Wednesday, June 15, 2005
Tuesday, June 14, 2005
Sunday, June 12, 2005
Bathing!!!
Contrary to what I've heard about bathing babies, I really do enjoy bathing my little boy!
It's a time of bonding between father and son, man to man. And to me, its the most intimate thing that a daddy can do with his son. The mummy has the breastfeeding, the daddy has the bathing :)
Indeed, I really do enjoy the time with Caleb. From the start, by cleaning his eyes, to the end, by wearing back his clothes, its really quite fun.
So what's there to clean or do... here's the lowdown on the whole process.
1. Boil the water
2. Get ready all the items needed for the bath and lay them down nicely (new set of clothes, mittens, booties, diapers, towel, wrap, baby lotion, baby soap, cotton wool, alcohol swap for the umbilical cord, powder, ruyiyou, eye drop, rash cream, wet wipes and of course water, slightly warm... see photo below)
3. Wash hands with soap
4. Clean his eyes with cotton wool dipped in cool boiled water
5. Drop a drop of eye drop (because he has got eye infection)
6. Clean his face with cotton wool dipped in warm water, not forgetting the back of the ears and the inside of the ears (don't take off his clothes yet, he may get a cold)
7. Take out his clothes and wrap him in a wrap (we use a nappy as a wrap)
8. Carry him with one hand and use the other hand to take a small towel, soak into the water, wring dry and wipe clean his hair and forehead gently
9. Unwrap him and bring him over the water, gently let his feet touch the water slowly to ease him in and then slowly lower him into the water.
10. Use the small towel wipe clean his neck, hands, tummy, legs, groin etc. (I use this time to orientate him to the parts of his body :) As I clean, I'll vocal out the parts that I'm cleaning, helps him to slowly learn. He enjoys this part the most and just smiles, doesn't struggle, and even fell asleep once)
11. Flip him over to clean his back and backside (pray hard he doesn't decide to poo now)
12. Take the nearby big towel, and bite it with teeth (haha, tell you why in the next 2 steps)
13. Flip him back on his back and gently left him up with both hands as you tell him 'It's done!'.
14. Quickly wrap the 'teeth-held' towel around him by bringing him with 2 hands close to you and then use one hand to bring the bottom part of the towel over him, covering him, nice and warm and quick. (This is a skill we picked up from mum-in-law, she's a skillful and well trained one :)).
15. Bring him back on the bed and dry him thoroughly.
Intermission - All this time, I'm just talking to him, seeing his reaction, pre-empting him of certain things I'm gonna do, praise him for not struggling or being brave, console him if he starts struggling. It's really quite fun... ok ok, I've said that too many times, but it's really fun, hehe.
16. Use the baby lotion to massage him. His chest, his hands and legs, and back. Sometimes he likes this, sometimes he'll squirm.
17. Use the alcohol swap to clean his umbilical cord area and then powder it.
18. Drop of few droplets of ruiyiyou into hands and rub them against each other, then slowly apply unto his tummy... this helps get rid of the wind, supposedly.
19. Apply anti-rash cream onto his groin area and then diaper them.
20. Prepare anti-rash solution (we do this only because he has got some rashes)
21. Apply anti-rash solution followed by anti-rash cream
22. Put on his new clothes, mittens and booties.
A simple and fun 22 step bathing procedure which takes about 30mins.
Hmmm... looking forward to the next bathing time already!
It's a time of bonding between father and son, man to man. And to me, its the most intimate thing that a daddy can do with his son. The mummy has the breastfeeding, the daddy has the bathing :)
Indeed, I really do enjoy the time with Caleb. From the start, by cleaning his eyes, to the end, by wearing back his clothes, its really quite fun.
So what's there to clean or do... here's the lowdown on the whole process.
1. Boil the water
2. Get ready all the items needed for the bath and lay them down nicely (new set of clothes, mittens, booties, diapers, towel, wrap, baby lotion, baby soap, cotton wool, alcohol swap for the umbilical cord, powder, ruyiyou, eye drop, rash cream, wet wipes and of course water, slightly warm... see photo below)
3. Wash hands with soap
4. Clean his eyes with cotton wool dipped in cool boiled water
5. Drop a drop of eye drop (because he has got eye infection)
6. Clean his face with cotton wool dipped in warm water, not forgetting the back of the ears and the inside of the ears (don't take off his clothes yet, he may get a cold)
7. Take out his clothes and wrap him in a wrap (we use a nappy as a wrap)
8. Carry him with one hand and use the other hand to take a small towel, soak into the water, wring dry and wipe clean his hair and forehead gently
9. Unwrap him and bring him over the water, gently let his feet touch the water slowly to ease him in and then slowly lower him into the water.
10. Use the small towel wipe clean his neck, hands, tummy, legs, groin etc. (I use this time to orientate him to the parts of his body :) As I clean, I'll vocal out the parts that I'm cleaning, helps him to slowly learn. He enjoys this part the most and just smiles, doesn't struggle, and even fell asleep once)
11. Flip him over to clean his back and backside (pray hard he doesn't decide to poo now)
12. Take the nearby big towel, and bite it with teeth (haha, tell you why in the next 2 steps)
13. Flip him back on his back and gently left him up with both hands as you tell him 'It's done!'.
14. Quickly wrap the 'teeth-held' towel around him by bringing him with 2 hands close to you and then use one hand to bring the bottom part of the towel over him, covering him, nice and warm and quick. (This is a skill we picked up from mum-in-law, she's a skillful and well trained one :)).
15. Bring him back on the bed and dry him thoroughly.
Intermission - All this time, I'm just talking to him, seeing his reaction, pre-empting him of certain things I'm gonna do, praise him for not struggling or being brave, console him if he starts struggling. It's really quite fun... ok ok, I've said that too many times, but it's really fun, hehe.
16. Use the baby lotion to massage him. His chest, his hands and legs, and back. Sometimes he likes this, sometimes he'll squirm.
17. Use the alcohol swap to clean his umbilical cord area and then powder it.
18. Drop of few droplets of ruiyiyou into hands and rub them against each other, then slowly apply unto his tummy... this helps get rid of the wind, supposedly.
19. Apply anti-rash cream onto his groin area and then diaper them.
20. Prepare anti-rash solution (we do this only because he has got some rashes)
21. Apply anti-rash solution followed by anti-rash cream
22. Put on his new clothes, mittens and booties.
A simple and fun 22 step bathing procedure which takes about 30mins.
Hmmm... looking forward to the next bathing time already!
Things are settling down...
After 3 weeks of parenthood, things are finally starting to settle down with daily routines being put in place and no longer do both of us feel that we're in a rush to do so many things for little Caleb (actually, he is no longer that little, weighing in at abt 3.9~4kg by now). We now have time to read, to watch tv, to go to work (that's for me), to take more photos (as you can see below), to blog (hehe, finally).
I have started work again, and thank God for a job with flexi hours, allowing me to go into office in the mornings, back for lunch (pick up lunch from Mum-in-law, who has been faithfully cooking for us for the weekdays, we're grateful for that), and then work from home or go to customer sites in the afternoon if need be (in case you think that's it, I've got to reply to emails at nights of course, but at least I get to spend time with wife and baby).
Wife still feels tired, because she has to feed Caleb about every 2 hours nowadays. Sometimes it gets really frequent, and she seems to be feeding every hourly, very tiring. I'll try to take some night feeds if there is expressed milk, else poor wife gotta wake up in the middle of the night too, to feed. She'll try to catch some sleep everytime Caleb falls asleep, so that at least she'll get some rest.
Well, as for no-so-little Caleb, you can see his photos below. He is really enjoying himself, eating, sleeping, burping, staring, smiling, bathing and stoning... though he still does get cholicy (wind in the tummy after feeds) and sometimes it gets quite bad (in that we have to burb him again and again, or he'll keep farting), but generally, he is growing well, and as my brother says, enjoying life.
So, we're truly thankful for a healthy child, and the amount of time we get to interact with him, it is truly enjoyable, and just pure bliss! Just ask Caleb's grandparents... they adore him and laugh at his every wink, every smile, every eye movement, every sigh, every struggle and even every poo :)
Praise the Lord for parenthood!
I have started work again, and thank God for a job with flexi hours, allowing me to go into office in the mornings, back for lunch (pick up lunch from Mum-in-law, who has been faithfully cooking for us for the weekdays, we're grateful for that), and then work from home or go to customer sites in the afternoon if need be (in case you think that's it, I've got to reply to emails at nights of course, but at least I get to spend time with wife and baby).
Wife still feels tired, because she has to feed Caleb about every 2 hours nowadays. Sometimes it gets really frequent, and she seems to be feeding every hourly, very tiring. I'll try to take some night feeds if there is expressed milk, else poor wife gotta wake up in the middle of the night too, to feed. She'll try to catch some sleep everytime Caleb falls asleep, so that at least she'll get some rest.
Well, as for no-so-little Caleb, you can see his photos below. He is really enjoying himself, eating, sleeping, burping, staring, smiling, bathing and stoning... though he still does get cholicy (wind in the tummy after feeds) and sometimes it gets quite bad (in that we have to burb him again and again, or he'll keep farting), but generally, he is growing well, and as my brother says, enjoying life.
So, we're truly thankful for a healthy child, and the amount of time we get to interact with him, it is truly enjoyable, and just pure bliss! Just ask Caleb's grandparents... they adore him and laugh at his every wink, every smile, every eye movement, every sigh, every struggle and even every poo :)
Praise the Lord for parenthood!
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