Saturday, January 31, 2009

Brought ZQ to school today myself

Been a long time since I brought ZQ to school cos i put him on school van since I delivered. It's been 5 months. ZQ is easily adaptable .. and so far he has coped well with being in a school van.

Today, the auntie's not picking ZQ up and I have to send him to childcare myself. I kinda miss those times. While i was pregnant, I had to bring ZQ to and fro from childcare and back. It was tough as I was pregnant and ZQ is an active toddler but the time spent with him is very worthwhile.

When i entered the childcare, i see the familiar faces of the teachers which made me feel very warm and welcomed. It's been months since i stepped in ..... think i should try to go more often to visit.

The Chinese teacher also commented that ZQ is vv cute and adorable. She said that he goes around to wish everyone he sees "Gong Xi Fa Cai, Xin Nian Kuai Le" ...

ZQ really knows how to please adults. He's really funny and fun to be with. Can imagine how's he like when he grows older - sure he's gonna charm alot of gals.

Few days ago when we had quite alot of frens at my place and it was already time for ZQ to sleep, he'd come out of the room and say "Papa, I wan to kiss you goodnite". Then he kissed hubby, then came to me and did the same thing. Not just that, he'd go to everyone (all our guests) and kiss everyone on the cheek. AFterwhich , he went inside and not long later, he came out again.

This time, he came with new idea that he wants to "hug papa goodnite" and hugs papa, myself and all the guests got a hug from him as well. It was quite nice to see him so friendly and hugging and kissing everyone .... papa was so proud.

However, knowing this son of mine, I think he must be thinking of how to stay in the living room longer ... cos if he hugs just hubby and myself, he'd have to get back to his room vv fast. So by hugging everyone, he gets more time to stay in the living room.

Other time he'd say "Oh, i forgot!" ... that he'd forget this and that and he must do this and that.
He ah, is such a GENG king .. like my hubby.

Friday, January 30, 2009

First attempt to start Kai on FM - failed

Realised yesterday that I had only 2 packets of FBM left .... and it's an emergency call to start Kai on FM since my daily production of BM is not really meeting his needs anymore.

He is currently drinking 180ml*7 feeds (sometimes 8 feeds). That would mean I have to produce 1.26 litres - 1.44 litres of breastmilk daily. My per pump is about 300-400 ml and I pump 4 times per day - 6+am, 12+pm, 8+pm and 12+am ... that means only about 1-1.2 litres per day.

Today I instructed my maid to give Kai 150ml of breastmilk and 30ml of FM. Later she called me and told me that Kai threw up 1 hour after he had taken the milk. Then by 7+, it was feed time again, she fed him and in the middle of the feed, he threw up again.

Being an anxious mother, i quickly rush down the his PD at Rivervale Mall to take a queue number. She told me the waiting time is 1-2 hours. I bought some stuff at NTUC and checked again and she said , "another hour". So i went home with ZQ.

Kai woke up from his sleep and appeared with more energy and can even smile. So in the end I did not bring him to the PD but I have to monitor him at nite. So far, he had taken his last feed at 11pm and has now fallen asleep. Hopefully he doesn't throw up anymore.

Tomorrow i am gonna try the milk again and see if he throws up .... if he does, he's prob not suitable for it and i have to switch formula.

Saturday, January 24, 2009

Things ZQ says and his progress

Whenever I want to punish ZQ for not listening to my instructions, he'll say
"Mama, don't beat too hard ok?"
"Mama, don't beat my hand, beat my backside ok?"
When I tried to pull down his pants to beat his backside, he says "Mama, cannot pull down the pants". cos he knows it's not too painful to beat the buttock.

Other constant words he says
"Mama, don't eat everything" or "Mama, you eat everything!"
"Mama, don't turn off my computer"
"Mama, i haven't listen to the Thomas the train music yet"
"Mama, i've off the TV, too much TV for me"

I think he's good memory. He can sing quite a few of the Thomas the train song and he knows and remembers the lyrics ie. 2468 song, the brave one, gone fishing and Hip hip Hurray. Even for myself I cannot memorise the lyrics, he can and he'll even teach me how to sing the song. His ability to handle tunes is vv good.

For reading of story books, he seems to remember the story and normally i'll start with a few words and he will continue the story. It's quite fun to hear him read the story. I don't think he knows how to read the words but it's just route learning which he mastered himself.

Sometimes we'd skip a page and read on but he'll tell me, "Mama, not this page ..... , it's wrong!"

He's talking alot now and it's fun having him around. He's vv creative and imaginitive.
I must say that he really knows how to please the adults.
He's also helpful and want to help in everything - perhaps it's fun for him to do the adult thing ie When i am pumping milk, he'd want to help me fix up the pump. Basically i think he's vv keen to learn alot of things which is a good trait.

I hope to learn to guide him in the right way so he'll be a good person in future. Being vv creative, he can really get his way around and even negotiating with us. I have to be careful not to let him develop in the wrong direction. One thing which I don;t like is that he likes to whine and even go into tears alot to get his way.

He's now 34 months and going 3 in march. Weighing @ 16kg @ 97cm(i think).

Greeting CNY

Sun is CNY and we'll be off work until next Wed ... a good 4 days break, not exactly long though.
For myself, I am still nursing the cough. Meds dun seem to be working but I can't take any meds unless it's safe for breastfeeding. Kai has also caught the bug from either ZQ or myself and he's developed phelgm too. Hope he recovers soon.

Kai is now 5 months @ a heafty 9 kg @ 70cm. Alot of people says that their babies are only hitting 10kg at almost a year old. I wonder how big Kai will grow to .. but he's indeed a big baby. He's vv tall and relatively easy to manage baby. He drinks vv well 180ml @ 7-8 feeds a day and is a vv happy baby. He can KO and sleep within 1-2 minutes and don't fuss too much. Thank God that he's as easy as ZQ - i am glad.

Comparing to ZQ, Kai is much taller, bigger and darker. I call him TALL, DARK and HANDSOME ... while ZQ is FAIR, more of the guai guai look, though he's rather cheeky. One sunny boy and the other, a BAI MA WANG ZI. kekekke.

ALot of people says Kai looks more like me which I do agree. Slightly more than ZQ.
ZQ is a duplicate of hubby while Kai has bigger eyes, more hair but not as deep dimples as ZQ. They're both good looking in their own ways .... haha, beauty in the eyes of the beholder. Of course, they both look fantastic in my eyes.

We tend to feel those who look similar to ourselves as more beautiful, that's why sometimes people find their partners who look like themselves (self love) ... and end up people says FU QI XIANG. No wonder hubby thinks ZQ is better looking than Kai though more people thinks Kai is more good looking .. kekkeke. I think Kai is more good looking cos he's more of my genes! Nonetheless, he looks vv much like ZQ when he was a baby. Hope not another duplicate of hubby ..... at least have some of my good genes rite?

Monday, January 19, 2009

Almost everyone in the family is down

ZQ had just recovered from his flu and I caught it from him, now passed on to Kai and my helper.

I had been coughing for almost 2 weeks and it does not seem to get any better. Seen the doctor for 3 times already and given MC to rest at home.

Now Kai has also started coughing and having a runny nose .... good thing he is still ok and able to drink and sleep , though he naps relatively short.

CNY is just round the corner and if I don't get well, it means I don't get to eat all the goodies :(
With this cough, I had also lost my voice .... hopefully it will get better soon. All of us.

ZQ has progressed to new heights ....

ZQ had progressed to new heights .... *sigh ... not the good stuff.

Yesterday, ZQ told me that he's a good boy and finished his rice. Normally he'd not come tell me cos he'd never finish it so I was rather surprised, pleasantly surprised that he did. He even showed me his rice bowl. As i looked into his bowl, it was clean and in fact too clean to be true. It had been washed! I was wondering why would anyone wash his bowl? I didn't , my hubby will not and why would my maid wash it and pass it back to him?

So I suspected that he threw away the remaining portions of his rice into the sink in the living room toilet. I then complained to daddy and asked him to discipline his son ..... Hubby, heard how "clever" his son is in avoiding punishment cos he told ZQ that if ZQ does not finish his rice, he's get the ruler punishment. Being afraid of punishment, ZQ had come up with a lie to avoid this punishment which is wrong of course.

Hubby, was rather amused by the fact that his son can be so creative to pour away the rice and even washed the bowl. He felt that his son had inherited this "creative" genes from him and refused to punish him.

I am not sure if this is good or bad but definitely, I have to discipline ZQ, otherwise, he might think it's ok to do this again in future. Have not confirmed which is the best method but for now, still have to discipline.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

ZQ almost drowned

Brought Kai and Quan for the swim and as I was the only one in the water, I can only handle Kai .. leaving Quan to play by himself in the baby pool. Since the baby pool is vv shallow, it's ok. Of course I was keeping a lookout for him.

When Kai was done, I took him out to shower and told Quan not to move to the centre of the baby pool as no one was there to look after him except my helper who was at the side of the pool.

While inside showering Kai and changing him. I heard Quan outside crying so I thought he might have fell or perhaps wanted something but did not get it.

Got outside and mommy Kat told me that my helper jumped into the baby pool to save Quan cos he almost drowned. Later I found out that Quan was playing in the pool and as he was walking to the centre of the pool, he slipped and fell facedown in the pool. My maid then jumped in and tried to pull him up but unable so she squad down and carry him up. It was quite a scare for Quan and maid was drenched. I hope Quan will not be afraid to go for swimming in future.

Cannot imagine if he had really drowned ... i would be so sad and would not be able to forgive myself if an accident happens to him due to my negligence but sad or distress will be an understatement. I think i'd go bonkers. thinking back about it, i cried ... just imagining losing him is such a tough thought.

Even recently he was admitted to the hospital and at one point, they had to suck out the phelgm from his lungs .... i cried the moment the nurse told me. I cannot imagine having to watch him suffer ... so during the process, they banned me from going in as they said I prob cannot take it and be a hinderance. It was a fast process but it still pains my heart.

Must make sure that eyes are always on him 100% when I bring him to swim in future ... and if there's no one to watch in close proximity, then we'll have to get him out of the water.

Kai's first swim

Brought Kai for his first swim at a public pool at 4mth+. Invited baby Adel along too.

I bought him a swim diaper(non disposable) and becos it was on sale from an overseas site, the green color i wanted to order was out of stock, i took the purple color one instead. Kinda too girly but well, he's only a baby, shld be ok ba.

Also bought the neck float which cost me $20+ ....

The first attempt was rather unsuccessful. Firstly, my chubby 8.5kg Kai's neck (or no neck since it was already merging with his shoulder n chin) ... it was vv difficult to put the float on ... it seems to be suffocating him. Finally after much struggle, we managed to do it. Then i slowly lower him into the water .... he did not quite like it as the water was quite cold. It was not too sunny at that time. He did make some fuss and cry for quite a fair bit. I guess he was scared.

I put him close to me and he kinda stopped but my #1 was spraying water with the pump for the float into Kai's face! of course he was frightened.

Tried for a while later and finally gave up and took him out of water. It was difficult to shower him in the bathroom though. The floor was slippery and they do not have a tub to shower him.
Managed to shower him but I I did not bring in the shower gels .... so just wash him with water.

So I must say the first attempt is not successful. Perhaps I should bring him to HwaXia first to experience it and let the professionals show and teach me how to put the float and see his reaction if he is willing to swim at that time. Don'twant him to be scared of swimming in the future.

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Quan @ 34 mths


Happy family


Kai Kai - 4.5 months

I am experimenting a new software from Epson as I bought Epson printer .. it's called Photomix . Quite easy to use and it's rather flexible. Another interesting option to the one I am currently using. Cool.







Family is sick

ZQ, hubby and myself are all down with flu except ZK and our helper.

In the middle of the nite, hubby suddenly felt that there are too much virus in the room and decided to move ZK out of the room to avoid him catching the virus from us. As ZQ is sleeping with the helper, there's no other room with adults that are free from virus. Hubby decided that the living room is the best place to place his dear little baby.

Sensing the commotion, I woke up and told him that the living room is so cold! The windows were all open and the space is big, it's not as cosy as a room .. and ZK could potentially be more susceptible to fall sick. ZK oso woke up at this juncture as there were much movements.

Hubby then went into the study room as I told him since he's more sick then better to be away from ZK and there he goes, back to sleep. However, what he had done is causing the entire family to wake up.

As ZK makes noise, ZQ is woken up and he starts asking for milk, the helper wakes up .... then ZK will be hungry, i've got to make milk, feed him .... then with me waking up, my milk supply flows and it's time to pump milk. It's all a big chain effect. So sometimes i really prefer him to do nothing about it, at least i get to enjoy some beauty sleep .... his intention is good but well, he had not woken up enough to think clearly. See the impact of his 1 action? and we suffer.

Well, by now, the milk pumping session had ended and ZQ, ZK are back to sleep. Leaving me more awake than ever to update this blog which I have no time for.

ZK is now sleeping peacefully in his cot in my room, with me, smiling in his sleep n lying sideways. So cute and adorable.

Imaginative play

2 nites ago, ZQ came into the room and told me, "Mama, it's your birthday" ... paused .. then said "Come on out, I've got a celebration for u". SO i went .... "Oh ... it's mama's birthday? .... ok ...... what celebration have you got for me?"

I went to the living room and he set up some toys, and said there's a cake for me. He put on the candles, then i taught him to light the match and we sing birthday song, blew the candles and cut the cake. He then cut a piece to offer me .... i ate it, then he offered another, and another. It was fun. I told him "Not too much cos mommy's gonna get a tummy ache".

Am quite amazed at how imaginative these little kids are and it's a good thing that he is. I'd rather this than having him become a couch potatoe. Although he does watch a reasonable amt of TV - cos sometimes really too busy to keep this active toddler occupied.

Sometimes he'd say something and i had to ask him if it's real or he's just playing pretend.

He also went to tell Papa that it's his birthday and guess papa's response?
No, it's not my birthday. Then ZQ said "It's your birthday" ... cos he wanted to show papa the celebration he had prepared so it has to be papa's birthday for the celebration right?
Papa again said "it's not my birthday" ... sometimes i'd rather he play along and jus say "Ok, let's play pretend" .... ZQ understands that it is not real, just imaginative play. He's pretty good at identifying reality with fake play, which is good cos some children would grow up with imaginative frens who don't go away in extreme cases.

In short, imaginative play should be encouraged and passive input ie from the TV should be reduced. He learnt alot from the TV programme - Disney Channel as well but it should not be his every waking hour.

I must comment that at his age (turning 3 in 2 months' time) .. he's pretty mature. He'd know that his TV time is up when we ask him "Are you done with your TV?" "Please switch off the TV" ..... he'd request for another "5 minutes" then he'd go turn off the TV.
He even says "Too much TV is bad for the eye" ...coming from his, it sounds quite cute.

One of the programme which i find that it's educational is called "Word World" ... it would have words that springs up live and becomes the item/object itself. E.g. BOOK will appear in the shape of a book while retaining the characters and we still can see that it spells as Book. It's good for them to learn alphabets and also identify them.

ZQ down with flu n fever .... again

ZQ is more sustible to cough than any one of us in the family. He started having fever, runny nose, cough since Monday. Tue, fever went off but it seems that he is down with a flu, hence i brought him to see the PD at the mall.

PD prescribed him medication and neubiliser. Something ZQ is familiar with. Now he can even hold the neubiliser himself. Sometimes when he coughs, he'd ask, where's the neubiliser. Perhaps it does provide some relief to him that he's asking for it.

He's been out of school since Tue .... his CC teacher emailed and said the other children were asking for him and like to know when he is returning to school. I said, Next week prob. Prefers to keep him at home to rest and get better rather than risk him to catch other viruses and oso to spread his virus to the other children.

He's been coughing more badly at nite .... not sure if the medication from the PD is not suitable. Told the PD abt it when he went back for review last evening. She changed the medication for him n advised that he can go to school next week.

Asked hubby to get a letter from the PD to request the teachers to administer the medication on behalf .. but the letter is nowhere to be found. Wonder what daddy is doing? hmmm.

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Quan is really so endearing

Earlier, hubby wanted to bring Kai down for a walk but the weather is so cold so i said better not. Who knows before I could even react, he had already gone downstairs.
I told ZQ that he cannot go since he's sick. Then he went to the window to call out aloud for papa.
He even said good nite to papa when he was told it's time for him to sleep. Some time later, he ran to the window and shouted "Papa, it's late and it's too cold for didi".

Another time, I was upset with hubby and we had slight argument, ZQ come over to mediate and said "Don't shout, talk ok?"..... i can't believe that it came from my little 2 yr+ boy. He's really a peace lover. Had he not been a boy, i would send him to the Miss Universe Pagent so he can say "World Peace" ... hahhaa.

He's do wrong things and whenever i scold him, he'd come hug me and say "Sorry, mama".
He seems to know what are the politically correct answers to make adults happy.
He'd come tell me that he had finished the program when he could continue to watch it.
He'd kiss and hug Kai all over, including his diaper and then come tell me "Mama, didi's diaper is wet, need to change.
He'd say "Mama, don't eat everything" if he wans some of the food ... and if he comes back and finds it missing he'd say "Mama, u eat everything!"
He'd come to play with my computer and see the happy face on the forum and say "Don't touch my computer!"
He'd say "I need to work oso" when i give him excuse that i am working .....
He loves Thomas the train and is able to sing the 2468.. song. He now loves the other one called "The brave one" ... or Brave one.
He loves to eat vitamin gummies
He does not eat vegetables and meat
He's a good natured boy who loves ...... world peace! hehe.
He's tall for his age and weights about 16.5kg.

He's such an enjoyable and fun kid to be with and he's vv imaginitive too.
Really love spending time with him.

Slow in updating my blog

Yes, it's been another few weeks since i last visited this blog. Been wanting to pen down some things but never get to do it.

Now ZQ is down with fever again, plus runny nose, he's irritable during his sleep - he'll scream for a few seconds then tone down and goes back to sleep again.

As for Kai, he's doing vv fine. He's a whopping 9kg @ 4month 1 week ... there about. He's missed his 2nd jab and I am supposed to bring him tomorrow.

I must really say that having 2 boys really keep me occupied. They are both like Orchestra, taking turns to demand my attention.

Quan will always find me for everything. His favourite is currently the vitamin gummies which he calls "Vitamin sweet". He woulda ask for 4 each time - not sure if i am over giving.
He is oso good at negotiating for more ... he had some in the morning, and wanted more at nite but i said he oredi ate his vitamin sweets. He'd keep saying no, i did not eat. Finally, i gave him option of 1 sweet or none. Finally he relented.