Somewhere over the rainbow…

Daddy’s Pain Pain

Hubby hurt his shoulder when he’s playing golf on Sunday. He didn’t say a word about it, and kept things to himself. I have no clue that he’s in pain, and still “insisted” him to clean up Isabelle’s poo poo twice in the middle of the night after his game. Hey, it has always been his “duty” to clean both our babies poo poo at night, so I just let him do it, and he’s not complaining what! Sorry huh dear….

This morning, hubby supposed to play golf at 7am before he’s going to work at 9am. But he came back at 8am, just managed to play one holf. I was surprised to see him coming back in the room when I was busy attending to Justin. He was in pain and told me he couldn’t turn his shoulder. I prepared some hot patches for him to put on his shoulder, and he lied down for a good rest.

Justin was puzzled why daddy didn’t act like normal. He wanted daddy to carry him, but hubby just couldn’t do it. I told him daddy’s hurt, and needed some rest first. Then Justin said, “papa pain pain”, and lied down beside daddy. When he accidentally touched the hot patches, he was shocked at how hot it was. He started to cry and said “no no…put back” as if he thought the patches were hurting daddy’s shoulder.

We told him that it’s for daddy’s good, and the patches would make daddy felt better after a while, then only he stopped crying. And he’s very obedient when I told him to go downstairs and let daddy have his rest first. I kept telling him that daddy might not be able to carry him for a few days, and he would help daddy feel better by being a good boy walking by himself. See if he can remember this or not…

Isabelle: 4 months old

Isabelle is getting more and more attached to me as she grows older. If she knows I’m around, she’ll cry for me to carry her. Sometimes she’ll use nursing as a tactic to stick to me and stopping me from going out. So, I’ll bring her along whenever I’m going out most of the time. That means she can finally wear lots of pretty kai kai clothes, which have been kept in the drawer for TOO LONG. Previously, MIL will adviced me not to bring her out as she’s still too young. But since both MIL and kakak can’t handle her cries, Isabelle can go kai kai very often now!

She can turn from back to tummy pretty well, but only to her left side. I’ll try to encourage her to turn to her right starts from now by using toys to grab her attention. So, see if she can turn both sides in a couple of weeks. However, she’ll cry after she’s on her tummy for a while, maybe she’s tired, and she doesn’t know how to turn back again. It’s really cute seeing her frustrated look, with her cheeks turning red like tomatoes! So cute…

Her hair is still very short, as I’ve shaved her hair off at full moon. Now, MIL kept pressuring me to bring her for another shave. According to her, baby’s hair grow faster if it’s shaved off after a few times. I’m really relunctant to do that again, and have Isabelle looks “funny” in dresses. So, I act deaf, just let MIL repeat and repeat lah…

Even if she looks like Justin, but her mouth is certainly smaller. I still remember the early days of breastfeeding when her mouth was so small, it made some “squeeky” sounds when she nursed. Even the nurses also had no clue how to make the sound stop as there’s no problem with her latch on. So, they asked me to “get used to it”. Ha! So, her small mouth and thin lips are her trade marks, totally different from koh koh.

She sucks her thumb, fingers and wrists. She tried to suck her toes, but not very successful. If we carry her with her head supported on our shoulders, she’ll suck too. Maybe she needs a pacify, but there’s a NO PACIFY rule under MIL’s roof. That’s why she has to suck her own fingers. And she’s good at pulling her shirt into her mouth already. Now, we need to change her shirt frequently when it’s wet. I know I could use a bit, but I don’t like to have it tie on her neck yet, will delay bib until she’s a bit older.

The best part is she smiles a lot, but I always miss capturing her smiles. My camera has been occupied by Justin who insists on looking at the clips over and over again. So, I’ll capture her smile in my heart.

Isabelle’s 1st Swim

We haven’t gone swimming since Isabelle’s born. Out of the blue, hubby decided to bring Justin for a swim again this evening. We brought Isabelle along as we thought she could have some fun looking at us by the pool.

Justin was afraid of water again. He used to like swimming the last time we came, but maybe it’s been too long, he’s forgotten about the fun of splashing in the water. He’s hanging tight to daddy and refuse to let go, even though he can already stand by himself in the baby pool!

Poor Isabelle looked so bored staring at us by the pool, so I decided to bring her in.

She didn’t have swimsuit yet, and I should get one for her ASAP. I took off her diaper, and let her feel the water. She liked it and started splashing with her hands.

Seems like my baby girl was having more fun in the pool than my boy. While Isabelle’s having fun, do you know what Justin did?

He ran away from the pool and said “Go home!” Ha!

Potential Indo Maid

During our Penang trip last weekend, my friend’s husband who happenned to see the way at how I was handling my kids said that I’m a good potential candidate for indo maid. It might be a way of saying the following:

1. I’m dark (mmm…that depends on the reference )
2. I’m short (majority of indo maids I see are not tall, which I’m not!)
3. I’m good at kids

I’ve never thought about being a full time mother when I was younger, but I know that I’ll do my best to be a great mother, when I’m ready. I’ve had my days of clubbing, shopping like no tomorrow, working long hours, “dating” and etc before I’ve finally made up my mind to get married. Once, my friend asked me why I didn’t want to get married even if I’ve already engaged and stayed together with hubby (that time fiance), the reason is I was not ready for marriage. I associate marriage as a big commitment where children are involved. And I wasn’t ready for kids yet, even if hubby and PIL had been “pressuring” me.

But once the wedding date had been decided, I prepared myself not only for the big day, but for being a mother as well. I started buying and reading baby and pregnancy related books way before I planned for Justin. I also started taking folic acid and daily multivitamin as supplements 6 months before the wedding day. You can say that I was trying too hard, but I feel that I need to get prepare to be a mother.

So when both my kids arrived, I don’t go “gila” like some of my friends do. I know they love their babies too, but still they only love the good part of the babies, and try not to take FULL care of them. I understand if the mother is working, she has no choice to attend to her baby 24/7. But there are non-working moms who’ll rather get out of the house but not spending time with their kids. They leave the kids to the maids, babysisters or grandparents. And don’t even want to take care of them at night!!!

I personally know a mother (sort of a sui lai lai) who leaves the daughter to the maid since she’s a newborn. Now, the girl sticks to her kakak like she’s her mother, and speaks in Indo slang. But what does the mother do? Play mahjong everyday!!!What’s going on with these mothers?

I keep hearing some mothers complaining about how naughty their kids are comparing to mine, and they or their hubbies will go crazy taking of their babies alone. Huh? How come parents nowadays are so scared of their own fresh and blood? Like my hubby said, if don’t want to take care, then don’t give birth. But many still give birth for the sake for having kids.

I’m not a saint, I have my hard time too. I’ll raise my voice too if Justin’s driving me crazy, but I’ll make sure that I don’t lose my calm unnecessary and frequently. I don’t want my kids to remember me as a mother who screams a lot! So, if I raise my voice, I’ll make sure I say sorry to my kids. I don’t want to lecture my kids in public, if Justin’s really naughty, I try to talk nicely to him. I don’t know, I’ve seem parents hitting their kids in public without taking care of the children’s feelings, and I think it’s inappropriate. If want to scold, do it back home, please.

It’s my choice to have 2 kids with a closer gap, and there’re some sacrifices to be made sometimes. Like I don’t go out dinner with friends anymore, unless my kids are going along. I don’t want to miss our bedtime routine where we read, play, sing and laugh together before heading the sack. Some said that I can do it the next day, so why bother? Well, to us adults, it may not seems important. But to Justin and Isabelle, it’s a big deal to them. Justin likes to play and read with hubby and I around 9pm, it’s already a habit to him. Isabelle sleeps early, and she needs me to be there with her. I don’t agree when I hear comments like “you’re so cham, have to stick at home, I pity you!” For god’s sake, what is so pity about making my kids my first priority?

A decade later on, both Justin and Isabelle will be growing up and they might not want us to read them bedtime story. But those memories of mommy and papa being by their sides when they’re younger will be strongly imprinted on their minds.

BTW, I’m the type who drag my kids along wherever I go, if possible. We’re going to Genting again next month, and to Sarawak in October. At first, Isabelle won’t be joining us to Sarawak as we’re concerned with the hand, foot and mouth disease there. But now, we have made up our minds that we better bring her along. She’s on breastmilk exclusively, and is very attached to me. I don’t want her to cry like hell looking for me later. Even if a lot of my friends would rather travel without their kids, as they think kids are “ma huan” or still want to “pat toh”, I’d rather bring mine along.

That’s why I’m an indo maid material while they’re sui lai lai(s). Ha!

Justin: 20 months old

Time really flies, my boy is 20 months old tomorrow. I can still remember the excitement I got when the test kit showed 2 red stripes comfirming that I’d got pregnant. Gee, how I wish that time won’t fly too fast as it seems like Justin’s growing more independant these days, and I miss him being my little baby.

His characters have certainly be more obvious these days. He’s a determined little boy, if he wants to have something to eat or play with, he’ll make sure he got it! It’s kind of hard to distract him from his demands now as he’s good at getting things done by himself already.

For example, my maid hides the cookies at the corner of the cabinet so Justin won’t be able to get it. If Justin’s asking for cookies, and we said no, he’ll try his best to get it by himself. He’ll move a chair, climb on it before climbing up to the cabinet for the cookies. Most of the time I’ll get a minor heart attack seeing him climbing up so high, but I think stopping him it’s not helping either. At least I know he’s very skillful of doing so with a steady chair, I don’t have to worry too much if he’s doing it behind my back!

At the same time, he’s also very kiasi! He remembers well places where he fell, things that hurt him before, and not to play with fire, scissors, knives, and sockets. I told him over and over again that he’ll get hurt. He’ll say “pain pain” whenever he sees these objects, and say “no no” which means he cannot touch them.

Like any typical boys, he’s very active. He runs around in and out of the house. Sometimes he bumps his head on the wall or trips and falls, but he hardly cries if it’s not hurting much. Really “macho” already, or maybe his pain threshold has increased? His legs are filled with minor wounds, but none of them leaves any scars behind, thank god!

As for language skills, he’s still struggling to form sentences. Sometimes he makes funny sentences like “Mei mei, kakak kakak ….pao….pls…”; “Justin (want) cookies….pls”. It’ll take him a long time to talk in sentences. Sometimes we really have no idea what he’s talking about! But he likes to say “no no no” and “mine mine mine” nowadays. He’s getting more and more obsessed with his stuffs, and only wants to share occasionally. I’m still trying to teach him to be more polite and share his toys with his cousin and Isabelle. Hopefully, he’s more willing to share by his 2nd birthday.

He likes to call himself “Big baby” too. Whenever I rock Isabelle to sleep, he wants daddy to rock him too. He’ll say “papa, big baby, pao”, and hubby will rock him to sleep as well. It’s probably a sign of regression after Isabelle comes along, or he’s just wanna join in whatever Isabelle’s doing. BTW, he’s occuping the new stroller, and this is the first time he’s sleeping in one!

He’s trying to wean off thumb sucking. I told him if he feels like sucking, he can hug his Barney tighter. So, my boy’s carrying his Barney everywhere he goes. But he still needs to suck to sleep. Well, can’t force him to change overnight, let’s see how long will he take to wean this off!

During the Weekend

Last Saturday, Isabelle and I went for a mini gathering for breastfeeding mums at Ipoh Specialist Hospital. This is my first outing with Isabelle alone. She’s only a baby, and it’s so much easier handling her than going out with Justin who’ll be running around, depanding me to pao pao when he’s tired, or just refuses to go where we’re supposed to go.

It’s good to see a few mothers turning up for the gathering. One of the mothers has just had a pair of “long fong” twins (one baby girl and one baby boy) and has been exclusively breastfeeding them for 7 weeks. She has also started working, but still taking care of the twins by herself at night. When I asked how she’s handling 2 young babies at the same time, she made things sounded so easily, like a piece of cake! Oh boy, I can’t imagine how I’ll cope with twins during the early days! I think I’ll be extremely stressed out.

Since I went to the gathering, hubby accompanied Justin for his kindermusik class. Hubby said he refused to participate at first. But after a while, he’s enjoying the class again. We’re so glad that he really likes the class, if not, there’s no point forcing him.

After that, all of us heading to Penang. My Ipoh friends were going to Penang too, so we went to Bukit Tambun for seafood first. Too bad hubby and I were too occupied with our kids, and we didn’t have an extra hands to take any photos. Justin was enjoying himself, playing with the rice, running around at the restaurant, and exclaimed in thrilled when he saw the motor boats! My other friends also brought her kids and it’s really hard to enjoy delicious crabs that day when all of us were too busy attending with our kids. Maybe seafood is a bad idea for parents with young kids?

Then, we drove to my parents’ place. Justin was so happy to see poh poh and gong gong, he refused to follow us to Penang Island with my friends. I know how he’d rather stay at home, as I’d check the kitchen. It’s fulled of chocolate, cookies, biscuits, chips, raisins, and grapes. My mum will always prepare all his favourite food before Justin arrives in Penang. So, my boy couldn’t wait to wave bye-bye to us, so that he could have his junk food “in peace” without mommy’s around. So independant already!!!

But I got to drag Isabelle along, she’s very attached to me. We went for a drink at Restaurant 32, too bad their kitchen had stopped serving food. But we could listen to some nice live jazz music. However, my baby’s whinning because she’s too tired, while me friend’s kids were screaming in excitement, so they’re spoiling the romantic atmosphere of the place! Luckily the other diners didn’t give us any cold shoulders…

Hubby and I decided to leave early, but my friends were heading to Gurney Drive for some local Penand food. When we reached home, Justin was sound asleep. My mum said he’d been very good, not fussing at all when she put him to bed, and not even looking for me! I was surprised at how much he’s grown or changed. My boy who’s very sticking to me could go to sleep without mommy? I should be happy about his developmental milestone, but at the same time, feeling sad that he’s grown up so much.

The next day, my dad drove us to meet my friends as hubby’s playing golf with his gang. We went for char keow tiau at Macalister Road, but my friend told me the char keow tiau at Lorong Selamat tasted better, maybe I’ll go try it out someday. After that, we stopped by Gurney Plaza for some shopping. I bought a Combi stroller at Toycity, after my mum ngam ngam cham cham that I should get a new one as the old one was heavy and uncomfortable. When Justin was placed on the stroller for trying it out, he refused to get down from it. So, that let me to no choice but to buy it! For the first time, Justin was so happy sitting in a stroller and being pushed in a shopping mall. Hubby and I never pushed him in a stroller when we shop, we would just carry him around! I hope that I didn’t make a stupid expensive purchase…

Then, we went to Penang Road for laksa and cengdol. It’s an old dirty coffee shop, but it’s quite famous and crowded in Penang. All the kids were exhausted, so we got to go home after filling up our tummies. We went back in a ferry. Justin was very happy to see the ferry again, but since he’s too sleepy, he’s not smiling for the picture. Nonetheless, that picture will keep him reminded that he went on a ferry ride, just like one of his books shown.

After a long day, all of us were so tired. Both Justin and Isabelle slept early that night. I was really tired too, but I know my kids were very happy that day.

pss…why all the pictures uploaded are gone??? Sigh…

I’m Happy Today

I’m happy because both my kids woke up before sunrise, and we laid in bed lazily talking.
I’m happy because we had our morning walk outside with breeze blowing on our faces and birds chirping in the tree.
I’m happy because both Justin and Isabelle didn’t make a fuss during their bath time together.
I’m happy because I took a piece of coffee cake as breakfast with a cup of Nescafe.
I’m happy because my boy took his nap early at 9am when I was leaving to work, and woke up at noon when I came back home. That makes me feeling less guilty leaving him to work as I didn’t miss being with him when he’s awake!
I’m happy because I could take my lunch in peace…No ka ka cau cau from my kids.
I’m happy because MIL cooked “pan mee” as lunch, one of my favourite food!
I’m happy because Justin didn’t fuss at all when he’s taking his lunch. And he took 2 bowls of “pan mee”.
I’m happy because Isabelle knows how to hold a rattle and put it in her mouth today. That show’s her hand and eye coordination is improving.
I’m happy because Justin let me write my blog while he’s playing by my side.
I’m happy because I’ve decided to cancel 2 of my credit cards as I don’t need them. Less cards means less shopping, and less likely to overspend!
I’m happy because I don’t have to work at hubby’s office later in the afternoon! Got half day off!
I’m happy because I will be going out with my girlfriends in the afternoon. Yeah!
I’m happy because hubby’s coming back from KL tonight. We all miss him when he’s not around.
I’m happy because it’s only half of the day, but everything has been so WONDERFUL!

Kindermusic

I brought Justin to a free trial class at Kindermusik last Saturday. It’s a music and movement class for babies from newborn to 7 years old. I decided to bring him to the class as Justin is interested in songs and movements since he’s trying his best to copy the moves from Barney’s clips, and dances when he hears some songs from Nursery Rhymes.

Every toddler has a chance to try the class first before enrolling, so may as well give it a try. Every kid will be accompanied by their parent, so it’s less scary for toddlers below 3 years old.

Justin was really good and didn’t cry in the class. Nonetheless, he refused to participate as first and sat on my laps while he watched the other kids interacted with the teacher. I know he’s scared of the new environment and I didn’t pressured him to do anything, so we just sat there and observed.

It was only after the teacher gave a set of maracas to all the children, then Justin started to enjoy the class. He’s holding tight to the maracas and shaking them to make some sound, but refused to follow the instruction. At least there’s a smile on his face, and that showed that he’s not as scare as he was. When the teacher asked them to put back the maracas, Justin walked towards her and placed back the set, he’s not sticking to me anymore.

When they’re swing a stuff toy in a sarong 2 by 2, Justin already started to have fun. It’s good to see the way he’s interacting with kids in his same age group, as he only has chance to play with koh koh cheh cheh at home. At least he did’t act rough to his “classmates”!

The class lasted only 45 minutes, it’s quite short but fun of activities. When I was enquiring about the fees and time table, Justin’s having fun playing in the classroom with daddy. I asked if he liked the class and would like to come again, he said yes. Don’t know if he really mean it, but hubby and I “listened” to him and decided to enrol him next week. See if he really knows what he said!

Pressured To Go Back To Training

I was “entertaining” a bunch of staffs from my headquater just now as they’re having a company trip from KL to Penang, and stopped by Ipoh for lunch. They were having lunch just somewhere near my centre.

I knew they’re coming this morning, but didn’t expect to meet them. But my “si fu” in my field called me up personally and asked me to have lunch with them. It’s hard to turn him down as I’d not be showing my hospitality, so I went to meet them.

As usual, he kept “pressuring” me to get back to master trainer program which I stopped a year ago due to my complicated pregnancy. This commitment required me to travel a lot, stand for long hours giving training, and do lots of preparation for a particular training. It’s a voluntary job without extra paid, and trainers will be paid according to number of participants for the training. It’s not a big money though, and more about “helping” the headquarter to train all teachers nationwide.

I didn’t mind joining the program a few years ago as I was not tied up with my kids. It’s not because of the money, but lots of effort and time needed to be put on this program, and I doubt I’m capable of doing so. Right now, I really want to spend more time and effort on Justin and Isabelle, but not voluntary stuffs like this. However, I was “indirectly blamed” for the inadequate of master trainers in my state because I pulled myself out. My si fu kept “brainwashing” me to return to the program as he said I was really needed.

Even if I kept explaining that I’d like to focus on my kids only for the time being, my decision was seen as a selfish act. *Sigh*

It seems hard to juggle a job and kids at the same time, or is it me who’s facing this problem, trying to put my kids as top priority and sacrifice a job to be a better mom?

Stupid Purchase

I’m Shoppingmum, shopping is one of my passions. It’d be even better if I can shop without thinking of the money I’ve spent, but that’s impossble. I used to spend a lot on myself, but after having kids and depending on hubby’s single income, I have to think twice before spending. So, to “maximize” the value of the money I’m spending on my kids, I prefer to buy larger clothes for them.

But, I realised that I’ve done some mistake. See…

Justin is surely unfit for the over-sized T-shirt. But it’s cheap and nice, and I’m too lazy to go and change that T-shirt. I can just keep it for a while and let him wear it later loh…. *Trying to self-hypnotize for not blaming myself on this stupid kiasu purchase*

BTW, I took a photo of Justin with koh koh and cheh cheh. They look nice in the pic, so I decided to upload it.