Emma turned 6 months old!

Time flies and Emma has turned 6 months old last week. I kept looking back at her younger photos and am having lots of mixed feelings. Is it just me? I miss how small and delicate she used to be, miss the joy of witnessing her hitting the simple milestones like lifting her head. As the days went by, I'm worried that I would forget these sweet moments. Yet, I find joy at this very present moment as she has become so much bigger (still growing) and interactive. I'm so excited to watch her grow day by day. Even though time is running tight, I'm really glad that to journal these.

Statistics: Emma weighs 6.5kg and 65cm at 6th month. She has been gaining weight and height a little slower than the first few months. And I'm trying not to worry to much even though her weight is just at 25%tile and height at 50%tile. Hopefully she would gain more now with the additional cereal/semi solid feed.

Health: She had some dry/irritated skin on her face just before Chinese New Year and I was rather concerned. But it doesn't look very serious, so I tried treating it by keep her face clean and moisturised. She recovered after a week or so.

She caught some cold (mild runny) after Chinese New Year and we could 'hear' some mucus in your throat. Seems to be on her way to recovery after almost 2 weeks. I think she has passed it to me and I got it quite bad with sneezing, sore throat and tiredness. That's probably the natural way of passing on antibodies to her through mummy's milk. She didn't seems too bothered by it other than when she is drinking milk.

She had her 5th month vaccinations (2 jabs) on 7 Feb, and cried really bad this time. I think it was probably too near her feeding time but there isn't other fri/sat slot due to festive season. We fed her milk right after and she slept after a short while. Like before she just had slightly raised temperature and sleep like normal. But this marks the start of her fussy milk drinking - probably due to slower teat, not feeling well or teething?

Diet: She has been taking 6 milk feeds of mainly 150ml every 3.5hours (of which her last feed is around 100ml). Just a week before she turned 6 months, she had some sort of milk strike for several days. She didn't want to be nursed and refused bottles. We tried different bottle, warming up milk, singing, walking her and she still had hard time to drink (up to 50 mins?). Thought she was not drinking due to discomfort (teething? and her cold). We checked back with her ifc teachers and was told that she drinks fine. Probably they are more pro in feeding. Thankfully, she kind of settle down to finish her milk in less than 10 mins (on good days) after we change her teats to faster flow.

We introduced her to some healthy time brown rice cereal few days before she turns 6 months. We fed her 3 times over 2 weekends at home before she started eating them daily for lunch at ifc. She enjoys the cereal and would lean forward to get more. So cute~ Hoping to introduce some vegetables and fruits puree soon.

Sleep: Other than those few random nights where she let out some cries in the middle of the nights, Emma has been sleeping well. When that happens, either one of us would give her some pat on her butt to soothe her a little and she would usually calm down and return or try to sleep.

We push back her feed from 7.30pm to 8pm as she is usually not so hungry 3hrs past her previous feed as compared to before. Hence, her bedtime is delayed by a little and she tends to knock off by 8.45pm/9pm.

Social/Outings: This Jan and Feb are filled with lots of joy and tinge of sadness. One of our church old uncle has passed away and we wanted to pay him a last respect. We brought Emma along and thankfully she did fine even it was past her usual bedtime. Was very saddened by his departure but nevertheless, he has peacefully return to the father's side.           

                            

On another note, I brought Emma along to attend my colleague's wedding and that was really an experience. Emma got cuddles from several colleagues including my boss. hehe.

We celebrated our first chinese new year together and were thankful that we managed to cope with all the back to back visitings, feeding, pumping and later than usual bedtime. That was before her milk fuss. Emma was blessed with many ang baos. We were surprised to see her grabbing the ang baos when people pass it to her. Her motor skills have indeed improved greatly.

We had our 4th wedding anniversary back at Fullerton Lighthouse again but this round with our precious one. It was rather stressful to bring a baby to such exquisite restaurant so we were glad we didn't get any complaint. Even though it was a short and simple celebration, I'm really thankful for it. Life gets busy with baby around so such moments are really precious.

Activities: Emma has grown so much physically. She spent most of her wake time on her tummy, moving about in her cot and playmat by flipping (she can now do a full flip), pushing (forwards and backwards) and spinning around. She seems to be swimming from one end to the other. She can now stand up when being supporting, able to sit in puj chair more steadily and sit up in tripod position for a brief moment.

She has much better motor skills - always grabbing her feet and things around her, passing her toys from one hand to another. But she still loves her hands and fingers most.

She has been practising her vocals and there was once we heard da ba. She always entertain us with her laugh when we make all the stupid sounds and actions. She seems to be better at expressing herself and interact alot more.She also loves to stick out her super long tongue. 

She enjoys listening to conversations and loves animals. Of all the flashcards that we have shown her, she usually just reacts to those animals one. Especially horse and duck. Not too sure why, like all babies, she is attracted to TV and computer screens. However, we limit the exposure for the many reasons like avoid over stimulation. 

Milestones: She started on semi solid and is swallowing well.

As mentioned above, she is gaining strength in her arms and able to do tripod sit.

In addition, she has also gained greater control over her hands and legs.

Postpartum: I have finally hit 6 months mark in the breastfeeding journey and am hoping to continue for another 6 months. It's a joy (and pain) to breastfeed her as there are many benefits to breastfeeding. I secretly think that she could have got even more sick without drinking breastmilk. Besides, It would be even harder for me to lose my kilos. I am still left with the last 2 kg which would probably stick with me till I stop breastfeeding. I am happy to able to fit into some old dresses.

I have started my lessons over last weekends and it was really tiring as I was on the way of recovering from my cold and sore throat. Besides, the lessons were 18.5 hours long over Sat and Sun. There will be another 3 hours this Sat followed by another 2 weekends lessons in Mar and Apr. In the meantime, I would need to complete a couple of assignments and presentation. Hope that I would be able to pull through this final module and clear it in May!

It has been about 2 months as a full time working mother and I would say that it's really challenging and tiring. However, I am really thankful for the help and support that Hubby has put in. I pray for more strength and wisdom to walk through this tough period. 

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Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed. - Proverbs 16:3 NIV