We have been living in frenzy for the past few weeks. The move and flu bug going around the household leaves Mummy with a blank mind on most days.
Unknowingly, Elaina is now able to mouth a few words. It didn't dawn on me until 2 days ago when she asked for "water" and pointed to her bottle. We took for granted that she babbles most of the time and never really paid attention to whether she actually meant something.
I finally took count of what she can say at 15-month old:
- open
- bye bye
- hello
- see you
- water
- that
- mine
- mum-mum (for food)
- bao-bao (carry)
- hua-hua (flower)
- apple
- pa-pa
- ma-ma (for both Mah-Mah and Mummy)
- gong-gong
- gor-gor
- shake shake (for milk-shaking and bum-shaking... in other words dancing)
- baby (referring to her Baby Einstein disc)
Actually Elaina is doing much better than I had initially thought.
Thursday 26 June 2008
Tuesday 24 June 2008
The Bug is Here Again
Mummy is dozing off sitting in the office and staring into the computer. The utter lack of sleep is the culprit, and the culprit for the lack of sleep is the persistent flu bug that has been bugging us.
First, Daddy fell sick and then Matty came down with the flu. We were cleared for a mere one week before the bug stroked again hitting Daddy and Matty. Elaina has since caught the same strain of virus and is making her really sick. She hasn't been sleeping well since last Friday and Mummy has been surviving with a 3 to 4-hour sleep each night. I can hardly feel my brain except for the backache that usually lingers when I need to share the bed with Elaina.
We wake up each morning wondering if Elaina will be better tonight but so far we hadn't had any luck.
Better end-off here because I just caught myself falling asleep.
First, Daddy fell sick and then Matty came down with the flu. We were cleared for a mere one week before the bug stroked again hitting Daddy and Matty. Elaina has since caught the same strain of virus and is making her really sick. She hasn't been sleeping well since last Friday and Mummy has been surviving with a 3 to 4-hour sleep each night. I can hardly feel my brain except for the backache that usually lingers when I need to share the bed with Elaina.
We wake up each morning wondering if Elaina will be better tonight but so far we hadn't had any luck.
Better end-off here because I just caught myself falling asleep.
Wednesday 18 June 2008
Kids Say the Darnest Things
I recalled reading an article online somewhere detailing how many words a child will know and be able to say at what age. Now that Matty is turning 3, his skills in the department of language is undoubtfully doing well and deserves a distinction at times.
Some nights ago while getting dressed, Matty was getting cranky after a long day and was saying "no" to whatever we tell him to do. When I attempted to comb his hair for him, he retorted with "No... I don't want to comb my hair... I don't want to be cute". I was getting agitated with his constant "no-this" and "no-that"... but at that moment I burst into laughter.
Matty got into the phase of not wanting to brush his teeth yet again. I was trying to reason with him why he needs to just the other day:
Mummy: Matty, do you know why Gong-Gong's teeth dropped and he needs to wear dentures? That is because he doesn't brush his teeth before going to bed. Don't you think you don't look nice without teeth?
Matty: Mah-Mah has teeth.
Mummy: Yup... because she brushes her teeth. So do you want to brush your teeth?
Matty: I want to be a handsome boy
Expressing his feeling is what Matty is capable of doing these days. He had a quirky exchange with Mah-Mah weeks before when he told her that he doesn't want to be a big boy because big boys are not allowed to do alot of things (well we tell him that he is a big boy now and therefore he cannot be doing things like throw tantrums etc) and that he wanted to be a baby. But after Mah-Mah evaluated the pros of being a big boy, for instance going to the supermarket for shopping when little babies like Mei-Mei needs to take her afternoon nap and that only big boys can eat french fries... he pondered over it for a few minutes and declared that he wants to be a "big boy baby". He obviously wants his cake and eat it too.
Of course other than saying how he feels, Matty tells us what he wants us to do or buy. In anticipation of his upcoming birthday, he has been constantly reminding us every other day that he wants a Mickey Mouse on his cake. One night after watching the episode "Birthday Machine" in Little Einstein, he told Mummy that he wants a big birthday with a Mickey Mouse cake, hats for everybody and a blue schoolbag as present. I hope the list will stop growing. He is pretty long-winded for a 3-year kiddo - doodled on his doodle board on Sunday and came running to me showing off his masterpiece. It resembled a box and he explained that it was a present. I prompted him further and he clarified that it is his present and guess what is in the box... a blue schoolbag.
Matty has started to ask "why" and not just "what" and "where". But he does it in an unusual way unlike most children I know - he phrases it with "because?".
Some nights ago while getting dressed, Matty was getting cranky after a long day and was saying "no" to whatever we tell him to do. When I attempted to comb his hair for him, he retorted with "No... I don't want to comb my hair... I don't want to be cute". I was getting agitated with his constant "no-this" and "no-that"... but at that moment I burst into laughter.
Matty got into the phase of not wanting to brush his teeth yet again. I was trying to reason with him why he needs to just the other day:
Mummy: Matty, do you know why Gong-Gong's teeth dropped and he needs to wear dentures? That is because he doesn't brush his teeth before going to bed. Don't you think you don't look nice without teeth?
Matty: Mah-Mah has teeth.
Mummy: Yup... because she brushes her teeth. So do you want to brush your teeth?
Matty: I want to be a handsome boy
Expressing his feeling is what Matty is capable of doing these days. He had a quirky exchange with Mah-Mah weeks before when he told her that he doesn't want to be a big boy because big boys are not allowed to do alot of things (well we tell him that he is a big boy now and therefore he cannot be doing things like throw tantrums etc) and that he wanted to be a baby. But after Mah-Mah evaluated the pros of being a big boy, for instance going to the supermarket for shopping when little babies like Mei-Mei needs to take her afternoon nap and that only big boys can eat french fries... he pondered over it for a few minutes and declared that he wants to be a "big boy baby". He obviously wants his cake and eat it too.
Of course other than saying how he feels, Matty tells us what he wants us to do or buy. In anticipation of his upcoming birthday, he has been constantly reminding us every other day that he wants a Mickey Mouse on his cake. One night after watching the episode "Birthday Machine" in Little Einstein, he told Mummy that he wants a big birthday with a Mickey Mouse cake, hats for everybody and a blue schoolbag as present. I hope the list will stop growing. He is pretty long-winded for a 3-year kiddo - doodled on his doodle board on Sunday and came running to me showing off his masterpiece. It resembled a box and he explained that it was a present. I prompted him further and he clarified that it is his present and guess what is in the box... a blue schoolbag.
Matty has started to ask "why" and not just "what" and "where". But he does it in an unusual way unlike most children I know - he phrases it with "because?".
Thursday 5 June 2008
Falling in Place
We finally (well almost since there are still some work left to be done) crossed the biggest hurdle anticipated for Year 2008 - the move back to Waterplace.
As much as we hate it, the move was an eventful one... rectification to be done at the very last hour because we found out about something really late or someone forgotten clean about it or someone wasn't using his brains in the process. A hood that failed to work just when we thought that we are almost at the finishing line. And like every move, the shopping list just gets longer by the day and up until now the list is still being revisited and revised now and then. The whole process was truly back-breaking... from the washing and cleaning to the unpacking and organising. It will not be a exaggeration to say that a gazillion hours were put in to get the place ready.
I thought that I could have managed this better since I have moved a few times in the last 4 years but things didn't seem to flow the way that I had wanted to despite all the prior planning and even the nice worklist that was composed so that we will not lose sight of what needs to be done. But like we all know, expectation and reality do not gel. The washing and cleaning took twice the amount of time that was factored for. We worked till the dawn just one day before the big move and still not all things were where it should be for "Day 1".
The amazing part of life is that no matter how bleak the situation might appear to be at the beginning, things do somehow fall in place. We got through the first night working on the basis that as long as the kids get their shower and milk, have a bed to sleep in... the rest is something to worry about the following day because by then we were all burnt out and the mind and body just couldn't work another minute. And so we survived "Day 1" and even "Week 1" despite all the prior planning seemed to have failed miserably.
We used to wonder and worry about alot of things in the last 4 years. We cracked out heads over not having the space for a cot in our room before Matty came long and how are we to fit 2 car seats plus a maid at the back of the car when we need to ferry everybody home each night. We never got an answer to how the cot is to be placed or if we need an MPV. By the time we got Matty, we were moving into a place that was big enough to fit a bed plus a cot, convert a room into a baby changing room and a kitchen big enough to accommodate a bottle sterilizer, bottle warmer, and whole lots of other baby stuff. When we had even gone through that stage with Elaina it was time for us to move in to an apartment once again. We don't have to ponder if a saloon needs to make way of an MPV because we are now comfortable with the thought that Matty is sensible enough to take the front passenger seat and making sufficient room at the back to fit in 3. We discovered that if we stack things the right way, all the tupperwares, containers, pots, pans, cutleries which used to fill 2 kitchens can now go into that one little kitchen. It seems that time and time again things will work its way out naturally and eventually much to our surprise.
It is high time for me to get used to the notion that a good plan is when we do not to have one and just let matter run its own course.
As much as we hate it, the move was an eventful one... rectification to be done at the very last hour because we found out about something really late or someone forgotten clean about it or someone wasn't using his brains in the process. A hood that failed to work just when we thought that we are almost at the finishing line. And like every move, the shopping list just gets longer by the day and up until now the list is still being revisited and revised now and then. The whole process was truly back-breaking... from the washing and cleaning to the unpacking and organising. It will not be a exaggeration to say that a gazillion hours were put in to get the place ready.
I thought that I could have managed this better since I have moved a few times in the last 4 years but things didn't seem to flow the way that I had wanted to despite all the prior planning and even the nice worklist that was composed so that we will not lose sight of what needs to be done. But like we all know, expectation and reality do not gel. The washing and cleaning took twice the amount of time that was factored for. We worked till the dawn just one day before the big move and still not all things were where it should be for "Day 1".
The amazing part of life is that no matter how bleak the situation might appear to be at the beginning, things do somehow fall in place. We got through the first night working on the basis that as long as the kids get their shower and milk, have a bed to sleep in... the rest is something to worry about the following day because by then we were all burnt out and the mind and body just couldn't work another minute. And so we survived "Day 1" and even "Week 1" despite all the prior planning seemed to have failed miserably.
We used to wonder and worry about alot of things in the last 4 years. We cracked out heads over not having the space for a cot in our room before Matty came long and how are we to fit 2 car seats plus a maid at the back of the car when we need to ferry everybody home each night. We never got an answer to how the cot is to be placed or if we need an MPV. By the time we got Matty, we were moving into a place that was big enough to fit a bed plus a cot, convert a room into a baby changing room and a kitchen big enough to accommodate a bottle sterilizer, bottle warmer, and whole lots of other baby stuff. When we had even gone through that stage with Elaina it was time for us to move in to an apartment once again. We don't have to ponder if a saloon needs to make way of an MPV because we are now comfortable with the thought that Matty is sensible enough to take the front passenger seat and making sufficient room at the back to fit in 3. We discovered that if we stack things the right way, all the tupperwares, containers, pots, pans, cutleries which used to fill 2 kitchens can now go into that one little kitchen. It seems that time and time again things will work its way out naturally and eventually much to our surprise.
It is high time for me to get used to the notion that a good plan is when we do not to have one and just let matter run its own course.
