Walk, Walk (Videos added)

Walking is such a simple movement that it is taken for granted by us. We just stand up and walk! But for the old folks and babies, walking is a balancing act and a rather challenging set of coordinated movements of the muscles. For the latter, walking represents a brand new dimension of seeing the world.

Looking at XX, besides strength, walking also requires courage. XX could stand up and cruise around holding on to things for support long ago. All he needs to do is to let go of the support and take those first steps on his own. But he has yet to move beyond that and still requires people to hold his hand to walk. He can even stand alone without support, for a few seconds, until he realised that you have let go of him. Then he will quickly try to grab hold of you or squat down. Lack of confidence basically.

Yesterday, XX got a little bolder. I let go of him after he's stood up and slided a little backwards to give him some space to walk towards me. He did it! A little wobbly and almost falling into my arms at the end but he did walk at least 3 steps on his own. Good job! At one point in time, when I was distracted by the TV, XX actually let go of me and walked a few steps away from me on his own. When we realised it and started to cheer him, he realised 'hey, I'm not assisted', panicked and quickly sat down. Hai!

Well, like many things in life, walking can't be rushed. XX needs to feel ready and confident before he will take more steps. All we can do is to encourage him more and wait.

Sleeping Like A Pig

The phrase 'Sleeping Like A Pig' takes on new meaning for KK last night. As I entered my room to sleep, I detected a very strong smell in the room. The children were asleep much earlier and the room was dark, so I turned on the bed light to investigate the source of the foul smell.

I first checked XX, ok, he was dry and sleeping peacefully. Then I turned to KK. I saw vomitus on his pillow, his mattress, his shirt and even the floor. It looked as if he had splurted the brown gooey stuff out to his right, probably during a coughing fit during his sleep. The most horrific thing was, he remained sleeping in the midst of it all, literally sleeping like a pig in a pig sty!

Hubby and I had to make him sit up in order to clean him up and change his clothes. KK was semi-conscious and probably thinking this is all a dream as I wiped his right face, arm and back, which was smeared with vomitus. He would have collapsed back into that stinky pile if I hadn't supported him. The pillow and mattress was so soiled and smelly we decided it couldn't stay in the room that night or it will stink us to death. KK ended up on my bed, and poor Papa had to sleep in the study room.

While the older brother continued his sleep, the younger one, awoken by the lights, whispers and smell of air freshener, couldn't get back to sleep long after everything was over. Eventually, after about 1 hour and at about 3am, we had to give him a bottle of milk before we could finally get some sleep.

The next morning, KK was, as expected, totally oblivious and had not the slightest memory of the mess he created last night.

A Transformed Christmas

How did you celebrate Christmas? In the last decade, the way I celebrated Christmas has evolved. From evangelising at 'Come Celebrate Christmas' and cell group parties, Christmas has transformed into a hectic schedule of gift wrappings and a time of fun for the kids and gatherings with family and friends.

From 22nd Dec, the merrying began. We met up with one of our favourite friend and his family, including 2 kids for dinner at Jacob's Cafe. There, KK and XX has fun dancing to the music of a guitarist playing Christmas songs. (See video below.) It ended with ice-cream and coffee at the Changi Village hotel.

The next evening, we gathered at my sister's place for more feasting of coca cola pork ribs, roast leg of lamb, chicken nuggets and salad including my contribution of spagetti cabonara. There, KK received his 3rd, 4th and 5th Transformers toy (Arcee, Swindle, watch) this Christmas. He had earlier received his 1st two Transformers (Bonecrusher and Landmine). This year is truly a 'Transformers Christmas' for KK.

Christmas Eve, KK woke up with a fever. We had no choice but to leave him at home as we proceeded to Hubby's sister's place. This turned out to be a hilarious evening. My brother-in-law's got a really bubbly and fun family, including a twin sister who's 7 months pregnant. Yet she's still sporting enough to dress up as santa claus (no need for fake tummy) to distribute her gifts. Even her 3 year old son couldn't recognise her! There were strange but meaning-filled gifts for everyone, like a carrot, peanut butter and even a pineapple!

On Christmas day itself, we headed to our long-time friend Melvin's house for another fun-filled evening of games for the children. We must really thank him and his wife for organising this party for the past 2 years. I know KK will have a great time as all his old friends (kids of our 'gang') will be there. This 'gang', we've been friends since uni days, when we were still single. Along the way, we've gotten married and had children. Nowadays, when our kids play, we adults will take this chance to catch up.

As the clock strikes twelve, the gift wrapper tearing will halt and the 'merry christmas' SMSs will stop. For the children and us, we are transformed back to our normal routine. But for KK at least, he'll keep busy transforming his Autobots and Decepticons.

Merry Christmas, Everyone!

Baby X renamed

It just occurred to me that with the passing of Baby X's first birthday, he can no longer, rightfully, be called 'Baby' X anymore. Indeed, if his recent actions and behaviour are any indications, Baby X has moved beyond the 'baby' stage already.

'Babies' are those that allow you to hold lying down in your arms, stays where you leave them, don't protest when you remove them from the bath tub, plays any toy you give them and drinks milk dutifully without pushing it away with his hand. Our boy nowadays exhibits his independence and exercises his human rights like a grown up. You can never force him to open his mouth if he doesn't want to. You cannot trick him to stay longer in one place than he wants to. And you absolutely do not pretend to ignore him when he wants you to carry him.

Hubby and I have this intuition that he's gonna be more than a handful compared to his brother. Maybe our memories fade with time but I believed KK was much more an angel at this age. I certainly don't remember KK arching his back and screaming in protest when I took him out of the swimming pool. It may have to be that the 'Naughty Corner' punishment be applied to him sooner or later.

So from today, I officially remove the title of 'baby' from Baby X. He shall be known as "XX" henceforth in my blog.

Club Med Cherating (16-19 Dec 2007)

After a long drive from Malacca to KL, then across the peninsular of Malaysia, we finally arrived at Kuantan. The journey was smooth and blessed with good weather. Baby X was initially cranky but he still managed to sleep for about 2 hours in the car. From Kuantan, it was another 30 minutes past kampongs and malay huts before we arrived at Club Med, Cherating Beach.

Inside Club Med, it is a world of its own. A GOs (Gentil Organizers) was waiting for us when our car pulled up the driveway. We offloaded our bags and while Hubby went to park the car, we were led to the reception area where glasses of cold tea & water and cold towels were waiting for us. After a brief introduction, we were led to our room. We had 2 adjoining rooms, one with a king size bed, the other had 2 single beds. The rooms are modern and clean and the bathroom, though simple, is tastefully decorated. They knew we had a baby and as per what I read from the internet, they prepared a baby cot, changing mat and a bottle warmer with baby toiletries. But what amazed me was, they even prepared a potty and baby bath tub! I was worried about how to bathe Baby X but now my problems are solved.

Since we arrived around 6pm, our first activity was dinner. Hubby had warned me not to dress too shabbily for dinner but I had no idea HOW dressed up they are gonna be! The GOs were dressed like they are going to a dinner party! (I discovered later that there is a theme every night. The next night was ‘elegant white’ and all the GOs were in white.)

When I entered the restaurant, I know why you’ll look out of place in shorts and flip flops. The restaurant is as posh as those at 5 star hotels. The buffet area is almost as big as the dining area! There are so many choices that you need about 15 minutes just to walk around and see everything. I tried some Korean, Chinese and Japanese that night while Hubby and KK feasted on pizza and pasta from the Italian corner.

The next 2 days, it drizzled a little but mostly when we were asleep or indoors having our meals. Otherwise, it was sunshine all the time. Praise God!

There were so many reports about floods in Kuantan recently that I was so worried about the rain affecting our holiday. But this shows that prayers does work and miracles do happen.

Everyday, KK joined the Mini-Club after a quick breakfast. The good thing about Club Med is that they have activities organized for the kids the whole day. They’ll bring the kids to lunch at 12 noon and also provide them with another snack at 4pm. You pick the kids up again at 5.30pm to shower them and dress them for dinner. At dinner, the kids have a choice to dine together and join in the night activities till 9pm or they can remain with their parents. At 9.30pm, there will be a show presented by, you guessed it, all the GOs. The show normally follows the theme of the night. Even the restaurant and the bar will be decorated to reflect the appropriate theme.

KK spent the whole of the next two days with the GOs and other kids at the Mini-Club. He even wanted to have dinner with them and joined them for the after dinner activities. He did bungy bouncing, walked on the tight rope, played water games at the pool, picked sea shells & built sand castles at the beach plus a whole lot of other games. Seeing him being independent and having fun is our greatest joy. It also leaves us with more time to manage Baby X.

Baby X is a challenge especially at meal times, especially since he developed a cold after we got there. There’s the challenge of feeding him. If Baby X decides not to eat something anymore, he’ll not open his mouth no matter what you do. And if he’s tired of sitting in the high chair, he’ll bug you until you lift him off. We had to give him all sorts of stuff to try to keep him inside the high chair while we try our best to enjoy the sumptuous buffet spread. Ice cubes, plastic soup spoon, paper cups all became toys for him but by the 2nd day, even those became boring. Worse, he’ll purposely drop these things and then bend dangerously over the high chair to see where it goes. Often, we end up eating alone at the table while the other one brings Baby X for a walk.

All in all, despite the many trying moments and the long car rides, it was a good holiday. Club Med has a concept that suits our family. We had a lot of joy watching KK enjoy himself and exploring new horizons in Mini-Club. We loved watching Baby X too discover his new surroundings. In between, we even managed to squeeze a few moments to try archery and sailing. Hubby even took part in a mini tournament for archery and won the Bronze medal. We were also blessed with good weather and a smooth journey on the roads. I just can’t wait for Baby X to grow up so he can go into Mini-Club too!

Road Trip

Today, our family set off on our first road trip holiday to Club Med Cherating. We decided to stop over in Malacca enroute so that the entire journey would be more bearable for the 2 little fellas. Last night, it was frantic packing and as usual, majority of the stuff packed were meant for the sustenance of the 2 little ones. In general, the smaller the size, the larger the amount of luggage.

We sat off a little late at about 9.30am but thank God, the timing was rather good. Baby X fell asleep in his car seat at about 10.30am and surprisingly stayed asleep until about 12.20pm. After he woke up, I fed him cereal in the car. He gulped in all down and finished in time for a toilet break and a stretch of the legs. As we progressed on, Baby X was a happy and satisfied boy in the car. However, KK was starting to get restless. I allowed him to climb to the back of the car to play with Baby X.

Soon, we arrived at Malacca and after another 30 minutes, we approached the Renaissance Melaka Hotel, just as Baby X started to get impatient with being inside the car.

The wait to check in was a bit long and Baby X pooped while waiting. Luckily our room was ready, so we quickly got there and changed Baby X. It was a nice and comfortable room though the beds were rather high. Baby X had a taste of its height when he tumbled off from the bed accidentally. Thankfully, he only got a shock and nothing else.

We had a late lunch at the hotel café. We wanted to try their new Italian restaurant Olio which opens today but they only start at dinner. Nonetheless, we met the Director of Operations who went out of his way to ensure we get our pizza and pasta from the Olio kitchen served to the café. It has been a good experience so far.

Thanks to Hubby’s gold membership status, we stayed at the Club floor and were allowed access to the Club Lounge. Which is where I am now - having a cuppucino, typing my blog and using their free internet access to post. Hubby is having a glass of wine while the kids are playing nearby.

Since Baby X only slept for 30mins for his afternoon nap, I gather we’ll have to retire early tonight. We’ll probably go back for a bubble bath and eat the leftover pizza for dinner.

One Year Ago...

One year ago today, I was staying in Thomson Medical Centre, feeling acomplished after having delivered a baby just a few hours ago. It didn't seem too long ago when I was trying very hard to push the baby out into the world and feeling anxious to see how he will look like. I remembered wondering to Hubby if he thinks our new baby has Downs Syndrome since he has single eyelid. Thankfully, the pediatrician confirmed he wasn't the next day.


























Baby X @ 1year old vs Baby X 1 year ago


How fast time flies! Today, it's exactly one year since the day Baby X squeezed through the birth canal and arrived into our lives.

From a baby who only lies where you place him, Baby X has developed into an active toddler. Baby X is now learning to stand up on his own. He does this exercise very well when he's on the bed. Somehow he knows that that's a safe place to practice. He's also very good at expressing his wishes although he has yet learnt to speak. He will point his finger at the thing he wants or the place he wants to go, making some sounds to tell you 'get me that' or 'go there'. When he gets bullied by his brother, he will look at you with a miserable look and complain by making whining sounds. When he's happy, he will smile, jump, bounce and clap his hands. He really is a happy baby and his arrival has brought a lot of extra joy to the family.

The boys of the family

Happy Birthday Baby!

Today we celebrated Baby X's first birthday. His actual birthday is on Thursday but we celebrated earlier. Baby X of course, is oblivious to the fact that he's the star of the party. But this party is planned with an eye on the future. Hubby and I took lots of photos and video as evidence, in preparation for the day Baby X is discerning enough to ask us whether he had a birthday party when he was one year old. You see, when you have more than one kid, perceived fairness amongst the siblings is very important. Small injustice can be misinterpreted and insignificant acts compared to mean more love for one over the other. Today, we had the whole works - food, cake, champagne and gifts. Baby X should not have any reasons to complain in the future.

It was a simple lunch affair with only close family invited. Baby X woke up after a nap to see his grandparents, aunt and uncles waiting for him. He looked a little bewildered but soon he warmed up and enjoyed all the attention.

The theme for the menu was Japanese & Korean. We had sushi, kimchi, miso tofu soup, beef bulgogi and cupcakes, lychees from Mauritius for dessert. But like Huddy stated, the feasting is all on us. Baby X had his usual porridge for lunch. Well, he did have a taste of his birthday cake. Baby X's birthday cake was decorated with Doraemon's face. I think he's cute, like Baby X.

Child Care Fatigue (CCF)

The past few days at home has been crazy. There can simply be no rest in a household with:

• A 5-years old brother who cannot stop talking and getting jealous of his 11-month old baby brother.
• A baby who is on the verge of walking and talking, making very dangerous and wobbly attempts to stand up holding on to anything his little hands can grasp.
• A maid who sometimes feels like my third child, requiring lots of supervision and rescuing.

Over the last week, I've made coloured ice, dyed napkins, watched Transformers on DVD, made playdough using natural ingredients (Leng, your recipe works!), watched Bee movie, created a volcano made of playdough and simulated an erruption with KK. I've also fixed back the arm of Bonecrusher transformer at least 100 times and nearly thrown KK out of the house for talking back. I'm feeling "child care fatigued".

There's this trait common in both my sons, they cannot play independently. I think there's some genetic defect. KK needs a constant playmate. And since his little brother is not yet grown up, he's bugging me to play with him everytime. I try to oblige but sometimes I literaly have to command him to play by himself. Baby X, he's showing signs of this trait. He's happy just crawling around me as long as I sit nearby. But once I move off, he will follow me. Why is it that some kids can just sit on their own for 1 - 2 hours playing their toys quietly and mine can't?

KK has just finished packing his toys grudgingly and Baby X is asleep, thankfully. I guess it's time for me to think of the next activity. Let see, maybe we'll make some cut-out sandwiches with condensed milk and thousands/hundreds. I definitely need a cup of tea.

Oh My 10 Dog!

Communication with KK is getting complex and exhausting. There is a lot of explanation, reasoning, arguing and repeating necessary when talking to my dear 5 year old nowadays. Occasionally, we had no choice but to use threats and authority to move on. Here's a summary of what he is all in one.

1) The 'Ah Beng'
Recently he's picked up a lot of new phrases from his friends in kindergarten. For example:
"Come on, baby!", "What's up, baby?", "What the hell!" and " Wah lau!"

Actually, he's got no idea when I asked him if he knows what 'hell' means. He's just blindly repeating them because they sound cool.

2) The Lawyer.
KK is also getting to be more and more skillful in negotiating and arguing. Whenever we try to enforce some rules like finishing his food, he'll bargain for discounts on duration and concessions on quantity. He'll also question you 'why' certain decisions are made and argue with you till the cows come home or you give up.

Yesterday, Grandmum brought him to Toys 'R' Us and bought him his Christmas present. We told him that he had to wait one month until Christmas to play with his new toy. He couldn't wait of course. So he kept questioning why he has to wait and is it Christmas already tomorrow? Finally, Grandmum gave up and allowed him to open his present on the condition that he finishes his dinner within 1 hour that night. Even then, there was alot of bargaining and we had to reason till we were breathless before he finally finished his food and got his wish.

3) The Reader.
KK is still an amatuer when it comes to reading, though he's developing. Yesterday, he was looking at me read a message on Facebook.

The message goes like this: "Oh my god, 10 years..."
This is what KK read out loud, "Oh my dog, oh my ten dog!"

Applesauce Muffins

It's only the 2nd day of the school holidays and KK is already driving me crazy. This hyperactive boy cannot keep still for one minute unless he's playing computer games or watching TV. So when we limit his TV and computer times to a max of 1hr 30 minutes per day, technically I'm still left with 8hrs 30mins (after deducting 10 hours of sleeping time and 4 hours for lunch and dinner) that I've to occupy each day. Occupying him also means he'll have less chances of 'disturbing' his baby brother.

This morning, our mistake, Baby X crawled down to his brother's bed unnoticed and as a result, KK woke up at 0800hrs. He usually wakes up at about 1000hrs or later. Though I wanted to sleep more, I had to entertain his questions about his missing brochure, Transformers etc, in between drifting in and out of dreamland. The result: a tired and irritated start to the day.


After lunch, I decided to bake Applesauce Muffins instead of playing games. KK is supposed to help me and he did admire the sifted flour falling like snow, drill the batter using a whisk, beat up the egg and arrange the muffin cups for me. The recipe, which KK printed out from "www.nickjr.com" is really simple and the muffins actually taste quite good. I've reproduced the recipe here for those who wants to try it.




Ingredients A
2 cups Flour (sifted)
3/4 cup sugar (I use caster sugar)
2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt



Ingredients B
1 large egg lightly beaten
1 cup unsweetened applesauce (I use homemade ones. Let me know if you need the recipe.)
1/2 cup of melted butter



Method: Simply combine Ingredients A and B separately then pour B to A. Blend well and scoop into pre-oiled muffin cups. Pre-heat oven to about 250 degrees celceius and bake for about 15 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Easy right?


Wish the rest of the day will be easy as well.

50 Green Things at Home

It's school holidays again. Now I fully understand why some parents scratch their heads during this period. They are thinking of how to entertain their kids now that they're at home ALL at the same time.

That's why I bought this book 'Perceptive Play!' yesterday, written by Wong Li Lin. Yes, you're right. The Singapore actress, now mother of 2 children, is the author of this parenting book. In it, Li Lin provided 52 fun activities using simple home-available materials. There're a lot of learning through play ideas that provides ample opportunities for parent and child bonding as well. I like them because they support my belief that learning can be fun and need not involve spending a lot of money.

Today, I tried out one of the activity called "Colour shopping". I identified with KK that Green is the colour of the day and I got him a plastic bucket for him to collect all the green colour stuff he can find around the house. He did a fantastic job, picking out green toys, a green pillow, green sweets and even a green bottle of handwash! I awarded him points for every green item found and I asked him to record on a whiteboard. (This way, he practised his counting and numerical skills as well.) When he reached 45 points, I encouraged him to find 5 more to make a total of 50. He did it!

Tomorrow, maybe we'll try another colour or perhaps vary it to "50 round things at home". As Li Lin wrote, "the possibilities are as endless as your imagination!"

Growing in the night

I don't know since when, but 2 more teeth have cut through Baby X's gums and this brings his total teeth count to 6 - 2 above and 4 below. It's amazing, these teeth, they seem to grow in the middle of the night. One morning you wake up and there they are, two little white mountain peaks in the tiny mouth.

Talking about waking up, nowadays, I enjoy waking up. Make no mistake, I want to wake up everyday, eventually. But its the way one wakes up - leisurely, when you're no longer in need of sleep, or, hurriedly, disturbed by the alarm clock or by the thought that you might be late for work. Since I don't have to work on most days, I've been doing the 'leisurely wake-up' routine. It's a great feeling also, when you open your eyes, to see your kids' sleeping faces right next to you. The past few nights when Hubby was out of town, I have KK on my right and Baby X on my left in bed. It's a tight squeeze but the feeling is very cosy as well.

I really don't mind sleeping with my kids. Some books or people will want to encourage their kids to sleep independently in their own beds or rooms as soon as possible. But I'm not in a hurry. Sometimes, I like to hug KK like a bolster or gaze at Baby X sleeping contentedly in the crook of my arm. I always tell myself to remember and cherish these moments because they don't stay this size for long. Like teeth, children too seem to grow in the night without you knowing. Pretty soon, they'll be too big to hug and would probably prefer to cuddle someone else in the crook of their arms. So since they're all mine now, I'm smelling their skin and hair and chalking up enough sweet memories to last for the rest of my life.

The "Forever" Phase

KK is currently going through this phase which I call 'The Forever" phase. When things don't go his way or when he's upset, he'll fold his arms across his chest, pout his lips and say something like, "I'm not going to talk to you, forever!" or "I don't like Papa, forever!"

It's acutally his way of showing his extreme displeasure verbally. I think he's getting to be more sensitive about his feelings and this is perhaps one way of expressing his emotions. Of course, he has no idea what he's talking about. His 'forever' usually don't last longer than 5 minutes on average. And much as we'll like to respect his feelings, the way he says it is sometimes so funny it makes us laugh instead.

The Tissue Shredder

Baby X is gaining an increased competency in the skill of tissue shredding. He knows how to dig his little hand into the tissue box and extract the pieces of tissues. Afterwhich he will begin to tear at them, until they turn into tens of little pieces. Amongst all his toys, tissues tearing remain Baby X's favourite past time. This might sound a little earth-unfriendly but it does buy us a few minutes of peace. Especially useful when travelling in the car.

Home of the Dodos

For the whole of last week, I parked motherhood aside temporarily to don on my working clothes again. For a salary I could not resist, Iogic tells me the temporary separation with my family is worth it.

For this assignment, I had to fly 7 hours to the island of Mauritius - home to the extinct Dodo birds long ago. It turned out to be an amazing learning experience for me.

Lesson #1 - You don't have to be rich to have the sea view.
As we travelled along the coast from our hotel to office and back everyday, we noticed alot of poorly and uglily built houses fronting the beach. My boss commented that in Singapore, if you lived by the sea, you are very rich. The taxi driver replied that in Mauritius, if you live by the sea, you are poor. And it would appeared so. Before I ventured into the city of Port Louis, my impression of Mauritius was almost skewed from what I see everyday during the taxi ride. Mauritius has lots of mountains and beautiful coasts but the villages we passed by, they are not beautiful. Poorly built stone houses lined the narrow and windy road. Some were built in the middle of a plot of land surrounded by rubbish.

Lesson #2 - You don't need to be rich to be generous.
Despite the not so comfortable living conditions, the Mauritian people are the warmest and most easy-going people I've come across. The bartenders and waiters of our hotel are so likeable and they make you feel right at home. The taxi driver who fetches us everyday, he's a simple and contented fellow. The office staff who fixed us our tea and coffee everyday, they serve with such dedication and humility it puts the 5-star hotel staff to shame. Even the management people who engaged our services, they showed their hospitality and made sure all our needs were taken care of and that we were comfortable. People go out of their way to make you feel welcome and they never make you feel like you're imposing on them.

Lesson #3 - Mauritius: A Blend of East and West, Black and White
Mauritius has a multi-cultural society. 55% are Indians with minorities of Chinese, Africans and Europeans. Conquered by the English and French before, Mauritians speak English and French fluently. In fact, skin colour aside, Mauritians are Europeans in the core. Their style of greeting is the 'cheek to cheek kiss' that you get in France. Their food - it's like a blend between curry and stew. And they take it either with basmati rice or french loaves. Very interesting blend of culture.

Lesson #4 - Hindi movies are very entertaining.
I seldom watch Bollywood or Hindi movies. But over the last 6 nights, stuck at a beachside hotel, with only local TV programmes in French or Hindi, I watched quite a few Hindi dramas and movies only because they had English subtitles. Well I must say they make pretty good entertainment. There's this Hindi serial that played for 30mins everyday at 7pm. The lead actress was caught in a love triangle between 2 husbands and we were hooked to find out in the next episode which husband will sit with her at the 'pooja'. I also caught 'Nameste London' one night and hmm, some of these Bollywood Indian actresses are so gorgeous and the Indian guys are quite hunky....

Lesson #5 - Health is Wealth
One of my colleague who came with me fell very ill on the 5th day with food poisoning. He was so sick that he couldn't eat anything for the next 2 days despite a local doctor seeing him. He endured the 10 hours flight home and had to be wheelchaired out of the aircraft upon arrival. He landed in hospital for a bad case of bacterial infection. We had all our meals together for the whole week so I wondered what it was he ate that caused him to be so sick. I suspect it could be the cut fruits he ate which I'd avoided. On hind sight, when overseas, it is safer to stick with fully cooked food and whole fruits like bananas or whole apples. Some raw food could contain bacteria invisible to the naked eye.

All in all, it was a good trip. Though I wish the hotel had no ants and more English programmes, I've gained a lot of experience with my work and made friends with a few Mauritians. But after 7 days, enough. I want to be back home to hold my 2 boys again.

The Other Side of Baby X

Even with the 2nd kid, hubby and I find ourselves marvelling at the little being growing everyday in front of our eyes.

When he's not busy sinking his nails into flesh, Baby X's actually very cute. Like when:

• he sleeps in his trademark position - legs open 180 degrees wide (yes, they form one straight line across...)
• he smiles at you and claps in accomplishment.
• he smiles at you the first thing in the morning (or middle of the night).
• he crawls about wearing his elder brother's underwear.
• he babbles excitedly and loudly in his baby language.
• he bounces up and down while being carried in your arms.
• he high-fives you.
• he tries to feed himself biscuits.
• he rolls about the bed.
• he giggles happily as you tickle him.
• he wears his body hugging swim suit.

I'm gonna miss him next week when I'm overseas......

The Long & Short of Sleep

More updates on Baby X's sleep.

For the past few nights, I observed a definite improvement in the duration of his night sleep. From about 9pm, Baby X will sleep all the way until about 5 plus in the morning. After that, he'll start to toss about, doing irritating things in the dark, like groping for me, any part of me. Once his hands detect something human, he'll dig his fingernails into my flesh. All these with his eyes still closed. Between efforts of trying to get away from his 'poison fingers', I'll have to ensure that he doesn't fully awake to ask for milk. This morning I managed to do that and keep him asleep till about 7am.

I also noticed that if he's fed at 5 plus, he's able to continue sleeping till about 8.30am or 9am. Otherwise, he'll awake with the first ray of sunlight.

2 things I'm thinking of buying: another kiddie mattress and blackout curtains.

The Art & Science of Sleep

Baby X continued his 'sleeping through' trend for 3 straight nights. This gave me renewed hope that maybe THIS is the day that I've been waiting for. But last night, the 4th night, we suffered a setback. Baby X woke up at about 4.30am and couldn't go back to sleep. Once he sat up, I knew we'd lost the battle. Only a bottle of warm milk can calm Baby X and put him back into the mood for sleep. After the milk, he automatically went back to sleep on his own. No patting needed.

Post-mortem, I wondered if it was my fault that I woke him when I turned him to his side and tried to pat him back to sleep. Would it be better if I had just left him to stick his feet into Hubby's ribs? When baby starts to turn and moves about, sometimes patting him put him back to sleep but sometimes, it woke him instead. It is a real delicate craft - the art of keeping a baby from waking. I'm still experimenting and learning continuously.

Some of the older folks like to simplify things by saying, 'Just give them water. Once they realise it's water, they'll not bother waking up'. Apparantly, this worked on us. But either we were super compliant babies or dumber back then. Cos babies nowadays can tell when you try to cheat them. They either reject the water upright and cry even louder or they drink but wake up again one hour later.

My conclusion is they'll sleep through eventually - definitely by the time they go to high school. Nah..., not so bad, but when they're well-fed during the day and have enough activities to exhaust them by night, I believe they'll sleep. KK slept through shortly after he started walking and now, nothing can wake him up in the middle of the night.

As for Baby X, I'll keep waiting. Not for too long, I hope.

Baby X's Progress Continues

Baby X has upgraded from a 'commando crawl' to an 'animal crawl'. He uses his kneels and palms to move forward rather than his forearms and thighs, cleaning the floor with his stomach previously. Walking-wise, he's still a little nervous and lacks confidence. He can pull himself up effortlessly nowadays and actually stands quite well unassisted - until he REALISES you're NOT holding him. Then self-doubt kicks in and his knees wobbles. Instinctively, he'll want to sit down unless you hold him up.

In the sleep department, Baby X surprised us last night by not waking up for milk through the night. This doesn't mean he didn't wake up though, he still tossed about, dug his head into my chest, sat up with eyes closed and made whimpering sounds. Somehow, I just managed to pat him back to sleep again. Still, that's already a big encouragement for me. Does that mean the end of the tunnel is near? Previous experience has taught me not to hold my hopes too high. As with all performance indicators, I need to see a trend. Let's pray hard for tonight.

Rock Climber KK

KK was promised a rock-climbing outing by his Uncle D this week and Uncle D fulfilled it on Wednesday. Tuesday, KK was already announcing to his classmates "I'm going rock-climbing tomorrow."

So yesterday, we packed the whole family into the car after his class and drove to Yishun SAFRA. At the rock wall, Uncle D strapped KK into his kids-size harness and set up the ropes. KK will be the climber and Uncle D, the belayer. Alas, just as KK touched the wall to start climbing, the rain came in.

Luckily, there was an indoor rock wall (called 'boulder' or something?) which is fully air-conditioned and cushioned wall to wall, abeit a bit dusty. All of us packed inside - baby, maid, pram and all. KK had lots of fun, as if at a playground, climbing and walking on the foam mattresses, several levels up. Even I had to climb a little, to get to the next level, but mostly I was watching a few expert 'spidermans' defy gravity as they scaled from wall to wall.

As for my dear KK, I suspect his favourite moment was when he was suspended in the air (he climbed 1 metre, says he's tired and just let go), swinging on his harness, hanging only because of his reliable belayer, Uncle D.

10

Zoo Trip

At the spur of the moment, I decided to join some friends to the zoo and bring KK along. It's been a long time since we last went. I bought along my digital camera, hoping KK will be inspired to take some pictures of the animals. But I ended up taking all the photographs. KK was impatient as we strolled down the path, visiting the otters, orang utans, zebras, tigers and lions. He takes one look at the animals and then wants to move on. ("I'm getting out of here.") Even the polar bear feeding session and the elephant show couldn't captivate him. He had more fun playing with his Doraemon fan.


The only motivation that keeps him walking: Children's World. Over there, he went crazy playing at the playground and the playpool. Here are the video evidence.

Kids at the Pool

I bought Baby X a new swimsuit from KL. Friday evening, we decided to bring the kids to the pool and try out his new swimsuit. Baby X also had a new haircut....check it out!

3 Nights Escapade to KL

For our 8th wedding anniversary this year, Hubby brought me along to KL on his working trip. The main feature of this trip – the kids stay home! With the help of kind and capable Grandmum, it was just the 2 of us as we took Flight SQ106 and checked into Hilton KL Sentral. The room was luxurious enough. ‘Not enough space to put a baby cot though’, I noted. But of course, there’s no need for that.

Without delay, Hubby and I headed for Mid-Valley. For dinner, we discovered a cheap and good Korean restaurant that serves Bulgogi for 2 at a superb price of RM25.90. After dinner, we walked past the cinema and looked at each other. Why not? It’s been long since we watched an uninterrupted movie together. Just like that, we decide, we do it. No chance if the kids were around. That’s still not the end of the night. We met up a friend at 11pm and headed off for drinks at SkyBar on the 33rd floor of Traders Hotel.

The next 2 days, I felt exactly like a kept woman. While waiting for my man to finish work, I lazed around the room, met an ex-colleague for lunch and shopped like crazy around Bukit Bintang. Evenings, we were entertained by tapas at Le Bodega (in Bangsar), Naan Taj Mahal (pizza like naan, complete with cheese and mayonnaise, served together with daal etc) at Restoran Mosin, foot and back massages, Big Apple donuts at The Curve, another movie and a supper of Maggie Goreng. Both nights, we reached back hotel only after 1am – never been out so late since 2002. But reliving our couple days lifestyle was a great feeling.

The last day, we checked out of hotel and I checked into Sembunyi Spa at Cyberview Lodge for a 3 hour pampering session. The package I took is Rosa Canina - consisting of Massage followed by Body Treatment and Facial. They started by inviting me to the Sauna, Steam Bath and Jacuzzi for a dip. Then I was brought to a cozy little room where the massage lady Dian gave me a Traditional Balinese Massage using Rose Geranium oil. Next it was scrub time using black rice, lime peel and milk. For the body mask, algae was applied all over and I was wrapped like a sushi with a hot blanket. No wonder this treatment is called the California Roll.

During the “Renew Me” facial, honey and yoghurt were first used to cleanse my face, followed by a scrub using Chinese Almond, oatmeal and cucumber. After the steam, Dian applied Earth Essence mask on my face. This was followed by a peppermint cold towel to tone and for the moisturizer, it was Herbal Day Balsam with precious herbs. Heavenly! I almost had to pry myself off the massage bed when she told me it was finished.

To all parents out there, don't forget to live life without the kids once in a while.

Standing Tall

Yesterday, (3rd October) Baby X stood on his own 2 feet for a few seconds and even took a few quick steps forward. I witnessed it as I tried to make him stand firm and then slowly let go of my hold. I excitedly alerted grandmum and granddad and quickly tried to take a few photos, but wasn't too successful, partly because I had to make do with KK as the photographer. This is the best shot I had.

Grandmum predicted that Baby X will be walking by his 1st birthday. Looking at the developments, I'm quite confident he will walk earlier than his older brother, who only took his first steps at 14 months old. Baby X has been perfecting his 'crawling to sitting' transformation and now stands up easily as soon as he can grab hold of something to pull himself up. These days, Baby X's appetite is quite good, probably building up those leg muscles.

Just for the record, a sample of Baby X's daily feeds goes like this:

0700hrs - 180ml milk

1000hrs - Porridge

1300hrs - 180ml milk

1700hrs - Porridge

1945hrs - 180ml milk

2100hrs - 120ml milk

0330hrs - 150ml milk

"So Long, Sucker!"

Today marks my first day as a SAHM (Stay At Home Mum) as I bid farewell to my FTJ (Full Time Job). But that's not what the title of this post is referring to....

This phrase came out of KK's mouth one evening at a restaurant. He said it to a friend that we met at the restaurant cheekily. When trying to do the 'corrective education' later on, we realised he had totally no idea what the word 'sucker' meant. He just picked it up from a computer game where the racing car said this when it overtook another player.

"Oh man!" (Said with a slang. Another favourite phrase learnt from the internet or TV - but this one's fine.) Another reason why I'm convinced I need to be around more.

The ending of the Final Chapter was actually rather sweet, not sad as I'd expected. I had no time to feel sad! I spent the whole morning trying to draft out the traditional 'thank you' emails - I had no idea it was so difficult to write such broadcast messages! After a nice farewell lunch, it was back to frantic packing and throwing as I discovered I'd missed out a drawer of stuff, before rushing down to HR to do clearance.

What made it so sweet were the nice words said to me by quite a number of my friends & colleagues, some face to face, some via emails or notes. Funny why such nice things are only said when one is about to leave? But I'm glad to hear them, not for my ego, but to know that I've made some difference to others' lives.

For now, the greatest beneficiary of my staying home must be my maid. When I'm around, Baby X refuses her, so she's retreated to do other less challenging stuff, like cleaning the soft toys.

Ok, time to take a short break before I go pick up KK from school.

10

1st Child, 2nd Child, 3rd Child

I just had to post this.....one of my personal favourite
All mums will identify with some of it, I do!

Your Clothes
1st baby: You begin wearing maternity clothes as soon as your OB/GYNconfirms your pregnancy. 2nd baby: You wear your regular clothes for aslong as possible. 3rd baby: Your maternity clothes ARE your regularclothes.

Preparing for the Birth
1st baby: You practise your breathing religiously.2nd baby: You don't bother practising because you remember that last time,breathing didn't do a thing. 3rd baby: You ask for an epidural in your 8thmonth.

The Layette
1st baby: You pre-wash newborn's clothes, colour-coordinate them & foldthem neatly in the baby's little bureau. 2nd baby: You check to make sure that the clothes are clean & discard only the ones with the darkest stains. 3rd baby: Boys can wear pink, can't they?

Worries
1st baby: At the first sign of distress - a whimper, a frown - you pick up the baby. 2nd baby: You pick the baby up when her wails threaten to wake your first-born. 3rd baby: You teach your 3-year-old how to rewind the mechanical swing.

Pacifier
1st baby: If the pacifier falls on the floor, you put it away until you can go home and wash and boil it. 2nd baby: When the pacifier falls on the floor, you squirt it off with some juice from the baby's bottle. 3rd baby: You wipe it off on your shirt and pop it back in.

Diapering
1st baby: You change your baby's diapers every hour, whether they need it or not. 2nd baby: You change their diaper every 2 to 3 hours, if needed. 3rd baby: You try to change their diaper before others start to complain about the smell or you see it sagging to their knees.

Activities
1st baby: You take your infant to Baby Gymnastics, Baby Swing, and Baby Story Hour. 2nd baby: You take your infant to Baby Gymnastics. 3rd baby: You take your infant to the supermarket and the dry cleaner.

Going out
1st baby: The first time you leave your baby with a babysitter, you call home umpteen times. 2nd baby: Just before you walk out the door, you remember to leave a number where you can be reached. 3rd baby: You leave instructions for the babysitter to call only if she sees blood.

At Home
1st baby: You spend a good bit of every day just gazing at the baby. 2nd baby: You spend a bit of everyday watching to be sure your older child isn't squeezing, poking, or hitting the baby. 3rd baby: You spend a little bit of every day hiding from the children.

Swallowing Coins
1st child: when first child swallows a coin, you rush the child to the hospital and demand x-rays. 2nd child: when 2nd child swallows a coin, youcarefully watch for coin to pass. 3rd child: when 3rd child swallows a coinyou deduct it from his pocket money.

The Final Chapter

2 more weeks to the end of my job and counting down.

As I enter into the final chapter of a career that's spanned nearly 10 years, I can't help but feel emotional. Aptly, the very last batch of trainees I've trained graduated today. My last 'bunch of crew'. As I watch them perform and receive their graduation letters on stage, my mind floated to the day more than 9 years ago, where I was on the same stage, performing, receiving my letter and winning the best groomed award.

Yesterday, I was introduced to a new colleague, who has just come 'on ground'. He recognised me as the interviewer who interviewed him 3 years ago. I'd told him "I'll give you a chance." And now he's here. Kind of nice to know you had a role to play in creating turning points in someone's life. "I'm glad I gave you that chance." I said to him.

I know time will never turn back and the day has finally come for me to hang up my kebaya - for good. (I've always harboured hopes of wearing it again one day.) As I close this book after the final chapter, I will begin starting a new book. Like my trainees, I'll be moving on to another stage in my life. The past 10 years has been both enriching and fulfilling. Without the past chapters, I wouldn't be what I am today. I'm sure I will look back with fondness on the many memories I've created. It's gonna be hard saying goodbye to the 'world' I've lived and grown up with.

10

Flu is in the air

The 2 boys contracted a nasty flu bug last week. Baby X got it worse than his brother. His chesty coughs bothered the pediatrician so much that she prescribed antibiotics for him (as well as KK).

Poor baby, he's got 4 different types of medication to take everyday. Last night, Baby X coughed so much that he vomitted on the bed. In the middle of the night, we tried to clean him and change him. As for the bed sheets, we beared with the dampness till morning. Baby X is very brave though, he didn't cry one bit. But every cough he makes makes me sad.

Today, Hubby left for KL again. This is really bad timing. I'll be alone with the sick kids (literally) at night for one whole week. As if this is not bad enough, he took with him to KL the car remote lock and the spare set of car keys as well! Now my car is flashing its hazard lights non-stop and the alarm goes off whenever we try to open the door with the key. No choice, have to spend some money to disarm the car alarm for the time being.


10 - Hoping there'll be no more crisis for the rest of the week.

Milestones

Baby X is 9 months and 2 days old! Our baby is growing up!

Recent Milestones

• Eats porridge instead of infant rice cereal.
• Takes water from a sipping cup.
• Learning to slide down the edge of the bed legs first.
• Claps his hands.
• Looks at the lights when you say 'light light'
• Looks at objects where you point.
• Able to change from tummy to sitting position.
• Shows preference for certain people to carry him.
• Makes lots of sounds and expressions when in the mood.
• The upper front teeth is starting to pop out from his gums.

Logic of a 5 year old

Telling a 5 year old mummy's not gonna be a working mom anymore

KK: Mummy, I want you to stay with me.
Me: Mummy is going to stop working in October. Then I'll stay home with you.
KK: October, I don't need to go to school? Is it holiday?


Trying to comfort a 5 year old from his mosquitoe bites

Me: You know why the mosquitoe bite you? Because you are very sweet.
KK: Sweet?
Me: This means you are very nice.
KK: So if I'm rude, the mosquitoes won't bite me?


A 5 year old learning Chinese

KK: (pointing to an orange) Papa, that's my name.
PP: Huh?
KK: 'Cheng' (mandarin for orange). 'Cheng En Kang' (The Chinese pronunciation for Tan is 'Chen')

The Rise & Fall of Baby X

Using his head as a pivot, Baby X is getting very good at pushing with his legs, buttocks up in the air. He does this regardless of terrain (my chest, the pillow or the floor) and without concern for consequences (there's no such word in babies' dictionary). Using this method, he is able to climb over obstacles and even maneuver himself from the crawling position to the sitting position. Eventually, tonight, it led to his downfall - literally. Baby X falls from the bed, just 1 minute after I leave him asleep in the room, surrounded by a barricade of pillows/bolster. It took a few minutes of sobbing, with eyes still closed, before he goes back to sleep - thankfully with only a swollen mouth and flatter nose.

On a brighter note, today was actually a great day of achievement for Baby X. He learnt that touching his palms together makes a noise! Baby X seems rather proud of this feat and kept practising it the whole evening. Clap, clap, clap...all of us applauded this milestone in his life.

Sleep - How can I see you again?

After 2 nights of badly interrupted sleep, my body finally showed signs of fatigue this morning with a splitting headache. For this, I have no one to blame except me, myself and my 'active' mind. You see, when I wake up in the middle of my sleep, for whatever reason, there is a high chance I cannot get back to sleep again once my mind becomes alert.

Previously when I was breastfeeding, this problem is minimized as I’ll simply pull Baby X towards me and breastfeed him half awake. After we returned from Brisbane, I had totally weaned him off. So when he wakes up at night, Hubby is there to make the milk and wash the bottle. I just have to stuff the bottle into Baby X’s mouth and hold it, trying to maintain my semi-conscious state of mind.

These last 2 nights, Hubby went overseas for work. I had to wake up and make milk for Baby X, feed him and then wash the bottle. I will then refill the water and milk powder to prepare for the next feed. After all these activities, I climbed back to bed and spent the next frustrating hours trying hard to return to dreamland. My awaken mind will unconsciously start to wander off and I will catch myself thinking about stuff about work, home, kids – anything under the sky! Those of you who can identify with this will know that it is the nightmare of all nightmares! I’ll tell myself, ok, stop thinking about this now and even try counting my breathing (inhale – 1, exhale – 2) to focus my thoughts. 90% of the time, it doesn’t work. I’ll eventually fall back asleep after tossing and turning for about 2 hours.

Half an hour after that, Baby X stirs again…..arrgh, time for the next feed?

Holiday in Brisbane - update #7

8 September

Finally, it’s time to pack up and go home. On the last night I am going to have an uninterrupted sleep, I laid awake for over 2 hours after waking up in the middle of the night to pee. I looked at the time, about 3.30am. This will be about 1.30am in Singapore. I wondered if Baby X is awake as well.

I woke up around 8am and started to cook instant noodles and sausages for breakfast (clear food!). There were some toiletries to pack, trash to throw and also some last dishes to wash before 9.30am – the check-out time. I didn’t want to leave a bad impression on Singaporean travelers, so I made an extra effort to fold the blankets, pull the sheets on the bed properly before leaving.

We made our way to Brisbane city, detouring to do some last minute shopping of sausages and cheese for Mom. For this special purchase, we had purposely bought a plastic container (that cost more than the sausages). I couldn’t resist grabbing a kilo of middle bacon as well. Meat is just so cheap in Australia.

The flight home was better than the other way south. As it was a day flight, we spent the next 7 hours eating, drinking and watching movies. I found out KK was actually waiting for the lights to turn out when we were about to land. Sitting near to us was a Caucasian couple with a young baby, probably about the same age as Baby X. I couldn’t help thinking how it would be if I had brought Baby X along on this trip. It would never be this leisurely, I’m sure. When you're looking at others, it seemed so easy. That baby behaved extremely well though. He drank milk and slept, drank milk and slept, for the whole flight. I guarantee you Baby X would never be so easy. I sometimes wondered if Baby X will ever complain when he grows up that we’ve left him behind. Then again, looking at the dad walking up and down the aisle, I’m convinced our decision was best for everyone. I am looking forward to seeing Baby X again. Wonder how he’ll react when he sees us again.

We cleared immigration, customs and picked up our luggage with the usual efficiency of Changi Airport but there was no sight of my family at the arrival hall. They are on their way….

Baby X stared at me wide-eyed when the car pulled up. I took him in my arms and kissed him. No resistance, he acts as if we’ve never been apart. Carrying him has never felt so good.

Holiday in Brisbane - update #6

7 September

We awoke to a cloudy sky but there was no rain. Hubby called the whale watchers to enquire if there were any tours today. This would be our last clear day in Brisbane. Unfortunately, they had cancelled it again last night. What should we do next? We decided over breakfast to go to the beach at Surfer's Paradise.

It was very windy and rather chilly at the beach. Not many surfers in the sea though the waves were great. The Life Savers board there stated "unstable condition" and that swimmers should swim at waist level waters only. Not a great day still for any sun, sea and sand activities.

We drove down the Surfers Paradise boulevard and admired the many beach holiday apartments along it. I know many Singaporeans own such apartments as investments and rent it out to holiday makers. Wonder if I will ever be one of them?

We chance upon a playground and stopped to let KK have some fun. There were a few families there, with 2 or more kids/babies, having picnics. Such is the lifestyle of Queenslanders?

There, we met this mainland chinese couple with a daughter the same age as KK. We started chatting. The lady had moved to Australia 12 years ago and speaks fluent English. Husband is from Canton and holds a job that provides him with an apartment in Gold Coast though they stay in Sydney. (That's all I dared to probe.) Anyway, we were talking and I took this chance to find out from her more about the education system in NSW, difference between public and private schools etc.

In one of the conversation, her husband revealed that despite the culture there, the 'kiasu-ism" of asians prevails. They are the ones who sends their kids for extra lessons on weekends. This is exactly the kind of pressure I want my kids to avoid in Singapore but even in Australia? So I guess maybe we should stop blaming the schools and look inwards at the home environment.

He observed that the asians tend to do well academically in their studies but once they go out to the workforce, they fail to outshine their white counterparts. They are somehow less creative and lack resourcefulness. Accurate assessment?