Sticky Superglue

Not only has Elaina picked up the habit of waking up in the middle of the night for milk, she has also morphed to became a clingy baby like Matty. She sticks to Mummy like glue and will cry her lungs out if she sees me walking away. Not only that she will refuse the first feeding in the morning and the night-feed unless Mummy is the one cradling her and feeding her.

Our king-size is also shrinking - because on most nights these days, only the smell of Mummy can calm her and lull her back to sleep (aromatherapy??). So naturally she ends up sleeping in-between Daddy and Mummy... but mostly closer to Mummy's side. Some time ago, Matty also decided for some unknown reason that the best place to sleep is next to Mummy... and he ends up next to Mummy too.

Mummy is flattered to know how Matty and Elaina adores the person who brought them to this world... but in the middle of the night when I can barely keep my eyes open or in the morning when we are rushing like mad to get ready for work... you would wonder if this is a good or bad thing.

Maybe I should just enjoy this phase while both of them are still willing to be my koala bears and me their big gum tree.

Christmas Toys... Where?

Christmas Toys... Where?
Those were the exact words from Matty one day after the Christmas tree is up. Talk about efficiency!

The Tree is Up Once More

Our Christmas tree sees the daylight yet again. Unbelievable how the year has zoomed past. It didn't feel like that long ago when Mummy was last shopping for Christmas pressies and decorations. This Christmas will be another meaningful one because it is Elaina's first Christmas. Somehow she doesn't seem to have taken notice of the tree though.

This year, Mummy has Matty buzzing around while putting up the tree. He still remembers that all the balls and bells need to go on and was frantically trying his hand on hanging the stuff.

We had to get the lights replaced... since quite a number of bulbs have blew. I wonder how long more will the tree last before we need to get another new one.

(Oh and for the records, Elaina only put on 50 grams in the last one month although we swore that she felt a lot heavier than that!)

What Happened?

Oh dear... it has been 2 weeks since Mummy last updated this blog. Let's see what have we been doing for the last ten days or so.

Matty's playgroup at My Gym finally came to an end.... I think he is starting to feel very bored at home with no where to burn his energy.... which probably explains why he seems to be screaming alot more (not like he wasn't capable of doing it in the past!!), messing up the place by throwing his books all over the place and so on. Perhaps all these help to channel his energy out from his system.... which inadvertently also causes everyone to be drained of energy. Now that he has given up his afternoon nap (because Mah-Mah has given up on making him take his afternoon nap) he has even more time on hand. Quite often he ends up spending the afternoon in Parkway for one reason or another. Talk about loitering the shopping mall... here's a true blue Singaporean in the making. We are starting to be a little bit concerned about his eyesight. Not too sure if it is a result of skipping the afternoon nap or overdose of the television, he seems to be rubbing his eyes alot more lately. Anyway the issue of watching too much television is an aged-old one. With Matty... alot of things cannot be helped. How else to make a hyper-kiddo sit down for even a minute so that you can at least get some rest yourself or even to have something entertain him when he use to wake up at 5 in the morning while his (poor) parents needed that extra one-hour of sleep before getting ready to work.

As for Elaina, she got her 2nd tooth shortly after sprouting the 1st one. However even with her 2 lower teeth in... it doesn't seem to deter her from sucking her thumb. Hopefully we won't need to resort to the unthinkable. She is starting to crawl her way around. Not quite the commando-style though like most babies. She will dig her feet and elbow into the bed and push her way forward. Elaina is also starting to be able to stand with support. Because of that.... she fell while in her bumbo seat just the other day. Yes... she tried to stand up and reach out for a toy and fell over. Lucky thing that the bumbo seat was on the floor and not on the bed.

Mummy is again busy with work, work, work and more work. I can't wait for the day when we can finally get an admin person for the department... provided if I am not made redundant in the coming re-organisation. Other than working... I have been busy doing retail therapy. Elaina seems to be growing fast and furious since she started taking solid food.... which means she needs more clothes (not like I hadn't been stocking up). It has gone to the extend that Mummy had to "abort" my plan of buying more pretty dresses until we get more pink hangers. So now what??? Found some sites that sell clips and custom-made bows. I think I must have spent almost a hundred bucks in 2 weeks on hair accessories for Elaina. Since she has so much more hair as compared to most babies of this age... why waste it right?? And since she has got so many pretty outfits of course we need clips of different colours and designs to match the outfit.

What about Daddy??? What else other than busy with his online game *rolleyes*

First & Last

FIRST.....

Elaina finally sprouted her first tooth on 18 October 2007... at her bottom left front. Exactly on the day she turned 7 months old. Mummy thinks it is so cute when the baby has a little tooth to show off.

She's weighing 7.7kg at the checkup last Saturday and able to sit and balance herself without support... although she still topples when she forgets that she needs to keep her balance

LAST...

It was Matty's last day at the playgroup on Friday. His favourite teacher, Lara (or known as Teacher Wa-Wa... due to his lousy pronunciation) was almost tearing. She even reminded him to come visit her whenever he passes by to get to the post office.

Diving Yet Again

It was just 2 weeks ago when Mummy wrote about Elaina's first dip. She took another dive over the weekend... albeit that it was a "dive" from the bed unto the floor. The first fall (and definitely not the last!) that Elaina suffered. Naturally... she cried buckets and it was made worse because she was hungry and tired then.

Should have been more careful and put up some "barriers" to protect her. Blame it on Mummy's over-confidence!! I was only walking away to drop something into the laundry bin and I didn't think much about it since it was only going to be a split second. Besides she usually rolls toward her right and she should have rolled towards the pillow going by the natural course that she takes.

We never quite worked out where exactly she bumped because until today there is no visible bruises on Elaina. But one thing for sure was that being a seasoned mummy... I picked her up from the floor in a matter-of-fact manner and tried to give her some comfort as though it was just another fall (actually come to think of it... it is and it will be). When Matty first rolled off and fell to the floor... I almost broke in hysteric and broke into tears myself. It was devastating. Not sure if its a good thing that I have grown used to such occasions and became immune to it.

Sticky Affair

Matty's latest craze - stickers!!! I think we all do fall in love with stickers at one point in time in our entire life... so yes Matty is in this stage of his life.

His first sticker books were freebies we get from buying his milk powder, Dr Chan's clinic... and bits and pieces of sticky stuff that we just stick on his hands for fun. Somehow he got caught on with it. Now the stickers serves as reward for every successful "business deal" that he seals. We are toilet training him at the moment... get the picture?? Or to distract him from whatever distress that he goes through... like being denied access to the computer. Mummy bought some Blue's Clues (another love of his love at the moment!) sticker books online recently. I hope he will be thrilled when he receives them.

Anyway... the stickers have become his life, his world, his everything. Nothing else is more important than his stickers. Just the other day while rolling all over the bed, Elaina nearly crushed Matty's sticker book which was placed on the bed. It was a near miss... Matty pulled his sticker book away from Elaina in the nick of time. Last night, he actually screamed at Elaina when she tried to grab the stickers. I don't think Daddy's effort in trying to educate Matty after that episode that he needs to learn to share saw any results. Even his mummy dearest (moi) wasn't able to persuade him to give me one little sticker. Biscuits, crispy, ice-cream... yes he will willingly give me a bite... stickers?? Nay! I think we now know where we stand in his list of favourite things.

Big Dip

Nope... the "dip" we are talking about is not some lucky draw but the Elaina's maiden swim. She took her first dive (head above water dive to be precise) last Sunday - 30 September, at the club's pool. Its been a while since Matty last swam... in fact it was one weekend before Elaina was born. That was how long ago!

It was a last minute decision to bring both babies for a dip because Mummy hasn't been able to find the time and opportunity to scout for Elaina's swimsuit... eventually Daddy did manage to get one at Kiddy's Palace after he got his haircut on Saturday. Although Elaina didn't shrill in excitement like Matty did back then.... she did enjoy the big "bathtub" on the whole.

Matty on the other hand couldn't contain his emotions. First it was the anticipation of jumping into the pool but later he ended up brawling... I think he wasn't too used to seeing so many people at the pool. Took a bit of pacifying to get him smiling again. Somehow he doesn't mix well with strangers... takes him a while to warm up.

Daddy is planning to bring Matty and Elaina swimming again this weekend. Let's see if Mummy is up to it... a short swim requires one hour of preparation and another hour of washing and cleaning thereafter.

Matty's Cover Version

Matty re-wrote (or sing to be precise) 2 well-known children's song one night while trying to fall asleep... talk about inspiration! The lyrics in Matty's exact words...

Oh MacDonald Had a Farm

Oh Mac... e-ya-e-ya-yooT (note the distinct pronunciation of the letter "T")
And a moo moo here and a moo moo there
And moo and moo and moo and moo
Oh Mac... e-ya-e-ya-yooT


Alphabet Song

A-B-C-D-E-F-G
H-I-J-K-L-M-OH-OH-P
Q-R-S
T-U-V
W-X-Y and Z
Now I know my ABC
Next time (2-seconds pause).... single me

Textbook Baby

We have a textbook baby on hand! Everything that is written in a textbook is as good as describing our little princess.

Just when Mummy was wondering when will she do her first flipping over... she finally did it 2 days before she turned 5-months old... hip hip hooray!! According to the health booklet this is something that was "scheduled" to happen at 5-months old. Mummy got a bit worried initially probably because Matty was able to roll over (all over the place!) when he was only 3 and half months old but all the tummy time that Elaina had didn't seem to spur her on. Then again Matty is a bad benchmark because he was really advanced in some areas but slow in other aspects. It never happened on the dot or around the dot for Matty. With Elaina it was a different story.

Elaina started to sleep through the night at 2 months old as "predicted" by alot of books that I have come across without even the need to replace her night feeds with water. It never worked with Matty no matter how hard to try to deny him the milk. Elaina's sleep cycle is usually very regular. She will need to take another nap after being awake for 2 hours. At night, she needs her bath at 8.30 pm and followed by milk. By 9.30 pm she will be off to lala-land until 8 the next morning. Matty's sleep and nap time was a guessing game. It took us forever to get him to sleep (still does) and staying asleep was a big challenge.

The only problem is that when we are out... it is an uphill task to pacify Elaina. She will be tired and cranky but unable to sleep because she is not in a familiar environment. A textbook baby needs to have all things constant which can be tough on certain occasion... and when it is nap time she better get her nap otherwise all hell break loose. There is no room for negotiation. On the other hand, we don't have to worry about Matty feeling cranky when we are out of the house. As long as there are things to keep him occupied he will be a happy baby... much happier than when he is forced to sleep. When the zee monster gets to him... he will just doze off in his stroller easily.

We are lucky in a way that both of them are opposite in this area... at least we only need to deal with one cranky baby be it out or at home.

Moving On

It was an extremely crazy period for Mummy the last 2 weeks... moving both house and office. In between, I had to get a root canal treatment, nurse both Matty and Elaina back to health from a nasty flu, deal with a bad throat and runny nose myself and not getting enough rest due to the constant late night crying and screaming from both babies (a result of blocked nose and new environment). The good that came out from this episode was that Mummy lost 2 kg in just one week. Haven't been able to get on to the weighing machine over the weekend... hopefully I managed to lose (at least) another half kg. Guess I will know if I should find the time and energy to replace those dead batteries in the weighing machine.

To Mummy... it was mixed emotions to move out from the place that I knew so well. Even though it was only a short two years in Sea Avenue, it was a place where lots of memories held. Matty's first dip in the pool, the 3 flight of stairs where he learned to first climb, the kitchen where I first learned to make baby food, Matty's first Christmas party... and the list goes on. I was initially worried that Matty will miss "home"... but the truth is that it didn't bothered him a bit. We walked past the house just last Sunday and he didn't even stopped to look at it. Somewhat glad that Matty was not the least bit concerned... otherwise it would have been tough trying to pacify him and explain to him why we are not allowed into the place which he used to call "home". As it is... we are having a tough time dealing with his tantrums every night getting him to go to bed. He now has his grandparents around him 24/7... see the link?

Changes in life are inevitable... we somehow survive it all no matter how reluctant we are to move on initially. I'm sure we will continue to have many more happy memories to add. It is who we have that counts and not where we are.

Boys will be Boys and Girls will be Girls

There was an episode in "Child of Our Time" which touched on the topic of girls going for girly stuff and boys doing the boys' stuff. It is amazing how each child is borne with an innate ability to have a preference over what is deemed "appropriate" for their own gender without being told.

Like most boys, Matty has a love for cars, trucks, buses, motorbikes, tractors... of course there will be others who prefers airplanes or trains. When we are on the road, it thrills him to see all the transportation machines going by. He has cars on his shirts, shorts, bedsheet and toy cars in all sorts of form, sizes and colour. You name it... he has it. If you think Formula 1 is an adult's sport.... you are so wrong! The Formula 1 race is something that Matty watches other than his usual dose of Baby Einstein and Hi-5. I think it is not hard to imagine that he will share the same dream car as Daddy (for the record... it is Ferrari we are talking about) in years to come. Of course that shall remain in his dream... how else would it qualify to be a "dream" car.

We had loads of soft toys that we received as presents when Matty was only a newborn but he instinctively chose car over the stuffed toys even when he was as young as a few months old. It wasn't deliberate... it just happened to be this way.

Elaina started to show interest in her cot-mate yesterday morning. The gaze in her eyes, her cooing and her sweet smile gave her away. Anybody could tell instantly how she adores the Pooh Bear that shares her cot and watches over her every night while she is away in lala-land. Whereas Matty never ever notices such stuff at this age.

So we can conclude that girls will be girls and boys will be boys... if they behave otherwise I think we probably will go into panic mode.

Checked!!

Both babies were back at Dr. Chan for their jabs last Saturday. Luckily there were no tears this time round.

Matty's weight remains stagnant at 12.5kg, "towering" at 88.5cm tall with a head circumference of 50cm. As for Elaina, she has only put on 500gms in the last one month... bringing it to 6.3 kg in total. Looks like she will be one petite little princess. Height was measured at 60cm and a head circumference of 40.5cm.

Thinking that Elaina can finally start taking some cereal after her check-up, we were told to hold it off for at least another month because the recent recommendation from World Health Organisation was to start semi-solid only after the baby turns 6 months old to lower the risk of developing allergy to certain food. Looks like it will be a while more before Elaina get to taste some yummy stuff.

In the meantime... our little piglet doesn't seem to make much effort to try and roll over. Mummy remembers that Matty will be frantically trying to flip over when he was only into his third month. Then again... Matty is always so impatient about alot of things and tries hard to get ahead in everything. Elaina enjoys just lying around and wait for something to happen. Hopefully it also meant that she will have a milder temper and more patience as compared to the rest of us in the family.

(For the record... Matty caught the fireworks of the National Day Parade rehearsal when we were dining at Pan Pacific Hotel last Saturday!!)

Dump the Diaper and Take a Dump

After months of agonising over when Matty will take to using the potty... we are finally making some headway!!

In the span of 1 week, he actually managed to poop into the toilet bowl 3 times. We didn't manage to get him to the throne on time yesterday and he had to let it out in his diaper. Before last week, he will cry and scream and hold back his bowel everytime we take off his diaper and attempt to put him on the potty. The mere fact that he knows that he needs to poop and pee and can hold back in when we show him the potty... and let go the minute the diaper in on his butt again is a sign that he is can be toilet-trained. Somehow he just resisted the idea of letting go except into his diaper.

Hopefully it won't be long before he decides to pee into the potty... that will surely save us a lot of money getting disposable diapers.

Matty Turns 2!

Yesterday was Matty’s 2nd birthday. Can’t believe how time flies. It wasn’t so long ago that we could still cradle (a lot of cradling done in those initial days!) him in our arms.

Again… there was no big bang celebration this year. We didn’t think it was necessary because he will just end up having a lot Mummy’s and Daddy’s friends at his birthday party. It would have been quite pointless. Maybe when he is a little older and has got little friends of his own.

We did however got him two cakes like last year – one strawberry shortcake and another one which was made up of many many many small cupcakes. One for Mummy’s family and the other for Daddy’s family. The lady at the pastry shop reminded that it won’t be long before we will need to get three separate cakes when he starts schooling. Hmmm… guess we will deal with it when we get there.

Matty got to enjoy his favourite Fish and Chips on his birthday. I didn’t think he would be very pleased if he was to eat some boring stuff on such an important day.

Wai-Gong bought him a pair of cool Reebok shoes that lights up with every slap on the bottom of the shoe (yes he was literally hitting the soles with his palm) and Daddy got him a Transformer toy… which Matty calls it a “robot truck” (I wonder who it was actually meant for…). And more ang-pows to add on to his five-figure digit bank account. Sounds like a Christmas and Chinese New Year all rolled in to one… minus the Christmas tree and Gong-Xi Gong-Xi that he was forced to say every time he gets an ang-pow.

Hopefully Matty had a great birthday even though he may not recall this day years down the road. At least I think he did from the grin on his face when we sang him the birthday song. Oh yes… he managed to blow out the candles on his cake this year.

While we take joy that the boy has grown another year older and celebrate this important day… it is also to mark that Mummy and Daddy has survived another year of parenthood!

No Big No Small

Matty is a true blue ang-mo. Not only does his Mandarin come with an ang-mo accent... he started calling his elders by name. Mah-Mah is now "Ya-Mei"... Chek-Chek is now "Kai Teck"... Gu-Gu is now "Kai Ling"... and Ah-Yee is now "Ah-Zhen". Amusing it may be... we hope he will not continue to do that. Afterall we are still Asians.

Sucker!!

Elaina is a sucker... thumb sucker I mean.

Whenever she is bored with nothing to distract her, in goes her left thumb. Sometimes in the middle of the night she will instinctively pop her precious lollipop even though she is only half-awake.

We woke up one morning to find her little nose covered with dried-up blood - the result of her thumb sucking. While the thumb goes into the mouth, her other four fingers will rest on her nose... which will end up scratching the nose every time she takes a suck.

Elaina is now back to wearing mittens for the night. The mittens didn't stop her from sucking (we know cos there are times when the mitten is soaked with saliva the next morning!!) but at least it helps to prevent her from scratching her nose badly.

Leaps and Bound

In the last two months, Baby Elaina has put on a whooping 1.7kg... which is pretty much on target. At least Mother Cow's efforts had not gone to waste. Now we just need to wait for her first milestone to come.

As for Matty, he has been picking up new words so fast that we have totally lost count how many words he has added to his vocabulary. On days, he will surprise us with words which we never knew he knew. At times, he will repeat our words back to us... and stringing words together is no longer a challenge to him. BUT the fact that he is conversing mainly in English and has not been picking up Chinese is something we cannot comprehend... because we do use a mix of both languages with him since Day One. Even if he does try to speak (rarely) in Mandarin, it comes with an accent that sounds like an Ang-Moh grappling Mandarin. I can't help but laugh when I hear the Chinese words that come out from Matty's mouth. I think I have given birth to a "kantang" (which so happens to be one of Matty's favourite... cos that's what french fries and hash browns are made of !!).

Day to be Remembered

Elaina is finally turning 1 month old in a few days time. As we celebrate this special day... tomorrow is also a day of remembrance of our two angels.

Our family picture is now complete with the birth of Matty and Elaina... but yet it seems so incomplete.

Weekend Schedule

Here's a glimpse of a typical weekend for the past 2 weeks...

he-eats, she-eats, she-eats, he-eats, I-eat, he-eats, she-eats, she-eats, he-eats, I-eat, she-eats, she-eats, he-eats, she-eats...

Mummy is getting all burnt out trying to satisfy the hunger-pangs of both babies. The whole day is spent feeding away. Can just about imagine that when Elaina starts having solid food... "I-eat" will be dropped completely out from the equation!