the Cacing Diaries #11

4 months + 3 weeks

What’s up with Cacing? A lot!

The biggest news is that she is teething. Poor baby. Last week, late Saturday afternoon, we were mystified by her incessant crying. No amount of soothing was able to quiet her down. It struck me though that she would often chew on something- her bib, her hand, even her shirt. When I examined her mouth, there they are: two distinctly white teeth about to break out from her lower gums. Quickly, I texted our pediatrician for help and she suggested Xylogel, which is a toothpaste-like balm. Luckily, we live near a pharmacy so I was able to buy a small tube quick. It did not take long for her to take a liking to the cool gel. This and a teether seem to work most of the times. It’s never easy to have babies.

It is not all problems though. Just about the same time, Cacing started to prefer drinking her milk while lying on her crib. Gone are the days when we have to feed her while cradled in our arms. Not bad really. It’s easier for us especially at night, especially now that she sleeps as long as we do already. She would occasionally twist and squirm on her back making feeding an exercise of patience but she’s a good girl.

Talking about eating, whenever Cacing sees us munching on food, she’ll copy our chewing action and pretend to masticate. She’ll drool heavily, obviously tempted by the solid food. Our pediatrician however prefers to have Cacing eat semi-solid food only after 6 months to allow her immunity system to fully develop. She said that a lot of the allergies can be traced to premature introduction of food like meat and fruits, as manifested by infant scabies and later in life, even as grave as adult-onset kidney diseases. We can wait then.

And some really “sinister” development – is Cacing a lefty? Recently, we have noticed that she prefers her left over her right, from handling things to the direction of her body rolling and even to the choice of which hand to chew. It still is too early to be sure but my wife is a lefty and so is my brother so I would not be surprised. Before anyone becomes concerned about my “sinister” tag, I am simply referring to the word’s old Latin meaning, which means “left”. Funny how word connotation evolves sometime. Cacing can be as left-handed, or right-handed, or ambidextrous all she wants.


pictorials


Canon EOS 350D Digital, 1/400s, f/1.8, 50mm, ISO 100, +1/3 EV
Cacing loves this pair of earrings too much she’d grab them so we replaced them with her original hypoallergenic studs which are less likely to come off.



Canon EOS 350D Digital, 1/400s, f/1.8, 50mm, ISO 100, -1/3 EV
Cacing is most photogenic when she flashes her wide smile.



Canon EOS 350D Digital, 1/125s, f/2.8, 100mm, ISO 800
An innocent look from Cacing



Canon EOS 350D Digital, 1/125s, f/2.8, 100mm, ISO 800
Her eyebrows are quite thick and frame her eyes quite beautifully.



Canon EOS 350D Digital, 1/50s, f/1.8, 50mm, ISO 800, +1/3EV
That is the dress of her billowing skirt which I hiked up to serve as her bandanna.



Canon EOS 350D Digital, 1/50s, f/2.8, 100mm, ISO 400
Isn’t her halter dress cute? It’s a gift from my best friend in Bali.



Canon EOS 350D Digital, 1/100s, f/2.8, 100mm, ISO 400, -1/3EV
Cacing engages us into child talk all the time.



Canon EOS 350D Digital, 1/50s, f/2.8, 100mm, ISO 400, -1/3EV
So she drools and makes faces but we still find her cute.