Matt + Janae

Always happy

She's always happy and smiling. The best is her waking up in the morning. She sits in her crib and plays by herself until one of us comes in to get her. This is especially appreciated on Saturday mornings when Verene let Janae and I sleep in. She wouldn't make a fuss until she heard us up and moving about. We would walk into her room and find her playing with some toy in the crib, she'd look at us and smile real big extending her arms out for us to pick her up. Very considerate.

Blanky

Since I've left, Janae says she started doing something else really cute in the morning. Verene will hold out her blanky to give Janae when she gets her. Cute! She wants to share. Hopefully she doesn't outgrow this by the time I see her again.

The blanky thing is new too. Before I left she wasn't attached. Now she needs it everywhere she goes and can only sleep with it by her side. I've never felt a blanket so soft as hers before. Verene appreciates it too. She chose to fall in love with this one even though we used all the blankies we received and gave each a fair chance at being the chosen one. She chose the super soft pink one. Now that she's attached, I told Janae to go and get five more just in case we misplace it. If the blanket wasn't from Saks and cost so much, we would. Fortunately we have two of them.

Peek-A-Boo

One of the cutest things I saw before leaving was her initiating peek-a-boo by herself. I was driving somewhere and Janae and Verene were both in the back seat. Verene got hold of the sun deflector, hide behind it, and popped her face out smiling and laughing. She did it over and over hiding her face and popping it out hysterically laughing.

Growing bigger!

I'm sure she has grown bigger now. She was big enough to stand up and hold onto the crib before I left. It broke my heart one morning when Janae and I heard a thump from her room. She had fallen over the edge! Everything was fine and I quickly lowered the bed a notch in the crib.

I wonder how many teeth she has now. Before I left she was at three good sized ones on bottom and two on top with a few little buds growing on top and bottom. I always thought teething would be painful and she would by fussy through it but no fuss so far!

How do I get down?

Verene just started climbing up the stairs when I left. She could get up a couple without too much trouble. Coming down was the hard part. She would get up a few stairs and want to sit down to rest. She'd try to sit while facing the steps not thinking there was no step behind her. She'd catch the side of the step she was on but would still tumble down a few and cry. Janae says she still can't get down but is much faster getting up now. Verene will climb from our main level up three stories to the loft without her even noticing.

Sweaty like Daddy

I'll have to see how she adjusts to a new home and country. Singapore is not a cool country and Verene, like me, sweats a lot! I arrive at work sweaty after taking the air conditioned subway and walking underground in the A/C underpass all the way to my office building. It's just not cold enough! I remember Verene drenched in sweat in her car seat whenever we went out in the day - even with the A/C on. Once she fell asleep with the car parked in the shade and her head was wet with sweat as if she was taking a bath. Definitely picked up my sweating genes.

Will she still remember who I am?

Hopefully she recognizes me when I see her again. Before I left, she already started recognizing people. Mom says I was the same way and wouldn't let anyone but her hold me. Verene operates with a pecking order. Strangers can hold her only if she's well rested after nap for a while. She'll decide how much time to give them before starting to cry. Daddy can come to the rescue and hold her as long as he wants so long as she doesn't see Mommy. If she sees Mommy, she'll start crying and I'll have to hand her over to Janae.

Not only does she recognize people, she recognizes home, her room, and crib. We were at dinner at Cheng-Yu's before I left. She cried when we tried putting her to sleep there as place was unfamiliar. I held her to sleep until she was really floppy, a sure sign she was out. After floppy, I put her in the pack-and-play and she awoke crying immediately. Poor Verene. She was tired but couldn't sleep in the strange place. Poor Janae and I too! On the car ride home she was half awake and was alert when we got home and I put her down in her crib. As soon as I put her down, she knew she was home and fell asleep immediately.

Hopefully she will not miss home in Ashburn too much and will adjust to home here. Hopefully she misses me too and will remember who I am.