6th Month

* Drafted weeks back but updated and posted on 18 July 2009

how time flies, baby Zethan turn 6 months old (that is almost a week back). Done with his mandatory vaccinations and last weigh at 7.6kg and estimated 67cm tall.

A quick summary of the milestones till date

1. Flipping - back to tummy is peanuts both left and right. Zethan is rather agile and within seconds he's flipped. Tummy to back can be a little tricky as selectively he can do it while at times unable to. Even with obstacles around him (read as pillows and bolsters), somehow he can managed to wriggle out of place to a favorable position to flip.

Changing and diapering is such a challenge which end with his loud cries showing displeasure most if not all the times.New skill mastered, tossing and turning in the sarong before reluactantly drifting to sleep. Zethan managed to flip and turn 360 degrees in the sarong on his own (yes mummy did not get it wrong, 360 degrees before 'arriving' back to his orginal position).

2. Crawling - well not exactly crawling but showing signs of it or should put it as practising. Cute as he is, he does it in the reverse direction. Arch his backside real high but flop and move backwards. With some help / support, he can move forward with a hard push using his legs.

3. Grasping - Zethan is really good at this newly mastered skill of his. Even when hair are tied in a ponytail, somehow he will reach to the back and pulled real hard. Grab hanky which usually go into his mouth and another favourite pastime of his will be to grab mummy's blouse. However mummy tend to note that he is a tad lazy to reach out for things in front of him.

4. Toes grabbing - just one day Zethan realised that he can grabbed his toes when he curled his legs towards him though yet to discover sucking his toes (grandma beg to differ and say he did).

5. Standing - of course not quite possible at this young age but Zethan love to 'stand' while he's being carried and many a times refused to sit down, not to mention being in cradle position which he dread most.

6. Weaning - Zethan master the concept of spoon feeding rather well even at 1st attempt. Loves cereal over milk for certain. Mummy have decided to provide him with organic food to her very best if possible and so far Zethan have tried butternut squash and apple puree. Love the former and hate the latter.

7. Teething - 1st Pearlie (lower right molar) sprout and push through on his 6th mth (lunar calendar) but Zethan appear to be still experiencing the discomfort since the longest time; drooling, ear scratching, biting etc. not quite possible to take a picture of it, push down his lower lips gently and Zethan will stick his tongue out!

8. Babbling - Zethan is definitely going to be a talkative boy, well some say sociable which sound much more pleasant. Coo, scream, giggling and laughing out loud appear to be one of his favourite pastime. He will 'talk' to things he fancy e.g. fan, television program, sarong. Hear 'ma' and 'ba' occasionally when he's protesting during feeds.

Improvements needed in these areas

1. Fine motor skill - lazy to reach out to items unless it's given directly to him.

2. Car Seat - too active to be seated in the car seat but no choice would have to enforce for the sake of safety. Mummy yet to drive alne with Zethan all by herself, would have to try out one of the days perhaps starting with nearby locations, not to be too ambitious.

3. Milk feeds - still fluctuating like the stock exchange but what mummy is hoping is only for Zethan to consume the minimum of 600ml daily. Just a few days here and there Zethan did not meet so far.

4. Weight - mummy have been longing for Zethan to hit 8kg since 2 months back. She is not having very high expectation but gradual increase is more than sufficient to make her happy.

Never ending

why such a caption? as apparently mummy appear to have a never ending list of 'buys' every month just as it seem that she is almost done with baby stuff but looks like far from it.

whether it is 'needs' or 'wants', up to individual's discretion although so far as daddy is concerned most if not all are mummy's 'wants' and not Zethan's 'needs'!

anyhow mummy is affirmative this is Zethan and mummy's 'NEEDS', confirm, chop and signed!

thanks to Auntie Cindy for her help in purchasing these items at a steal....translating to significant savings for mummy.

Kiasu-ism at work again, stocking up on milk bottles and teats.

Getting all excited to preparing home cooked purees for Zethan however plans are shelved off till next week as BB Zethan still coughs with phelgm. Nevertheless very certain it will be an interesting experience for both mummy and Zethan.

Serving of Tea

Zethan have to had his penis (foreskin pulled back)washed with water once a day for hygiene purpose.

just last saturday, mummy placed him in the cot and washed him. bending down for better 'view' and facilitate cleaning, Zethan pee! shooting directly into mummy's mouth. >.<"

What a blessing. Looks like Zethan can't wait to serve mummy tea!

Cough

finally the 'UTI saga' ended with a successful urine collection and results are normal!

just when things are looking up with Zethan's feeds resuming back to normal or even better than before after switching formula to Similac, little guy was down with cough.

Started out with 2-3 coughs a day which sould be consider as irritation to the throat untill last sunday when he started coughing more frequently especially at night. Not wanting for the cough to worsen, pd visit again on Mon. Given rhinathol and was told probably viral infection. Took 1st dose in the night and apparently observe cough to worsen.

2nd day - frequency of phlegmy cough increases. Damn clinic not answering call despite 1hr before clinic closure.

3rd day - morning cough badly and puke out thrice milk + phlegm. Called pd and was asked to return for review. Given Singular and Sinupret and hope it clear after 3 days or so. Crossing fingers here.

little guy weighs 7.79kg.

Friends

mummy is clearing her maternity leave on fridays as scheduled and it will take her till early november to fully utilized the balance.

last friday mummy brought Zethan to Auntie Sue Lin and BB Caleb's house for a gathering. Initially Zethan was really sticky and clinging on to mummy, fussed when mummy put him on the playmat, he pout and cry and it took repeated tries and quite a while for him to warm up. Is that what they called stranger anxiety thingy?

Caleb and Zethan share the same hatchday!

okie, what is the agenda for today's meeting?

Ko-ed after a whole afternoon of fun

Test

mummy have been worrying sick with Zethan's feedings dipping further south day by day for like close to 4 weeks or more. She is trying to check around from experienced lactation consultant to senior neonatalogist to peadiatrician etc.

Just last week she brought Zethan to see Mrs Wong @ TMCas she remarked during a conversation with mummy that it's way too long to have this loss of appetite and urged mummy to bring Zethan in for a training session on bottle feeding. Mummy did just that and conclusion being Zethan is rather well grown and should drink when he's hungry. To play safe, make a trip to pd for UTI test for peace of mind and if situation dun improve after 2-3 weeks, get a full body checkup done by pd.
The collection of urine was a frustrating process. Went to the pd on a sat only to realised that they can't collect urine on sat after 1.5hrs wait. No ear infection, lungs sound okay though a mouth rinse was given because of some redness on Zethan's gums to prevent a probable gingivitis.
2nd trip to pd returned empty handed as well. apparently Zethan's penis wasn't clean properly thus there are dirt / dead skin observed when his foreskin is being pulled back. So was sent back once again with a potassium based antiseptic wash. However instructions were not furbished properly by the nurse mentioning that just splahing of dilution on the penis with skin pulled back. Mummy checked if cleaning is necessary and was told not to touch the penis as it is going to be sensitive.
After 4 days of washing thrice daily, mummy and grandma happily brought Zethan back to the pd but again as dirt is still observed even after skin preps, pd advised to continue with the wash till no dirt is seen. Mummy was really angry as she was mis-informed on how to clear the dirt / dead skin thus wasting another trip! This time round the pd said to cleanse away the dead skin with gauge / cotton balls. Mummy was pissed not just over the time and trips wasted but largely the discomfort for Zethan having to go through this ordeal for so many days and more to come. duhs!

From mummy's observation, it appear to be cleared of the dirt as of now so hopefully the next trip for urine collection will be fruitful!

Botak!

Zethan had his hair shaved on 6 Jun 09 and bid goodbye to his beautiful hair.

Feeling the wind in my hair!

why Zethan had to have his hair shaved

shower before hair shave

aiyo mummy, im shy to be pictured naked!

have you had enough?

heard of the saying ~ hair standing on ends?

okie, give up, smile more radiantly for more shots

beads of perspiration

I'm all ready, get on it before I change my mind

no turning back now ~ oh my precious hair

hmm....sure it's done?

officially declared botak!

my new image - still handsome?

yeah, mummy say no doubts!

mummy's handsome botak head!

Baby Gal

did mummy make a mistake or was there a gender confusion?

work of grandma, the masterpieces!

Right Flip

Zethan flip from back to tummy on his right today but mummy suspect it's a one off thingy. No photo / video though, nope the above photo is taken previously.

So far most if not all the time Zethan will flip from back to tummy on his left which he is an expert now.

Imagine he can be realli persistent and try to attempt countless times when mummy try to stop him from doing so. Zethan can't stop flipping be it dressing up time or diapering time thus it is indeed challenging to perform these task without flipping him back constantly.

The thing is he can flip from back to tummy but have forgotten the ability to flip back thus after a while will definitely call out for help!