Cameron is one month old today! And I’m done with observing the Chinese tradition of staying home the entire first month after having a baby! (I only “broke the rule” a few times when I had to take Cameron and Darren to their pediatrician and a couple times when I had to chauffeur Darren and our nanny.) Vincent bought a cake for the occasion. I requested a pound cake since it’s Darren’s newfound love, which is quite evident here!
Our friends once teased us that Darren was under our 24-hour surveillance. That’s because Darren used to share a room with his nanny during the week and on the weekends when she was off, either Vincent or I (mostly Vincent as time went on) would sleep in Darren’s room. During Darren’s naps during the day, I would often have the baby monitor on as well. Since we moved to our new house last July, those of you who might think we’re obsessed will be glad to know that Darren finally has his own room although I still watch him once in a while on the baby monitor. 😛
Now it’s baby brother Cameron’s turn for the same 24-hour surveillance! Here he is on the baby monitor, which sits on my desk next to my laptop. I also have one on my nightstand. And with our dual-channel baby monitor, I get to watch Cameron on channel B while Darren stays on channel A. 🙂
Cameron got his first real bath today since his umbilical cord stump finally fell off a couple days ago. I actually missed this bath because I was putting Darren down for his nap, but fortunately Vincent took some pictures plus Cameron had a guest visiting from Hong Kong, Uncle Andrew, who wanted to meet him and got to witness the event! Cameron loves his baths and enjoys getting his bottom washed after every poopy diaper. Hopefully he’ll love swimming too when he’s older like his big brother!
Today is Cameron’s expected due date, so it’s only been two and a half weeks since he was born, but it feels much longer than that—in a good way!—because as little as he is, he’s such a big part of this family already!
Darren continues to be a gentle big brother and has even taken on the role of spokesperson for Cameron. A couple times when I asked Cameron whether he wanted to nurse more, Darren answered for him, “Yes!” Earlier today, when I asked Cameron whether he wanted to be burped more or fed more, Darren answered, “He wants Mrs. Tam!” Mrs. Tam is our postpartum nanny. Apparently Darren didn’t think too highly of my burping technique. Since Mrs. Tam was out grocery shopping with Vincent, Darren decided to show me himself the right way to do it!
I read that babies born the week of their expected due date usually weigh 7+ lbs. Mrs. Tam thinks Cameron weighs more than 7 lbs at this point—she has cared for over 200 newborns—in fact, Darren was her #201 and Cameron now is her #216! My personal/secret goal was for Cameron to weigh at least 6 lbs at birth since Darren was only 4 lbs 2oz. When they told me Cameron weighed 5 lbs 15 oz, I was like “Come on!” But then Vincent showed me a picture of Cameron on the scale and it actually said 5 lbs 15.7 oz! Hey rounding up, he’s 6 lbs!
6 lbs or not, apparently Cameron is considered full term, which was not even a goal I dared to dwell on. I didn’t even know until I reached 37 weeks that 37 weeks is considered full term already. At 37.5 weeks, I guess Cameron thought “good enough!” and decided to join us for Christmas and we’re so happy he did. 🙂
