Facial expressions

Oskar is growing every day. I am pretty sure his head got bigger since last night. To celebrate this, here is a collection of his facial expressions... the positive ones :)

A little bit of rain

When it rains in Singapore, it rains seriously.

Better be prepared otherwise you are in line for a wet tshirt contest. 

There is always something missing

Today I took Oskar for a walk in the stroller in the neighborhood.

Of course 2km away from home it started to rain. 

I had diapers, milk, blanket, wipes, change of clothes and plenty more things in the diaper bag. 

What I didn't have was the rain cover for the stroller nor an umbrella for me.

We found refuge under a bus shelter as quickly as possible and waited for the rain to stop.

Despite all my efforts, Oskar got a bit wet and was not super happy. Yet he didn't cry, probably there was enough water on his face already.

Upgrade of the bed

With Oskar traveling in his bed at night, having protection on the size of only half of the bed was not enough anymore.

I ordered extra last week from La Redoute. Once again, I was amazed that something I ordered on Wednesday was delivered to my doorstep on Saturday. Somehow they deliver faster in Singapore than in Belgium.

This morning I installed the new protection around the whole bed. While I was busy Oskar kindly offered to hold the mattress for me. Just in case someone would steal his mattress. 

Oskar's improved bed

Finally

For 9 months, the cans have been tempting me each time I opened the fridge. Finally, tonight, we opened the foie gras and to go with it a bottle of Montbazillac.
It was a moment of gastronomy bliss.

I cannot wait to go back to France and get some more.

Oops, he did it again

Today, taking advantage that Wolfram had a day off, we took Oskar for a little shopping trip to Orchard. Main purpose was to buy a baby carrier. I wanted to try it out with baby inside, as well as checking that it can adjust to the two of us. After all we have very different bodies.

We left shortly after feeding the little guy. The MRT ride was easy and quickly enough we were on Orchard. We started by the post office which took forever. Consequently we bought enough stamps so we can send things directly, hopefully for the next 12 months.

We had a late lunch at Paul. By dessert time, Oskar was hungry and he made sure the whole place would know. Wolfram tried to entertain him while I was warming up the bottle in my hands. I was doing so for 30s when one of the waiters came and offered to bring hot water to warm up the bottle. That was a good surprise and something I would have never thought to ask. This said now that I think of it, I have seen parents doing so... It just didn't occur to me. Funny enough the hot water was there in no time, faster than Wolfram's latte. I guess the waiter wanted to make sure we would get the crying baby quiet as quickly as possible.

Once everybody was well fed, we went to Paragon mall for the baby carrier. Oskar was wide awake and looking at everything. It was nice to see him watching things and being intrigued by the noises.

The model selected was the BabyBjorn Miracle, not because of the name but because if the lumbar support it offers. If I have to carry Oskar for hours I want to make sure my back can handle it. Wolfram tried it first and seemed to enjoy it. It does look like that you are preparing to go to war while putting on the harness but I guess that's what it takes to ensure baby is safe.

I was next to try it and I have to say it felt comfortable to carry around Oskar while having the hands free. I was not the only one comfortable. Oskar felt so good in the carrier that he pooped. Yep, right here, right there, in the brand new carrier which we had not paid for yet.

Of course, he saved this for me. Isn't it fun to poop on Maman? Why not on his Papa?

Of course the liquid yellow mustardy poop escaped from the diaper and got on the carrier and on my T-shirt. It's time we move to bigger diaper size.

Consequently we had to buy the carrier and wash it right away. It's great that those things are washable.

Consequently I rushed to the toilet to change Oskar completely. Diaper, clothe, there was poop everywhere but this time we had everything we needed to handle it. Except another T-shirt for me. I finished the trip hiding behind the stroller hoping people would not see the stains.

PS: this trip to Orchard exhausted Oskar. Once we were back, we gave him his bath and food. Quickly he was asleep and for good. We struggled to wake him up to feed him at 10pm. We did insist as this was our insurance for several hours of sleep. And we were rewarded: he slept 7 hours straight and we did almost the same :)

Numbers

Oskar's life can be summarized in numbers:

1 month - his age

53 cm - his height

3.96 kg - his weight

36 cm - his head circumference 

750 mL or so - his food intake (after a slow start, now that the production lines are in place, milk is flowing)

8 to 10 - his number of diapers per day

1 to 10 - numbers of emails per day from me to my mom for advice 

Hundreds - number of pictures taken of him so far and something tells me it's not going to stop

7 hours - longest time he's been sleeping at night, making his parents very happy

Flying baby

This morning I found Oskar in a different place than I left him a few hours before. He was still in his bed but at the opposite end of it. Somehow, this little guy made his way down the bed while we was sleeping. How? That's the question.
Only one month since he was born and he's already telling us that he will decide the best spot in the bed to sleep.

Oskar is dreaming

No idea what he is dreaming about but it's taking him to wild places :)

When he sleeps, he really goes for it :)

He eats, he poops, he sleeps

He eats often, every 3 hours or so.
He poops not that often, maybe 2-3 times a day. But don't worry he compensates by peeing a lot and demanding frequent diaper changes. Pampers' business is secured with Oskar.
He sleeps, not as much as we would want him to. When we are lucky he sleeps 3 hours in a row. But most of the times, it's more 30 minutes at a time. Why? because diaper gets wet and/or there is a burp that has not come out. If there is something we've learned over the past two weeks, it is that there is always a burp hidden somewhere in the little belly. Sometimes even two :(
He cries a lot: because he's hungry, his diaper is dirty, he has to burp, he is tired, he is very tired because he has not slept in 6 hours, he is lonely, and many other mysterious reasons. It's incredible how loud such a small baby can be.
Bottom line, it's very stressful for the new parents. We are both tired (exhausted) and sometimes desperate as we don't know what to do. There are moments I forget what time of the day (or what day) it is. It's always the same routine over and over (and over) again.

Yet, sooner or later, Oskar looks at us with his cute face and our hearts melt. Nature has done a great job at wiring us to quickly forget the massive poop and crying and only remember the cute faces and big eyes staring at you.

Happy father and son

Oskar always makes a special face after burping. Maybe it's relief?

Obviously it makes Wolfram happy because an Oskar who has burped is an Oskar who sleeps. And when Oskar sleeps... so can the parents.

See you again in a couple of hours!

Doubling the number of people living in the house

One of the good things about Singapore is that you can get a live-in maid also known as helper for little money. I'm not saying it's cheap but it is cheaper than in other countries and when it comes to childcare, it is cheaper than the other alternatives.

After many discussions on whether or not we want to take a helper we decided for it as it is cheaper and also more flexible. With no family living nearby we will need someone who can jump in whenever is needed, e.g. a business trip or simply if we want to go out just the two of us.

We initially thought to hire someone as of January as we will be gone in December. However given this helper will take care of Oskar, we have been advised to get someone already now to train her as well as making sure she is fit for the job. To be fair there is also an element of trust. We want to make sure we can trust her with our son. So the more overlap there is with my maternity leave the better. It will just cost us two months of salary. But what are two months of salary vs. the peace of mind to know that our son is in good hands.

We interviewed a few candidates. All ladies from the Philippines. Apparently they are the best. 

We made our selection and completed the paperwork this week. Now we are waiting for the results of her medical check-up to close the deal.

In parallel we need to convert our storage room to what it was supposed to be: the helper's room. This means we need to find space for all the things we have inside as well as buying furniture. Yep, another trip to Ikea.

If everything works out well, our helper will start end if next week. Even if I welcome the idea of getting some help, it still feels weird to think we will have someone at home, living with us. 

Let's see how it goes.

A trip to the German embassy

I've always been told that Germany and anything German stands for efficacy (or efficiency and maybe order as well). Today I was shown the exception to that rule: the German consulate in Singapore.

Wolfram already mentioned that we had to wait until today to get an appointment to register the birth of Oskar (only 3 weeks after birth... what's the hurry?).

After a last minute diaper change, we were in the taxi on our way there. Wolfram has warned me the German embassy was nothing compare to the French one. And he was right. 

We arrived into a place packed with people queuing for visa and other consulate matter. After passing security and announcing ourselves to the lady at the counter we were told to take a seat and wait.

Good one: what seat? the place was packed and the few chairs available were long gone.

Yet we started to wait standing in the hallway.

That is not what I had in mind for a German embassy. It felt more like a third world country embassy than Germany. This said the Chinese embassy was much better organized...

Anyhow, after 15min of wait it was our turn. I will not elaborate on the angry German who told us that he was next in line and didn't appreciate that we would cut the line, even with an appointment, especially given he had been waiting for two hours.

We entered a tiny booth where a consulate representative was waiting for us, behind a glass window. My first impression was that I was at the customs and not an embassy. Luckily for me, Oskar started to cry so the lady had me sign all the documents needed and offered that I took the baby out. 

I spent the next 30min in the hallway walking back and forth. 30min (or maybe longer as it felt like eternity) that's how long it took Wolfram to complete the paperwork for the birth certificate and ask for a passport. 30min!!! not really talking highly of the German efficiency here... but to be fair she had to go through the millions of documents and their copies that we had to provide. I'm still surprised that they haven't asked for my DNA.

Birth certificate will be ready in 3 months up to 2 years as it has to be done in Berlin. Yes it can take up to two years to make a birth certificate. 

Children passport will be available later this week. That's pretty fast but also limited as it is not a bio metric passport. This means until Oskar has a proper German birth certificate and a bio metric passport, he won't be able to enter certain countries that require a bio metric passport, e.g. the US.... unless he travels with his French passport :)

To summarize, Oskar now has a French passport and will get a German one later this week. Next step, the dependant pass for Singapore. Given how efficient immigration in Singapore is, I suspect it will be easy and fast. Let's see.

 

Oskar - 3-week old already

Time is flying. Oskar is already 3-week old.
He has changed so much in three weeks. It's almost incredible. Not only is he bigger (read larger thanks to a lot of milk) but he is also becoming more alert. It feels like he can now see things vs. the unfocused look from the first days. Since a couple of days, he starts to grab things (maybe not intentionally but he grabs).

Family breakfast

Oskar had his second breakfast around 10am this morning. His Papa was very proud to feed our little guy.

A combination of hidden burps stopped Oskar from sleeping so we got the bouncer ready and gave it a try.

Overall he seemed to like it, as long as it would move. It's time we put the battery inside for the automatic vibration.

With our little guy comfortable we decided to have our brunch on the terrace altogether. 

Back to the pool

With the green light from the doctor, I am back in the pool. It felt so good to go swimming again. This first moderate session felt relieving and boosting, even more after three weeks of doing nothing.

Now the journey to get back in shape can start.

And they left

My parents left today. 

I cannot believe their three weeks in Singapore  are gone. I have an idea where the time has disappeared (might have to do with some diaper changing and feeding). Time flies when you are busy, especially with a newborn. Yet, it feels like yesterday when they arrived. 

We will miss them, especially me and Oskar. As of Monday, we will be on our own during the day. It will be interesting to see how the two of us manage without them. After three weeks we each had dedicated tasks to take care of Oskar. I let you guess who was in charge of telling stories to the little boy.

I am very happy that they could be with us for the birth of Oskar and share the first weeks of his life.

I am very grateful of all the help and support they provided us during their stay. Having them around clearly helped us navigating through the millions of reasons for which a baby could cry.

Maman, Papa, MERCI !

Delivery

It took my parents to come to Singapore for us to discover that we have a pretty decent Indian restaurant in the neighborhood that delivers for free.

They should visit more often :)

A little trip to the Botanic Gardens

Stretching ourselves always further, this morning Oskar, my parents and I got ready for a little trip to the Botanic Gardens. The gardens are only two subway stations from ours and it would be a nice place for a walk with Oskar in the stroller.

It took quite some time but eventually we were out of the house with Oskar in his stroller (not yelling). We quickly reached the subway and I have to say it is amazingly done. Not once did we struggle with the stroller. There are ramps and elevators everywhere so one can just roll in and out the station. Of course it takes a bit longer than someone walking but overall it was a pleasant and easy experience to take the subway with Oskar (nicely wrapped in a blanket to protect him from the air conditioning). This said, I don't see myself with a stroller during peak hours. Something tells me they would not even let you in.

Oskar does look a bit lost but he was happy to reach the Botanic Gardens station.

From that point of time, there was a lot of "fun".

As a starter, only a few minutes after we reached the surface, Oskar started to get agitated. Guess what? Poop. Yep, it did not take long. We walked to the nearest shadow area with a bench (so called a "cool house") and changed the little guy. I learnt a few things on the spot. #1: Huggies wipes are crap. I took the sample pack we received and instead of cleaning the bud they actually spread the poop further. Ahhhhh!!!! #2: have a plastic bag with me in case there is no garbage bin nearby. #3: in Singapore it's very hot and under stressed conditions (like changing a diaper outside for the first time ever), it can become very sweaty. In other words, I should plan for a towel to wipe off the sweat from my face.

Once all the poop was cleaned, we could get back to our stroll in the park.

Oskar was wide awake and we tried to interest him in the garden. Obviously given he cannot see further than 15-30cm, but can hear very well, this little stroll in the park must have sound like a trip to hell. So he started to cry. I ended up carrying him the rest of the walk until the Orchid Garden where my parents wanted to go (again... they went once already but some pictures got lost so they decided to visit again. Those orchids are really nice after all).

By 11:30, Oskar started to get agitated again. Diaper was clean, a bit of water was not enough... it had to be food. After all it had been almost 3 hours since he last ate. I was prepared with a bottle so I could feed him anywhere, anytime. I started to feed him and told my parents to go ahead with their visit. It would take me easily 20-30 minutes to feed the little guy so they might as well get started.

From there it went downhill.

First I was bugged by many people. I am sitting on a bench in the shade feeding a baby that is clearly a new born and people stop to ask how old he is, whether it's a boy or a girl, tell me how cute he is.... bla bla bla.... Honestly I know they mean well but I didn't need that extra stress of having to make friendly conversation. Maybe in a few weeks or months, but not today.

One woman, from India, stayed quite long. It felt like she would never leave. She asked how old the baby is, boy or girl, where we are from, whether we are travelling to Singapore (did she really believe I was travelling from Europe with a 2.5 week-old baby????), and many more. At some point I heard a now familiar noise. Oskar had pooped. I was holding him with the bottle in the mouth and I knew I was up for a diaper change. Yet the woman was still not moving and I was getting nervous especially when the poop sound was repeated. At that point I rather abruptly ended the conversation and lifted Oskar to change him. What did I discover?

Poop all over my pants!!!!!!

Yellow liquid baby poop can overload a diaper and spreads to the next available surface. I was under huge stress, covered in poop with my son yelling to death as he needed to be changed. I had limited supply with me, i.e. only one diaper left and shitty wipes. I was all alone i.e. with only two hands to hold Oskar and get all the things needed. Somehow I managed to survive this.

Of course some woman passed by and offered some clever piece of advise: he must be hungry, she said. I answer in a very non diplomatic way "not helping!!!!!" and I still wonder by which miracle the dirty diaper did not end up on her face.

Eventually, Oskar was changed and I was stressed that should he pee or poop again, I would not have another diaper to offer. He finished eating and fell asleep in my arms.

That's when my parents came back and had a good laugh at my misery. This was bound to happen at some point, so better now than later.

The way back home was adventure-less. Still a comparison of Oskar when we left home and when we arrived back home does show that something happened in the meantime: hat was gone, swaddling clothe dirty with poop, had to improvise with a scarf to protect him from the sun...

Conclusion #1 of this trip: 

While it was very stressful I am glad I did it, especially with my parents. Not only did they get to join the very first trip outdoor of Oskar, but on top I had my safety net with me - experienced people who could jump in any time.

Conclusion #2 of this trip:

I will pack a proper diaper bag as of NOW with half of the house in it, and maybe more. There is a reason why people with babies have such big bags. 

Power nap of the giraffe

After long days at work and short nights, the giraffe needs some rest. Any minute is worth it.

Getting used to the stroller

Same as for the bath, everybody told us babies like being in the stroller because it's nicely bouncing them.
That's the theory. Oskar has not yet shown signs that he enjoys bathing. It's actually quite the opposite given the amount of crying bathing triggers.
With the stroller, the first attempts on Saturday night ended up in my arms as Oskar was yelling to death in the stroller. Probably too much noise outside.
Today we tried again with a little trip to the post office.

Going there went quite well as Oskar was sleeping (yeah!!!!). However the cool air from the post office woke him up and from that point, he spent most of the return trip in my arms.
I guess we can say it was progress. One step at a time...

Good-morning Papa

While we are at home having breakfast, we haven't forgotten Papa who's working hard.
Here is a hello to him from Oskar (if you wonder, left is Oskar's face after a burp... which makes his parents happy because hopefully it will be followed by a long and peaceful sleep).