Sitting up without support & learning to stand

Time flies... Samuel is 7 months old now. He is getting naughtier everyday. We bring him to Sunday service every week ever since he was 3 months old. He used to sleep through out the whole service, but now... he will play with anyone who is sitting behind or in front of us, talking to them in his own language, smiling to them.

Samuel now can sit without support. Before this he would sort of swing from side to side when he was sitting up. I saw him sat up on him own the other day, and leant forward to get the phone in front of him. He then smile at me when he got the phone in his hand, like he wanted to tell me,"Yeah, Mummy! See... I can get the phone myself!"... haha... my little baby is so cute!

Last Friday, as Samuel was sleeping in the play pen, I went downstairs to do the laundry. But I heard him screaming after about 15 minutes. I rushed up and this is what I saw...
I don't know how he did it. There was nothing around the playpen that he could hold on and pull himself up. Anyway, I was so happy to see that and I quickly grabbed my handphone to snap a few pictures of him standing. He didn't manage to hold for long, and sat down after about 20sec. haha... I believe he was as excited as I was that time and called me to come up to see him standing. :)

Happy Father's Day!

This is my Daddy. He is a mechanic. Although he is 56 now but he is still working. He works in a timber camp in Bintulu, for the same company for more than 30 years now.

Due to his work, my Daddy only comes home once a month, the rest of the time, he will stay in the "jungle" or camp site. Whenever he is coming home, he needs to drive for more than 4 hours to reach Bintulu town. He then takes the flight from Bintulu to Kuching. Usually he will spent about 4 days at home.

Working in the camp is very tiring and hard, but we never hear Daddy complain about his work. Daddy is not very expressive but we know that he loves us very much. I remember when I was young, Daddy would go to Singapore for training every year, and he would buy really pretty dresses and shoes for me and my younger sister. He would buy us all the toys that we liked.

Daddy was a smoker last time. He told me he had been smoking for about 20 years. But he manage to quit it when he was 40. I am really proud of my Daddy about this! Because I know it was not easy... but he made it! My Super Daddy!

Daddy,

You are the provider, and also the protector of the family.

We will never forget the hardships, burdens of love, and all the sacrifices you made for us.

You are there for me through all the conflicts, helping me over the rough, ragged stones of growing up.

And like our Heavenly Father, you are a guardian and a guide, someone that I can count on.

Daddy,

Thank you for everything.

You are the best Daddy!

I love you...

Happy Father's Day!

Refusing milk

Samuel begins teething now and he had been refusing milk for the past 1 week, maybe due to teething pain and gum swelling. Normally he would ask for milk every 4 or 5 hours, but for the past 1 week, he didn't even want a drop of milk, the longest time interval was more than 12 hours. But he still had solid food and he seems like prefer solid food than milk. Anyway, babies still need milk even they started to take solid food. So I sent sms to Samuel's pediatrician, Dr. Alex to ask for his advice. Dr. Alex asked me to give him more solid food, and only fed him milk when he was sleeping. This worked for 2 days, but the 3rd day, the trick didn't work anymore. So I went to the pharmacy to look for "something" or "anything" that could help me and Samuel. The pharmacist said Bonjela can help to ease the teething pain, by rubbing a bit of Bonjela onto the swelling gum and gently massage the gum. I was so happy to see Samuel started to have milk normally yesterday. I think his gum is better now and Bonjela does really help! I didn't know that Bonjela can be used on infant. I thought only used by adults to treat ulcer. As I read about the information on the tube, it helps teething pain too, but only can be used on babied more than 4 months old.

I pray that Samuel will go through the teething stage more smoothly... he only has 2 teeth now (not fully come out yet), still a long way to go...

* useful links on baby teething:

http://www.thenewparentsguide.com/baby-teething.htm
http://bettersmarterkids.com/baby-teething/2007/01/18/

Walker for Samuel

We bought Samuel this walker last week. When he first got into the walker, he was excited, smiling to us happily. We then released the stopper, the walker moved as he stepped his feet forward and backward, he cried... haha... he got scrared I think... I picked him up, hold him in my arms to calm him down. Then I tried to put him into the walker again... and he cried again... I didn't pick him up again this time... I just pat his back, told him this is his new walker, and he would like it... He then calm down a bit... and started to move around the room slowly...

When we thought he was okay, he suddenly pressed onto those colorful buttons in front of him and there went this "Happy Birthday" song sound, with all the lights blinking in front of him too, and guess what, he cried again... He didn't like the music. So, Daddy removed the battery. No more music... Now, he loves walking around the room with his little walker... :)

Playpen for Samuel

We got this new playpen for Samuel from Toys"R"Us. Now, I don't have to worry about him falling down from the bed... yahoo!

It's durian season!!

Yesterday was public holiday, Hubby brought us to Balik Pulau for durian, together with his colleagues. We asked Chee Hoe, Chen Ling, Michael, Jane and baby Serene to joint us! All together, there were 15 adults and 2 infants... haha...

We left home around 8:30am, and met up with Hubby's colleague at Bukit Jambul indoor stadium around 9:30am. We arrived at the dusun durian around 11am. The owner, was a very friendly aunty. Her son is Hubby's colleague, Ang's school mate last time. We paid RM10 per person and eat as much as we could. I think we opened around 20 durians! And they taste GOOD!! :)

It was Samuel's first time seeing a durian.

After the lovely durians, Ang brought us to a beach. I forgot the name of the place. The sea water was quite clear and the view was great. It was Samuel's first time coming to the beach. He looked scared when he heard the sound of the wave. haha...

We then went to Ang's house for a break. The weather was super hot! Ang's mom served us with nice cold 豆蔻炖冰糖! It was so refreshing. :) Then Ang brought us to an old shop for yummy Penang laksa.

We left Balik Pulau around 3pm and reached home around 5pm. I quickly gave Samuel a bath and he fell asleep around 8pm. haha... I guess he was tired already. It was a great experiece and I am looking forward for our next visit to Balik Pulau again...

Samuel's 1st tooth

Samuel is 6 months plus now and he starts getting teeth liao... hahaha... I am so excited!

At first we noticed that his gum was a bit swollen, and his biting behavior was getting worse. We got 2 teethers for him, but he prefer his Daddy's hand!

Last week, I noticed there's a hole on his gum! I was shocked at first as it looked like an ulcer. I then called my mom to confirm the symptom of teething and she told me it was his tooth.

This morning, I checked on his little tooth again and I saw the white cap of his little tooth!! I was so curious and I touched it. Ouch! It was sharp oooo....! I tried to take the picture of Samuel's first tooth, but he was not so cooperative and didn't want to open his mouth... *sad*
I read about baby teeting on the web, and the sequence are as follow (click to maximize for better view):

Some of the symptoms that the baby is teeting:
a) Drooling
b) Gum swelling
c) Irritability or fussiness
d) Biting behavior
e) Refusing food
f) Sleep problems

Samuel has all the mentioned symptoms! However, different babies may have different symptoms. Some babies even suffer from fever, diarrhea or even runny nose.

I hope Samuel will get good and healthy teeth!