Fatherhood and work and poodles

I think it is tough to balance parenting and work roles without compromising somewhere. Trying to come out with an iPhone app is harder than I thought. Actually the SDK and object-orientated methods are simple enough to comprehend, and also the tonnes of help available on the internet. But between learning and applying what I learnt, I also have to look after my wife and baby. I'm unemployed at the moment so 3-hour sleep every night is not a problem for me but what about husbands who do not have paternity leave? Its getting into a bit of a pattern and I've finally found the best time to do my work which is sometime between 12mn to 5am. That's the time Baby J can sustain 3-4 hours of sleep without breaking out into a shout. He's not crying... no tears at all!

Anyway Baby J is doing fine after we gotten the overhead phototherapy lamp for another 3 days. During the 2nd set of 3 days, the missus was under the light with Baby J... I must say she's gotten a sexy tan as well~ He's feeding well all thanks to the milk production factory. It's really amazing this breastfeeding thing... Nothing came out when I was using it and now this fellow comes along and magically we have milk... And its as if he's been training for it the past few months...

Progress on the app is good. It's a password management app which is specially catered for Mrs WD because with work e-mails, ERP accounts, personal e-mail accounts and not to mention social website accounts, the number of passwords is simply unmanageable for the average Joe. I'm really enjoying the process of learning things and writing apps. Its therapeutic to say the least, at least for me. Spent hours and days deciphering a new language and then *poof* something usable appears~ It's amazing~ Will try to come up with some promotional codes once it is ready... provided anyone is interested~ ;)

Then there are the dogs. They've taken to Singapore weather stupendously~ (I think) They love the wide spaces, the greenery and the company of so many family members who dote on them. Compared to our initial apartment in HK, this place is 3 times as big and it gives Coffee ample space to run around without having to leave home~ I'm glad that they are happy~

Days of Fatherhood...

First week of fatherhood. Can't say I was totally unprepared for this... I once had an offshore exercise with the army which reaped a total of 8 hours sleep. I had more than that amount of sleep this week. But army had hundreds or even thousands of men having a few objectives whereas parenthood is one small heavy-duty tear-packed objective with only the 2 of us. So you can understand the pressure...

A typical day starts something like this. After a sleepless night, we wake Baby J up for a round of feeding (more like him waking us up). My mum will give him a bath soon after before rubbing him all over with cream and lotion. I fix breakfast and the miss us herself gets fed before she goes for her jamu massage session. The rest of the day involves more feeding, baby and adults. My Mother-in-law cooks lunch and dinner.

It's at night that the struggle comes. On one night he was crying for feed after every hour. Mrs WD is the greatest as she stays up all night feeding little J. I am summoned as and when she cannot take it and I must try to carry him and try to soothe him to slumberland. Well... I can't really say if our days are shorter or longer now. Before Baby J we spent time doing very little except watching TV and keeping her comfortable. Nowadays the day zooms by, us tired by the end of the day and still accomplishes nothing much. Definitely more rewarding though.

As I look at this precious kid of mine, my heart goes out to those who lost their loved ones in Japan. I have a fair number of friend in Tokyo and Chiba and I hope they are fine. The Singapore civil defense force is on their way, some having just returned fromM last week. Once again be safe, make us proud and God speed~