Last night, my dear sister KS had a BBQ party for her schoolmates (past & present) from University of Surrey (UniS) of UK. Mike and I decided to stay over, so that we could help with the BBQ and the cleaning up after that.

Matthew was a little out of sorts yesterday, refusing to take his naps. Perhaps he knew a lot of things were happening or maybe simply because his grandpa was at home. We left him at Faber Drive, while we went home to do some housekeeping and to prepare the chicken wings for the BBQ. By the time we got back to Faber Drive, he was awake and hungry. His dinner was being prepared, as all of us were busy with the BBQ stuff.

After his dinner, we bathed him. While dressing him, a loud thunderous BANG was heard from outside. Immediately, I told Mike to go and take a look. There was an accident and it involved Jonathan's Nissan with an Ang Moh's Harley. Never in my almost twenty years of staying here had an accident occurred on this road.

The big Ang Moh was injured, so I told KS to call 995 for an ambulance to be sent. Then somebody asked if anybody called the police, then KS called 999. Somehow, my instinct was to call 995, not 999. But who cared then. The most important thing was to get this guy to the hospital.

According to Mike, the Ang Moh was thrown forward and the first thing he said when Mike asked if he was ok was "Where is my bike?" Siao (crazy) right? I think his mind was not straight and Mike thought he smelt some alcohol. Drink driving, maybe? It was 7:10pm then and still bright. Given that Jonathan's car was a light colour and there was streetlight right at that spot and a road hump about 20metres on the uphill, how could anyone be blind not to see a car parked right there. There were no skid marks, i.e. no emergency braking, the Harley slammed right into the Nissan.

Jonathan called KS this afternoon and told her that the Ang Moh has been arrested for drink driving. Lucky for Jonathan, i.e. he would not be implicated for parking along the road with single white line, but he would not be able to claim from the insurance of the Harley. Well, he could claim his own insurance or take that guy to court on a civil lawsuit. His dad is a lawyer who would know more than we do.

By the way, this morning after breastfeeding Matthew, we left him to play on his own, while we slept in a little longer. Then we heard some crying and woke up to find him under the table (luckily not under the bed!). Somehow he had crawled, reversing himself towards the table, right under the chair. We think he cried because he had backed up against the wall. Ha ha ha... Too bad no photo to show. ;o)

The photo showed how Matthew ended up sleeping after his 10:30pm night feed last night... Seems very comfy, right?

Matthew went for his CT scan today. Because he is a baby, he had to be sedated to keep him very still for the procedure. Maybe he knew that something was on, he woke up at 6am. I breastfed him and gave him his cereal by 7am. He needed to fast for at least two hours. The scan was scheduled for 10:10am.

By the time we left for NUH, Matthew was already taking his nap and woke up when we reached there at 8:30am. He was cheerful, observing everything that was going on around him. After he was admitted into Day Surgery Ward, we waited for his bed to be ready.

We were all settled down by 9am, with Matthew all changed, waiting. Waiting for what, you must be wondering. We were waiting for somebody to give us his sedation syrup. Well, nobody said anything, I did not ask. Matthew was getting bored and irritated and making a lot of noise, so one of the nurses brought his some toys to keep him occupied.

At 9:30am, one nurse came to me and asked, "How come he is not sleeping yet? The doctor is here." I was totally puzzled, wondering what the h*** she was saying. Then I realized that they had forgotten to give Matthew the sedation syrup. Instead of taking my time to give Matthew the syrup, I had to force it down his throat. My poor baby, I used a syringe and coaxed him to open his mouth, blew at his face and shot the syrup down his throat. He cried and cried and cried.

Then after giving him the syrup, Mike and I managed to calm him down. But we had to leave him with the nurses in the treatment room, so that the doctor could insert a needle into his vein for emergency purposes. The moment I put him down on the treatment bed, he cried non-stop. Tears dropped. My heart broke. Those stupid nurses, they should have let me give him the syrup earlier and allow him to sleep first.

Finally at 10am, they let me carry him to the Imaging Department in the Main Building. It was a long walk. We reached there at 10:10am, but had to wait till 10:30am. The scan was fast, it was over in 10minutes, I think. I did not bother to check. I just wanted to hold my little boy.

Then another long walk back to the Kent Ridge Wing (where the Day Surgery Ward is located). We had to wait for Matthew to wake up from the sedation before we could leave. Mike tried to wake him up several times. Finally at 12noon, he woke up HUNGRY! Immediately, I breastfed him and he was ok. After his milk, we walked around and he "played" with the nurses. At least he was back to his normal self.

We love you Matthew. Mummy's sorry that you got to go through all these procedures. Next up - 8/9/05 for the auditory test.

Time really flies, or rather zooms... Matthew is six months old today. This entry is going to be a very very long one, so please brace yourself for it.

I had wanted to start a diary when we first knew that I was pregnant (two test kits on 11/6/04); now I can't remember much of my pregnancy, I remember visiting Chris and Megan at Sing Ave and Megan was six weeks old then. Now she is a big girl, 15 months old.

I remember that I could not tahan (stand) the smell of onions and garlic being fried. Not much morning sickness, not much craving except durian. I experienced spotting and was on MC for two weeks. Mike and I went to Bintan Club Med over 2004 National Day weekend, Mommy was then in London with KS and Weixuan was in China. Papa was watching NDP alone. I was three months pregnant then.

First felt Matthew's movement at 17 weeks. His full detail scan at 20 weeks showed that he got a big head (and he still does). Attended Sing Tian's and Simon's wedding dinners. Attended court on 29/10/04 and he kicked like mad; maybe he did not like the lawyers questioning his papa. Matthew was putting on weight so fast that I got to do a OGTT (diabetic test), all ok. X'mas party at Eric and Liyun's home.

Warded in TMC for almost 12hrs on first day of CNY, due to gastroenteritis. Suspected the not-so-cooked liver that I ate during the reunion steamboat dinner. Saw Dr Eunice Chua on 23/2/05 and decided to do an elective Caesarean section on 25/2/05 (which was Matthew's EDD anyway), because Matthew had grown too big for my small frame to deliver naturally.

Matthew was borned on 25/2/05 at 1323hrs. He was 3.78kg. I had a very brief glance of him, as I was under epidural and was shaking very badly (side effect). He was crying at the top of his lungs. He was warded immediately into NICU due to congenital pneumonia. I did not even get to see him till late on the second day and finally I could carry him. I could not breastfeed (bf) him, so pumped and pumped. Milk came in on the third day and I could bf him. He had slight jaundice and was under UV lights for a full day. We were finally discharged on 1/3/05.

He was a good boy, hardly cried, except when he was hungry. Woke up only once during the night for his feeding. I bathed with herbs or water boiled with lemongrass. No water, except long-an, red-dates, dang-shen drink, but the drink was good. I was a buffalo, never ever had enough of water... Planned Matthew's first month baby shower which was held on 26/03/05, which was actually one month according to chinese calendar.

I brought Matthew on my own to see Dr Dorothy Ong at Bt Timah Plaza on 30/3/05 for his coughing (all because of his papa). First time out, alone with him. He was ok, but I think it was near his nap time and he cried and cried and cried till he fell asleep. Brought him to visit his Grandma in Yishun for the first time and brought him to Kiddy Palace at Toa Payoh on 3/4/05. By now, he was sleeping through the night till 7am. I finally went back to work on 22/4/05.



Matthew experienced his first SSO Concert in the Park at Botanic Gardens on 1/5/05. Attended Megan's first birthday party on 14/5/05. KS' first sight of Matthew was at Changi Airport on 31/5/05.




First roll over on his own on 11/6/05 and he enjoyed it and celebrated with a brillant smile and a wink! Father's day on 19/6/05 and we made it with a trip to Suntec City and we had dinner in the foodcourt to celebrate. Haha.. Matthew's first trip to Orchard Road was 26/6/05; well you can read my first entry on this one. First taste of solids on 27/6/05.

This blog started with the first entry on 26/6/05, so you can go and read them when you are free. If anybody can remember small little things that had happened over the last six months, well, I would appreciate if you could just drop a comment. Thanks!

Matthew, we love you. No matter how hard, no regrets. You have brought joy and laughter into our home and we will do our best to give you the best and enrich your life, as you have done for us. Happy six months and the next six months and forever!!! Our little darling.

I have finally returned to work yesterday after a long lay off of four weeks. Actually it was to clear my final four weeks of maternity leave. It was kind of relief to return to work, as I know now how difficult it is to take care of kids. Really appreciate that my mommy and mother-in-law have been taking care of little Matthew.

After full four weeks of breastfeeding (bf), I did not really look forward to pumping again. Partly because of all the bottle washing and sterilising... Bf is so easy, anytime, anywhere (almost), no bottles to wash or sterilise.

I was very sad today, as my milk production has slowed down so much... The other thing was that Matthew was not drinking his milk from the bottle or the cup. My mommy got to coax him, pester him to finish his milk, be it expressed breastmilk, frozen breastmilk or formula... I thought it might be because he is now old enough to know that it is different from mommy's feeding. But it seems not to be the case..

I checked Gina Ford's The New Contented Little Baby Book. Since young, I have put Matthew on the routine according to his age as suggested in the book and it has suited him and me well. It seems that his reduction in milk requirement was actually as recommended. When I was on leave and full-time bf him, he had adjusted his needs and my milk production dropped as a result of that. Now at least I am not too worried and feel more comforted. I am sure he is feeding and growing well, poo 2x a day, pee many many times, very active and alert and has sufficient naps. I would just use more milk to make his cereal, to make sure that he is taking enough milk.

Matthew dearie, we all hope that you will grow up strong and healthy. We love you and sweet dreams! Kiss you goodnight!

We decided to give Matthew a taste of a biscuit, well, actually it's a rusk lah.. it's hard and so hard that there was no way that I could break it into two. So we gave him the whole thing. We bought the Heinz teething rusk. According to Mike, well, he finished whatever Matthew couldn't finish, it was absolutely hard and tasteless. But it must have been a treat for the little one. It was all messy and there were crumbs all over him and the car seat (we were on the way to Sharron's place in Chai Chee). Good thing we put on a bib for him. He enjoyed it so much that he ignored everything else.

He also had his new cute little blue vest on. My mummy bought the cloth and my mother-in-law tailored two vests. Doesn't he look cute? Noticed that he has his right arm stretched out? Don't know why, but he seems to be doing that quite a lot. Maybe he wants something. Cheers!

Matthew is an amazing baby. He is not even 6 months yet, and he has learned to drink from a straw!!! So cool!!! Yesterday, he started using a straw, but can't seem to control the flow of water, so we had a very wet Matthew with water both flowing into and out of his mouth at the same time... but today dramatic improvement. He learnt how to control the flow of water, so remained dry and nice!! ;)

Matthew loves all things water too!!! He loves his baths cuz he gets to splash around with water and wet the floor and everyone else!!!!! He loves to put his hand under the running tap cuz he can play with more water!!! Matthew has an affinity with water!!! Can't wait to bring him to the pool once his flu clears up and his mummy gives the okay!!!

Somebody did not want to sleep but Play!
Matthew's new game!!!

This morning I brought Matthew to see the ENT specialist regarding the "malformation" of his left ear. Noticed that I've put the word malformation in quotes, because I believe that he can hear very well. He responds to us when we call him from his left side. He also can hear the sounds from the phone when we hold the handset to his left ear...

The ENT specialist is Dr Lynne Lin. Apparently according to some article I read on the ENT clinic's notice board, she is the only paediatric ENT specialist in Singapore or NUH. Memory is still bad, I cannot remember exactly. Whatever..

We were the first patient. It has to be lah. We were earliest, reaching before 8:30am. Then we waited more than an hour for her to start her consultation for the day. By then, Matthew was taking his morning nap, which made things easier. She checked his ear and promptly informed us that they would need a CT scan on his temporal bones in order to know how bad the "malformation" is. Also need a auditory test to test how much and how well he could hear. In both procedures, he would be sedated... She reassured us that it would be all ok...

So it is arranged to conduct the CT scan on 26/8/05 and the auditory test and follow-up consultation on 8/9/05.

Matthew has learned that he can change his position when he is lying down on his stomach. As you can see from the photo, he was on the floor. He had shifted from the mattress onto the floor. Mike was attempting to teach him the techniques of crawling, but of course, unsuccessful.

From reading books, I understand that the ability of shifting position is also a step towards crawling. We are looking forward to see our little boy crawl, but it also meant that we got to start babyproofing our home! Hahaha...

Good weather today... Chris suggested going to MacRitchie Reservoir in the afternoon, weather permits. I was a bit hesitant at first, because Matthew is nursing a sore throat and Megan is also recovering from a viral infection. But fresh air would do good for both of them.

We strolled around the park before making our way to one of the hiking trails. We did parts of the Lornie / Chemparai Trails. We saw a sunbathing turtle and LOTS of pond skaters and birds and one little squirrel.

I think Matthew enjoyed the serene surrounds of the reservoir. Megan was curious and enjoyed walking and observing things that Chris pointed out to her.

Matthew has been coughing on off for almost a week. So finally today we went to see his paediatrician Dr Dorothy Ong at Bt Timah Plaza. Matthew cried and cried and cried during the time we were there. From taking his weight to checking his development, he just disliked being handled in the clinic.

Matthew is 8.23kg and 65.5cm in height. He is down with sore throat. That must be the reason why he has been very fussy recently and not sleeping and feeding well. Dr Ong said that he is growing well, so it would not be a problem. Sore throat is painful; it's the same, babies and adults. So Dr Ong advised that if he cries non-stop, we should give him a dosage of Children's Panadol, as it's a safe painkiller.

The soft spot on his head would go away by two years old. For his sore throat, it is safe to give him some slightly sweetened ju hua cha (Chrysanthemum tea - a local traditional remedy to reduce heatiness in the body).

I also mentioned to her that Matthew fell from the bed last Friday. But she said that Matthew is ok, as he is bubbly, active. In case of another fall, we should monitor him closely for the following 72hrs for fever, vomiting and "abnormal" behaviour.

When Dr Ong tried to take his temperature (although he was not feverish), she noticed that his left ear was not formed properly. There is a ear tag on his left ear (I have one too on my left ear and my mom on her right ear). She then decided to use the ear probe to check his ear canal. Then she realised that the ear canal is blocked. She immediately referred us to a paediatric ENT specialist at NUH and even fixed an appointment for Monday.

She told us not to worry too much, as she thought that Matthew could hear quite well, when she sounded a little bell during his last development assessment. I thought so similarly. We would only know more when we see the ENT specialist on Monday.

Our poor Matthew. He had to spend the first three days of his life in NICU away from us. Now this must happen. Did I do something wrong when I was carrying him? I can't help but feel this way. I want nothing but the best for him and for him to be healthy. Perhaps God has planned some great things for him, but he needs to go through some "tests" to prove himself... Maybe... there are just too many perhaps and maybes...

Matthew dearie, I LOVE YOU. No matter what happens, Mommy would be there for you. Always.

Matthew has been observing us, the adults, drinking water. Mike and I drink from a Rubbermaid water bottle. One day, while I was carrying him and drinking water, Matthew reached out for the bottle. So I decided to let him have a "taste" of drinking from the bottle. He actually did drink water from it.

Subsequently, I decided to let him drink water from a cup during his mealtime. I'm not sure whether it was because of his playfulness, but he enjoyed drinking from the cup. While drinking, I think he realised that the noises he made would be amplified. My mom said "Ren xiao gui da", meaning a small person wants to act big.

I also gave him empty cups to play with. He can actually hold the cups quite well. Well, at least I don't think I will have problem weaning him off his bottle in future.

Today was a long long day. We all woke up late at 8am and we were out by 9am. First we went to Sims Place to meet Siang Boon, Kat and her family. Matthew took his nap at 10:30am. Then we decided to go to Suntec City to pick up Smiles reward (a Samsonite Backpack). We parked at the Old National Library at Stamford Rd as it's free parking on Sundays. We walked to City Hall where Mike was meeting a friend, Alfred.

After bf Matthew in the Nursery on the third floor, we decided to take a quick lunch at BK while we fed Matthew his porridge. Matthew was not very cooperative. He refused to sit in the high chair for lunch and as usual, the inefficient BK staff took a long time to serve our order while Mike waited at the counter. Mike had to carry Matthew while I fed him. And of all times, he decided to poo... hmmmmm... hmmmmm... he made sounds when he went about his business.

So after I finished my lunch, I brought him up to the Nursery to change. Hell broke loose. Matthew just cried and cried and cried. His crying upset the other mothers who were there too.. So as quickly as I could, I cleaned him up and took him out. The moment he was out along the corridor, he was quiet, observing the things happening around. Then it was time for his nap.

It was a short nap ~45min. I noticed that when we are out, he would only take a short noon nap, instead of the usual 2hr. So in any case, I tried to do as much as I could. Went to Fox kids, as they were having a 50% sale and for >3pcs, additional 20%. That's a huge discount. But sad to say, no more boy boy clothes for below one. Then I went to Robinsons where they were having a 20% storewide sale for cardholders, but did not buy anything. But then Matthew has woken up.

We met up with Mike and strolled to Suntec City to pick up the Samsonite backpack. It is big enough to dump all Matthew's stuff in it and his toys too.. After a short walk around Carrefour, interrupted by his crying (because he pooed again and it was his nap time again), we decided to go to Esplanade Bayfront for a stroll.

Matthew was very excited and happy to be in the open. He laughed, made noise and smiled at strangers. We sat next to a teenage couple, who smiled and played and even carried Matthew. Then he started fussing around... oops, his milk time again. So we went looking for a place to bf him. We ended up in the handicap toilet, which also doubled up as a nappy changing room.

We went to the Bayfront again, where we fed Matthew. Again, he decided to poo... and it was almost his Zzzz time. He cried and cried and cried as we changed him. After that as we walked back to Stamford Road, he slept and woke up with a fuss, because we attempted to put him in his stroller.

What an eventful day. Maybe a bit too much for Matthew, I guess, as Mike and I were exhausted as well...

After the successful 3-day-trial of green leafy vege (xiao bai cai), which I pureed with rice porridge, I decided to start Matthew on cauliflower. I cooked some rice porridge with cauliflower and carrot this morning and pureed. Then added some xiao bai cai. The reason for adding carrot and xiao bai cai was to disguise the taste of the new vege, as I was worried that he may not like it.

I did that with xiao bai cai too. First day - 1" piece of carrot with 1 leaf of xiao bai cai. Second day - 1/2" piece of carrot with 2 leaves of xiao bai cai. Third day - 3 leaves of xiao bai cai. All vege were cooked till soft with rice porridge and pureed. I think Matthew loved it, because he was very keen, opening his mouth with each spoonful and making yummy sounds. So Matthew had his vege porridge for lunch just now and seemed to enjoy it very much, finishing everything in the bowl.

I was surprised as most kids do not like vege. Since Matthew was eager on his food, I thought I should start green leafy vege. I'm a vege lover and took a lot of vege during pregnancy. Perhaps that's the reason why he seems to love vege too...

What's next? Tofu? Pumpkin? Any one out there has a suggestion?

Edelweiss Edelweiss
Every morning you greet me
Small and White
Clean and bright
You look happy to meet me

Blossoms of snow
May you bloom and grow
Bloom and grow forever

Edelweiss Edelweiss
Bless my home land forever

If you are familiar with songs from the movie "The Sound of Music", the above is a popular easy-to-sing-along piece. We first sang this to Matthew when we finally got to carry him in the NICU at TMC. At first I don't believe it, but Mike always sing it to baby. I decided to try it on Monday and it worked like MAGIC. He quietened fast and fell asleep within moments, well, almost.

If you like to find out more about this little flower, check out http://www.edelweissgrowers.com/page2.html

Matthew has learned to sit and play on his own. He enjoys pushing and toppling stack-up cups. There is also this Toys-r-us musical toy given by his Gu Gu (Mike's sister) - that's the one in the photo. Every time he cries, we just need to play the toy and he would be quiet for a while. The baby calmer.