I didn't know that there is this "tradition" whereby parents "critisise" their children in hopes they would turn out the opposite. Like for example:

A: How is your son?
B: Oh he is very naughty!!!

When in fact son is OK.

Then there is a saying where, dont praise your child so much cos he or she will get spoilt.

So it comes to me as a surprise when I was having this conversation:

A: So how is your girl?
Me: OMGSHEISSONAUGHTYCANDIE!!
A: Issit? Or are you really saying cos you dont want to jinx her good ness
Me: WHAT? Is there such a thing?
A: Ya (explains what I explained above)
Me: No... really.. my girl is really sonaughtyuntilcandie. Serious. No joke. I dont praise also she is still naughtyuntilcandie.

No one really believes me except for my confinement lady and babysitter.

Serious.

So funny.. whoever wrote this should be credited:

OK, here’s my situation. My Mommy has had me for almost 7 months. The first few months were great–I cried, she picked me up and fed me, anytime, day or night. Then something happened. Over the last few weeks, she has been trying to STTN (sleep thru the night). At first, I thought it was just a phase, but it is only getting worse. I’ve talked to other babies, and it seems like it’s pretty common after Mommies have had us for around 6 months. Here’s the thing: these Mommies don’t really need to sleep. It’s just a habit. Many of them have had some 30 years to sleep–they just don’t need it anymore. So I am implementing a plan. I call it the Crybaby Shuffle.

It goes like this:
Night 1–cry every 3 hours until you get fed. I know, it’s hard. It’s hard to see your Mommy upset over your crying. Just keep reminding yourself, it’s for her own good.
Night 2–cry every 2 hours until you get fed.
Night 3–every hour.

Most Mommies will start to respond more quickly after about 3 nights.
Some Mommies are more alert, and may resist the change longer. These Mommies may stand in your doorway for hours, shhhh-ing. Don’t give in. I cannot stress this enough: CONSISTENCY IS KEY!! If you let her STTN (sleep through the night), just once, she will expect it every night. I KNOW IT’S HARD! But she really does not need the sleep, she is just resisting the change. If you have an especially alert Mommy, you can stop crying for about 10 minutes, just long enough for her to go back to bed and start to fall asleep. Then cry again. It WILL eventually work. My Mommy once stayed awake for 10 hours straight, so I know she can do it.

Last night, I cried every hour. You just have to decide to stick to it and just go for it. BE CONSISTENT! I cried for any reason I could come up with. My sleep sack tickled my foot. I felt a wrinkle under the sheet. My mobile made a shadow on the wall. I burped, and it tasted like pears. I hadn’t eaten pears since lunch, what’s up with that? The cat said “meow”. I should know. My Mommy reminds me of this about 20 times a day. LOL. Once I cried just because I liked how it sounded when it echoed on the monitor in the other room. Too hot, too cold, just right–doesn’t matter! Keep crying!! It took awhile, but it worked. She fed me at 4am. Tomorrow night, my goal is 3:30am. You need to slowly shorten the interval between feedings in order to reset your Mommies’ internal clocks.

P.S. Don’t let those rubber things fool you, no matter how long you suck on them, no milk will come out. Trust me.

Woohoo.. can you tell? She is sleeping. HAHAHAHAHAHAH

Ok seriously need to stop getting happy when she sleeps.

I thought I'd just do a 3 month update:

1. She is extremely happy when you give her a smile and say good morning each morning.
2. She likes being carried
3. She is more aware of her surroundings now. She tends to observe more (and not sleep all the way) when I take her out.
4. She can respond to you talking to her (depending on her mood, usually after being fed). But dont expect rocket science to come out of her mouth. For goodness sake she is just 3 months old. Normal baby cute babbles come out.
5. She knows how to say "how" "mama" and "nay" although she doesnt know the meaning of those words (no papa or dada yet.. AHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA)
6. She loves nursery rhymes especially .. "if you are happy and you know.."
7. She loves her DVD, "Your baby can read!" (Ok, I seriously have to stop being so kiasu.. but she LOVES it to death.. plus I get half hour break from entertaining her so that my brain wont turn to mush)
8. She loves songs and tunes. Twinkle twinkle little star, old mac donald and if you are happy and you know. I bought her a collection of nursery rhyme songs (by Mr Men!) because I'm too dumb to remember all of them.. just so.. you know.. in case.. she gets bored of me.
9. She hates drinking water.
2. She is extremely happy to see you happy. Previously its all accidental smiles.. and stuff.. so now you know, she really thinks you are funny and entertaining.. (hahahahahha)

She doesnt know how to grab stuff yet, but I am seeing progress. She drools like a tap (sign of teething? NooooOoOo). She is wanting to sit up by herself but cant, then cries for help.

Have I covered everything?

Oh.. yea.. she is still a cheeky little monster.

Going back to work after 3 months isnt easy... juggling with the baby. I dont have a maid, and that makes the house even in a more sorry state than it was before. I dont trust a maid.. so she goes to a baby sitter.

Normally my days goes like:

Send her to baby sitter, work, rush to pick her up, entertain her, let her nap so I can wash off the grime for the day, wake her up, entertain her (again) then put her to sleep. Pray she sleeps through the night.

Lately I've been wanting her to drop the 4am feed. So I've been putting her to sleep around 10 - 1030. Bad I know. But she still wakes up at 4 am anyway. It got so bad I couldnt sleep and I had to work the next day. Smack in the middle of a rush peak period! I've tried patting her back to sleep, shushing, rocking, anything but feeding her. I even ignored her for 1 hour (its hard to ignore since her cot is in my room). She still does not give up. I've taken up part time co-sleeping (where she sleeps in her cot in the begining of the night, and then when she wakes, she comes to bed with me) cos its so much easier than getting up of the bed and consoling her to sleep.

Some said try giving her water at 4 am. I did try that before and it wasnt pretty. She was still wailing for her food half hour later. I guess she was too young then. So I tried it again on last Friday. It seemed to work. She went back to sleep thinking great.. last few days no food.. this time is water.. zzzzzzzzzz till 730am. CRAP I WAS LATE FOR WORK (she was my alarm clock at 6am).

Friday night, she still woke up at 4am. I grabbed her and put her to bed with me. Slept.

Saturday night ...I told her (she is 3 months now) please please let mommy and daddy sleep OK. You were crap the last week and mommy needs to work during the weekend. And then I put her to sleep at 10pm (she has no problems getting to bed). Walked out of the room started my laptop and prayed she doesnt get up at 4 am again. And I worked till 1230 am. I went to the room, with sinus and all thinking.. ok I shall just pop a pill and everything will be ok... she'll wake up anyway.. so I REALLY NEED THE ANTIHISTAMINE.... *gulp*...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Fast forward... looked at the clock... 6.45am... wait is the clock right? SHE ISNT AWAKE? OMGWTFBBQ!!!!!! IS SHE STILL ALIVE (I tend to get really paranoid of SIDS)????

Yes she is still alive and woke up at around 7am wanting to eat and after that with the biggest smile. Aaah.

Actually reading this (sleepisfortheweak.wordpress.com) is really comforting.. especially when other people ask you.. is she sleeping through the night? And then u reply sheepishly.. no... and then a pathetic smile (along with the face that says, you dont know how to parent your child) awaits you... and loads of advices given on how to "sleep train" my daughter. Yea I know. I get it. I'm the worse parent EVAR. I take my daughter to bed with me for the sake of convenience. I give her the pacifier cos I'm lazy to keep shushing her for 5 hours to make her take naps in the afternoons (seriously? I did that till my tongue and throat was raw, just because giving her the pacifier means I'm spoiling her). I let her sleep in the rocker just cos she likes it. Now I just do NOT CARE. I do whatever works to gain my sanity back. Of course.. by letting her flash that infamous cheeky smile of hers EVERY MORNING does wonders to start a day fresh.

Throw those "professional advice" books away. Cos they dont apply to EVERY baby on earth. Some are more needy than others. Mine is just, clingy. I let her cling to me. After all, when she reaches her teens, she probably will decide that she doesnt want anything to do with me anymore. So just sit back, and let ur baby decide she wants you more than ever.

If you could see how cute she is, you can understand why... ;)