Dedication to the Lord

The year 2008 has been an eventful and blessed year for JS and myself. We baptised in the name of Holy Spirit in May, gave birth to baby Zach in June and shifted in to our new home in September. To mark the end of this significant year, baby Zach was dedicated to the Lord on 19th Dec. Indeed, God has been good and blessed our family abunduntly. I know that God's unfailing love will continue to follow, cover and protect our family in the days to come. All Glory to God!

On this significant day, JS and I made a commitment before the Lord to submit Zaccheus to God's will and to raise him according to God's Word and God's ways. Here, we are making a promise to the Lord to do everything within our power to raise Zaccheus in a godly way, prayerfully until he can make a decision on his own to follow God. We are required to raise him in the ways of God, and not according to our own ways. Some of the responsibilities include teaching and training Zaccheus in God's Word, demonstrating an example of godliness, disciplining according to God's ways, and praying earnestly him.

"As surely as you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the LORD. I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him. So now I give him to the LORD. For his whole life he will be given over to the LORD." And he worshiped the LORD there. 1 Samuel 1:26-28

Savings account and Library member

Having procrastinated for many months, on 09 Dec, I finally opened a savings account for Zach. Not only that, I also registered him to be a library member. This would allow me to use his card and mine to borrow more books for him. Hopefully, this would also force me to set a good example to baby Zach by saving more money and as well as to read more books. :)

Baby Zaccheus's first food

The introduction of solid food is another important stage in baby Zach's development. It is a challenging and exciting time for Zach and me. Despite being eager, I didn't want to start Zach on solid any earlier as I belived that breast milk has all the nutritional value that Zach needs before 6 months. Even my pediatrician recommended to wait till 6 months old.
Having done some research online, I decided to let Zach try out organic rice cereal, mainly from Bellamy and Healthy Times. Both prices are between $6.20 to $7.20, which is almost double the price of the non-organic rice cereal. It's not that I am an advocate of organic products nor do i think that its nutritional value is more than non-organic products. It's because I want baby Zach's first food to be pure and organic rice cereal offers the best choice as it is grown without chemicals.
Zach had his first food on 12th Dec 2008 at 9am. As of this date, he is 5 months 3 weeks ( I started 1 week earlier as I was simply too excited). I prepared 1 teaspoon of rice cereal with 2 teaspoons of breast milk till the mixture became runny consistency. Baby Zach loves the rice cereal. He ate it without any sign of displeased nor protest. I'm going to let him try the cereal for 3 days before introducing vegetables to his diet. I am simply so excited now. My mind is already full of food receipes for him. :)

Story of a swimming turned crying session...

The story goes like this...

Picture 1:
We arrived at Hua Xia store in Harbour Front at 2pm. While one lady was preparing the water, the other helped baby Zach to do warm up exercise. Zach was happily smiling and playing witht the lady. Told the lady that we ever brought Zach to public pool to dip in water before. The lady said public pool is too cold for baby and also it's best to do some light exercise before letting baby swim. Makes sense...


Picture 2:
At 2.15pm, the water was ready and I undressed baby Zach to get him ready to go for his swim. He looked happy and excited for his first ever formal swim. After which, the lady put the swimming float on his neck. He started to get stiff and uncomfortable not knowing the unknown...


Picture 3:
At 2.20pm, Zach started his first dip into the water. At this moment, he looked slightly apprehensive and scared. I thought it was only the warming up stage and started to take pictures of him in the tub.


Picture 4:
At 2.22pm, baby Zach started to look frightened and begin to look up to us for help. I still thought that he was alright except needed more time to warm up to the water and being naked in front of so many people...


Picture 5:
At 2.25pm, baby Zach cried and began to kick vigorously to display his unhappiness.The lady tried to soothe him and I also tried to play with him to distract his attention. He cried even louder and I was told to carry him up to calm him down before trying again. The lady commented that we must have traumatised him when we brought him to the public pool to dip and that it's why he is fearful of water now. Nonsense... (Baby Zach has always enjoyed bathing and never fails to kick the water whenever I bathed him)
At 2.28pm, we put Zach to the tub to try out the water again. Once again, he cried the moment we put him in the water. JS and I decided that we will call it a day for him and decided to dress him up in case he is really traumatised. Within 10 minutes, the swimming lesson has turned into a crying session.

Blessed 5 Months...

My dearest Zaccheus,
No words could describe my overflowing love to you. Your arrival to our family has given Mummy something to look forward to everyday. Every morning, Muumy looks forward to see your lovely face and as well as your smile. Your smile has never fail to brighten up my day. I look forward to the day when you can sit upright, crawl, say 'Mummy' etc. Not only that, Mummy also look forward to weekends when Daddy and Mymmy bring you to different places and activities...
Once again, Mummy wants to tell you how much I love you. Your arrival has completed us and I thank God for sending you to our family. Blessed 5 months old!

First Time Visitor in Trinity Christian Centre

After a long wait of 4 months, JS and I finally decided that it's time to bring baby Zach to the house of Lord. We have always envied parents who brought their babies to the church service and have dreamt of bringing baby Zach along with us on one of these days when he becomes much older. And yesterday was the day. JS and I agreed that baby Zach is all ready to attend church. So under the advice of our cell group members, we brought baby Zach along to the service instead of putting him in the church nursery. Of course, I felt more at ease with Zach by my side as I can't bear to leave in the care of 'strangers'...

JS carried baby Zach in his arms throughout the 40 minutes of worship and communion service. Other than being shocked at the great number of people and the loud music, Zach was totally at ease and comfortable. In fact, he was more busy suckling his fingers than anything else. At one point, when pastor Dominic invited first time visitor to stand up, I carried baby Zach high up in the sky to acknowledge that it was his first time in the house of Lord. After the communion service, Zach was beginning to feel sleepy and that was when he began to make noises to 'indicate' that he wants to sleep. So quietly, I brought him to the nursing room to nurse him to sleep. And after which, we stayed inside the room till the end of the service.

And the pictures above are taken with our cell group members after the church service. Most importantly, Mummy prays that baby Zach will grow spiritually & strongly in God. AMEN!

2nd visit to Vivo City

Like Daddy like son... Identical dressing of Daddy Seng and baby Zach...

Last saturday was our second time to bring baby Zach to Vivo City. I particularly like to bring Zach to this shopping place due to the spacious walkway. It makes moving around with strollers easy. Not only that, Vivo City also has nursing room in every level thus allows me to feed Zach conveniently.
I had a wonderful time with daddy Seng and baby Zach that day. We went for lunch together followed by dessert. Of course, Zach could only watched while Daddy and Mummy enjoyed their meals. Overall, Zach was well-behaved. And not forgotten, he pooed. That was the second time he pooed in Vivo City given his 2 time visit there. JS's mum jokingly said that Vivo City is baby Zach's poo poo place. Hehehe

Happy 4 months old to baby Zach!

Another month has passed and today is baby Zach 4 months old. I would say he is getting lovelier and adorable as each day passed. These days, baby Zach is making alot of "hmms" and "urghs". It seems like he is talking to us except that we, adults, do not comprehend his baby language. Other than that, he is also able to turn his body and as well as to lift up his head steadily. Once again, I am thankful and blessed to have baby Zach in my life. I love you, little darling. Happy 4th month birthday!

Zach first visit to park

Now that baby Zach is already more than 3 months old, JS and I agree that we should not coope him at home. Of course, this does not mean bringing Zach to air-conditioned and crowded places (both of us are still haunted by Zach's fever till now). Instead, we agreed that bringing Zach out more often to open air areas like parks, will not only stimulate his vision but also expose his 'tiny' world. Hence, last Sunday, we brought baby Zach to Sembawang park for a morning stroll. Both JS and I were pretty excited as it has been a long while since we last went to a park. Moreover, this time, we are bringing our dearest darling, baby Zach, along. Armed with umbrella (in case it rains) and baby carrier, we took Zach to a walk to enjoy the morning air and scenary. That was just the perfect sight of a happy family...

Zach new routine...

Few months ago, baby Zach would go back to sleep after drinking his milk. These days, he is staying awake longer after feeding. I would say there are certainly pros and cons to his new routine.

One of the pros is that this longer duration has allowed JS and I to enjoy our 'little conversation' with him. Every day, we would spend some time talking to baby Zach and telling him how much we love him. JS and I would also ensure that we spend at least 5 minutes per day reading books to baby Zach. As seen in this picture, JS was patiently reading bible to baby Zach whom seemed to enjoy it. In fact, baby Zach likes it whenever we read books to him. His eyes would stare intently at the book while we read to him. At times, he would even smile to us. I am actually amazed that baby Zach would appreciate reading books at such young age.

However, if we leave him alone for some time without reading or talking to him, he would cry out loud after awhile. So knowing his liking, JS and I would always take turns to read and have a little conservation with him to prevent him from crying. Of course, that explains the cons also. Baby Zach does not like to be left alone when he stays awake. He wants someone to cuddle, talk or read to him. Just imagine, baby Zach stays awake as long as up to 3 hours each time... And poor Daddy and Mummy have to give him full attention when he is awake.

What a shopping trip...

Yesterday afternoon, Daddy Seng and I, together with his parents and maid brought baby Zaccheus to Vivo City. It has been a long time since we went out together with his parents eversince Baby Zach was borned. We had lunch at one of the restaurants in Upper Thomson before heading to Vivo City. Upon reaching the destination, DS and I decided to try out carrying baby Zach with the baby carrier instead of using the stroller. As it was our first time using the carrier, we had troubles putting the buttons and clips in place. And baby Zach seemed to be uncomfortable too as we kept shifting his body position. We used the carrier for awhile after which we decided to let our maid carried him in her arms as my mum-in-law commented that baby Zach seemed uncomfortable in the carrier. We continued to shop until something happened... Guess what.. Baby Zach poo and he soiled his pants and shirt. Not only that, our maid's shirt and bermudas were also soiled with baby's poo. We quickly brought him to the nursing room to change. However, I only brought 1 extra shirt, diaper and wet wipes. I didn't bring any extra pants nor handkerchief. In the end, we just setted with whatever we had and cleaned him up. Baby Zach seemed to know what happened as he was lying down quietly as we cleaned him up. Yesterday was the third day since he last poo and that could thus account for his enormous poo.

After cleaning up, we decided to cut short our shopping trip and go home to bath baby Zach. My mum in law was definately dissapointed as it has been a long time since she last went to Vivo City. What a shopping trip.. haha

Happy 3 Months Old!

Today, Zaccheus turns 3 months old. Time flies as it only seems like yesterday that baby Zaccheus was borned. Three months ago, he was so tiny and fragile. Today, he is chubby and active. Most importantly, he stays healthy and happy everyday.

Now that I am back to work, I even more treasure every second being with him. And it seems that he knows when mummy is back from work. He would give me the angelic smile whenever I am back home from work. I thank God for the blessings shower upon baby Zaccheus.

Love is in the air!

Once again, I am deeply in love. Few years ago, I fell in love with JS (whom I call Daddy Seng now), now I am falling in love again not to Daddy Seng but baby Zach whom is also my little prince. He is such an adorable baby that one could not help but falls in love with him. These days, Zach is starting to recognise people, sounds and also having routine habits. Like his father, Zach is an early bird and wakes up around 6 every morning. Every morning after waking up, he would smile non-stop to himself, to Daddy Seng and to me. DS is so mesmerise by him that he always planted kisses after kisses on Zach's cheek. Watching baby Zach growing up each day is one of the best things that has ever happened in my life.

BPA - free & anti-colic bottles

I have been faithfully using NUK bottles since baby Zaccheus's birth as NUK teats are known to prevent nipple confusion in babies. Baby Zach has no problem switching between milk bottles and latching on ever since he started on NUK bottle and teat. If not for the recent hype in BPA free and my concern of colic, I would have continue to use NUK bottles. My first concern is thus BPA Bisphenol-A and polycarbonate which are present in plastic bottles. It has been reported that such chemicals are harmful to human health. My other concern is colic which is usually presnted in bottle-fed babies between 0-5 months. This is due to the gas trapped in the disgestive tract during feeding. Very soon, I will be going back to work and baby Zach will be feeding through bottles during the time when I'm working. Hence, there might be chances that he will might get colic.
With all these concerns, I decided to look for safe alternatives to replace the NUK bottles - bottles that are BPA free and anti-colic. I read the internet forum and knew that Pigeon has BPA free bottles. However, I am not sure about its anti-colic function. Last Friday, I went to Baby Fair at Takashimaya and saw that the Pigeon booth carry BPA-free bottles. I was excited as not alot of places carry Pigeon PES bottle and even that, most places are out of stocks. The salesgirl told me that Pigeon bottles have anti-colic function and thus I decided to get a small size bottle to try out. However, I planned to change the Pigeon teat with a NUK teat instead as I am worried that baby Zach might have nipple confusion. If baby Zach is comfortable with the Pigeon bottles, I will go back to the fair to buy a few more of the bottles to stock up at home.

More lovely pictures of Zaccheus

Full Month Celebration

Zaccheus simply looks so cute in these pictures. Everyday, JS and I thank God for Zaccheus into our lives. These pictures were taken on Zach full month old.
Zaccheus turned one month old on 20 July 2008. To celebrate this joyous occasion, we decided to invite our family and close friends to our new place for a lunch session. Because our house is under renovation, we held the buffet lunch by the pool side. Despite it was raining, many still turned up to celebrate this special day with us. I would like to take this opportunity to thank our family and friends who made the efforts to come to celebrate this joyous occasion with us.

First Hair Cut

Baby Zaccheus had his first hair cut on 19th July 2008, a month after his birth. Chinese has this belief that newborn baby should have their first hair cut either on the first or fourth month of birth. This would believe to have abundance of blessings later in life. Being a first time mum, I also follow the Chinese tradition that is being passed down and thus brought baby Zach to Tai Mao Bi at United Square for his hair cut. The unique thing about this store is that they use baby's hair to make it to a hair brush which also term "scholar brush". The sales assistant told JS that the term "scholar brush" originated from China where an official candidate became a scholar using brush made from his first hair during the examination. As a result, people started to term the brush using baby's hair as scholar brush.
The hair cut at this store was free, however we had to pay for the brush ranging from $38 to $168, and as well as the words engraved on the brush. All in all, we paid $78 for the brush, and that is excluding the box holder.
This will be JS and my first gift to baby Zach after his birth. Something memorable when he grows up...

Umbilical cord stump

This is how baby Zaccheus's umbilical cord stump looks like. Some parents might think that it is unhygienic to keep the stump but I think otherwise. To me, it signifies the bonding between baby Zaccheus and me even before his birth. The umbilical cord stump fell off on 4th July 2008, 14 days after Zaccheus was born.

Welcome the arrival of baby Zaccheus!

“Childbirth is one of the most beautiful gift God could bestow upon a women…” Indeed, despite that the ordeal to giving birth to Zaccheus was a painful one, it was all worth it when baby Zaccheus was delivered on 20th June 2008. He is everything JS and I have wanted. He is the reward of our love.

Last posting before Baby is deliver !!!

This Tuesday, I went for my weekly gynae visit. In my mind, I was thinking of telling my gynae that if I haven't give birth by this Thursday, I would like to request for an induce birth on Friday. The reason is that school term 3 is starting next week, and I do not wish to report for school, knowing that I will simply be attending school for a few days before giving birth. Given that, I would rather start my maternity leave earlier. However, after the routine check up, I was told by my gynae that I had dilated 2cm! It means that I do not have to wait for long before I can give brith to Baby. In fact, gynae said that it will be between then to Thursday. And if I have not given birth by then, she will do an induction for me on Friday.
And today is Thursday. If Baby is not born by tonight, I would go for an induce birth tomorrow morning. So this posting will be the last one before Baby is deliver.
Before I end off this posting, I would like to thank my good friend, Gopal, for helping me to upload music to my Baby's blog. Without his help, I would never able to have such beautiful songs in my Baby's blog. Thank you, my friend.

Baby's progress as at 36 weeks

I went for my fortnightly check-up last Saturday. Thought it would be just another routine check-up on the development of baby... To both my hubby and my surprise, we were informed by our gyane after the usual ultrasound scan that baby would be out sometime this week. We were definitely shocked as we are not prepared for the early arrival of baby. All these while, we always thought that baby would only be borned in early July or late June. Never would we thought that it would going to be mid-June. My first concern was whether the baby would be alright given that baby is only 36 weeks in my womb this week – which is considered premature. Luckily, our gyane was very assuring. She told us that the size (2.55kg) and the term of the baby are perfectly fine and told us there is no cause for worrying. With that, I heaved a sigh of relief knowing that my baby would be fine. However, the shock of the early arrival of the baby was still there…

Afraid that I might dilate without knowing, my gyane arranged another consultation on this Wednesday. JS was busy at work and so his sister accompanied to the check-up. I am truly grateful for his sister’s help all these while. Upon arrival at the clinic, other than the routine urine, weight and blood pressure test, I was also told to do a CTG scan for 20 minutes. After the scan, I was told to proceed to see my gyane. Then, another surprise was awaiting for me. My gyane asked whether am I experiencing pain as based on the CTG scan, I was in fact having mild contractions. First thought that rushed through my mind was that I am going to give birth really soon. Gynae then did a check on me to check whether I have dilated. Thank God I was not as I wish to give birth only after 37 weeks. With that, gynae arranged another consultation with her on next Tuesday. With that, I left the clinic, still deeply in thoughts of my unknowing contractions that I had experienced…

Frankly speaking, I am unable to differentiate between baby’s vigorous movement in my womb and contraction pain. I would say baby is indeed an active baby as he is constantly kicking, moving and shifting. And not only that, his movements are vigorous and mighty. Thus, even though I might experienced contraction pain, I put it down as baby’s movements. So on Wednesday night, I experienced mild pain in my womb and I told JS about it. His instantaneous reaction was to go to the hospital as he thought that I am going to deliver soon. I told him I am not too sure as the pain was not consistent nor extremely painful. Hence, we decided to call TMC to ask for advice. Needless to say, the labour ward nurse told me to come down to have a check instead of pure guessing at home. And within 15 minutes, we were on our way to TMC. At the TMC, the nurse did an hour of CTG scan to check on the pain. I could see that JS was eagerly and hoping that I would deliver that night. He probably can’t wait to be a father. I am so proud of him as it was definitely a far cry from his reaction on last Saturday. To our dismay, the CTG scan showed that the pain turned out to be a false contraction and I was given permission to go home to rest till the real contraction occurs. On our way back home, JS and I had a good laugh over the false alarm. For JS, it is back to work on the following day. As for me, it is the continuing waiting at home till the real contraction comes…

Baby at 34 weeks in Mummy's womb

As of this stage, Baby weighs 2.25kg and I weigh 54.4kg. On average, he is putting on 150g while Mummy is putting on 500g every week. Gynae said that his weight is considered good for a 34 weeks baby, however one concern is that he might grow to become too big for my size in the last few weeks before delivery. If that is the case, gynae said I will probaby need to go for induce labour at the 38 weeks to deliver the baby out from my womb. On my side, I wouldn't mind delivering baby as 38weeks at pregnancy at the last trimester is definately not an easy task. My stomach is weighing a ton, which means I cannot stand/ walk for long and even enjoy my sleep at night. Unlike other pregnant women, my first and second trimester of pregnancy were a breeze. Now, in my third trimester, I finally experience the exhausation, inconvenience, frustration etc of pregnant women.
Despite all these complaints, I am still eagerly awaiting the birth of my baby. The thought of my baby simply sweep away any discomfortness in my body..

Baby's progress at 32 weeks

Time flies. I am in my third trimester now - Baby is 33 weeks in my womb. He is growing fast every day especially at this last stage of pregnancy. As of last week (32 weeks), he was weighed 1.9kg which is of average weight for a baby at this stage.
Like any other check-up, my gynae showed us the development of Baby through the ultrasound scan. During the scan, the gynae jokingly told us that Baby has three-fold of skin at his back of the body (does it means that Baby is plump?). She also mentioned that Baby has long limbs which could be inherited from me. We were also shown the front face of baby. At that moment, I thought Baby looks really adorable and handsome. Yes, this is the thoughts of a proud mum-to-be. My Baby will always be beautiful in my eyes. I love you, Baby.

Shopping Spree for Baby

Mummy is in her 30 weeks of pregnancy now. Which means that she has only 8-10 weeks to go before delivering you to this world. At this stage, Mummy is busy with collecting baby's stuff such as cot, steriliser, pram etc. Not only that, Mummy is also buying lots of nice clothings for you to wear. One hour ago, Mummy has already purchased $60++ on Guess and RL polo clothings online. And 1 hour later, Mummy is going with Daddy to FOX warehouse sale to buy more clothings for you. Today is indeed a shopping spree for you, Baby.

Baby's Development on 15 March

Oh no... It has been a long time since I last updated baby's picture on the blog. Sorry baby.. Forgive mummy laziness...