Drama day at the hospital

It was another busy afternoon in office yesterday when my mum gave me a call from the clinic. My poor baby had fallen down at home and had a nasty cut under his chin. I got a bit panicky when the GP said it was an open wound and I should bring him to KKH to check if he needed any stitches. Gosh, must be a bad one! Rushing madly home thinking of the worst, I was relieved to find Josh looking like his normal self, with a plaster on his chin. The GP made it sound so bad over the phone!

So off we went to KKH A&E dept and oh boy, that's where the nitemare started! I saw the cut for the first time when the doctor took off the plaster, about 1.5cm long. The doctor's diagnosis was that although the cut was wide, it was not a deep one, so no stitches required. She would use tissue glue or a 3M special sticker to close up the wound. At first, 2 nurses tried to clean his wound and put the sticker on, but Josh was crying and struggling so hard that it was an impossible task. So they had to call for back up for a male nurse, who recommended using the tissue glue method after consulting the doctor again, as an active baby like Josh would probably try to peel off the sticker. Poor Josh was strapped down and bundled up as he was struggling too hard and it took 4 nurses to do the job (1 to hold down his body, 1 to hold his head, 1 to close and hold the wound and 1 to apply the glue). Heart-pained to see him crying so hard, face all red and almost choking on his saliva. Even after the ordeal was over, it took quite a while to calm him down. My poor little darling :(

After all the drama yesterday, I thought all should be well till I got a wakeup call from my mum this morning. Josh has rubbed off part of the tissue glue in his sleep, so part of the wound is opened again. So it's back to the doc again! Hope he will be a good boy and keep his hands off his chin!

Some useful knowledge every parent should know, which we learned yesterday:
1) Do not feed your child any water or food after a fall, as the child needs to fast for 3 hours if GA is necessary for stitches.
2) If there is a head injury, vomiting or unconsciousness, bring the child immediately to the A&E.

Super glue baby

After 10 longs days apart from baby, I missed him so terribly and was looking forward to seeing my precious boy. Every day while in Japan I was wondering how was he doing, was he eating well or healthy, and whether he would missed us (which we guessed he won't :( as he's so comfortable at Por Por's place and we being weekends parents).

I was hoping that he would be happy to see us and was visualising in my mind how he would rush to me to carry him.....sadly that didn't happen. 10 days apart did create a little distance and Josh seemed to shy away initially. Where is the warm and enthusiastic energizer bunny who comes running to us everytime we visit him? SIGH... that's my pay back for going away for a holiday without him.

Another repercussion of the 10 days away, Josh became super grouchy and very sticky to mummy, even ignoring poor daddy, who was trying haplessly to carry and play with him and was snubbed by his son. Maybe Josh was worried that mummy will go away again, so even when sleeping, he stuck like a glue to mummy, koala bear style.

I'm so happy to be with my baby again, but the attention and energy needed to look after him is really tiring! It's like a 10kg pack of rice strapped to you all the time. And plus chasing him around the house screaming "Don't touch this", "Careful", "Don't go there". I will be back to work tomorrow and most colleagues might be expecting me to look fresh and recharged after my holiday. Well, they will be seeing a worn out mummy with panda eyes!

10 days away from my darling

We are flying tonight on a SQ A380 plane to Tokyo, leaving our dear baby in the care of Por Por. I am really looking forward to this trip as Japan has been one of my dream destinations for the longest time...planned it for honeymoon but in the end changed to US as daddy went there for work. But I am already missing my little one even before we fly....it will be a long 10 days away from him, constantly with him on my mind. Thank god (or the phone companies) for the wonderful creation of a camera phone, and I will be able to view his cute videos and photos whenever I miss him. My favourite video now is a recent one which shows him walking into his room, pointing at the stars pasted on the wall and saying "Star".

I know he is in the safe hands of Por Por, just a little worried that he might catch the nasty flu bug as both mummy & daddy are having a bad flu. Sigh, what a way to start a holiday! We will be back in 10 days with lots of cute stuff from Japan for little Josh :)

Fun @ Polliwogs on Josh's Birthday

On his birthday last Friday, both mummy & daddy took leave to celebrate this special occasion with little Josh. As we have been singing "Happy Birthday" song to him for the last 2 weeks, he knew that he should clap his hands at the end of the song when we had a mini celebration at grandma's place.

After munching the yummy mango birthday cake, we set off to Polliwogs at East Coast. Polliwogs is much smaller than Fidgets at Turf City, but it has an additional outdoor play area. Entry on weekdays allows you unlimited play, while entry on weekends is limited to 1.5hours. Josh seemed a bit hesistant and lost at first, but soon warmed up to have some fun! Here are some shots taken there:

Joshton's First Birthday Bash!

Joshton is turning one!! We had a party celebration for him last sun, 25 Oct at Sol Playground Cafe in Turf City and invited his kor kor and jie jie friends to join in the celebration. The cafe had a small indoor and outdoor play area for the kids to have some fun.

Thanks everyone for the wonderful gifts and ang baos for little Josh. We had a great time, the only hiccup was that the cafe played the birthday song too soon before we could get ready.

His actual big day is this Fri, 30 Oct...so we are planning to bring him to Polliwog and have some fun :-)


Josh with mummy...that's his birthday cake!


Ozy Kor Kor & Zenn Jie Jie


Jaycus Kor Kor with Kitlyn Jie Jie


Izabelle Jie Jie

Josh with Shania Jie Jie

Jayden & Jaycus Kor Kors

Preparation for Josh's birthday bash

Josh's 1-year old birthday is approaching soon in less than 2 months time, and I haven't really started planning for his birthday bash other than booking the venue. Will probably settle for this place called Sol Playground Cafe at Turf City, as the package includes deco & food (lazy mummy's easy way out). It's a cosy little cafe with an outdoor play area but the only worry is that it's a little out of the way and hard to find for the guests.

We plan to do a small party for close friends on the 25 Oct, Sunday and have a private family celebration on his actual birthday on 30th. The party will be kept small and simple, so no special theme too, as I think this is more for the parents not the baby!

Now I got to settle the birthday cake, goodie bags, invites etc .....gosh so much things on my to-do list! After his birthday, we will be going for a short trip to Japan without him....feeling guilty, but we really need a holi! :P I'm doing a 40-page photobook titled Baby Joshton's First Year Chronicles, to follow his journey and growth from birth till now....here's a sneak preview of some of the pages.

Josh's first swim at the pool

Last month we took Josh for his first real swim at a swimming pool with Jie Jie Kitlyn and parents at Safra Yishun. It was raining the whole morning so the water was still rather cold when we went in the late afternoon.

We were pretty amused to see him in his swim suit, which was 1 size too big for him. Poor Josh however didn't take to the water too well and was shivering away in the pool. He also didn't like the neck float, which was probably too small for him. Jie jie Kitlyn on the other hand enjoyed the water very much and was kicking away happily.

Think I will get a sitting float and bring him next time to swim at Jie Jie Izabelle's home when the weather is sunny.

Rise of the 10-month little terror

10 months ago my darling boy was just a tiny weeny 2.8kg, 50cm tall baby, but now he's 9kg, 75cm tall little boy. He can stand unsupported for 30 secs but not stable yet. I am keeping my fingers crossed that I will be around to witness him take his first step! It's really fun to play with him as he can wave bye bye (vigorously with both hands), clap his hands loudly, do hi-fives, and hold out his hand to shake yours. He knows where are his nose and ears and can say the last word of each sentence from his favourite song Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

Josh is so full of energy and poor Ah Ma has to chase after him all the time. Same goes for Daddy & Mummy...we will be so dog-tired every weekends. He is also such a drama king, one minute he can be crying with huge tear drops rolling down his cheeks and the next minute grinning away cheekily when he gets his way. One look at his cheeky face and you can tell he's going to be a mischievous little terror next time. A very worried Mummy is looking at the Super Nanny videos on Youtube now!

Daddy has taken some cute photos of Joshton taking his shower, but as this is a clean, healthy family blog, you won't get to see any of his naked butt shots :D

My baby @ 9 months!

Gosh, it's been more than a month since I lasted updated Joshton's blog. Been busy and tired so sorry for the long silence. (To Josh's daddy: please contribute something to his blog since you are so free! :P)

I am so envious of all the nice skins on friends' blogs, so I must do something better for Joshton's blog instead of this boring template. Akan datang for the new look with Josh's first adventures to the botanic gardens, zoo and pool :-)

Meantime enjoy the latest pictures of my darling boy!

Little chatterbox...

Do you think Baby Josh's trying to sing a song or just yakking non-stop? Wonder what's he trying to say......

Mummy's boy

When mummy is in the room........all smiles and cheery


When mummy starts walking out from the room......

When mummy still do not turn back ..........

8 months!

8 months

Weight = 8.8 kg (50-75%)

My precious darling is 8 months and 1 week as of today. Now that he has become very mobile and started to crawl and climb everywhere, poor mummy n daddy are all tired trying to keep our eyes on him at all times and to keep him away from dangerous sharp corners. Like an energizer bunny, he can bounce non-stop while clinging on to the railings of his cot. But as he's still not stable in standing, the poor boy suffered a few knocks on his head which luckily was cushioned by the cot bumper.

Now an expert crawler

Watch Josh crawl with confidence across his bedroom. Many thanks to Serene for sharing the video rotating software with me! :)

Please help this feisty princess

I couldn't control my tears when i read little Charmaine's blog. The feisty 4-year old girl is diagnosed with a rare form of cancer and needs to raise half a million for treatment in New York. You will be touched by her courage and spirit to fight the illness.

My personal appeal to all friends who are reading this..... As a mummy, I understand the pain of Charmaine's mother to save her precious baby's life, no matter how low the odds are. Please click on the web banner to go to her blog where you can find the details to help her.

New photos

Just to share some new photos which daddy has just downloaded, taken a few weeks ago when Joshton still had his crowning glory.

Tracking Joshton's development

Joshton is 7 months now! In terms of development, he responds very well to his name, recognises his favourite tunes, says "ma ma" and "pa pa" easily, knows how to clap his hands together, laughs and giggles when tickled or playing peek-a-boo, sits rather well without support for a short while, imitates sounds such as clicking of the tongue and leopard crawls across the floor.

As for his nutrition, I have started him on rice cereal, porridge, fish, carrots, pumpkin, apples. bananas, peas, pears, papaya, potatoes, watermelon and baby biscuits. It's quite a breeze starting him on solids as he is a greedy baby and takes everything that we feed him. I would introduce a new food to him each week to let him try a wide variety of food. Planning to try avocados this week!

Character wise, he seems to be an impatient child, quick to throw tantrums but also easily pacified once he gets what he wants. Being the only baby in the family, he gets a lot of attention as he's the little precious darling. And so now he's afraid to be left alone even for a few minutes. If he sees you walking away, he will start whining or crying out for you. We need to slowly teach him to be more independent. He seems keen to learn with a curious mind but is easily distracted by any noise. He's not a cry baby, as long as he's well-fed, has enough sleep and someone to play with. He's a brave little boy and is not afraid of strangers or any loud noises such as thunder.

From his growth chart, it looks like Joshton will be a tall little boy....he outgrows his rompers so fast that some of them were barely worn. I must control the urge and temptation to buy too many cute little baby clothings....arghhh....a tall task for a mummy shopaholic!

At birth
Weight: 2.845kg
Length: 50cm
Head circumference: 34cm

4 weeks
Weight: 4.58kg
Length: 56cm
Head circumference: 38cm

4 months
Weight: 7.3kg (75-90%)
Length: 64cm (75%)
Head circumference: 41cm (50-75%)

6.5 months
Weight: 8.4kg (50-75%)
Length: 71cm (75-90%)
Head circumference: 42cm (10-25%)

Baby Botak

After months of deliberating whether to shave Joshton's hair, we finally did it! We brought him to a neighbourhood hair salon and he was a really good boy, didn't cry or struggle during the shave. It was all done in less than 5 mins, pretty painless for us. We were initially worried about bringing him to a normal salon which might not know how to handle a baby compare to those specialised kids salons in town. It was his first haircut after all, so we were pretty excited about it (or should I say it's just me, being an anal mummy :P). And hey, actually he doesn't look that bad botak! Now that little hair stubbles have started to grow, it's nice to rub his little head which feels as soft as a carpet.

Mama or Mum Mum?

We thought that Josh's first words are "Mama" but then sometimes it really sounds more like "Mum Mum". Wonder does he know the difference..........

Mama = dearest mummy

Mum Mum = I want food!

Baby's first crawling attempt

I'm just amazed at how fast our baby has grown. For the past month, he can roll easily from side to side and turn one full circle around. Today he started to push himself forward and attempt to get into a crawling position. Yesterday I was just asking hubby if we need to start baby-proofing the house and he thought it's too early. I suspect our boy will be an active kid, so before he gets more mobile, we better set up all the safety precautions soon, like covering sharp corners and power sockets.

Just bought a cute bumper playmat from Korea for Joshton's play area as a cushioning mat. He likes to do head slams on the mattress, so I am worried that he will attempt his head slams on the floor too. I was initially reluctant to get the playmat as I felt it was a little costly, and the cheap ABC foam mat would serve the same purpose. But after seeing Joshton cry when he knocked his head on the hard foam mat, I decided to invest in a good quality playmat for a peace of mind.

My little Jedi Master is 6 months old

My boy just turned 6 months last week. He's so much fun to play with and I totally adore tickling him to make him giggle and showering him with lots of kisses on his face. He loves music and his favourite nursary rhymes are "twinkle twinkle little star" and "10 little indian boys".

Joshton was down with high fever over 38 degrees last week. He had mild fever a week earlier, but I presumed it was due to teething, and my mum fed him barley water daily to cool him down. Only later it came to my knowledge that teething will not result in fever...would have brought him to the doc earlier if i have known that. Recently have been slacking in reading up and following the stages of his development. I will be more conscientious from now on!

Took some photos to mark his 6th month. These were taken after his bath, wrapped up in a hooded towel with a toothy grin. If you look closely, you can spot his two half-grown teeth. Doesn't he look like a cute little Jedi master? May the force be with him!

Joshton's first word is "Ma"!!

Omigosh....Mummy's very happy cos the first word Joshton has uttered is "Ma"! I don't think that he knows what that means yet, cos he says that only when he's crying out for attention....he will go "mmmmm...mmmmm....ma"..."mmmm.....mmmmm....ma". So mummy has won the race against daddy, who has been trying hard to get Joshton to say "Pa Pa"...yay yay.

First tooth!

For the past few weeks, Joshton has been chewing on anything he can lay his hands on.....a clear sign that he's teething. We can now see white tips peeking out at his bottom gum. He would even nibble on my clothes when I am carrying him, so I always end up with a big wet patch of saliva on my sleeves. He has also been irritable and fussy recently, which is quite normal for teething babies. I'm a bit worried that he will bite when I'm nursing him! So far he's been a good boy :)

Joshton & frens at Sentosa

Kids outing at Sentosa on Good Friday....Joshton with his jie jie and kor kor frens :) All of them are born on the same year!

Please help Thien Nhan...

If you read the Sunday Times Life comics section, you probably would have saw the appeal by Lee Chee Chew, the creator of "Chew On It" to help a Vietnamese toddler, Thien Nhan, who was abandoned at birth and left to die....the poor boy was mauled by a dog which bit off his right leg, testicles and penis. He was adopted by a Vietnamese family in Hanoi, and is now seeking sponsors to help pay for his medical care, rehabilitation and education.

On behalf of Joshton, we made a small donation to help little Thien Nhan. All frens out there, do check out this blogspot if you would like make a difference to Thien Nhan's life. Thanks!! :)

http://www.chewonitcomics.blogspot.com/

What a mess!

We started Joshton on rice cereal to supplement his milk feeds...and things can get pretty messy! The good thing is that he does not reject his food and impatiently demands to be fed, but after a while he gets a bit frustrated at not being able to satisfy his hunger as quickly as drinking milk from the bottle. Guess we can expect more messy times ahead as we start feeding him more semi-solids .....time to stock up on bibs!

New baby photos....

A tired n pensive looking Joshton after his first swim, taken by mummy with daddy's Nikon D80 camera.

Joshton's first swimming lesson

Brought our 5-month old little Joshton for his first swim at Hwa Xia at Harbour Front. He's like a natural born swimmer and enjoyed splashing away in the small tub. All was peaceful and fun, with mummy n daddy busy snapping shots of him, until the baby in the next tub starting wailing loudly non-stop. And so poor Joshton started crying too and brought a quick end to his first swimming session. Enjoy the short video of Joshton's first splash :)

Curious Case of Joshton Tan

This morning my hubby n I were casually chatting about how Joshton's features have changed so much and he looks so different from the day he was born. It's hard to tell who he looks like now, but if I look closely at the individual features, I would say his button nose n round face shape are from mummy while his thick eyebrows, long big eyes and thick lips come from daddy.

As a newborn 4 months back, he looked like a "little old man", with wrinkled red skin and balding head. Now he looks more youthful with chubby cheeks and more hair!! ok that confirms it, I will not shave his head!

4 months

3 months

2 months

1 month

1 week

Another baby milestone!

Another baby milestone for little Joshton! He can now flip over on his tummy without any help.

We watched in amazement as he struggles with all his might to turn over, not succeeding initially, getting frustrated but never giving up, and finally accomplish his mission, with lots of encouragement cheers from mummy & daddy!