Week 18 Date night and weekly round-up

Daddy and I had our first movie date night today! We saw the new Superman movie though Mummy fell asleep during the first part of it and then got really hungry and missed more of the movie by leaving to buy some food. Your grandparents and Aunty Mandy came to babysit you while we were out. You haven't seen Aunty Mandy in a while since she had exams and you seemed extra-excited when you saw her today. You showered her with smoochie kisses and hugs.

Here's a round-up of photos from this week (week 18):

You love to eat your toys

Getting so chubby!

Week 18: Our alarm clock

Round 2 for sleeping through the night, yay! You woke up at 10pm last night but we rocked you back to sleep in your cot and you didn't wake up again until 5am this morning. I love it when you wake up and play on your own, cooing to yourself. You were obviously very hungry at 5am, so I took you back into our bed and fed you. I fell back asleep listening to you happily chatting to yourself, lying between me and Daddy. I woke up at 7.30am and Daddy told me a funny story. He was sleeping and woke up to a gentle tapping. He turned over and found it was you tapping him on the back! Luckily you were there to wake him up because he missed this morning's alarm. What a cute alarm clock you make.

You've got more control over your hands now. Here is a video and some photos I took  yesterday of you on the activity mat. You're able to grab the toys now and promptly put them into your mouth.

Week 17: Laughing

Daddy was making faces at you yesterday during the photo shoot and this was the result:

4 month sticker photos

I've been one week late with these 4 month stickers, so just imagine these photos with about 200g less chub! I realised I didn't put up the 3 month photos from the previous month, so here are a couple photos from 3 month shoot:

Now the 4 month photos:

For more photos and the 4 month video:

From the archives: Our little Superman almost 5 weeks old

Here is a video taken when you were almost 5 weeks old. You had such skinny arms and legs and your eyes were still unfocused. At 4 months old now, you're a little chubster and much more coordinated. You loved doing the Superman pose as a newborn, you can see it in the video. I'm sad you don't do it anymore, just goes to show I have to take lots of photos and videos because you're growing up so fast.

Click for  more photos from your first month. I miss that newborn stage already!

Week 17 video and sleep training

Now that Daddy is home, you have someone different to change your morning nappy and to play with you. Here's a video of you and Daddy this morning. You let off a major fart near the end of the video and being the mature parents that we are, we cracked up laughing and couldn't stop.

Week 17 video and your pudgy feet

Daddy came home from France last night. He rushed to pick you up when you woke up for your 10pm feed but when you saw him, you looked confused and started to cry. Daddy was a bit sad that you seemed to have forgotten him. Things were back to normal again this morning when Daddy changed your nappy. You were back to smiling and screeching happily at him.

I noticed you picked up a new sound today. You've always made the 'gr-gr' sound ever since you started cooing but this morning I noticed you were rounding out your mouth and making a 'br-br' sound. You can hear it in this video I took:

Week 17 video and photo story: Eat, sleep, play

You've hit 4 months now! It's a big milestone because you're not technically a newborn anymore. I can see you're developing your motor skills and cognitive skills now. You're also able to see further and more colours.  I can't feed you in the nursery or in the living room anymore because you get so easily distracted by light and shadows. You'll feed for a bit and then hear a noise or see some dancing light and immediately turn to investigate. It's cute for a while but then quite tedious because it takes sooo long to feed you. Now, I only feed you in the bedroom, lying down. There are no distractions and the added benefit is you fall asleep after your feed. Which sounds wonderful, except you want me to be lying down right next to you while you sleep. If I leave the bed, you'll often wake up within 5 minutes. All the books say the routine should be: Eat, Play, Sleep but I have it a bit back to front. You Eat, Sleep and then Play. I've tried it the traditional way but it doesn't seem to work for us. So for the time being, we'll stick with this routine until you're 6 months and then we'll do some nap training. I've read that hitting 4 months is quite overwhelming because you're teething, developing so quickly and learning so much. Throwing in sleep/nap training as well will just be too much for you.

This morning while you napped, I decided to take a video of you to remember all your baby mannerisms that you may soon grow out of. I love watching you sleep. You look so peaceful and calm. I look at your long lashes and your bow lips and it makes me smile. I've taken so many photos of you sleeping but not a proper video. So here it is. A video that somehow perfectly captured the way you move your mouth in your sleep, as though you were still feeding; the way you stretch your arms out and wake yourself up; and the way you look over at me when you wake up and give me a sweet smile.

Week 16: Weekend photo fun

This is the first weekend we've spent without Daddy. Though with Skype and Facetime, it doesn't feel like Daddy is all that far away.

I took this video yesterday on Daddy's birthday. In the video, you can see you're really exercising your vocals. This past week, you've been learning to shriek loudly with laughter and scream even more loudly for attention! I've been reading blogs and it seems there are a lot of development milestones at 4 months. So far, you're really learning to express when you're unhappy. Gone were the sweet days when you would grumble quietly and be easily distracted. You're still a sweet-natured little boy, just a bit more feisty and opinionated now!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

My dear hubby, even though you're all the way in the south of France attending your friend's wedding, I know you will be checking this blog.

Here is a special message from me and Lucas:

We wish you a wonderful first birthday as a Daddy! Lucas and I miss you so much. Here is a video since we can't be there to share your birthday with you. Hope it brings back a few special memories of our little family. We can't wait to celebrate with you in person when you come home!

Week 16: Daddy goes to Paris

We had 3 momentous occasions today:

1. It's your Auntie Katrina's bday today (see previous post)
2. Daddy finally got on his flight to Paris after a delay yesterday. He'll be gone for a whole week and you looked quite upset to see him get on his flight.

Here you are at the airport waiting for Daddy to check in:

Happy birthday Auntie Katrina!

Here is a video for Auntie Katrina to wish her a happy birthday!

Hope you feel the love from Australia!

Week 16: Reading with Daddy

You were unsettled and whinge-y today from your vaccinations, so we napped and cuddled with you all day and checked your temperature whenever you woke up. Finally in the afternoon, we had some play and I asked Daddy to read you a story.

You looked so happy and excited as Daddy settled on the couch with the short story book.

Week 16 photo story: Our grumpy-puss after vaccinations

Daddy and I took you to the doctor to get your immunisation today. You were so cheery as we waited at the reception, little did you know you had 2 injections and an oral vaccine ahead of you.

Week 16 video: Morning chatter

I love our mornings together. You're always so sweet and cheery. This morning, I woke up and heard you sucking your hands in your cot. I peered over the cot and when you saw me, you gave me your big gummy smile. How could the day start out any better?

I change your nappy and take you back into our bed and we play for a bit. You keep sucking your hands and I take advantage of the beautiful morning light and take photos and a video of you.

Week 16 and Mashimaro

You've reached another week and seem to be getting cuter and chubbier. I thought you were actually 4 months old today and put together this little photo story. I jumped the gun and it's actually next week! Oh well, I spent too much time on the photo so am uploading anyway!

Here's a video from this morning. If you listen carefully, you can hear Daddy snoring in the background:

Week 14 and 15 comparison photos

I love making collages that compare how much you've grown. Here are a few from the last 2 weeks:

Week 15 and learning Chinese

I was taking your usual daily photo earlier this week and thought I'd change it up a bit by putting you on the nursing chair and getting you to hold a book. Your Grandparents gave you a series of Chinese books that were the perfect size and weight for you to "hold" while I took photos. Of course, at 15 weeks old, you still can't hold anything so Mummy had to be creative and be very quick to get the shots.

Surprisingly, you did manage to hold on to the books just long enough for me to get some cute photos! Your Grandma and Aunties loved the photos so much, I decided to take a photo of you with a different Chinese book every day this week. It was really fun to do and you really look like you're "reading"! You're obviously a genius in the making :)

Week 15 video: Some Lucas love and more photos

Your Auntie Katrina requested a video of you yesterday. So when you woke up from your afternoon nap, I took this video in your little rocker. You're still quite inconsistent in your nap-time routine. Some days, you're an angel and will nap for over an hour on your own. Other days, you refuse to take a nap unless I'm holding you or sleeping right beside you. Those days are just one long blur of trying to settle you and endless cycles of feeding-playing-settling.

Yesterday, was a good day.

Here is a collection of photos from Week 15:

From the archives: My sleepy little monkey - 2.5 days & 5 days old

These are 2 of the very first videos I took of you in the hospital!

From the archives: Our little poser at 10 days old

You are such an expressive newborn, especially with your hands. There is photographic evidence in this post and now I have video evidence! I captured this when you were 10 days old. Daddy had just changed your poopy nappy and had come downstairs. Within minutes, you did another poop! This  explains our laughing and background commentary. I know it was only a month or so ago but I'm so glad you've advanced from that newborn stage of doing poops every couple hours (or in this case, couple of minutes!)

Week 12 video: Nursery rhymes with Grandma

I keep finding videos to upload! Here is one for Grandma taken 2 weeks ago when you were 12 weeks old. Grandma was singing Chinese nursery rhymes to you. After a minute into the video, you started looking annoyed which was pretty funny.

Week 14 video: Sad face

Hi Lucas,

You've been able to express yourself more these past couple of weeks, especially expressing your dissatisfaction if we leave you in the bouncer for too long! Your grandparents got a dose of this when they came by this week. You gave them lots of notice by complaining in your own way but they still did not pick you up, for fear of spoiling you. Well, when I came down from my shower, you turned to me and your mouth started to turn downward and the waterworks started. I had my iPhone out ready to take a photo of you smiling at me, instead I captured you from quivering lips to full-blown cry. It was actually quite adorable!

Sad face

From the archives: Tummy time at 11 days old

I've taken so many photos and videos of you that it's time to start categorising them (yes, your Mummy is a bit of a dork).  I've been finding lots of old videos from the early days that haven't been uploaded.

Right now you're only 14 weeks old, so even the oldest videos are only a few months old but my goodness, how much you've changed in that time! It's amazing. Here is a video I took of you and Daddy while we were giving you tummy time at 11 days old. You had a full day already with the newborn photography shoot that morning, so I'm surprised how alert you look. You're also surprisingly strong to be be pushing your legs off Daddy's hands. You had such skinny chicken legs when you were born. It's gratifying to know you've fattened up so much since then :)

Just to show how much you've fattened up, here are some photos of you at 14 weeks old: