Dear Gabriel,
Happy 11 months old to my baby! One more month and you will be one year old!
Where has the time gone, you may ask? Mostly spent in lockdown I say lol. It's true and I feel so bad for you. The good thing is that you will not remember this bad episode that is called 2020. If life were normal, mummy would have signed you up for Baby Sing & Sign and swimming classes, like what we did with Isabelle. But thanks to Covid, nope we didn't do any of these. Instead we experienced a lockdown in the UK, then "fled" back to Singapore for 5 months. Came back to London thinking the situation had stabilised, only to find we flew back into the second wave and so we had yet another nationwide lockdown which just ended yesterday. (Although honestly speaking this second UK lockdown hasn't been much of one; people still go out and life has been per normal..)
Back to you... Gabriel, you are our chilled out and smiley baby who loves to eat non-stop! I mean you unlocked the 10kg mark at 8 months and are continuing to grow chunkier each day. Before you came along, we had no clue what a chilled out, relaxed baby is like because all we faced was spirited Isabelle. You adore mummy, you really do. In fact sometimes it gets pretty suffocating for me. We have a lot of exclusive time, you and me, which is great. But you really do prefer mummy over daddy. Whenever you see me, you flash me a smile and come speed crawling. You look up to Isabelle a lot too. You observe how she plays and you tend to join in whether she likes it or not. Which means that a lot of the times we see Isabelle pushing you away, or screaming "no Gabriel, that's my toy!" But when Isabelle is in a good mood, she will invite you to play with her, or kindly share her toy with you.
You are such a drooly baby Gabriel. We can go through a few bibs each day. But that is ok, because you are teething. The amazing thing is, you don't fuss when you are going thru teething. You take it in your stride and eat/ sleep as per usual. You have 7 teeth by now, which means you can eat a lot of what we eat! And you love it, you really do. You cannot stand it when you see us eating at the dinner table and you are left out. You observe when we are setting the table and you look out for your share. Then you fuss and crawl towards the table, almost saying "don't leave me out, don't leave me out!" Due to time constraints, mummy doesn't make special meals for you, but serve you what we eat and you don't mind one bit! You use your 7 little teeth and chew with gusto, contorting your cute little mouth. Noodles, rice, porridge, oats, cereals, pizza, fries, chicken nuggets, pastries - you love them all. Because of how much you are eating, I've had to reduce your milk intake slightly. Mummy is still pumping milk thrice a day, and sometimes have to supplement with formula. You don't mind one bit - as long as it's milk. And we cannot have you see a bottle of milk without offering to you. You wail like we are depriving you of your fav food.
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| Why do you take so long to finish your milk? |
Motor skills wise, you learnt how to climb the stairs (all 14 steps yes) by yourself a few weeks ago. You look mightily pleased with yourself when you reach the landing and started clapping. Yes you have learnt how to clap and wave too. You are able to stand up unaided and cruise, but yet to take that first step. It's ok baby, take your time. You've already unlocked many achievements in the past couple of weeks.
Sleep wise, you wake up between 8-830am every morning. Sometimes we find you sitting quietly in the cot, which is the cutest thing we can find. You see me and you give your happy smile. Morning nap can take place anytime between 11-1130am, although ideally I wish for it to be a bit earlier. You wake up around noon time in time to join us for lunch. Afternoon nap is around 3-5pm. You are napping very well and mummy cannot complain. The only thing is that you need me to be beside you for bedtime. Funnily you are able to fall asleep by yourself for your two daytime naps. Bedtime is mostly around 9pm. You have a sleeping habit which is so similar to mummy and daddy, and we call it our "process of waking up". With Isabelle, when she opens her eyes, she is ready to go. But with you, when you open your eyes, you need some time to roll around in bed, hug your lovey, and simply allow your body to wake up. And mummy has gotten a lot of cuddles from you whenever you wake up.
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| With your fav pillow sewed by your great-grandma |
Continue to grow well, healthy and strong, Gabriel. Eat and drink (milk) with gusto. Smile and spread your cheer. We are blessed to have you, our little angel.
Love,
Mummy xx
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