Baby turns 4 months!

How time flies indeed! It feels like only yesterday when I posted the entry on Justin turning 3 months old, yet now another month has passed and he's moving along in his very young journey of life.

Previously, I mentioned that when Baby turns 4 months, he should be able to do the following:

1. better control of head and turn to explore surrounding due to increased curiosity

2. sit up with support

3. better control of hands and bring them together

4. use hands to reach for things more accurately

5. bring feet up and play with them when lying on back

6. roll over from stomach to back

Well, it seems like he's covered most of the grounds, but needs a bit more time and practice to be able to do #2 and #6, because as of now, while he can sit (either on the couch or on somebody's lap) with his back and head entirely supported, he won't be able to make use of a bumbo baby seat just yet. Also, he hasn't rolled over from his tummy to his back, although he did try to flip a couple of times without success -- he ended up stuck in an arched position and sobbing, the poor little dude. Then it's either Daddy or Mummy to the rescue!

I do enjoy looking at the following picture of how he displays his ability to do #1 though:

It certainly wasn't easy to capture this shot, where Justin's looking so comfortably at the camera and holding his head high and steady above his cot mattress, and even managing to give a wee bit of a smile there. Very nice, I feel! I'm so proud of all his achievements so far. They might seem like nothing to an adult, but to a baby, I think they are real mean feats! Kudos to Baby Justin, and all other developing babies out there! :)

We've also been having a bit more fun with Justin as he's starting to babble even more these days. Yes, not just coo, but babble 'ber ber gu gu ma mu...'. It's so exciting hearing him mumble, or sometimes even yell, the combination of consonants and vowels! I'm really looking forward to the day when he mutters his first word.

Happy 4 months to my boy. Happy 16th to Hubby as well. :)

Days of...lemons.

You know the saying, "When life throws you lemons, just make lemonade outta 'em". Well, at certain points, life does pelt me with lemons. Very sour ones. Loads of them. But what happens when I'm not exactly armed with a juicer to deal with the yellow citrus fruit?

That's the question I'd like answered.

It sure felt like this question was plaguing me for almost the whole of this week.

I reported to work due to official involvement in certain school and departmental events over a course of a few days. Within these days and prior to these events, I've had to endure:

1. A last-minute instruction for me to go through a few pages of notes designed to explain what is to be expected for an event that involves a large group of people but which this same group of people was clueless about, simply because the one person who's organising it does not like to conduct any meeting or briefing and is always vague about her ideas even when approached about her event personally. What's up with that? I mean, if you organise something and require the presence and assistance of so many of your colleagues, isn't it just right for you to let them know beforehand what they are expected to do and the rationale for certain decisions? Why keep people guessing till the day of the event? And is it fun to send out an email over the weekend, telling your co-workers to read the attached notes on a Sunday before the event on Monday, when previously you refused to provide concrete details about the event when asked?

2. Biased decisions that promote somebody's own interest on the pretext of wanting to benefit several other groups. This involves pressurising these other groups to conform and be involved when the one who stands to gain the most is none other than that person herself.

3. Lack of respect for fellow colleagues. I never like anyone treating me or any of our colleagues as a child or student who has to be talked down to. I'm not the confrontational type, so you never have to deal with me in an intimidating manner. I am a professional at work. I am an adult. If you need something from me, speak to me like one. And don't go putting all the smiley emoticons in your SMSes when trying to resolve a work conflict when you don't actually mean them. It just goes to show how much of a moron you think I am, not understanding the sharp daggers you are throwing at me behind those pretentious smiles. Oh, and don't go demanding people to be present for events that don't actually require their contribution at all when everyone is so busy with other work commitment. It just makes people feel plain foolish sitting there and thinking of how much they could have accomplished if they were elsewhere.

4. Job confusion and power struggle. I used to know exactly what I'm in charge of, and how to go about doing my job. Even if I stumble at first, I will find my way eventually and get things done. Now, with the absence of an HOD, I'm assigned to take over part of the HOD's job, but someone else in the department likes to claim that she is the 'biggest'. Not that I've anything against that. In fact, if you wish to take over the leadership role, by all means, go for it. But don't keep saying that you make all the decisions and yet keep coming to me and telling me that I'm in charge when you need someone to clear some rather unpleasant duties. You obviously enjoy the limelight of being regarded as the head, so why point the finger at me and say I'm the one in charge at times, just because you don't want to do certain things. So now who's doing what exactly? I no longer know. But I WILL find out. I need to, or the line will always be blur.

There are several other 'lemons' that I can think of, but the above beats the rest. More days of 'lemons' will come, I know. I certainly dread the thought of bidding farewell to my days as a stay-home mum and having to be physically present at work, facing people who make the workplace a less pleasant one. I can only hope that I will be able to handle this transition well, so that I can still return home a happy wife and mother at the end of the day. An unhappy mum makes a bad mum, and can do more damage than good for her baby.

It's time to start building my juicer.

Back to work.

It's always lovely getting a warm welcome from others at your entrance. NOT the kind that's like "Oh, you're back! Great! Hey, the next semester's gonna be such a crazy one. It's already so tiring in the first semester. Next one will be far worse, I think. Anyway, glad you're finally back with us!". (Yeah, that really happened. I mean, I'm glad that my contribution to the organisation is very much valued, but HELLO, I'm still nursing the wound of having to throw myself back into the deep end of the pool, knowing that life will comprise daily crazy struggles once more, after swimming leisurely in the shallow areas for the past few months. Such a welcome just serves to remind me of the terribly rough and bumpy ride that lies in wait for me.)

Anyway, the welcome I appreciate much more is the sort that comes from people whom you know are genuine towards you, and who've missed your company at work. :) I returned a couple of days ago just to feel the ground once more, a day before I had official reasons to be there. It actually felt surprisingly good meeting my friends-cum-coworkers in the office and engaging in the kind of conversations that we were so used to before. Like I told Hubby after that, just being physically present at the workplace got me feeling more ready for work. Guess it's a natural tendency to feel that -- work is, of course, strongly associated with the physical work environment.

But how positive (or otherwise) the work environment is depends a lot on the people you work with. Take this afternoon, for example. I attended a department meeting with people whom I've always enjoyed working with -- well, most of them anyway. Maybe it's because this was the Pupil Welfare Department and most of the colleagues here have a similar temperament as mine and/or share the same beliefs and values when it comes to caring for our students. The meetings are always focused and injected with occasional jokes and laughter, particularly when it comes to mini activities that aim to release us from information and discussion overload at suitable points. If only all meetings were as non-stressful or taxing as these!

Refreshments in the form of catered assorted sandwiches and sweet treats from Delifrance were also served to the whole department as a welcome back for me by my PW boss. Yummylicious! Totally enjoyed them -- just didn't dare to go for a second helping even though I was fairly tempted to! Thanks, Charine! :)

Shall have to be back next week again for a camp. I've a feeling that the first few days of next week may not be as sweet as today though. One can only hope...