Baby X Progresses

Baby X is getting cuter and smarter by the minute.

Nowadays, he shows excitment when we come back home. When you shut the door to prevent him from entering, he makes alot of noise in protest. Hubby says he knows we are going out when we jiggle the keys. And if we didn't bring him, you can hear him protesting after we closed the door. Baby X has no issues asserting his rights when he needs to. He clearly shows his displeasure and pushes your hand away if he doesn't like what you are giving him or doing to him (eg wiping his mouth, face, nose etc). If he doesn't like his food, he shuts his mouth tight. If he cries and you don't respond to him within 10 seconds, he'll escalate his cries to wails.

Last night was a 'good night'. Baby X slept at 2030hrs and woke up at 0055hrs. I asked Hubby to make a bottle of milk which he finished and went back to sleep until almost 0600hrs. I managed to put him back to sleep again until 0700hrs. Since I didn't have to go to work today, I took him out to Uun and slept on till 1000hrs. Wow, this sleep is so long overdue. Hooray! Please God, let this be the start of his sleeping through!

10 - recharged

Looking beyond face value

Today, after dropping KK to school, we went to have lunch at the Bedok hawker center. We ordered 'ban mien' but when the food arrived, I couldn't bring myself to start eating it. The cause of my discomfort: disposable chopsticks. I opened mine and found one to be splintered. There was also some powdery stuff when I brushed it. Most importantly, I'm haunted by the email report about how unhygenic these disposable chopsticks can be. Recent reports about the safety of our food and utensils also added to my hesitance. Hubby couldn't find normal chopsticks at that stall, so we resorted to 'stealing' the chopsticks from another stall. I also skipped using the disposable plastic spoon when I see it change shape after being dipped into the piping hot soup. Sigh, maybe I will really start carrying my own chopsticks when we eat out next time. Since when has eating become so troublesome? Nowadays, we can never take things at face value.

Then just as I was about to start digging in, I glanced up and see a most ugly man. I think he has 'elephant' disease or something, that caused one side of the skin on his face to sag so long until almost his chest. He was sitting near the interchange, where streams of people walk past, begging with a plastic cup. I doubt his efforts would get him much income. How would people donate when they can't even bear to be near him for one more second?

Honestly, I couldn't eat well after that. Though I couldn't bear to look at him, I can't help glancing up now and then in between mouths of noodles to see if anyone dropped money for him. My heart is full of pity yet I also think this guy shouldn't be out spoiling people's appetite. He should be seeking treatment so that he can be employed in a proper job. With his current looks now, there's no way anyone will hire him. Hubby and I launched into this discussion about how come our hospitals are so eager to separate the Iranian twins and Nepalese twins and the irony that local folks like this guy are neglected? I wonder how many more people like him are hiding at home, resigned to their fate. Many of these people are low-income so what's the options for them if they want to go for surgery? Public donations perhaps? But is there a quicker way to solicit donations other than sitting at the bus interchange? I suggested maybe we should take a picture and send to Stomp. If the journalist publish his story, many kind-hearted Singaporeans will sympathise and send him donations. But we both don't have a camera device with us. Anyway, Hubby thinks we ought to seek this man's permission first. So in the end, we left it as that.

10 - who's really thankful to have a normal face

Good nights, Bad nights

Wonder what tonight will be like? Since 8 months ago, I have never had a complete night of undisturbed sleep. Baby X is still waking up a few times a night. Monday night was considered good by my standard, he woke up once at 3 am, drank a bottle of milk (without resistance) and went back to sleep contentedly. The next time I heard him was about 6am plus. I woke up happy and hopeful - maybe he'll start sleeping through the night soon.

Last night, my hopes were sustained. He woke up at 1 plus, but refused to drink the bottle of milk Hubby made. Then came 6am, he woke up and couldn't sleep back even after I breastfeed him. He also refused any more milk by the bottle.

Not sure how tonight will be, but judging from his crankiness this evening, I'm not very optimistic. Baby X has gotten the flu bug from his brother and it's causing him to feel miserable. His runny nose and coughs are indications that he's not well. I wonder what else is bothering him? Sore throat perhaps? Afterall, I'm having a sore throat myself. So I can understand it's not a nice feeling.

Brother KK, on the other hand, has almost fully recovered. KK himself didn't sleep through until 1 plus years old. Now he sleeps like a log every night, oblivious to the whimperings and cries of Baby X. I can't believe I'm going through this stage again and it appears that Baby X is not going to sleep through any sooner than his brother. In fact, I don't remember KK waking up so much by the time he was five months old. Baby X - when you will be like gor-gor?

10 - the sleepy and sleepless

Pink Lavenders Blooming

Hello, this is the first posting of Pink Lavender. ........

What am I supposed to say next? Hmm, I think this blogging thing will need some getting used to, bearing in mind that this is NOT a diary that you hide under the pillow. Rather, this is a memory bank for (and about) my 2 boys and an outlet of expression for me, their mummy. That's why the title of this blog is "Tots, Thots & Toddlers".....you get the idea?

Why "Pink Lavender"? I don't know, I just blurted it out one day, in response to "Purple Sage" - a caterer for a function at my office, and thought it's a nice name for some future business. Anyway, I like lavenders - for its fragrance, variety of uses (it's a flower and a herb, can be admired or used for cooking, healing) and beauty. Plus I like pink (very girl) and the colour of lavender is assigned to be my favourite colour by my elder boy. Blah, blah, blah.....I can go on and on. I think I'm beginning to like blogging...:-)

10 - a budding blogger