My Lilypie counter informs me that Cai is 4 months, 2 weeks & 3 days old!

I've been a bad mumma at recording his progress on this blog or in his baby book. :(

It really is true that the first few months go by quickly.


Let's see...some Cai favourites right now include:

:: being held upright so he can "stand"

:: listening to me sing songs I've made up for him (he must be the only person who thinks I've a good voice!)

:: pulling my hair - he's very strategic about that; he goes for the short strands of hair at the nape of the neck - owwwwieee!

:: he's a very friendly baby, just about anyone can hold him with no fuss. And if you smile at him, all the better

:: he's a "talker" - he amuses himself (as well as L. & I) with his long-winded speeches :) His daddy & I will respond with comments like, "oh really?" or "tell us more!" at the appropriate pauses, heehee.

:: he loves looking at himself in the mirror. Loves it.

:: also loves eating his fist and fingers; has no interest in sipping water, Pedialyte or anything that's not boob juice.

:: enjoys his playmat gym & tummy time.


I'm sure most of these are not unique to a baby Cai's age, but it's special to see your child discover his world.
:)


He's at daycare now, since I'm back at work & I should blog about that parting experience. I miss him during the day, though it feels great to have the ol' brain working & thinking about things beyond the domestic & mothering sphere.


Photos to come!
TTFN.

This evening, I left Cai under the care of our very lovely, elderly neighbours: Shirley & Joel.
The past few times L. & I have gone out for date night, it's been family or friends who have come over to our home to baby-sit him.
Tonight, he went over to the neighbour's house.

I gotta tell ya: saying goodbye to him was the hardest 30 seconds of my life.


My babycakes is 15 weeks tomorrow.
He is growing so fast!

RawwwRRRR......bath time fun!
Cai @ 14 weeks

And when I got home, almost 4 hours after dropping him off, he was eager to nurse (of course)
But he's started this new thing....sometimes during nursing, he'll latch off my boob, and just gaze up at me, adoringly.
He stares at me for minutes on end, making eyes & smiling, until I eventually coax him back to eat :)
Then he'll flash a bashful smile at me, as if saying, Okay, Mumma - I know you're here to stay. Back to eating now!


Those are the best moments of my day....and the most priceless.
♥

What a week it's been...Cai experienced his first cold (cough & stuffed up nose, no fever, thankfully!), then I came down with a bad sore throat & cough. Good thing L. was the healthy one in this household :)


I know now how absolutely useless you can feel as a parent when you cannot make your baby feel better. The first night of his cold, Cai was just miserable. He was all stuffed up, despite L. & I having tried baby-friendly remedies like bathroom full of steam, saline drops for his nose, etc. My poor little guy would make these pathetic whimpering noises, followed by a loud "I HATE YOU" scream. It was swell.

Also, don't be fooled by baby's diminutive stature. As L. pointed out, why does it take 2 adults to give a 14 lb baby saline drops up his nose?

....maybe because said baby can squirm, kick and throw punches like nobody's business.
But the good news is that I've gotten much better at administering saline drops up his nose - sometimes with a soundtrack of cries and shrieks; sometimes the soundtrack is a happy cooing baby.


Alas, we all seem to have survived. Cai still gets stuffed up at night, but he is doing better.

---

Does Cai look like a little girl to you?


We've been asked a few times now, "Is that a boy or a girl?"

That baffles me because I think it's pretty clear Cai is all boy, but even when the question is asked, he's wearing boy-type clothes. Okay, the last time this happened was Saturday & Cai was wearing a chocolate brown onesies, so that could be gender-neutral, but still....

I'm never offended by the question, but just curious.
I think it could be his hair...he has so much hair, and now that his bangs are starting to get long, I've been sweeping them off to the side. So maybe he does look "pretty".

Hmmm.

This is what Cai looks like at bed time.
Yes, he is baby burrito, as a matter of fact. :)


Sleep is a big topic when you're a new parent. People loooooove to ask how the baby sleeps, as if the child's nocturnal habits determines whether he is a good baby or not. Cai is an okay sleeper; he has good nights and bad nights, but he is my good baby regardless ;)

Anyway, my chunky monkey actually is swaddled in what's called the Miracle Blanket. The reason Cai has to be tightly swaddled is because if he were wrapped in a regular receiving blanket, with his not-so-stealth ninja moves, he'd find a way out of the blanket in no time, wake himself up and then the crying begins.

I've started reading Good Night, Sleep Tight, a book to help implement a sleep routine for Cai so our family can get more and better sleep. I'm all the more motivated to get him in a good sleep pattern after hearing about a 3 year old boy who still shares his parents' bed. Yeah, that's NOT gonna be my kid! (I do co-sleep with Cai currently, and we've sorta kicked Daddy out of the room for now....but only because with his long days, L. needs his rest. Which is not to say he doesn't help with the middle of the night diaper changes, etc.)

And y'know, I have to add: as someone who really loves her sleep (pre-baby, I wouldn't wake up before 11 AM on weekends. Why would I when sleeping in was so relaxing?!), you do adjust and make do with less zzzz's.

And if I can do it, anyone can.
Trust me.


On that note, good night!

♥ We weighed Cai on Saturday & he's now a whopping 13 lbs 2 oz.
He's pretty much doubled in weight since birth. =/
I will have a little sumo-wrestler on my hands in no time!


♥ Cai's grandma (L's mother) is also visiting this week. The consensus seems to be that Cai looks like me, but is built like his Daddy. Grandma brought some pictures of L.'s baby days....man, I have to scan & share those. Not only was Daddy a cute baby, he was like a pimp baby. LOL.


♥ At my birthday brunch on Sunday, Cai surprised some of his Houston aunts & uncles (who had not seen him in a couple of weeks) with his head-butting skills. Yes, if he wants to get your attention or is particularly agitated, watch out!


♥ Cai was babysat by Grandma last night, while L. & I went out to celebrate my birthday proper. We weren't gone for very long, and while Grandma is an old pro at babysitting (Cai is her 10th grandchild, afterall), he was a handful! Apparently, he criedcriedcried after we left (and tensed his body up), then fell asleep. He then woke up, had a bottle and when we walked through the door, I'm willing to swear that he gave us the evil eye. Poor munchkin.

After a long night of nursing every hour (okay, so maybe every 2 hours), Cai is down & out for a nap. Seriously, I relish all and any time I get to either do household stuff (laundry, dishes) or just have me time. It helps that it's the weekend, and L. is home. But since I'm home daily with the bebe, he wants Mama when he needs to be comforted. He is a Mama's boy...but in a good way. :)


Here are some pictures of the bebe over the last few weeks:

5 weeks




Santa Baby @ 6 weeks





7 weeks with Dadda





8 weeks - tummy time!


L. & I really marvel at how Cai is growing....it's probably not so obvious from these pictures, but every week, I do see changes. And yes, our son has HUGE chipmunk cheeks...cheeks that take over his neck ;)

We need to weigh Cai this week & see how much bigger he's gotten!

Because my 2 best friends are visiting from Canada, Cai (and I!) braved the crowds and went to the Galleria mall (read: huge, crowded mall) for girly shopping yesterday.

One of our stops was a shoe store ( I wish I could say it was a sexy store, like Stuart Weitzman, but sadly, it was Clark's for sensible mommy tendencies), and there we met a 1 year old little girl & her grandmother. The little girl was sweet and pretty as can be, with big brown Anime-like eyes and lashes to die for. She was very smiley, and clearly, she was overjoyed at seeing a smaller baby. So I held Cai closer to her and she started patting his arm, giggling and smiling all the while. Cai was pretty much oblivous to it, but he looked comfy & happy. After a few minutes, it was time for us to leave, so we said goodbye to the little girl & her grandma and proceeded to leave.

As we exited the store, the little girl burst out in tears....so much so that her grandmother followed us through the crowds so her grand-daughter could coo and pat Cai again. There we were, in the middle of the mall, getting jostled by people left & right, so little Juliet could connect with little Romeo.... ;P

When it came time for us to leave for the second time, the little girl started crying again. :(


Too cute, I tell ya.
Best of all? Cai was sporting his "Ladies Man" onesies yesterday.
Teehee.

Cai's 6 wk mark was on Wednesday; sometimes, I can't believe it's only been 6 weeks. I mean, I remember life pre-baby (long, leisurely showers, taking all the time I want to do my hair & makeup, spending hours chatting online, doing whatever & going wherever with L. - you get the picture...), but I can't imagine life without him now, even if it means sacrificing some freedoms.

Anyhow, so at 6 weeks...my babe has certainly chunked out!
At birth: 6 lbs 3 oz
2 weeks: 7 lbs 9 oz
4 weeks: 8 lbs 13 oz
5 weeks: 11 lbs 1 oz
6 weeks: 11 lbs 4 oz

He has also grown longer, and is now 23 inches (he was 19 inches at birth).

For both height & weight, he is well over the 50th percentile, and at our 6 wk check-up yesterday, Dr. P (his pediatrician) pronounced him perfectly healthy. :)

His big accomplishment this week is that he's learnt how to fart. He's become a bit of a gassy baby, and it's really difficult to watch him suffer through his gassy bouts. Of course, L. & I do everything we can to help him toot - cycling his legs & other calisthenic moves, massaging his stomach, giving him Mylicon, etc. Along with learning how to fart come the bigger poops. We had a poop-plosion yesterday at a baby / maternity store...one minute I was peacefully nursing the little fella...the next he farts so loudly and I feel a dampness through his onesie. The poop-plosion was all over his diaper and half-way up his back; and OF COURSE, this was the one time I didn't have an extra outfit in the diaper bag with me. (Luckily, I did have another onesie in the car, so I wrapped nekkid baby up in blanket and made a mad dash to the car!)

I've also noticed he is more alert and can focus better these days. Several people have commented that he definitely recognizes my voice, as he'll turn his head in search of me if he hears me. L. can't wait until Cai is a bit more interactive so he can play with Daddy. Me - I can't wait till Cai sleeps through the night, heehee.

I need a nap now because last night was really rough (he was up every hour, or so it seemed), but you can't rblame the poor baby as he got his tetanus, Hep B & a few other shots while at the doctor's yesterday.
Fussy baby = cranky mama.