Claira fell from bed

Thursday morning, while Wanyin's mother turned her head to reach for some tissue while changing diapers, Claira fell from the bed... luckily she didn't land head-first, but rather body-first. Else, her head would be bruised already...

Although there were no visible injuries that we could detect on Claira, we decided to bring her to KK hospital for a thorough check-up. She finished her milk after the fall and appears to be fine, smiling and playing.

We arrived at KK's emergency department... and within some minutes, we were queuing up for consultation... "$75... pay first then can see doctor"...

A very young doctor was behind that door number 8... i almost thought she was a nurse... judging from her look... haha...

"nothing wrong with the baby... but will have to monitor for the next 72 hours..." the doctor said.

Ok, that's what we would have half-expected her to say, but it was comforting to hear it face-to-face from a doctor.

And so, we left the hospital...

We count ourselves lucky that things turned out fine... it could well turn out to be much worse on a different occasion if we are not careful with baby Claira from now on...

We are thinking of a few "solutions" to prevent this from happening:
- Take apart the bed frame and leave only the mattress -> But the old folks at home will have much difficulty to bend down and change diapers.
- Always change diapers/clothes for Claira on the cot -> The dimensions of the cot is not well suited on these occasions.
- Change diapers only with 2 person in the room -> Not feasible.
- DO NOT leave your eyes off the baby at all times! -> This seems to be the only direct answer to our problem...

You are going "Gai Gai"?

Little Claira developed a way/method to filter out people who she allows to carry her...

Whenever you are dress-up(which is different from the usual home clothes we wear...), she will raise both her arms when u say "Claira, bao bao..."
But if she spots you still in your usual "home clothes" when you do this, she will turn herself away immediately... sometimes even crying if you attempt any further...

She should have already associated carrying by someone + nice clothes = Going out to have fun(ie. Gai Gai...)! Hey. That's smart huh?

Ok, i admit these are little/trivial stuffs to most people. But for a first time daddy like myself, this is something GREAT!

Wooooah! Little Claira is growing up day by day...
Wanyin and i will always be there beside her...
Guiding her, and at the same time, finding/understanding more of ourselves in the process.

Claira Stands

A few days ago, Claira suddenly climbed up the railings of her cot and stood up on her own!

Wow! That's news! haha... many visible developments for this little gal lately huh?!

Wanyin's mum was so concerned that she would forget to pull up the railings of Claira's cot, that she wanted me to print a little "notice" to remind herself everytime she walks in/out of Claira's room...

Claira waves

This morning, Claira waved at me when i'm getting ready to leave the house! Hey, that's enough to fuel me throughout this workday at the office!
I recalled that Claira can clap just a few days ago, and now she can wave...
Maybe it's because the "Your Baby Can Read" vcds, or maybe it's "just about time"... but nonetheless, it's heartwarming to see her grow!

That's the reward of being a parent, isn't it? To be able to see your kid grow stronger from day to day... careful not to put too much pressure on the kid though... haha...

Decent swimming picture

Some weeks ago, Wanyin finally improved her photo taking skills... and so we have this nice decent picture of me and Claira at the pool.

Because of some concerns on the recent outspread of HFM disease in Singapore, we haven't been swimming for the last 2 weeks or so.
Apparently, some co*k parents brought their ill children(infected by HFM) to swimming, totally making lots of other parents mad!!! (me included of course!)
Geez, can they just wake up and be more considerate?

Clap Clap

At 9 months, Claira claps for the very first time(unaided of course)!

After some days of watching "Your Baby Can Read" vcds, and also playing with the DIY reading cards that Wanyin made, Claira knows how to clap when encouraged... Cool!

"Claira, clap clap!"...

As cheeky as you can get

Claira's Grandpa snapped this picture on one weekday...
Look at that cheeky face! haha...

Your Baby Can Read

There was this motherhood exhibition at the Expo last weekend... Wanyin and I decided to pop by and have a look.

We ended up buying something for Claira: 5 Vcd of the title "Your Baby Can Read", which includes the following:

• Starter
• Volume 1
• Volume 2
• Volume 3
• Review

It cost us $51 for this basic package. "Educational materials" for babies are really pricey...

The videos basically teaches babies to read and recognise words/actions (eg. eyes, hand, clap...etc).

I don't really know whether these materials are really, really effective, but being a kiasu Singaporean parent, we decided to say goodbye to some tens of dollars, in exchange for a "hopefully effective" idea/solution...

no harm trying.... that is if you are willing/able to spend...

--> this is why these people are earning our money!

Contraband!

Claira always grab anything she can lay her hands on, to put inside her mouth... the chewing gum that i had bought some time ago was no exception...

Drooling and almost screaming, she was happily chewing the "gum packaging" away when i snapped this picture!

Of course, i was always on the lookout, and careful not to let Claira swallow anything "dangerous".

Claira plays Piano

One fine day, Wanyin decides to play the piano... It's not too often
that she "feels" like playing the piano, so we are anticipating some
good music in the house... er... of course, being out-of touch with
the piano, she has to "refresh" her childhood memories... the lessons
she sat through years and years ago...

Claira decided to join in the fun.... "Ting Ting, Tong Tong"!!!

She is warming up to the idea of her fingers dancing on the black and
white key...

First try at Email Postings...

This is my first attempt to blog using the email... perhaps this is a
"not-so-new" thing, but it's new for me... everyone starts
somewhere... :-)

Anyway, it's been some time since i blogged about Claira... it's not
that i do not have the content to post any entries. It's just that I'm
too occupied doing some other stuffs at home.

Ok, guilty... I'm basically playing games on my personal laptop these
days till bed time.

There are some photos that i wanted to post, which i haven't. I will
most probably post it over this week end. Let's see...

Update for Claira. She can crawl on her own!
Well, there was a period of time(approx 1-2weeks) where she would
stand on all fours and start "shaking" her butt. That, i was told, was
a sign that she was about to start crawling...
So, the time is now and she's enjoying her new found ability! OMG, she is cute!

Today, Wanyin and her parents will bring her to town. Hope they have a
good time together!