Eating genes

A mother's intuition is always right. I thought that Caitlin wouldn't have too much problems with solids and that she's ready to try. Two days ago we mixed 1 teaspoon of plain rice cereal with formula milk. Caitlin was eager to try amd opened her mouth really wide. Needless to say she didn't finish all of it but for her virgin meal of liquid mush, she was really good at it. She's got the opening and chewing part down pat. Unfortunately, she wasn't quite sure what to do with the stuff once in was in her mouth.

The next day, the maid fed her another round while I wasn't there. I was told she finished the entire bowl. So, she'll eat depending on whether she's hungry.

However, I'll probably only really start her on solids next month. This month's just for her to get practice-play.

So I'm told that some babies don't take well to solids at all while some are natural at it. I would like to think Caitlin falls into the latter category. After all, she's got Kelvin's and my genes. Let's face it, we both like our food and Kelvin's mom is a very good cook. Hence, we both maintian a well-fed state of being.

Baby deposited

I've instructed Kelvin the deposit Caitlin at his mother's while I get some rest at home. Yesterday afternoon I had my wisdom tooth taken out because it was rotten. Luckily, it was only the enamel that was affected and not the deeper part of the tooth. Actually, I wanted to do it right after my maternity leave but decided that my students needed me more. Also, when the dentist told me he would give me 5 days of MC as it's a surgical procedure, I became really paranoid about the pain. Hence, the delay till now.

I'm happy to report that it all went really well. There was minimal bleeding and I held my mouth open with champion "ah-ness". The dentist was so pleased he said he would give me a discount. He injected the entire area with so much drugs that I really felt no pain at all. I was feeling all gung-ho and even contemplated going back to work the next day. That is, until the drugs wore off and the pain started setting in. I couldn't sleep the entire night because of the pain. Kelvin's snoring and Caitlin's restlessness didn't help. I maybe got snatches of half-hour slots 3 times last night. So to get some rest, I told Kelvin to send Caitlin over to Grandma's first and I'll make my way there later. What I won't do to continue breastfeeding. I think I'm going to be one of those mothers who feels sad when the time comes to stop.

Sigh. I have a hunch that she's going to ready for solids soon. Last night she started chewing on one of her toys with reckless abandonment. She even let out a whine when it was time for her bath and we had to take it away. She's also begun smacking her lips and sucking her fingers even after she's been breastfed.

On a more positive note, I continue to be amazed at how much attention she gets whenever we bring her out. Maybe it's just that she's at that age when babies are at their maximum cuteness. I don't know why total strangers are so attracted to her. I think it has to do with the fact that she stares at people and isn't afraid to meet their gaze. Then again, she just stares at everything when we bring her out. Sometimes, even when she's tired, she'd rather look at stuff around her than sleep. Is this normal? I remember being like that as a child as well. I'd look out the car window and continually ask "what's dat?" and "why like dat?".

Noisy baby

It must be that she's exercising her lungs. Caitlin's becoming a lot more vocal. She'll squeal with delight when she's playing with us or she'll go "woo-woo-wooo" when she's complaining about not getting her milk.

She just crossed the four month mark. While they say breastmilk is perfectly sufficient for her till she's six months, it's almost time to introduce solids and I went out today and got a special feeding set with a tiny little spoon. The books say to feed her a FULL quarter of a teaspoon the first time we introduce solids. "Wah! So much?! Are you sure she can finish?" says Kelvin. Well, we're supposed to feed it to her scrap by scrap. In fact, the very first time we let her try solids we're supposed to smear some on the table or her hand in hope that she'll lick it off. Then, it won't be as "foreign" when we put it on a spoon. The books also recommend letting her eat without a shirt on. Er, does that mean the baby or the parent feeding the baby?

Oh well, wish me luck people.

Caitlin's almost 4 months old

I can't believe I've been dutifully feeding Caitlin for almost 120 days. At between 6 to 10 times daily, it's been 720 to 1200 feeds. These past two weeks I've had to cycle back and forth in the afternoons twice a week. Although I enjoy the physical exercise, cycling at mid-day is not the best for my skin. As you can see, she no longer has the chicken legs. In fact, even her feet are starting to look puffy. I've already bought a new pack of socks that's supposed to fit babies up to 9 months. We tried them on already and they're only a little loose.

I added a mobile above our dining table where we bathe her and she just loves looking at the moving shapes. She'll kick really excitedly every time we put her here. It's her favourite toy since she's not yet able to co-ordinate her hands with her eyes.

Physically, she's a lot more sturdy now. We can prop her up on her elbows and she gets better at lifting her neck every day. Kelvin's new game is to bounce her from surface to surface as if she's king kong. I worry that he'll get too enthusiastic and crush her ribs. So far though, she doesn't complain.

Here she is, my "little chinese baby" I call her. So darling because she hasn't yet learned to turn over on her own. So she stays where we put her. Not that we haven't been trying to teach her.

She gets really chatty in the early morning and evenings. She's so loud that we can hear her even if we're in another room. I've tried several times to capture her babble on camera but every time and turn it on, she stares transfixed and doesn't make a sound.