Call me Betsy

During the labour day long weekend, we decided to train Ali to sleep through the night. Well, not exactly training her, just not waking her up in the middle of the night to feed her. In other words, let her wake me up to feed instead. The first three days were just wonderful. Ali slept from 11 pm to 4:30/5:30 am. Absolutely great. For the first night, I got up at 4 am feeling wide awake and rested up (I guess I have not slept for 5 hours straight for 6 weeks.) Unfortunately, this kind of happiness did not last long. In the past three days, Ali has been waking up at 2:30/4:30/7:30 to feed. I hope this is because of her grow spurt, but right now I feel like I am a milk machine.

A picture of Betsy, Ali and the Mooer:

We also had a few friends visiting us from time to time. One of the most common questions seem to be, "How many diapers did you guys go through?" Because my brain seemed less functional than before, I want to put the numbers in my blog just so that I can relive the moment years later. In the few seven weeks, we went through:
~234 newborn diapers + 300 size 1 diapers. That translates to ~11 diapers/day. Damn those diaper companies!!! They are stealing our money!!!

Look at those dirty diapers!!!

Occupational hazard

During the past six weeks, both my husband and I had been working hard to make sure that Ali gained good health weight. Obviously, my job is to breastfeed and my husband job is to feed me and make sure that I am not dehydrated. I have to say we did quite an impressive job. We went to our family doctor on Tuesday and Ali has now reached 12 lb 2 oz (with clothes and diaper on)! Oh my! And she is only 6 weeks old! The doc said she is in the 90th percentile in terms of weight and 50th percentile in terms of height. We are so very proud of our little (actually, not that little) girl! One of our friend's girl weighs 12 lbs when she is 3 months old! Not to be bragging, but boy, are we proud! Unfortunately, this also brings in a series of problems for the new mom. In the past few days, my left shoulder started to hurt. It feels like I have just helped someone moved. It got better and then my left arm started to hurt and now my right arm. (It feels like I have been doing many reps of weights, my arms are super sore) I just might have to go for an acupuncture or acupressure session soon.

Look at those chubby arms and thighs!



Oops, you caught me linking my own fingers!

Agedashi Tofu

We did not take too many pictures of Alison in the past few weeks because of her skin problems. Ali looked like a piece of egg tofu - soft, smooth and pretty fair, just like the colour of egg tofu. But now, she looked more like a piece of agedashi tofu. Here is a picture of agedashi toful for those of you who don't know what it looks like.



Here is a picture of our undercooked agedashi tofu:


She has these yellow crusty patches around her eyes, nose and ears...pretty disgusting, actually. Just like the colour of the agedashi tofu...deep fried and a little yellow. Her cheeks and body are covered with baby acne. Poor poor baby!! The baby eczema is almost completely gone (although it still comes back every now and then) and her baby acne is not improving too much yet. On the other hand, her cradle cap (really dry skin on her scalp) is getting a lot better. The pediatrician that we visited last week prescribed a steroid lotion and we were a little hesitant about that. Thank goodness our community health nurse phoned and she suggested to use either a vegetable-based oil or mineral oil. So we soaked the affected area with olive oil for a couple of hours and brush the dry skin off. And boy, it worked like a charm!!

And this is what Ali looks like now:


Ali looks so much better now!! I can't wait til everything clears up!!

Visiting Great-grandmother

Over the labour day weekend, we decided to venture out and visit Ali's great-grandmother. We bought dim-sum takeouts and had lunch at her senior home. Both Ali and great-grandma had a blast!! We have not seen great-grand with such a big smile for a long time, not since the birth of her youngest grandson and that was three years ago. Oh wait, I heard from a little bird that my hubby's aunt and uncle are contemplating having a third. According to their eldest son, he really wants a little sister, so I don't know, maybe great-grand is gonna have another granddaughter in the near future! ;P

Ali, on the other hand, fell asleep in great-grand's arms. Look at great-grand's ear-to-ear grin!!


Sleepy Ali and her very happy great-grandmother:


On our way home, Ali was so tired that she has to take another nap. She was blowing bubbles while she napped:


Happy Birthday, dear Uncle Ming!

Alison & her family and friends

Ali's family:




Her Grandparents:



Her family and friends:

To all my beloved family and friends: Thank you so much for visiting my mommy, daddy and me. I had a lot of fun seeing you all (although I was asleep half the time!) And thank you for all the precious gifts too!! I am gonna be so spoiled (and loved) by all the aunts and uncles!!! Please visit me again soon!

Daycare

It has been extremely difficult and frustrating to find a daycare that is close to home/work and is also willing to take my baby girl in a year's time. So far, I am on a few wait lists, but nothing is for sure yet. There was one place I thought I would get in, but she just called a couple days ago confirming that there would not be any space available in Sept 2010. How sad!! I am very worried that I won't be able to find anyone to take care of Ali. I guess, worst come to worst, I will take my baby to work (umm....wishing thinking, work will NEVER allow that, sigh). I am now expanding the search to areas that are farther from my work and home, hoping that one of the places out there will take my child. What a nightmare! I guess this is one of the major challenges that all parents (except the lucky ones who get help from their family) have to face nowadays.

On a different note, Ali could now turn her head 180 degrees. Very cool!

My "Michelin baby"

My husband and I have been dying to find out how much our baby girl's weight. Yesterday, we finally have had the chance!! I brought Ali to see the pediatrician about her jaundice and skin problem. Turned out that her jaundice has passed, but she has cradle cap, baby eczema and baby acne!! Poor baby!! Anyways, we found out that she weighed a whopping 11 lb and 6 oz (with a very heavy diaper and clothes on). Oh my goodness!! I guess she is feeding well and that my dream of having a "Michelin baby" has come true!

Little Ali posing for the camera...look at my sexy tummy!

Give me food, damn it!! Give it to me, right now!!!! (look at those folds at the back, cute huh?)
Por por is pointing at baby's double (sometimes, triple) chin:

An "artistic" shot of her sexy back, taken by Ali's "kai ma":


My good friend Katherine's family has come to visit. Thank you for the gifts!!