The Stranger's guide to taking care of babies

DISCLAIMER: No babies were tortured, teased or harmed during the making of this blogpost's video. 

Babies don't cry for no reason. Since they cannot talk, their only means of communication is to cry, and since I assume they are more than happy immersing in their beautiful dreams involving milk and more milk, I have narrowed down their reasons to a simple few (barring any special unforeseen circumstances).

1. HUNGER

Look Noah, Daddy is feeding you hands-free!

2. BEING DISTURBED FROM SLEEP

Noah, Daddy is sorry for disturbing you, please go back to sleep ok?

3. SOILED/WET DIAPER CAUSING DISCOMFORT

*No pictures here because any would make this blogpost R-rated

4. GAS

Noah: Burrrp!

Daddy: Finally.........

Noah's arse: Prrrrooooooot.......

Daddy: !@#&@!$#!)@ refer to point number 3

Well of course, taking care of a baby is much more complicated than what I casually described above, and Noah's increased appetite and slight feeding woes have given us a lot of things to think about, but all in all, a baby is nothing to be afraid of. With a bit of love and care, I am sure everyone can overcome this difficult initial stage and enjoy the fruits of their labour soon.

Just remember, at least for the moment, even though Noah gets the first and the very last cry, Daddy will always find his own way to get the last laugh. MUAHAHAHAAHA.....

Stuck on you Part 1: Noah's favourite sleeping position

Noah, the little Li Li

Noah is such a darling.

I am a first-time daddy, and I have nothing to compare with, but amidst his random unsettled streaks, I would like to think that he has been quite good to us so far. He's starting to eat much more than in the past though, so I hope that he's just in the middle of a healthy growth spurt.

Every parent would be able to boast their little secrets of comforting their little ones. Men and women, being blessed with different physical attributes, would naturally have differing methods of showing babies their affection.

For me, the most effective method through these last 20 days has been simple: Stuck on you.

Noah loves cuddling into my chest to listen to my heartbeat and give me some lovebites on my neck. Eager to provide him with the warmest sleeping position, I often get stuck to the bed for hours while he sleeps soundly on me.

Looks like Noah has currently made my chest his rightful position, a place where he can seek comfort, a place where he enjoys chilling out in even though he has taken a full feed and gotten a fresh change of diapers, a place where he immobilizes his Daddy but he doesn't care!

Noah loves being stuck on Daddy, Daddy loves sticking to Noah too.

First V-Day post as Daddy in Bangkok: Saluting all mothers!

Baby Noah's precious feet

So that's it.

The arrival of Noah on the 1st of February meant that my evolution in Bangkok is complete. I did not plan to come in the first place, but with a strange twist of fate, I became a stranger, an entrepreneur, a husband, an uncle and now, a dad in this land of a thousand smiles.

It has been a journey of twists and turns, culminating in an emotionally and physically-draining (for my wife at least) day that finally saw the birth of little Noah. Seeing him for the first time, all grey and gooey, then following him through his first hairwash, shower, injection and change of civilian clothes felt so surreal. As much as I would complain to people that he doesn't look enough like me, I am actually beaming inside that I see my dearest miniature Li Li everytime I take a little glance at him. He has my blood type and long limbs like me, so what more should I ask for?

The Samitivej baby waiting to go home

I told Li Li that giving birth, for me, felt like a woman reaching her physical potential, the kind of potential you would never know you had unless you went through it, the kind of potential that a man wouldn't dare dream of possessing.

Through my wife's 3 days in hospital, I could only watch in admiration as she took every step to prepare for the c-section operation, bearing the pain of the wound to feed the baby barely a couple of hours after the operation, and being awaken no more than every 3 hours to ensure the baby had enough to eat when she could not even get off the bed by herself. It really broke my heart when I could only watch, knowing my only tangible contribution would be to pay off the bill at the end of the day.

Catching Noah's smile on camera for the first time

The journey of becoming a father has been one of the most emotional times of my life. Maybe one has to go through this to really appreciate how great their parents have been, especially their mothers.

Our first family portrait

With this post on this very special Valentine's Day, I would like to salute all the noble mummies around, not only my son's mummy and my own mummy, but to each and every mummy (yes, that's you over there), because you have weathered the lot to ensure the health and upbringing of the new generation, and you have summoned courage and strength buried deep inside you that you might never know you had to make it happen, all in the name of love.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart.