A couple of co-workers and I posing for a staged photo
that was used at last year’s leadership conference
(Faces obscured to protect the innocent)

Five months have gone by since I’ve set foot in my office, but work has never been far from my mind.  A week before my due date in September 2008, I created a comprehensive SOP for my job, cleared out my desk, and bid co-workers a fond farewell.  “I’m off to have a baby and I’ll be back in six months,” I said, knowing that it was a very real possibility that I might not be back.

For the past five months while I’ve been on materntiy leave, I have been weighing all of my options, considering the consequences, and charting the pros and cons of leaving my job to become a full-time mom.  Of course, in this down economy, it makes the decision that much harder.

But really, no one resigns from a full-time job at the post office — especially one that’s in the administrative realm. Are you nuts?  Yes, I am.

Today, I went to talk to my boss, who was very understanding of my situation.  I introduced Baby Champuru to him and my co-workers and dropped off two Sunnyside pies as a small token of my gratitude for our time together.  The finality of turning in my ID badge, credit card, and parking pass was somewhat surreal.  As of tomorrow, when I call the 800-number to process my resignation, I will be officially unemployed.

I’m so grateful for the years that I’ve worked at the post office, 8 years as a contractor and 2-1/2 years as a postal employee, working alongside the most kind and generous people, who showed me the meaning of the “postal ohana.” Some of my best friends were made during my time at the postal service and I hope to keep in touch with them for a lifetime.

I’m leaving behind a steady, decent-paying job, great co-workers, and the comfort of a disposable income.  But, I’m gaining the chance to give my child my undivided attention, to be there for her as she hits every milestone in her early development and to help her along every step of the way.

But honestly, when I look at that face, I realize it wasn’t such a tough decision after all.

There’s nothing more adorable than a pair of cute little baby feet

Baby Champuru developed a strange cough yesterday.  A shallow, hacking cough that sounds like she’s choking on something.  Since it persisted to today, I called the doctor first thing in the morning to make an appointment and brought her in for a check-up.

The doctor listened to her chest and back, checked her ears and throat and found nothing seriously wrong and said that it’s possible that she’s coming down with a cold.  He suspects that the cough is attributed to post-nasal drip irritating her throat. His advice: if she develops a fever, administer baby Tylenol and bring her to the doctor.  Also, bring her in if symptoms worsen or interfere with her eating or sleeping.

I talked to him about the rice cereal dilemma and baby’s tongue-thrust reflex.  He advised me not to delay the rice cereal, but to continue trying to feed it to her.  Don’t force her to eat it (oops!), but continue trying as this is just “practice” to get her accustomed to eating solid foods with new textures.  He also said that the iron in the rice cereal is important for her diet.  So, this afternoon, I mixed a batch of rice cereal — but instead of using tablespoons, I used teaspoons: 1 tsp rice cereal to 6 tsp of formula.  This time, she took to it much better than last week.  What a difference a week makes!  She actually seemed to like it this time and started grabbing the spoon and guiding it to her mouth.  She didn’t finish the entire batch, but got a lot farther than before and it was less traumatic — and a lot less messy.  Perhaps I’ll do a video of tomorrow’s feeding.

Baby Champuru wore her frou frou pink princess outfit to her cousin’s birthday party today.  She’s never looked so cute.  Obviously, Baba (my mother) noticed.

The following conversation ensued between my mom and I:
Baba: “Oh, Krislyn — how cute!  You look like a girl!”
Me: “Um, mom, she is a girl.”
Baba: “But she doesn’t have much hair, so she looks like a boy.”
Me, speaking for Baby Champuru:  “Baba, just because I’m bolohead doesn’t mean I’m a boy.”
It reminds me of a comment made by a parishioner at our church recently. Peering into the stroller, he looked at Baby Champuru who happened to be clad in pink and was wearing a frown.  Obviously, the pink onesie escaped him and he said, “hey, why so somber, little brother?” Perhaps because everyone thinks she’s a boy.

Thank you, Chris and Matilda, for making my baby look like a girl!

Baby is about four months old now and the pediatrician recommended starting her on rice cereal. Yesterday was her first taste of solids, although the proportions that the doctor suggested is so watery that it can hardly be called “solid.” Six tablespoons of formula to one tablespoon of rice cereal makes for a very loose mixture. The doctor instructed us to feed her the rice cereal for breakfast and dinner.

As you can see from the video, initially baby didn’t really seem to know what to make of the new feeding method. There were some tears shed, (thankfully, not mine) and finally, she began to take to it after some coaxing and using daddy as a highchair.

The past few days leading up to her first encounter with rice cereal, she had been waking up every 2-3 hours during the night for feeding. This is highly unusual, as she has been a very good sleeper since about two months old, sleeping 8-10 hours a night. We haven’t seen the 2-3 hour schedule since she was a newborn. We figured that this is due to her 4-month growth spurt and wondered if the rice cereal would help her sleep through the night — and it seemed to do the trick. She managed to sleep 9 hours again. We’ll see if this trend continues.

We continued the rice cereal today, mid-morning and late afternoon. This time, instead of using the formula, we used some breast milk that I manged to express this morning since baby slept in. She seemed to like this better than the formula.

Baby still seems to have the tongue-thrust reflex, which makes me wonder if she’s truly ready for solids. I’ve been reading up on the topic and will discuss this with Hubby. I’m leaning toward delaying the solid food a little longer.

Today was Baby Champuru’s four-month well baby check up — and another round of vaccinations, which I had been dreading ever since the last time when I nearly started crying myself.  She had four vaccinations today, three by injection and one taken orally.  When she saw the nurse (the same one from last time), she whimpered, almost as if she recognized her and knew what was coming.  When the first needle went in to the fleshy part of her right thigh, there was a pause before she started crying.  Softly at first, then a little louder.  To my surprise, however, it did not escalate into the primal scream that we experienced last time.  Another shot in the left thigh, she continued crying but didn’t increase in intensity much.  As the nurse administered the last shot in the same thigh, the needle bowed as it went in.  I didn’t notice this, but Hubby told me about it after the nurse had left the room.  (We have been monitoring the injection site for any bruising or swelling and it appears to be fine.)  After the shots were done, I lifted baby into my arms and soothed her.  She stopped crying quickly and even managed to give Daddy some smiles.  It was much less traumatic for all of us this time around.

Baby now weighs 13 lbs. 11 oz. and is 24-3/4″ long.  Her head circumference is 40cm and the nurse made a comment about her having a big head — but recovered and said, “lots of brains in there!”

Another exciting development: the introduction of rice cereal into her diet.  The doctor instructed us to start feeding her rice cereal mixed with breast milk or formula twice a day (breakfast and dinner).  1 Tbsp of rice ceral to 6 Tbsp of breast milk/formula.  On the way home from the doctor, we stopped off at Long’s Drugs and picked up a set of baby spoons, food containers, and a box of rice cereal.  We’ll start her on the new diet tomorrow.  I figure she probably had enough excitement for one day with the vaccinations.

• Tummy Time Pro. She’s so good, in fact, she has started rolling over on her own.  She’ll roll over when she’s lying on the bed after being nursed, while in her co-sleeper, or when I’m trying to change her diaper.  This means extra supervision is required! She tries very hard to crawl, but can’t coordinate her arm movements with her legs yet.
• Squealing, laughing and smiling. She does more of it now, most often when you’re singing to her, laughing with her, or talking to her animatedly.
• Touchy, touchy. She enjoys grabbing and touching things.  When we put our face close to hers, she will reach out with her little hand and touch our face or try to put her fingers in our mouth. For some odd reason, this entertains her and she enjoys it immensely!
• Open mouth, insert everything! Everything from her burp cloth and blankets to her toys will end up in her mouth, so we make sure everything is clean before she gets to it.
• Sleepyhead. She generally sleeps 8-10 hours a night, but sometimes as little as 6.  She doesn’t take very long naps during the day, usually 20-60 minutes here and there, usually after a meal. (Kanak attack!) She’s still sleeping in her co-sleeper in our bedroom.  I am dreading the day we have to move her to the crib in her own room.  I’ll miss opening my eyes to see her smiling back at me from the co-sleeper.
• Good morning, sunshine! She always wakes up happy.  When I wake up and look in her direction, she is always staring directly at me smiling.  It is the most precious sight!  Baby is my alarm clock and I never wake up before she does.  I usually am awakened by the sound of her hitting the mattress with her hands or feet to get my attention. If I’m particularly difficult to wake up one morning, she will make cooing sounds to rouse me.
• Your Baby Can Read. I purchased the Starter DVD of the Your Baby Can Read program and I’ve started going through it with her.  It’s a tool that I’m using to promote interaction with her.  I’m doing this in addition to reading her books.  I hope this will help nurture a love for reading that will carry on throughout her life.

On Monday, she will go for her 4-month well baby check up. She is due for some immunizations which I am definitely not looking forward to.  I definitely believe that the shots are harder on moms than it is on the baby!

She’s growing up so fast that I wish I could capture moments in time to save forever. She won’t always be this tiny and cuddly.  I’m doing my best to savor and enjoy every precious moment with her.  The days seem to go by too quickly.