As it is, put her in the playpen and she will be rolling all over and when on her tummy, pivoting the top half of her body towards toys that she wants, holding the toys in her hands and interacting with them using her hands and mouth. I think it really will be soon that she makes her first crawl forward.

We tried to put her in the leapfrog today but she wasn't very receptive. I think it's a matter of getting used to it. Hopefully she will like it and play with it, so there'll be something new for her to do. :)

It has been a tiring weekend because she keeps wanting to roll over in the middle of the night. Plus, the pacifier keeps dropping out of her mouth when she sleeps on her side (no help from gravity!) and we both gotta wake up to put it back in her mouth. In the end, we put her on the bed (maybe that's what she wants) and then try to pat her till she sleeps. Even so, she still closes her eyes and try to roll. In which case, she is on her tummy, fully awake, staring at you in the middle of the night. And because she is in between us, either her right or left limbs will knock into you and wake you up. Imagine seeing her smily face when you are woken up from your slumber. How to get angry?? You feel the tiredness the following day because from that moment on she is gleefully rolling about and it is a real challenge trying to go back to sleep (at least for me).

It's late and she has just gotten to bed. It is hard trying to get her to bed because she excites herself so much rolling about that I have to hold her very tightly in my arms before I put her down in the cot. Tiring for me but at least she sleeps! Otherwise i'd be standing by the cot, patting her, which honestly I find even more exhausting.

5th month

Sherrie is 5 months old this week! I am a happy mummy because I've applied for No Pay Leave to stay at home to take care of her. I put her at a nanny for 3 days last week and it was a heartbreaking experience. I shall not relate it but suffice to say, it helped me make the decision to stay at home. I was feeling bad about taking NPL but i think it will be worth it. Looking at her, I know it is.

Everyone cannot help but remark how fair she is and how strong she has become! All thanks to milk. No doubt we do give her formula at night, but the majority of milk she drinks is breastmilk. She really has grown so well.. She is also a very cheerful baby, always smiling and seldom crying. Of course, when she cries it is for a valid reason i.e. wet, dirty, hungry, tired etc. Nowadays we know her cues quite well and usually we're able to meet her needs before she wails non stop. Of course, days on my own sometimes I am too late to do so and i end up having to calm her down from a crying fit. It breaks my heart to look at her with tears streaming down her face. Poor baby.

Rolling over has become easy peasy now and she is moving on to crawling. She gets frustrated when she cannot move forward and cries. I do try to help her but she has yet to learn to move her arms so her butt is high up in the air. Very funny! And entertaining at the same time. She is more proficient at rolling towards her right and if you put her on the bed, she will do a full roll i.e. from back to front and then to back again. She doesn't

realise sometimes, that I am next to her, and she continues to roll.. right into me. I have actually to make space otherwise she will protest! Haha....

Now she actively reaches out to grab her toys. When she lies in her rocker if she sees a toy you want, she will raise her hand to reach for it. Also she will kick her legs when she sees the milk bottle, to tell me that she is hungry. Babies are so clever! They can find their own way to communicate without talking. She is also showing preference for toys. Some toys she can play with for a long time.. other toys she holds it for 2 secs and throws it away. We are trying to figure out which toy will become her 'favourite'...

Today we went to my colleague's place for a bbq and put her in a white dress. She looked sooo lovely and cute! I cannot stand it!!! I want to hug hug hug hug and kisssssssss. If I have another one, I wish that he/she is as good as my Sherrie. So lovable and well behaved.

The other day we went for Su's food tasting at the Shang and when there were alot of unfamiliar faces that appeared all at the same time, she cried. I think she is starting to recognise faces already. When there are alot of unfamiliar faces, she feels nervous. I think they also wanted to touch her and so she got a bit scared.

Oh yes, we gave her some rice cereal today! She was a little uncomfortable throughout the whole experience, with lots of the cereal being pushed out of her mouth. At first, we didn't put any milk so it must have tasted very bland. Once we added some formula to it, she took it, one spoonful at a time. Solid food feeding is a messy affair!! But she was so patient, sitting in the bumbo, taking it a little at a time. She didn't manage to finish it but at least she gave it a good try. I am so proud of her!!

Here are more photos of her:

Sherrie at the nanny

So today is day 2 that sherrie is at the nanny. I am a wreck! I cannot help thinking about her and what she is doing.. whether she is enjoying herself and whether the nanny is doing a good job. Just now before I left her place, sherrie was agitated and crying.. It was so hard to leave. I didn't feel like I could because the nanny didn't seem very confident. And the way she was handling Sherrie seemed so rough. Sherrie obviously doesn't like being carried by her... Keeps crying. I find the nanny very kan cheong. That is exactly what I don't want! Sighz.

I dunno how long more I can bring her there only to see her sad face looking at me refusing for me to leave. I know that eventually I gotta let her go.. but now I wonder whether I really can anot. I got a feeling that I cannot. I only hope that Sherrie will soon feel more comfortable with her. *tear*

Anyway, aside from that, Sherrie has successfully rolled over many times and she is very fluent with it now. She can even roll holding her toy. And when she is on her tummy she can control her head such that she can lie on her arms or stretch out for her toys. She can also sit up on her own quite a bit, but of course she is slouched over cos she has yet to develop really strong back muscles. It's a matter of time, of course. Oh yes, she has also started to try to crawl! When we put some resistance on her feet, she moves a littel bit (like 2cm) and she is trying so hard by raising her bottom and them squirming about.. Very cute and funny!

She is also reaching out her arm to want to touch toys when I carry her. And she can carry the items in her hands and hold them for a while before dropping them. My goodness, she is growing really fast! I love to see the new developments everyday.

As for speech, well the other day she said something like 'ok' when V asked her if it was ok for him to come to carry her. And then the other night when we were talking about something, she said ' Yeah'. Of course it was probably just a sound she made but it was so coincidental i.e. the sound matched the answers that we were so amused!

She also laughs and smiles so much more these days. In the last 2 weeks, we have brought her swimming twice at Kaufoo's place. He has a lovely penthouse in newton, so we bring her to his rooftop pool to swim (dip) and she loves it! though the first time she cried a bit cos the water was cold, the second time she was beaming from ear to ear for the whole 15 mins she was in there. It was so lovely to see. I wanna bring her again!!! :)