Tomorrow will be my first Christmas....yeah. I am so excited that I get to spend this time with my mommy and daddy. I also get to spend this time with chay chay LiAnn, aunty Nicole, uncle Ron, grandpapa and grandmama Yeo, aunty Laura, uncle CJ, baby Laynce and also uncle Mark.
Daddy is making turkey for dinner. I know mama bought me lots of presents. We went to Christmas eve service tonight and there was a lot of people. I am glad we went and know why we are celebrating Christmas. I am glad that God place me here. Mama is so great. She always takes care of me dispite her busy schedule and her fatigue. I love my mama.
Mama, I love you and Merry Christmas.
Monday, December 24, 2007
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Happiest Baby on the Block
This heart-felt post is written by none other than Baby Meng's mama:
I wished someone had told me just this one sentence right from the beginning when we took Meng back from the hospital.
"The next 3 months of your baby's life is going to be your 4th trimester"....
Why was this so important?
Well, maybe I dont have too much common sense but when I heard Dr. Harvey Karp mentioned it in his video tape, The Happiest Baby on the Block, everything else just seems to fall into place. I was trying my very best to keep my baby calm when he is fussy. Some of the things I do is instinctual, but I wished I had known more.
The biggest gist of the lesson I took was to imitate the actions/ sounds I possibly can because the first 3 months of my baby's life is still so new and foreign to him. Hence, he wants to get back to his friendly environment - one that he's known for 37 weeks: in my womb.
Dr. Karp talked about the 5 S's:
(1) Swaddling: We all know babies like to be swaddled. They told us at the hospital. But when my in-laws came into town when Meng was 1-month old, like most parents would share their opinions about child-rearing. After taken care of 4 babies and 2 grandbabies, how would they not know it all? I listened but sometimes I wished I hadnt. Meng was struggling when he was swaddled. So, we thought he didnt liked to be tied. We were not so correct. The video taught us that after he cries for a while and trying other S's, he'd be okay. All he really wants is to go back to his friendly environment - in my womb, true enough there isnt too much space for him to let him throw his arms all over, later to scare himself because he feels he is falling.
(2) Stomach Position: After swaddling, we turn the baby over to lay part on his tummy. If you can imagine the nursing position, this is exactly the same thing except that it's on the reverse with the baby facing away from you. A crying baby enjoys having some weight on his tummy, hence with his tummy resting against your arm, this will definitely soothe him. We tried with Meng and it worked! Because Meng has reflux, we position him to sleep on his side. He moves and squirms throughout his sleep and we would find him back on his back when we get him up. But he doesnt seem to have a problem with that.
Try it, turning your baby on his side might just work for you too....
(3) Shushing: No one told me this but babies find comfort in the sounds of hair dryer, vacuum and static sounds. They call that White Noise. Apparently, that's a familiar sound in the womb. It works amazingly with Meng and it calms him down instantly. Michael is such a smart dad. He recorded the sound of my hair dryer and we play it on the media player in the repeat function! Instead of having to turn on the hair dryer for hours at a time. We also play this sound with Meng's baby monitor (tune to the static noise). It sits near Meng when he sleeps. It soothes him.... Having being swaddled and the constant noise of the shushing works almost all the time.
Dr. Karp shushes the baby next to his ear and then instantly, the baby calms down: after swaddling, placing the baby in his stomach position and shushing the baby to sleep.
(4) Swinging: Meng enjoys our Malaysian swinging hammock.
It wraps him in a position where he feels as if he is being cuddled. Here in the US, they have a slightly different version. AmbyBaby..... Meng takes his day naps in what we call the "sa-rung". The only mistake which we learnt now is that we did not buy the automated version... Meng's granddaddy and grandma rocks him to sleep during the day. Just very unfortunate that Meng is a very light sleeper - like his Mama. He needs to be rocked constantly. If you just stop for 3 seconds, he starts crying.
Dr. Karp mentioned in his video that after the baby is calmed down, we can put him on the swing. Strap the baby down and jiggle him pretty vigorously for a good 10-15 seconds. Then turn the swing on on the FAST speed. The slow speed doesnt work. True enough, Meng can calm down and relax this way too.
(5) Sucking: I really had a hard time with this at first. Like many mommies, I was afraid that Meng will become attached to his pacifier and might even have an ugly sucking mouth as a result of constantly on the pacifier. I'm not sure about your baby but even within Meng's first month, he has shown me that he will outgrow it. Very often he would just pushes the pacifier away. Sucking is an instinctual reaction for babies. I have tried nursing him even when it wasn't time. All he wanted was something to let him close his eye and nursing could let him do that when the pacifier doesn't work.
Dr. Karp showed that you can also let the baby suck on your thumb. I havent tried that yet but so far, just having the pacifier works wonders.
Once Meng has almost all these S tips, he could calm himself to go to sleep. Most of the time, all Meng needs is to be swaddled and on his pacifier. Every once a while the shushing sounds need to be played on the background. The swinging works during the day.
I've only been a mommy for 2 months of my life. Everyday is a new lesson. His patterns change every few days and we have to find something new or try different versions of the same thing. Now I understand that Meng still needs to go back to the environment where makes him feel secure...
The first 6 weeks really made me feel totally horrible as a mommy. I really thought that I wasn't fit to be one just because I knew what I had to do, but others around me tell me that I am spoiling my baby. He wants to be cuddled and then he could sleep longer. That's because he feels as if he's still in my tummy. As he grows older, I truly believe that this is also a special bond between Meng and I. Just last night at the restaurant, we handed the baby from one person to another just to calm him down. He wasnt crying loud, but he was just whimpering. I wanted Daddy to find his ways of calming Meng down but there's just too many grandmas around to take the opportunity away from Daddy. At last, I took Meng and carried him. Instantly, he recognized the cuddling feeling of my arms and remained satisfied the rest of the evening.
Meng's fussiness really did get to me. So many times I just decided to let him cry it out and when he's tired enough, he'll fall asleep. I dont think this is wrong but the people around me shows me faces as if I didnt care about my crying baby. Back before I understood what Meng actually wanted (his womb environment), I would just let him fuss. There are times I really did get upset. Before I had Meng, I thought I was a very low-tempered person. Nothing could get to me. Oh boy did I face my first! It's not Meng but the fact that I cannot calm my own baby down.
As new mommies know, there are too many advice for you to take. 10 people will share with you 100 ideas. It only gets you confused. Bring out your motherly instinct - because I know you have it. Then soothe and calm your baby down the way your instinct tells you. Dont let anyone tell you any different.
Again, I understand that this is another unsolicited advice. I'm not here to tell you what will work for your baby but what had worked for me.
After I realize why Meng gets fussy, I dont get frustrated with him anymore. When he continues to get fussy, I just keep trying different versions of the 5s techniques, knowing that when he feels secure and familiar, he will stop.
Bathing: My mom taught me to talk to Meng when we shower him. All babies love to bathe and I didnt know why. When the water is warm enough, Meng feels really comfortable in it. Again because in my tummy, he sits in the waterbag - where the water was really WARM. My mom taught me to splash water onto his chest first..... Patting him and giving him confidence that the shower bath was going to be okay. My mom really taught me alot of stuff. That I am grateful for.
By far, the best advice I think I can give a new mommy is to find your instincts to calm your baby. What works for Meng, will not work for Laynce and what works for Laynce will not work for Hudson. I also learnt not to give unsolicited advice. All it does is to confuse the new Mommy and Daddy.
I wished someone had told me just this one sentence right from the beginning when we took Meng back from the hospital.
"The next 3 months of your baby's life is going to be your 4th trimester"....
Why was this so important?
Well, maybe I dont have too much common sense but when I heard Dr. Harvey Karp mentioned it in his video tape, The Happiest Baby on the Block, everything else just seems to fall into place. I was trying my very best to keep my baby calm when he is fussy. Some of the things I do is instinctual, but I wished I had known more.
The biggest gist of the lesson I took was to imitate the actions/ sounds I possibly can because the first 3 months of my baby's life is still so new and foreign to him. Hence, he wants to get back to his friendly environment - one that he's known for 37 weeks: in my womb.
Dr. Karp talked about the 5 S's:
(1) Swaddling: We all know babies like to be swaddled. They told us at the hospital. But when my in-laws came into town when Meng was 1-month old, like most parents would share their opinions about child-rearing. After taken care of 4 babies and 2 grandbabies, how would they not know it all? I listened but sometimes I wished I hadnt. Meng was struggling when he was swaddled. So, we thought he didnt liked to be tied. We were not so correct. The video taught us that after he cries for a while and trying other S's, he'd be okay. All he really wants is to go back to his friendly environment - in my womb, true enough there isnt too much space for him to let him throw his arms all over, later to scare himself because he feels he is falling.
(2) Stomach Position: After swaddling, we turn the baby over to lay part on his tummy. If you can imagine the nursing position, this is exactly the same thing except that it's on the reverse with the baby facing away from you. A crying baby enjoys having some weight on his tummy, hence with his tummy resting against your arm, this will definitely soothe him. We tried with Meng and it worked! Because Meng has reflux, we position him to sleep on his side. He moves and squirms throughout his sleep and we would find him back on his back when we get him up. But he doesnt seem to have a problem with that.
Try it, turning your baby on his side might just work for you too....
(3) Shushing: No one told me this but babies find comfort in the sounds of hair dryer, vacuum and static sounds. They call that White Noise. Apparently, that's a familiar sound in the womb. It works amazingly with Meng and it calms him down instantly. Michael is such a smart dad. He recorded the sound of my hair dryer and we play it on the media player in the repeat function! Instead of having to turn on the hair dryer for hours at a time. We also play this sound with Meng's baby monitor (tune to the static noise). It sits near Meng when he sleeps. It soothes him.... Having being swaddled and the constant noise of the shushing works almost all the time.
Dr. Karp shushes the baby next to his ear and then instantly, the baby calms down: after swaddling, placing the baby in his stomach position and shushing the baby to sleep.
(4) Swinging: Meng enjoys our Malaysian swinging hammock.
It wraps him in a position where he feels as if he is being cuddled. Here in the US, they have a slightly different version. AmbyBaby..... Meng takes his day naps in what we call the "sa-rung". The only mistake which we learnt now is that we did not buy the automated version... Meng's granddaddy and grandma rocks him to sleep during the day. Just very unfortunate that Meng is a very light sleeper - like his Mama. He needs to be rocked constantly. If you just stop for 3 seconds, he starts crying.Dr. Karp mentioned in his video that after the baby is calmed down, we can put him on the swing. Strap the baby down and jiggle him pretty vigorously for a good 10-15 seconds. Then turn the swing on on the FAST speed. The slow speed doesnt work. True enough, Meng can calm down and relax this way too.
(5) Sucking: I really had a hard time with this at first. Like many mommies, I was afraid that Meng will become attached to his pacifier and might even have an ugly sucking mouth as a result of constantly on the pacifier. I'm not sure about your baby but even within Meng's first month, he has shown me that he will outgrow it. Very often he would just pushes the pacifier away. Sucking is an instinctual reaction for babies. I have tried nursing him even when it wasn't time. All he wanted was something to let him close his eye and nursing could let him do that when the pacifier doesn't work.
Dr. Karp showed that you can also let the baby suck on your thumb. I havent tried that yet but so far, just having the pacifier works wonders.
Once Meng has almost all these S tips, he could calm himself to go to sleep. Most of the time, all Meng needs is to be swaddled and on his pacifier. Every once a while the shushing sounds need to be played on the background. The swinging works during the day.
I've only been a mommy for 2 months of my life. Everyday is a new lesson. His patterns change every few days and we have to find something new or try different versions of the same thing. Now I understand that Meng still needs to go back to the environment where makes him feel secure...
The first 6 weeks really made me feel totally horrible as a mommy. I really thought that I wasn't fit to be one just because I knew what I had to do, but others around me tell me that I am spoiling my baby. He wants to be cuddled and then he could sleep longer. That's because he feels as if he's still in my tummy. As he grows older, I truly believe that this is also a special bond between Meng and I. Just last night at the restaurant, we handed the baby from one person to another just to calm him down. He wasnt crying loud, but he was just whimpering. I wanted Daddy to find his ways of calming Meng down but there's just too many grandmas around to take the opportunity away from Daddy. At last, I took Meng and carried him. Instantly, he recognized the cuddling feeling of my arms and remained satisfied the rest of the evening.
Meng's fussiness really did get to me. So many times I just decided to let him cry it out and when he's tired enough, he'll fall asleep. I dont think this is wrong but the people around me shows me faces as if I didnt care about my crying baby. Back before I understood what Meng actually wanted (his womb environment), I would just let him fuss. There are times I really did get upset. Before I had Meng, I thought I was a very low-tempered person. Nothing could get to me. Oh boy did I face my first! It's not Meng but the fact that I cannot calm my own baby down.
As new mommies know, there are too many advice for you to take. 10 people will share with you 100 ideas. It only gets you confused. Bring out your motherly instinct - because I know you have it. Then soothe and calm your baby down the way your instinct tells you. Dont let anyone tell you any different.
Again, I understand that this is another unsolicited advice. I'm not here to tell you what will work for your baby but what had worked for me.
After I realize why Meng gets fussy, I dont get frustrated with him anymore. When he continues to get fussy, I just keep trying different versions of the 5s techniques, knowing that when he feels secure and familiar, he will stop.
Bathing: My mom taught me to talk to Meng when we shower him. All babies love to bathe and I didnt know why. When the water is warm enough, Meng feels really comfortable in it. Again because in my tummy, he sits in the waterbag - where the water was really WARM. My mom taught me to splash water onto his chest first..... Patting him and giving him confidence that the shower bath was going to be okay. My mom really taught me alot of stuff. That I am grateful for.
By far, the best advice I think I can give a new mommy is to find your instincts to calm your baby. What works for Meng, will not work for Laynce and what works for Laynce will not work for Hudson. I also learnt not to give unsolicited advice. All it does is to confuse the new Mommy and Daddy.
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
I'm 2-months old today
Happy Birthday Aunt Laura!!! It's her birthday today. She told Mama and I that she's 25 and she'll keep on celebrating her 25th birthday. I thought it was so funny.......
The reflux is slowly behind me but every day I battle with gassiness. My mama says I look so cute but the smell isn't. Not sure why but we'll find out from Dr. Wong tomorrow when we will go get my 2-month shots. Ouch! I'm not looking forward towards it.
Good thing, Mama and Daddy are taking me.
PS: Do you know what is my latest favorite tune? It's not lullabye or any rock/ soft comtemporary music. It's the sound of Mama's hair dryer. Daddy recorded it for me. They play it on their laptops whenever I get fussy..... Ahhhh.... the sound of hair dryer calms me much more than the Rainforest lullabyes.
The reflux is slowly behind me but every day I battle with gassiness. My mama says I look so cute but the smell isn't. Not sure why but we'll find out from Dr. Wong tomorrow when we will go get my 2-month shots. Ouch! I'm not looking forward towards it.
Good thing, Mama and Daddy are taking me.
PS: Do you know what is my latest favorite tune? It's not lullabye or any rock/ soft comtemporary music. It's the sound of Mama's hair dryer. Daddy recorded it for me. They play it on their laptops whenever I get fussy..... Ahhhh.... the sound of hair dryer calms me much more than the Rainforest lullabyes.
Monday, December 3, 2007
Photo Updates
Mama finally have the latest photo updates of me on Google. Oh boy was that tough to find time to do.......
http://picasaweb.google.com/Meng.Elliott.Yeo
2 weeks old
Almost 2 months old
http://picasaweb.google.com/Meng.Elliott.Yeo
2 weeks old
Almost 2 months old
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