KRW Day 42

Bubs and Babes took advantage of the Australia Day long weekend to take Kyla Rose as well as Ma Ma (maternal grandma) and Aunty (Nanny) out to see the sights. Here we are at The Tan (the Botanical Gardens, abbreviated in true Aussie fashion), and we also went to Port Melbourne and Studley Park. Of course dear Kyla slept 89.23% of the time, but hey, at least she'll remember 10.77% of our expedition. Hopefully...

Getting rid of wind, the traditional way

There've been a couple of times when Kyla's thrown up, and here's the traditional Foochow treatment: wrap a hard-boiled egg and a special ring (dunno what it's made of lah, some kind of metal) in a cloth and give baby a massage with it. No idea what the medical or scientific explanation is, but it seems to make her feel better!

KRW - Day 39 + Full Moon Celebration

We celebrated Kyla's Full Moon (a few days late due to the incredibly complex logistics of gathering Melbourne-based family members and godmother at a date and time suitable to all) the only way we know how; with a gargantuan feast. Thanks to everyone who came, and to Mum and Marlene for bringing the amazing Black Forest cake from Brunetti. We ended up singing 'Happy Birthday' to Kyla, which wasn't really part of the plan, but Godma's daughter Chloe insisted. Anyway, this is probably the last big meal we'll have with Aunty's assistance. She leaves on Wednesday night, and that's when reality bites. We'll have to do our own housework and cooking! If anyone's interested in employing her, take a number... she's booked all the way until June 2009!

KRW Day 34

Both Bubs and Babes are now fully-fledged members of the Been-Puked-Upon club, after Kyla did a massive spew on her mum the other day. Oh well, it had to happen some time! Meanwhile, life goes on and our gorgeous young lady has now experienced something many people in Melbourne haven't: efficient and delay-free public transport! Mum, Aunty and Kyla ventured into the city yesterday for a spot of shopping, taking the tram down and the train back up. Welcome to Melbourne, Kyla! I would've liked to say that she enjoyed strolling down Bourke Street Mall and through Myer, but she was fast asleep the whole time...

KRW Day 29

Kyla's almost a month old now! Meanwhile, her stash of gifts and cards continues to grow. Thanks everyone for your love and generosity! Babes' confinement period has officially ended, and she's been educating Kyla on the nutritional value of fruits and vegetables at the Psarakos Market, a short stroll down the street. Except that Kyla's not a big fan of headgear, as you can see in the last picture.

KRW Day 27

Our little darling is steadily outgrowing her clothes, and eating (even) more than we thought possible. Just as well there's milk on tap 24/7. Meanwhile, Bubs has started sitting her in front of the television; no, not for Hi-5 or the Wiggles, but for the Australian Open. She's also starting to get a bit of the forehand motion, and we'll start hitting a few backhands before too long. Never too young to start, I say. There aren't any photos of this, however, as we don't want to give anything away to her (future) opponents.

KRW Day 24

Babes' transition back into the real world continued today with a stroll to a new cafe up High Street. Like a couple of guilty teenagers, we snuck out of the house when Aunty (the confinement woman) was out, bringing Kyla with us for her first non-Glen Waverley outing. Meanwhile, there's a wee bit of confusion when 'Aunty Manda' appears; you can practically see Kyla thinking, 'OK, if that's my mum over there, who's this beside me?'

KRW Day 23

Kyla Rose Wong is now more than three weeks old, and we're learning more and more about her, like her sleeping and eating habits. And yes, she's started feeding from the bottle after a couple of false starts. As for her mother, well, she was unofficially released from confinement today, going on a quick shopping expedition to Preston Market. Maybe we'll make it to the Aussie Open after all...

Kyla Rose Wong, Day 20

Bubs has been busy at work and not spending as much time with his darling daughter as he'd like to. Big shout out to Babes for all her patience and energy, as KRW is a big eater, just like her parents! Then today, we tried feeding her from the bottle, perhaps a little too enthusiastically... the poor little girl threw up all over Bubs' pants and the couch. Guess we'll take it a little slower from now on. That shot of her sleeping peacefully in Kong Kong (paternal grandpa)'s arms? That was BEFORE the bottle feeding episode. Oh, and those lips that are extra-prominent in the first picture? It's obvious that she's Bubs and Babes' baby!

Australian Summer

The hot summer continues, and despite repeated calls to the aircon manufacturer as well as the sparky who claimed to have repaired the aircon, we remain dependent on good old-fashioned fans. Which is how we ended up spending Saturday at the family home in Glen Waverley, where the A/C bravely soldiers on. Good ol' sparky finally called back, and got all defensive claiming the defective unit 'was fine when I left' (yup, that old chestnut) and refusing to commit to another visit date. So both Babes and I will be working the phones again tomorrow trying to get someone to bring air-conditioning into our lives once more. As for updates on the lovely (but still sweaty) Kyla Rose Wong, tomorrow perhaps...

KRW Day 14

Today was my first day back at work, a quiet one but still many hours away from my beloved wife and daughter (I was going to write 'daughter and wife' instead, but didn't want to get into trouble). Some of these shots were taken during the last couple of days, including the ones I like to call the 'oh no, what have i done?' shots (the third and fifth pictures) ... while the fourth shot (of the really sweet and innocent Kyla) was taken by Babes this afternoon after a bath.

Blog-free day

It's New Year's Eve, with a high of 42 degrees earlier today. And our air-con doesn't work. In true Australian spirit, it took a couple of weeks to get someone to come and fix it, twenty minutes for them to say they've fixed it (when they finally graced us with their presence), and thirty seconds for us to find out that it still didn't work, the first time we tried to use it. It keeps tripping the fuse after it's been turned on, sometimes after five seconds, sometimes after five minutes. Anyway, what this means is that we've been under siege in our room with the blinds drawn trying to keep the sun out all day. And we haven't really had the energy or inclination to take any pictures of the gorgeous (and sweaty) Kyla. Even typing this is consuming whatever energy I have left...
Anyway, sweltering heat and Aussie customer support aside, Happy New Year everyone, have a wonderful 2008!

KRW Day Eleven plus Marlene's Birthday

In this edition: Kyla Rose shows off her immense basketball potential with a smooth jumpshot (what you see in the picture is her fluid follow-through), our new deck which has been put to good use for alfresco dining, and some of the family who helped Marlene celebrate her 29th birthday (with a yummy Foochow spread, long gone by the time this picture was taken).

KRW Day Ten

One of the many gifts Kyla received was this lovely work of art from Gin, which is now on her nursery door. Meanwhile, it's been a fascinating ten days, with Mum and Dad trying to figure out some kind of routine for her. Right now she's eating and sleeping her way through most of the day, but taking quite a while to settle at night, only falling asleep after multiple feeds. Let's see how this pans out...

KRW Day Nine

Kyla's slowly growing, and so is her list of presents! A huge thank you to everyone for all your prayers, thoughts, gifts and cuddles. She's a very privileged (but hopefully not too spoilt!) baby indeed! And her range of expressions grows steadily by the day. You can probably tell that she's inherited Mum and Dad's pouty lips...

KRW, Day Eight

The gorgeous Kyla slept extremely well last night, refusing even to wake for a feed, prompting Babes' first attempt at expressing milk with our brand new Avent Manual Breast Pump, sterilised in our also brand new Avent IQ24 Steriliser. The wonders of modern technology! Milk flowed, and all was well again. She slept much of today again, and there's a theory that the wine in Mum's soup might have something to do with it... let's see how she does tonight. Meanwhile, here are some more pictures, starting with Kyla's version of Ben Stiller's 'Blue Steel' gaze in the movie Zoolander.