31 December 2007

Next Monday, 31 December 2007, I'll be going in for a caesarean at 12:30pm. Finally, I can tell people exactly when baby is arriving! Countless ones have been asking when is baby coming, and now I can finally put a date to it!

After gynae visit yesterday, we decided that if baby doesn't arrive naturally by 31 December, I'll go for elective C-sect as baby is growing too big. Baby's estimated size as of yesterday was about 3.2kg. And based on previous experience with Janelle, baby will probably continue to grow exponentially in these last few weeks.

My hopes of ever having a natural delivery are all gone, but trusting that God has His perfect plan for us.  The good thing about a planned caesarean is that you can really plan everything. Royston has even so kindly helped me borrow several Reader's Digest books to kill time while counting down to the New Year all by myself in hospital. Will have to deliver at Mt Elizabeth instead of Mt Alvernia (our preferred choice) as my gynae's schedule is too packed to rush to Mt A for my surgery. Considering that I'd be bedridden at least for 1 day after surgery, I'm sure the Reader's Digest will come in handy! Still, the thought of being alone in hospital located in the heart of Orchard Road, unable to get out of bed, on a New Year's Eve where everyone's out celebrating - is really not too appealing. But I guess the Lord gave me this unique privilege for me to spend this special time with Him alone with undivided attention as I cross over the new year! New Year's Eves are always spent with lots of loved ones and friends surrounding you, but I will have the awesome privilege of spending it with my Master and Lord alone. How blessed I am!

So much to be thankful for!

It has been a really unexpected Christmas season for us.

For one, we thought that we would have 2 little girls to celebrate Christmas with, but seems like no.2 is still contented to stay in the womb. With that in mind, we did not manage to put much effort to invite any friends or family for all the Christmas outreach events.

Yet, despite our lack of effort, or rather, lack of planning, God engineered situations such that we had divine appointments! Managed to invite my father-in-law to the Hokkien service on Saturday, as well as invited 2 friends to the Christmas service on Sunday.

The most amazing thing is how God is doing a mighty work in my father-in-law's heart! He was unexpectedly alone at home on Saturday, and unexpectedly called us, so we invited him to come to our place. And then he brought Janelle down to the Zhenghua carnival, and unexpectedly wanted to go to church for the health screening, and then Royston decided to casually invite him for the Hokkien service that evening, and he unexpectedly agreed! Well, at least to us, it all seemed so unexpected. But I'm sure that to God, it was all engineered by Him!

He was really touched by the sermon at the Hokkien service, and has been raving about it to us and other family members! We believe that he actually did say the sinner's prayer at the Hokkien service, but was just too shy to admit it.

Yesterday my father invited my father-in-law on a last minute basis to his church's evangelistic service, and surprisingly my father-in-law went! My dad says that my father-in-law is very near to accepting Christ already, and we're really praying against the devil's schemes and praying that God will continue to do His mighty work!

Looking at how far he has come (in terms of religion), we can only give thanks to God for working in His time. For we did nothing, but it was all engineered by God. All we need to do is to avail ourselves and our resources, and to work hand in hand with God!

All I want for Christmas is Baby Janine

Yesterday, I went for my gynae check-up at 37weeks 2 days. I had put on 700g in the past 2 weeks! And I was wondering where did this 700g go to? When gynae did the scan of the baby, he said that baby Janine now weighs about 2.9 - 3.0kg, as compared to 2.3kg two weeks ago. My worst fears came true...the 700g all went to baby Janine! And she seems to be growing at an exponential rate!

For Janelle, at 38 weeks => 3.0kg
When she popped at 39 weeks => 3.6kg (birthweight)

For Janine, at 37 weeks 2 days => 3.0kg
When she pops...=> ? kg

Hmm...what does logical deduction tell you??

Can't help but feel discouraged that my hopes of having a natural delivery this time round are slowly diminishing with each passing day that Janine stays in the womb. Gynae also said that the earlier Janine arrives, the better the chance of a natural birth, if not she might just grow too big for me to deliver her naturally.

I've been asking myself why am I so hard up for a natural birth? After all, most people would say that as long as mother and baby are healthy, that's the most important thing. True, I agree, but I can't help but want to experience how it's like to deliver naturally. And it irks me that the only reason why I may end up in a C-section again is because baby is too big! (blame Royston's genes!!). Yet I try to console myself that there are greater and more important issues at hand, like reaching out to our friends with the love of God this Christmas, like world evangelisation, etc etc. Whether or not I end up with a natural birth or caesarean seems like such a minute concern beside all these other issues!

Still, we will continue to pray that Janine will arrive by Christmas, and that the Lord will grant a smooth and efficient natural delivery. Guess that's what our faith is about - a delicate balance between clinging on to that glimmer of hope, yet at the same time saying to the Lord that "I surrender all". We can only rest in the blessed assurance that God knows what is BEST for us!

Awaiting Janine's arrival

Being 36 weeks pregnant is simply boring. Several normal day-to-day activities have become increasingly difficult, if not near-impossible, due to my huge tummy. These include:
- Sitting cross-legged on the floor
- Crossing your legs when you sit down
- Drying your legs after a bath
- Cutting toenails
- Tossing or turning on the bed

We're all eagerly awaiting Janine's arrival. Even Janelle has been patting my tummy everyday and kissing it! She'll happily point to my tummy and say "this is mei-mei". And when asked what's mei-mei's name, she'll proudly say "na-neen!" (she can't pronounce the "ja" sound so it comes out as "na" instead). As for now, while Janine is still in the womb, Janelle is a very good older sister, though I think the jealous side of Janelle will show when Janine is finally out into the world!

Our concerns are so different while awaiting the arrival of our 2nd child, as compared to when we had our 1st child. Before Janelle came, we were concerned how we would cope, whether would breastfeeding come easy, how to change diapers, etc etc. Now, all these seem like "small concerns" while awaiting Janine's arrival. Our greater concern is how would Janelle react to Janine's presence?? Would she be really jealous and become a difficult kid? Would she demand our attention even more? etc etc. And of course, how would we cope when both our kids cry at the same time? Oh well, but I guess things will somehow work out. We will all have to learn together

Right now, we're just praying for:
- a natural delivery (after Janelle arrived by emergency C-sect, I'm really hoping to try for a natural birth this time round)
- efficient labour and smooth delivery
- Janine to arrive by Christmas or earlier (so that Royston will have some time with her before school reopens in January, and so that the agonising wait will be shortened!)

Trusting God to answer these prayers according to His good will!

God is Gracious!

Janine Lee is 28 weeks old in gestation. Due on 8 January 2008, we have calculated that she may arrive anytime from 18 Dec 2007 onwards, once she's 37 weeks old.

We have decided to name our 2nd girl Janine (pronounced "Ja-neen"), which like the name Janelle, comes from the same root name "Jane" meaning God is gracious. Indeed, we were hoping for a second girl and when we found out that our number two was indeed a girl, we were overjoyed! Really feel that God is so gracious to bless us with a second girl and hence the name Janine. Indeed, God blesses us with our heart's desires!

It's really strange that when the older folks and relatives ask me what's the gender of my second baby and I tell them it's a girl, they will say things like "oh may not be accurate...might still be a boy", or "really? scan already? accurate or not?", or "nevermind, can try for a third one".

In my mind, I'm like hmmm....but we WANTED a girl! What's your problem people?? Of course, I don't verbalize those thoughts. But if I do so much as to express any sense of rejoicing over a second girl, I'm met with doubtful looks of "are you sure??" and so on. In fact, someone even commented "choy!!" (ie. touch wood) when I said that I'd be perfectly happy even if I had a 3rd baby and it's still a girl.  

Much as we promote and advocate gender equality in the workplace, the Asian society still very much favours baby boys over baby girls. Guess this is something that we cannot escape from! However, we are truly happy and proud that we have 2 girls! In fact, if we were to have a 3rd kid (just saying IF) and it's still a girl, we would still be contented and happy.

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; "
(Psalm 139:13-14)

Whether a girl or boy, one thing remains the same - we are fearfully and wonderfully created!

Sleeping Positions

9 or 10 months old - fell asleep in her highchair after lunch (my favourite picture!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

16 months old - in Australia snugly wrapped up

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

17 months old - Preferring to sleep on the floor than on the mattress

 

 

 

 

 

nearly 20 months old (pic taken today!) - fell asleep hugging our filthy cloth clock!

Time Flies

I've been getting really lazy to update this blog, partly because Multiply is so slow in uploading entries and photos! But since it's been more than a month since I last wrote anything, I thought I'd put up some of Janelle's pictures here. She's already 19 months old and growing up fast into a big girl!

We can now hold a mini-conversation with her responding in 2-3 word sentences. Perhaps it's only us parents who feel this way - but we find her extremely cute and endearing! I used to think that babies are only cute below 1 year old when they're helpless and can't walk, but I guess having a daughter of my own has changed my thinking. They seem to get cuter and more interesting as they grow older! But of course, very much naughtier too!

Janelle is extremely cheeky and mischevious - till now, we have no idea who she inherited this trait from. She loves to play peek-a-boo still, and says the funniest and most innocent statements at the strangest times. She also loves to have her armpit tickled, and would voluntarily raise her arm just so that you can tickle her armpit!

Her most recent development is that she can now respond over the phone. Previously she'd just be pressing the buttons or pushing the phone away. But now if I "phone" her when I'm outside (or rather, ask Royston to pass the phone to her), she can repeat after me stuff like "bye bye", "take care", "God bless", "love you". It's extremely endearing to hear your own daughter's voice over the telephone! Makes my heart melt  and makes me want to get home earlier to see her!

 

 

Happy!

Janelle is now 18 months old (ie. 1.5 years old). It's amusing to bring her out nowadays as she'll give a running commentatory on what's going on around her. When it's raining, she'll keep going on like a broken recorder "raining, raining", and she'll name everything she sees and can name. Recently I brought her on a bus journey to Bukit Panjang Plaza, just to break out of the monotony of staying at home. On the bus, she was busy pointing out to the different people and calling "che-che", "kor-kor", "auntie", or "uncle". And whenever someone alights the bus, she'll say a big "bye-bye!!" to the person. Really amusing and pretty embarrassing, I must say!

Her recent favourite word is "happy!!", which she will exclaim in a loud and happy tone and give a big bright smile. Her vocabulary is increasing on the average of 2 new words per day, and she can now respond on the telephone. (previously she would just listen and not speak, but now she's learning how to respond back). Here are some of the words she can say:

A - apple, ant, auntie
B - book, bear, ball, bubble, bible, barney, bread, beans, baby, bye-bye, bag, bird, ber-zek, banana ("nana"), bottle, blue, beat, black
C - car, cheese, cheek, come, close, che-che, chor-chor, chair
D - dog, daddy, door, duck, draw
E - elephant (she'll go "air..."), egg, eye, eat, Elmo, Eeyore
F - fish, flower, fly, four, five
G - girl, God bless, gugu, gong-gong ("tong-tong")
H - hi, hammer, happy, horse, hop, hair, hot, hug, hat
I -
J - Janelle ("nell-nell"), jump
K - kiss, kite, key, kor-kor, kway teow
L -
M - mummy, mama, mum-mum, more, me, mei-mei, march, mouth
N - no, nose, neck
O - oh-oh, open, owl, one, orh-orh
P - pear, potato ("ta-to"), papaya ("papa"), press, pee-pee, poo-poo, potty, Pooh bear, powder, pink, pen, pencil, push
Q
R - run, raining, red, rice
S - shoes ("yoos"), socks ("yocks"), sit, star, sit
T - toes, Tigger, two, truck, throw, tissue ("tish"), towel
U - uncle, up
V - van
W - wash, water, wet-wet, wire, where?, walk, wet wipes, white
X -
Y - yellow,
Z

 

Australia Trip (5-20 June '07)

Some pictures of our trip to Brisbane and Sydney...

Realisation

The past few days have been a sad realisation of my artistic talent (or rather, the lack of). Now that Janelle is able to verbalise slightly better, she's been asking me to draw pictures for her. She'd take the magnetic drawing board and ask me to "draw". Thank God her favourite picture is "apple", which I can still manage! Then she asked me to draw "banana", and when I drew what looked like a bunch of bananas to me, she looked puzzledly at me as though saying "is this a banana??". Then she asked me to draw "duck". Oh my. That was the real test of my drawing abilities....I realized I could not draw a duck!! It somehow ended up looking like a chicken, or bird, or whatever. And when I handed the poorly-drawn picture of a duck to her, she scrutinized it right-side up and upside-down and looked imploringly at me, as though I was supposed to do more to make it look like a duck! I had a good laugh at myself and Janelle was really puzzled as to why I was laughing at my own drawing!

I wonder what I would do when she starts asking me to draw her favourite Winnie the Pooh series, like Pooh Bear or Eeyore. Hmm...

All I can say is that different people are gifted with different abilities  Mine's definitely not drawing!

Cleanliness Freak

I never knew or thought that a barely 16 month-old child could be such a cleanliness freak. My impressions of toddlers that age are active, busy, dirty, and definitely not having a care whether his/her hand is dirty!

Janelle is like my vacuum-cleaner at home, spot-checking the house daily for specks of dust or dirt, and diligently picking them up with her tiny fingers and calling out "meh-may" (her version of "mummy") and showing the dirt to me. She'll also pick up strands of hair on the floor and pass them to me. That aside, whenever her hands are dirty, she would stretch out the dirty hand and insist that I clean it before she continues with whatever she is doing! And when I say "dirty", I mean like when there is some water on her hands, or just one grain of rice, or whatever. And when she steps onto something on the floor (water, dust, etc), she will call "meh-may" and stand on one leg, lifting up the foot which is dirty, and wait for me to 'rescue' her by cleaning the foot before she continues walking. Whenever we drop something on the floor, she will also keep pointing at it and insist that it's picked up before she is satisfied.

Well, I guess I'm glad that she has a low tolerance for dirt and tardiness! She takes after both Royston and my genes in that, for sure. It also does help a lot in keeping the house neat and tidy, since she does the spot-check all the time!

More Words

Janelle is really verbalizing more and more these days. Though she can't exactly talk yet, but she does try to pronounce more words!

New words to her vocab:
- doll
- no more
- pa (grandpa)
- meimei
- tigger

Janelle has been screaming just the same too. Really praying hard for God's wisdom and love to change her to be more patient and loving! May we be the godly parents who will bring Janelle up in the love & knowledge of Christ :) May Janelle (and her sibling-to-be) walk after Jesus as they walk after us!

Eeyore, Baa Baa and more

Yesterday, Janelle learnt how to say "Eeyore" (the cute donkey from Winne the Pooh) when she saw her eeyore soft toy. And she says it not as a word, but more like a high-whisper sound that goes "eeyore". She sounds so cute when she says it! And she's been repeating "eeyore" over and over again, as though to perfect the pronunciation!

Her favourite song now is "Baa Baa Black Sheep". She will go "baa baa" and expect me to finish singing the song for her, where she will happily nod her head when we reach the part that says "Yes Sir, Yes Sir...". And her nodding of head looks almost like she's dancing! Because she'll shake her whole body to and fro (including her head). She has yet to learn how to nod only her head, and not her shoulders and back as well. Haha   And the amazing thing is that she never gets tired of that song! After I finish singing it, she will go "baa baa" again to request for me to sing it over again - it is almost as though her singing of "baa baa" is like a coin slotted into a jukebox (me being the jukebox)!

Some other new words she's picked up:
- bag (she'll say "beh")
- fish (she'll say "hish" without the "f" sound)
- bubble
- more (she'll say "more" and do the "no more" hand sign, ie. she actually means to say "no more" but can only say 1 word at a time)

This picture is of her fake smile. She'll smile whenever we ask her to, but her smile turns out looking fake!

 

Crown of Glory

Recently, I've been reflecting on Janelle's crown of glory - or rather, the lack of it.

It's simply amazing how the lack of hair on the top of her head can trigger so many responses from different ones! Almost everyone Janelle meets (especially strangers) will ask about her lack of hair and give suggestions on how to improve it. I've got people telling me I should rub olive oil, wine, brandy, Malay oil, aloe vera, etc etc, to people who highly recommend shaving her several times more before the hair grows out thick and nice. Someone even recommended bringing her to the National Skin Centre to have her head checked by a specialist to see if there was anything wrong!

I have no doubt that all these suggestions come with well-meaning intentions, but it just makes me puzzled how come others are more concerned and worried about it than we (Royston and myself) are! We believe that God made her the way she is and she is beautiful in His eyes. And anyway, I'm sure the hair will grow out - it's just a matter of time, be it months or years. After all, no one has ever seen a primary school kid who is still without hair right? Means that the hair will definitely grow - it's just a matter of time.

It's just interesting that the outward appearance of a person can bring on so many comments and suggestions. Indeed, man looks at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart! God is not going to count the number of hairs we have on our head before deciding if we qualify for His book of life! All we know is this - hair or no hair, we will still love Janelle just the same.

In the meantime, I shall just have to continue reassuring well-meaning strangers (who give recommendations on Janelle's hair) that it is alright to not have hair. Strange that I am the one reassuring others about my own daughter's lack of hair!

NO Dear!

Now, everything is "no, no, no" for Janelle. She will shake her head and keep repeating "no, no, no" whenever we try to offer her something to appease her. Rarely will she accept something without protesting with "no, no, no" first! No idea what goes through her mind!?!

Her next favourite word is "dear!". She now calls everyone "dear" - myself, Royston, her grandparents, etc. All of us are now "dear" to her. Perhaps it's easier for her that way since it's easier to call us! And she calls "dear!" literally with an exclamation mark at the end - in a loud tone that tries to command some attention. Really hope that she'll stop calling us "dear" soon and revert to addressing us by the proper term of "daddy", "mummy", etc!

Last week I brought her along with me for my staff retreat in Malacca. She had a fun time running around as usual. And she got the biggest balaku of her life when she tripped while running and whacked her head hard onto the marble flooring of the hotel. There was a loud thud as she fell to the ground. *ouch*

She also managed to pose for a few pictures, which is really very rare for Janelle to do so. Most of the time she will try to 'siam4' the camera! Or stare blankly at it. Check out the poser...

 

A few weeks back, she also learnt how to smile whenever we ask her to. She'll crinkle up her eyes instead of pulling off a wide smile. And her smile looks really fake. Haha  Must take a picture of her fake smile soon for remembrance!

Janelle - 15-18 months old

Actions

Taken when Janelle was 13 months old during CNY period.

At 14.5 months old...

At 14.5 months old, Janelle can say:
- ball, bear, duck, door, dear, no, hi, bye, mama, daddy, burk (milk), mum-mum, bray (bread)
- lots of baby babble.

She still can't talk very much 'sense' right now, still pretty slow in learning to say words with clarity. But on the brighter side of things, I guess it's good because when kids start talking, they don't stop!

Then again, because she can't communicate what she wants, she tends to scream when she can't verbalise and gets frustrated.

Also, Janelle has recently discovered her newfound freedom - that she can get off her bed by herself and without our permission! Last night (in the middle of the night), I was awoken by the pitter-patter sound of footsteps and in my blurry-eyed state, saw a little figure wandering around the house. I got quite a fright initially - imagine being awoken in the middle of the night by someone walking around in the dark! Janelle then came to look for me in my room and I brought her back to her room and bed to sleep. Really hope she stops giving me such scares, especially in the wee hours of the morning!

Ready for school??

Janelle's latest fav activity is to carry her great-granny's bag and walking stick. This video shows her proudly carrying the bag and walking around :)

Kids Learn Fast!

I was in the room with Janelle and needed  Royston to help me get something, so I called out to him "Dear! Dear!".

Royston came to the room, got my instructions to get what I want and went out to get it.

To my surprise, when Royston went out of the room, Janelle looked at the open doorway and shouted "Dear! Dear!" at Royston!! When he came to the room, she also kept calling him "dear! dear!", much to our amusement. I laughed till tears rolled down my cheeks! And Janelle found it amusing that we found her amusing, and she also laughed along with us.

We tried to correct Janelle to tell her that he is "daddy" and not "dear". And only mummy (ie. me) can call him "dear"!

Book Collection

Proudly presenting Janelle's little shelf of books!

I decided to display her books on a shelf within her reach, instead of keeping them hidden in the drawers all the time. She was absolutely thrilled and delighted to see ALL her books within reach! She went wild and kept taking her books off the shelf to read!

Am really surprised at how much Janelle loves books! Today I was driving alone with her sitting in her carseat at the back of the car. When she got restless, I passed her a 4-page book and she kept herself really busy for 15 minutes just flipping the pages and intently looking at everything there was to look at. Finally, she closed her eyes and fell asleep with the book still in her hands! Think she was too exhausted from all the reading and concentration! Haha

Janelle - 13 months old & CNY

Favourite things

Janelle says HI!

 

Her recent fav activity is to pretend to feed others and herself with a spoon and bowl, especially during mealtimes. And of course, to pretend to chat on the telephone. Sometimes she can 'chat' for a looonnggg time!! Looks like need to limit her 'talktime' on the phone soon...haha.

Books are still her all-time favourite though! We can put her on the bed or sofa with 3 or 4 books and she'll entertain herself reading them for up to 1 hour on her own. She'll pore through every page - both upside down and right-side up - and point out pictures and make funny sounds. It's amazing what a sharp eye she has! Sometimes she'll point at something and say "ball" or "bear" and I literally have to scrutinize the thing to find out there's a tiny little insignificant picture of a ball or bear!

13 months old

Over the past few weeks, Janelle's vocabulary has increased. Here are some of her new words....

Able to say with clarity:
mama
dada (ie. daddy)
mum-mum (ie. food)
ball
bear
duck
woof-woof (ie. dog)
no
ohhhh (ie. when something drops onto the floor)

Almost able to say:
bray (bread - her favourite food!)
diaa (diaper - when she needs a diaper change)
murr (ie. milk - when she sees her milk bottle)

GLORIOUS FOOD
Her appetite has also greatly increased and food never seems to be too much for her! Her favourite foods include all kinds of fish, tofu, bread, medicine syrup, etc etc. Thank God that she is generally a very easy baby to feed!

NEW UPDATES
At 13 months old, she's really an active toddler who loves walking round and round the house. I believe she walks quite a few kilometres every day just going round the house!

2 days' ago, she has also learnt to appreciate the water after some previous traumatic encounters with the swimming pool. In fact, while enjoying the calmness of the pool, she looked like she almost fell asleep in her swimming float!

She has also learnt how to tease and play with others....She loves to lift up my T-shirt and tickle me at my waist!! Well, must have picked it up from me as I also love to tickle her! The peek-a-boo game is still an all-time favourite with her. Also, she loves to pretend to hand you an object and when you reach out your hand to take it, she quickly retracts her hand, turns her head away, and gives you a smug and cheeky smile.

It is really amazing how children at 1 year old are like a sponge, absorbing and learning everything that comes their way! It is a great reminder that we as parents are to be good role models for them to follow after

My Manja Girl

According to Babycenter website, separation anxiety peaks at 12 to 18 months of age. And Janelle is right on the dot when it comes to that! Since a few days' ago, she has been extremely sticky to me (her mummy) and very manja. She loves to come running to me and give me a big long hug. When I carry her, she'll rest her head on my shoulder, pat me and make some manja noises as though she's singing away. The moment I attempt to leave her sight, cries of anxiety will follow.

Staying at home these few days with her has been really fun and enjoyable, especially now that she has learnt to walk. She busies herself all day following me round the house. Even when I have to go to the toilet, she'll stand outside the toilet and wait patiently for me to finish my business! Her favourite activities are to open and close the dustbin lid, and opening all the drawers and sliding cabinets she can get her hands on! Pressing buttons are also of utmost interest to her. But whenever she accidentally switches on the TV, she will cry out in fright because of the sound.

Yesterday, for the first time in her life, Janelle came down with flu and cough. She coughed so badly this morning that she puked up her entire 200mls milk feed onto our bed! The mattress was soaked with the sourish smell of puked milk and I had to spend some time cleaning up and airing the mattress. We can only thank God that Janelle is a real darling when it comes to taking medicine because she happily drinks up her 3 different types of medicine syrups willingly! She must think it is some treat to have yummy sweet syrup to drink!

Janelle's 1st Birthday

Photos of 2 parties held on 20 & 21 Jan.

One Year Old!

Today, Janelle turns exactly one year old! We will be holding 2 parties for her tomorrow and on Sunday. As for today, it shall just be a 'quiet' day to prepare for the 2 gatherings over the weekend :)

As we were choosing photos taken of Janelle at different months to put into a picture frame, it struck me that she has grown so much! - from a tiny infant (well, not exactly tiny, but still tiny compared to her size now!), to a little girl who can now walk around. For adults, one year can pass by us without much significant change. But for a baby, a year makes a whole lot of difference - especially in physical stature - even though we do not realise it sometimes! We really give thanks to God for His faithfulness in this one year - for nurturing her growth to the little girl she is right now. It is a reminder of how God is alive and working in our lives despite the fact that we sometimes do not see any change!

Can't believe that exactly one year ago, I was eagerly awaiting the arrival of my little one. And now she's all grown-up already! Time flies!

At one year old, Janelle:-
- weighs 9.3kg and measures at about 72cm
- has 5 teeth (3 upper, 2 lower)
- has learnt to say "dada", "mama", "duck", "no", among her other baby words.
- has learnt to walk

At one day old, Janelle:-
- weighed 3.6kg and measured at 50cm
- had no teeth
- could only cry and not speak
- could not even flip

She has grown!

Walking is fun!

Check out how Janelle walks like a drunkard!

Moo-Moo

What sound does a cow make?

"Moo-moo".

And this is how Janelle will purse her lips into an ugly pout to create the sound "moo-moo".

 

It's amazing how she knew she had to purse her lips to make the sound "moo-moo" even without seeing how my lips move when I make the sound! Babies are really smart

Unbelievable

Janelle did the unbelievable today! After finishing her lunch, she simply lay her head down on the 'table' portion of her highchair, closed her eyes, and went off to dreamland!

This is simply amazing considering she usually cries and 'complains' before going off to sleep! I think it must have been the runny-nose medicine that knocked her out. Haha!