4 months has passed...

What?!? You mean my baby girl is 4 months old!!! And boy has she grown longer (taller) and heavier. Of course she is also getting cuter and cuter by the day.

Here's some recent stats of her growth.

Lenght: 64.5cm (last month = 61cm)
Weight: 5.9kgs (last month = 5.37kgs)
Head Circumference: 41cm (last month = 40cm)

New things she started doing over the course of this month:-
1) Hold her head steady when carried
2) Work to get a toy that is out of reach
3) Bear some weight on her legs
4) Turn in the direction of a voice
5) Razz (make a wet razzing sound)

And for this 4 months old birthday, she had a little present from her Papou and Mamou (her paternal grandparents). A neat Galeries Lafayette gift card to buy more toys/clothes! Heehee. Mummy will help her choose what to buy.

Brumisateur Effect.

The heat in Paris is not getting much better and I've been coming up with different ways to cool Laetitia down and help her cope with the high temperatures. She gets a bath nightly at around 8pm before her sleep and I also put her clothes in the freezer before her bath so that it is nice and cool when I put them on her. The other thing I've started to do is to spray her with the Evian Brumisateur (atomiser). The expressions she has when I use the atomiser on her is hilarious! Check it out.

Adorable screeching baby.

Now that I have started to use the video mode of my digital camera, I find myself trying to make short clips of my little darling. Most are really fun but some of the video quality is crap due to the inexperience mummy.

Obviously she cannot talk yet but she loves to make different noises. She laughs, screechs, baby talks etc. This is one of her screeching (we prefers to call it singing though). It's so cute!



Here's a picture of her taken at the same time. I love her little chubby cheeks. SO CUTE!

I was trying to take videos of her attempting to crawl. She would raise her butt and then try to push herself forward. It makes both Etienne and I laugh whenever she does that. However, when I tried to shot it, she stopped. Cheeky baby. The only downside is that her face would be on the bed while she tries to push herself forward and this causes some slight carpet burns like marks on her face. Poor little chubby cheeks...

H.E.A.T W.A.V.E!

It's been oh so hot these last couple of days. It's times like these that I wonder if I make dumb comments like "I feel like I'm in a third world country!" due to the lack of air-conditioning in this city. I grew up in a tropical country that is HOT and SWEATY (humid) all year round BUT there is air-conditioning all over the place. All the public transports are air-conditioned, all indoor places are air-conditioned and most homes have A/C systems fitted. Here, the public transports are not and it's so stuffy in the metro. Oh, and don't remind me about the waves of body odors. Sigh. Sometimes I feel like I'm a little spoilt brat complaining. However it IS hard dealing with a cranky 3 plus months old in this heat. Even mummy is cranky so how could baby be happy and pleasant?

Well, this mummy tries really hard to entertain her little princess even in this heat and this is what I managed to do.

More on the tummy pics.

Took some photos of the happy baby on her tummy. Turning has become almost effortless for her. It's amazing how fast babies learn new things.

The only little issue is that she cannot turn from belly to back so sometimes she gets frustrated by that. Well, I'm sure she will be able to do that soon enough. :-)

On a slightly different note. Her daddy came home on Monday (10 Jul) with a lovely bouquet of flowers for her mummy. *so sweet* He said that he was thinking of us a lot in the office and kept smiling to the photographs of us that is on his work desk. Well, here's a pic of the grinning mummy with her beautiful flowers.

First back to belly flip!

Yesterday night I noticed that Laetitia was almost on her belly and was telling Etienne she might just make the flip. We waited for a while before giving up as we were rushing to go over to Philippe's place for dinner. Before we left, I captured some shots of her trying really hard to turn onto her belly. Allez Laetitia! Allez Allez!

This is considerably fast progress as I had mentioned in this post that she was starting to make the effort and was 1/2 to 3/4 of the way. And this morning after her 7am feed, I put her back in her cot and switch on her hanging mobile. Normally, by the time the mobile has gone through 3 cycles (me switching it on again after it goes off using the remote control from the guest bed in her room), she would fall asleep. However, this morning, by the third cycle, I was still hearing her legs knocking against the sides of the bed so I got out of the bed and saw this!!!

This mummy, though all tired and sleepy, had the good sense to go grab the camera and take the commemorative moment! YEAH LAETITIA!

Latest trick.

Laetitia's latest new trick is to hold her legs with her hands. Slowly but surely she is also attempting to stick her foot into her mouth! :p Until she finds something new to do, this discovery that she can actually hold on to her feet is giving her a great amount of fun.

First insect bite.

Ah! A meaningless post.... first insect bite mark on my babe's arm.

Here's the proof.... Just a tiny one.

And here is another picture just for the fun of it. By now I guess you know how much I love to post pictures of this pretty little thing. She seems to be saying "Hey, I've got an idea!"

Never been kissed.

I was trying to teach Laetitia to kiss me today. It was really fun and obviously delightful for me. I'm not sure if she likes or enjoys it as much this mummy does. At one point when I gave her my cheeks to be kissed, she started sucking on it as if it was the boob!!! Etienne took a few pictures of me coercing my baby to kiss me.

He calls the picture below my "never been kissed" look. He said I was smiling so deliriously like it's the first time I'm being kissed. Well, it is true! It's the first time my baby girl is "kissing" me.

Here's a sweeter picture although I think my darling baby does not look very impressed at having to kiss her mummy. She looks like she's saying.... "oh, ok mummy, if it would make you happy, here's a kiss..." :p

Baby fashion show.

Just for fun..... I decided to play dressing up with my little model. I have to show off the new outfits I recently bought for my most precious baby.

Announcing the current most sought after runway model in her fashionable outfits.

Laetitia in her pretty Baby Dior dress.... looking oh so chic. :p

Following the latest craze for polka dots, here's our cutie pootootie in Kid Cool dress.

And finally, dressed in her daddy's favourite designer, Kenzo.

Can you tell that summer is definitely here in Paris? :p

A quarter of a year old!

My baby is a quarter of a year old today! Three months have passed since the day she was taken out of my tummy. Sometimes it seems like it was just yesterday that I was pregnant with her and yet at other times, I am going, you mean it's only been three months?!?! What a rollercoaster ride. There are times when it's been tough for me settling into my life as a stay at home mummy.

So, at three months old she is able to do the following:-
1) Lift her head 90 degrees while on tummy
2) Laugh out loud (very LOUD) . We captured this on video and I'll try to upload it soon.
3) Grasp and hold a rattle or cloth.
4) Roll over
5) Turn in direction of a voice
6) Turn herself 180 degrees from a fix position. Eg. She would somehow turn herself in bed such that her head which is at the front of the cot would eventually end up at the bottom of the cot.

She's really growing very fast and I just caught these pictures of her today, almost turned over on her belly from the left side.

And these were taken a couple of days back while she was playing on the gymini.

Passport photos.

I have been trying to capture some photos for Laetitia that will be suitable to crop and be deemed appropriate as a passport photo. This final photo is suppose to be used for submitting her application for Singapore citizenship, Singapore passport and also the French passport so I want it to be as pretty as possible. I took some last week that were not excellent due to the horrible lighting. There was too many shadows created on her face. Here are some samples of the not so good lighting but excellent model. :p

However, over the weekend, I think I managed some decent shots in her bed. I personally like the second one as she is very smiley but Etienne thinks it might not be neutral looking enough for a passport photo. Hmmm......

And this one just cause she looks so happy.

Bébé à La Défense

It's our (me and Laetitia) first visit to La Défense so obviously photos have to be taken.

Bébé and the grand arche

Bébé and mummy

Vaccinations again.

I know I had mentioned before that my little baby is courageous but she really is! Today she went for her vaccinations again and had 2 jabs on her thighs. One on the left and one on the right. Before the Paediatrican adminster the second jab, she warned me that it would hurt more than the first and Laetitia might be crying quite a bit. Well, she did cry, like for 5 seconds! Can I just say again that I am so proud of her.

Well here's her now growth specs.:-
Weight = 5.370kg (5.5 weeks ago was 4.850kg)
Length = 61cm but I realised that her legs were not fully straighten when she was measured.(5.5 weeks ago was 60cm)
Head circumference = 40cm (5.5 weeks ago was 39cm)

Overall, she is growing well.

Jaimie's visit to Paris

About 3 weeks ago (from May 31 - June 7), my good friend Jaimie came over to Paris for a visit. This is the first time she is seeing Laetitia and it's been more than 2 years since I last saw here when I went back to Singapore for a long holiday. It was wonderful having her here and we managed to spend some good times together. It was great for me because I had the opportunity to get out of the house more and do things. For the first time in a while (the last couple of months since having my little girl), I felt like I was having more of a life myself aside from being a mum. I suppose it is healther for Laetitia too to not have a mummy who feels caged up.

We (Laetitia, Jaimie and I) spent many of our afternoons out in the streets of Paris. Here are some pictures taken while we were walking towards the Seine with Eiffel Tower in the background.

Here's one of Laetitia and Auntie Jaimie. My little one has promptly fallen asleep.

And here is the Mummy and her princess.

Here's another pic just because I think I look good. :p

I took a few pictures of Jaimie and Laetitia at home....

I hope my little girl will soon get to meet all the other aunties (mummy's friends) in Singapore. Keeping my fingers crossed that we will be able to take a trip back around October.

Pacifiers/Soothers.

I have always been against the idea of giving Laetitia a pacificer/soother because I dislike seeing older children being reliant on it. However, 2 days ago, I gave in and bought one. Why oh why after holding it off for 11 weeks I finally cave in? Simply because from sucking her fist/back of her hand/wrist, she had progressed to sucking her lower lips. I got worried because I felt that it would affect her appearance! How superficial can this mummy get? I was worried that if she kept sucking her lower lips, it would thin out her lips. I am not sure if there is any possibility of that happening but it was enough to prompt me to buy a pacifier.

This is usually how she looks when she sucks her lower lip.

So yesterday I tried giving her the newly bought pacifier and she kept spitting it out of her mouth. I was thinking, oh, maybe she does not like it. Anyway, this afternoon she was a little cranky trying to take her afternoon nap. She kept trying to suck on my arm when I was carrying her so I decided to try the pacifier again and held it in her mouth for a couple of minutes. And it worked. She sucked on it and promptly fell asleep. Once she got used to sucking it, it took her barely 2 minutes before her eyes closed and she was in dreamland. Once she was sound asleep, I quickly removed it from her mouth, however, not before taking two photos! She looked so cute with the pacifer though. I resolved to only use the pacifier when necessary (meaning only for sleeping time to help soothe her to sleep). I hope this post will help remind me not to cross the line of becoming dependent on the soother too much.

Here's my cutie pie with her pacifier.

Is my baby vain?

Is my little girl already a vain little princess? I'm kidding. I know at this stage she does not even know that the girl in the mirror is her but it's funny looking at how she is holding the mirror and has her hand on her head at the same time. Friends who knows me well will comment how she must be learning from her mum. I love the mirror. I can not pass by one without checking myself out. Looks like my little darling may be following my footsteps!

Let me check myself out!

Oh, am I the prettiest/cutest baby around?

Bottle feeding Laetitia

We have tried bottle feeding Laetitia with expressed breast milk a couple of times. It was working the first few times but the last two times that I went out and left Etienne and Laetitia at home, she refuse to take the bottle. Both times she just went to bed without her last feed and I would give her the breast when I get back (about 3 hours passed her feeding time!).

Etienne and I decided we have to try to get her to take the bottle and we will have to practise more. Etienne felt that maybe the last feed of the day before sleeping is not a good time to try as Laetitia can be crankier than usual. With that in mind, we tried it during my little chouchou mid afternoon feed. Well, it went much better than the last two times. She was at least taking the bottle and drinking though not a lot. That was better than nothing. This time, we thought that it might be that the flow from the teats was too slow. We will try a faster flow the next time.

Here's her daddy feeding her.

Shopping and breastfeeding!

I have been taking Laetitia out shopping almost everyday in the last week as my good friend Jaimie is here visiting from Singapore. So this week Laetitia spent most of her afternoons in either the Grand Magasin (Galeries Lafayette/Printemps area) or the Champs-Elysées . And in this last two weeks alone, she has been breastfeed in more public places than the last 2 months of her life. I cannot possibly be rushing home to feed her everytime I want to go shopping right?! And of course being here with no family within close proximity means I have to take my baby everywhere I go. So, I have to become confident and relax about breastfeeding her in public.

So far, I have nursed her in the nursing rooms in Galeries Lafayette, Printemps and Les Halles, in a restaurant along the Champs-Elysées, in a brasserie and cafes. I was almost going to breastfeed her in the metro but managed to make a detour instead. The good thing about breastfeeding her is no one bother to give a second look. When I was nursing her in a outdoor cafe in Ils-St-Louis (the smaller of the two islands along the Seines) and the waiter was asking twice if she was sleeping! I don't think he even realised that I was nursing Laetitia while sipping my glass of Orangina.

I guess breastfeeding is an easy route for now as I can just feed her anytime and almost anywhere (as long as I can find a relatively quiet corner since she does not like too much distraction during her meal time). It means that I can be relatively mobile with her and do not have to worry about bringing too many things when we go out (no bottles, formula milk etc to carry with me). Well, hopefully soon I will also be able to shop alone once I get her into a habit of taking expressed breast milk in a bottle or some formula milk once in a while and could leave her in the infantcare centre a couple of times a week. So far, although taking her shopping is not a problem, I cannot try on clothes with her in the Baby Bjorn carrier. I think it will be nice to be able to do that.

Okay, enough about me and shopping with Laetitia.... here's some fun pics of her on her belly.

Playing on the gymini.

Laetitia has been spending more and more time on her Tiny Love gymini and she is seriously enjoying it now. Of course it could be that this mummy loves to put her on it so that I can some time on the computer!

The next "educational developmental" toy on the list for her will be an exersaucer. I personally like either the Evenflo Mega Circus or the Baby Einstein Caterpillar Discover & Play Activity Center. I think it will be a great toy to keep her entertained. They are supposed to be used from the 4th month onwards so I do have some time to check out which would be best for her.

Here's some shots captured when she's playing on the gymini.

"Oh Mummy, you caught me by surprise!"

"Let me give you one of my charming smiles. Quick! Take the photo."

"A bigger smile? Of course, anything for you Mummy."

"Okay Mummy, I really need to get back to playing with Mr. Giraffe. I'll play with you later."