Slingaling!

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This was during the time we were trying to put Olivia in the baby sling/carrier that was given to Berns. I have to be honest, I'm only posting the cute shots... the rest were of her crying coz she really didn't like it haha

Anyway, this was a few weeks back and I'm reminded on how important the carrier/sling is... though we still have yet to get her comfortable inside it hehe

We were in a mall and we decided not to bring the stroller. Stupid dad said he'll just carry Olivia all the way... therein was my suffering. My muscles almost gave out coz I forgot how heavy baby is already and it really gave me a hard time. We then slipped in to the dept store and I decided to just get one of those backpack slings that looked cool for dad... well, it turns out that it's 5 grand. I slowly went back to Berns who was at that time in the feeding area and decided to just carry Olivia. 5 grand can go a long way in diapers!

So now I know better. We bring the stroller already and just carry her if needed. We never really got to work the carrier sling for Bernice yet so let's see... of course I'm not planning on trying it (just look at the design).

Shooting Photos of Baby

As I try to catch up with the weeks of delay, I've been going back to photos I shot and it's such a wonder how in 2 months time, Olivia's changed sooo much. When she was born, she was much darker and she's way fairer today as you'll see in the photo above taken during her first weeks!

Well, I'm sure as parents we've come to act like the paparazzi in shooting away trying to document every moment of our kid's life. I remember earlier, I was telling Bernice how I wished we had a camera shooting 24 hrs to document everything with the baby because I didn't want to miss those. I would love to come back to watching those for sure. 

Anyway, I actually envy those parents who have DSLRs coz they have really nice photos of their kids and since I don't have a camera 24/7, I have to rely on my lil old Nokia phone to capture those quick moments that I had to document. There's the occasional chance that our old point and shoot is around which yields nicer shots but it would also be nice to be shooting with a nice DSLR for more depth and clarity than living with mobile phone cam shots. I'd recommend investing in a nice cam to keep those precious moments but for me, the DSLR's been down the list since I have to focus our expenses more for what baby needs and the business I have to generate income for the family. Soon...

So, point of this post is to have something around in an instant to capture those moments. It doesn't matter if it's a lowly Mobile phone cam or a high end DSLR. The key here is to "capture" it so that you won't only have a mental picture but an actual one you can always look back on when your baby grows old :) 

 

Olivia's New Addiction

A little after her first month if I remember correctly, Olivia started to suck not just her thumb but her whole hand. This is her new thing ladies and gentlemen so if you see us around the mall or somewhere and she's up and awake, expect to see this shot like in the photo with dad or mom consistently wiping her saliva off of her face and mouth. 

With the sucking also comes the the occasional dripping of saliva from the side of her mouth. I expected this but I didn't realize it would come a little bit later. I thought all babies from birth automatically had this. It wasn't until after a month to her 2nd month did this manifest so if this is consistent with all babies, then prepare a bib to make it easier for you to wipe it off your baby's mouth coz if not, you'll find that her bed is wet, her clothes are wet, and you get wet when you carry them :) I enjoy wiping the saliva though. It's added bonding moments and playtime with baby in a different scenario.

Best Reason Not To Write My Baby Blog

Well, we've been VERY busy taking care of Olivia. Since it's just me and the wife, we really had to take this head on and it's been quite a challenge. Bernice hasn't been able to get a good night's sleep since then cuz she wakes up every 1.5-2 hours to feed. We decided that Olivia should be breastfed so we also have to live with the challenges that go with it.

I'd actually recommend breastfeeding as with everyone. I'm sure any new parent will be aware of that and I'd just like to share also some thoughts I've learned, read, and realized, to consider to give your baby the milk he or she deserves.

The Challenges: Well, breastfeeding takes commitment from the moms mostly especially at night but also with the dads since from birth to early on, your baby might ask to feed every 1.5-2 hours. So literally forget your 8hr sleeps at night!

 Mothers/your wives may have a hard time also with the stresses on their nipples because of the baby so you might also want to invest in some nipple cream. Get those that are safe for the baby.

 Some moms might have a hard time feeding in public. Bernice initially had a hard time accepting and adjusting to it but I'm very proud that she's slowly adjusting to it. Of course it's not like just take out the breast and feed... it's more like going to the station or doing it with her breastfeeding cloth cover.

 In every feeding of course, there should be the burping part after so also remember to help out in that stage especially at night because the tendency is to just feed then sleep since the baby goes right to sleep after feeding. If possible, try to burp them before they drift off.

The Benefits:  Well, I don't think I need to spell out the benefits here because your doctor might have explained them to you for the most part so I'll just go over some obvious ones and others.

 Of course most important is the nutrition they get from breastmilk. If the baby is exclusively breastfeeding, then they're getting their food and drinks all in one. No need for anything else! They're also getting nutrients only breastmilk can give, which is important to their early development.

 The other benefits are that there's no bottles to clean. No bottles to sterilize. No bottles to carry around when you go out. No waiting time for baby to feed, which means lesser time for them to cry.

 Also important also is the bonding between mom and child. Bernice has tons of stories about Olivia while feeding. Baby tends to call her mom to look at her and she would actually make sounds or pat mom to look at her :)

So there! I'm sure there are a lot more I missed, which I will leave for you to experience yourselves.

I'm trying to catch up with the blog while the baby is asleep and while work isn't as heavy. As much as I'd wanted to blog daily, it's really hard for a new dad so I guess that's also one lesson for me hehe

Cy