Out and about in Montmartre

Today we went to visit baby Alrik and his parents, Pierre and Caroline. It was wonderful seeing a newborn baby. Alrik is so petit and precious. After spending some time in their home, we all went out for a walk around the area. They live in Montmartre and are very close to Sacré Coeur. Since I have never been inside Sacré Coeur, we decided to take the chance to go inside. For me, what is amazing is not inside the church but the view just outside. It's amazing. You could almost the entire city of Paris. Check it out!

6 months ago....

Six months ago, the most adorable little baby came into the lives of two persons who were (and still are) deeply in love. This little baby is now SIX months old. This little baby is growing into the cutest little munchkin who brings an enormous amount of joy and happiness into the lives of her parents. This little baby is my precious Laetitia.

This month there is no regular doctor's visit therefore we do not have an exact measurement of her weigh and length but she is about 7kgs. She has definitely doubled her birth weight.

New things she started doing over the course of this month:-
1) Sit with some assistance
2) Recognise certain things (her face would light up when I start reciting from her favourite book)
3) Play peekaboo (she would pull the clothe that covers her face/eyes away)
4) Rake with fingers an object and pick it up
5) Start to object/cry when I leave her (separation anxiety)

She is slowly adjusting to being in the garderie. We met with a little re-adaptation issue during the start of the week as she was sick last week and missed 2 days. However, aside from the first day where she was relatively difficult (lots of crying and was visibly upset), the next two days went much better. She could be calmed by the caregivers and would finish her food when she is fed by them. More importantly, she recognises the caregivers and would not be crying when I leave.

Here is a picture of my little one in her garderie (with one of the other children).

And here's one with her mummy. :)

Spoon balance.

Spoons are apparently a lot of fun to play with.

"Look Mummy! No hands!"

Check out the video.

Laetitia and her friends.

My little munchkin is much better today and we had a babygroup meeting today. it was suppose to take place at Le Maison des parents but we had to adjorn to my place (long story...). It was wonderful having it over here. There were 4 mummies and babies and thankfully I had enough toys to occupy each of them.

Here's a pic of Laetitia and two of her little pals, Sienna (left) and Emelie (right)

Both Sienna and Emelie are two months and a month younger respectively. Sadly, I do not have a decent photo taken of the fourth baby, Karina.

We're trying to make this a weekly baby playgroup so I'm sure I'll be taking more photos soon.

Virus 1 Laetitia 0

My poor baby girl is sick!!! Wahhhhhh (that the mummy crying, not Laetitia.) It seems like she probably caught a stomach virus at her garderie (daycare). It started on Saturday when she vomitted her carrot/pumpkin dinner. I had thought initially that it was because Etienne was a little to eager to have her eat her food. I know I know, I was being presumtuous. And on Sunday morning when I went to get her for her first feed around 6am, she was crying loudly which was very unusual. We soon found out that she was running a fever (38 degrees) and had had also made a big poo so I gave her some Doliprane (liquid paracetamol) and Etienne changed her. We decided not to take her to church since she is unwell and I stayed home to care for her. Throughout the day, the fever came and went but she also having diarrhoea. Normally she clears her bowels once every two days and on Sunday alone, she had 5 bowel movements. However, aside from that, she seemed fine. Monday came and in the evening she vomitted her dinner again and this time, I thought Etienne was playing a little too rough with her before I nursed her. Come to think of it, it looks like Etienne gets all the blame most of the time from me. I'm horrible. :-( And then Tuesday, everything was fine, no vomitting no diarrhoea. I thought she was finally okay, it was just a passing stomach discomfort she had. And then today...

She first vomitted her breakfast in the morning but I managed to clean her up and nursed her again. And then in the afternoon, she had a HUGE vomit. It looked like she first vomitted her lunch and then much more fluid came out and she cried from the discomfort and looked like she was going to vomit more. By then I was getting much more concerned. I called Etienne and we decided to try to get her to her doctor. I called the doctor's office and the receptionist could not get through to her. In Paris, most doctors are by appointment only and even if you want to walk in to see them, you have to call beforehand. Finally at about 3pm, the receptionist called and said the doctor asked us to go over as soon as possible.

We saw the paediatrician and she said Lae Lae has gastrointestinal virus (or common called stomach flu). She prescribed a whole lot of medication and replacement milk and told us not to go to the garderie for the rest of the week. The toughie for me is when she told me not to feed Lae Lae anymore but to only give her oral rehydration solutions (water mixed with powder form of minerials and elements replacement for lost of fluid) for the rest of the day. It was so hard as I could see that Laetitia was hungry and rooting for food but I could only give her the solution. When she cries and I carry her, she could smell my milk and keeps searching for the breast and when she realises she not getting any, she cries more! Finally I gave up and called Etienne and asked him to try to be home as early as he can. Anyways, it was already 6pm and he normally leaves work at 6.30pm.

Once Etienne got home, we gave our darling a quick bath and then Etienne took over calming her and putting her to sleep. I left the house for a walk to destress. When I came home, he was still trying to soothe her to sleep. He did that for 1h30mins! At the end of the night he was showing me the muscles he got from carrying her for all that time. But, she's finally asleep. Thank God.

Lord God, please restore my baby girl. May Your healing hands be on her and remove all her discomfort. Have her be the chippy joyful little bundle again. Thank you. AMEN.

Tumbling baby.

I've been trying my best to encourage Laetitia to sit up but so far she has not been able to support herself. We (the "evil" parents) think that it is hilarious to watch her tumble from her sitting position. We would even get our video cameras or digital cameras ready to capture some shots of her.

Check out this short video

Laetitia and her new toy.

After going through hoops to get Laetitia the Baby Einstein Discover & Play Activity Center, we finally have it. It started with me wanting to get an exersaucer type of toy (which is not sold in France) for Laetitia and when Jaimie asked what she could buy as a present for the little one, I told her this would be ideal except that it has to be ordered in the US and she would have to send it to a friend there and then reship it to Paris. Sounds easy but it soon got complicated as USPS (US postal service) refuses to take it as it was too big. Even though I had checked the website beforehand to verify the size, we were told that as each individual country has it's specific rule, the toy was too big to be sent to France. Actually I doubt it was because France would not accept parcel that size since we had sent HUGE boxes from Canada to Paris just last year when we made the move. Anyways, whatever. So we tried to send it to Canada since Etienne was going to be there but once again USPS said no. Finally, we had it sent through Fedex ground and it reach Toronto safely. It was sent to our friend Ash who kept it for us and Etienne brought it back on Tuesday. Phew.

I quickly set it up in the afternoon while Laetitia was sleeping. I was definitely more excited to have her in it then she was! The first time I put her in the seat, I think she was a little overwhelmed by the amount of toys (too much stimulation all at once) and she was a little tired so she did not enjoy it as much. The second time though, she really liked in and stayed in there for almost an hour playing by herself.

Here's my little one smiling away happily while playing in the activity centre.

Laetitia is saying "Thank you auntie Jaimie for the lovely present! Please help me thank uncle Boon for all the help with sending my toy."

Papa is back.

Etienne has been away in Toronto for the last 4 days. Before he left for his trip, he was so busy at work that he hardly got to see Laetitia. By the time he came home from work, she was sleeping and sometimes she was still sleeping when he leaves for work in the morning. Her papa missed her very much and I'm sure she misses her papa too.

Although he arrived back in Paris today at about 10am and got home around 12.30pm, he had to rush back to work. So, he tried his best to come home a little earlier to spend some time with Lae Lae before I get her ready for her bath (part of the night sleep routine). He was so happy that he managed to get home at the same time as us (we were coming back from the garderie). He spent some fun time playing with his little precious one.

Here's some funny things he was trying to do!

She's so cute he wanted to eat her up.... starting with the hand!

MY daughter loves vegetables!?!

Can she really be my daughter?

I HATE HATE HATE vegetables. My mum used to force me to eat them and I remember pretending to chew it and hiding them in my cheeks for 10 minutes before pretending to go to the toilet to spit them ALL out. I would also sit patiently infront of a bowl of noodles or fried rice to carefully pick out all the bean sprouts or green peas or whatever ugly green or orangey (carrots) things in my dish. And what do I have here? A vegetable loving baby! She would happily gobble down carrots puree and even spinach!

It was wierd as before I feed her, I normally check the temperature of the food on my hand and taste it. I had a small (very small) drop on pureed spinach today and was thinking to myself, "YUCKS"! It tasted horrible. Well, to me at least. But in any case, I try to pretend that it was yummy and acted enthusastic about it and the funny thing was, Lae Lae loves it. She was happily opening her mouth for more. Maybe babies have warped taste buds! I tried the apple pureed which, in my opinion, was quite delicious but she did not enjoy it very much. And this yucky green slimy poo looking vegetable puree? She loved it.

I told her papa over the phone (he is in Toronto now, leaving me and Lae Lae alone again) and he was so pleased saying how she is like him.... blablabla... loves vegetables... blablabla... Well, guess she has his taste bud genes. Good for her as she will be eating healthier and more balance meals than her mummy.

Anyways, I did a little photo diary of her.... here goes...

First day in the Halte Garderie (Daycare/Nursery)

It all happened really fast! Last Friday I went to the private halte garderie that I registered Laetitia for in June to check on our waitlist status. I registered in the public garderies too but was told that it would be September 2007 before I could possibly get a spot!!! Anyways, when I was there, I was told that I have progressed from number 49 in the list to number 26 and that I would probably get a place around next January. I was a little disappointed but there was nothing much I could do. The waitlist for garderies and creche in Paris is ridiculously long and there are not many places that will accept babies less than a year old. Fast forward to Monday, I was at a park with three other English speaking mummies and their babies when I received a call from the Directrice of the garderie. She informed me that there is a place available for the 4pm to 7pm slot and asked if I was interested. OF COURSE! So, I made the appointment to do the registration on Tuesday morning and we started the first day of our "period l'adaptation" today.

It went well except for a slight moment when Laetitia was a little frightened by another baby girl who tried to touch her. She has been fine with other children or babies that she has come across so far (in church and when I meet up with other English speaking mummies and babies). It might be that this particular little girl was crying and upset and it scared her a little. She was alright with the caregivers though. It's a nice little place and the caregivers seems very patient and loving.

Friday we will continue with the "period l'adaptation" whereby I will remain with her for 30 minutes and then she will be alone there for another 30 minutes. This will progress to me being with her for 30 minutes and her alone for an hour and 30 minutes before being left there by herself for the first time for 3 hours next Wednesday. She will be going to the garderie three times a week (Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays) 3 hours each time. I think it's probably scarier for me than for her! :p

Here's some new photos of my foot eating baby. (I think she is trying to tell me something about when she starts talking e.g. foot in mouth! hahaha)

Opps! Caught in the act (foot in mouth!)

Sheepish look of embarassment!
"I was just checking out my toe nails Mummy"

Apples for the first time.

Pureed apples of course!

After 4 days of potatoes with zucchini, today, I gave my "little put put" some pureed golden apples (Bledina Pommes Golden). I think she didn't like it too much. She refuses to open her mouth anymore after maybe the second spoon that I stuff into her mouth. After that, I tried mixing it with some cereals and the results were not better. Eventually I added some formula milk into the mix and she relented a little. I tasted the pureed apples and they were actually not bad. It was much tastier than the potatos with zucchini in my humble opinion but then I'm not the one eating.

Well, I will try again tomorrow. :-)

(It's tomorrow and she still does not like it! Check out these expressions!)

Mummy, what in the world are you feeding me?!?

Yucks! This is disgusting! I don't like it.

First taste of vegetables

For dinner, Laetitia was given a small serving of "Pommes de terre courgettes" which is potatos with zucchini. It was funny watching her taste new food. I wished I had prepared the camera like before but I didn't. What a waste. She had the "what in the world is this that you put in my mouth" look! Then the "yikes" look before finally swallowing it. It took a couple of spoonfuls for her to decide that it was not too bad after all.

Now is the start of actual solids! I bought little pots of carrots as well. However, she will try each food for four days before I introduce something new.

Onto something slightly disgusting, I did notice that her poo is a little smellier since she started on cereals, I'm sure it will be even more gross from now on!

First trip out of France... Brussels

Laetitia took her first trip out of France! We left Paris on Aug 28th for a short 3 day trip to Brussels. We took Thalys, the fast speed train, from Gard du Nord to Brussels Gard du Midi. It took only about an hour and 30 minutes to get there. Impressive.

Brussels was cold and rainy. Not exactly the perfect weather but we did managed to get some sun shine on and off.

Here are some photos from our trip.

Papa and Little Lae Lae on Grand Place

Papa and Little Lae Lae infront of Grand Place (miniature in Mini Europe)

Cheeky butt butt giving a big smile inspite of the rain. No day is gloomy when we get a smile like this.

Greedy mummy with her belgium waffles topped with banana and chocolate sauce. Delicious!

Happy 5 months old Laetitia and Happy 3rd Anniversary to us (Etienne and I).

My baby girl is 5 months old today! She's growing well and is a happy chappy baby.

As usual for her monthly growth track, here are the latest specs!

Lenght: 66.5cm (last month = 64.5cm)
Weight: 6.65kgs (last month = 5.9kgs)
Head Circumference: 42cm (last month = 41cm)

New things she started doing over the course of this month:-
1) Roll over both ways (back to front and front to back) resulting in her first fall off the bed!
2) Keep head level with body when pulled to a sitting position.
3) Use her hands to raise her chest when on stomach
4) Pull herself up slightly from a lying position by grabbing something infront of her.

We're in Brussels taking a little wedding anniversary break. More pictures to come.

Pinch me I'm cute!

I love this adorable little T-shirt that one of my sister's friends gave to Laetitia. It's an Old Navy tee that says "PINCH ME I'm cute". It is really suitable for Laetitia as I have been "warned" by family and friends back home in Singapore that they are eagerly awaiting the day we get back to pinch my cutie pie's butt or cheeks. I'll make sure she wears this tee when she sees the people who have been saying that they want to pinch her cos she is cute! Hahaha. Aside from being spot on for people who wants to pinch her, the tee looks fabulous on my little butt butt. Yes, I've lots of nicknames for Laetitia.... little butt butt, little put put (like poo poo but said in a singlish way) etc.

So, do you think she looks good with the tee?

Miss little chubby cheeks! Getting very excited at seeing her mummy! Moving her hands vigorously. Opps! You're talking about me?
Chilling out. Yes, I know I'm cute. You can pinch me.
I told you I'm cute. :p

And now that my mum is able to access the internet and take a look at this site, there will be even more photos being put up (not that I was not already doing that!). It's just that I will probably be flooding this blog with more photos. Be forewarned!

Almost an "upward facing dog" yoga pose?

My little girl is growing faster and faster by the day. She has now learnt to push her chest up while on her belly... a somewhat "upward facing dog" yoga pose. She was having a good time doing it to impress both her papa and I. We were clapping and cheering her on everytime she did it and it made her laugh so hard too.

Look Mummy! Look what I can do!

What did you say papa? I'm sorry I wasn't paying attention. Oh, papa! I'm glad that you are very proud of me! I do try my best.

And with her growing up, she is also starting to have little "tantrums" once in a while. I can no longer just leave her by herself for too long before she starts complaining. She would make noises that seems to sound like "maaaaa..... maaaa....." Of course her papa would say that I am imagining things.

Happy mummy = Happy baby

She is slowly resembling me more and more...

The different smiles and a frown!

My little girl is usually happy but once in a while I catch her frowning or looking a little upset and I think that it's quite cute sometimes.

A contented happy face

Little chippy girl trying to say something to her mummy...

Hahaha she seriously looked angry.

First taste of cereal!

I have been eagerly awaiting the day when I will be able to feed Laetitia using methods other than breastfeeding since she started to refuse the bottle. Most of the books or information I read in the internet suggested a minimum of age 4 months old before introducing solids. Of course there were other things to take note of such as steady head control etcto be careful about. Well, I felt that Laetitia was more than ready and in fact, she seems very keen and interested whenever she sees me having my lunch (she is usually sleeping by the time we have our dinner).
Yesterday I decided to give her her very first spoon of cereal (Blédina's Ma 1ère Blédine goût nature) mixed with my expressed breastmilk.

I was very excited! She seems very happy and she's saying hi for the camera. :p

First mouth of cereal.

Not very impressed after all. I think it might be due to the fact that she was also POOING while I feed her!
I will persevere!

This early afternoon, I told myself I will have better luck at getting her to eat some of the cereal. I was going to feed her the cereal at the same time, the late afternoon feed. Keeping my fingers crossed and being optimistic, I started to get her ready. All settled in her swing, a bib to "catch" the mess that she might make and we're ready to roll.

Here's my bundle of joy looking all cheery as usual. That's a good start.

Here comes the yummy rice cereal..... WOO she is happy with it. Yippee. Big smiles for mummy.

I dare say that she seems to enjoy it.

It was not easy for her to learn to swallow after the cereal enters her mouth. It took a couple of spoons before she understood that she needed to swallow. I had to tilt the spoon high up (occasionally touching her nose with it) before she would do the swallowing action.

In the end, she managed to finished about 20ml of cereal. I made 35ml mixed with 3 tablespoonfuls of cereal to create a mixture of about 40ml. She had about half of it. I guess she could have finished everything but I read that it's best to introduce it slowly. After giving her the cereal, I continued to breastfeed her. I will do this incrementally over a week before finally replacing the 3pm feed (the feed before her last feed of the day) with cereal. After that, I will advance to replacing the second meal of the day with another type of solid food. Probably some vegetable/fruit puree.

Laetitia loves papa.

It's so sweet to see my baby girl with her papa. She always have big smiles ready for her papa when he comes on early enough to catch her before she goes to bed. Or sometimes in the morning. And of course her papa is smitten with her. The two people I love the most in this world!