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.
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Thursday, November 15, 2007
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.
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.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
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.
Monday, November 12, 2007
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.
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.
Thursday, November 1, 2007
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:
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.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
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.
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.
Monday, October 22, 2007
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.
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.
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