Having a new baby is indeed like "having a new chapter in life". Parents make a bond with the kid to care, nurture, and love him/her throughout their life. The first day we brought the baby home, we feel excited, yet also anxious, questioning ourselves: can we be good parents? will the baby feel comfortable at home?

The pattern of our daily life changes. We wake up earlier to have enough time to prep the baby before we leave for work. On the way to and from work, we either talk or think about the kid. Topics such as the kid's habits, appetite, attitudes, and behaviours are on top of the conversation list. Arguments about the right way to train the kid is inevitable. Actually, we communicate more often now than before having the kid! Looking at it this way, the baby brings positive changes to the family's life.

The house also needs adjustments. Everything that is on the ground level has to be child-proof: not dangerous to touch, not potentially falling that will hurt, not edible so the baby won't unknowingly chew and swallow it. The house needs cleaning more often. Depending on preference, sometimes the house needs to be bigger to anticipate having big enough playground for the kid.

The baby is truly a "dependent", just as the tax form states it. We think about the kid when we make plans. Not anymore can we go out for the whole day, unless we bring the baby with us or have someone watch him/her. Not anymore should we spend money on tertiary expenditures, as this fund now goes to "kid's emergency and future plan," like when the kid gets sick and go to school.

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Now I want to say that my sister and I are actually undergoing these changes. But not because we have a new baby :D, but a new pet dog! His name is Happy. Think about it, if you replace every word of "baby" or "kid" in the above paragraphs with the word "dog", the story still makes complete sense. The only difference is we cannot claim the dog as a dependent on the tax forms! Anyway, it's just an observation :)

Today is the first time Happy went up the stairs by himself, when nobody was watching or calling him up. This creates a new list of potential issues by itself, such as going up and sleeping on my bed when we are out, peeing upstairs (since it's carpet all around), and waking me up way too early in the morning. We haven't yet devised a strategy as not making this possible when we are out, but surely we need creative and smart tricks to implement soon.

Ah Happy, be a good boy.

This was him the first day he came home with us. He looked gloomy because he was scared and unfamiliar with us and the new place. He is a lot happier now though!