Junya turns 10 months today!

(Also read  first month , second month , third month , fourth month , fifth month , sixth month , seventh month eight month and ninth month here.)

Honestly i almost forgot about it! The picture was also taken right before i wrote this blog post haha. Contrary to the 8th month, this past month has been full of new surprises! There are more cognitive developments rather than motor skill advancements, almost everyday i find him understand something new, which is really amazing! Here’s what happened in the past month:

 

For Baby

1. New milestones

Before this, my baby is just a baby in his babiest sense. He eats, poops, sleeps, and occasionally throws his spoon over his shoulders. But this month, i realized that Junya actually understands some of the things i said, and i mostly discovered them accidentally.

He understands the question “Where is…“.

I always bring him to our photo wall in the house and show him his and Champon’s Instaprints. One day i randomly asked him “Where’s Champon’s picture?” and he looked right at them.

He also understands that “Champon’s picture” is different from “Champon“. When i ask “Where’s Champon?” he would look to find the Shiba Inu (most often under the bed lolol). Other questions he could answer by looking at said object in question are “Where’s the ceiling fan?” “Where’s Yakult (the plushies)?” “Where are the lights?“, but when i asked “Where’s Papa?” he just looked at me blankly HAHAHAHA.

Other things he could do now:

1. Point at things
2. A bye-bye wave back that looks like he’s trying to dribble a basketball lol
3. Dance to music. Actually dance to anything .___. He even dances when he’s nursing -_-. I would lay him down in my arms but he would struggle to half stand up and just bounces up and down. WHILE NURSING. -___- Imagine the awkwardness -____-
4. Pinch people. REAL HARD. Actually this one started when he was 8 months old but now it’s so painful i had to tell him off sternly. And then he laughs -___-

 

2. Getting along

Sato san with JunJun.

The good news is that now papa can carry him for more than 3 seconds without him screaming murder! Other than family members, he is also quite okay with strangers now, muuuuuch to my relief. I was so worried about his clinginess so i started bringing him to play with the neighbour’s kids almost everyday and now he seemed much much better 😀

 

3. First swim

At a real pool 😀

It’s confirmed!! We would be bringing JunJun to Hawaii this coming June so the papa has started training his son to be a pro surfer at the age of 9 months XD. And today he was pointing a pouring shower head right into his son’s face -______-, and then said, “Good, Junya, strong boy!” -_-

 

4. First trip to Singapore!

Also the second trip overseas!

Junya received a picture of Meredith Tan the day she was born, so he requested his parents, ie me and the danna to bring 礼金 to Singapore to 提亲. And we did.

Junya and his future wife.

NO LA HAHAH. Meredith please hor you still have to compete with Junya’s destiny lover Anna from Japan. Please tell your parents Qiu and Josh ok. You better learn how to make kyaraben when you turn 2 ok lolol.

Family trip in Singapore!

He had lots of fun!! Thank you Singapore!

 

5. First play class!

We were invited to try out play classes at Brillkids so i brought him there for his first ever class! Looks like he totally enjoyed it. He was beaming at his teachers during the whole baby gym session XD. Yesterday we just went for our second class and we’ll see how it goes! Will do a blog post on it when we have attended more classes!

 

 

 6. Antics

Nowadays there are so many funny things he does unexpectedly that really made us LOL.

Firstly his favorite hobby now is to fake coughs. He would strain himself and let out a cough so forceful and jialat just to get our attention. But when we are not amused he whines -____-.

And then sometimes he laughs at the most random things. Most of the time they are things that Champon does. Like once we blew bubbles for him and Champon hopped around trying to nom all the bubbles. he was giggling like it was the greatest comedy lol. He laughs also when Champon’s under the bed sticking his head out. Or when we scold Champon wtf. Omg so young already schadenfreude.

But anyway it made us realize that it was a really good decision to have a pet in the house. I got Champon when i was pregnant and everyone thought i went nuts or something. But it was worth it. At least next time i have someone else to clean up the poops in the park wahhaha.

And sometimes he pretends to be Champon.

 

6. Self-feeding

I started to let him self-feed at about 7 months, but most of the food ended up in Champon’s stomach -_-. Then i stopped because it was just not worth it. I quit BLW. But recently he started to understand (only sometimes) that the food he grabs is supposed to go into his mouth, not the floor (although he loves giving it to Champon, who is waiting for his accidental rewards patiently under the dining table). When he is hungry, he could eat a whole plate of mini onigiri by himself while i could eat my own food. So it really saves a lot of time!

 

7. Weight gain

However. The milk feeding isn’t going as well as i liked it.

(This picture he has pink cheeks very cute hor? Actually is he slammed his face into a chair -__-)

I have weaned him off the day and only nurse him at night (because that’s the only thing that could calm him down during night wakings. See point below later). I assume he is nursing well (you can never tell how much they are drinking, right?), but for formula, he won’t take anything more than 120ml. I have seen the guideline on the formula sheet and it says babies his age are supposed to drink 200ml each time T____T. And his weight is forever stuck around 7.5KG. T___T.

I’m feeding him extra yogurt, avocado and increasing meat intake to fatten him up to no avail T___T. I guess i shouldn’t worry too much but you know la… Moms!!! If you guys have any advise please comment!

 

7. Sleeping through the night…. not. .___.

Junya turns 10 months old today, but he has never ever slept through the night in his life before. Ever. Sleeping through the night sounds so much like a fairy tale to me that when some mommy friends tell me that their babies sleep through the night since 2 months old, in my heart i think, you liar. Hahahah.

Since last month things got worse. Some say it is due to teething, but during the first couple of hours of his night sleep, he generally wakes up 2-3 times, sitting up, screaming -___-. And then a few more times middle of the night when we are all sleeping together.

Nothing can calm him except boobs. Nothing. As weird as it sounds, even by touching it, he calms down. So it happens like this: after i put him to sleep, i go to my study room to do some work, leaving the door open and keep watchful ears. Champon is my baby monitor (lolol at least he’s worth something). Before i could hear anything, he could already sense the tiniest voice/noise, and would turn to stare at me alertly. And i would dash in with max speed (he sleeps on our bed and there’s a chance he would climb and fall off even though we barricade him with pillows and stuff) and lift my shirt then lie down next to him and let him find me. Every single time. Countless times a night.

At first it didn’t bother me much because i got so used to it, and all i did was lift my shirt -_-. But then recently it has been happening more often and he’s inconsolable without boobs and i started to worry what if i am not around at night? How could he calm down? Things are gonna get real weird if he turns 5 and has to touch my boobs to calm down @.@

I read up a little and it sounded to me like night terror. Where a baby/kid wakes up suddenly, screaming, push you away if you try to console.

So two days ago both the danna and i decided to try the CIO (cry it out) method. I have never believed in it, mostly because i didn’t think i was capable of leaving my baby cry till he drifts back to sleep because he has no more energy to cry anymore. But i too cringe at the thought of a school-age boy who demands verbally for his mama’s boobies @.@

So the first night, he cried for 30 minutes. The second day 30 minutes, and woke up again to play by himself then falls back asleep O.o. Last night it was only 2-3 minutes. I hope tonight would be a cry-free night. *prays*

 

 

 

 For Mama

1.  Sleeping through the night…. not. .___.

So as long as he does not sleep through the night, it means that i too, won’t.

And every single morning i wake up feeling like an amputee because this happens:

I. can’t. feel. my. arms.

 

2. Mommy’s choice

The horror begins when you realize that every single thing you do and every single path you choose directly affects your child’s life, and that you have to brace yourself to face whatever consequences that come your way as a result of actions you took.

Keep to a schedule or go with the flow? When to wean? What time is bed time? Ipad or no ipad? And later on there are even bigger things to decide like, which school to go to? And all the small things like, which sun block to use? What temperature to set the bath? When to start eating mango??

That’s some pretty heavy responsibilities right there.

The other day i added raw Yamaimo (Japanese sticky yam which he has eaten before in Okonomiyaki i made earlier) into his food, and after the meal he started fussing a lot and rubbed his face frantically and wore a fearful expression i’ve never seen before. I panicked so much i almost cried.

What happened, JunJun? Tell mama what happened?? Itchy?? Painful??” i demanded. But he only looked at me, terrified. Helpless.

I thought he had an allergy. What do i do??? Is there any anti-allergy pills for baby??? I flipped him around checking his cheeks, neck, face for rashes, and briefly considered rushing to the hospital. But luckily he was fine after drinking some water. Turned out that it’s quite common that raw yamaimo causes itchiness around the mouth even in adults.

But if he really developed an allergy because of a dumb mistake i made (to not have look it up on Google before adding every damn ingredient), i would have to hate myself for that for the rest of my life. Just like when i took a chicken to the knee.

And i guess that’s what it takes to be a mom. It’s not just about making healthy, yummy food for your baby, spending time with him and making him happy. It’s also about being able to come to terms with living with certain guilt and regrets in life, and to forgive yourself and move on.

Share: