Being a parent

When I come home from work, and I see these....

It really warms my heart that my babies are sleeping so peacefully and growing up.

And times like this it engulfs you, that you are so lucky to have them, that you will do anything for them... If you cant stay at home to look after them, you will ensure that you have the best people around to replace you for those hours away - a capable helper, a caring grandparent, etc.

They mean the world to you, and you even more to them as they, small as they are, you are their everything.

Poop - the sequel

Our dear boy is still scared to poo poo and thus, I inserted another suppository today - out came all the poop amidst his tears, wails, fear.

What do we do to make him poo normally? How do I help ease his phobia? I even bought a Winnie-the-Pooh toilet seat cover for him to place on our usual toilet seats but other than looking at the bears and carrying it ard like a toy, he has no interest in laying his bum on it as it is still after all perched on the bowl he is absolutely terrified of. Letting poop drop on the floor is also soemthing he cannot live with - he hates the mess, and he is scared to see the brown shit. He doesnt like the potty as well.

Will he ever outgrow this? He has gone even longer than Dr Yip's diagnosis - ie in terms of timeline of being able to hold it in. My son, can be quite a determined young fella huh.

What else can I do? Any ideas?

To us.

Got this from my mom this morning....


SUBJECT: Job Opening available

POSITION : Mother, Mom, Mama, Mi, Mommy, Ma

JOB DESCRIPTION:
Long term, team players needed, for challenging permanent work in an, often chaotic environment. Candidates must possess excellent communication and organizational skills and be willing to work variable hours, which will include evenings and weekends and frequent 24 hour shifts on call. Some overnight travel required, including trips to primitive camping sites on rainy weekends and endless sports tournaments in far away cities. Travel expenses not reimbursed. Extensive courier duties also required.

RESPONSIBILITIES:
The rest of your life. Must be willing to be hated, at least temporarily, until someone needs $5. Must be willing to bite tongue repeatedly. Also, must possess the physical stamina of a pack mule and be able to go from zero to 60 mph in three seconds flat in case, this time, the screams from the backyard are not someone just crying wolf. Must be willing to face stimulating technical challenges, such as small gadget repair, mysteriously sluggish toilets and stuck zippers. Must screen phone calls, maintain calendars and coordinate production of multiple homework projects. Must have ability to plan and organize social gatherings for clients of all ages and mental outlooks. Must be willing to be indispensable one minute, an embarrassment the next. Must handle assembly and product safety testing of a half million cheap, plastic toys, and battery operated devices.. Must always hope for the best but be prepared for the worst. Must assume final, complete accountability for the quality of the end product. Responsibilities also include floor maintenance and janitorial work throughout the facility.

POSSIBILITY FOR ADVANCEMENT & PROMOTION :
Virtually none. Your job is to remain in the same position for years, without complaining, constantly retraining and updating your skills, so that those in your charge can ultimately surpass you

PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE :
None required unfortunately. On-the-job training offered on a continually exhausting basis.

WAGES AND COMPENSATION :
Get this! You pay them! Offering frequent raises and bonuses. A balloon payment is due when they turn 18 because of the assumption that college will help them become financially independent. When you die, you give them whatever is left. The oddest thing about this reverse-salary scheme is that you actually enjoy it and wish you could only do more.

BENEFITS :
While no health or dental insurance, no pension, no tuition reimbursement, no paid holidays and no stock options are offered; this job supplies limitless opportunities for personal growth and free hugs for life.


Any takers? Well that is us!

Happy Mother's Day to all....

- my friends who are mothers themselves, who are able to understand my complains, worries, share experiences, and basically for just being there. Thanks Eliza, ShiWei, Mich, Jennie, Chu Ghin etc, you know who you are and this is wishing you a great Mommy's Day!



- to my mom, who has been there for me through thick and thin, though sometimes you dont quite understand or be in the same wavelength as me, your trying to understand and patience to just hear me out is enough. Wishing you the best as you deserve the best. Here's sending my love, and also from all of us, WK, Kayden and Sophie, our love to you from across the miles.

Back to work Mom!

I am gg back to work next week - actually its only 2 more days to go, sob sob. How time flies, its been 3 months and 1 week at the blink of an eye. Amazing.

I definitely have enjoyed staying at home with them... but I do rmbr, vividly, after man yue (ie in the 2nd month) I was missing the office and was feeling a little bored staying at home changing diapers, nursing, playing with K, the same routine day in day out. Somehow, add another month to the equation, I am now more comfortable with the routines and definitely no longer feel like going back! Ahh... maybe thats why in the past they only have 2 months maternity leave - its a break short enough for mother's to want to go back to the corporate world.


I will miss being able to stay up at midnight and beyond just chatting with Shi Wei on MSN (most of the time we talk abt the PIS, shopping, ebay and our boys) while pumping milk.


I will miss waking up everyday feeling relaxed as I know I have nowhere to go, no deadlines to meet, no work to complete, no one to please (other than ppl in the house)....


I will miss having the time to just laze ard when I feel like it.


I will miss being at home to see the kids 24hours a day (tho sometimes it does get overbearing).


However, perhaps by gg back to work, and with lesser time for them, I will be more proactive to make the most out of the little precious time we have - by bringing them to the gym, playclass, walks, parks, libraries etc. I have been wanting to do all those since the beginning of time it seems, but have not done so maybe cos I have been procrastinating, lazy and most of all having fallen prey to the comforts of our daily routines.


Think, I will have to start calling the kids' gyms and schools to check out their class schedules as well as try on my work clothes for fit today!

Me and my 2 babes in Mar 07 - K just had to have a hair clip as well, just like his sis!

Cant find any photo of me & soph (daddy can help me take one pls), here's one of K & I last month

I will definitely miss my carefree time with the both of them!!!

Its G O N E :)

Halleluja!

After one suppository up his anus, a lot of tears, fear, accidents all over the floor, his legs, my pants, all the brown gooey stuff has been released! The poor boy is sound asleep, definitely not his usual naptime - as if he has just gone through some trauma!

Of course, that is after another visit to Dr Yip - who had asked me to bring him in via an sms reply (I am marvelling at the ease of contacting doctors via sms these days) and we are $50 poorer with more medicine under our nose.

I have takent he opportunity to teach K not to be afriad of the brown stuff we call SHIT, I do hope he remembers and he goes back to poo-ing everyday and saves us any future agony of actual constipation as well as emotional constipation.

Its all about s h i t

K has been potty trained successfully since last month - ie when he was 20 months old.

I was surprised at how easy it was. He seemed like a natural and only made less than 10 accidents during the whole period. So now, he goes diaperless during the day (as I am not too sure yet, we have not started night training) and will tell us he wants to "hee hee" - his pronounciation for sheesh-sheesh.

So now you know how good he is right. Let me marvel you more. He is so so so good until he now also keeps his poo poo in! This I tell you is not funny and definitely not admirable as he is so scared to see his shit that he refuses to let them out!

When he was diaperless 2 weeks ago, he made an accident and pooed on the floor as GP (who was caring for him at that time) didnt understand his lingo for needing the toilet. He left him to be and he poo-ed squatting down as he couldnt hold it in further (he is used to pooing everyday). He was of course scared to see the shit on the floor and started crying, I think seeing his grandparents laughing (as it was funny) fuelled his fear more... ever since then he has refused to poo.

His GM managed to make a breakthrough 3 days ago by successfully coercing him to poo after 2 days of holding it in. Now, we are on another new record - tomorrow will be day 4 of his 'constipation'. You can tell he is in pain - he will tell you 5times within an hour, every hour that he wants to 'erh erh' - ie poo poo - but once you bring him to the toilet, or potty, he will be scared and cling on to you for dear life.

This by far must be the worst feat we've had with him - knowing he needs to go, but cant and you cant do anything about it as parents.

Dr Yip says this phobia we will just have to live it out. He says the shit will be released once it cant be contained any longer (ie 2-3days) so perhaps, he will poo tomorrow. He better! Cos I think because of his inability to shit, his fever has not been able to go down.

Anyone has any idea what I can do to help? Shi Wei's idea of pasting stickers on the wall (by the toilet) had not worked - he will just touch and be preoccupied with it. Once you hold him, either sitting down, or higher, or let him stand on the toilet bowl, he will be overcome with fear. Really dunno what we can do. Basically everyone in this house (minus the dogs and Mei) has tried bringing him to the toilet and it hadnt work!

Also, letting him poo in his diaper is also not working as he now just refuse to release it!

Toys galore

2 Fridays ago, after nursing Soph and put her to sleep, I left the house in a jiffy as I planned to hit 2 places and be back home again before Soph's next feeding time - ie in 3 hours time.


I had intended to speed right into the Toys R Us warehouse sale for the Legos that are on sale (from their promotional posters) and check out an exersaucer for Mei and perhaps some small rattle toys for her. I had allocated an hour to complete this. In my mind, I will then drive to Paragon and attend the Metro 20% storewide sale to buy some Avent bottles and steriliser for Jason. I was quite sure I can be home ard 4-5ish.



However, I was totally aghast when I saw a long snaking queue (with no sight of the entrance) when I arrived at the Toys R Us sale at United Square. I decided to join the queue nonetheless as after all I had driven all the way there, and perhaps, perhaps, the queue will move quickly. I ended up waiting for an hour to get in!



Initially I was a little lost in the madness - there were just people people people and toys toys toys everywhere. I didnt know where and how to start. I mean, there isnt even enough space to walk and one also need to manouver carefully along the small aisles with toys towering high on your sides, not to mention the insane number of shoppers all over the place. Well, it is the 1st day of the sale.



So anyway, after spending an hour (and much having warmed up after 15mins) I went ballistic and well, ehhe, bought like 4 big Toys R Us carry bag of toys, and also 2 bulky items which are luckily for later collection. I ended up $664 poorer, and here, below, are photos of my loot:

Toys include 1 mega blok (which many moms asked where I found it), 1 Lego (pirate ship) that was found by a Toys R Us staff and passed to me (which another different mom asked about as she was also anxiously looking for one), 1 exersaucer for Mei, 1 tricycle, 1 Fisher Price hanging mobile (that she absolutely love - see pic below), 1 Cars Doodle Pro, 1 Pop Up House, 1 singing Barney, 4 trucks, 3 dolls, 4 musical toys, 1 big lawn chess, 1 doctor's kit, 2 educational toys and some small misc toys.

Needless to say, after spending 1.5hours in the queue to pay (I think Toys R Us probably purposely left the payment queue long as it definitely enticed me to pick up an extra bag of toys along the way), I had to make 4 trips to the car and luckily, we have a station wagon as the boot space and back passenger seats were definitely all filled up! I felt like Santa Claus, but a poor one :)

Sick sick sick sick

Sometime last week WK fell sick with flu, cough, fever, body ache, etc (etc means there are other ailments I cant finish listing) - we dont know what he has, the GP however, diagnosed him with a throat infection - I think that is probably just part of it. His virus was so strong that it made him unwell for more than a week. We went to a chinese physician as well and I think he had just recovered after passing the virus to his mom and also Kayden!

As always, when K is sick, I am more likely than not to catch his virus too - he will be extremely clingy and will need to sleep plastered to me! So yesterday, I spent the whole afternoon feeling woozy, sleepy, nagging body ache, running nose, sneezing etc.... it was terrible! Popped the flu med and went to sleep from 8pm to 2.30am - I didnt even wake up to feed Soph at 11pm, and she was so so so so good, she just slept right through. I felt bad for skipping that feed, so I fed her at 3am and she just nursed and went back to sleep. She is really such a good baby! I feel so lucky to have her as my daughter, seriously. This thought has been in my mind for many days, I dunno why... everytime I see her, I feel and know I am lucky to have her as my daughter. Very weird.

So anyway, K and I are still sick. And I do do do do hope hope hope hope that Soph will not succumb to the illness too! It will be dreadful for her to be sick too - it is around this age that K fell sick for the 1st time with bronchitis. I do know that this bug we have now, is definitely a stronger one! It makes you feel so so weak and cold - and from Dr Yip's queries during assessment of K, it helps validify my theory as he looked a little concerned and also he asked more questions than he normally would. So hopefully we would all recover soon and Soph will be spared! As for today, and playing my part, I am not gg to handle Soph but leave her in the hands of our capable helper, who also has the help of my MIL. What am I gg to do without them and I find myself wondering what do moms without help do when they fall sick w an infant or a young toddler? I guess as all moms have to, they just cope...

My wish list - fulfilled

During K's time (ie when he was smaller - ie less than a year old - and growing up), I had a wish list of things I tot was cool to buy for him, but becos of costs reasons and the fact that he will outgrow them fast, I didnt get it then.

Now, nearly a year later, I just couldnt contain my eagerness further (as I still wish for the same things), I went on to strike off the list. So my recent acquisitions, in the past 2weeks are:

• Exersaucer - bought a new Leap Frog Groove Station from the Toys R Us warehouse sale for $100 (original price $229) (Yes Shi Wei, writing about this soon, in my next post I promise)
  
• Bumbo seat - got it from the forum bulk purchase at 20% off the retail price - costs $60+ - hadnt bought during K's time cos his thighs were stuck to the seat after being placed inside - yes, he was a big baby w chunky thighs too... My mom's question - so what makes me think Soph will fit better in view she is larger? Well I dunno :) I just needed to try :) At the most, I just need someone to help me pull the seat off her bum when I need to get her off. At least she will be able to sit on her own and have a good view of the world :)
  
• Medela Pump-In-Style (PIS) breasts pump - didnt buy it last time as it was expensive! Managed to get it 2nd hand at half the current retail price - a quite new set which has just been used for 2 months and thus, w a valid warranty - $400
  
• Grobag - wasnt too sure of the effectiveness then and also cos it is not cheap. I finally got it for Soph as she is now sleeping alone and well, I want her to be comfy on her own to be able to continue to sleep through the night all the time. It is such a disaster still with Kayden as he still needs us to lay next to him for his nap or sleep times.
  
• Mothercare changing mat - cushion type - it only costs $20 la, but didnt buy it then cos K had a rubber mat alr... as now Soph has a separate changing station in her room, I could finally get the rubber mat :) Yippee!
  

So I have finally managed to checked off all the items, and I guess it is timely for my shopping spree to end as I am heading back to work in a week's time (sob sob)! Lucky too, else I would be super broke.

Sometimes, I feel silly that I only buy the items now, as I could have depreciated it further if K had been able to use it too... Ahh just plain silly me, then and perhaps now too!

She is 3 months!

Today Soph is 3months old - Happy 3rd month dear!



She weighs 7.35kg (more than double her birth weight alr) and is 59cm long. Dr YY Yip says she is growing well, all good :) She cried when given the injection for Polio etc etc (I never know the type of injection my children get, I just know that some jab is due and to bring to clinic :))



Was waiting for WK's turn at the Chinese physician today, and the old lady sitting next to me asked:



Old lady: "Baby is a boy right?"



Me: "No, she is a girl" (with a smile)



Old lady: "Wah she looks like a boy, how come not a boy?"



Me: (Speechless and just smiled back)



So later I asked WK, what was I supposed to answer? How come she is not a boy but looks boyish? I was like, errrr.... is that smthg I can control? Or smthg I can change? :) Haha. What a weird question.



Equally weird, WK said I should have told her her brother looks like a girl (or so ppl say) and thus she looks like a boy... I was thinking? Whats the logic? So as to show they are opposites? Hmmm....

Happy cherubic baby!

Hello from BabyCentre, 2 month old, fourth week

Cooing is your baby's way of showing she's happy. This pre-speech exercise lets her play with sound just as she plays with her fingers and toes. You can show that you've heard her by cooing or talking in response; see if you can have an extended conversation. While you're at it, why not record her voice and preserve her first sounds for posterity? In a few years, both of you will love listening to that early baby talk.

Ooohhhh so it really means that our dear Soph is simply such a happy baby :) She coos, talks to you non-stop from the moment she wakes until when she goes to bed at 7pm (of course not during those times when she is grumpy frumpy and asking to be changed, fed, rocked to sleep, etc) and usually after she nurses... Also, she is always beaming form ear to ear showing her toothless gums :)

She is such a dearie... and soon she will cross that 3mths milestone and be able to:

- hold her head up (yay! can use her new bumbo seat)

- roll over

- interact with Kayden as she will be able to sit up and look at him play

all the above in the coming month. Cant wait.

Time really flies so fast - it seems like it has just been the blink of an eye and my maternity leave is ending soon, meaning my little girl is really growing fast! In another 3 months, she will be starting on solids. How time flies. Somehow, I feel that time passes by faster with her than it did with K :) Maybe cos we now have 2 kids demanding our time and attention....

I cant wait to see how Soph will grow up to be and look like! As for now, I know she is a lot more independent baby than K ever was (or is). She sleeps on her own (in her room) from 2mo and can play on her own, talking to her music mobile, toys etc. I never saw that w K - I guess it was also cos he was the 1st and only baby in the household, everyone wanted to carry, play with him and he never got much alone time to be on his own!