This year... Matty celebrates his second Lunar New Year. Just like Christmas, he definitely understood better. At least to him, it is "just not the same like any other day".
For a vain-pot like him, he was simply excited to be dressed in new clothes the whole day starting from Chinese New Year's eve. He even insisted on holding the joss-sticks on his own like everyone else when offering prayers to the Gods and ancestors. Then came all the food that he got to taste.
Matty also got into the drill that when anybody hands a red colour packet with stuff in it... he takes it and gives it to Mummy for safekeeping instead of returning it to the giver (like what he always did in the past). Not just that... he also learnt that when we start chanting "Gong Xi Gong Xi" it means he is to clasp both hands together and start shaking them. Anyway all these are worth his while especially since he collected $1,200 ang pow money in just a few days. It is indeed one prosperous piggy year for Matty.
We had our second round of Yu Sheng last evening and Matty was already able to work out that he needs to grab the chopsticks, dig into the huge mountain of vegetable and start tossing... whereas the rest of us got really concerned about the Yu Sheng spilling onto the table while he did his share of "lo-hei". Is that the reason why he is more "prosperous" than the rest of us? *shrug*
Anyway, we had our fair share of "glitches" for this period. Firstly, Matty was a cranky baby just days before the New Year. Came down with a bit of flu due to teething but luckily the leaking tap stopped on the first day of Chinese New Year. He was better during the Chinese New Year weekend... at least Mummy got to sleep till at least past 8 every morning. Then the hot and dry weather got Mummy edgy and lethargic. I could really feel that it was the year of the pig... as I was sweating like a pig day in day out... and even starting to smell really bad.
Elaina got herself a new dress by accident. Mummy bought a sleeveless "t-shirt" for Matty and specially kept it for Chinese New Year without realising that it was actually a t-shirt dress. Mummy only started to suspect something wasn't quite right when the top fits really well but the bottom was longer than a normal t-shirt. I even thought that it was due to lousy cutting initially. It was only after Matty ran off with the "t-shirt" could we tell from the back that it was actually a dress. Come to think of it... it was pretty amusing. I blame it all on the salesgirl at Isetan who told me that for Disney's apparel... the range for boys will come with Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse for girls. On top of that the "t-shirt" had blue lining along the collar and armhole. Who would have suspect that it was a girl's dress.
Friday 23 February 2007
Monday 12 February 2007
New
New Bed - Matty finally had to vacate his cot for Baby Elaina and upgrade to a super-single sized mattress last Saturday. His new bed is big (for his size) and comfy... so comfy that it is comparable to Mummy's and Daddy's bed. The three big worries we had were that he will roll off the mattress in the middle of his sleep, bump his head against the wall and walking out from his own bedroom and tumble down the stairs. Thankfully it has been an uneventful weekend.
New Year's Day Haircut - Chinese New Year is just round the corner and Matty had to get his hair trimmed two weeks beforehand in order for his hair to be at the right length. Although he has been a brave boy for the last two haircut, he was still looking a bit traumatised...
New toilet roll - We had to replace the toilet roll even though it was half used because someone was mischievous enough to throw it into the toilet bowl. I don't think we need to spell out the name...
New Year's Day Haircut - Chinese New Year is just round the corner and Matty had to get his hair trimmed two weeks beforehand in order for his hair to be at the right length. Although he has been a brave boy for the last two haircut, he was still looking a bit traumatised...
New toilet roll - We had to replace the toilet roll even though it was half used because someone was mischievous enough to throw it into the toilet bowl. I don't think we need to spell out the name...
Tuesday 6 February 2007
Just Around the Corner
At 32nd week, Baby Elaina is still lying in a breech position with her head on top left-hand side and legs strapped across to Mummy's right-hand side... a position that she has been in since Day 1. As we proceed into the late stage of pregnancy, the possibility of Baby Elaina turning head-down diminishes... and in another 4 weeks the chances will drop to zero. But we are all prepared mentally to go through another cesarean. End of the day... alot of things are beyond our control and as long as Baby Elaina arrives safely... nothing else matters.
For elective cesarean, we could be looking at 16 March (though Mummy is hoping to target 23 March so as to be nearer to the actual due date with the blessing of Dr Lim) and which means we are only slightly one month away from the D day. A very daunting thought especially when we are not done with all the washing and setting up the place to accommodate a second baby... the wardrobe needs to be rearranged, the cot needs to be moved back into Daddy's and Mummy's room, the kitchen has to make space once again for the steam steriliser and more milk bottles, the changing station needs to be mobilised again... and not forgetting that the hospital bag is only half-packed till now. So many things to do but so little time. The one good thing is that since the D day is a planned one, Mummy can always start maternity leave one or two days earlier just to get everything organised before we welcome Baby Elaina home.
In the meantime, Mummy's energy is seeing another nose-dive despite Matty has been sleeping quite well at night and hasn't been too much of a terror. Sometimes I wish for D day to come soon but then again... maybe it won't be as tiring dealing with a pregnancy than a newborn baby. Hopefully it won't be wishful thinking on Mummy's part that Baby Elaina will sleep better like most babies. Imagine having to deal with Matty's bad sleeping pattern two fold... hmmmmm....
For elective cesarean, we could be looking at 16 March (though Mummy is hoping to target 23 March so as to be nearer to the actual due date with the blessing of Dr Lim) and which means we are only slightly one month away from the D day. A very daunting thought especially when we are not done with all the washing and setting up the place to accommodate a second baby... the wardrobe needs to be rearranged, the cot needs to be moved back into Daddy's and Mummy's room, the kitchen has to make space once again for the steam steriliser and more milk bottles, the changing station needs to be mobilised again... and not forgetting that the hospital bag is only half-packed till now. So many things to do but so little time. The one good thing is that since the D day is a planned one, Mummy can always start maternity leave one or two days earlier just to get everything organised before we welcome Baby Elaina home.
In the meantime, Mummy's energy is seeing another nose-dive despite Matty has been sleeping quite well at night and hasn't been too much of a terror. Sometimes I wish for D day to come soon but then again... maybe it won't be as tiring dealing with a pregnancy than a newborn baby. Hopefully it won't be wishful thinking on Mummy's part that Baby Elaina will sleep better like most babies. Imagine having to deal with Matty's bad sleeping pattern two fold... hmmmmm....
Thursday 1 February 2007
Are we seeing the light at the end of the tunnel?
Either due to a stroke of luck or maybe our prayers have finally been answered by the angels... Matty has been able to fall asleep on his own without the need to be rocked and patted for the last three nights in a row. It is an easy task for most babies but not ours. We totally gave up on sleep training him gazillion moons ago (yes it felt that long to someone who has been sleep-deprived for more than one and a half years).
Daddy has been able to coax Matty to drift off to la-la land on his own for one or two nights since last week... but had not been successful all the time. It really only started on Monday night when Daddy had to work late and Mummy has left alone to "face the battle" with Matty. Matty as usual was a handful and kept squirming even though he was being cuddled and walked around. I completely lost it because his squirming on my rock-hard tummy resulted in a dull pain. In a fit of anger, I left him in his cot and sat next to the cot... refusing to carry him. Trying not to agitate his Mummy dearest any further, he was smart enough to lie low (in every sense of the word). Any attempt to sit up was dealt with a stern lecture from me asking him to close his eyes and go to sleep. Thirty minutes later... Matty was off to dreamland.
Mummy decided to try it again on Tuesday night when Daddy was out again for a "team building session" (at the Crazy Horse) with his colleagues. It felt like a miracle when it worked again... and this time round Matty was snoring away in just fifteen minutes. Last night was the same albeit that he woke up shortly after that and ended up crying when he realised that nobody was there next to his bed as guardian angel.
Finally at 19 months old... our boy has decided to give his Daddy and Mummy a break! We are keeping our toes and fingers crossed that our hopes will not be dashed. We can only be sure if Matty is able to keep this up for at least two weeks. After this hurdle is crossed... hopefully we will not have the same issue with Elaina. Guess that only time can tell.
Daddy has been able to coax Matty to drift off to la-la land on his own for one or two nights since last week... but had not been successful all the time. It really only started on Monday night when Daddy had to work late and Mummy has left alone to "face the battle" with Matty. Matty as usual was a handful and kept squirming even though he was being cuddled and walked around. I completely lost it because his squirming on my rock-hard tummy resulted in a dull pain. In a fit of anger, I left him in his cot and sat next to the cot... refusing to carry him. Trying not to agitate his Mummy dearest any further, he was smart enough to lie low (in every sense of the word). Any attempt to sit up was dealt with a stern lecture from me asking him to close his eyes and go to sleep. Thirty minutes later... Matty was off to dreamland.
Mummy decided to try it again on Tuesday night when Daddy was out again for a "team building session" (at the Crazy Horse) with his colleagues. It felt like a miracle when it worked again... and this time round Matty was snoring away in just fifteen minutes. Last night was the same albeit that he woke up shortly after that and ended up crying when he realised that nobody was there next to his bed as guardian angel.
Finally at 19 months old... our boy has decided to give his Daddy and Mummy a break! We are keeping our toes and fingers crossed that our hopes will not be dashed. We can only be sure if Matty is able to keep this up for at least two weeks. After this hurdle is crossed... hopefully we will not have the same issue with Elaina. Guess that only time can tell.
