Juan Or's First Time Record

Juan Or posing with the baby bottle that he had just drank finish in the new house.

Today is a historical day for both Juan Or and Mommy. Today's the day Juan Or has successfully drank his bottle of milk in the new house without any crying or fretting nor any nagging or coercion on Mommy's part. Perhaps readers out there may be wondering what's the big deal about Juan Or being able to finish his milk. This was what happened:

1. When Juan Or was a newborn (0-2 months old)

Juan Or started as a breastfed baby. When he was just a few days old, Mommy breastfed him till it's time for Mommy to sleep through the night. So Mommy fed him infant formula which can last him for 3 hours, otherwise with breastmilk it could only keep him for at most an hour to an hour-plus only before Mommy had to wake up to breastfeed him again. This went on for 1 month and a few weeks before Juan Or starting rejecting the formula milk. He even refused sucking from the bottle. He only wanted Mommy's breast. So from that day onwards, Mommy only fed him from the breast because Mommy didn't have any patience to see him reject sucking the bottle nipple.

2. When Juan Or was 2-12 months old

When Juan Or was 2 months old, Mommy's maternity leave ended, so Juan Or was send to the babysitter during the day. At the babysitter's house, Juan Or obediently drank Mommy's expressed breastmilk from the baby bottle. But once back home, Mommy breastfed fully and didn't at all try to bottlefeed him because Mommy wanted the continuous natural stimulation to produce milk which Mommy had been missing the whole day due to work. According to the babysitter, once in a while, Juan Or rejected drinking Mommy's thawed breastmilk. So to counter this, she either used spoon to scoop milk into his mouth or poured milk directly into his mouth using the baby bottle's cover, to which Juan Or obediently drank.

3. When Juan Or was 12-14+ months old

At this stage, Mommy was still pumping out breastmilk for Juan Or, but had to supplement the supply with toddler's milk. At that time, Mommy's pumped breastmilk yield had dropped drastically to a mere 5-7 oz. per day (last time's yield was 13-16 oz per day). So during weekends, when the babysitter was not around, Mommy merely latched Juan Or to Mommy's breast for his milkfeed.

4. When Juan Or was 14-plus months to 21 months 1 week 1 day old

Juan Or started to reject breastfeeding at 14-plus months old. So Mommy stopped breastfeeding and Juan Or was fully on toddler milk by then. When it was the babysitter's off-day, Mommy had to bottlefeed him at home (that time still staying with the in-laws) and he rejected bottlefeeding. So Mommy had to send him to babysitter's house for her to bottlefeed him (to which he drank obediently!) and then brought him back. Sometimes, the babysitter was not around during the weekend but her other family members are, Mommy still brought him to drink milk in the babysitter's home environment (to which sometimes he rejected, sometimes not). Off and on when Mommy tried bottlefeeding him in in-laws' house again, he rejected. This routine went on till he was 21 months 1 week 1 day old. Because of Juan Or's milk-feeding eccentricity, Papa and Mommy dared not moved out of the in-laws' house. Moving out would cause a lot of travelling and waiting inconvenience for Mommy as our newly-bought house is faraway from both the in-laws' house and the babysitter's house, whereas the babysitter's house is just few houses away from the in-laws'.

5. When Juan Or was 21 months 1 week 2 days old up to today

This was when Juan Or started to show his readiness to drink milk from the bottle without having to be forced. This time also coincided with Chinese New Year (CNY) 2010, the 7th day. The babysitter was not around since the first day of CNY to the 9th day. So before the 7th day, Mommy still brought him to the babysitter's house to feed him milk. Then suddenly, on the 7th day, Grandma tried giving him milk at home and he drank magically! On the 8th day, again he drank at home without any fuss. On the 9th day, Mommy brought Juan Or to our new house in the afternoon and he drank there without making any fuss! Hooray! Papa, Mommy and Juan Or will be moving out from in-laws' house very, very soon already.

Hooray, also no more having to bicker, quarrel or argue with the in-laws about how to raise or discipline Juan Or! Mommy is really tired of having childcare issues with the in-laws. Mommy is glad that Juan Or's milk-rejection phase has ended. Then Papa and Mommy can move out with more peace in mind about Juan Or's well-being.

Drinking Like a Big Boy!

Whenever Juan Or sees any family member drinking from the cup, he is sure to want as well. He will point at the cup and make one kind of sound to tell you that he wants to drink from your cup as well. You name it - whatever drink it is - tea, milk tea, coffee, milk coffee, refrigerated chocolate milk, Mommy's Dutch Lady full cream milk, Chinese tea - he will want to try it. Take for example, everyday, Juan Or's Papa drinks apple vinegar mixed with honey - of course the taste is very sour - Juan Or will sip it, then showed one kind of look, grinned and then take another sip (even though it's sour!). Haha, probably Juan Or wants to show everyone that he's a big boy already! And that big boys drink from cups! After Juan Or is satisfied with drinking it, he will end his drinking session with an 'Aaah...' sound! Cute baby!

("Mmmmm.....yummy!)

("Oooohhh....just can't have enough of it!")

("Aaaah......now I'm satisfied! And am a big boy already!")

Juan Or Behaves Like a Big Boy!

Mommy noticed that lately Juan Or has the desire to act 'adult'. This is the first example:

One morning when the family was having breakfast, Juan Or approached Grandma, tugged at her lap and pointed at her mug. Of course, when Juan Or points at something, it means he wants that thing. So Grandma took the mug near Juan Or and let him take a sip. Grandma said it was tea in the mug. Imediately after sipping the tea, Juan Or let out the "Aaaah" sound as if to show that the tea was tasty and that he enjoyed it. Then, Grandma put the mug back on the coffee table. Again, Juan Or pointed at the mug and so Grandma put the mug at his lips for him to take a sip and again Juan Or let out the "Aaaah" sound. This repeated sequence went on for four or five times! Finally, Mommy decided to take out the handphone to videotape this, but unfortunately, Juan Or felt conscious of himself and so didn't let out the "Aaaah" sound. Instead, he smiled at Mommy! Watch this video:

This is another example:

Last Sunday, Papa, Mommy and Juan Or were eating in a Chinese restaurant in Telok Gong. Mommy knows that Juan Or loves drinking Chinese tea. So Mommy used the spoon to scoop a little Chinese tea and let Juan Or sip from the spoon. Then later on, Papa tried letting Juan Or sip tea directly from his glass and boy, how Juan Or enjoyed it! After Papa put the glass back onto the table, Juan Or would point at the glass to indicate that he wanted another sip, to which Papa gave. After that, Papa tested Juan Or by using the spoon again for Juan Or to sip. This time, Juan Or refused to sip from the spoon, instead he pointed prominently at the glass indicating that he wanted to drink from the glass and not from the spoon! Haha...Mommy's Juan Or is a big boy already and he seems to know which item makes him look more 'adult'!