24 February 2008 - Full month celebration

Gerrard had his full month celebration although he was only 3+ weeks as his actual full month fall on a weekday. We invited our family and friends over to our place for buffet. It was also partly a house-warming for us as most relatives have not came to our house before.

In the morning before going to grandparents' houses to pray to the ancestors

Looking smart

Gerrard was sleeping most of the time, oblivious to the many hands that groped him as he was being passed around. Ended up with pimples on his face the next day as he was kissed by many people.

The first and only family pic we took (thanks to Kiwi) as we were so tied up the whole day to take any nice pics.

Thanks to the generosity of all who attended, Gerrard received loads of angbaos/gifts! This $$ will go into his "education fund"- talk about kiasu-ism, it starts now!

22 February 2008 - Haircut

Brought Gerrard to cut his hair today in preparation for 满月. As Gerrard was born with a lot of hair (as compared to other babies), we couldn't bear to shave him bald. Hence, we decided to just trim his hair shorter so off we went to the hair salon. I am not sure whether is it because the hairstylist does not understand what is TRIM or that he has his own view of what to cut regardless of customers' requests; the haircut did not turned out how I wanted it to be. He simply used an electric shaver and cut Gerrard's hair into a 榴莲头 hairstyle. At the first shave, I was horrified as it was so short but was already too late to tell him to stop. Gerrard fidgeted a bit during the haircut and all the time goose bumps were also popping up on me as I am so afraid that the hairstylist will just lose concentration and injure Gerrard. Thank god everything was ok.

Before & after

I feel that Gerrard seems to look like a different person after his haircut and his face seems so much chubbier. Derek came home and when he saw Gerrard, he laughed and said "So cute!"

Not sure whether he felt much cooler with this new haircut coz he slept the whole of the afternoon. I still prefer his old hairstyle but well, everyone's telling me babies' hair grows very fast so it'll be very soon when I bring him for his next haircut.

Not to the same hairstylist though :)

17 February 2008 - A week of change

Gerrard's antics has increased this week. He is not sleeping as much as last week and will not be satisfied with just lying down all day. He will cry out of boredom and once we carry him or talk to him, he'll stop crying and listen. When he is hungry, his cries are louder and his whole face will be red with impatience for his milk :) When he has finished his milk, he'll even smile in his sleep.

Napping with Daddy

This morning, Derek mentioned that since Gerrard was born, he has never slept beyond 8am. This is quite a feat for him as he loves to sleep and can sleep more than 12 hours if he is not working. As Derek is a light sleeper, he is the one who will wake up in the middle of the night when Gerrard cries for his milk. He will also wanna carry Gerrard and talks to him everyday when he comes back from work no matter how tired he is.

I can't wait for him to grow up and play with us!

16 February 2008 - Our car

Derek went to collect our car today. Looking forward to our first ride as a family of 3!

14 February 2008 - Love is all around

No vday celebration this year as I am doing confinement. In fact, I did not even expect Derek to get me anything as his time has been fully occupied since Gerrard's arrival. Especially since I am confined at home, he is the one running around to get the things that baby needs; every other day, Zhen-jie will say that diapers are running out, wet wipes are finishing, need to stock up more tins of milk powder, nappy cream not enough etc etc.

Derek has been really sweet and got me the Winnie the Pooh 4 leaf clover keychain which I simply love! I first saw it when I was shopping for Hazel's xmas present in Dec 07 but I found it a tad too expensive so I decided against it. Was very touched that he still remembers it.

Changed into my new keychain

13 February 2008 - Birthcert registration

We went back to TMC today to register Gerrard's birth certificate. There wasn't any queue today so it was done in a jiffy. Applied for the government baby bonus scheme as well. Derek mentioned that 2 weeks ago, we were at the same place waiting to be admitted for delivery, with Gerrard still in my tummy. The feeling is so different from now..

There was a funny episode during the birth registration today. We wrote his name as "Huang Yijie Gerrard" as nowadays, names are mostly in Hanyu Pinyin as compared to Dialect names during our parents' time. While registering the name, the nurse at TMC was amused, or rather, puzzled as to why is Gerrard's surname "Huang" while Derek's surname was "Ng". We told her it is because "Huang" is the Hanyu Pinyin translation of "Ng" but she said we can't do that. Next time when Gerrard goes to school, people will question why is his surname different from Daddy, regardless of Hanyu Pinyin or Dialect or whatever.

I was a bit taken aback, thinking how in the world do we know how to spell Yijie in dialect. I know "jie" is usually "Kiat" but I wasn't 100% sure and what about "yi"??!! In the end, to simplify things, we changed the spelling to "Ng Yi Jie Gerrard (Huang Yijie)" - Just a change of the surname- Problem solved :)

10 February 2008- Umbilical cord stump

Gerrard's umbilical cord stump dropped out today! At least now he will feel more comfy. Zhen-jie said we have to dry the stump and keep in a red packet. When he grows up, we can "return" it back to him... Hmm.. and perhaps let him know that this is the cord stump that connects and delivers the nutrients from mummy to baby during pregnancy.

6 February 2008- Gerrard is 1 week old

Finally have some time to blog about my baby boy as the past few days has simply flown by. And with CNY coming just round the corner, everyone is busy preparing for the baby as well as the new year. I am truly blessed to be able to find a confinement aunty at the last minute as my mum is unwell. Zhen-jie is a great help indeed and she has everything under control. It was like a huge weight taken off my mind the day she came.

Gifts from our friends

Sleepy Gerrard on Day 2

As Gerrard has slight jaundice upon discharge, we had to bring him back to the pediatrician ("PD") for review on 4 Feb 2008. I decided to bring him to Dr Loke near my place instead of Dr Koh who was allocated to us as Dr Koh's clinic is at Tiong Bahru which I figured will be inconvenient for now and future. Blood test result- jaundice has gone down and everything is ok- Phew! Next appointment will be on 3 March 08 for the 2nd Hepatitis B injection. I also went back to Dr Woo for review on 5 Feb 2008 and everything is fine, stitches are healing well. Next visit will be in 6 weeks' time.

Initially, Gerrard was sleeping most of the time. (I wonder if he was sleeping so much that was the reason why he refuses to come out from my tummy) Everyday, he looks different and seems to be changing. Now, he sleeps a bit less, he knows how to pull his hands out when we wrap him up and he smiles in his sleep!

Day 5

Day 7

He was sleeping soundly for almost 4 hrs when I captured these shots- Gerrard likes to do the "Ultraman" pose with his hands

Playing with him after his feed

A one week old baby's eyesight is still pretty fuzzy. Babies are born near-sighted and can see things best when they are about 8 to 10 inches away, so they can only see our faces clearly when we are holding them close. However, babies recognise our voices and in 2 weeks' time, they will be able to see us and put the face to the voice they have been hearing!

We have consulted the fortune teller and will be naming him 黄奕介。May this name bring him through a smooth-sailing lifetime of good health and wealth.

Today is Lunar New Year's eve.

Although I can't eat all the CNY goodies,

Although I can't dress up and do re-bonding for my hair,

Although I can't buy nice clothes to wear,

Although I am perspiring like a pig most of the time,

Although I am constrained in the four walls of my house and confinement sucks...

...

...

.....

Seeing Gerrard smile makes up for it all

30 January 2008 - Our bundle of joy has arrived!!!

Baby Gerrard Ng has arrived on 30 January 2008 at 12.46pm, weighing 2.975kg. Head circumference 33cm, length 49cm.