A new beginning

What a difference a week makes!

It is now Day 5 sans-maid. Maid told us last Wednesday night that she wanted to go back, so we sent her off on Thursday. We had plenty of reservations on how we and Dominic would cope. He's not a fragile infant anymore, but a soon-to-be 2 year old toddler is plenty to handle too!

We thought D would miss the maid, but the good news is that toddler's memory is truly quite short. In the beginning, he asked for the maid now and then. By now, he would ask for her once or twice a day and that's it. More like a short question on where is she? But not a longing for her, no tantrums or pining. He's happy to let us take care of him, with the exception of day-time naps.

How it's been so far? It's been good and bad! We're surviving... last night was difficult because D woke at 4am and didn't return to sleep >.< But the past 3 nights were OK. A run-down:

Feeding - not so good! D EXTREMELY picky with food now, it drives us nuts. He's on a white rice, white udon, fried nuggets of fish or meat diet. Supplemented by fruit. Hardly takes any fibre. I'm thinking of re-introducing flaxseed and sneak it in his milk. His regular formula milk is changing its formulation, the new one gives him harder poop. This is worrying when he's not taking in any fibre! I hope he gets out of this picky eating phase soon :S (I hope it IS a phase and not permanent!) MIL has been fantastic with feeding D, coming up with ways and tricks to encourage him to eat more. He'd be stick-thin without her! We are also teaching him to use his utensils more - he is making progress.

Day-time nap - bad! D hasn't gotten used to ah-ma putting him to bed during the day. This results in an overly-tired and cranky tod in the late afternoon. Coupled with the fact that ah-ma dislikes forcing him to sleep, I'm not sure if he'll recover his routine! I sure hope they work out this kink this week, a baby on a suitable routine is a happy baby!

Night-time sleep - average! The good news is that mummy here has been successful so far every night in putting D to bed. I do feel very fulfilled at being able to do this. The first night D took 45 minutes, subsequently he took 30 minutes before entering dreamland. The bad news is that D has a habit of waking up in a foul mood at 4am!! This happened every night. He'd cry and shout angrily. Most nights I was able to pacify him and get him back to sleep, by distraction then calming him down. Last night however I lost the fight - he dozed off, but woke again and didn't go back to sleep for the rest of the morning! I've been up since 4am today. It's terrible. This must be the true taste of mothering / childcare. :P I need to strategise what to do tonight, or maybe I should just pat him to sleep longer and not stop before he's in deep sleep... Poor daddy stayed up together with us, I hope he managed to recoup some sleep this morning. Daddy's been an angel, really patient and tolerant despite how D antangonises him - I think he's reached new heights with his patience, nearing saint-hood!

Shower, changing - good. Other than his habit of not staying still to get dressed, D is quite OK during shower time. Daddy even showered him yesterday - his first attempt!

Play, activity - as per normal. At times when there is only one caregiver (me) and I'm not able to give D any attention, D would keep looking for me for companionship to read a book etc. I think it's because he's always had a companion with him. When there are people around, he'd be his happy ol' self!

Routine to daily life - challenging. Everyone is concerned if I will be able to handle D alone on weekday mornings, getting ready to get out of the house and going over to the IL's. I think it will be tricky but not impossible. I will have to plan further ahead, like get my work clothes ready the night before, wash my hair the night before, and do chores more efficiently. But since safety is foremost on everyone's minds, the IL's maid will come over in the morning to assist us to go to the IL's, on mornings when I will be alone with D. Weekends are tiring too, because looking after D is a full-time job! The playing, feeding, cleaning, is tedious. Hopefully we get more used to this, and with D regaining his day-time nap and establishing a good routine, the days will get better.


There have been many changes these past few days, it's been trying but not without rewards. D is now closer to us more than ever, and we do feel a sense of accomplishment when we are able to take care of him. Without the instigator, we would never have changed our habits, and admittedly the habits needed changing. The maid leaving was overall a good thing for everyone, so that we can move forward and improve! Now we just need more time to get the hang of things.