Chapter 3 : 5th Week has passed!

How's he doing?!
Alden has certainly grown a whole lot more during the month, when we visited the doctor on the 22nd, he weighed in at 5.1 kg, that is an additional 1.6 kg from the original 3.5 kg he was born with. The doctor also commented that his growth is "Superb!". Well, thanks to the really patient mother that he has. Karen has always taken her time while feeding him, the length of feeding time has now increased to about one and half hours per session too. He also got a booster shot for Hepatitis during the visit. Best part is that he didn't cry very much at the doctor's after receiving the shot, just when I thought that we were in the clear, he got hungry and started crying for food. Ahh well, had to feed him infront of everyone at the waiting area at Assunta Hospital. Luckily we loaded up with baby formula...!

Full Moon Party!
Baby Alden's full moon party took place at home on Sunday, the 24th of October 2004. It was quite a big do and a lot of friends and relatives came to share the joy. It was an eventful day, it started quite early in the morning as Karen came and woke me up. "We're cutting his hair!" she said.

"Oh man, nearly missed it!" I thought as I quickly fumbled around and found Chong Lee's video camera. I made my way downstairs and switched the camera on along the way. Alden was already half way through with the hair cut. He has a lot of hair which was standing up and Grandma who was already an expert with cutting boys' hair (after she had 3 boys to practice on for YEARS!) was busily cutting hair which seemed out of place. I quickly video taped whatever "action" I could, which wasn't much actually. At the end of the "ceremony" he looked much better...

My 3rd Auntie slept over the night before and really helped with the chores, at about noon time, it was like a siesta where nearly all Grandma's sisters chipped in with the cooking, cleaning and arranging efforts. It was an easy day for me as I tried to keep myself out of the way for the ladies to do their job. My job was going to start at about 4.30 p.m. (I cook the pasta, see?)

We had a lot of food, unfortunately for me, I don't know how to eat much of the stuff being served. Let me see if I recall the dishes, Yong Tau Foo, Ang Ku, Red Eggs, Vinegar Trotters, Curry Chicken, Pheonix Feet & Mushrooms (heh we all knew was chicken's feet), some sweet green bean kuih desert thing, my pasta with red and white sauces.

The party started at about 6 pm with guests drifting in, I personally had some friends, colleagues and ex-colleagues who also join in the celebrations. Baby Alden however, was very smart, decided to get hungry just when people were demanding to see him, so I had to hustle Karen to finish up, but being the naughty boy who wouldn't be satisfied with half tank milk, he made noise until he was full up. Then, drifted off to sleep some more... hahaha!

Well most of the guests seem to think he looks like me, "Big eyes, sharp nose and so much hair!" they said, thanks to my mother's pinching of his nose? By the time I had some time to eat on my own, I found that my pasta dish was a hit, erm... I didn't get to eat any of the red sauce and the white one, only 1 final helping left. I made a mental note that 500 g of pasta goes well with 640 grams of chicken... That way I won't under or over cook the next time. A bit disappointed that I didn't get to eat my own dish, but at the same time, beamed with pride that I made a dish that was more in demand than any of the chinese stuff (yea, I don't know how to eat any of that....).

Most guests left by 10 pm, I was still entertaining some of my closer friends like Prakash, Chong Lee, Linda, Marion until 12 am. It was late already, hence, we called it a day... I believe that our maid, Sunarti deserves a mention too as she didn't eat until like 11 p.m. and stuck through the whole day working. She's a rare find that woman.

Alden's Personality
According to his Grandfather, he's an intelligent boy, very perceptive and has a whole range of moods to suite. To his mother, Alden's the cutest thing. To his Grandma, he's getting potty trained whether he likes it or not. To me, I think I've finally accepted that I'm his father and well, I can't wait for him to grow up to see who he takes after (or not). I've finally learnt to carry him around without him complaining much... He's moving his head more and more now and during burping likes to look around, very inquisitive child...! He's gurgling a lot more now, often at the end of every feed, he lets off a very contented sound very much like a sigh.. "Haaaahhhh"

If you scold him and chastise him, he'll somehow respond with a "hah...!" Wonder where he learnt that from...? He also recognises faces now and he really doesn't like it when I get too near to his face, like to beat me off with his mittened hands. I think it's my glasses :)

I certainly think that he's grown more mature over the 5 weeks, and starting to shed some of that baby looks. I'll scan some pictures to include in the blog in a bit...! Wait for the VCD ya!!!