Smiles

I really love to see Shannyn smile. Probably because she "Boh Geh" (no teeth).. so when she smiles, I can only see her cute little tongue and it just seems so cheeky! Think she loves to take pictures too and often smile when she sees the camera.. so hiao (vain)! Now she wants Daddy to carry her every night before bedtime and will sometimes fall asleep on his arms!

Experts say that breastfeed babies won't have a lot of allergies but it doesn't seem to apply to be true. She has sensitive tear duct, cradle cap, thrush and eczema. When we bring her to the doctor/maternal nurse, they all say that these symptoms are perfectly "normal" for newborns. Actually its not too worrying, just irritating .. to me .. rather than to her.

Her skin is so dry that we have to get special bath oil (Dermaveen) as recommended by the maternal nurse. Its not cheap at AUD20 for a small bottle. The bath oil is supposedly to be PH-balanced and soap-free with oatmilk. Not sure if it works but its probably better than using normal baby wash. And Mom says that she looks very "angmo" with red cheeks. As for her cradle cap, I just can't help but peel her dry flakes with my 'itchy' fingers and always got 'scolding' by everyone. Mom even said that the cradle cap is a protective layer for her and its 'good to have it'. Well, she said that bro and I used to have it as babies too... so perhaps its hereditary. Shannyn is now 3 months plus and we'll be bring her to her 4-mth immunization this week. I'm sure she'll scream again, this time, even louder as she's recently found her voice. Yes, she has a loud voice...perhaps even louder than mine! Just now, she was sitting on her rocker and looking really focused on something to her left just outside the window. I approached her from the front and talked to her. But she didn't notice... so when she turned her head and saw me right in front of her, she got a scare and started to cry out loud! No wonder they say people who have a loud voice are typically very timid!

As you can see, I've a new hobby now.. am quite addicted to taking loads of pictures & videos of Shannyn. Thanks to the world of unlimited memory space, there's no stopping me and I can click all I want! Haha!

Looks Different

Every day I look at Shannyn, she seems to look different. Now her hair has grown longer and we have to comb it for her after bath. Obviously, she has my hair texture but I definitely don't have so much hair as a baby. Last night, she was fondling her hair with her fingers. Sean was afraid that her fingers would be entangled and get stuck! Now that she has 'found' her voice, she is quite 'noisy' and keeps 'talking' and want us to talk to her all the time. And when we were travelling, she would also 'complain' when the car stops!

Curious look

Sucking her fingers

Simply love her 'ba ba' (meaty) legs

Daddy reading bedtime story

Shannyn's favourite toy, Mr Lion, from her point of view as she lay on the playmat

Shannyn's hand, trying to reach for the hanging toys

Yew Look-alike Meter

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Ancestral chart - Geneology

So Talkative

Recently, Shannyn has been getting v vocal, making a lot of 'noises' and sounds which we don't understand! Have captured a video clip of her talking to her dad haha!

She also started to suck her right fingers and they are always wet with saliva. I bet she'll put her entire hand in her mouth if its big enough to fit in! When we carry her, our clothes will be soaked with her saliva. However, our health nurse said that the overflowing saliva is not because of teething but due to the finger sucking habit. Babies do grow very fast. She's now 6.9kg and getting really heavy to carry around. So we've got a carrier (from ebay) to provide some sort of "relief" for our arms.. but she doesn't seem to fancy the carrier .. prob because its facing our chest when she' s seated in it so her view is really very limited. Our health nurse told us that she'll probably be able to take solid food in 1-2 months time, which is good. We really appreciate the health nurse system here. We visit the health nurse (at a nearby family resource centre) almost every month and she always gives very good advice and what to expect next. During the previous visit, she even advise us to provide more tummy time for Shannyn as when the nurse flipped her over, she just laid on her stomach and not lifting her head much... Lazybum! Mummy will have to give you more exercise now whether you like it or not! Haha!

Her hair is getting longer and messy and mom says that we should bring her to the hairdresser. Well, I'd like to keep her hair longer so she'll look more like a girl. She really resembles Sean a lot and thus looks more like a boy. Even last week, strangers are still asking whether Shannyn is a boy or girl although she is already 3-mths plus. Haha!

Happy Birthday!

Yesterday morning, I told parents that when Sean come back fr work, I'd like to drive to the nearest shopping centre to buy a birthday cake to celebrate his birthday. So, after dinner, mom said "Go out lor, I wash the dishes". And Sean said "Go out buy what"? Dad and I looked at each other and before I could react, mom said "Buy cake lor!" Boo Boo! It was supposed to be a surprise!!

Its been a long time since I drove so I decided to step out of my comfort zone and took over the wheel. My driving is all right but my parking sucks. Luckily, I found a huge space with 2 empty lots and parked with ease. We immediately went to the concierge and asked where could we get a cake. There is only ONE shop that sells cakes and its not even a shop but a coffee cafe. I couldn't make up my mind as there were numerious Birthday cakes. So dad pointed to one delicious-looking chocolate cake and we decided to get that. Candles are sold separately but was not cheap at AUD3.50. But a birthday cake must have a birthday candle right? So I made a dash to BIG W and grabbed some candles (at half the cafe's price). Why were we in such a hurry? Because last night was the finale of the Amazing Race which we have been diligently watching even before Shannyn is born! We were surprised that Mom gave Sean an angbao for his birthday hehe!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY!

Baby Talk

Oh, I haven’t been updating my blog as I’ve been mesmerized by the Japanese Anime for the past few days since the previous update. Have finally finished watching all the 14 episodes today and consumed almost the remaining data allowance of my Internet plan. Yes, there is a 2GB limit to our broadband plan here (monthly data limit for most broadband plan applies here).

Luckily it’s the end of the usage month today. Reviewing the pictures and videos a few months ago, I realised that Shannyn has developed so much. When she was a few days old, she would stick out her tongue continuously whenever she was hungry. But now, she would make a din whenever she wants milk by crying ‘Maa’ (mummy) or ‘Merk’ (milk). She even knows how to demand for a nappy change and would cry non-stop unless we change her nappy! Thereafter, she’ll giggle and start to kick her legs happily. Also, she used to cry when we bathe her but now, she actually enjoys bathing.. she moves and kicks a lot during baths. Sorry no bathing videos to share (restricted information hehe).

We always bring Shannyn out on some weeknights and during the weekends so as to expose her to the outside world. In fact, we realise that she actually likes going out. There was one night when we took her out in her stroller for a walk around the neighbourhood. She was enjoying the cool breeze and kicking away. But the moment we came back home, she started to cry! She definitely prefers the outdoors; perhaps there are more interesting things to stimulate her senses. And she loves to sleep with the lights off (thankfully). There was one night, she was trying to fall asleep but couldn’t as we were in the room with the lights on. So she kept screaming and was fidgeting on her bed. But the moment we switched off the lights, she stopped crying almost at that instant!

Baby talk is an entirely different language and we’re still trying to decipher the codes… manually. Perhaps in the far future, some genius may invent a baby translation machine! Imagine when a baby cries, a robot would deduce the crying signal and translates it as “Baby is hungry” or “Baby wants a cuddle”. That would probably make life simpler. But wouldn’t that be boring and no fun if we knew exactly what babies are thinking? And would that infringe their privacy too? Well, have to stop my wild thinking now for I must have been ‘corrupted’ by the Anime…

This colourful sweater is the first baby clothing item that we bought for Shannyn! See the way she smiled when I asked her to smile and she saw me taking her picture. She sure loves the camera too!

Video: Shannyn sucking a pacifier/dummy as she is falling asleepy...