Happy 1st Birthday Dearest YT!!

Dearest Baby YT,

You are 1 year old now. It’s an amazing 12 months and look, how you have grown! You have already doubled your birth length and tripled your birth weight now. Mummy will never forget the day my contractions came and you, arrived to this world and to our family, bringing with you endless joy to us ever since.

I still remember when you were in my tummy, you loved to kick, punch and turn.  Your sister and brother were fascinated by your kicks and loved to put their hands over my tummy to feel your little but strong movements. I knew then that’s a strong character in there.  When they saw your little fists or feet making a small protrusion on my belly, they put their hands over it and were excited that they seemed to be really touching you. Every night, they loved to say good night to you.  When they saw the ultrasound scan of you inside my womb, they were fascinated by your every movement. And we saw you suckling your thumb. It was an amazing sight.

You were great at every checkups and were growing well. You then chose a beautiful night to get out of my tummy. You did not waste a day of my maternity leave. Just like your sister and brother, you were eager to be out and lessened Mummy’s labour pains. You popped within an hour after dear Dr WK Tan burst the water bag. Delivering you was the fastest even though it took 4 pushes to have you out.  We all heard your first cry. Your cry was strong and loud, and so is my love for you.

Ever since that day, our house is full of joy and laughter and of course cries too. With a newborn, our house was in disorder.  Routines were turned upside-down and everyone was happily re-adjusting in many ways to suit your baby needs and keep you happy. Even your sister and brother were extremely patient with you.  You are our little prince.

Mummy loves to breastfeed you. I love the feeling of your little mouth suckling the nipple with your eyes closed. I love seeing you looking so secured and relaxed while your little hands held on to my breast. Just like your sister and brother, you are a clever baby. You knew exactly when my milk would start to let down and patiently waited and then began suckling as if on cue. We had such strong bonding that I always woke up at the same time as you were waking up for night feeds. You loved to suckle on one breast and wake up for the other breast an hour later. You really tire me baby, but I still patiently let you have your own way, all because you are my gem.

Mummy loves to be with you 24 hours a day. I enjoyed a full 5 months with you everyday before I had to go back to work. Then with your strong character, you protested by refusing milk bottles for almost 2 weeks! My heart went out to you each time I called home and heard you crying in the background. I so wanted to fly home and offer you my breasts.  Your cries of wanting me broke my heart.

You are such a cute little baby I have to sing this at least 10 times a day, even till now, “你是最cute的baby!”. You endeared all of us with your winning smile and won our hearts with clapping hands. You had us boasting in pride with everyone claiming to be the first to see you reach your milestones. We will shout out, “桐桐很厉害!” and clapped our hands loudly and you will follow suit with a happy smile. Your laughter is contagious. You are so in tune with our excitement!

You have become the greatest joy in our family.  Come next year this time, you shall be 2 years old and you may be entering the terrible twos stage. We will continue to enjoy playing with you, taking your little hands with us as we accompany you through your growing years. Your Papa and I will shower you with endless love just like how we love your Gor Gor and Jie Jie.  Your Gor Gor and Jie Jie shall be your best playmates for many years to come. You are a lucky babe!

Baby YT, we love you! Happy 1 year old!!