Day 30 - Dec 30

Baby was carried for the whole day and refused to be put down!! Is this the start of it? Even after a feed, he's got eyes wide open...

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Hur hur... I did something naughty but I'm not gonna tell you

Day 29 - Dec 29

Quiet Sunday since it rained almost all day.

We had a 5 mins failed tummy time for Shane on the table. Realized that we could do tummy time only when he's hungry. Else he'll happily lie on his tummy.

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Day 28 - Dec 28

A sunny and bright day today, and at 49 deg F (10 deg C), it's just awesome to go out for a walk.

So the daddy used the baby carrier for the first time today, and we took Shane down to Rittenhouse Square, and along Walnut Street. Even stopped by at Starbucks for my cup of coffee (haven't had one since Shane came along!)

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Day 27 - Dec 27

The milk blisters on Shane lips are almost falling off.  When he firstngot them we were a lil concern with his hydration. It's one of those things where no one tells you not to panic if you see it happen to your baby. So qafter googling, this was what we read: 

Lip blisters are caused by vigorous sucking associated with breastfeeding. The repetitive movement of sucking, which newborns can do for hours a day, can cause these blisters or calluses on the baby's top lips.

Thankfully the last callous is almost about to fall off today.

So Shane stayed home with daddy and grandpa this afternoon whilst mummy ran out to run errands. Probably missed mum and refused to sleep. So daddy had to carry him all afternoon.

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Washing Milk Bottles

So I initially thought hot water and a sterilizer could wash and solve all my problems with bottles and pumping equipment. It's been 2 weeks since I opened and started using the Medela pump set. I never did pump into a bottle for Shane initially, but after a few weeks I thought it might be great to let popo and the daddy have a chance at feeding Shane.

For the last 2 weeks, all I did was rinse the milk off the baby bottles and the pump equipment and threw them in the sterilizer, then re-used them later. Only a few days back, I discovered that the milk was actually fairly 'oily' and made the bottles look greasy. I had not realized this before (maybe I was still in dreamland when I was washing up the bottles). Someone should actually write a book on dos and don'ts. So i jumped onto google to check out "how to wash baby milk bottles".

Google tells me that I should use soapy water. OK, now what exactly is soapy water? Seems like a fairly dumb question, but should I use the bar soap, bath soap, dish washing liquid, or is there some sort of baby dish washing detergent? So I googled a little more about ingredients in a soap etc. How complicated can all these get!!

Finally settled for this:
Dapple Baby Bottle & Dish Liquid.
A whooping $6.49 from diapers.com (cheaper than what you can get on Amazon) for a 16.9 oz bottle. After purchasing, I realized it was cheaper at Bed Bath and Beyond. Ya well… about $0.50 cheaper.

This product claims to be made of natural ingredients that does not have phthalates, paragons, SLS, SLES or dyes. Well, it's got better reviews the the dish washing liquid from Seventh Generation. I will post an update on the product shortly after I've used it.

Day 26 - Dec 26

Grandpa, Grandma and Aunty Sue took a break from routine to go to New York City. So we stayed in and chilled out.

Shane took his first bath today because he pooped all over himself (yes it's always daddy's fault for letting him do so).

All wrapped up after his bath.

Day 25 - Dec 25

To all reading this today... MERRY CHRISTMAS!

In the morning we took Aunty Sue for a tour around UPenn. It was a 45 minutes walk in 33 deg F (which is like 0.5 deg C) from home to UPenn. We got Shane all suited up in his bear suit and took the long walk, crossing our fingers that he'll just sleep through.

So we left at 1130am in the morning… The neighborhood was sooo dead. I haven't seen such life-less streets. We hardly saw any cars on the roads.

The Philly Skyline

And so… we decided to take Shane out of his pram for a little photo. (Yes in the freezing weather).
I guess it was too cold for him and he started crying quite loudly!

So we walked everywhere trying to find somewhere to keep warm, sit and feed the baby. But.. The whole city seem to be in shut down mode on Christmas. Even Starbucks (that was opened on Thanksgiving) was closed. And Huntsman Hall (Wharton) was shut. Security refused to let us in. Just as we were about to walk to the Children's Hospital (where I'm sure there is a cafeteria at least), we chanced upon this chinese restaurant (Beijing something) that was opened for lunch (yes it had quite a lot of people in there). So yea, at least we got to feed the baby and our growling stomach.

Day 24 - Dec 24

It's Christmas eve!! We spent the morning applying for a passport photo for Shane. Made a quick dash to City hall to catch the Christmas eve working hours. All Done. Oh, and Aunty Sue passed her Bugaboo drivers license! 

Aunty Sue needs the P sign no more!

So well, it seems that everyone has got the passport photo blues look. Even babies can't escape. It took us quite a while for us to get a photo of him on a white background with his head looking straight at the camera, eyes open, hands not in the way. It's only after we downloaded the photos that we realized we should not have dressed him in white on a white background. Oh well...

Shane's first passport photo

Our little boy is now an American. He's got the passport, social security, etc.

Meanwhile Grandma stayed home to prepare an awesome Christmas eve dinner… and Aunty Sue & the Daddy went to the supermarket to grab last minute groceries. Grandpa and Mummy was home taking photos!

Dinner was… Milk for Shane, and for the rest of us, pumpkin soup, a huge roast 3-4 kg chicken, lamb chops and sides. It's been a while since I had non-confinement food.

Grandma's Xmas Dinner Spread

The best part (of our family tradition) was the opening of our presents after xmas eve dinner! This year, the little one has got the most presents. 

Presents for Shane's First Christmas

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Day 23 - Dec 23

Our first outing to the outlet mall to do some last minute christmas shopping!! (in the pouring rain no less)…
We spent almost close to 4+ hours at Franklin Mills with everyone, and also had an awesome buffet dinner - all with the baby in tow.

Enjoying his car ride with Sophie

Daddy Duties at the Mall

Day 22 - Dec 22

Today Gong Gong arrives from Singapore and Aunty Sue arrives from Melbourne. A long journey from Australia - 14 hours from MEL - DXB, 3 hr transit, 13 hours from DXB - JFK, 3 hr car ride from JFK - Philadelphia. I would be tired! But the grandpa did not get his chance to carry Shane or play with him because they both took turns sleeping!

After 3 weeks into the human world, Shane has developed some reaction to his surroundings. Previously he just stares into space and does not really respond to any noise or callings. Let's see over the next few days if his responses were just coincidental or not!

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J's way of swaddling

Day 21 - Dec 21

It's Daddy's birthday today! We took a special trip out to Ikea (to get more furniture for the home). It's Shane's first trip out to a 'mall' and first trip out on the Baby Trekker (carrier).

The Baby Trekker is really comfortable for Mums… Really enjoy using the carrier. (http://www.babytrekker.com). It got such good padding for both the carrier and the baby. Shane slept so well in it whilst walking through the maze in Ikea. After we got home, we took him to the nearby McDonalds as well to get an ice cream sundae for the daddy.

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Day 20 - Dec 20

I've been looking forward to 20 Dec cos it's the day where daddy's exams ends and we get to do not-so-boring stuff. The last few weeks has just been us stuck at home in the room studying, sleeping and cleaning poop and pee.

This morning the bean's umbilical cord hung by a thin thread, and by the afternoon it plopped off! We've been waiting for this day to happen so we can give him a bath (apparently we were told not to give him a bath until the cord falls off).

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Shane & Sophie

Day 19 - Dec 19

Last night I almost killed Sophie (the giraffe).
Sophie came out of the box brand new. Silly mummy did not read instructions that said "do not immerse in water"… So Sophie landed up in water like this:

Sophie lost her Squeaks :(

So I left her out by the heater and put her into a bag with some rice.
Wallah! It worked! Sophie got her squeak back!

Today I ventured a little further out with Shane to Penn hospital. It's a good 40 mins walk, but the weather was nice and sunny. Popo wanted to go shopping and since we were all headed in similar direction, we all took a walk together, leaving daddy to study at home.

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Day 18 - Dec 18

We tried something different last night. Instead of looking for Shane's hunger cues and feeding him before he starts wailing, we let him sleep until he starts his soft cries (Daddy has got exams - so we can't wait till he actually starts screaming). Success? No. Noticed that he still wakes up at similar intervals in the night (every 3.5 hours).

This morning and afternoon, we tested out his day schedule as well. Think it's all out of whack due to his growth spurt. So we'll have to try this again when he gets into his normal routine.

For now, we're glad that Shane can entertain himself (for now) whilst Daddy is studying and Mummy is sleeping.

Shane also did the ultimate poo and per surprise. He sprayed the changing table for the 100th time... And just as we picked him up to get him out of his pee, he did a vertical poo (the daddy was holding him upright) followed by a round 2 of pee. Awesome!

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Yes it's possible to study for exams and do daddy duties!!

Day 17 - Dec 17

Shane's new born screening test came back. As expected, he's got what I have - G6PD deficiency. 

For the first time, I ventured out with Shane by myself this morning to Center City Ped for 3 whole hours to see the lactation consultant. Thankfully the snow just stopped and it was only drizzling.

So the lactation consultant said we have been over feeding Shane. Is that even possible? Don't babies just take what they need? Apparently he's gained 28 oz since birth, and it's only meant to be 1 oz per day at most. It's only been 17 days.

Today he also got his first mail in the post! 

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Sleeping in an awkward position.

Day 16 - Dec 16

Baby Shane was left alone with Daddy this morning whilst mum went out with grandma to do some grocery shopping. Dad has got exams in 2 days…

Seems like Shane is going through some sort of growth spurt since yesterday. He's getting hungry so frequently, almost every 1-1.5 hours. And a 100ml milk pumped out will last less than 2 hours. We read that Shane's gonna be more cranky than usual, feed ever so often etc. (http://www.whattoexpect.com/first-year/ask-heidi/baby-growth-spurts.aspx). So I guess it's time for me to start pumping and storing food for his growth spurt - just in case I can't keep up with the milk production.

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Day 15 - Dec 15

The little bean had a sudden growth spurt today. We realized that most of the new born outfits (especially the onesies) are now too small for him, and we can barely squeeze him in the the 0-3 months outfits. Life span of new born baby clothes is just about 2 weeks.

Shane in his 3-6 months onesie

This is how Shane loves to sleep with popo.

We had Shawn, Andrea and baby Luke over for the afternoon from lunch till dinner. It was great having a break in our routine. Luke is about 6 weeks older than Shane. So for us, it's like looking into the future what we may expect.

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Shane and his new friend Luke

Day 14 - Dec 14

We're at the end of our second week!

Our baby is growing up so quickly. Shane has outgrown his newborn diapers, and now we're onto size 1. We find that the amount of pee & poo he has it way too much for the newborn diapers to hold. (and no we do not leave him in there for many hours. just 2 hours max).

Till date, we have tried both Huggies and Pampers.

At the end of the 2nd week, we managed to establish his night sleeping and feeding patterns. 3 night feeds every 2.5 hours from midnight. Hoping this doesn't change!

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Day 13 - Dec 13

Today we head out to the Pediatricians again for Shane's weight check.

He's now a 8 lb, 5 oz. That's way past his birth weight or 7 lb 12 oz, and a whooping 1 lb 1 oz weight gain in the last 1 week. At least I know we're now doing something right with his massive initial weight loss.

So we learnt something this week. 

Greenish bits (that looked like broccoli) in the poop meant that baby Shane had an imbalance of fore milk and hind milk (Too much of the fore milk). When i pumped out 30-40 seconds of the fore milk, then fed him, poop went back tonormal colour.

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Like Father Like Son

Day 12 - Dec 12

Another night of decent sleep. It was not as much as last night, but I would say 5-6 hours is pretty good!

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Day 11 - Dec 11

We had a great run last night. Shane woke up only 3 times for his feed. Meaning, I got to sleep at least 6 hours last night! Woo hoo!

Baby had his first nail clipping today. He was born with really long fingernails and had been scratching his face.

Snow stopped yesterday, and we took Baby Shane for a walk (yes it's still sub-zero deg C temperature). The bugaboo got its maiden journey… to South Street and back home.

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Day 10 - Dec 10

We thought we had gotten into a routine. There is no routine for babies. Everyday they do something new, something different… It's amazing.

Shane made his claim to our bed. A picture speaks a thousand words…

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Spot the baby & the Pee Pee stain

Today, we also finally managed to spot his pooping cue. Shane stops doing whatever he does, stiffens up, stretches his arms and legs… and when business is complete, he relaxes all his muscles.