Tag Archives: mommyhood

baby diaries: your morning smile

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I love it baby that the first thing you do when you open your eyes in the morning is to tilt your head a bit to look me in the eye and then give me a big, sweet smile.

I am blessed enough already that you sleep through the night when you were yet six weeks old. I am blessed enough already that it’s very rare for you to wake up in the morning crying. But to have you wake up in a good mood, looking for me and bestowing upon me that very angelic smile, God indeed is very good.

Love you, Moirraine anak. Grow up well, my pretty.

pamana

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Moirraine loved this bear-on-a-swing on her crib mobile so much that she gets excited when she sees it and that she talks/gurgles at it and laughs at it – for long periods of time.

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Hence I thought that it was just about time to introduce her new bear bedmates to her.

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This was when Moirraine first explored and touched her bears.

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I gave her the Hard Rock bear first (we’re calling him Rocky-kun) and she talked/gurgled to the bear for a long time. She always eye its guitar as well haha.

It’s sort of my early pamana (bequest) to Moirraine since these bears were given to me by two of my best friends. The Bestfriend Care Bear one from Kat given to me back in June 2009 and the Hard Rock London one from Maj that she gave me back in March 2008. Maj had been around the world quite a lot already and has been very thoughtful of me and my doll collection, so much so that I have dolls from her sojourns in the US, UK, Ireland and Taiwan. I hope she remembers me and my collection while she’s in Spain. And also Kat while in Australia. Hehehe!

Anyways, I digress. For safety reasons, I kept Moirraine’s bed as minimal as I can, sans stuffed toys of course. But I thought that if I just let her play with them and sleep with them during nap time with me looking in on her, then I think it’s safe enough. Then I would remove the bears when we sleep at night. She’s now napping with her hand resting on top of her bears.

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Somehow, I find Bestfriend care bear as somewhat holding some similarity to Moirraine teehee.

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Hubs himself had a bear in his bed when he was a child and he told me of how he slept hugging the bear. Call it “marjorism” again (it’s what my friends and hubs call my sometimes weird assumptions and suppositions) but I think it helped instill in Hubs a sweet nature, one who likes to hug. And so I’m hoping with this, I’m one step to helping Moirraine have that same sweet nature albeit at the moment we think she already has a sweet nature!

that first laughter

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Moira was all ready to cap her day after having had her warm bath and her milk. I then sang her a lullaby with her still in my arms after her milk. But I had to stop my singing and have to coo because I heard her talk. And she was then talking some more – in a singsong tone which suspiciously sounds like she was singing. Mommy indeed was grinning from ear to ear.

Then I laid her down on her bed and continued to sing a lullaby. But yet again I had to stop so as to return back her smile. My smiling back egged her on and made her smile go wider and wider until it became a full fledged laughter that went on for quite a long while. Her first real laughter with her looking at us; she has been laughing ever since she was five weeks old but it was while she’s sleeping.

Mommy had tears of joy in her eyes and grinning ear to ear whilst daddy was laughing as well; their grip on each other’s hand real tight. I feel so warm and fuzzy inside I almost forgot it’s winter now.

Thank you Lord for a happy baby. 🙂

a singer?!

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I love singing to my daughter because (thankfully) it soothes her and it gets her attention. The songs are as varied in genre (broadway songs, pop songs, oldies, nursery rhymes, national anthems, advertisement jingles, Christmas songs) as it varies in language (English, Japanese, Filipino, Visaya). As I sing, she stares into my mouth and would sometimes talk just like how she stares into her father’s guitar and hands when he plays the guitar for her.

Yesterday (and up to now), her particular favourite was the Gershwins’ Someone to Watch Over Me. Yes, it’s one thing to sing a nursery rhyme on endless repeat (for more than a month now her favourite nursery rhyme is Twinkle Twinkle Little Star/Kira Kira Hikaru) and quite another to sing a jazz song over and over again. But anyway, I digress. As I was singing and lulling her to sleep, she was again intently observing my lips. After finishing two rounds of the song and her looking intently, she suddenly lifted and swayed her chin as one would when singing passionately; her mouth an O-shape. Up to now, I still smile and feel a warmth in my chest when I remember it.

Her first try at singing? Possibly, since babies are very good at mimicking. Are we gonna have a singer/musician daughter? Now only time can tell. 🙂

baby diaries: conversations

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I love our conversations anak. When you gurgle some and then flash me a wide smile that extends to your eyes – Oh, how my heart melts. I hope you’ll flash the same to Daddy, soon. I’m sure he’ll cry with happiness.

I especially love it when we have our conversations with you in my arms. But you lying on your bed is no less heart-melting.

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Grow well and healthy our dear Yui.

on baby sleeping habits: best advise so far

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Best advise so far from my references re: sleeping habits of your baby:

– Help your baby learn the difference between night and day. During the day, keep the normal household noise as usual e.g. radio, tv (we still didn’t purchase one), vacuum cleaner etc. Talk to/play with your baby as much as you can while she’s awake. Keep the blinds/curtains open. At night, keep the bedroom light low. Minimise talking to your baby and if needed, talk in hushed tones.

– Help your baby to have the ability to put herself to sleep. Put her in bed while she’s already drowsy but still awake. Try not to dance her to sleep. Try not to nurse her to sleep. Most babies need to sleep after two hours of being awake so try to put her to sleep before the two hours is up otherwise she’d be cranky and would cry that sleepy cry for hours.

Such golden advise. The first one helped us have better sleep at night. Hope we keep this up! 🙂