4 months old into the new world ~

Authour Note: Throwback post! I just realize I save this in my draft without posting it so this is a backdated post (Little one is 6 months old now hehe, will share more on our first overseas trip!)

My little one is 4.5 months old! Looking back, I am so glad that I could tell people nowadays that I am coping alright. (The first 6 weeks was really challenging, yobu can read my 4th trimester post before this to find out more 😔)

And for this post, I just want to share photos and videos of him ushering into this new world for the past 19 weeks. This 19-weeks baby is smiling more often, and truly being such a blessing in life. We are still battling with his sleep issues no doubt, and sometimes I am still pretty upset with his disrupted sleep at night. But, I have learn to manage my expectation so I will just keep pushing on, understanding he is a baby and he needs time to learn. Working in a team with my hubby really helps a lot as parenting really is a team effort! Even though I am still sleep deprived some nights, on the days he isn't working, he will give me plenty of rest. It is at times like this that I realize this parenting journey can be such a fun and learning experience, not just for myself, but also for my hubby too as we learn the cues of baby, support and encourage one another, and ultimately grow into the better version of ourselves 😊

So, still sleep deprived, but at least, you find a more happy sleep deprived parents now HAHA. Well, of course I do hope that this phase will pass because I can be very grumpy if I don't get enough sleep. So hopefully, it will pass soon! For now, welcome into the new world of Joel 😙 (cue SNSD song! you know then you know 😏)

Let's go back in time and you can see how much his feature changed since his birth! 

1-2 weeks young

This is when his nickname 'bao' came about because his cheek resembles the cartoon character bao (Google it and tell me whether you think they look alike!). And well, he has the cutest hiccup that time that sounds like plush toys. I noticed his hair is also very different from now. Hair is still pantene-ad worthy, but back then it was spiking upwards, now it is going lion-king style HAHA. 

1-month young

This is one of the hardest month and I was so very worn out and tired. It was the time that he had much difficulty in sleeping that we have to constantly carry him in carrier or just let him nap on us. Looking back it really was such difficult time that even my smile feels so much forced! Nevertheless, we still decide to commit some times into celebrating his full moon, by making red eggs and ordering some kueh. 

 2-month young

When he was 2-month young, I think this was the time when his feature seem to closely resemble now. It was also the time when we went to sleep school. We thought we were so helpless in his sleep situation that we wanted to seek for help, and since our private insurance covered for his admission, we decided to go for it! Though closer to the admission date, we realize that he was doing pretty okay for his sleep as he started to sleep longer stretch. It was still a good help as we finally got few solid night sleeps, and I really felt much better moving forward, learning that he can indeed sleep longer stretch and I had the confidence to know how to settle him when he cried. 

3-month young

3-month young old was a sweet season, as he finally established into his own routine, by needing just a midnight feed and started to sleep through the night after. We thought sleeping through the night was a faraway dream, so even though he woke up early, we were still pretty contented since we were getting some sleep. This was also the month that I noticed the little one was a little chubby? I think he stilll looks like now, but is obviously undergoing some growth spurts that he started to gain weight and looks 'rounder' HAHA. 

4-month young

4-month young was THE best, and the reason being my mum was here finally after much long wait. We had such awesome time, and hubby and I even got time for a date for ourselves! This was the month where he underwent another sleep regression, so he started to revert his good sleep habits by waking almost every hour, so having mum as an extra hand to help was definitely much needed. We enjoyed her presence so much so that I was in tears a little when she went back. But lucky for me, my sis continued to stay and spend some time with baby and us!

4.5-month young

It is still such a sweet season. We are still in the midst of the regression, but my sister being here makes all the difference. We went to church together with baby, went for a road trip, a walk, a visit to the doctor, basically all the mundane stuffs, but one that was so fun because she was around. And I missed her already. Baby right now is obviously at the peak of his cuteness season! HAHA. 

We brought him to church and probably the first ever church service where he sits still and quite calmly in the audience before he needs to leave for poop haha. He greeted a lot of uncles and aunties in church too! Now that mask and even Covid isolation mandate is lifted, it truly feels like we are ushering into a new Covid normal era, where travelling can once again be a possible reality. I am so going to enjoy this very very much. So my first stop will be..

MALAYSIA! Yes, since my 2020 visit to Bren's wedding in Kuching and Penang, I have not yet left Australia for almost 2.5 years, and I desperately need to fly home. So, tickets were bought and all were in place, except for the little one's passport! He is automatically an Australian citizen by birth, but the child passport is taking longer than normal to process, so please pray for us to get it in time so we can make it to our trip back home.

See you then! Miss-me-not because I WILL BE BACK! 😝