Saturday, July 27, 2013

Dear Gabriel - 3 weeks

Dear Gabriel

You are almost a month old! Where has all that time gone?

We still can't believe that you're finally in our lives! 9 whole months of waiting and all of a sudden, you're there - a real, kicking baby and not just an ultrasound one.

In some ways, you resemble your older brother, but in other ways you've got your own fiery personality. 

You're one chilli padi. 

Most of the times you are pretty chill and can be left on your own in your cot, while you stare out of the window and listen to your musical mobile. However, once you're hungry, you would start screaming in a really loud, high-pitched and glass-shattering voice. And oh boy, do you have stamina! It's like your hunger pangs would turn on a switch inside you, such that you no longer have control over your cries.

We've experienced your hunger cries while in the car on the way home. You would cry so loudly and with such intensity that you would fall asleep in exhaustion. Daddy and Mummy are still so amused (perplexed?) at how you can go from 0 to 100 and back to 0 in minutes.

You drink like a real trooper such that you're almost tipping the scales at 5kg! That's more than a 1.5kg weight gain since you were born! At this rate, you'd probably end up like a mini sumo wrestler, just like your older brother was. That's good though, because this means that all the breast milk is going to wash away your jaundice.

You love being swaddled. Now that we're experiencing a heatwave here, we swaddle you in a thin, cotton cloth. As soon as you're snug as a bug, you're contented enough to be left on your own, while your brother "disturbs" you or until you fall asleep.

At night, you wake up at 2-3 hours intervals for your feeds. Mummy tries to feed you before she goes to bed (12 - 1am) and thereafter, you'd wake up about 2-3 hours later (3-4am) for another feed and poop session, before going back to bed. You'd then wake up again around 5-6 am for your second feed before sleeping until 8-9am.

The cool thing is that since you're our second child, we no longer fuss about when you wake up at night / why you wake up so soon after your last feeding. We know that you need the food and once you're full, you go back to sleep pretty quickly. Mummy actually enjoys those night feedings (minus the fact that she's a zombie) because she can actually breastfeed in peace without a little someone tugging on her sleeves or trying to touch you while you feed.

Those moments are just special Mummy-and-you moments and I'm going to cherish them as long as they last because I know that you're only so small once and before I know it, you'll celebrate your 1st birthday!

During the day, you nap pretty easily and are usually not awake for more than an hour at a stretch. That is a real breather because Mummy is still trying to adjust to Daddy going back to work and when you nap, Mummy has time to spend with your older brother and / or do errands around the house. 

You're pretty physically strong. We noticed that you have real strength in your legs cos you would kick quite hard and you would also be able to hold up your head when we are trying to burp you. It's a known fact that second / third babies develop faster than the first babies by virtue of the fact that they have an older sibling to look up to. But take your time to grow up my darling. There's a time and season for everything.

Your name, Gabriel means "strong man of God", so it's really cool to see that you do live up to your name - at least physically for now. 

Your older brother, Sammy loves cuddling you and planting little kisses on you when he thinks that nobody is watching. When you cry, he would rush to get the pacifier and stuff it into your mouth. He would also conscientiously turn on the musical mobile whenever you're inside your cot. When we give you a bath, he would ensure that you'd have a constant supply of water poured over your head body.

We love you and may God continue to watch and mould your little heart such that you'd truly grow up to be a strong man of God!

Love
Daddy & Mummy

- Compare with Sammy's 3-weeks development here.

Red as a lobster after your photo therapy at the hospital

One of the many moments when your older brother hugs you

Hey Gabe! Your Gor Gor loves holding your hand!

 My precious boys!

Hanging out at a park

Loving the summer weather (minus the heatwave)

Finally got you both to look at the camera!

Tummy time!

Sucking your thumb (already!)

2 comments:

Bern said...

aww...it's so heartening to hear that Sammy is taking to his lil' brother like a sweetheart! and Gabriel is so big already!

Pris said...

Bern - Yah its really cool watching both of them adjust to each other.

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails