Norelle's favourite time...

Today, Norelle turns 1 year old according to Chinese Lunar Calendar. She was born on the twelth day of the twelth month (12 12). We went out for dinner together with my ILs. We didnt follow any sort of tradition such as preparing red egg, steeping on the ang ku (guess this is more the hokkien tradtion and we are hakka) etc...But I guess it would be nice to have this kind of tradtion but no one both of our families pratice this. 

Today Norelle also attended Baby Caitlyn's 1st birthday. So many birthdays this month. Baby Caitlyn is 5 days older than Norelle but she is waaaaaaaaaaaayyyy bigger than Norelle. When they stand together, Norelle looks so tiny, hahaha...Baby Caitlyn was so lady-like unlike Norelle. She's very obidient even tough she's not feeling well. And Baby Caitlyn is such a pretty girl.


                                                     Together with Baby Caitlyn and her pretty mummy, Elaine

Yesterday was a public holiday, HY and I together with Norelle went for an early brunch at Subway, 1 Utama. We were there at about 11am after we met up with Tracey (the baker for Norelle's birthday cake - more on that in next post). Out goes the Christmas decorations and in comes the cheery blossoms and laterns, etc. And I love CNY!! I just love the hustle-bustle, the ever-so-loud 'dung dung chiang' songs (which seem never ending). But we have not started preparing for the festive season just yet.

We were there for a little walk and we went straight home after that. Upon arriving home, HY remembered that Alice (his 2nd sis-in-law) gave Norelle a small baby pool. He took it out and start inflating it. The 'baby pool' is really small but I guess that is why they called it 'baby pool'. So I brought Norelle up and  change her into her bikini. See, I bought that sooooooooo long ago and she never really has the chance to wear it. Even though it's just at home, I can also dress her up for the appropriate occassion, right?

HY already filled the pool with water. She was a litlle bit sceptical when I first placed her in the water due to the temperature of the water. But that was only for a few minutes. Next, she was sitting in the pool happily splashing the water. She was enjoying so much with just hitting the water with her palms. Such a funny sight.


                                                                  I wanna stay in here forever and ever and ever!


                                                                  

Norelle is 11 months old today. Can't imagine that it's going be a year since she first came into the world. And it seems like only yesterday that I held the little body in my arms - looking so angelic and sleeping soundly away. Zap! now, she's busy walking around (she can walk pretty well now) I cant even sit down for a minute and yakking away (in her own language).

And remember that I posted about 'finally' Norelle's teething? Well, it turned out to be a false alarm. I waited and waited for like, a month and yet still nothing. Hmm..but yesterday I saw her 1st tooth cutting out on the lower left gum. This time I swear that it's really happening. I checked a few times and I can even feel the tooth with my finger when I was bathing her. When I told HY about this, he broke out into a song, 'All I want for birthday is my 2 front teeth'. Haha..

My baby is growing up now. Venturing into toddlerhood very very soon.

                                                                  Mummy, will I be growing up soon?

As clearly indicated from the title of this post (above), Norelle was 10 months old on the 30th November 2007. This post is wayyyyy long overdue, thanks to the mummy who's buried herself into the pile of work at the office.

Well, back to business (Norelle's bisuness), Norelle is getting more and more active. Can hardly hold her down. I wonder where she gets the energy from? Maybe I over-indulged myself with sugar when I was carrying her?? Hmmmm.....

She can stand unsupported now. And has been doing it very frequently. And now, she wants to stand ALL the time. Irregardless where she is - be it on the stroller, bath tub, high chair, bed, car etc...PHEW! Imagine trying to feed her porridge/cereal while she's standing ON the high chair. Seriously, these past few weeks Norelle has gotten more and more mischevious. Sometimes, I think it's a bit out of hand. She is VERY stubborn, has a character of her own (this already being determined since birth!) Bad tempered (I wonder for this she takes over me or HY???)

We bought a walker for her to practice on her walking since she's been standing on her own quite steady and firm. The moment she saw the walker, she loved it! We guided her on how to walk using it and now she can 'walk' on her own using the walker. It's fun and exciting seeing my little girl is slowly learning to take her first step. Gosh....seems like just yesterday that I held the tiny little body on my arms. And in less than 2 months' time my little baby will embark into toddlerhood.

She is also getting more and more vocal - but mostly still in baby talk. She can say mamamama or mumumum. Sometimes she makes those sound like she's calling out for her daddy - dadadddadyyyy daaaaaaaadddddyy something like that, but I doubt she's calling for HY :P

Oh..she's teething now (or has been for the past 2 weeks). There's a white spot on her lower gum and I can't be happier when I spotted it. I mean - FINALLY! I am dying to see some pearlies on her gum. It would be soooo cute when she's smiling and you can see those little teeth. But that was 2 weeks ago and she is STILL teething. How long does it takes for a tooth to sprout out???

She is more responsive to us now when we are talking to her. And she did a new sign too - sign for bib. Hahaha...I notice that when I was feeding her the other day. I put her on the high chair and usually I will put on her bib before I start feeding her but that day I forgot to put it on. And there she was holding out her index finger and kept pointing it on her chest. Then I realised she was actually telling me that I forgot the bib. I was surprised when she did that.

And she learned another sign as well at my MIL's. Whenever we bid goodbye to HY's nephew s (age 5 and 3), he will do the following - wave bye bye, fly kiss and salute (dont ask me why) . So this little ritual of them has been going on for a long time and Norelle somehow has picked it up. It's so cute seeing her doing the 'salute' sign (put hand at the back of the head).

So all in all, it a good month and the year is coming to an end and when next year begins, it also marks a new begining to all of us. For Norelle especially as she will be celebrating her 1st birthday in January. Yippeee! Can't wait.



Norelle @ 10 months - and with a new hairstyle (NOT MY IDEA!!!)



A video on Norelle's learning to walk using the walker:

Last weekend, there were many firsts in Norelle’s life:

On last Saturday, we brought Norelle to Putrajaya Marriott for HY’s friend’s wedding. Initially we wanted to put her at my MIL’s place (as usual when we are going for a wedding dinners) but not this time as MIL also had an event that night. Looking at the venue of the dinner and the distance, we decided to book ourselves into a room for a-night stay. It marked the first time for Norelle to be away from home – a mini holiday.

We arrived at Putrajaya Marriott at 5pm and we checked in straight away. The weather was breezy and nice. A vast land and greens surrounded the resort – we truly felt that we were somewhere far far away . No noises from cars, only sounds of trees swaying and wind blowing.

The room was spacious enough. We have 2 twin beds and I decided to get Norelle a baby crib for her. Then HY wanted to bring Norelle for a swim – her 1^st swim. I changed her into her swimsuit and off we went to the pool.  She was so excited upon seeing the pool – to her it’s like a GIANT bathtub! Once HY placed her at the edge of the pool, she wandered off straight away. She was happily crawling at the edge of the pool while patting the water! She was having so much fun. I was surprised to see her taking the pool so well – since it’s the 1^st time for her. Halfway through, she got chocked by the water and she puke! Luckily, HY managed to whisk her away from the pool.

So we brought her up to the room and bathed her. Then she took her milk and dozed off. While HY and I prepared ourselves for the dinner. It’s so nice to be able to take our time and no need to worry about the traffic, parking or the weather. Then I changed Norelle into her dress and put her into the pram – she was still in her la la land.

The dinner was fine and Norelle woke up when the newly weds marched in – from all the hands clapping.  She was quite well behaved throughout the dinner. Just an occasional whining as she wanted to climb out from the high chair. She didn’t sleep well that night. She kept waking up and cried. I guess it’s because of her blocked nose. In the end, I just scooped her up from the crib and let her on my bed.

All in all, we did have a nice weekend despite the fact that Norelle is now sick – Arrgghhh!! Cough and cold. Can’t wait to bring her for another swim. 



                                                  Busy checking-out the BIG bed - can't leave home without ALL her toys!
                                                                  


                                                                  Testing the 'water' - no pun intended


                                                  Ok, time for a pose with the Zebra
          

                                                                  Splish! splash! and all wet



 

My baby girl is 9 months old today. Time flies. And I am glad to announce that she is all well now. No more fever, blocked nose, cough, or what-so-ever. She is now one-happy-active baby. She is getting more and more mobile for now and we all have the same belief that she will walk before she's 1. She had her 2nd dose pneumococcal jab today (what a pressie!) and she weighs 7.75kg (I know, I know...she's a light baby)

She did her first sign the other day. Well, apart from the usual 'bye-bye' and 'fly-kiss', Norelle did her first real Baby Sign. One morning she woke up being very cheerful and she was just 'talking' to herself and playing with her toes on the bed. We had the fan on and suddenly she looked up towards the fan and did the 'fan' sign - hand up in the air 'swirling' gesturing the movement of the fan. I was estatic and couldn't believe my eyes and asked her to do it again. True enough, this time it's real. She's responding to what I say - FAN! Hahahhaa...so all the hard work paid off after all.

I began signing' with her when she was around 4 months old. Having read about Baby Signs when I was still pregnant, I was interested in trying this method with my own baby. I went and bought a book titled 'Baby Signs: How to Talk to Your Baby Before Your Baby Can Talk' . When Norelle was about 4 months, I started some simple signs with her like 'milk, fan (as she's very much amazed with it) and 'bath'.

I am still doing the signs with her and have been adding on some new signs whenever the needs/situations arise. But she more or less getting the 'idea' of it when I do the 'milk' sign, she knows that it's time for her milk feed. And she will show me her widest grin when I show the 'bath' sign. Which means, she gets to play woth the water.

I am thankful to Jamie from Baby Signs for bringing in the program into Malaysia and would definitely encourage mothers to take up the signs. But I do know that many people will be hesistant or having doubts in 'signing' with their babies. Most often associate signing to people with hearing diabilities or mute. But we are teaching our babies about signs everyday without us knowing/realising it. For instance, we will 'shake' our head when we say 'No' or 'nod' our head when we say 'Yes'. Those are signs. Or, we teach our baby to wave their hands when we say 'Bye-bye' . That is a sign too. So, signing is actually a very natural way of us trying to communicate with our babies. And babies are way smarter than we think. They actually understand what we are trying to tell them and by seeing them 'communicating' with us using signs, it's the most rewarding feeling.



                                                        Mummy, faster take my picture, I don't know how long I can hold on to this post.




                                                                          First time sitting in a swing - and loving it!

Sleeping time is one of Norelle's many 'work-out' rountines. She does the rolls-turns-tosses-flips routine in her sleep. We practice co-sleeping which means she sleeps with us in the same room and is sharing the bed (not exactly - she practically owns the whole King-sized bed by herself) with me. HY has been kicked out from the bed and he has been sleeping on the floor since then.  We have the air-con on most of the time, and with Norelle's acrobatic moves in the bed, it's very hard for the blanket to stay in place. She was kicking off her covers every night and we were going bonkers with sleep deprivation.

Then I read about 'sleeping bag' for babies. The sleeping bag is not like what we use in camping trips. Sleeping bag for the babies is soft, mostly made out of cotton and which, as it turns out, was the norm for babies in many parts of Europe. So I decided to try it on Norelle. Now, at least I can rest assured that she is properly covered and the sleeping bag also tends to minimized her 'acrobatic moves'. All these equal to longer and better sleep for all of us.


                                     Norelle in her sleeping bag - do you like her just-out-of-bed look?

Hi all. Norelle is 8 months old today. My baby is a big girl now. But not in terms of her size though...she looks smaller than other babies at her age. Or rather, she is a petite baby. Not underweight, just petite. Small bones I guess, like me. 

She is on her way to full recovery after her 1-month stint of endless sickness (fever, baby measles, running nose and cough) Her appetite is up again which means I will be occupied during night times making purees for her. I am not complaining, in fact, I enjoy doing so. 

She is quite clingy to me now. Having her 'velcro' to me once she sees me is no fun - AT ALL! Just hope that this phase will pass soon. Other than that, she is fine. Always flashing her BIGGEST smile (no teeth yet) to everyone and displaying her endless energy.

Now she is starting to respond to me when I talk to her or ask her some questions. When I ask do the 'milk' sign, she will go and pick up her milk bottle and she will look at the aquarium when I ask her, "Where's the fish?". She will look for her rubber duckie when I ask her to.  Well I know all these seem easy/small compared to other babies at her age but nevertheless, I am so proud of her achievements. The fact that she understands what I am saying is already a great feeling and having her responding to me is a bonus! I am looking forward to have more interactions with her. 



                                        The 'shy' look (only for 0.05 milisec)



                                        At 8-Month Old - doing what she does best - SMILE!